It was a wonderful Christmas and I hope you had as much fun as I did! I got to meet and party with a so many of my friends who I haven’t seen in ages, and also received pretty cool gifts too! One of which I’m particularly excited about, are the SF Coffee vouchers presented to me by David! (Thank you David!!) After 4 nights of consecutive partying, I’m finally back in KL for the day and am ready to head off to Taipei for another week of fun! Coincidentally, I am pleasantly surprised to find quite a number of my friends who will also be spending New Year’s Eve in the party city of Taipei and I’m looking forward to meeting everyone there! It’s gonna be a blast!!!

Zinc – the name itself pretty much says it all – it’s funky, modern, unique and cool. If you haven’t heard, Zinc is the latest gallery in town! Located at the end of Jalan Maarof, The space is raw… literally… The walls and floor finishings are of raw concrete and the abstract paintings/artwork they carry just pops right out at you!
Prior to the soft launch, David photographed the space and I was there for both the soft launch and grand opening events. (Will post photos soon!)

It has been a while since I last photographed a gallery event and I forgot how much I enjoy shooting artsy fartsy things and people! The highlight of the soft launch was a dance performance by Wei Jun, depicting destruction. It was dark and eerie and I found it somewhat disturbing. But just as all things when it comes to art, it’s subjective and some might have appreciated it a lot more than I did! And even if we didn’t, we were certainly entertained by the performance which ended in a chant… All I know is that it made a scene for very interesting photos!

The grand opening of Zinc was held about a month later and Hong Kong artist Michael Lau, renowned for his illustration and toy figurines based on street culture was the buzz for the evening! The night kicked off with a meet & greet session and many fans patiently waited to have his autograph! Poor guy must have signed at least a hundred times!

I love my wedding shoots for one reason and one reason only – the fact that I’m surrounded by happy people and people who are in love. Yes, I admit it, I’m a romantic at heart and believe in LOVE a 100%. My mom has always said to me that a woman’s happiest day in her life is on her wedding day, because she knows that is the day her husband loves her most and wants to spend the rest of his life with her. I agree with her on this statement, to a certain extent but also beg to differ. Perhaps she forgot the feeling of being in love… the high you feel when you meet someone, fall in love and are bouncing off walls. It’s the feeling of wanting to see that certain someone every minute and every hour of the day, 24-7. It’s the feeling of also knowing that the other person is thinking of you too, is crazy over you, adores you and would do anything to see that smile on your face. Personally, I think falling in love is a wonderful feeling and gives the wedding day a good run for its money! Of course, if you’ve been in enough relationships, or in one long enough, you will also find out that this “high”, or this feeling of “being in love” usually fades and you move on to the next level of love, affection and companionship. But what if you don’t ever want the “high” to end?

Scientifically speaking (yes, being the science stream geek that I am), the “high” you feel when you’re in love comes from 3 neurotransmitters; adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin. You might be familiar with the effects of adrenaline – your heart races and your mouth goes dry. Dopamine, interestingly enough, has the same effects as cocaine; stimulating an intense rush or pleasure. Research by Helen Fisher show that high levels of dopamine result in “increased energy, less need for sleep of food, focused attention and exquisite delight in the smallest details of this novel relationship”. And last but certainly not the least, and in fact, the most important love potion when it comes to falling in love, is serotonin. Serotonin affects mood and emotion and explains why you can’t stop thinking of that special someone.

This is the “Attraction” stage and once these hormone levels drop, a different set of hormones come into play and you move on to the next level of love, the “Attachment Stage”. But what if you don’t ever want the “Attraction” stage to end? How do you keep those hormonal levels high (apart from taking cocaine, of course!)? I’ve met a few (FEW, being the key word here!) couples who’ve been married for a long time and are still so much in love. How do they do it? Or is it fate? I believe in soulmates and I believe in fate. On the other hand, I also believe in the sciences and I promise to tell you, once I find out for myself, how you can stimulate and maintain such high levels of adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin in a relationship……. and always be high on LOVE. =)

So here’s to a Christmas filled with warm fuzzy feelings of LOVE that lasts forever!

