Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Bridal Guide - The Publication

Great .... This is a posting from BRIDAL GUIDE MAGAZINE, MALAYSIA, from way back in 2009 .... problem was, this magazine was much wider than my scanner!!! Not only that, why does everyone credit us as HERITAGE HOTEL? Goodness, we are THE HERITAGE STATION HOTEL!!! Heritage Hotel is another property in Perak and in NO RELATION TO US!!! Wish the people could get their facts right!! Anyway, let the pictures speak for themselves!!! On with the show!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES ........

Lighting has struck (literally) and the "Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show" materialized for a short while at the Cheong Fatt Tze Manison in Penang, during the weekend .... we were greeted with loads of wide eyed locals and tourists as I entered as Mr. Dark, and trying my best to look dark and sinister, I welcomed people to ride my carousel ...... in fact for a day, I really felt like Mr. Dark ... so here is a short snippet of our results on our PS (Post Pre Wedding Photo Shoot) ......

"Mr. Dark - beckoning you to come on board my carousel"
Photo by Mr. John W. Ishii taken on a Nikon D3X

**Picture downsized and is RAW (no touch up)

My wife and I really enjoyed ourselves shooting at the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion with Mr. John W. Ishii & his wife, Diana, Mr. Tommy Yap & his wife, Sherry with our niece Micol Chan, and our MUA, Ms. Ally Choong. Surprisingly, we felt no pressure at all, we weren't even tired despite holding one pose for about half and hour each!! We were really pleased with the poses as we wanted the old vintage feel ..... in fact I am of the opinion that many of our pictures, you won't be able to tell that we shot at Cheong Fatt Tze mansion .....

I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU TO JOHN, DIANA, TOMMY, SHERRY, MICOL & ALLY for all their support, time, skill and patience!!! We started at 6.00 am right till 11.00 pm!!! John used his Nikon D3X, Diana used her Nikon D90, Tommy using his FujiFinePix, Micol on the Canon and Ally using her Sony Point and Shoot ...OoOooo ALLY!! You are using point and shoot like me!! More importantly, Sherry is now the Life Long President of Wives Against Holding Hubby's CLS Lighting System!!! Ha ha ha ha .. nah, just kidding ...... (Tommy dun get angry ar....)

So stay tuned for some of our pictures ... Oh, you should see my wife's pic's with Pretty In White's gowns which was designed by Elaine Kong ... but thats a latter story, you will have to see the pics to understand what I mean .... when we receive them ... hee hee hee ..... I CANNOT WAIT!!! For now, Mr. Dark beckons you to ride .................

* update : behind the scene's shoots from our MUA, Ms. Ally Choong, here.


Monday, March 16, 2009

FABRIQUE

Tiger Lily in an alternate world

Weddings, weddings, weddings ...... I have seen so many Pre Wedding photography here until I am pretty confident that I can tell you what is all about ...... but unbeknown to many, we too have had a lot of model shoots as The Heritage Station Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. I mean, why does pre wedding photos have to be typically traditional? Well, I know the answer to that question as well as my wife also wants to take our pre wedding pictures focusing more on the traditional gown ...... but, but, can there be an alternative to just the traditional white/ivory wedding gown?

Here I give you FABRIQUE, by Calvin Cheong, who came to The Heritage Station Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, when we first started out on our Photography Project. Calvin and his buddies just walked in at a time when we didn't even have application forms .... fuyoh, that was a long time ago, if you ask me .... Unfortunately, I was a little *blur* *blur* about "who was who" and "what was what" at that time. In fact, as a hotelier, I normally do not meet such magnanimous and gregarious people from other industries. I am thankful to be working here as I have met so many different people from all walks of life .... its like a breath of fresh air for me. Anyway, I give you photos from FABRIQUE .....









I really like this set of photos.... it's just so refreshing and nice .... something different from the usual Pre Wedding that we are so accustomed to .... In actual fact, if you like the pictures, Calvin Cheong will be featured in FEMALE MAGAZINE's upcoming BRIDAL issue, slated for June 2009! Watch out for it! For more information on FABRIQUE, please click here. Oh yeah, FABRIQUE has a very interesting website too!!!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

THE GRIM REAPER COMETH!

