Day One – "My Spy" by Afdlin Shauki starring Ac Mizal dan Harun Salim Bachik

I am rushing through this post, as the budget motel I’m lodging in does not have internet connectivity and although there are plenty of waiting time in between shoots, there is no internet connection in Galeria Perdana!
Even mobile reception is crap!

Guess I’ll have to keep the long story short and let the pics do the talking ya.. once I’m back in KL I will fill in the details!

It was an uncomfortable bus ride from KL to Kuala Perlis as the damn air-con was so cold. I was wearing a parka and I still freezing my #*^% off!!
The group of us reached Kuala Perlis at the ungodly hour of 6am, and waited at the bus terminal for the 1st ferry ride of the day at 7am.

Meanwhile we chatted with some locals and got some juicy tips of buying of cigarettes and liquor. wink

Morning briefing upon arrival at Kuala Perlis bus terminal

Boarding the ferry, so earlyyyyy.. yawn

Disembarking from the ferry..see the difference in the lights?

Scenery from the ferry terminal

It was uneventful ride, as all of us are tired and since I’m very susceptible to motion sickness, I popped some pills and went to sleep asap!
The journey was about an hour and thank god the water was not choppy, as I had had warnings from some friends about the ferry being very something like a roller-coastal ride.

Zain, the production coordinator was really really kind to pick us up from the terminal. Thank god for that really, for the ride from the terminal to Pantai Cenang (where the crew is based) was quite a distance from the terminal (that’s putting it mildly!). It took us 45mins to reach the inn where they are staying for the duration of the shoot. Maybe it was cos of the traveling the last 13 hours, for the van ride felt like foreverrrr…

I did mention that food is provided throughout the 4 day shooting for us extras right? And this was our very first free meal.. – let me present to you — Day One -Breakfast…
Malay Fried rice and very oily fried eggs..

But no complains from us ok, as we were famished from the whole trip..so we piled our plates and tucked in while getting to know the rest of the crew.

Then it was another 45min van ride to the set – which is Galeria Perdana.. (why is everywhere located at such a distance from one to the other??)

top: Upon arrival at the Galeria Perdana, Langkawi
nx pic: Ning and Ferrin..two of my friends who joined me throughout the trip..

It was the first day for the crew as well.. so they had to load the equipment, set up the shoot, etc..
So we extras were given a waiting area… tadaaaaa..

Open air.. with a few tables set up by the caterers and some chairs..

Yup, this is how we chill…

Naturally, there were not enough chairs and well.. its more comfortable on the floor anyways.. LOL

I for one, immediately snoozed off cos of the flu I was having, with fever coming on and off.

Blissful sleep was sadly elusive, as we are hustled to the wardrobe room, to be given our costumes for the shoot. Zain had called me the night before requesting me to bring my cheongsam.. (arkrkgh?)
Wawa, the wardrobe PIC, asked me to change into my cheongsam and I quite gladly too, for the costumes on set was not too “breathtaking” LOL.
I think I can design better dresses and gowns!
Must be the budget la horr… (ok.. I promise to take some pics of the dresses to show you guys!)

After a lot of pinning, stretching of cloth (this I leave it to your imagination, haha :p) and touch-ups, all of us lined up for our make-up to be done.

Woohooo! I can’t wait! Being a person who apply make-up only once a year for my company’s annual Christmas dinner, ( and even that has to be done by my make-up friend YZee as I can’t tell the difference between a foundation and powder) I was in full anticipation of the glamour make-up and waited impatiently to be transformed into one of those picture perfect cover girls we see on mags and TV.

Make-up artists: from left to right – Ida, Jerry and Zee (very funny and fun ppl really!)

Result? ah well.. can’t complain.. make up is light and nope, I didn’t become drop dead gorgeous or the “so-you-think you-are-the-next Ling Tan”… guess that would have to take a few bottles of foundation and dozen palettes of eyeshadow, not worth for an just extra right? LOL.

Funny man Harun Salim Bachik – his make-up is of a errmm.. difference kind!

Checking out the set for the 2nd day shoot..

