Pre-Wedding Photoshoot - A Photographer's Perspective part I

WHY AM I ALWAYS SICK ON LONG WEEKENDS.. I WANNA COMPLAIN!


I used to think that wedding preparations are a joy, never will be a pain in the neck like what others have said, but now I just want to tell you that I never wanna marry again! LOL. But come to think of it, I deserve all the stress since I can't blame anyone for my fastidious personality.

All the following photos from our photoshoot by Hearted Moments Photography are not photoshopped nor touched-up by the photographer yet since his lead time is one month, but how can I wait for a month when I am so eager to show some now??? I have shared a few of these untouched photos on Instagram and Facebook using the magic of Instagram filter, but sadly, the filter can't filter away my fat, untoned face and arms.
Okay, I did try to edit the photographer's photos using my Macbook's photo editor but no matter how hard I try to adjust the exposure, saturation or add filter, the original one is always better. HAHA. When can I reach this level of photography skills??? 


That very day came, I went there half exhausted half worrying if the photos would look out good as I really don't like the heavy make-up which makes me look so eunuch like LOL. (Not saying that the make-up artist's skills aren't good; it's just that my face isn't really suited for any heavy make-up I guess!)

The make-up artist was great; she came on the dot (she would stress me out if she came earlier since I was still packing up props for the shoot), I felt comfortable talking to her and love how she styled my hair. Have been contemplating whether to tie my hair up for the photos (i always like my hair tied up), but she encouraged me to try letting some of it down, since it complements the photoshoot themes. And so I did. I let some of my hair down.

The horse would be accompanied by the trainer to meet us outside the Riders' Cafe at 2.30pm that noon, but they were both late, which is fine cos it gave us some time to prepare ourselves. This was the time our friend cum photographer began pulling up large cameras from his luggage and taking candid shots. He photographed me sitting on the bench waiting for the shoot to start but it was the first time a big camera pointed at me and I looked very uncomfortable in the photos so can't show it here. :D

So then he switched his focus to my primed friends who were outside the cafe all set to help us with the shoot! Joe was so sporting, trying to look pitiful in front of Jia He (photographer). :)

White shirts and brown pants.

When they first alighted from the cab, they looked like they were wearing some form of uniform suited for horse riding. Very cute haha!

Thanks friends for buying the outfit when they weren't sitting in your closet in the first place. :D
I created a group chat consisting of a mix of my secondary school friends and poly girlfriends solely for this photoshoot, but they were too shy to spam the group chat since they just got to know one another, so they PM me whenever they need clarification with how they're gonna dress up that day.

While preparing for the shoot, I went leafing through catalogues and Pinterest pages to get an idea of how people posed with horses. It was funny how the ang mohs look so classy with the horses beside them but we look short next to the magnificent horse. His magnificence somehow overshadowed us, so it looks like it was his photoshoot and we were just the 2 small supporting roles! Haha!

This gown was picked by the bridal studio coordinator. It was the first gown she chose for me; she said it suits me alot and the moment I saw it, I knew it is the gown!

My colleague who saw some of our photos on Facebook said it really looked like we were overseas, since it's quite unusual for Singaporeans to have their wedding photoshoot at the saddle club, and she went on to say that Gardens by the Bay all are just too mainstream. (I didn't dare to tell her that I'm going to Gardens next year for my actual wedding photoshoot haha.)

Jia He took a good number of candids, and I love most of them :)))

Sorry, we were still shying away from the camera!

I think this horse's name is "Poland", if I didn't hear the trainer wrongly. What i really like about him is his poker face. He looks so sian all the time; he was like saying, "Are you done??? I need to eat my grass already!"
Jia He asked the trainer for reasons why Poland kept salivating (his saliva is white lol) and he said horses are grazing animals and since Poland was not allowed to feed on grass although he kept seeing them, he salivates.

Sorry Poland, you will eat your grass later but can you not try to eat my flowers? They are fake and not taste as good as green fresh grasses. It's not worth suffering from indigestion by eating those plastics!



Jun Wen loves how Poland walks. The sound of his hoofs knocking on the ground and the elegance and pride he carries with him while he is walking.