Hurm ... ok ok .. let's keep it short and simple. I am going on a witch hunt for photographers who owe me pictures!!! So beware your hair!!! (I forgot which cartoon that famous pharse came from ... hee hee). I am now sorting through my OUTLOOK and CD's to see who owe's me pictures!!! So to all you couples and photographers out there (more likely the PG's) .... you may get a strange knock on your PC or Laptop .... beware for the GRIM REAPER COMETH TO YOUR COMPUTER!!!

And don't tell me to download pictures from your blog or website!! If you do, please have a closer look into LUCY'S EYE........


And now, the mists will cover the world as the Grim Reaper begins his slow swagger to your computers near you ..... GWA HA HA HA!!! (Evil Sinister Cold Laughter)


Saturday, January 17, 2009

BREWS, BREWS & SCREWS

Erm ... What have I been doing lately? Well, I have been very busy with of course, Hotel Operations but also been designing websites, meeting my other partners for prewedding.info trying to piece together our new events for this new year ... 2009! We are presenting to you pre wedding photos in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and around the region, namely Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia ...but still in line with creating awareness of Our Malaysian & The Regions National Heritage, from Natural Resources to Buildings.

Well, I am pleased to inform you Guys and Gals out there that we are now ready to launch our projects one by one. It has been very tough for me as I have been up most of the nights trying to put stuff together. I was supposed to change the template of this blog, but I just can't find the time as yet ...*sigh*. Since all you Guys and Gals out there gave birth to Prewedding.info, I do hope that you will find our new projects interesting. Please note that we have now thrown in a mix of special projects (a little commercial in nature but at special prices which we think you might not be able to get anywhere else) and of course our Community Projects. We will expand the scope a little so more people can partake in our events.

We are also spotting a new format whereby all our projects will now be called BREWS. Without further a do, I present to you our BREW #1.




Whats this? It's our first special project and the team members comprised of Mr. John W. Ishii, Mr. Tommy Yap and moi. In case you didn't know, I had worked in Siem Reap, Cambodia before coming back to Malaysia and I thought this would be nice to give couples in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and around the region, a cultural experience of sorts. We really don't know if there will be any takers, but we feel we are offering a lot, with the help of my Khmer Friends in Cambodia.

Ar well ... let's just go with the flow and I will be back to posting pictures of couples @THSH soon. Thanks for all your patience and support! You can read more on our official website, http://www.prewedding.info/projects.html.

Perhaps I will be seeing you in Siem Reap!!! Taa!!!!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

SIMON & RACHEL

I'm in 'La La Land' after taking cough syrup this morning on an empty stomach. Been sick, frustrated and demotivated cause small hotels like us always don't measure up to the guests expectations. What's wrong with @THSH? I know that the building is old and needs an uplift, but its tough running this place with all the legalities, manpower constraints and financial restrictions. Many people assume that it's a walk in the park ... well let me tell you, its not, and it 's no stroll by the beach either way .... Problem is, there is rumours in the hotelier circles that big corporations are eyeing us for a takeover (since years ago, but I'm only 6 months old here!) ... I feel it's sad cause then @THSH will most probably become a boutique luxury hotel and I will have to say 'Bye Bye' to all you beautiful brides and grooms out there....... so much for believing that @THSH should remain as a community-ish model of sorts with events on the side ....

And then came Adam. Adam again? Yup, just plain ol' Adam! Not the Adam you are thinking about I bet, but Adam Ong ... the most consistent photographer from Touch that comes to my place for a photo shoot. The one who gave me a wrong blog address the last time. You remember him? Bet not. Well, to be honest, I have been poisoning Adam to try and take new angles and poses for Pre Wedding Photos here @THSH, cause if you can remember, I said that most of the shoots by Bridal Houses in Malaysia are very similar, due to time and budget constraints. What I really like about Adam is that he is always very bubbly and loves to exchange a few banters with me.... Appreciate that. So, whats the result? Be the judge of that yourself!

