Man made. Everything is planned. Nothing is random, unlike the clouds.

I wish I had chosen a better poster:P Oh oh… and thank god there’s no STOMPERS around to catch me in my sloppy attire:D

almost.

A shoot that I did recently. It’s always nice to know how to make your partner laugh during a shoot. It’s even better if you can make the photographer laugh too. Well, thanks to Kenny and Angeline. I had a very good time shooting your Pre-Wedding. Kenny’s hokkien translation of the vows was just… too good… too good!!:D

On a random note, I’m loving Boa’s english album… infectious. Ok folks, nights!:)

Just landed in Singapore a few hours ago. It’s like back to earth again. Hongkong, like most will say, is all about eating and shopping. I’m not the shopping type, so I took a few extra kilograms back. I took a pretty long trip this time round just to relax. Ok, I’ll stop here for the night. Need some good rest before the shoot tomorrow. Here’s a picture of Hongkong from The Peak, probably the most shot scene in Hongkong.

My friends said I brought the typhoon to Hongkong. Some said I must be really lucky, came here to witness a no.9 (level) typhoon. And I must agree that I am really lucky to have the front row seats to experience mother nature’s fury. Here’s the view right beside my bed. I call it the 300 inch LCD TV with dolby surround sound system (i can hear the whistling wind and pounding raindrops). The cityscape in Hongkong is pretty amazing. Because of the low cloud base, the city lights gets reflected off the clouds making the city even brighter even after the sun goes down. At about 8pm everyday, I’ll get to watch the fireworks display off Disneyland, which is somewhere near the mouth of the harbour in the picture.

I’m enjoying myself so far. Met some really nice people and had some really good food here. I checked out Causeway Bay on Sunday and it was packed with people. The part that surprises me most is the number of philipinos and indonesians ladies there. It’s like Lucky Plaza in Singapore, just on a larger scale. Apparently, there’s a huge community of foreign maids in Hongkong. That’s something that I didn’t know. Their off days are on Sundays, so they often hang out at Central or Causeway Bay. I can’t help but wonder, how would it be like if they film Young and Dangerous at Causeway Bay on a Sunday. Sir, you want buy parang?

Almost.

I was sleeping right beside a huge window (where these photos are taken). The whistling sounds from the high winds coaxed me to sleep late last night. At times, the raindrops were pounding on the windows so badly that I thought it might just break. My friend said, “just scream if anything happens”.

I tried taking some pictures late last night but everything was a blur. I’m sure I won’t want to be out there. There’s not much I can see. Anyway, here’s a picture taken in the morning. Not much trace of any damage as far as I can see here. I’ll walk to ground later during lunch. Just heard the level is back to no.1, which is safe now.

Some heavy clouds still looming over the island but it soon cleared.

My first impression of Hongkong is like the old meets the new. Unlike Kyoto where the old town is separated from the new town. Hongkong has everything mixed together. Really old retro looking flats with brand new apartments/shopping streets line right next to one another. Apartments are usually very tall and tightly spaced. It looks a little like Singapore from far. But on a closer look, they are very very different. Singapore is like a very well organized legoland while Hongkong has everything that Singapore has, but with alot more texture and character. It’s interesting how they embrace the old while letting the new prosper.

 As I’m writing this, typhoon Molave has just hit us. This is the first time witnessing a typhoon. From the apartment 30 floors up, I can see the windswept rain pouring onto the roads and the trees struggling to hold onto the ground. The reported wind speed is about 140km/h. Storm level has been raised to no. 8.

The view from where I’m putting up at. Facing Victoria Harbour, the left side is Hongkong Island and the right is Kowloon. This picture was taken about 2 hours before Molave landed.

Ocean World, dolphins, cable car ride, Jumbo restaurant, 女人街, remote control cars… and actually, some men’s magazine (ok only the cover! I was too young to know what it was, we were at a newstand). That’s my memory of Hongkong when I was like, hmmm… 8? And I remembered the waitress who said “多谢” in cantonese when we were leaving the restaurant, which I mistook it for “讨债” in teochew. My family had a good laugh over that. These are the memories I had of Hongkong. The current impressions are from the scenes of Young and Dangerous, which I completed watching 4 episodes in the past 2 days:P

Anyway, this is going to my second trip to Hongkong. The first after the 1997 handover. Feeling a little excited:) I do hope we’ll be able to do some diving next weekend before I return. I’m bringing my laptop there, so I’ll post some updates on this blog and my facebook.

