Thursday, May 24, 2007

Pictorial Update.

The examinations are finally over and I'm back! I know, I've got to get the momentum of blogging back but as I've mentioned, wedding arrangements are a pain in the butt for me currently. Anyway, here are some pictorial update about a few stuff that happened in the duration of the three weeks when I was away. Chew on them.



Yeah, as you can see, dad's car's window got smashed as a failed attempt of robbery. Some bastard tried breaking in into the car after we left the goldsmith. Dad's guess was that we were unaware of being trailed since we left the goldsmith's and went for lunch, instead of going home straightaway. That Saturday, we were at the goldsmith shopping for wedding rings and wedding gifts of bracelets, bangles, rings and necklaces as the Chinese see gold items as auspicious items to have during weddings and such. We spent the entire morning there with the soon-to-be-wed couple and it wouldn't be any surprise that robbers might have their eyes on us, seeing that mom and dad did make quite a number of trips in and out of the shop "depositing" their valuables in the car. There was about RM9k worth of gold, if I'm not mistaken and we'd thought it would be safer leaving it in the car rather than taking it with us and risk it being snatched. Silly us.

Of course, dad was pissed when I alerted him that his window was smashed upon entering the vehicle while mom was more frantic checking that everything was still in place. Fortunately, the thief didn't succeed in breaking in (dad credits his security alarm!) and we didn't lose anything, except another few hundred bucks to replace the window. Dad immediately proceeded to the mechanic to get it fixed while we got a ride home with ah chiu was was still around town at that time. For me, seeing the car window cracked into a million pieces was a pretty new sight that I had to take pictures. I won't deny it either, that I was terrified that things like that could really happen. I've always thought it only happens in chain-mails circulating around locals. Kinda got mom and me thinking about the possibilities of us being followed into the home and so on. Wouldn't that be scary? Either way, that definitely got us alerter in future trips to the goldsmith. Preys are all over the place.





As I've said, most of the weekends that are left before the big day arrives are dedicated to any unfinished business in preparation for the wedding. That weekend after the horrifying visit to the goldsmith, on Sunday, mom and I got to tag along with the couple to their wedding album photoshoot. There were the studio and outdoor sessions, both of which I was there for, resulting me in skipping the school's annual Sport's Day. Spent the entire morning in the studio, helping ah chiu put on various costumes and didn't dare taking any photos. I mean, I didn't want to face the awkward moment in a confined place when the people in the studio tells me to put the camera away. I did manage to pull the camera out when we went outdoor. Three locations were all that was offered in the package that the couple chose, the beach, the church and the temple. Ah chiu's Catholic while the wife isn't, thus the contrasting locations.

Nonetheless, it was a lovely experience. It was easy shooting models that already have make-up on and didn't require me telling them how to pose (the real photographer did that already!). Still, the lighting and the angling was a bit of a challenge since I wasn't keen on getting in the way of the photographer. All I did was shoot from any points I could grab on. Though, I have to say, I thought the photographer was a little flat.
I wasn't expecting KidChan Studios material but personally, I still felt the whole shoot was a little blunt - the locations, the poses, the backdrops and the outfits. A little dead, I thought, almost routine-like. I won't elaborate further but I wouldn't recommend it to any couple who don't mind spending that little extra for their wedding album. Understandably, ah chiu is on a rather tight budget. However, being on the set with working photographers as such definitely sparked ideas of my own. Imagine me having my own studio and doing what I love best. Well, I have my hopes up.





Later that week too, the family attended Carina and Adrian's birthday party by the beach on Labour Day. Grace came back on that day and we were just in time to pick her up from the bus depot and headed down to the beach. They decided to share the cake at the last minute, despite the fact that their actual birthdays are actually a month a part. I guess I was wrong about Adrian, he couldn't resist the lavish celebration after all. They both had their friends over (for the night as well, I suppose) and they threw a barbecue, cooked spaghetti and ordered extra food. As I've heard, their grandma rented two separate rooms for the both of them! Definitely nothing like the modest beach party I had, celebrating my 16th birthday last year! My, they sure do know how to be impressive. By the way, the baby in the pictures is Amelia, the youngest cousin of the family. Certainly have grown bigger since the last time we saw her in October!


Before I finish this up, here is a picture of Twitty, as I've promised huiwen7 a few weeks back (sorry this is a little late, Hui Wen!). If I'm not wrong, this was Twitty during the 2nd week it was with us. That's akak's hand balancing the bird on the ball. That time, Twitty was only beginning to learn to curve its feet around circular poles like a mop stick. This time, we were actually quite successful in keeping a pet. I mean, we managed to kept it alive and witnessed it grow. By the end of the 3rd week, Twitty was beginning to flap its wings. Entering the 4th week, it was already flying (literally!) out of the cardboard box whenever we opened it to feed it. It really developed black beautiful wings and was already able to have a firm grip around my finger. Everything was fine until one day when mom decided to give Twitty a bath by sprinkling water over it, seeing that its feet and feathers were filthy with dropping stains. Mom left it out on the balcony for it to shake itself dry before discovering that the bird's already flown away! LOL.

Initially, it did cause a mini search party with mom and akak searching for the bird high and low around the vicinity but they gave up not before long, realising the fact that birds do need their freedom after all. It was also uneasy at first to adjust to the silence in the house, without the chirping and all but that's easily replaced with music. Akak and mom refused to remove the empty cardboard box and the used containers on the first few days, hoping that it'll one day fly back to its loft. It never happened and no one knows where is it now. Thankfully, we haven't reached the investment period yet, where we buy bird cage and bird foods. Dad has already started mentioning a few days before it flew away.

2 comments:

savante said...

Whoa. You're really going into this photography thing! Cool!

shirley said...

hey matthew! wow lots of stuff happened before the wedding, so dramatic! how that person followed you and tried to break into your car-- OMG, if i was in that situation i would seriously be crying. and i'd be really scared. lucky your dad has a good security system on his car! today is your birthday- wow you're 17! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! hope u had an awesome bday!

shirley.