Funny....

...the kids!

Yu Wen pretending to be the patty in the burger.


Yu Hao letting reap one of his dinosaur-like screams again.


Clap clap hands. Many times he'd clap too close to his nose and keep slapping himself on it. Silly.


In one of her "zombie" poses. She said she learned it from Kung Fu Panda, at the part when Shifu tosses a dumpling at Panda.


Fooling around in front of the camera.


Sis wants to hug him, but bro tries to fend off the unwanted attention. Notice the clutter in the background. My home is a junk yard!


He's always tickled by his sister.


Wish they can be happy like this forever.

Anyone & Noone, Someone & Everyone

Last week I went to watch a Chinese musical, "If There are Seasons", which is medley of Singapore singer/song-writer Liang Wenfu's songs. I must admit that I do not watch musicals or drama productions often, as I am not a very cheem/deep person in spirit. What piqued my interest were the songs that I grew up with and a chance to reconnect with them.

I wasn't left disappointed as I was transported back to my teenage days, the budding friendships and puppy love. The singers put up a solid performance, but being a tad biased, I'd have preferred original interpretations of some of my favourite songs. Even though there isn't much character development (quite stereotypical and predictable characters: a struggling song-writer in foreign land, and old restauranteur with an unfulfilled musical career etc. ), there are certain touching moments and I could hear some sniffing and blowing of noses inside the theatre. I also bumped into a couple whose wedding I will shoot in 2 weeks' time.

However, what really struck me was the opening rendition of EE Cummings' poem "anyone lived in a pretty how town". Anyone & Noone are real, and they know how to live and love, even though the Someones and Everyones in the town either dislike them or are indifferent towards them. On the other hand, the Someones and Everyones are living in an illusory dream, a monotonous and conforming life, which render them insignificant.

Well, I won't go too much into it, lest I expose more of my ignorance.

I thought this picture says a bit about Anyone, Noone, Someone and Everyone, my re-interpretation.

Weather Update

The shoot went on, as scheduled.
The rain stopped, and even though the sun did not exactly show its face, there was soft light all around.

The weather: my enemy, my friend

At this moment, the thunder, lightning and the rain are wreaking havoc on my scheduled pre-wedding shoot later in the afternoon. The groom-to-be Xinwei is calmness personified when he sms'ed me "blue sky from north coming over (Botanical Gardens) now....should be ok in 2-3 hours".

Visibility looks to be less than 1km now. I wish I can see the sun soon.

Talking about the sun, I had plenty of it last week when I went on a mini walkabout on a sunny afternoon. Time to time, I need some stimulation outside weddings to hone my skills and to think outside of the "wedding box". Even though I was perspiring like crazy, I discovered some quaint little spots as well as rediscovered the street photographer in me.

Of late night suppers, a fish bone, and the accidental driver

I've known Alan since 1993, when we were hall mates at Eusoff Hall. He lived just opposite my room, and together with a few other neighbours, I had the first taste of communal and independent living. We had a great time: late night suppers, movie marathons and the likes.
Alan was a very good actor. He snatched the main role for the hall drama production, to play a monkey. (I'm serious)

He is also very hardworking with his studies, and the only person in that "neighbourhood" to score a 2nd upper class honours in Economics. (Don't ask what I got)

One Aug 8 night, we drove all the way up to his hometown Batu Pahat, where we spent the night there, watched Singapore NDP on Malaysian TV, and went bowling. (What else do you expect, in Batu Pahat?)

I also remembered one episode when we were watching a DVD movie in one of the friends' rooms in the hall and eating take-away nasi lemak when a fish bone got stuck quite deep down his throat. In a state of half-panic, we borrowed a neighbour's beaten-down car, and tasked one guy who was the only one with a valid Singapore driving license, to drive Alan and us to NUH A&E. Well, it was false alarm as the fish bone was removed quite easily. Unfortunately on our way back, the car went over a hump at quite a high-speed and the car stalled in the middle of the road. The hard part was telling the car owner over the phone what happened. We had to abandon the car by the roadside in the middle of the night.

It was later found out that the last time the driver-in-question drove a car was at the driving centre.

It was a night to remember. I'm not sure if Alan still does.

I am happy that he finally found the woman he can spend the rest of his life with. Best wishes, Cindy and Alan.

Joy Kids Bring

Following up on the last post on family, this is an update on the 2 kids back home.

The little boy is a cry baby/whiner/complain king all rolled into one.

Sleepy, he cries. Wakes up, he cries. Hungry, he cries. Want to eat some more, he cries. Head knocks lightly on hard objects, he cries. Change clothes, he cries. Put him alone in playpen, he cries. Sun shines on his eyes, he cries.