ME & YOU (A duet/dialogue)
Another 'haiku-ish' free form by Hotel Station Master

leaning on the wall
eyes wander towards yonder
frustrations inside

leaning on the wall
hearts a flutter with doubt
where can you be, dear

lift your spirits,love
for I am here, awaiting
go, tunnel of life

lift your spirits, love
for I await you, wanting
forever with you

I cannot fathom
why you'll want me, forever
for confused am I

I cannot fathom
why you'll stay with me, forever
doubts blur my heart

have courage my love
a pillar for you, to lean
throughout confusion

have courage my love
a beacon of light, I give
to clear your doubts

man are blind, my dear
committing and providing
material wealth

man are blind, my dear
they give up easily, for gain
forgetting themselves

look to the stars, love
neither commitments matter
but your guidance, seek

look to the stars, love
neither wealth or gain I seek
but the warmth of love

shelter me now, dear
as I embrace you, together
your strength in silence

shelter me now, dear
I was foolish, doubting you
longing your comfort

through the Storm, love
you and me, together, us
our love now stronger

through the storm, love
undying flame of passion
ignites a new beginning

Me & You

-end-

First and foremost, @THSH would like to Congratulate Simon and Rachel on their nuptials. May you be blessed with loads of health, wealth and prosperity! I must have met them in passing but always too busy 'arguing' with Adam .... ha ha ha. Ar well. Anyway, eh, Adam, how come you make your series like 'sepia' like that ar? Want to capture the rustic feel is it? Later people complain @THSH look like haunted house again. (Argh!). Also, this haiku-ish poem was written in my 'La La Land' mood .. so apologies if it looks weird, must be like writing a poem when you are on LSD, CRACK or DOPE in general ..... ar well. If you would like to view more works from Adam Ong, please view here. (Adam, can you change your play list on your blog? Or no time is it?)

Sunday, September 14, 2008

THE REVENGE OF AMY & TONY

Goodness! Its Sunday and I am casually browsing the Internet and touching up my blog on The Hubback Brothers. @THSH's History Project which I am sure most of you won't find interesting. Well, for a person like me who likes Documentaries (I am a fan of National Geographic, Discovery, History Channel and loads more), the story of the Hubback' s has been very interesting, some filled with more intrigue and mystery than what you can find in works of fiction or Detective Academy Q! (The last one Japanese Anime lar .....)

Anyone remember Amy & Tony? Anyone remember my ramblings about a very 'sweet voice ' calling me when I was about to throw in the towel sometime ago? No? So sad .... anyway, today I received an email from Amy, saying that she just got married last week and is so tired. She even suggested that we, @THSH, should start a fund with support from the local community for the restoration and preservation of the Hotel. Well, in actual fact, I was planning of doing something similar in order to raise funds for our community project, so let put some final pieces together before I ask you Guys and Gals out there for your opinions. Thanks so much to Amy for her support and believing in us @THSH!

She was so sweet to share some of her pictures with me, and I am so touched! In turn, I have decided to share some Amy & Tony's pictures with all of you, despite not getting their consent ... err .... hope they don't kill me or worse still, sue me in court until I become a bankrupt and live out my years as their personal kuli!


"I'm getting married in the morning
Ding dong! The bells are gonna chime
Pull out the stopper, let's have a whopper
But get me to the church on time"



"This is no time for a chat
Haven't your lips longed for my touch
Don't say how much, show me, show me
Don't talk of love lasting through time
Make me no undying vow
Show me now"



"I could have danced all night
And still have begged for more
I could have spread my wings
And done a thousand things
I've never done before
I'll never know
What made it so exciting
Why all at once my heart took flight
I only know when he
Began to dance with me
I could have danced, danced danced all night"


"Just to know somehow you are near
The overpowering feeling
That any second you may suddenly appear
People stop and stare
They don't bother me
For there's no where else on earth
That I would rather be
Let the time go by
I won't care if
I can be here on the street where you live"

Can you tell where these song verses came from? Come on... the 1st and 3rd verse are dead giveaways ..... anyone? Let me give you a clue. This is from the Broadway version of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. This Broadway version has a happy ending (of sorts lar). Guess lar ... come on ... Ganbatte!!! Add Oil!!!

