…or ‘The Mother of All Teasers’.

Yes, this is ANOTHER teaser post.

Well, sorta.

I just wanted to post up quick note to inform everyone that I am officially on leave (yes, unbelievable BUT true! I’m on a much needed break. Wheeee!! :D).

I’m out of KL till January 1, 2009 and while my mobile will not be turned on, I’ll still be replying to emails every other day.

A belated Merry Christmas wish to everyone out there Here’s to an awesome New Year ahead for all of us.

See you all next year and do drop by the blog to check out more pictures from the sessions below :) 

Hugs

Jullian & Marie’s Fun KK Reception

The Tan’s relaxed family portraits at the park

David & Laura’s pre-wedding session

Devi & Herman’s solemnisation

Caroline’s family portrait session

Johan & Alia’s solemnisation

Kat & Sern’s tea ceremony & reception

And why in the world are they both so happy and why she’s pointing at me? Find out more soon!

Holla!

The year end holiday season is just around the corner and it has been absolute madness in my lil part of the world.

Am rushing to finish off editing and deliver pictures to a few of my couples before Christmas next week and I’ve got portrait and wedding sessions to shoot from this Thursday till Sunday. Yowza!

This means my regular blog posts will only commence next week. Yaaaa, I lied about blogging this week. Bad, bad blogger :p

Frankly speaking, I’m feeling abit overwhelmed (gasp!) but fret not - with a bit of caffeine and the usual Anna hyperness, I’ll be “Wheeeeee!”-ing my way through it all

In the meantime, here’s a lil preview of Raymond and Cilla’s awesome session. Can’t wait to share more of this lovely couples’ pictures. Wheeee!

Yes they’re not in focus in this pic, the hanging ferns (or whatever you call them) are ;p Will share the focused version in the proper post. I just like the feel of this one

Ok, I’ll be back in a jiffy. Enjoy the rest of the week!

Cover pic of the Malaysian edition of Men’s Health (Dec 08), shot by one of BluInc’s inhouse photogs.

No, no. That’s NOT me! :p Hehe…

It’s Jonathan Wong, one of the founders of Pushmore Fitness Centre. He’s on the cover of December issue of Men’s Health, which coincidentally is also the issue which contains some pics I shot recently. Congrats to JW on appearing on the cover of MH!

So, when I said I’m in Men’s Health, I didn’t mean literally, just some pictures that I shot. Hehe…

Much thanks to Eric and Kenneth for giving me the opportunity to shoot for the mag! Here are digicam shots of part of the spread in the magazine.

On a separate note, I’ve got a few blog posts lined up with pictures from my recent wedding shoots in Kota Kinabalu as well as couple portraiture sessions in Kuala Lumpur.

Looking forward to posting them up soon, but my plates full at the mo as I’ve been working (and working out :p) round the clock on completing a few sets of photos before the holiday season arrives.

The blog posts will have to wait for a lil while more Hopefully by early next week *fingers crossed*. Nevertheless, thanks for dropping by and do swing by next week to check out the new pics ya?

Hugs

The lack of activity on the blog is because I’m back in Kota Kinabalu for a couple of shoots this coming weekend. Been busy with editing and catching up with the family.

Wasn’t planning on blogging about this because some people might think it’s not very nice for my clients and blog readers to know this about me. But what the hey :p

Okay.

So.

Ermm..I’m still thinking whether or not to go through with this.

Arrrrrggggggghhh! Okay okay. I’ll do it.

Wendell and I just agreed on quitting smoking together.

Yes. I smoke. A lot. Ironic I know, but one of the main reasons why I workout so much is so that I can keep my vices.

But since Mr. Wendell “Jom let’s quit smoking together” Gingging decided to bet with me that we’ll both quit smoking on January 2, 2009 (last cigarette before midnight of January 1, 2009. Gasp!), I said okay (why did I say okay?!!?).

Not only that, we have both agreed to participate in the half marathon category of the Borneo International Marathon come October 2009 (double gasp!).

I tried quitting smoking in 2007 with a public declaration on flickr (you can check it out here) and I’m trying it again in 2009. Godspeed!

Pic on left shot by Nee On and pic on right was an x-ray I got nearly 2 years ago. Oh and if you wanna know about my wonky backbone, just click on the link :p

Anyway, the first one to be spotted smoking by any one of our witnesses, will have to buy the winner a meal at Salut (a seafood place in KK) which will include AT LEAST 1kg prawns and 1kg softshell crabs.

So geng KK, please report to me if any of you see Wendell smoking ok?? Hehehe..as for me, urmmm…whoever sees me smoking in KL can email Wendell the time and date that you saw me smoking.

Let the games begin….on January 2, 2009 :p

Edit: Wendell just texted me and said “If u tapuk2 smoke tidak kira”. LOLOLOL!!

Warning: This is another ’shameless’ post totally unrelated to photography. 

Hey guess who’s in December’s Malaysian edition of Shape magazine?

Yes, the shameless photographer strikes again (or as my housemate Ninie likes to joke, “the most photographed photographer” :p). But this time round, it’s not related to photography :p

Picture from Shape magazine, it was shot by one of BluInc’s inhouse photographer.

