Goodies!

Happy new year everybody!

Apologies for the long hiatus. Let me make it up to you with a little something.

This tumbler literally reads COOL :) And take note of that smart little pop-up straw.

Handy hydration devices not really your speed? Or too much on your mind lately? I know the perfect place to store all your secrets.

"The Diary Of Amos Lee" notebooks! Cute and small, yet really handy.
What's more, these merchandise come straight from Adeline Foo and are exclusive i.e. not available anywhere else. They also make the perfect gift for Amos Lee loving friends, or anyone who loves a pretty and useful product.

To get your very own notebook or tumbler, simply email amoslee.blogger@gmail.comwith your name and age and complete this entry in 50 words or less:

If I am going to be a famous TV star, who would I choose to be?

Only three winners will be picked. Let your imagination run! We want bizarre and quirky choices. Better still, tell us why you want to be this famous TV star. Closing date is 15 January 2012. Good luck!


<3 The Official Blogger

A baker and a book series

As promised, here's part two to the up close and personal series, where we learn more about the people who help make the book and TV series possible.

Mm, a nice delicious brunch of coffee, pie and shortbread! Are you wondering who prepared it?
Meet Allan Teoh, the warm and capable owner of bakery/cafe AllanBakes at Bukit Timah Plaza.

A few quick facts about Allan and his bakery:

• Allan is a self-taught baker who had been baking since young.
• He had left a corporate job to pursue professional baking just 5 years ago.
• AllanBakes is winner of various local food awards and is especially known for its great cheesecakes!

Adeline had first visited the old AllanBakes outlet located at South Buona Vista road back when she held a full time job at the National Community Leadership Institute. Being fond of both the yummy food and friendly service, she soon became a regular.

Oh, did I forget to mention this other important fact?

• Allan has also recently become a published author, having released a cookbook of self-written recipes entitled AllanBakes Really Good Cakes. He had written this book in the hopes that he would be able to create workable recipes for delicious cakes, and in doing so contribute his knowledge of baking back to society. :D

AllanBakes Really Good Cakes had recently been named the Singapore winner for the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2011 and is now vying for the next round of "Gourmand Best in the World" competition under the category of 'French Cuisine' to be held in Paris in March 2012! Yup, so not only are Adeline and Allan friends, they are also fellow award-winning authors, and looking forward to working together collaboratively. For starters, Allan has been sponsoring his cakes to the set of the TV series. Remember this?

What's more, Allan presented us with a very special treat one visit - Amos Lee cookies! I had the rare privilege of tasting one of these delicious creations :)

I had a hard time figuring out how my camera could capture how crunchy and sweet this humble little cookie was, but I guess that's up to your imagination for now! ;)

Visit AllanBakes at 

No. 1 Jalan Anak Bukit #B1-01 (inside Fairprice Finest)
Bukit Timah Plaza
Singapore 588996
www.allanbakes.com/

<3

The Official Blogger

Second visit to the set

Here's a second in the behind the scenes series, where I document all the cool stuff going on on the set of The Diary Of Amos Lee :)

It was the 8th of December and the cast and crew seemed pumped up to get through the last few weeks of filming! They were shooting very exciting swimming scenes at the pool that day. Who dropped in for a visit?

Oh don't worry about that little guy, he was just one of the props. Remember how in Girls, Guts and Glory, Alvin and Somaly had bonded over a common interest in spiders?

So what else did I uncover? A very busy changing room? You bet!

Whoa, check out all the towels! Of course, they had to make sure nobody would catch cold from jumping in and out of the water. Luckily, the day was hot and sunny, perfect conditions for an outdoor shoot. Take a look at how clear and blue the water looked in such dazzling sunlight. 

The ever-professional crew was ready to face the sun, as you could tell from the overwhelming number of hats and sunglasses present that day.

From camera crew and assistant directors...

 To gaffers...

 To the executive producer/director...

It was hard work standing in the sun from morning to late afternoon, but nobody was looking to leave until the job was done :) Everyone (myself included!) was also lucky to enjoy a glimpse of a rare and beautiful sight in the sky that afternoon. 

Now who said working in the sun was without its benefits? :D

<3 The Official Blogger

Colourful clothes and awesome accessories

Hello (:

What am I?

I am

a) a black furry caterpillar

b) a piece of false moustache

c) a microphone cover

Click here to find out!

Now that that's been sorted out, let's move on to check out other things going on on-set.

Let's spend some time learning about the man who created all the outfits for the show!

Introducing our stylist, Rey Lee (: 

Dressed in a simple T shirt and bermudas, he greeted me with a warm handshake and smile, introducing himself simply as Rey. With such a friendly disposition, one could easily mistake him as a friend's Dad or any other nice uncle living from your neighbourhood.

However, after a little conversation, I soon learnt of Rey's many brilliant accomplishments in the field of fashion and left with a sense of admiration for his rare trove of expertise.

Rey had spent more than a decade doing costuming for local theatre in the 90s, working with various companies such as TheatreWorks. He's also been a entrepreneur, having owned a bridal boutique and a skin care salon at some point in his life. On top of that, he has also been invited to give lectures at La Salle College of the Arts school of fashion.

Here are some television programmes he had been involved in:

So what does a TV stylist do?

First, he has to read the script to get an idea of every characters' background. 

Next, he will try to picture each scene in his head and imagine how everything will look as a whole. 

He then sketches his designs on paper, although there are limitations to presenting an outfit in 2D. For example, rosettes all look identical on paper, but in real life, they come in many different forms and styles.  

I asked what his job was on set since he had already designed outfits for all the characters beforehand. 