To Amy & Tony, our heartiest congratulations from @THSH, and we wish you every happiness, prosperity and luck in whatever you guys do! Let's keep in touch ok? Take care!


In case you guys and gals didn't get it correct, the above verses were taken from the lyrics of songs from the Broadway Musical (and later a film) "My Fairlady". The Broadway version starred Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, but for the film version Julie was replaced by Audrey Hepburn even though its still Julie Andrews voice you hear when she sings. Julie Andrews turned down the film to do Marry Poppins with Dick Van Dyke, and later got a academy award for her portrayal as Marry Poppins. So there!

Friday, September 12, 2008

GAVIN & LANEY


A Lamp!
For more information, please click here.

Baa Baa Black Sheep, have you any wool .... oops! Wrong lamp there, must be the hunger, keep on thinking Lamb, Lamb, Lamb .... The Silence of the Lambs ... Clarisssseeeee (slithering sseee's) Oh err ... lost my rocker there for a minute! Today and yesterday have been the same for me. Been very anxious about some of my projects and have been pacing the floor downstairs in my restaurant. I really do not know what the future holds for me .... hope everything turns out well! Help say a prayer for us @THSH ok?

Right. What's that with 'A Lamp'? I honestly like the design and how they managed to capture (with some PP-ing I guess) the mood of the catalog picture. It looks very modern yet minimalist, and the black background (shouldn't I say lack of lighting? Paradox!) is not overpowering ... hurm .... with a lot of photographers coming here for pre wedding shoots @THSH, I have not seen any (with the exception of model shoots) one bring lights here. I guess in photographers lingo that will be C.L.S. which stands for Creative Lighting Systems and considered a revolution in your age old Flash Pack technology. Hurm ... thats interesting. In fact, these days, lights for photographers are so advanced that they incorporate all sorts of technological gizmo's and even battery packs in case you have no power source! Amazing these things... make me really itch to go back to it as a hobby ... (Oh no! Wifey is now 'eyeballing' me! Will have trouble tonight!)

Get it already? No? Ok, the next couple I am showcasing will feature the addition of A Light (A Lamp = A Light). Their Bridal Studio actually brought one (01) standing light for their photo shoot ... and I will be sending them the bill for using my electricity ... I think it came out to be about RM2,000.00 for 4 hours shoot .... Ha ha ha!

Shall I do another 'Haiku-ish' Free Form? Is that what you guys want? Hurm ... normally I write these proses from the female perspective, maybe I should write it in the male perspective? What you guys think? I don't know, no comments on my other proses from before ... Please say something lar!!!

Ok, ok ... let me get my 'inspirational' music playing in my old winamp .... (Don't like the newer versions!) ... This time around I will try Gloria Estefan's Mi Tierra Album ... nice one that, award winning Latin Musicians and album ..... if interested, please view here.

MY KEYBOARD
Another 'haiku-ish' free form by Hotel Station Master

my keyboard sits
at the edge of my table

waiting for only me


as I take my chair
contact! my fingers breeze

click clack, words swirling


through my keyboard
my fingers flow, prancing, alive
I cannot fathom how

a dance in time
your support means much to me
click clack, twirling words

through my confusion
with you, I am a maestro
now, keeping in time

through my pain
you cushion my every move
click clack, word after word

through my times of anger
your silent resilience shines
calming the savage

through my hesitation
your direction never waivers
click clack, step after step


every pen and paper
eyes us with envy, you and me
as I lean on you

I cry in pleasure
interpret, accurately
click clack, time after time

the lights go out, night
my fingers knows your warmth
hugging you tightly

the wolves howl, moonlight
with every stroke, I caress
click clack, forever more


my keyboard sits
at the edge of my table

waiting for only me
.

