FIFOTO Blog » just for fun

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

fiona — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:20:32 +0000

Congrats Zabedah!

fiona — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:16:59 +0000

Ma-Fi-A 30th Bash – An Italian Gangsta Convention

fiona — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:26:36 +0000

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!

Furniture Shopping in Foshan!

fiona — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:35:38 +0000

The last time I was in Guangzhou was in October when I went shopping for bathroom accessories and household fittings. That was a nightmare, not because of the language barrier (I speak “poor” Mandarin but could get by perfectly fine, especially with Anny who was there to help me translate) or anything else but poorly because of the abundant choices that were available and trying to balance design, practicality and costs was a big headache. If you’re into design and have ever done any renovations before, you’d know that beautiful things aren’t necessarily the most practical. Let’s not even bring price into the picture! So, it’s been quite a fun and challenging journey for me trying to balance all 3 aspects of interior design! I get to use both my left and right brains in the process and am really enjoying seeing things down to the nitty gritty details to ensure its aesthetically pleasing, practical and cost effective.

My trip to Guangzhou this time was nowhere close to a headache. In fact, I had a blast being spoilt rotten for choices!

Upon arrival, we visited Zhu Jiang Xin Cheng Furniture Mall in Guangzhou, just for a look see and price checks. I was initially quite apprehensive because all the things I like are modern furniture and I was afraid I’d only find the cheesy China-made stuff. Oh boy I was sooooooo wrong! So the first day was a good one – I had found a few sofas, chairs, shelving and other items I liked, a lot. All things were KIV until after Shunde, Foshan which was the main purpose of the trip.

The next day, we drove to Shunde, an hour’s drive from Guangzhou city.

I was very impressed and amazed as I stood in the middle of the Louvre Furniture mall in Shunde. I stood in awe as I stood amidst the 183,000 square meter (that’s 2 MILLION square feet, mind you!). 8 storeys of shops, all furniture! Holy Crap! Just name what style you like and they WILL have it! Neoclassical furniture, modern, post modern, antique, wood, classic Italian… The list goes on! Forget about backward China. Forget about cheesy china-made items. That was like 20 years ago. The modern stuff you find in this mall alone is more than all the modern furniture places you find in KL! And the best part is, they are sold at a fraction of the cost! (well, ok to be honest the prices aren’t as cheap as I had expected, well at least not for the items I chose anyway. The better quality stuff, you get at probably 1/2 the price as compared to KL. If you choose to have leather, it gets quite expensive! There was an imported chair I liked that cost RM4000! We managed to bargain it down to RM3000 after half an hour of negotiations and purchasing other items at the store) What’s also cool about shopping in China – you can pretty much custom make everything! From material to color to measurement which is probably why I enjoyed it so much! I even made FIFOTO carpets!

The entire main street of Shunde is lined with gigantic furniture malls. The street is at least 1 km long! GO FIGURE!

The mall next to Louvre, which we only had 30mins for, was lower end and I found the same exact items for even less! So.. If you have the patience and energy to hunt down the best prices, Shunde is the place for you!

This trip to China was certainly an eye-opener. Sure, I know all things nowadays are made in China and of course, I know Shanghai is a cosmo city and I constantly hear my dad sing praises of how the Chinese can do the impossible, etc but you don’t really know or more so, your mindset doesn’t really change from hearsay. This time, I witnessed it for myself and I must admit, am impressed!

All I have to say is… I’m PROUD to be Chinese!

Here are some cool finds!

I bought these… One side of the bed – A bunny!

The other side of the bed – The Pistol…. and on the floor, a rabbit carpet! MUAHAHAHAHAHA

I absolutely love these red “Jimmy Choo” chandeliers but thought it would outlive its novelty within a few months…

… and this is comfy chair!

Merry Christmas!!!

fiona — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:54:46 +0000

Ho! Ho! Ho!

It’s Christmas time and I’ll be having my first time ever, winter (and hopefully a white one!) Christmas in Korea! Weather forecasts show it’ll be cold… REALLY COLD while I’m there! Warmest temperature will be -8 degrees and the lows of -14 degrees on Christmas eve! Yikes! Am hoping for snow too! It’s been a long time since I had the chance to play with snow and what better timing than at Christmas! Imaging white fluffy snow balls…. white fluffy snow balls!

Wishing everyone safe travels and plenty presents this year! Have a very Merry Christmas!