"I'm on set to make sure everything is okay," he replies before adding, with a laugh, "and buy food for the kids!". Rey is known for buying goodies for our young cast to keep them cheery and well-fed.

Where Sherlock Holmes has his Dr Watson, Rey has his own two lovely assistants - Ann and Stacey, journalism students from La Salle College of the Arts.

Ann and Stacey keep busy by managing the costumes and accessories, and holding an album containing pictures of every single costume an actor has to put on. This is done to make sure that every look can be are recreated accurately. 

"You can have fun with kids, with their colourful clothes." says Ann.

Here's more of Rey's work.

Stay tuned, for next we'll get up close and personal with the man behind

 And

Yum!

<3 The Official Blogger

First visit to the set

Adeline and I went down to one of the many shooting locations this week to visit the cast and crew. Well, not exactly visit, we were there on a mission to deliver a very important package...
You see, with the cast and crew working so hard (and over the school holidays too!), it was only right that they were rewarded with adequate sustenance. 

Or more precisely, cheesecake from AllanBakes from Bukit Timah Plaza! Was it well received? Let's have this picture speak for itself.

The cake was devoured in no time!

I'll soon talk about how Allan and his bakery played a part in this book and TV series. For now, gear up for an exclusive sneak peek of what goes on behind the scenes of The Diary Of Amos Lee (:

Wow, being on the set of a television show sure is exciting! There are so many people involved in a television production, and all have fancy professional titles.

Executive producer - oversees the business/negotiation aspects of production such as finances 

Director - oversees the creative aspects of production and determines just about everything including but not limited to location, cast, and lighting. 

Director of photography - the chief of the camera and lighting crew, who is responsible for making every frame of the show looks good
Producer - the coordinator of all aspects of production, who supervises and controls matters from hiring personnel to distribution
Assistant director - maintains order on set and day-to-day management of cast, crew, script and set
Scriptwriter - writes episodes and works closely with producers and director in making tweaks  

Production sound mixer - in charge of making use of fancy sound equipment to record all sound precisely 

Gaffer - acts as the on-set electrician who executes the lighting designs

Stylist - designs outfits for the characters and makes sure they look consistent during shoots

Make-up artist - applies make up for actors and remains available for touch-ups in between shooting scenes

Oh, and don't forget that fancy professional camera (: Quite a far cry from the digital cameras we carry on vacation, I must say. Here are Kenny, the gaffer, and Glenn Chan, the director of photography, posing with the equipment. 

Fun fact 1: Glenn was also the director of photography for the popular Channel 5 series, Fighting Spiders.

When we got there in the afternoon, it was hot, hot, hot! The cast and crew had been there since seven in the morning but were still revved and ready for more shooting. Indeed, they were true professionals ;) What's more, imagine having to do a scene out on a basketball court on a sweltering hot day!

Executive producer/director Phillip Lim planning a shot with Glenn

Fun fact 2: Phillip Lim was also the co-creator of another popular Channel 5 series, The Pupil.

Of course, being the first post about behind-the-scenes progress, I shan't reveal too much just yet. I'll leave you with this interesting close-up shot.

Does anyone know what this is? Answer will be revealed in the next post, so stay tuned!

<3

The Official Blogger

A big friendly hello (:

Hello fellow Amos Lee readers!

Here's an introductory post to the official blog of The Diary of Amos Lee, just to let you know what there is to look forward to in future updates. To avoid having this turn out like a boring information post, we'll have a virtual Q and A conversation about this instead!

You: Huh? Isn't there already a website for this The Diary of Amos Lee series? This is confusing.
Me: Yes, there most certainly is an official website. Available on that site are information pertaining to stuff like the book series, the author, awards and events. However, this blog was made specially for the purpose of keeping fans (yes, you out there!) and curious people updated on the going-ons for the book series, but with a focus on the upcoming TV series.

You: Well yeah, but I've already read the books and I'll look out for the TV series when it starts airing. What else is there to know?
Me: Are you a Harry Potter fan? Friends of mine, who are big fans of the Harry Potter series, don't just stop at catching the films at the cinemas or collecting those nice thick books; in fact, they keep themselves amused with Harry Potter facts, cast interviews and Harry Potter merchandise.
The point is, there is so much more to the Amos Lee series that we can talk about here! Updates from the set of the TV series, hearing from the people involved in the making of the show, random trivia, giveaways... the list goes on!

You: Hmm, very sneaky. Is Adeline Foo behind all this monkey business? I mean, it's her book right? ;)

Me: Adeline is currently busy with managing all the other stuff that comes with being a bestselling author slash mother of three, i.e. writing the fourth book, attending events, taking care of the kids. I happen to be a friend who is also a fan, helping her along on this ride by writing on this blog!

You: So it's for fans and by a fan? Is there any way I can play a bigger role in this as a reader?
Me: Absolutely. Here's how you can participate:
1) Email any questions or suggestions you have to amoslee.blogger@gmail.com. If you don't ask, I don't know what you want to read about, so don't be shy. If you'd like to keep anonymous please also do say so! If you'd like to direct any questions to Adeline, I'll also try to get her to answer them.
2) Comment on the posts! Let me know you're there and what you think of what was written.
3) Share your favourite posts on Facebook or Twitter! Remember that this blog is for Amos Lee fans and we'd really like for people to know of its existence. What's a blog without readers? 

You: Sounds pretty good so far! So how often should I look out for updates?
Me: I will update this site at least once a week, with coverage of behind-the-scenes work for the TV series. In addition to that, I will also update as and when there is anything I think would be of interest to you guys. Personally, I think Google Reader and RSS feeds are great ways to follow blogs. You can also subscribe by email. Look to the sidebar on the right.

That's all for now folks, hope you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did!

<3
The Official Blogger