the mummy, the photographer & the wife

27 reasons not to marry a photographer

2012-01-24T01:27:00.000+08:00

Came across this hilarious post by visual artist Melly and decided to repost it with some tweaks :D
If you are a photographer or married to one, you will get it! LOL

They would rather carry their bulky camera and kid(s), than hold hands with you.
When packing for a family vacation, half your allowed baggage allowance goes to their equipment.
If you’re taking a walk outside and come across some “interesting light” they will make the kids and you sit/stand/pose in public so that they can take a photo.
You’ll never be able to sit where you like in a restaurant because they will always pick the spot with the best light for photography of the kids and food.
You’ll never get to enjoy freshly cooked meals because they’ll spend at least 5 minutes taking 10 variations of the same dish with their iPhone.
They rather drop $1,000+ on new glass than furniture for the home.
You can’t take a photo of them without taking at least five more.
If you are concern about the scratch on junior's forehead showing up, they’ll say “Don’t worry I can photoshop it later.”
They won’t return your calls or text messages, but you can bet they’re still posting pics on Instagram.
They still use film cameras.
They spend all their time on the computer and iPhone (and not for porn).
They like watching arty films that you’ve never heard of or will ever understand.
Their choices for holiday destinations will be third world countries where they can get great documentary or cultural shots.
They think everyone else’s photos suck or is a bad copy of some other great photographer.
They like to edit the colours of their photos to look like scenes from Twilight or 300.
They like trespassing into old abandoned buildings or going to unpopulated areas where there's a nice lone tree for pictures.
They always want to show a new photo they took, but don’t really care if you like it or not.
They hate your friend’s new artsy profile picture.
Christmas presents for your parents will be a framed portrait that they’ve taken of the kids.
You can’t go anywhere new without them stopping to take a photo of everything and anything.
Nothing can ever be naturally pretty, everything must be fixed in Photoshop.
They are natural hoarders, collecting and keeping piles of old newspapers, packaging, magazines, and other things that “inspire” them.
They have a weird sense of fashion and like to extend it to you and the children's dressing.
They have hard drives of photos, but probably have printed 10 images.
They are always secretly judging your creativity.
If you’re ever in auto mode, they laugh at you.
They orgasm every time they learn a new lighting technique.

Looking forward to 2012

2012-01-17T12:48:00.005+08:00

2011 was not a good year for many I know. It was quite a bad one for me too the first half of 2011. The year started with me falling sick twice. Now this is rare if you know me and to get hit twice at the beginning of the year started the bad luck rolling. The next few months saw us receiving two lawyers' letters (long story), my kids contracted HFMD, chicken pox too even though vaccinated, business was slow up till June, our photos were used everywhere without credit, my grandma passed away and my mother took thousands from me to settle her debts leaving us with no vacation last year.

But why bore you with my sob story?! Here are the good bits of 2011! :) On the business front for The Studio Loft, we had an awesome year and a few milestones. In Feb we welcomed Joanne Tan as our 3rd photographer, she was teaching at a childcare centre before and is great with kids especially the naughty ones :p Wen Lin and I are happy to have her on board working with us. We also had intern extraordinaire Yvonne Soh for 8 weeks! She is an extremely talented illustrator and artist and we were bloody lucky to have her as our intern :)

We had our very first walk-in promotion OUTDOORS! It was the Easter Hop-Out and it was a great success although the weather was rather unkind to us. We also smashed all walk-in records with our innovative and awesomely cute settings for the Children's Day Walk-In! The first day of the walk-in on Childrens' Day itself saw us not being able to cope with the number of people coming in so we had to turn a few away otherwise we would have been shooting till 9pm!

In total for 2011, we shot 283 Blooms (maternity), 135 Teeny Weenys (newborn), 215 Little Big Shots and 155 We Are Families! We are so grateful for all the support shown to us by our clients, old and new, and hope that 2012 will be an even better year for the studio. What's coming up for The Studio Loft in 2012? First big thing will be we are moving to a BIGGER and better space come 3rd quarter of 2012! We are also hoping to hire one more digital imaging artist to help us with post processing work. To stay at the top of our game, we will be attending more professional photography workshops and may even hold one ourselves! We will strive to continually come up with new and exciting promotions and interesting settings and backgrounds for walk-in or walk-out shoots in appreciation of all our clients who love to come for these mini-shoots. So stay tuned by "liking" our Facebook page :)

Last year also saw great exposure for me as a mobile photographer. Three of my iPhone Instagram photos were selected for the SIN exhibition out of 8000+ submissions and I am very honoured to be a part of the Singapore Instagram community. I was also given a HTC Sensation smartphone as part of HTC's marketing campaign getting photographers from different backgrounds to shoot with a HTC. Six of my photos shot with the HTC was featured in advertorials for the phone company. I was also interviewed in The Straits Times for an article on the growing trend of travel photography with the phone camera.