-end-

In actual fact, I guess many people would say I am crazy, a keyboard 'haiku-ish' free form? Well, I wanted to try and do one about our "everyday common objects of use", that we take so much for granted. Besides, I do believe Gavin is working in an IT firm of sorts, so I guess it should be quite appropriate to do one on the humble 'keyboard' .... Hee hee, I actually met this couple about 3 months ago (wah.. you actually do meet couples eh?), but I left them to "get busy" .... with the photography lar ..... Gwa ha ha ha ... Oh, to Gavin & Laney, on behalf of @THSH, Congratulations on your wedding! We wish you all the love and joy in the world! As I mentioned earlier, they were using a Bridal House, their photographer was Anson, and you can view more of their works here.

In actual fact, I have become a corrupt Hotel Station Master, as I accepted an email bribe from Gavin which he sent yesterday, and I quote, " * attached: something to brighten up your mind :-D ", unquote!


The Email Bribe from Gavin ... Thanks man ...
But it's a little tasteless, left loads of lip marks on my LCD Screen!
Gwa Ha Ha ha!


We have also recently launched our Historical Project on the life and times of A. B. Hubback & T. R. Hubback, called The Hubback Brothers. It's still part of our efforts to promote our National Heritage so please support and drop by here!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

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!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

HO YEONG LIOU & LIM AI LING

I have been terribly busy and swamped by emails yet again .... goodness, I really must say doing this community projects has been taking it's toll on me yet again! I've been spending late nights and my social life is now zero (not like I had a social life to begin with ... hee hee hee). Well, I am also running other projects concurrently (and I know Tommy is too!), which I will reveal to you Guys and Gals out there, hopefully soon, as these other projects are, well in my opinion, very interesting as well.

To be utterly honest, how we actually got off to this pre wedding community project, was when Tommy, after his first shoot here with Dailylifestyles.com, we sat down to discuss our ideas for possible future events. As I was already doing this blog from before and, at that time, I didn't know much about photographic circles;

I asked Tommy, "Eh, how about we do a workshop on pre wedding at my place?"

"Good idea! Why don't we get 3 couples and 15 photographers for a start?", came his enthusiastic reply.

"Errm ... ok, lets make it a simple one ok? No fancy fancy thingy...." I stressed, eager to hear his reply.

"Yeah, we just play play for this one lar, then we can do our other ideas ......", so said Tommy.

- END -


Really? Was that 'the end'? It's really all thanks to you guys and gals out there for 'giving birth' to this baby and now Tommy and I are full time parents .... (yeah, you can read 'thanks' with an edgy effect ... kidding!). And the rest as they say is history. Ar well ....

Right. Normally the way I write this blog is very like "Having a conversation with a good friend over a cup of coffee" and "as thoughts go by my brain". I have never written a full fledged blog before so you will have to forgive my ramblings and rants. In fact, this blog has been my retreat from my daily work and running projects as I take the time to de-stress and do something that I really enjoy now ... so this time I am going to write something "haiku-ish". What is that (another funny word from me)? Haiku is a form of Japanese Poetry .... but being Japanese, it's dissimilar to your English one (eh? You Japanese Anime Freak and now Japanese Poetry? What are you, really??). If you want to read more about haiku, click here. I won't really follow the haiku rules (17 syllables, 5/7/5 prose and such) but more of a free form version. OK, here goes my haiku-ish free form with pics!

listen
shrouded in my veil
a drop of water

listen
my heart beats in time
ripples on the water

guide me
looking for the way
the rivers flow

guide me
I look for protection
into the sea

wanderlust
I cling to warmth
the ocean murmurs

wanderlust
the stairs we climb
the sands collide

pray
I give my heart
in a world of blue

pray
You take my soul
beyond the wonder

breeze
together we will soar
into the unknown

breeze
just you and me
a new life born

away
I end my prose
a drop of water

away
the ocean settles
ripples on the water

Ok, let me know if you thought that was corny or not ... gwa ha ha ... Thanks very much to Mr. Ho Yeong Liow and Ms. Lim Ai Ling for dropping by! They were using a Bridal Studio and I don't think I actually caught up with them (must be Sunday lar ... make excuse again!). I was very surprised to actually receive a large email from their Bridal Studio and they had pestered me to post it fast! So sorry! I was busy into the day before the actual event. So I hope my haiku-ish prose can be a peace offering of sorts to you ok? Hope you liked it! If you want to view more works from their Bridal Studio, please click here. Also from the team @THSH, Congratulations to the going to be, Mr. & Mrs. Ho (or was I late again???)

