Review: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory ( Book )

I personally like this book from Roald Dahl due to the indifferent twists along the story and how Charlie was just so lucky at that very time to have found the fifty pence , bought that Fudge Mallow Delight which contained the all-so-rare Golden Ticket! The long journey in Wonka's Factory prooved that Charlie was the sole person who would be responsible in controlling the entire business in place of him. There were also a handful of wierd poems that rhymed in an odd sort of way...

Review: MacRitchie Nature Walk

This nature trail is great for as a long jog or just strolling and enjoying the surroundings which soothes the mind. This also compliments to the Breathe Project by PM Lee, by exercising our leg muscles and strengtening our stamina. The attraction in that trail would most probably be the skywalk due to being very high from sea level and walking along atop the trees with nothing much but ropes and planks. This will be a feat for those to overcome their fear of heights.

Review: Breaking Down Of The Singapore Flyer

A truely sad ending to Christmas, the Singapore Flyer broke down just at the wrong time, and now many tourists and "party go-ers" will miss their chances to be in the cabins on Christmas Day. Hopefully, the flyer will somehow be quickly restored back to its original use and serve it's purpose as the tallest orservation wheel. I do pity those who were trapped in the cabin for a whopping Six hours though, imagine how stuffy it would be in a 3x3 meter box with poor vantilation and air-conditions turned off? I guess many people were drenched in dissapointment about the temperory closure of the Flyer...

Review: I Can Do It! November 08 For Mabox@Chingay 09

After reading the newsletter, i found out that many of us are undoubtly focused and interested in picking up the skills to perform well in Chingay. We should also feel proud to perform for Chingay as the chances of being selected is in that of a thousand to one.I also saw the perseverence in the contingent as we continued to strive on even if there were errors or miscalculations during the choreographing

Review: Movers and Shakers

Published in The Straits Times on November 8

I felt that the country is trying to improve the health of people in Singapore by introducing this campaign "Breathe". The campaign was held next to the Singapore Recreation Club, had many interesting activities and prizes for being a sport in the games. Best of all, there were T-Shirts given to all who entered and and infinite supply of Cold Milo (Yum!). I hope that Singaporeans will cut down on unhealthy food and choose to live a healthy lifestyle instead!

Special Magicbox T-Shirt

The new T-Shirt we recieved was used to recognise our own members in the contingent as some rehearsals will contain other members in other contingents. It was white in color with the words "Magicbox Chingay 2009" printed in bold to attract the attention and to know who belongs in our contingent.

Costumes For Chingay

When i first saw the costumes, I was like "Oh my god...you'd expect us to wear that?!" . It was extremetly stuffy and immobile due to the heavy makeup and the weight of the props. However, our costumes ( magicians ) would stand out from the rest of the contingent due to us having a majority of red as compared to the others which would be in a black attire. We would also be wearing contact lens so as to not obscure the makeup on our faces.For the wigs ( Yes WIGS ) , the colour of it would be white to match the theme , but that's not the problem, the real hassle is the hair which is about a foot long ( 30cm) and gets into our faces everytime we shake our heads or look downwards. I'll try not to scratch and/or sweat when the makeup is on , the temptation is there all right...

Props For Chingay

There'd be many visual effects being displayed by our contingent, most notably the Skyrunners and the *cough cough* productions at the end of the whole performance. Not forgetting a special illusion performed by someone whom is a master of magic, and who I shall not reveal now, making a truely magical meaning of the whole MagicBox contigent.
All sorts of magical equipment would we magicians handle whilist walking a total of 2.3Km (1.43Miles) from around City Hall MRT Station to Dhoby Gaut MRT Station( Not Exact ). So do watch out if you're shopping there or walking around, you might just see a few familiar faces lurking around...
Magicians would be performing Street Magic along the whole journey , which will definately entertain, and maybe baffle you ,too!

Our Given Tips For Magic

• Keep practising and practising infront of the mirror until you are convinced that you asre good enough
• Keep performing to people where opportunities arise( be 'Thick-Skinned' )
• Be bold and not be afraid of making mistakes
• Relax and enjoy the trick that you perform
• Don't rush to learn many tricks at one time

Eye Contact---A spectator will generally look where you look! Therefore, when doing a move you should never look at your hands. It is a good idea to look into the spectators eyes, whilst doing a secret move. This is better still, if you can say something to them at the same time, a funny line, perhaps! When you look directly at somebody, they will generally look back at you. If, however, they are determined to stare at your hands, they will still divide their focus between your hands and your eyes.... it's only polite, besides they can't actually help themselves, it's human nature!

Movement---Another method of misdirection used is movement. There is an old saying in magic "A large movement covers a small movement". If you are performing a trick that requires you to make a small mechanical move, do it as you are moving the magical item towards the spectator or putting it down on the table. This "large" movement of moving the object, will make to smaller movement of your fingers invisible. Be aware that this need not be done quickly, in actual fact, this large movement makes such good misdirection that it can, and should, be done at a natural pace. Try it with one of your tricks, and watch the move become invisible yourself!

Overview of Chingay 2009 (Magic Box)

Next year's chingay would be a big hit as it would be a big hit as it would be the first time in Singapore would there be a magic theme incorporated into our section. For the Secondary Two students (that of 2008) , remember that camp where the SMILE crew came over to teach us magic? Yes, some of us actually joined and, stuck with the spirit of magic all the way, thus ending up here...
For Chingay, we had to be dedicated to show up for the rehearsals and show the enthusiasm needed for the contingent to work well. We were to practice misdeirections and elegance in our movements, while trying to space out evenly for maximum visual effect.
For our contingent, there are approximately 300 participants, all dressed in *secret* costumes, performing infront of thousands of street audience and millions of television viewers. This contingent is the FINALE ( fi-nah-leh ) and therefor the most grand of all floats.