This blog was nominated as Best Family Blog in the Singapore Blog Awards 2011. I didn't win the category but won a few new friends :) Since then I have not been actively blogging due to work and family commitments. I am hoping to be more active this year so do keep your comments coming as I would feel better knowing I am talking to somebody out there and not just to myself :D

I baked my most ever in 2011 and was constantly Instagramming as well! This led to me forming a special friendship with the Instagram Mamas - @kawaiisensei @tygermama @catfong and @jmeelim! These ladies made each day much easier to get through with our Whatsapp chats, monthly meetups for tea or baking classes together! Thank you so much for your friendship :)

2012 sees a big change in my family's schedule. Kayden our eldest starts his primary education this year! Dylan continues at nursery level in the childcare centre (much to his dismay) and we parents have been struggling to stay awake and sane since the year began :p Here's hoping the new year gets better as we go along. That goes for you too and I wish everyone a great 2012!

I leave you with a few shots from one of my last few Teeny Weeny shoots of 2011 :)

Sherlock might need these

2011-12-30T22:57:00.000+08:00

To wrap up my experience with the Bausch + Lomb contact lenses with HD optics, I'd like you to view the lens demo here. These contact lenses have been designed to help reduce spherical aberration, something I experience in digital photography with lower quality lenses. Basically it affects my shots when something very bright is shot with something very dark (eg. the leaves on a tree against a bright sunny sky), there will be a colour cast around the edges where dark and light object overlap, a little blurry with halos and glares. The Bausch + Lomb contact lenses with HD optics are in photography terms, like prime lenses, they reduce all those halos and glares especially in low light conditions. I noticed this when I watched Sherlock Holmes and two other movies recently while wearing these contact lenses. They are also great for long wearing as they are one of the more breathable lenses available today, designed to let high levels of oxygen pass through the lens. They are also one of the thinnest lens on the market and makes for a more natural feel throughout the day.

If you are like me, getting on in years and have some blurred vision especially at night, I highly recommend you try the Bausch + Lomb contact lenses with HD optics and feel the difference. Below are details on how you can win yourself a month's supply of these remarkable contact lenses. Enjoy and let me know by leaving a comment here if it made a difference to your night vision :)
Name 3 benefits of Bausch+Lomb 's High Definition™ Optics contact lens vs normal lens - email your answer together with your name and contact number to omyadmin@gmail.com before 30 January 2012 and stand to be among five winners to each win a month supply of SofLens Daily Disposable contact lenses(worth up to $110)!]**Contest winners will be picked via a random draw and will be notified via email, within one week after the contest ends. Winners’ list is final and no further correspondence will be entertained by the organisers.

Here is a review of Sherlock Holmes - A Game Of Shadows by my good friend and uni mate, Yvonne :)
"The second installment of the legendary detective and his capable sidekick turned out to be just as interesting as the first. Robert Downey Jr put up a remarkable performance as the super intelligent sleuth whom even Scotland Yard detectives constantly turn to for assistance in solving the various crimes that baffle them. And Jude Law also did a splendid job as Holmes' sidekick, Dr John Watsons. The playout-in-Holmes'-mind-first-before-action-takes-place technique which Guy Ritchie used for the first Holmes' movie was re-used here to great effect. And this isn't just another detective movie, there were plenty of tongue-in-cheek jokes planted throughout the movie which made it so entertaining. The action scenes, especially the fights in the back alley and on the running train were pretty well choreographed. Overall, the movie didn't disappoint me as a sequel and I would give it 4 stars. Sherlock Holmes fans shouldn't miss this."

102mins of childhood nostalgia

2011-12-28T23:05:00.000+08:00

Brought my 6 year old Kayden to watch The Muppets today thinking it will expose him to the kind of "cartoons" I watched when I was his age. It's hard to accept but in their generation, the only muppet they know is probably Barney :p

Growing up, The Muppets, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Fraggle Rock etc were my generation's TV staple and muppets were present in all of these shows.

We went into the cinema not knowing the storyline or what to expect. I just know my boy will be so lost as he's not acquainted with Kermit or Miss Piggy at all. To be frank, it was a movie for ME and not him :D He didn't get the witty jokes of hecklers Statler and Waldorf, his heart didn't smile when Fozzie Bear (my favourite) appeared, he didn't know of the one sided romance between Miss Piggy and Kermit, he didn't laugh when Gonzo stripped off his suit to reveal his cape, he was a bit shocked by Animal's rowdiness and wondered why Beaker spoke the way he did. But I was familiar with all this and more, and just silently hoped that the muppets charm will win my son over like they did me when I was a kid.

And they did! He even figured out the villain was Tex Richman and whispered to me to confirm,"Mummy, is he the bad guy?" We rooted for the muppets to hit the $10 million target to save the muppets studio from Tex and cheered when they were closed to succeeding. When Kermit performed "The Rainbow Connection" with Miss Piggy, I was singing along to the first verse before my tears engulfed me and I started sobbing uncontrollably as my childhood came flooding back and the sweet and innocent memories hit me hard throughout the song. It felt as if I missed that part of my life terribly amidst this crazy adult life and when Animal came in with the drums, there were no stopping the tears! I was glad no one saw me crying and also glad that I was wearing the Bausch + Lomb's HD contact lenses which enabled me to continue watching the movie clearly after wiping away all those tears :p I have included below the movie's version of the song (just the song, no visuals). Tell me if it doesn't jerk out your childhood!