Like puppets, our poses were manipulated by Jia He (mainly because we really didn't know what pose is nice). This time, we were told to pretend to walk casually and chat while we walked, but look at our stance; it's so awkward. Haha! Got "scolded" by Jia He countless times!



A better one when we walked side by side, but as we didn't know how to lead Poland, he was walking straight into his heaven - the grass. 
Jia He gave us all the 700+ photos he took that day without additional charge, and told us to select 50 photos out of all these. We have 700+ choices and Simba chose this as 1 of the 50 photos, where Poland was looking down at his heaven. LOL.







Uneasiness can be reflected so vividly on Jun Wen's face as he was kind of afraid of huge Poland... I can vouch for this! At the zoo, he didn't dare to go very near the horses at the stable as their long faces were as long as half of his body.

Jia He "scolded" me for my silver loafers which did not suit my gown, his suit and the horse. LOL. He gently said he will try to photoshop them away. BUT HOW COME??? It took me days before I finally decide to buy this; thought it will look fun with my gown.

My number 1 favourite photo!

The tree, the horse, the lighting, us and everything were so in the right place!

Well ok, Poland and his expressionless face again.

Love how the long train looks on the meadow.

It was actually very dirty, with bugs and ants running all over, and my friends had to dust them off for me sometimes.

Uploaded the zoom-in on Instagram after applying its "vintage" filter.

The make-up artist lent her own necklace, since the bridal studio coordinator didn't lend me any necklace, mainly because she felt that it might be too much if she adds some more blings.

I really like how small details can add to the overall look. I would look so plain without the choker.

Another kind of failed shot:

I'm one-legged and he absolutely did not look like he was walking casually at all.

It looks so easy to do it right, but it was so hard!

Thanks Mao Mao who ran to the cafe where we put our props and brought my bouquet to me.

He brought the bouquet which I prepared for my bridesmaids, but I'm glad he brought this wrong one cause a blend of purple and white flowers looks so nice in the photos!

Manoeuvring Poland requires more than just pulling his "leash", it requires a horse whisperer to impart his skills, knowledge and experience to us! We were at a loss in whispering to Poland, to get him to turn his head slightly.
OK, I know I look like some fierce woman ready to eat a horse, but this wasn't how I felt at that time. I was very patient and kind with Poland I swear!!

Yay when Poland turned his head!!

But he looked like "Wah lau eh. You all done already??? I really need to graze liao!"

Jun Wen has been dying to take an individual shot with Poland!

I was pretty surprised that he didn't pick this as one of the 50 photos, he said it's a waste of money since every of these photographs should contain both of us. Anyway, glad that he think it this way.

Me and my 2 beautiful and ONZ bridesmaids!

It was a laborious day for them, carrying my stuff and everything. Thanks so much girls!

The pretend best men! :D

Jun Wen was so shy to engage his own guy friends in our photo shoot, so I used my guy friends. Lol.

I wasn't worried about troubling my guy friends at all. It was funny when the styling coordinator asked if we have any questions for her after her briefing and I said, "If you need any help, I can ask my friends to help."

And she was totally at loss for words, and replied after a few seconds, 

"NO! Your friends wear so nice that day, can't let them help me carry stuff!"

Jia He was thinking on what fun poses the guys can do with the presence of a horse, and an idea came to Si Ting! 

Gangnam Style! Yay! Some of the ideas brought forth by my friends were fantastic! We would have never thought of that if we came alone!

The guys were very shy, and it was so unlike them! I wasn't sure if it was because of the presence of my 2 poly girlfriends, Jia He, Poland, the camera or all the the abovementioned, although I highly suspect it was because of the girls. LOL.

Simba had to dance Gangnam Style with Poland as we were warned to never let of go of Poland wherever we go or whatever we do.

Failed shot again.
It was intended for me to tell Poland, "Hey, look at what this guy is doing!" 
But Poland wasn't listening! He was perpetually looking at his other horse friends in the stable; maybe they were feeding on grasses.

Group shot time!

Love my sporting friends. I don't know if I will look as natural as them if I were to pose as a bridesmaid in someone else's photoshoot.

 We tried getting Poland to turn to the guys' side so that it looked as though the girls were directing him to the other side but the attempts failed several times. Then when he finally turned, the guys' attention shifted from looking at the camera to him. -_-"

A picture says a thousand words - I told you Simba is afraid of huge Poland. Believe me now?