I’ll be away from 17th to 27th July 2009. Please bear with me if my replies are a little late. Emails will be the best form of contact for now.

One of my wedding clients, Alan and Kelly got me to take some interior images of their new establishment. It’s a pretty cool furniture shop at Rangoon Road. Right beside the famous Bak Kut Teh shop. I was pretty impressed by the furniture designs as well as the open concept style showroom. Showing enough without being too cluttered. Can’t wait to get my hands on some of them when I get my own place:)

I always wonder what is it like to be the one tossing and the ones waiting at the back. Most of the times, the brides will be laughing away (unlike the champagne popping…). Maybe the idea of tossing a hundred dollar bouquet in the air and hoping it lands on someone (if not the chandelier) is fun:D And the single (but not available) girls who stood in line, I wish I had a camera on all their partner’s faces:P

I like this one alot:) Sometimes, right place, right time.

Another small wedding:) I remember when we first met up for discussion, Ana told me that she’s expecting about 1000 guests. In my head, I went, “what?!”. Although I wasn’t too impressed with the number of guests, I really like how she put in effort on all the details to make their wedding special (even though I thought it’ll be a mammoth task for that number). As the date draws nearer, she told me that they have managed to convince the elders to scale it down to a much smaller number and did it in two days. To me, it was good news:)

On the first day, they went through the solemnization at the Arts House followed by a lunch just beside Singapore River. They had a malay band onstage which was pretty awesome. After living almost all my life in Singapore, I didn’t realize that malay music can be so dance-able. Despite the really hot weather, everyone enjoyed themselves. I’m sure the music played a big part.

The dinner on the second day was held at the National Museum of Singapore. I’ve been there a couple of times but never knew that it can be converted into a dining area. The place was nicely done up by Ana herself. It was a relatively simple affair with quite a number of touching speeches and a really nice video by The Wedding Paparazzi. The mood was set by this band called “The Disclaimers“. I’ve heard them a couple of times and they used to play at Highlanders. Let’s just say, I know I’ll enjoy that wedding when I know they are playing.

So this is it, the images… and click here for the longer than usual slideshow:)

The details, in the beautiful Fullerton suite.

The exchange of vows at the Arts House.

If my nephew is getting married. I bet I’ll be as happy as him.

And the party begins

One of those moments they had by themselves.

The preparation for the dinner. I think guys are always more relaxed when it comes to this.

Just love the symmetry in the musuem.

Band-in-charged: The Disclaimers. If you are having a small wedding party, this is the band.

Miles’s dad. I just love that look. Something deep in that gaze.

Two surprises. I bet most of the guests didn’t know Ana can sing that well and I mean REALLY WELL. Surprise #2, no one expected Miles to be pressured into singing… well, I still can figure out it’s a song by Oasis, so that’s a pass!:D

Dancing to the tune of “I’m gonna be (500 miles)” by The Proclaimers. That’s one of the very first CD I got many many years back. Still one of my favorite. If I had drank enough, I’d have danced to that too:D

Love this shot. Miles’s brother’s head just popped into my frame and I can’t help but snap.

End of dinner, when everyone loosens up. It’s always nice to ask, “how did you enjoy your wedding?”

Recently I did a shoot for Adeline and her family. Adeline is Sheila’s (whom I did their wedding back in 2006 in Penang) cousin. It was a really last minute arrangement but it all turned out well. I realized I’ve met her parents a couple of times during my trips to Penang. Her four year old daughter is a joy to work with too:) Here are some images from the shoot.

Uh-oh… I realized I’ve been sucked into the world of Facebook and have neglected this little blog. Well, not worry, it’s just a passing phase. I’ll be back with some images this week. While on FB, I got the link to this 3 year old article about the wedding photography business. It’s probably one of those things that you’ll only know it when you’re in it:) Anyway, I’m already over that calculating phase. I’m only interested in the last paragraph of that article.

http://ladygwen.wordpress.com/2006/09/13/cry-me-a-river-girls-the-wonderful-world-of-wedding-photography/