Photographer’s Chillout Session

fiona — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 01:09:35 +0000

If you haven’t heard… the photographers are getting together for a chillout session! Come join us at the Apartment at The Curve, this Wednesday (Nov 3) evening at 7:30pm! Entry is free with the purchase of at least 1 drink =) Speaking that evening will be Kris Wong, Joe Chan, Keda Z and I! So come, hang out and mingle with us!

See y’all there!

Pink October

fiona — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:46:43 +0000

In conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness, FIFOTO is collaborating with Pilatique this Pink October! Do show your support and help raise awareness! Please help share this with your friends and family who might be interested! See you there!

Lovebirds Contest Entries!

fiona — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:40:54 +0000

Thanks for all the cute photos submitted for our Lovebirds Contest! Here are all our entries! Pls vote for your favorite, most unique, most creative shot!

The photo with the most votes will win a RM200 voucher from That Special Occasion for bridal gown purchases and a RM500 voucher for a FIFOTO pre-wedding shoot! The 2nd runner-up will also receive a RM200 voucher from That Special Occasion!

So VOTE NOW! Polls close at 11:59pm on October 10, 2010!

“Now Until Forever”

“I’ll Never Let You Go”

“Happy Together”

“Forever Lovey Dovey”

“Dance With Me!”

“Crazy Love”

“Wave Kiss the Beach, I Kiss You”

Brides drink Slurpee!!!

fiona — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 02:20:34 +0000

Lookwhat I found on Jasmine Star‘s blog a short while ago! Brides love Slurpee from 7 Eleven!

I would like to see more photos like these! Wedding Couples and Wedding Photographers out there!!!! Let’s SLUUUUUUUUUURPPPPPPPP some LOVE this way!!!! Send me your coolest shot!

Safety First!

fiona — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 11:09:31 +0000

One would think that having been the Chairperson of the Safety and Wellness committee and the Department rep for KLOSHC during my Exxon days, I’d have safety drilled into my head. I guess after 5 years of not being in that safety mindset, and no serious injuries, I became complacent and careless. My priority at that moment was to take a shot of Justina’s beautiful eyes. The bride is tall and so, I decided to climb on a stool to take the shot. All was well until the stool slipped and I fell. My first reaction was to keep my right hand, which was holding the camera, up, together with my left hip, where my shoot sac was slung over. And so my natural instinct was to hold my entire weight, plus my camera and flash and other lenses, using my left palm. My palm did support the fall but that also meant my elbow taking the bulk of the hit. I felt a sharp pain in my elbows and felt faint, probably from the pain and shock. After some icing and bandaids, I thought I’d be a trooper and was ready to get back into action! When I realized I couldn’t even lift my phone, I realized it was a lot worst than expected. The doc on duty at the A&E ward that night took an X-ray and said results show no fractures nor broken bones, thankfully! The Dr at the Emergency ward said it was my soft tissue that was inflamed and I required 1 week of no straining my left hand. The next day, the pain got worst, the swelling got bigger and the movement of my arm became more rigid.

I just got back from seeing Dr Chin, an Orthopedic and he noticed a small fracture on my elbow joint. I’m sitting at my desk, typing with one hand. The other, is in a cast, one that I must leave on for 3 weeks! Which means, no driving, no shooting, no jogging, no fun. And when I asked the doc how do I shower with it on, he jokingly said that doesn’t come in the manual! Guess I’ll have to figure that one out myself!

Despite the pain, immobility and 3 weeks of inconvenience, I’m just glad and very thankful that it’s nothing more serious and am super thankful it’s my left arm, not my right! (I’m right-handed!) And I take this as a good lesson learned – to practice safety, first and foremost, no matter how badly you want to get that perfect shot, losing capability of any of your limbs is certainly not worth it. Having struggled to do almost everything with one hand for the past 2 days, I feel blessed and can completely emphathize with those who are less fortunate.

I believe in cause & effect and although I’m in much discomfort, I think this lesson has effected greater learning and awareness. Looks like Safety didn’t leave the building when I left Exxon. And here’s to all my fellow photographers… Pls be careful at shoots! Put your safety first before any shot. I’ve learned that an injured wedding photographer is a useless one!

Thanks to everyone for your kind words and wishes! BIG THANKS to BIG MING for taking good care of me and for the (ahem!) next 3 weeks of extra TLC!

Remember guys, SAFETY FIRST, wherever you are!