Succeeded. Kind of.

'Cause Jun Wen was still looking scared!

Induced the girls to hook arms together but Jia He didn't like! :D

From his perspective and experience, he said the arms look messy when we do that, which is kinda true now that I look at it.

So... we had to put our hands on our waist while the guys dance and Simba pulled the leash.

It wasn't planned that the leash's colour matched his suit's!

Pre-Wedding Casual Photoshoot

I must say although the process of preparing for this shoot was tedious, it was all worth the effort. 
Wanna shout out to all my friends who helped to make this shoot a spontaneous and fun one! We were pretty awkward initially, but you guys lighten up the mood and make us more natural. Lol. :D
A big thank you to my friends for being my hard labour carrying all the flowers, my bag, pumping up balloons, wearing pink ties, pulling up my shawl etc etc. Can't thank you enough!


Photos taken by Ting and some edited by iPhone camera filter:



Ting suggested gangnam style when the photographer asked what dance moves he can get Jun Wen to incorporate in the shoot with the horse!

I was supposed to point at him and laughed at his stupidity but well... doesn't seem to turn out that way.

The pair of silver shoes which I took ages to decide before I bought them was deemed as "out of theme" by the photographer. :(

He said he would try to edit out my shoes lol.

Abandoned house served as a fantastic backdrop.

Totally all up for the whole grecian idea, and so proud of myself for planning his wardrobe! Haha!

Fence that we are all afraid of leaning against after the horse trainer told us we may get electric-fried. LOL

Thumbs-up to Jia He, our uni hall friend and photographer, for touring the whole place in the morning before we came, and thereafter directed us to where he finds beautiful.

UP, UP & AWAY.

The UP theme was an idea from Pinterest! Love Colleague Michelle for urging me to start an account with Pinterest and source for ideas from there. I was initially hesitant, lazy to keep abreast with all these new apps all the time and was too complacent; I overestimated my creativity (lol) as it did not incur to me that afterall I'm just an Engineering student.

Young Workforce & Yuna!

Wanna start off this entry with a photo of me with the ever wonderful people:

60% of the workforce in KTPH is less than 30 years old and this is very evident in my department!

Colleague Michelle is pregnant and this is so cool because she is the first friend I have who is pregnant! :D (I can't count my 2 poly friends whose wives are pregnant.)

The day after she suspected that she might be pregnant, she told us with mixed feelings, as she is planning a trip to US in October and she won't be able to execute the plan as her tummy will be ready to deliver. The baby was not part of her plan at all! Oh well... Eventually when she went to the gynae who verified her pregnancy through a scan, she felt the excitement of becoming a mum, mainly because the small piece of thing presented on the screen was so tiny and cute. Lol.

That day when I accompanied her to our in-house childcare centre to enquire about the services and price, I felt old. LOL.

Oh just a few days back, we were heading for lunch when Michelle came out of the lift and then randomly suggested, "We should all go overseas shopping together!" And after like a few minutes, they started bookmarking airlines which are currently offering great deals. Before I had the time to react, they decided on going Hong Kong in August! LOL. 

I said it's too near my wedding date and I can't be fatter, can't be scratched, can't eat anything, can't be tanned ... etc etc In the end I was still convinced by them when they said it's like my bachelorette party... No wonder there is this saying, "When 3 people come together to speak the same language, their request shall be fulfilled."

Then after lunch, the excitement continues... 

I was waiting for a very important email and my heart skipped a beat when I received a new email, only to find out that it's just another print screen of Hong Kong shopping site.

MY COLLEAGUES ARE INDEED HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE. THEY DEFINITELY PRACTISE THE 7 HABITS.

This was how I got roped in to plan for an overseas trip with Evon, Michelle and Iris without uttering any word. 

LOL.

---

Just a few mongrel photos to share:

Do you still remember Willow, the puppy I held in my hands on my profile pic?

The volunteer who is in-charge of her sent me this! 

This is how a dog, even the most mellow dog I have ever seen, looks like after a day at the beach.

And this is William, her brother, sleeping soundly in adopter's house!

Found my favourite puppy, Yuna! 

She's like a little goody two shoes. She listens very well, and what's irresistible about her is that she gives that Puss-in-Boots look after you penalized her for misbehaving.

