It was my second time attending a store launch and what a sight to see so many beautiful people at one place! There were men wearing classy suits, and of course the beautiful ladies, not to forget the yummy food and champagnes that were served throughout the night! DJ Goldfish was on the decks to pump up the atmosphere. Besides there was a magician who walked around the store to entertain the guests, and a master leather craftsman who showcased how the exquisite Dunhill goods were made. It was a classy launch by Dunhill and I’m sure it’d make a great impact with their new store!

It was my third trip to Kuching and I was stoked to be able to hangout with the big guns Alvin Leong, Patrick Low, Saiful Nang, Jim & Ning Liaw at the WPPM conference! Kuching felt a lot like Penang – the place, the people, the food. Being the Penangite foodie that I am, I totally enjoyed the local Sarawakian hawker and cuisine! And Alvin was the perfect candidate to bring us around!

I got to try the Sarawakian laksa (very yummy!), which is prepared in a completely different style from the Penang laksa (which I don’t eat), the famous wildly grown midin veggie, char koay kak, popia and even some local fusion food! We also went to the coolest bar in town, and one of te coziest, I might add, the Junk! sandwiched in between a row of old shop houses, the Junk is a somewhat a cryptic maze comprised of a bar/restaurant/private lounge. There were rooms that led to other rooms and then more rooms!

My talk on “creative photography” fell in the last slot on Saturday and I was somewhat relieved not having found anyone dozing off (perhaps Patrick’s threat to call on anyone sleeping up on stage to pose nude DID work afterall)! After a live demo on light-painting, I had two teams give it a go! (check out the images below!)

We found ourselves back at The Junk (for the third time this trip! Yes, it seems like THE PLACE to be!) a few hours later for the Photographer’s chillout session, a panel discussion comprised of Jim, Patrick, Alvin, Saiful and I, followed by a lucky draw and a mini-auction! (I won a bid for speedlight Pro Kit by Joe Chan! SOLD to Fiona (me!) in the red dress for RM270! What a deal for something that retails at RM420!) Later in night was a casual meet & greet session with fellow photographers & enthusiasts. I was stoked to see Lance (who had attended my WPPM talk in KL last year) come in our WTF t-shirt!!!

Big THANKS to Alvin for taking such great care of us during our stay in Kuching and it was so nice to meet his family Christina, Ethan and Shannon and his team, Angeline & Kelvin & Annie! Am looking forward to our next trip back and to seeing everyone else at WPPM Penang in June!!!

Last but not least, big THANKS to Nic who came along and helped me out for the weekend. I absolutely love his shots!

Alvin, goofing around…

Patrick was the first to speak that day. He talked on Wedding Photography Do’s & Dont’s

Saiful talked about becoming an International Photographer…

I was the last to go for the day and had to move everyone to the big auditorium for the light painting live demo!

I was privileged to have Patrick assist me in the live demo (an assistant I definitely can’t afford, so grateful for his kind heart!)

The following 3 photos are courtesy of Patrick and his “baby”, The Hasselblad H3D

Here’s the live demo I did. Model: Nic

Group 1′s shot

Group 2′s shot

And here are a few more photos taken by Kelvin

Meet Kelvin, Official photographer that weekend!

At the Photographer’s Chill out Session @ The Junk

Yay! for winning the bid for the Speedlight Pro Kit by Joe Chan!

It was a night to remember and what a fantastic way to celebrate this major milestone, 1950′s Italian gangsta-style! The theme was Godfather Italian mafia and to my surprise, EVERYONE dressed the part! I will keep this short as the photos will speak for themselves but before that, I HAVE to say my “Thank You’s” to those who helped in the planning of this event!

First and foremost, to Ming who’s a private person so I’ll keep my gratefulness “private”.

To Cat & Juliet who helped me remotely (in S’pore) in so many ways, from seeding the ideas for a theme to being ma gangsta door bitches at the party. But more importantly, I’m grateful for the moral support they provided me when I almost went crazy from the stress and frustration of planning the party.

To Kenneth & Xu who sorted all the sound/music stuff for the night – I can’t say it enough, but THANK YOU again!

A big shout out goes to Xu (who you may all know him as DJ Xu from LapSap) for the special Birthday -Barbara-Streisand Remix version he made for me! I absolutely LOVE it!

Big hugz to my multi-talented cousin, Eu Shen who DJ-ed for me as well! (Aka Eush from BeatMonkey). Thanks for the disco house beats coz I know that’s not your genre of choice!

To Faizal, who so instantly agreed to be Official MC when I suggested it… big PROPS for doing such a great job! You’re a NATURAL!!

To my 2 Official Photographers for the night – Andy & Steve & the boys, Hsien Ming, Nicholas and Wei Jun who worked so hard at the Photo wall that night, much love to y’all as always!

A SPECIAL THANKS to Steve, who always there for me without fail and always has my back when nobody else does! You are my lifesaver, ALWAYS! BIG HUGZ!!!

To my dearest florist, M’ng who surprised me by presenting me with the 100 red long stalk roses I had ordered for the party, it couldn’t have been a better Birthday present from you! THANK YOU, M’NG!

And here’s a cover “Thank you” to all of you for all your pressies! Love ‘em all! (That’s how well you guys know me!)

THEY SAY 30′s IS THE NEW 20′s. TO HELL WITH THAT! WHY WOULD I WANT TO RELIVE MY 20′s WHEN I CAN DO IT EVEN BETTER THIS TIME?

TO ALL MY FRIENDS, THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF MY LIFE FOR WITHOUT YOU, THERE WOULD BE NO CRAZY STORIES TO TELL OR INCRIMINATING PHOTOS TO SHOW…

Ma’ Gangsta Door Bitches Cat & Juliet who threatened to kill those who wrote uncreative “Happy Birthday” messages in my guestbook…

I think we girls look wayyyyy more dangerous then the … erm… men..

One of my FAV photo wall photos! Jeremy looking GANGSTA, Faizal is pimpin’ and Mark is… trying to hard.. hehe

The MBA crew…

The FIFOTO Crew, old & new…

It really isn’t what it looks like.. we DON’T really wanna shoot each others’ brains out, or shoot ourselves… We are just “POSING”. Really.

Instant Prints for everyone!

The Mafias get together to talk BUSINESS.

Thanks to Cuz Adrian, Lawrence, Mark, Juliet & Cat for the super awesome, super yummy Birthday cake! (Even though it says “Nikon!”)

East side…

west side…

Nominees for Best Dressed!

Congrats to Reezal & Hsuan who won themselves a bottle of Champagne for Best Dressed. ironically enough, both of them don’t drink!

The Late night crew…

The Penang Crew

DJ Xu & DJ Eush rocked the night!

Samso-Night…

Even a small store in 1 Utama can be opened in style. Samsonite in that respect has pretty much made this a tradition that they seem to enjoy carrying out. As with their 100 year Anniversary, there were a great number people,lots of food and drinks, loads of cameras and of course, celebrities  present (Sarah Lian & Will Quah to name 2) with the whole affair hosted by Daphne Iking. Of course there were bags too. Samsonite bags they were, in all shapes and sizes, with the majority of the oohs and aahs going to the Cosmolite range made out of super lightweight plastic weave material. These have been heralded as the strongest Samsonite bags to date. A claim that was repeatedly voiced by a spokesperson that night whilst jumping up and down upon said bag and subsequently restoring the shape to the bag without so much as a scratch.

The ladies eyed the red one while the lads were seen trying to sneak off with a silver one…