I was also impressed with a rendition of one of my all time favourite grunge band Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" sung by the muppets barbershop quartet. Old favourites like "We Built This City" by Starship continued to fill you with nostalgia (that's provided you are of my generation) :p I also like the finale "Life's A Happy Song" which was catchy and upbeat and left you with a skip to your step :)

Overall a really enjoyable movie and more so if you were born in the 70s, the Muppets rule!
*hums* "Life's a happy song when there's someone by my side to sing along....."

Win yourself a month's supply of Bausch+Lomb's HD Optics contact lens!
Name 3 benefits of Bausch+Lomb 's High Definition™ Optics contact lens vs normal lens - email your answer together with your name and contact number to omyadmin@gmail.com before 30 January 2011 and stand to be among five winners to each win a month supply of SofLens Daily Disposable contact lenses(worth up to $110)!]*
*Contest winners will be picked via a random draw and will be notified via email, within one week after the contest ends. Winners’ list is final and no further correspondence will be entertained by the organisers.

A grateful Christmas

2011-12-25T01:24:00.000+08:00

Last Christmas, I gave thanks. This Christmas, I am grateful.
Grateful for
your love
your friendship
your loyalty.

Embrace the spirit of Christmas that in giving, we receive.
Here's wishing one and all a truly merry Christmas!

Contact lenses with HD optics?!?

2011-12-20T01:10:00.001+08:00

Ok, you got to be kidding right? That was my first reaction when I was given the opportunity to try out this revolutionary contact lenses with High Definition Optics by Bausch+Lomb. These lenses boast of outstanding vision in low light conditions, sharper details, enhanced contrast and reduced halo and glare especially while driving at night.
Now all that sounds too good to be true but I have been given the contact lenses to try them out for a month and shall give you my verdict soon enough! You can be sure I am pretty familiar with contact lenses as I've been wearing them since I was 14 years old. That's like 20+ years ago.... let's not start counting how old I am now, shall we?! :p

Anyway, you can win yourselves some of these awesome HD contact lenses in the following contest:
Name 3 benefits of Bausch+Lomb 's High Definition™ Optics contact lens vs normal lens - email your answer together with your name and contact number to omyadmin@gmail.com before 30 January 2011 and stand to be among five winners to each win a month supply of SofLens Daily Disposable contact lenses(worth up to $110)!]*
*Contest winners will be picked via a random draw and will be notified via email, within one week after the contest ends. Winners’ list is final and no further correspondence will be entertained by the organisers.

My first experience with the Bausch+Lomb's HD Optics contact lenses was when I went to catch the movie Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol with my good friend Qing Shan. More on the lenses in another blog post but meanwhile, here's a review of the movie by my friend. He's a total MI fan but really, the movie was great!

Mission Impossible 4 : Ghost Protocol movie review by Qing Shan

When the trailer surfaced, it was hard not to get excited about the movie. The infectious Mission Impossible tune cleverly mixed into the action and edited with Eminem and Pink's song. And the selected scenes (mostly the action scenes) shot with IMAX cameras, there was a lot to look forward to.

The forth in the series, Mr Tom Cruise's pet project since he bought the rights to the franchise, has his main character Ethan Hunt behind in a prison cell. For those who remember the last movie, you will have many questions like what happened to his wife and how did he get there. Of course, he gets out and we start the roller coaster ride for the next 2 hours with the answers revealed along the way.

Director Brat Bird's first live action movie (wrote/directed and won Academy Awards for The Incredibles and Ratatouille), sets the tone early with the animation style get-away chase scene together with the fun, understated humour jail break sequence. Dean Martin's 'Ain't That A Kick in the Head' is well used as a song and fight soundtrack and trigger for the escape.

This time, there's no IMF and Ethan's team disavowed after being tagged as terrorists responsible for the bombing of the Kremlin. He's joined by Benji (Simon Pegg, the comic relief), Brandt (Jeremy Renner who lands some credibility) and Jane Carter (Paula Patton, the eye candy and necessary female balance to the group).

Ethan and team uncover a plot by Cobalt to 'restart' the world with nuclear devastation. They have to act fast to save the world with the newest BMW i8 car, retina scanning device to "blue is glue, red is dead" gloves. Tracking down the bad guys from Russia, to Dubai and to Mumbai.

Those who have been following the series would have a sense of minor deva ju, as some of the scenes; like the dropping and hoisted in midair, to the high building jumps and even Mr Cruise's haircut is nothing really new. But Brat Bird's manages a fresh treatment of those familiar and keeps the audience pacing from suspense to heart pounding thrills.

One of the main attractions of the MI series, is watching Mr Cruise doing all his own stunts. Yes, he's the one hanging outside the world's tallest building - the Burj Khalifa tower and running and jumping all over the movie. If you are afraid of heights, do be warned its been said to cause some vertigo.

Ever since the second movie's reported argument between John Woo and Tom Cruise wanting to do his own cliff climbing WITHOUT safety ropes, I think it's his way of wanting to do all these crazy stunts, get them on film and get paid doing so!

I have to say, I wished there was more of a romance factor, previously brought along by Michelle Monaghan's Julia as Ethan's wife, but as you watch the movie, you'll understand why it is so. If I go on any more, I would be spoiling the movie for you.

The movie's well paced with humour, action, entertaining pop corn fun and a good balance of human drama. And if you can, you must try to watch it in IMAX; the 25+mins worth of footage is beautiful, sharp and really immerses you into the movie, especially the Burj Khalifa scenes.