But... she is gonna be adopted soon as potential adopter fell in love with her at first sight too. It's my fault cos I recommended her to him after he said he would like to adopt a more gentle dog. :(

When will I ever get my own puppy? :(

Mum and Dad don't allow, and Simba wants cats in our new apartment. :(

I'm worst wedding planner. :D

I must say, I'm gradually regaining back my old talkative and cheerful self, and never gonna miss those times of dissimulation! Life's great again, thanks to people I have known from volunteering and workplace. 

Learning's at its best when you actively learn from people who are expert in their fields. I have gotten it so wrong in my last workplace; I felt so incapacitated all the time. So, it's never about how intelligent you are and how much knowledge you have in the first place. Instead, it's about how adaptive you are to changes and how motivated you are in developing yourself and initiating changes. :)

Never had a module in statistics and was thrown into a field where statistics is most valued, but while I learn the ropes, help was pretty accessible as it was just an email away. The visiting Prof from NUS who led large clinical trials was very kind to meet me and my team a few times to give us invaluable advice on how to approach a study, developing and evaluating it, and that was on top of giving his statistical knowledge input. :)))

Work is accumulating at a pace faster than I can cope. Things are always urgent, and I'm always trying to catch up, no matter how hard I try to pace myself. The moment I complete something and I thought I can breathe for a moment, something bigger comes up again. Work-life fit... When is it gonna be me?

4 abstracts for one research conference, and this means 4 posters OMG. I have trouble making one and now I need to make 4?!! OH NO!

"7 Habits of Highly Effective People" - I'm glad that I'm gonna go for this course next week and so gonna practise mastering the ultimate quadrant thing LOL.

Planning a wedding is a chore; I finally am experiencing the woes of my friends who previously laboriously prepared their wedding! 

Planning a wedding on top of everything I have been busy with is hard work. 

I must say, I definitely don't have a knack for event planning. LOL.

Other than work and more work, I have been busy with... Dog stuff.

Recent case I have been assigned to.

Family with a beautiful Goldie wants to adopt our strays.

Goldie's name is Butterball.. So cute!

Here is Hamburger treading over grasses and terrorising adopter's yard with her kid. :)

Adopter's cute kids with Hamburger.

And what's most anticipated and at the same time tensing me up is of course the solemnisation in September. We've been meeting so many vendors and coordinating so much that we sometimes are at a complete loss about what to do next!

Our vendors left us homework and we can't seem to finish them, and this is definitely, absolutely driving me crazy. LOL. Sometimes, words just can't describe what I want for my wedding, and I felt like gesticulating the message across, but I just don't know how to too. LOL.

Our casual pre-wedding shoot will be at Bukit Timah Saddle Club... And Photographer requested my friends to be present in the photos too as he feels it will be so much more fun! :D
Thanks friends who are all taking leave to be in the shoot, love you guys!

A prelude to the wedding bridal shoot. :D

Here are 3 of my gorgeous bridesmaids!
(I'm trying out the dresses for Ting and Joanne lol.)

Really looking forward to our shoot on 8th July :D

Have to leave the rest of what I wanna share to my next entries.

My family trip to Taiwan.

Birthday card from colleagues (Oh that elf ear!)

Birthday spent at River Safari.

And so many more... Please be patient with me! :D

I'm long winded.

The cool thing about my job is I get to meet different kinds of (pleasant) people and I must say I love it! And the culture and values that the company hold have been really instilled in the staff. Help I need are readily available and people responds very quickly. :D

Recently 2nd PI (I have 2 projects now, long story) assigned a clinical research manager to help me in the data collection as he wants me to submit an abstract for a conference due in end June.

Then I assumed that the manager didn't know anything and explained every detail to him, even took him to the medical records office and show him every bit of the patient's data. Haha! He is a manager who already knew most things but was humble and patient enough to listen to every single word I said.

And later in the email he said, "Thanks for the informative tour." 

Hahahahaha that is a pretty nice way of saying that I'm long winded. 

To say the truth, I'm not an easy person to work with cause I'm always using alot of time to explain something and always micromanaging lol.

