OUR PERSONAL CHALLENGE .....

Hello there Guys and Gals, if you have been following our works, you will know that we are trying very hard to promote our History, Arts and Culture Projects here in The Heritage Station Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. Well, I have been very honoured to be working here as I was given the opportunity to meet a lot of people, including the daughter of Brig. Gen. Arthur Benison Hubback, who is the architect of this building and numerous other buildings in Malaysia (you can read more at http://blog.thehubbacks.org).

Err ... I think I will look something like this ....

Some of you know that I have been married for sometime now, and since doing pre weddding and wedding related projects, my wife and I finally decided to do our pre wedding photo shoot after 3 and a half years of marriage. (Erm, why so late? You may ask, but it was related to $ at that time). Ok we have assembled a team of people for our photoshoot, like most people do, but we decided we wanted something a little different .... we wanted a thematic shoot. And so I convinced my other half that we should do a "victorian-ish theme" where we will focus on stuff from a bygone era .... and in part as a tribute to The Old Kuala Lumpur Train Station.... (and also Jap Anime, 'Emma - a Victorian Romance.' ... hee hee hee). Mind you we are not taking pictures in the hotel nor the train station as we also wanted something a little different.

Of course, my wife and I do have our doubts and concerns; who doesn't anyway? But we are willing to do some experiments .... I will keep you Guys and Gals posted of our end results, but for now, let me introduce our team that is involved in our personal challenge;

MAIN PHOTOGRAPHER

Mr. John W. Ishii - John is our friend and has offered to take our photos. If you are familiar with his works, you will know that John is not a wedding photographer. He is a Professional Photographer specializing in Photojournalism and Commercial Shoots. However, John is very serious about his Photography and wants to delve into Editorial Style Pre Wedding Photography as a passion. He talks very passionately about his craft and I am normally swept away with his enthusiasm and passion. From his pre wedding projects from before, he is known for his edgy, intimate and no smiling shoots. Good. That's EXACTLY what my wife and me are looking for. With a dash of his editorial style, his pictures portray a story to the viewer, and my wife and I are very honoured to have him as our main photographer. More on Mr. John W. Ishii please visit http://www.johnwishii.com

PHOTOGRAPHER

Mr. Tommy Yap - Also our friend, Tommy, or more affectionately known as pan8a, is normally known for his Model, Underwater and CLS shoots. Again, he is not a wedding photographer. Pan8a told me that he always wanted to dress up in the Victorian Styled Suits, so he was kind of elated to know that we had decided to do this thematic shoot. Pan8a will be trying out new styles and techniques on us and we hope that we can perform to his expectations! Just for spice, my wife and me decided to throw in something contemporary to break the monotony of the 'victorian-ish theme'. More on Mr. Tommy Yap, please visit http://www.pan8a.com

GOWNS & SUITS

Well, I thought I would like to repay the kindness of Mr. Dennis Thean, Elaine, Veralyne and Stephanie at Pretty in White for always backing us on our projects. I took wifey to Pretty in White to see if she would like any gowns from them that could depict the 'victorian' style and her body size. True to their words; that there is a gown for everyone in Pretty in White, she found a nice gown. It does not have the bodice and stuff, but it does suit our theme, in our humble opinion. What's more, Dennis unlocked his bag of tricks and I managed to get a very unique and rare 'Coat tails' Jacket for me by Pretty In White! 3 pieces some more!! Fuyoh ... now I very kan cheong.... in the picture above, I am wearing one of their Jackets ...... More on Pretty In White, please visit http://www.prettyinwhite.com.my

MUA (MAKE UP ARTIST)

One weekend at home, my wife was bugging me about the Make Up Artist. I was not in too good a mood, so I asked my wife to, 'Go Find Online lar!'. She surfed and surfed and surfed and surfed. After a while she told me that she likes this .... this as in BODY PAINTING!!! I felt like *faint*. What's that got to do with make up??? She then went to the persons blog and she liked what she saw ... she told me that this MUA showed before and after pics and she liked it. So, ok I asked her to SMS the MUA and see if she was available .... Oh my, she was, and we confirmed her straight away and didn't even bother to ask others ... so welcome to our team Ms. Ally Choong, who is based in KL now .. but she will be following us up to Penang! All I can say is, I too like your body painting works!!! More on Ally Choong, please visit http://www.li-colors.blogspot.com

OTHER STUFF & OUR LOCATION

Fuyoh. Headache lar doing this PS .... we bought loads of stuff from ebay, domanchi, charles & keith, eve, burberry's, tangs Singapore, boutiques in Singapore (cause the choice and service here in Malaysia was so bad, we walked into a couple of high end boutiques in KL and they just ignored us, unlike Singapore! This is BAD!), talking to Hotels, transports ... enough to drive me mad!

Our location? Penang ... The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (The Blue Mansion) and around ... Our other challenges .... My wife and me are very stiff, we are not photogenic and we are like 'kayu' (wood) ..... ha ha ha ha..... we have to start practicing I guess ..... ha ha ha

Costs? Please don't ask. Many of my friends tell me, 'Wah, you so lucky, get free PS.....'. Sorry, I don't believe in that, cause it's just not my nature. You can call me crazy, but it's just not me! If you are thinking; we spent the norm of RM2 - 3 K, well, I can tell you not. I promised my wife a long time ago that I will take PS with her and so I am willing to go all out for this..... How it will turn out, lets wait and see!!! I am getting excited though .... waiting for April to arrive .....