Merry Christmas!!!

Punk leather collar by Thirtyfour

There are so many things I’d like to say about Joy & Anderson’s wedding, I don’t know where to start!
I met the couple almost 2 years ago when they confirmed us for their ROM and wedding day. Yes, nearly 2 years ago, these people take the meaning of planning to a whole new level! And how time flies- it was around this time last year when David, Fazil (intern) & I shot their ROM ceremony at Seri Negara Carcosa. The ceremony was so lavish it felt like a wedding! David & I starred at each other and thought the same thing … ” Their wedding’s gonna be over the roof!” And we were right! A year later, their big day arrived and before we knew it, the Tai Kam Che is singing tunes from the BeeGees (in Cantonese versions, of course!) and the “Heng Tais” (groomsmen) cheered her on as backup singers at the tea ceremony. Just hilarious!!

In the past year, our relationship have also grown from that of a working one to a friend. We keep in touch via Twitter and Facebook and as Anderson is a fervent supporter of FIFOTO, I decided that the most appropriate wedding gift I could present them was when he requested for us to shoot him, Joy and their family (Boy & Max). And speaking of gratitude, this couple, as always, take things to new levels and offered me a lifetime of complimentary meals at their Japanese restaurant, Sango! (which, by the way, a whole bunch of FIFOTO 101 crew were there last night and had a blast!)
To sum it up, I think “Purple Perfection” would be the word of the day – the bridesmaids, all 10 of them, were dressed in matching purple dresses, the groomsmen (JasonBoy was the best man!) looked cute in their purple bow ties, the Heng tais were very sporting (in fact, overly sporting!) and completed all tasks/games assigned to them, even if it meant having to put one’s face in a bowl of flour to look for a door key. Joy, needless to say, looked ravishing in her gown (I especially loved her lace hair band and her sexy black laced cheong sam she wore at night) and the groom, arrived stylishly in a black Porshe.

The dinner reception was held at the JW Marriott and was beautifully decorated by Precious Moments, with purple flower balls and electric blue ferry lights. A unique arch made up of a mesh white twigs, orchids, ribbons and lights lined the doorway to the ballroom. Guests wrote their wishes and blessings on little square cards and hung them over the arch as they entered the hall.

Here’s my favorite shot of the day!

Last weekend turned out great and I hope you had as good a weekend as I did! Two friends, Jonathan & Duke, coincidentally both from Taipei, visited over the weekend and I got to hang out and party with them! It was also Palate Palette‘s 3rd Anniversary party and it rocked out with great vibes, hippy-style!! I especially liked the part where I dipped my foot in red and yellow paint and made a mark on their wall! It was good to see so many friends who I haven’t seen in ages as well!

So… I finally have some time to update a post after an entire weekend of partying and shooting… These were taken in Melbourne, of Chang Chang & CJ. I was stoked when they confirmed their pre-wedding shoot for Melbourne as it would be my very first time shooting in Australia! And when Chang Change emailed me the list of recommended locations, I felt completely clueless but thrilled at the fact that I had a totally new backdrop to work with! I got to Melbourne in time for Derby Day and spent 10 days there, with all my shoots scheduled for my last weekend there so that I had time to recce the city.

On the morning of the shoot, we were blessed with perfect weather (as always!) and Chang looked stunning in her white-laced gown where she carefully hid the flip flops she wore that day. Smart indeed! Considering we walked all over the city!

I had so much fun photographing them and special thanks to Gia who helped us out during the shoot!! Here are all my favorite shots!

We borrowed these two spaniels from a lady who was walking them!

Notice that Mountain Goat is the beer of choice? =)

After a nice cold beer under the scorching sun, we headed for dim sum!

It got really hot as we headed to Brighton beach and the place was packed with people!