My 2 PIs are enthusiastic about research and their passion for research was the reason for my hiatus from this space. And these are medical doctors, not research phd doctors. They are geriatricians and to be able to provide care for the elderly, they are slow paced, long winded and have the tendency to correct everything. Sounds like someone you know? Sounds like me right? Lol. If I have an intellectual capacity like them, perhaps I'll be a geriatrician too. Haha. It's very comforting to know that you are worth 3 hours of your PI's time for each meeting (also cause we are both so long-winded) and he made sure that you understood everything he said before he moved on. Geriatricians have the habit of having u repeat their advice so that they are assured that you understood them lol. I wanted to go for an analysis course and when I seeked his permission, he said, "Don't need to ask me la pls, as long as you don't stop doing research cos now they are really looking into a lot of research on the clinical side..." Lol. Yea, I think other than caring for the elderly, their next major interest is research.

I'm now a confirmed staff after 6 months' probation! Appraisals are times where your boss convey to you his/her honest opinions to you and they are the times where I get pretty nervous about cause I'm really not ascertain if boss (the operations manager, not the PI) knows what I'm doing lol. The first question boss asked me was, "How? Did you enjoy working here the past 6 months? Do you see yourself working here for the next 5 years?" 

They say, when u meet a good boss, follow him wherever he goes lol.

Then he went on to explain what you have done well, what's on target and what needs to be improved. 

And under the section "Develop self and Others", he said I needed improvement.

"Don't be shy to say what you think. I want you to give your opinions, whether personal or professional, to help the team. Give your advice from a view of a researcher to improve the team efficacy. 6 months is no longer a newbie... So many new people are coming in and they need your help. In 2-3 years' time, if anyone needs advice on evaluating a program, I will tell him/her go and ask HJ. I want you to be that person who gives advice to others."

"Develop your own character."

And he said, after going through each point, "Yes, of course I'll confirm you." I found a leader who would spend one to two hours with every employee (from admin assistant to manager level) to talk about his/her development. I found a leader, not a boss. :))) 

Love my job and love my leaders. :)))

Greetings!

Greetings from me and the all-time photo bomber - photo taken using my pristine iPhone 5S Gold, tempered glass screen protector and phone casing!

A pro photo of iPhone 5S Gold.

Finally not living in stone age. :DDD

Mr Ah Beng who owns the handphone shop "Love Mobile" at Nex remarked, 

"Wah, you made your iPhone 4 look like iPhone 3 omg, hahahahaha. Got chipped off at the edge, and also water damage. Like that I very hard to sell leh."

That's how I got pressurised into buying the tempered glass and a high quality phone casing. 

#Spent$140inphoneshop #3HilariousAhBengsinLoveMobile #oneofthemlookslikeHaHa
Hahaha, did I use hashtags correctly?

A Lesson from Lexie.

Lexie is the first puppy I was assigned to ever since I joined SOSD. First pup assigned but third to find a new home.

At the adoption drive, she was so bubbly and naughty; she can't keep still for a second and find joy in disturbing 3 of her other siblings in the playpen, so her fosterer has no choice but to segregate her from the rest and take her out for walks several times throughout the drive.

At the drive, she was not a popular puppy as she is not pretty to begin with; she is brown and tanned, she cannot compete with Yogi (my other assigned dog) which has a evenly spread black patch on her top and a white patch at the bottom.

(This is Yogi.)

On top of that, she has so much energy to expel, oblivious to the fact that she is actually being over-friendly in greeting other pups and humans. The other brown pup, Evie, a feminine girl with good temperament was never angry with Lexie even when she was treated roughly and everyone who came to the playpen loved Evie and quickly labelled Lexie as "naughty". 

Lexie never had more than one potential adopter in our once-a-month adoption drive when other pups can get more than 4 people vying for him/her at the same time. And that one potential adopter wrote his/her name down for her only after some persuasion and recommendation from Eason.

Lexie did not get off to a good start. She did not eat or sleep well at a factory site until she was discovered at 3 months old, and was moved around from fosterers to potential adopters and vice versa for around 5 times throughout the next 3 months, but it did not bother her as much as it bothers us. She continues to find joy in her daily life, greeting people warmly when she meets them.