For a taste of the action view this featurette from the movie :)

Goodbye CM, Hello P1

2011-11-30T23:52:00.000+08:00

He spent the last four and a half years in this pre-school. It's been a place of learning and building of character. It was here that his first friendships were forged and many goodbyes along the way. Today Kayden bids farewell to his kindergarten, friends and teachers who have all been a wonderful and important part of his young life.

The school organised a farewell party for all the K2 children and they were to come dressed in their primary school uniform! Very apt! We parents were invited as well and all of us brought too much food for the party. The kids had a ball, Kay was a little shy as usual to see us in the classroom with him :) Flashes of him on his first day here in Character Montessori came to me and I marvel at the young man he has become, ready for the next chapter of his life - primary school.

Here are a few photos from his first day and last day in school!

last time signing in...

group shot of everyone with the teachers

Kay with his BFFs, Alden & Keafe

the budding photog felicity

laughing at himself when he appeared in the video of their 4 years in CM

Last friday was the graduation concert and there was no stopping my tears as I saw him go on stage receiving his scroll in his graduation gown, performing in a skit and a spanish dance. I'm so proud of you Kay! You have certainly come into your own and mummy and daddy are really lucky to have you as our firstborn :)

(Kay is the second boy out on stage)

The Baby Elephant's Tea Party

2011-11-23T01:22:00.000+08:00

Nila Utama is one! He is the first elephant born in nine years at the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. A BIG bundle of joy to his mother Nandong and father Chawang at 151kg, the one year old asian elephant is now a whopping 544kg! :p

We were invited to Nila's little tea party where the little one whose name is that of the Palembang prince who founded the kingdom of Singapura, was presented with a giant birthday cake made of carrots, wheat and ice, among other ingredients. Us humans had a mighty delicious elephant shaped chocolate cake and other tea-time yummies.

"The birth of Nila Utama was a significant milestone for us as it underscored the importance of education and conservation of Asian elephants in the wild," said Mr Kumar Pillai, General Manager, Night Safari. "This mini event is not only a birthday celebration for Nila – it also highlights the success of captive breeding programmes like ours and the plight of these beautiful animals in the wild."

The Asian elephant is an endangered animal. There are only between 25 600 and 32750 of them in the wild. Poaching of Asian elephants for ivory and meat remains a serious problem in many countries especially in certain regions of India where some people consume elephant meat. The illegal trade of live elephants, ivory and hides has become a serious conservation problem. You can help by not buying ivory products and spreading the word about the plight of the elephants.

Here's wishing little Nila Utama a very happy birthday and the continuing survival of the Asian elephant!

the kids doing some wild art work for Nila

Dylan enjoying the elephant fondant, he ate the entire elephant without touching the cake! :D

the yummy chocolate cake

my two elephants

we had a lovely tram ride to the elephant exhibit

all the kids were excited to meet Nila!

here he comes with his mummy! and there's the huge birthday cake prepared for him by the zoo

Kayden just recovered from HFMD thus he wasn't very chirpy :(

Dylan trying to feed his "elephant" peanuts :p

cheeky bugger!

the boys loved their elephant plush

Farewell ngiah ngiah Ah Mah

2011-11-15T10:32:00.001+08:00

To differentiate this Ah Mah from my maternal Ah Mah, my brother and I call my paternal grandmother ngiah ngiag Ah Mah. "Ngiah" is teochew for beautiful :) She had this portrait of herself in her house which showed an elegant young lady so the term ngiah ngiah Ah Mah was coined and stuck to this day.

Last Saturday afternoon, ngiah ngiah Ah Mah left us :'(

During my childhood, my brother and I will spend afternoons at her flat in Farrer Road. It was a house full of curios and knick knacks and we loved the white arowana fish she had in a 4 feet tank and the couple of canary birds she kept. Once they even made nest and laid a few eggs! She was strict with us when it came to manners and will smack our legs with a cane if we shook them while eating at the dining table. But still my brother and I enjoyed ourselves at her home and looked forward to Chinese New Year visiting every year.

Towards her last couple of years, she got dementia and will keep giving us ang pows when we visited her during the new year as she forgets that she had already given us one. Aunty Mary will joke and tell us to stick around longer for more red packets :p This CNY when I took this shot of her with my iPhone, I was hoping it will not be the last one ever but unfortunately it was...

Today as we bid Ah Mah farewell, the sun was shining and that reminded me that it was her that gave Kayden his chinese name. She named him Yong Ming - Forever Bright, he was born on a sunny afternoon. And it was another sunny afternoon that we say goodbye to you. I chose a white rose and placed it over your heart. Dear Ah Mah, I have no doubt you lived a great 90 odd years, and understand that it's time for you to rest in peace. See you on the other side, I'll miss you.

Win a WowART lesson this holiday for your child!

2011-11-11T11:48:00.001+08:00

Your budding little artist at home will be thrilled to know that WowArt Learning Studio is having a holiday program this coming year end school holidays. During the September holiday, they offered art workshops only but this time, they will be taking the classroom outdoors and offering WOW Camps! Students will be able to explore, experiment, feel and play in these hands-on sessions. In the Artist & I workshops, your child will be exposed to great artists of all times such as Henri Rousseau, Van Gogh, Claude Monet and Edgar Degas through painting on canvas.

