Jayne & Tim – Tea Ceremony

The next morning, it was just a simple tea ceremony. The couple had earlier held a church wedding in Puchong, and as such the tea ceremony was a formality to fulfill Chinese wedding traditions.

However, I’m sharing only a snippet of the photo collection as the majority of them were of the documentary type and personal to the couple.

1. From yesterday’s cupcake tower.


2. The bride with her bridesmaids.


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4. After the tea ceremony had ended, we continued with some personal shots.

Time to be creative and apply what I learnt from a wedding workshop that I had previously attended.


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Related link:

1. Sneak Pic: Tim & Jayne by Through Our Eyes

2. Our favourites from Tim & Jayne by Through Our Eyes

Jayne & Tim – Dinner Event

Lending a hand to a friend, I covered a dinner event and help out photographing the actual traditional Chinese wedding aka tea ceremony the very next morning.

The house function was held in Eng Ann, Klang. And the part being a local is that I met a lot of guests that have known me from somewhere else. Most were surprised to see me photographing and covering an event, as they have thought I held a different permanent day job. Oh well!  :?

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4. I’m impressed with the low-light capability of my aging D300. I had to shoot without flash in order to avoid red colour cast from the red tent, so I boost up my ISO levels.


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Woon Yen & Meng Han – Pre-Wedding Session at University of Malaya

Got an invitation to help out in an interesting pre-wedding organised by Through Our Eyes.

The couple had approached my friend and requested to have a photography session at University Malaya, the place where they both first met each other. How sweet.  :-)

We shot around the campus, particularly the Faculty of Computer Sciences and Information. Although the couple had already obtained prior permission from the university authority, it was still a bit of a challenge to shoot as most lecture halls and computer laboratories were locked (it was a Saturday). To further compound that, it was a drizzling later in the morning and a particular security guard was not that co-operative.

Here are some shots to share:

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8. The following were shot at the herbarium at Rimba Ilmu.


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Related link:

1. Favourites from Meng Han & Woon Yen by Through Our Eyes

Passion flower

Passion flower, quite an amazing flower with unique pattern from a climbing vine.


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When I have all the means to escape ….

I rather be somewhere deep within our lush Malaysian tropical rainforest, all alone (with enough food supplies) to shoot Nature.

I badly need some peace and tranquillity away from humanity, which at times I disdain.


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2. The small creek running along one of the main route of Gasing Hill, Petaling Jaya.

A short trip to East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia – Film

It was a boring 2010 Chinese New Year. Zybisko14 and I decided to do something wild and impromptu, which involved driving all the way to the East Coast on a 2-day trip.

From Klang, I drove to Seremban to pick my friend. Then, we headed towards Perak and had a short rest near the Lake Temenggor Lake. Interestingly, we saw two pillboxes at each end of the bridge. The night sky was filled with stars and pity that we did not bring along a tripod to shoot star trails. :(

In the morning, we travelled along the East-West Highway to Kelantan.


1. The Titiwangsa mountains or mountain range.


2. An open air tunnel. Not too sure why it’s not fully enclosed.


3. At an open field in Kelantan.

The young jockey was training a young stallion. Notice that he rode the horse without a saddle.

The training was pretty brutal as there were more punishments than rewards, and punishments involve flying kicks! 8O


4. Another jockey-stallion pair.


5. Pasar Siti Khadijah, Kota Bharu


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7. She was having her lunch, and at the same time feeding the cat.


8. Salted fish/dried fish.


9. The steam corn seller on the way to Pantai Cinta Berahi or the “Passionate Love Beach”.

We met 2 years ago, when I stopped by for some corns. She remembered me, and this time I had a picture of her taken. Too bad, she blinked and I was not given a second chance for a retake. :?


10. At Duyong Island, Terengganu. Reputable for its traditional boat makers, but we could not find any that were active during our visit. :(

Lanterns and Shadows – Thean Hou Temple

Sharing only two film images from my previous trip to Thean Hou temple.

It was a hot and sunny morning, and there were some opportunity to play around with shadows cast by the lanterns.

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Birthday at TGIF – 35mm Film

This is a continuation of the previous post that celebrated Liyin‘s birthday.

Just realised another roll of scanned film sitting quietly somewhere in one of the picture folders. No wonder Liyin asked me the other day why only so few pictures. The exposure was a bit dull as I had accidentally narrow the lens aperture, no it’s not that wide opened. :oops: Besides, Liyin hates the Kodak 400 with a vengeance.


1. Fine dining. Delicious!


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3. Film entanglement


4. Spaghetti film


5. Death by film


6. The 20mm as chawanmushi


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10. I was amazed when she managed to blow the candle from such a distance! She must have pretty strong lungs!!! 8O


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Playful and demanding kids

During the recent Valaikappu event that I had covered, the adorable little ones were having a blast of their time having as many pictures of themselves taken.

The kids kept trying various poses,and I must say they were quite natural.

Luckily none of the poses involved the “V” sign that is too common these days. :P


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Valaikappu – An Indian Baby Shower Event

My good friend offered me an opportunity to cover a very special event (baby shower) for her expecting sister, Pushpa. This event was held to celebrate and bless her seventh month of her first pregnancy.

It was a very colourful event and many rites were completely unknown to me previously. Indeed, I learned the various traditional rites when google-ing for more information while writing this blog.

Being my first time, I was less familiar with certain key events, but it was a good learning experience.

Most of the pictures below were shot with prime lenses, particularly the 35 mm. The tremendous difficulty in using only prime lenses to cover a fast event made me purchase the 24-70mm f/2.8 lens a few weeks later. :lol:


1. Tying of jasmine flower gland.


2. A wide angle view of the living hall where the ceremony was held. More and more relatives began to arrive.

The women folk were dressed with their best sarees.


3. On the floor were trays of offerings, consisting of fruits, bangles & bracelets (lots of them),  sweets, jasmine flowers, and spices (betel nut and leaves).


4. The ceremony kicked off when Muttu (husband) blessed his wife by sprinkling fragrant water. This was then followed by the rest of the relatives.


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8. Slipping of bangles.


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11. Haldi-kumkum (vermillion) was put on her forehead.


12. Elaborate mehendi (henna) pattern on her hands.


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14. The savouring of sweets.


15. Fed by her mother.


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17. Now we understand why this event is also known as Valaikaappu. It literally means bangles and bracelets, and here the expecting mother was adorned till arms length.


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19. The ceremony ends with Mutukupal, a traditional Hindu rite that is practised commonly in the region of Tamil Nadu.

Mutuku means the back part of the body, and pal means milk.

The milk was first poured from a metal cup onto a shell and betel leaf.


20. Then, the milk was poured down her back, and collected onto a tray.

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More pictures: here.