On another note, I just noticed that the number of comments in this blog has passed 650 comments. Wheeeee!

To celebrate the fact that other people do read this blog and I am not just talking to myself half the time (at least I don’t think I am :p), a new blog design will be coming soon. When the time comes, you my friend, will be the first to know (abadennnn??)

Thank you, yes YOU, for taking the time to read this lil blog of mine and for checking out the pictures that I post up here.

For those who have left their comments here, I truly appreciate your kind words, feedback and general tokkok ;p It really does make my day *skips with joy*.

Have an awesome week ahead!

Before I begin, I would just like to explain that photos in this set were watermarked quite extensively as I found out that some personal shots were ’stolen’ from Facebook and used on another website under another person’s name. Whoever this person is, appreciate if you can respect a photographers rights and give credit where its due.

Okay, having gotten the above off my chest, let us continue on with our regular programming

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Intan and Rudy met during my quarter century birthday party and from thereon, sparks flew.

While it was subtle initially, I could already tell they had something for each other. Come to think of it, since he asked me about her AND she asked me about him, it was rather obvious to me ;p

They’ve been through many ups and downs and I know it hasn’t been easy to get to where they are today. I still remember the moment when I found out from Intan that Rudy had proposed to her at Niagara Falls. I was absolutely ecstatic!

Rudy, on behalf of the rest of the monkeys, thank you. Thank you for loving Intan the way you do, thank you for making her the happiest I’ve ever seen her be. But if I ever see her unhappy, you better watch out cos a certain somebody’s ‘muskels’ are gonna squash you. Heheheh…I kid, I kid.

And Intan, we’ve been friends for yonks and I’ve got no regrets at all about all the stuff that we’ve gone through (yes, even the times when we didn’t speak to each other for a whole year! hahahahah). Even though you’re now somebody’s wife, you’ll always be our best friend.

Take care of each other and I wish upon you both happiness,  success, love and tons of fun! Oh, and lets not forget great sex too :p

And about the speech that you want me to do later during your dinner reception later, let me warn you that I’ll either end up swearing like a sailor or bawling like a baby :p Talking about that, I haven’t prepared the speech yet. Eeeks! See you newlyweds later

Love, Anna.

The solemnisation ceremony was held at Intan’s parents house back in Kota Kinabalu. Here’s some of my favourite shots from the day.

Disclaimer: We were mocking kawaii poses!! We don’t do this all the time!! *shy* :p Heheh…’The Monyets’ shot by Carliff. Ta!

After the solemnisation ceremony, we headed off to Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort, where we took some casual portraits with Rudy’s family and also the newlyweds

Congratulations again Intan and Rudy

Jullian and Marie were married last weekend and I had the pleasure of being part of their special day! It’s been three months since I last shot Jullian and Marie’s casual portraits in Kota Kinabalu and flying over to Miri to shoot their wedding was icing on top of the cake.

They first met when Marie was working in San Francisco Coffee in Miri. Apparently, Jullian frequented the place over and over just to see Marie to the point where he finally managed to get her number. And from thereon, love blossomed

With Marie being based in KK and Jullian in Miri, their long distance relationship endured on thanks to frequent calls and trips (thank goodness for budget airlines :p).

I now present to you, some pics from Mr & Mrs Jullian A. Sultan wedding

The glowing bride :) 

How many persons does it take to fit the rings into the ring cushion? ;p Hehe…

Here comes the bride!

The venue of the dinner reception, Park City Everly Hotel

Ian, one of Jullian’s bestfriend and also the person who introduced me to the couple, was the emcee for the night. Thanks for the referral Ian!

Congratulations again you two! Thank you so much for flying me over to capture the event for you. Can’t wait for the KK reception next week! See ya

More pictures from the church ceremony in the slideshow. Enjoy!

It was kinda weird to be back in Kota Kinabalu for such a long period of time during my recent trip there. Life’s not as hectic as in KL, I don’t rush from one place to another. As a matter of fact, it’s so laid back that I get fidgety at times :p

But the trip back was great. Not only did I shoot wonderful couples and made some awesome new friends, I’ve come to realise that there’s only so much I can do.

In KL, I’m always rushing around, wanting to do a lot of stuff, not sleeping or eating properly cause of it. Going back to KK made me realise that hey, it’s okay to take a breather once in awhile.

That doesn’t mean I kept myself idle of course Was busy with editing pics, catching up with local photogs and friends as well as pigging out at some of my fave eateries!

Some of my fave places to eat in KK include;
- Kuo Man coffee shop for the kon lou Tuaran mee and the fish slices. Errr..no pics cause I devoured my food when it arrived :p
- the ngau chap shop in Foh Sang for the (what else?) ngau chap. The ngau chap there is different from ngau chap I’ve tried anywhere else. Been going to this place since I was a wee lil kid, if it ever closes down, I’ll be devastated!

- cupcakes from Bits & Bites! The chicken puff is yummy too!

I shamelessly joined a few KK photogs and bloggers when we were invited by Dinoza for the launch of Imperial International Hotel’s Roof restaurant’s set lunch menu (try reading that out loud, its a mouthful :p).