Sunday, August 31, 2008

MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA!

Happy 'Merdeka' to all Malaysians in and out of the country! I hope that this Merdeka will bring us all closer together and from the team @THSH, we wish you all the best in all your future undertakings! Sorry for the late post because I was in Seremban (no internet) today and just came back in time for me grand mum's b'day .... hopefully I can still make it before the clock strikes 12 ...

What was very surprising to me today, in the morning when I just blur blur, waking up from my sleep, I received an SMS from my colleague, Rosli, telling me we came out in one of the local dailies .... so I got my dear wife to pester her niece to buy me that daily and when it arrived about lunchtime, I was like errr ......... take a look for yourself! What a surprise, in conjunction with our 51st Merdeka! (Please note that the files are quite big cause I didn't want to scan, I actually took a photo once I came back.....)


Page 1


Page 2

Doesn't that photo look familiar??? Erm .. I wonder where I have seen it before ... anyway, I will try and continue to give my fullest commitment to the projects that I have been doing and THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT GUYS AND GALS ... WITHOUT YOU, WE WOULD NOT HAVE MADE IT THIS FAR ... This one's for you!!!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

YIN & YANG

No. It's not the name of the new couple and list of photos that I am blogging about. It's the Chinese 'Yin Yang' I am talking about.... So what is 'Yin Yang' to you? Equilibrium (eh? another word to decipher? Go wiki that ...) according to the Western Definition or Mythologies? I actually did a search on Yin Yang and was surprised to find this entry on Wikipedia;

"In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (simplified Chinese: 阴阳; traditional Chinese: 陰陽; pinyin: yīnyáng) are generalized descriptions of the antitheses or mutual correlations in human perceptions of phenomena in the natural world, combining to create a unity of opposites in the theory of the Taiji." - Excerpt from Wikipedia. Full article here.

I am beginning to understand why that is the definition ... if you get two mutual opposites, according to the laws of physics, they will cancel out each other, negating the effect ... hence perfect balance..... Oh my, you may think that I've gone from pre wedding into philosophy or physics now!!! I think I am losing it .... oh dear ....

So what is this Yin Yang that I am talking about? Well, here is my version of Yin Yang;


Yin Yang - @THSH Style

I bet many of you are wondering who is that. Well, some of you may recognize the guy in the White Box (wait a minute, or is it black?) .... others may actually recognize the guy in the Black Box (err, or is it vice versa?) ... Ha ha ha ... Ok ok .. enuff teasing with my whimsical philosophical physics metaphysical thingy ....

Ladies and Gentleman, Guys and Gals, may I introduce to you our new speakers and creative directors for our community projects ...... Mr. Jen Siow and Mr. John W. Ishii, our own unique Yin Yang ......

Mr. Jenhor Siow or better known as Mr. Jen Siow, is considered the pioneering master of photography in Malaysia specializing in photography, lighting and digital works. Jen has been very kind to offer his services to our community project as he would also like to give back to the community with his vast amount of experience. Jen has now moved on and is pioneering the art of Digital Portraiture Painting , an old art form brought back to life with a new twist.

Imagine if you will, when a time that film had yet to be invented, if you wanted a photo (alien word then) you would actually have to get an artist to sketch then paint your portrait while you painstakingly sit still, trying to hold your cracking smile. This process can take days if not months. Well, Jen takes that art form to a different level altogether, from start to finish, interacting with his clients and giving advice on the type of poses based on their needs, using his immense experience in photography and lighting. Jen has a very dedicated team of hand picked all-ladies stylists and crew, in order to give you maximum comfort and privacy. Jen will then proceed to take a full range of pictures, and the selection process will be done by him. After which, Jen will actually use acrylic or oil based paint and proceed to paint the picture with traditional art brushes, capturing the image as a painted portrait of you, immortalized forever. No more sitting painstakingly, holding your breath and smiling! (And you should be glad they got rid of corsets too ...). All his finished pieces are signed by Jen, so no 2 copies can ever be the same .... you will be in possession of a 'one of a kind' masterpiece! (Now where can you get that these days???)

