Day number one of my first film shoot will always be an unforgettable one for me. In many ways. *laugh* 

For starters, my month had already been a hectic one, with the ‘H’ Factor Nationwide Creative Youth Workshop kicking off in Penang on the 12^th, followed by the JB chapter of the campaign just last weekend. On Monday morning, I took the first flight out from JB to Langkawi. Because the film was running on a tight budget, the Producers (KRU Production) could only arrange to fly me in via Air Asia (which is not a bad thing *wink*), so I had to do a transit in KL before taking another flight to Langkawi (which I almost missed because of my JB – KL flight delay. *laugh*)

Didn’t get to sleep much at all since the start of the month so I was quite tired on Monday, having to get up at past 6am after a long day with the workshop in MSC Cyberport the day before, and a long work session until the wee hours of the morning right after. So a zombie I was again. What’s new anyway? *laugh* The ride to the Senai airport was a long one and because there was a renovation going on, I had to detour on foot with my luggage bags without a trolley. Quite a task for such an early part of the day… *laugh*

Anyway, when I got to the check-in counter I was told that my luggage was overweight and that I had to off-load 5 kilos from my bag in order to make it for the 15 KG or less cut! It came as no surprise though, because I had packed in a 3-week load away from home, which included my gadgets, notebook (to be able to keep in touch with you), hair dryer, etc. *laugh*

Anyway, to cut the long story short, I arrived at Langkawi in the afternoon of the 20^th and got settled into the accommodation arranged for us by the Producers. Because I had never done a film before, I really didn’t know what to expect. Seriously. Oh sorry, forgot to mention the name of the film – My Spy. Hehe. It’ll be a wacky one, I promise you. Featuring a star-studded cast including A.C. Mizal, Daphne Iking, Carmen Soo, Que Haidar, Aziz M. Osman, Harun Salim Bachik and many more (directed by Afdlin Shauki mind you), this film is set to blow you away with laughter and not to mention suspense and the works… *laugh* Without revealing too much, I’ll try to share whatever I can with you, with reports all the way from Langkawi  ya…(see how much I love you guys? *laugh*).

Ok back to my arrival on the island. The accommodation was nothing fancy really. We were put in Nadias Inn Comfort at Pantai Cenang and this was what my room looked like.

I got to admit that I was a bit shocked, but hey, then again, budget restraints don’t really give you much of a choice do they? *laugh* Anyway, I guess I should be thankful I actually had a bed to sleep in and an attached bathroom to shower in, right? *smile* The first night was a luxury for me because I managed to rake in 5 hours of sleep, way more than I was used to for the past few weeks. It was a restful one at that so thank God for my first night in Langkawi. *smile*

I got up the next morning all set and ready to roll, but guess what? During my shower I noticed red lumpy patches all over the left side of my body (I slept on my left side the night before). From my legs to my hips right up to my arms, fingers and face! It was itchy and red. Not a pretty sight at all. Quite bad actually. *laugh* I thought it was just the mozzies feasting on me the night before but no. By 11am, I finally concluded that it was the bed bugs that got a lil busy during my visit to their crib. (based on the fact that it only appeared on the side of my body that I slept on). *laugh* By late morning, the bites got worse and turned into this!

Ok, I shocked you there, didn’t I? Makeup couldn’t cover it so even before my first scene on set, I had to leave to see a doc. Quick. Without much luck with the first and second clinic (they were either closed or weren’t quite open. Langkawi style of work I suppose… *laugh*), we finally arrived a the 3^rd one (we also discovered that there weren’t many clinics in the area *laugh*). The doctor wrote it off as ‘kena pijat’ so I was prescribed with anti-histamines and an itch reliever. First setback – I was drowsy throughout the day.  Next setback – even with the medication the itching didn’t stop. In fact it got worse. *laugh* The bites started to swell even more and in order to lock the makeup in to cover the redness, our makeup artist resorted to spraying hair spray onto the bites. Imagine how that felt. Hair spray going through infected skin. *laugh*