To know more about WowArt, do visit their website or read my boys' experience with them here and here.

Now for some exciting news! WowArt is offering one lucky reader of my blog a free workshop pass for your child! This is what you have to do:

1. Please "Like" the WowArt Facebook page
2. Help us re-post this blog post url http://maryannkoh.blogspot.com/2011/11/win-wowart-lesson-this-holiday-for-your.html on your own Facebook wall
3. Let me know that you have done all this by leaving a comment on this post
4. Drop me an email maryann@thestudioloft.com.sg with your contact details so that I may contact you if you are the winner

That's it! Last date for participation is Wednesday 16 November 2011. My boys will be at the workshop too on top of their regular Sunday lessons, hope to see you there! :)

My day with the chicken pox boy

2011-11-02T23:48:00.000+08:00

I spent today with my elder son Kayden, who has been down with chicken pox since last friday. He isn't having a bad outbreak as he has been inoculated previously. Don't ask me why he still caught it but we are thankful it's just like 15 pox over his upper body. His sexy legs were spared haha, not even one!

As I was helping him get dressed after his bath, I started to notice things about this not so little boy. His bermudas have become shorts... he doesn't dislike pink... he owns a cute baby paunch... he has a lovely smile and nice lips... he is bashful... and this is the best thing I noticed - he still loves me despite the younger brother and my work claiming almost all my time! *yay!*

After doing some artwork, we walked over to the neighbourhood mall for his favourite Japanese lunch. The usual order is cold soba noodles and egg sushi. Once we sat, he proceeded to take a plate of Tamago off the sushi train. Followed by another in quick succession. I exclaimed that he must be famished! He replied,"No, this plate is for di di." But di di is not here darling. "It's for him when he comes back from school." *melts*

So there I sat across the table from this sweet boy, all grown up and independent, doesn't seem that long ago when I was still cleaning up his diapers. I can't help feeling that I had lost precious number of moments with him since Dylan came along. It's like he was 3 years old then 6 years! Where did all that time go? I got a little sad. I made a decision there and then that I must get to know my firstborn again. His dreams and ambitions, his joys and heartaches, I want to know them all and for him to share with me his deepest thoughts. I want to be his mother and best friend again. But for the moment, we are mother and son sharing a day together, and that hug and kiss from him when the day ends was just what I needed to remind me that I have a wonderful son who loves me.

I love you Kayden!

Canada Cuppies

2011-10-14T15:49:00.005+08:00

A few months ago we tried our hand at photographing cupcakes by the very talented Audrey from Sugar Pie Gourmet Cakes and Classes and yesterday I planned a session for the girls Wen Lin & Joanne to have a cupcake decorating class with her and yes, we took more photos :p

Here are some shots of the cupcakes which Audrey made for the Canadian Association of Singapore. We were after an autumn feel with warm hues. All those leaves you see are handmade with fondant and totally edible!

Cetaphil Giveaway

2011-10-13T22:34:00.007+08:00

Tell me if this sounds familiar in the mornings. Walking into the bathroom, you stand infront of the mirror, a ton of products sitting at the basin area waiting to be applied onto your face. You end up using just one or two. That's me! Cleanser then moisturiser. IF I am not lazy, I will apply a sunblock but that's rare. I prefer a fuss-free facial cleansing ritual and Cetaphil fits the bill.

Originally developed by skin experts, Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser is a soap substitute that preserves your skin's natural moisture. So it softens your skin as it gently cleanses. Its special formulation won't sting your eyes and can remove light make-up without clogging pores. It also does not leave a sticky residue over the skin surface. Developed to be used with or without water, Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser is pH balanced and lanolin and fragrance free. It's non-drying and non-irritating properties makes it a gentle formula ideal for every age, every stage and every day. Cetaphil is the leading brand of gentle skin cleanser in Singapore.

Now for some good news - Cetaphil has travel packs up for grabs! Simply tweet (or retweet) the following text:

4 Cetaphil Travel Packs up for grabs! Tweet this & stand a chance to win! More abt Cetaphil on @maryannkoh http://bit.ly/n3TkJd #cetaphilsg

Giveaway is limited to one entry per twitter account, and those residing in Singapore only.

There is also a Cetaphil roadshow at Jurong Point on 29 & 30 October 2011 from 12pm to 9pm where you can win travel packs, iPad2 and cash! So if you are looking for a fuss-free way to keep your skin healthy and beautiful, try the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and clear some space from your basin! :)

Happy Children's Day!

2011-10-07T23:57:00.001+08:00

We at The Studio Loft had a great time planning and creating our Children's Day Walk-In which started today - fittingly on Children's Day! And what overwhelming support we had as more than 30 of you walked in and I am so sorry to have to turn a few of you away as we were really packed out for the day. It's like those shops that have the "sold out" sign put up by lunch time, now I can identify :p We hope that those who missed out today can still come for the next and final two days of the walk-in which is this coming Monday and Tuesday. We would like to thank everyone who came and made today a record breaking one for our walk-in history! Thank you! :) Special thanks to Elly and Itsy Bitsy Me too for sponsoring outfits for the children and setting up stall here for parents to shop their wares.