His constant whines and cries have become so consistent, regular and mundane that the only way to deal with it is to treat it like we treat road traffic hubbub as background noise. After a while, it really works! I don't hear him now like I don't hear the cars zooming past on roads below my flat. We are however, very glad that he is getting along fine with "jie jie" Yu Wen. In fact, she is the only person who can guarantee a hearty laugh from him, no matter how cranky he is.

Talking about the sister, she's fast becoming, if not already, a chatterbox. Being chatty is one thing, being LOUD is another. If being loud does not catch our attention, she'd sometimes spew amazing words that make me tear. For example, I always like to tease her. One day, I was reading Little Red Riding Hood (English version) and when it came to the dialogue parts, I purposely spoke in Mandarin. Seeing that her face turned blank and emotionless, I asked her if she was angry (that I am pulling her leg).

Then came her reply with a deadpan face:" I am not angry. I'm just disappointed." Suddenly, I was like this stand-up comedian who just told a joke that nobody laughed at. I quickly apologised and got on with the story.....in English.

All pictures taken with Sony Ericsson k770i

Yu Wen, with what she called "leaf satay".


Baby Brother sits on grass for the first time, and you guess it----he cried.


The Sheik

The Young & The Bold

Some of you may remember recent pictures of Ann Shae at her 2nd birthday party. Well, she now has a younger sister named Annabel and they had a full-month party at Il Lido, Sentosa, a couple of weekends ago.

Ken & Eileen were one of the first 5 couples who put their faith and money in this rookie/part-time press photographer to shoot their wedding. I felt so honoured at that time (at least 5 years ago) and the wedding was so fun to shoot because they were surrounded by many loved ones and fun-loving friends. From then, I went on to shoot several more of the friends' weddings and it brought tingle to my tummy that Ken & Eileen still tasked me to continue document their family celebrations.

I really hope I can last many more years in this industry. We hear of the old neighbourhood fishball noodle stall, the family doctor or dentist who takes care 2 or 3 generations of a family, the familiar face who has been around serving customers for decades.

Can we have a friendly family photographer?

Imagine my client saying:" Hey grandson, this is the photographer who shot ah-gong's wedding. You should check him out."

Grandson:" Err...ok ah-gong....let me consider. But you really think Uncle KC can still shoot while sitting on the wheelchair?"

Reminder

This is Max & Constance holed up in a HK-style cafe, watching their wedding highlights on a DVD. This picture is a reminder on why I am in this industry, and why I enjoy doing it day-in day-out. To be able to help my clients relive that very emotional day through images is such a priviledge. Too bad in our industry, we cannot and should not think of having repeat customers (not a good thing, for weddings....you know what I mean). Otherwise I'd love to do it with them all over again. Watch this space for their wedding pictures.

From the office to the chapel

I met Damian at a corporate project of which he was responsible for the client's website and marketing materials. I was quite stressed when we were working for that project because after all, he was the art director.

After some chit chat, he realised I specialise in weddings and then one thing led to another: I became his wedding photographer. Then the stress level just shot up 10x! Liana and Damian are such a nice couple that the last thing I want to do is to let them down on their wedding day.

Thank goodness theirs was a beautiful wedding on a beautiful day.

Their pre-wedding photography was shot by my friend Gilbert (9frames) and was done in Penang. They met the cast of Little Nonya there at one of the Peranakan attractions. I think Liana looked more gorgeous than Joanne Peh and Jeanette Aw. I'm sure Damian will concur.

(Picture below)Liana was deliberating whether to wear this "loud" necklace. The makeup artist (conservatively) said it wouldn't go well with the gown. When Liana asked for my opinion, I could've said the safest and most neutral thing. However, I have always admired women who have their own minds, and I thought what she really wanted was a shove in the "right" direction, so the "kay poh" in me said: "Well, wear it if that's your style. If people see it and gasp 'That's so Liana', then I don't see why you can't wear it". In the end, the necklace stayed on her neck.




This is not the unveiling. The veil is irritating her, and the ever gentlemanly Damian gives a helping hand.



"Mummy....do we have to be here?"








My impression of Damian is that of a soft-spoken and gentle thinker. I never know he is capable of such big gesture. He must have been VERY happy that day.


The woman on the extreme left is actually the church worker waiting for the make-up to be completed. We were under much pressure to double-up.






She was the flower girl for Daniel and Eliza's wedding. But here, she reminds me of The Joker. (just watched The Dark Knight on DVD recently)