RUNNING WITH PASSION: April 2006

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Ga Ga Over Gubra

Gubra Goodies

I received this exciting yet gubra-inducing email last Friday at 4:31pm.

Hi there: Congratulations! You have been invited to join the Upclose & Personal event with Gubra Stars. Please proceed to Starbucks Berjaya Time Square, Mezzanine Floor at 4pm, April 23, 2006 for the above event.

For your information, the artistes who are attending are Alan Yun, Sharifah Amani, Ida Nerina, Tan Mei Ling, Abidah Noor, Norkhirah, Nam Roon, Khirahmat & Rosie Rashid.

Please confirm your attendance to XYZ at 012 2504778 / XYZ@mypartners.net.my

Wow! It's been a while since I won something like this. "Meet and Eat" (not the usual Meet and Greet, mind you) session with the stars. It was eons ago since I had dinner dates with "stars" like The Rasmus, Wild Orchid, Innuendo, Boyzone, Dave Koz and former teen queen - Tiffany (Yeah...I know, it was long long time ago). Because of this great event, I decided had to forgo the 24-hour challenge even though my chance of getting into the final was high. Wouldn't want to turn up looking like a panda bear for the Gubra event. Must look dashing for the photograph session. Heheh!

I met BW who was also a winner for Hainanese chicken rice at Berjaya Plaza. We lingered around the Movie Carnival - grabbing freebies, posing for photograph with the "stars" (-eg with that masked fella from V for Vendetta, X-Men, Ice Age cartoon characters, Darth Maul, etc). I wonder why no one turned up dressed like Ultraviolet, Mystic from Xmen or Electra. Heheh! That would be nice in my photos collection.

We were presented with a "Gubra" Drawstring Bag. What were inside the bag?

A light brown "Gubra" T Shirt

A "Gubra" Pocket Calendar

A "Gubra" note book

A pair of DiGi car sunshades

Out of many actors who supposed to come, only 4 turned up - Tan Mei Ling (played Jason/ Alan Lee's Nyonya Mother), Juliana Ibrahim (played Kiah) and Alan Yun (played Alan Lee/ Jason's brother) and the leading lady - Sharifah Amani (Orked). I was hoping for Yasmin Ahmad, the director to make a surprise visit but that didn't happen. (insert Sigh here).

Nyonya Power! Tan Mei Ling

Tan Mei Ling is a real Nyonya. She shared some “behind-the-scene” news from Gubra (nothing scandalous though except for the sarong incident). What sarong incident? Heheh! Did you know that her sarong almost came off while filming a fighting scene with her on-screen husband in SEPET? Hmmmm…..

What a Sweetie! Juliana Ibrahim

Juliana Ibrahim looked so much smaller but prettier off-screen. Cute and petite. She played the abused prostitute in Gubra. We asked her what happened to Kiah at the end of the movie. She said Kiah was hit by hammer but not sure if she survived. (Insert cry here!)

Smiling.....

Alan Yun is a good-looking model. Very tall. Very fair. Killer smile. Standing next to him, I couldn’t help to feel as if I was bashed up an ugly stick or something! Heheh! We chatted briefly about his modeling, acting and singing career. Singing? Yes!! He even had an album out. I didn’t know that this guy could sing?? Heheh! Respect!

Smouldering....

According to Alan, the scene “Tetek berbulu” was shot in two takes. It is the one of the funny moments in Gubra.

Whose bandaged big toe is this?

Sharifah Amani arrived about 15 minutes later than the other cast. She was all bubbly and fun. Someone noticed her bandaged big toe….

Did Orked bang her toe while kicking the no good SOB husband of hers?

Did she injure her toes during the commotion when sending her sick father to hospital?

Did Hantu Toyol sucked her big toe?

Did Alan step on her toe?

Did Jason did that to her? Hmmmm…..

The real reason turned out to be a CORN. (Insert Eugh…..!! here). Heheh!

Isn't she beautiful?

Amani was a live wire, bouncing here and there.

Alan told Amani not to act cute. “But she IS cute!”, we protested.

She also tried to say something in Cantonese. I don’t really remember exactly what she said but I think it was something like "Jason said you are not handsome but I think you are". Sweet! Heheh!

Isn't she lovely?

Isn't She Cheeky?

Nyeh! Nyeh! Nyeh!

Autographed SEPET DVD

The cast moved around the Starbucks mezzanine floor, obliging for photographs and autographs from their adoring fans. Heheh! Not to be left out, I whipped out my silver liner and went around asking for signatures. Always come prepared for this type of event. The silver liner looked nice on my black Gubra Notebook. BW’s preparation was even better. He printed out some beautiful 4R pictures of the Gubra stars for autograph. I brought a SEPET DVD, a SEPET VCD and a RABUN VCD (thinking Yasmin would come too). So, I only get the SEPET stuff signed off. Guess, I have to wait for another time to get my RABUN VCD autographed. Note: For those who can’t decide to buy the SEPET VCD or DVD, get the VCD instead. It is uncensored.

It was a delightful experience meeting the cast of Gubra. We missed Yasmin Ahmad. I hope to meet my favourite Malaysian film director one fine day. GUBRA BOLEH!

Acknowledgement: Thank you to BW for sharing his photos for this blog. A bundle of thanks to Cinemaonline for organising this event and the great Movie Carnival.