I would also like to thank my girls at The Studio Loft - Wen Lin and Joanne for working hard the whole day and managing to protect the props from being destroyed :p Also thanks to my Instagram mama friends (who all incidentally were clients of The Studio Loft before!) Cat, Rachel and Steff for letting your kids be our models for the trial shoot and promotion flyers.

Here's wishing all our children and yours a very happy Children's Day!!!

Hello Siri!

2011-10-05T16:30:00.000+08:00

No iPhone 5!!!!! Drats! I've been making do with my iPhone 3Gs for so long now it's starting to look like an antique :( So when the announcement came from Apple early this morning our time that it is actually an iPhone 4S, I was totally disappointment. BUT WAIT! As I watched the video, I got more excited. The big big thing for me as a photographer was of course the new 8MP camera and optics that also shoots 1080p HD video! Not only that, they have added a 5th lens to the camera plus a larger f2.4 aperture allowing for low light photography. There's an image stabiliser when shooting videos too, so no more Blaire Witch projects :p WOO HOO!

However excited I was about the camera, there was this new assistant they introduced which you can't help but love. Her name's Siri! Check her out below.

Now THAT'S AWESOME and did you see that baking section of the video, that's so ME! I am always checking the damn phone apps for conversion of temperatures, cups to grams etc with my oily and floured covered fingers. Now Siri can help me :D *dancing around the living room*

*added on 16 oct* Ok I dunno how Siri is going to respond to Singlish but here's a rough idea from Mr Brown with S.I.M.I! HILARIOUS! If you are Singaporean, you got to listen to this podcast :p LOL!

One last great news is iCloud. iCloud stores your music, photos, videos etc wirelessly and pushes them to all your devices. Automatic, effortless and seamless they tell you. Now that's just spiffy isn't it? Here I am trying to delete photos and apps I don't use from my iPhone just to be able to store new data. So iCloud is gonna save me all that storage problem :)

Ok, you know where to find me when the iPhone 4S starts selling in Singapore, at the phone shop :D

The Big One

2011-10-03T21:50:00.000+08:00

So it's been a month since the big birthday party for the big one before he embarks on a new milestone to Primary School. Up till lately it hasn't hit me that he's going to school, a real school and soon! I've got like 3 months left with my big baby before he becomes a slave to the public education systerm. No more happy days off when grandpa decides to bring him to the zoo. No more vacations during off peak season, we now have to jostle with other families who have school going children. Oh and not to mention the early early mornings we have to get used to. So not looking forward :s

On the bright side, we do have 3 more months to go! I intend to spend a lot more time with Kay during this period. His 6th birthday was one event he has been so looking forward to. We decided to go all out, inviting all his classmates from school and other childhood friends. Heck I even made a trial cake in preparation for this party! He wanted a Beyblade theme, now that was mighty challenging. I got Yvonne jie jie (my ex intern) to draw Gingka, his favourite Beyblade character and composed him together with a photo I shot of him in the studio to complete his party invite :) It was a sports party and he chose two of his favourite sports, basketball and tennis. This was followed by a Beyblade tournament amongst the boys. I am sorry the girls were left out but they were busy eating the cupcakes anyway :p

Below are some pictures from the party shot by Joanne jie jie. I beam just seeing how happy you were enjoying the company of your little friends :)

Son, if there's one word that can describe what I am feeling as I look at you now, it's pride. How you have matured into a sensible young man. Who would have guessed as you were an extremely demanding baby. You are not only a good son, you are a loving brother and grandson as well. We hope you will be a great student too! :) Here's to your last 3 months of kiddy freedom-hood and let's have fun! Happy 6th birthday Kay! We love you heaps! *smoooch*

SIN: A Singapore Instagram Exhibition

2011-09-17T00:22:00.000+08:00

It was back in December last year when I posted my first Instagram! What is an Instagram you ask? It is a photo you shoot with your iPhone and share via the Instagram app. It is sort of like Facebook for photos only, within your iPhone. You can follow other users and have followers within the Instagram community who can then like or comment on your photos. I became an IG (short for Instagram) addict and am known as an SGIGer (Singapore Instagramer) :D

The IG community grew rapidly and one SGIGer, @chairfreak together with @aikbengchia and @phonenomenon spearheaded a project to get an exhibition of Instagrams up this year and viola! Tonight is the opening of SIN: A Singapore Instagram Exhibition at the National Library :) SIN is an exhibition of Instagrams with “Singapore” as its theme. The exhibition is curated by Mr Goh Eck Kheng, Dr Tan Ngiap Heng (my shifu!) and Mr Chia Aik Beng (Singapore's most prolific iPhone photographer). It features Singaporeans, our way of life, Singapore architecture and of course our glorious food!

Out of the 8000+ submissions, a collection of 150 works that were photographed by the ubiquitous iPhone by everyday Singaporeans from professional photographers to full-time housewives were selected for the exhibition. I am proud to say that 3 of these Instagrams belonged to me @tubbykat :)

If you have the time, do visit the SIN exhibition which runs from today till 30th October 2011. You will not be disappointed and perhaps even be surprised that all those photos were taken and edited with the humble iPhone!

