Jackie Nguyen: A gypsy blog: New and old friends ... in Singapore.

New friendships are the best.

Universal Studios Singapore, the smallest theme park on earth but full of incredible people and loads of fun. Time is winding down for me here in Singapore, being I have only one day left here. I have been here for a total of 41 days already - it has flown by.

When I joined the cast/crew of "My Fair Lady", quite honestly, I only expected to make friends with the American Cast. Yes, I have made a few impacting relationships with my new Cockney and Crew family, however I never expected to have friends from all over the world too. I now have friends from England, Australia, Singapore and new friends from NYC and LA.

Meet two of my favorite crew people:

This is Nazz.

He worked Props with me on Stage Right, and was my "go-to" man for everything. He was understanding when he found out I would be performing AT THE SAME TIME as prop mastering, and gave 150% every single show.

Definitely an amazing person - constantly giving me support and teaching me new things each day. He always listened, and made sure I wasn't stressed. Thanks to Nazz, I can now say "I'm hungry" and "Thank you" in Malay, and have tried some of the most delicious food in all of Singapore. He's a chef, too.

He also snickered at me when I would push props in a dress and heels. Understandable, I guess. :)

Meet Ian, aka Spiderballs! Isn't he PRECIOUS?!

Spiderballs ...well he worked in a different department, but every night always managed to scare me in the dark when I would cross from stage right to stage left, and play racing games on his iPad against the other crew members. He always had this infectious smile on his face and got along so well with our crew.

They are now my friends. Homies for life, in fact. I have learned valuable lessons from both of these Singaporean-Malays, and will never ever take for granted the time I spent with them backstage and once the curtain dropped.

THIS IS KRISTIAN!

He is Sabrina's roommate. But he is so much more than that. He has brought Sabrina such happiness in her life, that I can not even begin to pay him back for. They are basically siblings/spouses, and obviously by default, I am by affiliation.

I feel at ease knowing that my best friend has a solid rock at home. Someone who loves her for her. He is a beautiful person, inside and out. Cute, talented, well-rounded, adventurous, and so kind. He is from Wales, and I promise you, we are going to be friends for life! I can't wait to visit the UK and continue our friendship.

IZZY.
(Also known as Izzy McGizzy, or Israel).

You may recognize him from many of his famous YouTube videos, in which I am OBSESSED with. With Izzy, I have found my cousin. He just gets me. I just get him. We were instant friends since I got here and since he is from LA, I know absolutely that there will be more adventures with Izzy very soon.

I also met a new friend from England:

Sinead Gordon.

She is one of the fiercest, sweetest and down-to-earth gals on this planet. Her best friend, Kristian, is Sabrina's roommate. Who I am also in love with. So this week, we have had best friend week at Sabrina's apartment.

Sinead hails from England, and is a performer as well. Sabrina, Sinead and I would marvel in the similarities we had, being 25 year old female performers. Beyonce, Spice Girls, Iced Tea, auditioning, Britney Spears, Real Housewives, polaroid cameras ... the list continues. We bonded over anything in the 90's basically. We also had a ton of fun seeing our differences. Our language, from slang to pronunciation and emphasis, schooling systems, theatre, and social cues -- completely different. And yet, we each had something valuable to teach each other and for us to go back to our homes and proclaim that "MY American/English friend taught me [blank]!!". How cool is that?

These 5 are just a small handful of people who I can really say are my friends. Sabrina has introduced me to so many awesome people in her Universal family. I've had such a great time here. I haven't even begun with the dinette girls, the boys and the many talents all around the park.

So my new English friend Sinead, my two new Singaporean-Malay friends Nazz and Spiderballs and I, spent all day together at USS. We went to see Izzy, Sabrina, Kristian and all my other new friends perform at the park. We had the best time ever. Here are a few images of our day.