First Potential Adopter was a 13-year-old boy, Eason (my good friend now lol). He loves Lexie to bits, but his 24-year-old sis, who has been terrified of dogs all her life, shocked the whole family by proclaiming bluntly, "If you keep Lexie, I will leave the house for good!" (Similar to something which I recently told my mum, "MOM, if you throw away my pillow, I will leave the house for good!" And she was like -_-", "how old are you already my friend?")

And so, she went back to Fosterer, Gillian, after a week. 

Then came a 2nd Potential Adopter who was very keen to give Lexie a good home. We all thought it would end well but much to our dismay, it didn't. Her son developed some allergic reaction towards her, and we said if she could wait it out, her son might just develop resistance and be okay soon. However, she could not afford to take the risk, and we were disheartened by the news. 

I asked if Gillian could foster her back again since it didn't work out for Lexie in her second home either. But she couldn't, as throughout the past month of fostering Lexie, her own dog was very jealous of Lexie's presence and barked at her non-stop. They both fought throughout the day and the din created wasn't exactly music to the ears, so her husband did not want us to bring Lexie back to them. Helpless, she and her daughter spent that night crying over Lexie's plight. :(


It was a few days later when we found an application to foster her. It was a family who can really take good care of her. The daughter applied without her mum's consent LOL. Her mum couldn't contain her shock when we first came to her doorsteps with a dog but became okay with it soon after. She said to us, "It's good to see that my children have a kind heart, that they always want to help people and animals." The senior volunteer who came with me hinted the mum to adopt Lexie but they tactfully rejected her requests, saying that she couldn't commit to take care of her for the next 10 years of her life.


Adoption drive after adoption drive, Lexie was there, leashed by Gillian and Eason with high hopes of promoting her to a good home. But again and again, they left the drive with disappointment.

Gillian would tell me a couple was interested but not interested enough to write down their names for Lexie, another was interested too but not as much as the other cuter puppy. After all, she is 5 months, big-sized and can't hold a candle to those young, sweet things anymore. Success of me finding a new home for Lexie has become even more elusive.


I called up Joel, a 18 year old boy, who wrote down Lexie as his third preferred pup, and he said the top of his list is Yogi (above pic) and no one else. (Anyway nice Joel has adopted Yogi! Yay!)

Then I called up a couple and the lady freaked out when I told her about the adoption fee of $300 which includes fees for microchip, vaccinations and sterilisation. She snapped and retorted that her last pup was adopted and she didn't pay any fee. As desperate as we were, we told ourselves that we weren't comfortable with future adopters who weren't willing to spend a single cent for the pup, and to be patient and keep our faith in finding the right person for Lexie.


Finally, one fine day, my leader told me to follow up an online application for Lexie, and it was an adopter well-respected by many and whose humble personality endeared her to her students. She is ah-hem someone very reputable in Singapore. 

Her current dog was also adopted from us and because how well she was treated she was so beautiful you won't think she is mixed breed at first sight. She eats freshly imported beef, was taken out for walks hourly by the 2 maids, eats on elevated platform so that she doesn't bend her neck to eat.. etc etc. 


Her friend texted this adopter that another dog Apple looks like her previous dog which passed on months ago but when she came to our website, she saw the below picture of Lexie on our website and her pitiful story, so she wants to help. At the same time she was looking for a dog to keep her dog company.
She said Lexie looked so pitiful in the picture with her ears down and all, and she knows she can't leave her alone looking for a permanent home.

During a week of homestay at adopter's house...

Like usual, she did a fantastic job of quickly settling in...

Continues her cheerful self and became best of dog friends with adopter's dog (doesn't look like a mongrel right?) quickly. 
I love this picture to bits! BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR. 

She got the dog to like her and they slept on the same bed. Awww...

It was a very teary moment for me and some other volunteers when adopter texted me that she is definitely adopting Lexie...
"She is wonderful and gets along very well with Ariel. I would be delighted to give her a home and take care of her the rest of her life. Yes I will adopt her."

Now Lexie resides in the biggest house I have ever seen in Singapore, plays on the tennis court in the premises of the adopter's house and eats only fresh top-grade food which was brought in every morning.