Photo of us at the exhibition taken by my fellow SGIGer and friend @pixbykm :)

Elly Loves

2011-09-10T11:16:00.013+08:00

Being a mother to boys, you quickly learn that there's not much clothes shopping you can do for them. Toys yes,
clothes hmmm... It's not really a problem for me as I am not a shopaholic but I know most of you mummies are!

So when the creators behind Elly (Carol and Audrey) contacted me for a studio shoot of their new collection, I was extremely excited because the latest range boasts of a BOYS collection! YES! No more looking at those websites of kids' clothing with pages and pages of pink frilly dresses that made you wish you had a daughter instead :s All of Elly's boy shirts are made from high quality imported fabrics and comes with cute and colourful prints that your little guy will just adore. Of course their dresses for girls are just as lovely, take a look at their Facebook page. They have a range of lovely toys too that I just have to get as props for our studio!

Errrm, being the thick-skinned mum that I am, I couldn't help asking them if my Dylan can be their model :p I showed them his past "modeling" photos from here and there and was elated when they said that they wanted to use him! :D The day before the shoot I kept psyching him up saying,"Baby, tomorrow you come to mummy's office then this aunty will give you a lot of nice shirts to wear, and then you must smile and pose for mummy is that ok?" Dylan,"OK mummy!" So what must you do again? "Smile and Pose"! He gave his trademark scrunchy faced smile and tilted his head to one side to show off a pose. This is gonna be a breeze I thought to myself.

WRONG!!! For the first half hour at least, he refused to cooperate, making me lose like 1/4 of my hair. Lots of promises of Angry Bird lanterns (he saw them downstairs while coming up to the studio) and Power Ranger toys later, he finally stepped onto the backdrop paper and "smiled and posed"! :D

Here are the pictures!

Hey don't kiss me I said! :D

The adorable Sophie!

Love this series with the car!

The very cheeky James :p

They kind of look alike right?!?

Hey! Your lolli is bigger than mine!

Dylan trying to stand like the octopus :)

Mia & Mona

I think Mona had the most fun!

and it's a WRAP!

By the way, Elly will be having a lovely little lantern party this sunday! We will be popping by and hope to see you there. Details below. Thank you again Carol and Audrey for letting The Studio Loft be a part of Elly! We wish you all the very best :)

WOW your child this September school holiday

2011-08-29T14:57:00.006+08:00

All kids look forward to holidays like us adults unless if like me you have kids of your own, then a holiday isn't really a holiday, you have to plan activities for your kids to do :p Well, I have a great suggestion for you and your kids this school holiday, join the WowART Studio Holiday Workshops! The workshops run from September 5-9 2011 and are for children aged 2.5years till 12years.

Both Kayden and Dylan have been with the art school since the start of this year and after each lesson I am ALWAYS pleasantly surprised with the quality and creativity of their art pieces. Have a look below at some of the photos I've taken with my iPhone of their art pieces which always garner oohs and ahhs from friends on Facebook :p

Dylan was just 2.5years when he started and no, he was not too young. The holiday workshop for under 4years is specially designed for the younger children and has a wide variety of medium and artworks for them to choose from. Clay modeling to wire sculptures and yarn painting, their little hands will be filled as they enjoy the process of creating their own art!

For the older children, they have two main workshops to choose from - Artist & I and Claybook. Artist & I is a canvas workshop where 2 impressionist artists Claude Monet and Edgar Degas are introduced. The Claybook workshop allows children to unleash the writer in them as they enjoy the pleasures of handling clay. They create their own stories and make the characters from clay. This 3 day workshop is sure to keep the child entertained and allows room for them to be creative. Each lesson is 2.5hours and I would recommend this workshop if you have the time.

Details of the workshops and fees are below. You can also give WowART Studio a call at 6352 2221 for more information or to reserve your place in the workshops. Early birds enjoy a 5% discount if you sign up before 30 Aug 2011! Do update me here if you bring your kids to the workshop, I am sure they will enjoy themselves whilst unleashing the artists in them :)

In A Heartbeat for Chloe & Aleks

2011-08-09T23:53:00.014+08:00

Today we celebrate our nation's 46th birthday and as with each national day, there is a new song for the celebrations. The official song this year is "In A Heartbeat".

This song cannot bring on the flood gates like my all time favourite "Home" but the music video is well produced and tells the story of Singapore from the perspective of a family, mainly the Mother and Son. As their life journey progresses, so does our nation. I feel this would be an opportune time for me to share with you the tough journeys and needs of two little Singaporeans Chloe & Aleks who both suffer from rare disorders. Chloe from Pompe Disease and Aleks from Gaucher Disorder, both of which are very rare genetic disorders and require a huge sum of money annually for their treatment. As these conditions are extremely rare, no organisation nor government body provides funding of any kind in Singapore. And it is with more awareness and support that we can hopefully put Singapore on the map for government funding of Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSD) and Rare Disorders Society Singapore (RDSS) patients.

What is LSD (Lysosomal Storage Disorder)?
All lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) have a similar origin: a genetic (inherited) problem that causes a deficiency or malfunction of a particular enzyme in the body, so the enzyme cannot properly rid cells of waste material. There are no cures for most of the LSD and treatment is mostly symptomatic. However bone marrow transplantation and enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) have been tried with some success in some cases.

I hope that you can show your support for the RDSS on their Facebook page.