Jen has found a perfect combination of art and science, something very rare these days .... another form of Yin Yang if you will, as Jen looks to innovate new ways in bringing to you the highest possible art form in his field, in Malaysia. I personally have been to see some of Jen's finished works and I must say, it is all extremely well done. In fact, a few months ago before this project, as a tactic to appease my wife on pre wedding photo taking (eh? married already but you still talking about pre wedding photos?), I plainly suggested to her; why not we just take one photo and ask a digital artist to PP it as a painting? Well, now I don't have to look further .... Jen's the right person for me.

As you all may already know, Mr. John W. Ishii is also no newcomer to this industry. He is a professional photojournalist and has worked with many news agencies and done a lot of corporate work in Malaysia. He has also had an exhibition under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy .... John is actually an American and has always been beguiled by the wonder of Asia, he keeps on telling Tommy and me that there are many, many, many places to shoot in Asia (ok ok, we get it John ....). He is a person who is never happy with his works ... he only wants to continuously better himself, improve himself, innovate and reinvent himself. (Geez, I used himself 3 times!!). Being an artisan like Jen, John is always on the lookout for new challenges and pre wedding / wedding photography has currently caught his imagination. His search has just begun as his ultimate goal is to capture shots of the couple at their most intimate level possible, and I must say, listening to John, that is indeed a challenge but it would be extremely interesting ... I wonder how it would all turn out ....

As we have worked with John, until today I am very impressed of his sincerity in wanting to share with others his vast experience and that gives me the fuel to continue this project .... if not for him, I would have fizzled out after the first event as it was really very difficult to get everyone and everything together. John's photography works until today has never failed to amaze me and I have sworn allegiance to his photos .... (lucky I didn't say the star spangled banner ... if not, maybe my own country disown me ....)

On behalf of Dailylifestyles.com, Pretty In White, MalaysiaBrides.com and @THSH, we bid you a warm welcome and we are indebted to both Jen and John (J&J for short) for your selflessness and thoughts for our community project. We hope that you will enjoy your stay with us.

I personally would like to bow to both Jen and John, offering you two cups of green tea, saying "Pai Kin Sifu, Cheng Yum Cha, Toh Toh Chee Kow" (Cantonese, for accepting a disciple in the Chinese tradition, literally saying - I call you Master, please accept my tea offering, I hope you will teach me lots!" I also hope that our version of Yin Yang will tickle your fancy for our upcoming projects .... please do help support all our efforts!

It's late (err .. early in the morning ...) and I need to sleep lar ... Updates coming again shortly ....... If you are looking to register for our Northern Region Community Project - The Road Trip, please click here.

NOTE : Apologies to the user called jeffooi on lensamalaysia forums for taking John's photo and using it. It's very difficult to get photographers own photos and I had to hunt high and low. Please visit lensamalaysia forums for the topic on John here as a peace offering to the user jeffooi.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

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.

Friday, August 15, 2008

WE'RE PACKING OUR BAGS .... ON THE HUNT AGAIN!!!

Oh Dear, I just got off with Tommy from Dailylifestyles.com. Looks like we got ourselves into a terrible mess here ... we've been fired from our duties and so we had to resign ourselves to our fate (eh Tommy, you believe in fate issit?) .... oh me ... so, we are packing our bags, taking out the flash packs, recharging our laptops, having a good meal .... AS WE ARE NOW HEADING NORTH THIS TIME!!! The entire team from the original Pre Wedding Community Project is going places!!!

Mr. John W. Ishii, Pretty In White, Dailylifestyles.com and THSH will be heading up to our SISTER HOTEL (yup, we are sister's historically and ownership wise) - THE MAJESTIC STATION HOTEL, IPOH. We are now ON THE HUNT for 6 "going to be married couples" (3 for IPOH and 3 for PENANG) to emulate the event that was held in THSH recently.