Lexie has impacted a few human beings like Eason, Gillian and her daughter, a few other volunteers and me. She has shown us that no matter how things can go wrong, she just needs to be herself and stay positive, and keeping faith that she will find someone who loves and accepts her for who she is, everything will just turn out just the way it should be! She also has touched the hearts of many not because of how she looks, but solely based on her bubbly and energetic personality~~
I LOVE LEXIE, SHE IS SIMPLY AWESOME!

She has brought me to know her adopter, an inspiring, successful but humble person, and also closer to people like Gillian & Eason who love her so much!

Happy 27th Birthday to Me!

Yesterday, Super Junior Assistant Photographer was at a Zumba Event :)
I was so conscious of my own presence that I was hesitant to walk up the stage or to the front of the hall initially, but things got better after a short while of being thrown into a sea of unfamiliar faces - Even I was surprised at myself for actually adapting to the environment.


Most photos were a flop and a total embarrassment especially when placed side by side with the main photographer's, but my most salient achievement in the 2 hours was that my camera elicited a number of excited responses from the participants.

 Shamelessly presenting to you the few photos taken by yours truly, the Super Junior Assistant Photographer who brought nothing but more trouble to Main Photographer.

Yes! I was with him, now a professional photographer!

Upon seeing him, the sense of familiarity came back and I realised that I missed being his intern so much!  

He shared again his knowledge with me and this time it was not on BioInformatics, but his other passion, Photography. 

FREE PHOTOGRAPHY LESSON AGAIN LOL.

Am always a fan of someone who is unassuming, down-to-earth and loves to nurture the young.

(LOL okay I'm not young anymore)

Supper with him was how I spent counting down to my birthday (Although he has forgotten my birthday but I forgive him lol)!

Happy 18th Birthday to me!

Hi dears! I neglected my blog again, I'm so sorry! 
Promise that for the next few days when boss is away, I will update you as much as possible! Will update this entry when I have more time. 

Let me proclaim to you that life has never been better~~ YAY!
Knee is recovering well, Simba recovered, found motivation in my job, found role models in my workplace, met the nicest people in SOSD (faith in humanity restored!), and went to do a house visit at a former MP's place for a dog (she is one inspiring and lovely lady)!

I guess you got bored from me shamelessly wishing myself Happy Birthday at this space every April. And YA~~ After so many years, it is still my 18th birthday! 



1) Camera Lens

This year, I did myself a favor by buying something that costs an arm and a leg for my birthday - a camera lens, something that I always wanted to get but held back for the longest time! Reviews rave about Cathay Photo so I had to check it out myself and this is why I love forums - they never lie, the service is awesome! 

Nikon F1.8 50mm, specially designed for taking portrait photographs and I'm gonna make good use of it for my coming birthday celebration. 
I'm the only lady in the entire shop! Photography seems to be more of a hobby for guys. :D



2) Flowy Grecian Wedding Dress from a blog that gathers ideas for wedding gowns:

Although I need to be alot taller to look good in this.. 

Hmmmm... 

I still have time to choose something I like...

I don't have to be so uptight and all panicky...

3) Aravind Eye Care

Some interesting quotes to share:

"An average surgeon with the right attitude can do wonders for you."

"The contents are better than the container."

(Elaborate on these later. Have to sleep for now!)

Kayden, Happy Birthday!

My nephew's 2 years old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYDEN TOH!

(An opinion I have kept to myself for the longest time but couldn't keep it any longer: Why do hairdressers like to cut babies' hair to a crew cut? Come on, hairdressers, you can do better!)

Now Kayden is going through the stage where he starts to imitate what we say and do, so upon seeing us try to get him to blow out the candles, he spontaneously pressed his lips together. The result was of course a pool of saliva which landed on parts of the cake. Eeewwww!

Hope you grow up to be an inspiring individual who is well-liked and respected by others! :D

Do you always meet a talkative friend all throughout your life? 

I think I have met another again. LOL.

Simon, my ex NTU coursemate, just joined our department. COOL. I ran into him 2 weeks ago in our office (either the office is big or I am just too blur.) 

He is one talkative person... and now I have someone to drive me home after work YAY.

And I saw my ex school teacher, Mr Jacky Tan, at the palliative care forum; he just joined the company as a Medical Social Worker! I was smiling to him throughout the forum and Colleague Evon smiled at him with me too. After much persuasion from colleagues, I mustered enough courage to go over and greet him, and although he couldn't recall who I am anymore, but at least he noticed us smiling away at him even when we were a hundred miles apart.