Preparation on set – one of the private room gallery in Galeria Perdana

Zee touching up the extras on the set. The dude in white is Ridzuan Hashim, one of the lead actor..

Not much pics after this as the air con is really cold and I felt like passing out.. hehe.But my friends duly informed me that I look great and nobody can tell that I’m almost dead on my feet. Thank god for make up yeah? :o)

Behind the scenes pics for the 1st day shoot..

Hours passed as Afdlin Shauki and Oh (1st Asst Director) kept yelling “Cut!”, “Again” and “Back to position”.. yup yup.. exactly like “The Making of..” and those shows you see on TV. What they didn’t show was the extras standing for hours and waiting! But it was all professional and yes, they do let us take breaks!

Lunch was Paprik Chicken, Kangkung and scrambled eggs.. I was too hungry to stand at the “buffet” table to take pics so I just snap one of my plate.. Heh..

Taste-wise? Ok laa.. can eat can eat…;p

Ok..got to log off… off to set.. Day 3..
Will update again..

Hi! I’m back! This is the morning of Day 4…Ahhh.. where was I?
…

Teatime..

Flooded with good old dhall..

Tea was served at 6pm. Yours truly here was so famished that the camera was forgotten. Luckily Michael got a pic of it.. It was delicious super oily roti canai ( I must be reallllyyy hungry to enjoy this), banana fritter aka pisang goreng and fried sweet potatoes.
Yeah.. really healthy stuffs.. LOL..
Definitely not good for my throat and fever but I enjoyed it anyway ;p

Then it was back to the set to shoot another scene and another scene and another till dinnertime at 830pm..

Curry chicken, cabbage, fried fish and ulam with kick-ass sambal

I enjoyed dinner, (yes, really, taste-wise its passable for a decent meal) Obviously not of super-duper standards laa..but I had kept my expectations low remember? So I was pretty pleased to find good Malay dishes served.
Or was I just very hungry? Hehe..

Finally, it’s packing up time, and those who are dressed in the costumes by the wardrobe department are required to return them. We were then told that we will be wearing the same costume throughout the 4 days. At that point I don’t anyone cared about hygiene and etc..Ha.

Briefing for the next day was in the dark. Jeez.. The Galeria people can’t even leave the lights on for us for another measly 30mins.

Oh did I mention that the nearest washroom is a good 10 minutes walk away? A trip to the washroom can be considered a workout for most of us!

Trip back to the our accomodation took 40 minutes, of which the whole vanful of extras was dozing like logs!

We saw our “hotel” for the 1st time. A budget motel, as we are all on budget. Surprisingly, it was comfy, or it could be that we are exhausted!
See for yourself…

These pics were taken on the morning of the 2nd day.. which explains the sunlight..

It’s on the 2nd floor..yup, the one with the patriotic flag…grin

The entrance area..

The “lobby”

Rooms – in a row and side by side

Our room.. 2 beds and another was a double decker since we asked a room for 4..

Air-conditioning! Not bad for RM49/night yeah?

Cool eh? Maybe I should start a business like that in Langkawi. It came as a shock to me to see no receptionist at all, for all our lives we are use to expect someone around to run the place, attend to customers, etc. This one, basically works this way:
Call when you want to book a room. Then inform your ETA.
Call again when you reach there. A dude will come by, give you your key, accept payment in cash only, mind you, and that’s it. Welcome yourself!

I definitely won’t mind a business like this. One that doesn’t “tie” you to the place.

The washroom..

A whole row of them, since it’s on sharing basis..

Looking at the “minimalist” decor at the place, there is no cause for worries; nothing much to stow-away!
All rooms are locked so don’t think of getting a free stay. Main entrance via the stairs are not locked. Neither is the main door into the “motel”.
So I guess those traveling alone and ladies might want to think twice of staying here. As for us, we lock our room during the night and that’s about it. Again, the fact that there are 4 of us and also cos we are way too tired to think straight by night time might be the main cause why we didn’t analyse too much of the safety and security factor.
Seriously though, we do feel safe somehow.

Till tomorrow…