Nightmare, nightmare. *laugh* First day of shoot. *laugh* Anyway, I wrapped with my part for Day 1 at about 4.30am and attempted to change rooms. Now mind you, that was EXACTLY what I did throughout the night. Or morning. Whatever you’d like to call it. *laugh* So ROOM CHANGING I was. Five good times over. At THAT time of the day after a long long day of shoot. *laugh* The first room they gave me had bed bugs right? So I moved my stuff to the 2^nd room which was flooded (it has been raining heavily in Langkawi in the evenings, the piping in certain rooms at Nadias Inn malfunctioned, etc.), and then I finally arrived at the third one. Also flooded. Then the fouth. No flood, which was great. *grin* After unpacking I was finally ready for my shower but to my dismay, there was hardly any water to shower with! Man! So I had to go through the entire process of re-packing and moving again in my towel (too tired to go through my laundry bag!). My fifth room had air conditioning problems and curtains that weren’t wide enough to shield the windows. *sigh* Well after all that, I finally decided to move back to the bed bug room. At least there, the air-conditioning worked and there was water in the bathroom. Plus it wasn’t flooded just yet and the windows were totally shielded. I had made up my mind to just take the sheets off and lace a part of the mattress and pillow with my pashmina and a t-shirt, and sleep double clothed from head to toe. So there I was, back in the original room number one. *laugh* Square one. *laugh*

After my shower at 5am, I was taken to the Langkawi GH because the itch was killing me and the left side of my body started to swell real bad. Much worse than it was before. So at 5.30 in the morning I was at the GH waiting for a doc to help me. Point of desperation.

To my dismay however, the doc that was on duty told me there was no way the situation was going to get better within the next few days or so. In fact, he mentioned that I should expect at least 2 weeks or so before any improvement on my skin. Shucks. My greatest concern was the role I was supposed to play in the film. For starters it certainly wasn’t one with bumps, bruises or swelling. *laugh* He gave me the same medication as the first doc gave me (even after I told him it was exactly the same prescription that didn’t work) and I had to beg for a jab to ease the itch (which the nurse literally forced into my left arm eventually *laugh*) which was supposed to knock me out within less than 30 minutes (the doc warmed me prior that I may be dead asleep and not able to get up in the morning but stubborn as I was, I decided to go ahead with it anyway).

Before I placed my head on the pillow to sleep (or nap, more likely *laugh*, oh, I had to sleep like a log BTW, literally – in order to ensure than my body did not go over the radius of the pashmina *laugh*), I prayed for God to keep my body strong to fight the sedation and be able to get up sober to shoot in 2 hours.

God was gracious and at 8.30am I was up and ready to shoot again. Drowsy, tired, drugged out – yes. But the show had to go on and I had a commitment to fulfil as an actress on my 2^nd day of shoot. So, packed with the jab that was still lingering in my body and my first dose of medication (which was also sedative mind you) I fought with my body to do what I had to do. No excuses. By noon, Andre (the sweetest 2nd AD ever!) had already helped me get a new set of medication from the local pharmacy (prescribed from my doc in KL whom I called first thing in the morning) together with a new set of contact lenses (one side of my existing ones fell into the sink hole in the morning… *laugh*).

Long long day, not to mention a character building one. *laugh* Nevertheless after 2 days of hardcore sedation and fatigue, I am still alive and kicking, and ready for the next day of shoot – tomorrow! *smile*

Tomorrow – a brand new day with so much to look forward to. *smile* You, on the other hand have to promise me you’ll watch this movie at least TWICE when it’s out, after all I went through to do my job! *laugh* Despite what happened, I thank God for giving me to opportunity to work with such a wonderful team, director and cast. Afdlin Shauki - for being so patient, gracious AND for believing in me, O (1st AD) - for being such a darling throughout, making sure I was always well and happy, Andre (2nd AD) - one of the sweetest people I met on the job, Ju (for taking me to the hospital at 5 this morning and offering her mattress to swap with), Abang Botak for driving me to the hospital, picking me up from the airport, making sure I had my room sorted, etc. and the rest of the crew/cast (will save that for my next post k... *smile*).

Anyway, please do keep us all in prayer. I’ll be in Langkawi until the 24^th, then taking the first flight out to Kota Kinabalu on the 25th, via KL for ‘H’ Factor in Sabah, but back to shoot in Langkawi again on Monday the 27^th before heading back to KL on the 1^st  for the last leg of the campaign. Exciting year end and I’m glad to be able to share it with you. *smile* I love you guys and miss home! *laugh*

xxx

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