Me: "So sad he couldn't recognise me anymore."

Evon: "Of course la, he got so many students!"

Me: "He used to teach me Physics!!"

Evon: "Maybe this is his passion!"

Me: "Physics???"

Evon (rolled eyes): "NOOOO, I mean helping people. His passion is to help people la."

Niceeee.. My ex teacher is always helping people, in one way or another. :D

"You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."

 -quotes-lover.com

Another piece of good news to share!
The photographer in SOSD, who has been in the photography line for 19 years, is conducting a photography crash course for us for free (so that we can help take photos of the dogs in future adoption drives)..!
It's no doubt a dream come true; I mean, photography class from a professional photographer that can easily fetch $600 per student is now offered for free?
:D
Basic equation of my life:
Photography + FREE Stuff = DREAM COME TRUE!
(Okay don't judge me, I am human.)

The Wedding Gown

Tried on a few gowns before signing with the bridal studio :D
Proudly presented to Colleague Michelle (who just got married) my contract which Simba and I signed with acquiescence to the wedding coordinators' fierce persuasion, but to my surprise, she went "AHHHHH, HJ you should have asked me along! I would have asked for more things for YOU!!" LOL.


I came into the studio, fell in love with it and set my mind on it. Although I might not have gotten everything's worth, but overall my wedding package is pretty good. After all, what matters the most is not the price tag that comes along with it or everything I can squeeze out of it, but it's whether the bridal studio's style matches what I'm looking for. :D


The wedding coordinator got me to describe the sort of gown I like, and after some brief introduction of myself and elucidation of that perfect dress, she defines my style as "Romantic".


After what seems like a thousand years of browsing through the catalogue, I pointed (see below) out what I thought is iconic in the olden days, and she explained that this is translucent so she got me something similar but is opaque lol.

Fell in love with the embellishment on the gown and the sashay bottom, though a bit of layering, lace, ruffles or frills will be great too! Maybe I will add on a piece of off-shoulder cloth on my arm (it's so cool the cloth is detachable)!

Just as I thought the feeling of slipping into a gown would be nothing but blissful, to the contrary, when I saw myself wearing a gown for the first time in front of the ceiling-length mirror, I felt utterly, absolutely insecure in an environment filled with other customers since I looked so tanned in that pure white dress and weird without much make-up on. LOL. My shoulders went all the way down I was practically hunching and the coordinator reassured me and said while she adjusted my posture, "The thing about wearing a gown is that the bride wearing it should feel beautiful and confident in it. Everyone will be looking at you the moment you walk into the hall, so you can't be hunching this way." Hmmm..

U know, actually u don't need to trim your tummy unless u choose a mermaid cutting gown! For all other types of cutting, they design it such that your waist looks way smaller than it actually is! Lol no time left so I'm going to focus on arm slimming only!

Cousin said she wants to tag along the next time I go for gown fitting LOL! Told her that I wanted a toga but she advised me against it, saying that it will not be as elegant as other gowns.. Hmmm.. What do u think? I love Grecian... If you watched Thor 2, U must have noticed the gown that Natalie Portman wore in ancient Greece. :D

Autonomy & Mastery

One of the benefits that you can reap from a young, growing organisation is that you find yourself surrounded by opportunities to stretch your potential and mature along with the organisation, and this means you get to climb up the career ladder quicker. However, this also means you need to thrive as fast as you could but at the same time know how to pace yourself so that you don't burn out (which is unfortunately something I'm struggling with.)

"Change is the only constant." was what Boss said to me. 
"For the next 5 years, we are going to do more. I give you the autonomy ah, and you have to learn how to manage everything yourself and eventually gain mastery. I'm not saying that everything is gonna be smooth, in fact I'm telling you that the process is going to be painful, and I want you to learn from it."


4 months now and I am exhausted. Lol.
This was never what I wanted nor expected. I JUST WANNA BE A HOUSEWIFE!

I found 3 more aspiring housewives-to-be at my workplace and this is us not paying attention in the cooking class. 

It's not easy to find an inspiring boss whom you greatly respect and nice colleagues. So ya.. I'm going to stay in this and be as dynamic as I can be until Simba strike it rich!