CHAN CHEE ONN & SABRINA GAN

To tell you honestly, this blog is getting seriously difficult. (What? How can it be difficult?). Well, it is.... I think I have seen too many pre wedding photo shoots @THSH already ... so much so, I can literally tell you most of the 'usual' poses people take. Furthermore, writing a blog with just 'pre wedding' as a subject can be very frustrating, from a writers point of view. Don't you think so? Many bloggers out there can have variation to their stories, while I am restricted to the topic I am writing about ... hence here lies the challenge ... (Did I not say I like challenges?). Great. You, the reader, just experienced one of my frequent mood shifts from the negative to the positive. It took me years of extreme meditative training in the deep recesses of the Malaysian Rain Forest you know!!! Ha ha ha ......

What's really surprising to me was during my last 'haiku-ish' free form posting, I actually got a lot of visitors from Japan to my blog ... oh err ... but my posting was not in even in Japanese! Oh err ..... So shall I proceed to do another 'haiku-ish' posting? I wonder ... got no comments from the last one though ... so here I go again, a more structured and 'correct', haiku prose with pics!

A NEW DAY
Another 'haiku-ish' free form by Hotel Station Master

The door I open
light ventures in my heart
embracing the dark

curious shadows
playing, dancing in my eyes
stirring my mind

awaken the day

trickles of honey flood in
frolicking with night

blossoms open, a new
greeting the coming of dawn
wrapped in his warmth

the breeze blows gently
as the shimmers of light play
trees greener than envy

sprouts burst open
good earth, nurturing strength
as night bows out, graciously

waiting, the sun rises
seagulls go, a calling the sea
it was meant to be

glistening ripples
like flowers singing to bees
buzzing harmony

like day, you and me
mingling light and warmth in time
a melody, life

together, we go
greeting the dawn, roads unknown
our own rhapsody

the door I opened
warmth stays in my heart
dispelling the dark

begone the shadows
as I dance in harmony
with my one and only

a new day.

-end-

Ok Ok ... so what do you think about that 'haiku-ish' posting??? In actual fact, before posting this entry, I received a very nasty phone call and it quite peeved me. So I retreated once again to this blog but lacked inspiration as I was still fuming. Since I wanted to do another haiku-ish posting I put on my Japanese Traditional Songs ( さまざまなアーティスト ・ 最新　有線 ・ カラオケヒット全曲集 - you will need Japanese Text to view it correctly. More info on the CD here. ) and with all their vocal crescendos and vibratos, I think that did the trick! Erm must be lar ..... Ha ha ha .....

Well, Mr. & Mrs. Chan ... congratulations on your wedding! On behalf of @THSH, we wish you both every happiness and all the best! Drink a glass of Champange for me ok? (Hope its not too late though.....). Sabrina Gan was actually the person who emailed me after she saw some of our community project pics on a forum and this blog. I am indeed very grateful that she got in touch with us. In fact, she posted her pictures on the other forum as and when she got it! Kan cheong lar some ppl ... ha ha ha ... but I understand lar. She even 'lifted' off some pictures from her PG's blog even before he gave them to her! Knotty, knotty ar you Sabrina! Eh, but she also from the GAN CLAN ... so Mr. Chan, you better take care of her ok? If not got another GAN CLAN MEMBER will come looking for you!!! Gwa ha ha ha .... If you would like to view more works from Sabrina's PG, William (Oh William, btw, whats up with the big stamp thing?), please view his works here.

We have also recently launched our Historical Project on the life and times of A. B. Hubback, the architect of The Kuala Lumpur Train Station and other numerous buildings in Malaysia! Sounds like pretty boring stuff, doesn't it? Well, its still part of our efforts to promote our National Heritage! Please drop by here!

TAN CHEE WHUI & CHOOI CHEE YEEN

As some of you may know, I have been away for a business trip and now I just got back to the office.... loads of work to catch up on and now rolling out new projects .... (What? Crazy ar? No time leh ....). Anyway, we have invited our original 14 photographers to hold an online exhibition but I think that will be on one of our partner sites. We have asked them to do some PP and they can be as creative as they want .... That comes to the biggest question in the photographic circles (I guess) ... to PP or not to PP? PP actually means Post Processing, and in this modern age of technology and such ... it normally means Adobe Photoshop (isn't it now called creative studio???) or other programs like Lightroom, etc., etc. There are people out there that can even make your skin so smooth, (and cover up your flaws; like me and my 'strawberried' nose... Ha ha ha) you can put any facial center to shame .... that is what Post Processing is all about. Now, of course any ordinary person would love to look good in a photo and with PP-ing, as this can actually help you look good if not extremely beautiful/handsome.

But the question is, to what degree would you want to PP your pictures? To most 'old styled' photographers, PP can be, to some, a cardinal sin, but even in the old days of film, there were instruments and paint that you could use to PP your film (did you know that?). In today's terms, PP-ing provides a wonderful and convenient way for photographers to be more creative and innovative, flaws that appeared on the original shoot could be touched up at a moments notice, special effects could be added to transform the mood of the photos ... However, there is always this 'grey area' as to how much of the photo should be PP-ed? Hence our online exhibition, we will show you the before and after shots by the photographers themselves. You be the judge of that.....

'Nostalgia from a bygone era, waiting for my soul mate'

'A dreamy romance'

'Cooling off, under the fan'

'Who's there?'

'Touching - a tender moment'

Honestly, I never met Chee Whui and Chee Yeen, partly because they came on a Sunday (err... is that correct? Or I was too tied up?) so I was in constant contact with their photographer Wong Whye Kong ... in fact, he actually contacted me way way way back on 7 June 2008! I actually received their photos on 25 July 2008 (Not too shabby while waiting for him to take his picks) sent via email, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! Right up to now, I have not seen other types of poses or shots of this kind (with the exception of 1 shot/scene cause I saw a well known Malaysian photographer take similar shots) but I must say, really refreshing! Great! Sorry for not posting earlier, but the community project at that time just kicked into high gear. The couple looks very cheeky and I am sure they would be very bubbly too!! Anyway, to the future Mr. & Mrs. Tan, congratulations and may you have many many many years of wedded bliss! (oh errr ... or they married already?) If you would like to view more works from Wong Whye Kong, you can view his 'portfolio' here.

If you are looking to register for our Northern Region Community Project, please click here.