Wait! Is that the good news? No .... this is just one of the 'good news'. The other event we have decided not to announce as yet ... hee hee hee ... Told you we were burning didn't I? :P

This project will happen sometime during November, but we would like to give ourselves some lead time. The photographic shoot will most probably be broken down into 2 days instead of one. We will be looking for 'hobbyist photographers' from the Northern Region only ... but at a later stage.


Will you be the next lucky couple or photographer?
Stay tuned for more info ... also apologies to all in the original photo.
No time to PP lar .....


Couples, if you are interested we are now open for registrations!!! Please read the following guidelines;

Community Event #2
Guidelines & Particulars of The Event
  • Open to all couples residing in Malaysia with a preferable combined income of less then RM5,000 per month. We would give preference to couples from the Northern Region.
  • Date - Sometime in November 2008.
  • Time - 8.00 am to 6.00 pm.
  • Venue - The Majestic Station Hotel, Ipoh, Perak (The Train Station) & Penang's - Location to be confirmed later.
  • Location of shooting will be (weather permitting) Around the Train Station and The Majestic Station Hotel, Ipoh. Penang's location is yet to be confirmed.
  • Coffee/Tea Breaks and Lunch will be provided by THSH.
  • THSH and our partners reserve the rights to use and distribute all photos taken during this event.
Please send all registrations of interest with the following details;
  1. Name of both couples
  2. Residential address
  3. Mobile contact number
  4. Email address
  5. Your combined income
  6. NRIC
  7. Tell us briefly how you met and how it lead up to that special day
  8. Tell us briefly why you would like to join our community event

IT'S 13 SEPTEMBER 2008.
REGISTRATIONS FOR
OUR COMMUNITY PROJECT #2
IS NOW CLOSED.
WE WILL BE CONTACTING
ALL INTERESTED
COUPLES SHORTLY.
I WOULD LIKE
TO PERSONALLY THANK ALL YOU
BEAUTIFUL
B2B's & G2B's FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

WE HAVE RECEIVED A TOTAL OF
18 APPLICATIONS FROM VARIOUS REGIONS!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!


THSH will only contact shortlisted couples. If you do not receive a reply, please do not attempt to contact THSH and its partners.

I hope that this second project will help boost our Old 'Heritage' Buildings as our Sister Hotel is inside the Ipoh Railway Station and a Heritage Building. I don't know if this will spur interest in our community projects so I would appreciate some help from all you beautiful people out there in Malaysia! Let's make this happen!

Cheers!

Monday, August 11, 2008

TEASER!!! I LOVE TO TEASE!!!

It was a long day, yesterday, and I'm actually glad it's over. But seriously, the work has only just begun. First and foremost, I would like to thank all of you, beautiful people in Malaysia for coming and making this event a successful one... I know we would have to improve and I appreciate your honest feedback (got it already thanks!). I made some blunders (sorry Lam! Corrected here as per your email!), and I will work on it, it's definitely very different from the events that I normally organize and my learning curve (more like hyperbolic curve!) was tremendous. Thanks to Tommy, Alan, Jason, John, Khai from Dailylifestyles.com for the support. Thanks to Mr. John W. Ishii, Dennis, Wesley, Dr. Chen and CK Chan for lending your time and expertise. I have identified many areas of rectification and will look at improving the next one! (Goodness I am having a huge hangover from yesterday, do I really want to organize another one? Hurm .. I would have to reconsider seriously ....)


One Big Happy Family, The Guys and Gals at the event.
Please click on photo for a bigger picture.


Anyway, as promised, I am posting a teaser of all 15 Hobbyist Photographers that came yesterday prior to the 'electronic exhibition' on this blog. Am actually waiting for pictures from Mr. John W. Ishii and Mr. Wesley Wong so I can start off the electronic exhibition with their photos! (Hee hee .. hope they don't keep me waiting too long 'cause I guess the participants also wanna see how their photos came out! Curious lar!)

Nuff said! On with the photos! Oh yar! All photos are on a 'straight out of camera' basis! No PP & IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER!































Once again, I would like to personally thank all the participants for making this first event a success! Thank you GUYS AND GALS!