The Roof offers a few different types of set lunches catering for individuals and groups with prices ranging from RM15 - 25. Not too bad, kinda like home cooking

Had the pleasure of hanging out with (clockwise from bottom left) Wendell, Edrie, George and Jofanna during lunch Thanks for the great company

Besides that, I tried out ultimate frisbee for the first time. It was fun, funnn, fuuuuunnnn! I was never a fan of frisbee cause I can’t catch for nuts.

But with ultimate frisbee, the fact that it’s a team sport and you’re running around like mad while trying to block your opponents catches made it fun for me I think another reason why I enjoyed it was cause it was at Tanjung Aru Beach - running on the beach was a grrreat workout for my calves. They were sore even two days after :p

That being said, I am sooooo gonna to drag some other friends to start a noob team with me when I’m not so busy with shoots….which means sometime next year. Hehe..

If you’re in KK and interested to check out the local ultimate frisbee scene, swing by Tanjung Aru Beach on Tuesdays and Fridays, 6 - 8 pm. Besides that they also play on Sunday afternoon’s at the rugby field nearby but I’ve forgotten what time :p

Oh and as mentioned in one of my previous posts, Alive Personal Defense does kettlebell training in Kota Kinabalu. Here’s some casual shots I took of the fitness centre and a shot of me with Paul the owner and one of his friends

I think Paul enjoyed ‘torturing’ me cos after my first session there, each time I went thereafter, he would ask me to carry a heavier weight. Pengsan dot com :p

I’ll be going back to KK again next Tuesday for 2 wedding shoots during the weekend. Looking forward to spending some time with my family during the weekday and hope to be able to catch up with some KK photographers and bloggers again then

Cheerio!

I’ve been anticipating Hans and Jaclyn’s wedding for nearly a whole year! They booked me back in December ‘07 and the first time I met them was when we had a casual portraiture session in Kota Kinabalu.

Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of keeping in touch with both of them as they planned for their wedding and we also met up on one of their trips to KL.

So, the day came and everything was absolutely perfect. The weather was gorgeous, the setting exquisite. With friends and family around, Hans and Jaclyn had the time of their lives.

Hans and Jaclyn, I truly had fun shooting your wedding for it was apparent to me (and I believe everyone else too :D) that you two enjoyed yourself.  And thank you for your hospitality during your dinner receptions, I had a very happy tummy on both nights and great company at the tables I was seated at Wheeeee!

Ok, before I continue raving on about your wedding, let’s move on to the pictures! Here are some of my fave shots from the day. And do check out the slideshow at the end of the post for more pictures from the church ceremony

Bling it on ;p

The bride

The groom and his best friends

The church ceremony was held at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Kota Kinabalu

After the ceremony, we took some quick portraits and I love this particular one

That night, a dinner reception was held for Jaclyn’s side at The Pacific Sutera. Before they headed down to the ballroom, I took some portraits of the newlyweds in their room.

And they had Moo cards, with pictures from our last year’s portrait session, made as thank you notes

Loved Jaclyn’s comfy dress!

The night was filled with performances as Jaclyn’s side of the family are extremely talented - singing and dancing is norm for them and boy oh boy, did they get it on that night

A week later, a dinner reception for Hans’ side of the family was held at The Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort. Luckily for me, we managed to get some portrait shots outdoor before the sunset

Hans’ uncle and aunt. I actually met them in the morning of the same day as I was shooting my best friend’s solemnisation ceremony (she’s also his niece. haha! yes, KK’s that small) before heading over to STAR for Hans and Jaclyn’s reception. When he saw me that night, first thing he said was, “Aren’t you tired?!”. LOL!!

These two kids were adorable! They were initially on the dancefloor, imitating the older ones’ dancing but I think they were knackered after awhile and decided to take a break ;p

Jaclyn’s aunts ‘taking advantage’ of the latest addition in the family. Hehe…

More pictures from the church ceremony. Just click on play and while waiting for the pictures to load, go grab a cuppa coffee ;p

Hans and Jaclyn, it was an absolute honour for me to be part of your special day.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with so many great couples ever since I started wedding photography and you two definitely are one of those couples who remind me how blessed I am to be doing what I’m doing (Ishh. I’m so cliche aren’t I? Must be the combination of jazz music, late night and lack of sleep talking. Hehe…)

See you both next week

Dennis and Irene’s wedding was a full day affair - starting off with a tea ceremony at the bride’s house, moving on to the church ceremony at Skyline in Magellan, the groom’s tea ceremony and ending with a grand dinner reception at the same hotel.

It was a day filled with laughter, reunions and best wishes amongst their family and friends. And the reception was huuuuuugeee with a capital H!

They had more than 1,000 guests attending the dinner and they spent slightly more than an hour just greeting guests at the entrance to the banquet. Hats off to that!

Dennis and Irene, thank you for having me be part of your big day. It was indeed a pleasure to be part of the celebrations and to also meet your family members (so many kids!). See you both soon back in Kota Kinabalu!

And Doris, it was nice to meet you that day! Hope you had a good experience practising your photography skills throughout the wedding. Happy belated birthday