Or support the RDSS Piano Recital Charity Fundraiser.

Let’s come together in a heartbeat and help little Singaporeans like Chloe and Aleks by raising awareness of rare disorders, fighting for their right to survive and the need for treatment beyond economics and politics with (hopefully) government funding!

Rollercoasters

2011-08-03T16:55:00.007+08:00

Almost everyone I know enjoy a rollercoaster ride. Well not me. I am terrified of them except for these two rides which I find still acceptable - the Wipeout @ Dreamworld in Gold Coast Australia and the Viking which was formerly at our East Coast Park. Eerrmm that was some years ago, I may not be able to stomach those rides now. So imagine my horror when we arrived at Sentosa's Imbiah Lookout at the invitation of Sentosa and was told that we will be experiencing 4 different "rides". *GULP*

The first seemed harmless enough, we were ushered into the Sentosa 4D Magix cinema to watch "Pirates". The boys were excited about watching a movie and were curious when given the 3D glasses to wear. I got a little suspicious when I saw that some of the seats were wet. Hmmm. It was a first time experience with 3D for the kids and even I was astounded by how we seemed to be "in" the scenes and part of the action. The opening screen was a treasure map unrolling followed by a cannon turned towards you then BOOM! Kayden let out a shout in fright and after that he was afraid of every emerging scene. Haha my little chicken boy ;) His younger brother was much braver and managed to watch the rest of the movie laughing at Captain Lucky! Be warned, you will be tossed about in your seats, have some water sprayed at you, wind blown and even some tickles at your feet to complete the 4D experience!

Next up was the Extreme Log Ride! Ok this one I was not looking forward to because it simulates a real rollercoaster ride with wind blasters and 9 motion capsules nestled within the theatre, all operating on a state-of-the-art 6-axis motion system. Objects come to life right off the screen with your 3D glasses on. We were rushed to the top of the mountains, before plunging down the deepest valley while dodging flying logs! I have to be honest that I closed my eyes for the most part of the ride (ok, actually throughout the ride accept for the moments when it seemed safe) :p Kay decided to not wear the 3D glasses so he wouldn't be frightened by the ride but he enjoyed the motion on the capsules we were seated in. Legs wobbling, we moved on to the next ride.

Phew! It wasn't another rollercoaster ride, it was a fun 3D shooting game while seated on motion-based saddles called Desperados. Dylan had to sit on my "horse" together with me as he was too short to sit on his own. Then we all galloped through the dusty town of ‘Wild West” while shooting bandits, cactus and other objects with a laser gun :p It was fun and everyone enjoyed this one!

Finally to end the morning's thrills, we slowed down with a ride on the Tiger Sky Tower. Thank you Sentosa for your generous invitation and we hope to be back for more 3D and 4D experiences soon! :)

(all shots taken with the Lumix GF3)

Didn't win lah!

2011-08-02T23:25:00.006+08:00

Sorry for the hiatus since the Singapore Blog Awards 2011 ended with me being a loser in the Best Family Blog category. I have been sulking and on strike and zero inspiration to write whatsoever. You believe me? Hahahaha! No no it's nothing like that at all! Since they announced the 10 finalists weeks ago, I already had my bets placed on my friend Ed from Edunloaded and Daphne from MotherInc! I was just asking for votes so I don't come up last if they suddenly decide to announce from 1st to 10th place :D A big hearty congratulations to Daphne for clinching the prize! She writes really well and totally deserved the win. So congrats woman!

Anyway it was a great party that Omy hosted at the Shanghai Dolly. I got to meet all the other family blog finalists and everyone was so nice it's sick! How can competition be that friendly but it was :) Ok ok except for some star bloggers who think they are too high class to mingle with us newbies. But it was great meeting new friends and old. Here's a group picture of all of us parent bloggers which I stole from Leonny's blog :p

Apart from those I mentioned earlier, here are the rest of my competition :D Yvonne, Klessis, Sandra, Andy and Sharon.
It was wonderful meeting you all and hope to do this again soon if not next year! :)

I would also like to send a big shout out of THANKS to all my friends, family and clients who voted for my blog. Thank you for taking the time to do so, I really appreciate it! Ok! Now I got to work harder and write better and post more often to have another go at next year's award. I'm ready for the challenge, let's go!

Goofing on the tracks

2011-07-21T17:09:00.006+08:00

images, editing and gif animation by our fellow goofball, intern Yvonne :D

She's got a Ticket to Ride

2011-07-17T23:17:00.004+08:00

(I thought of this concept after seeing the shot and got our talented intern e'von le angelis to complete the look with these awesome illustrations! I wish I can draw like that :p)

Her mummy likes to joke that she has a "25 cents face", meaning one that doesn't smile much. That she is a difficult subject to shoot, is true but only if you need her smiling :p I find Bernice to be quite a good subject for mood shots. Plus she is a beautiful child :) Here she is by the KTM railway tracks which will be closed to the public after today.

the Brat who loves Me

2011-07-10T01:06:00.005+08:00

(photo taken with the HTC Sensation smartphone)

When the terrible two tantrums didn't come, we were pleasantly surprised and silently happy. Silent because if you celebrate "out loud", then the opposite might happen :p As we witness others' two year olds behaving obnoxiously, we silently scoffed and marveled at how sweet and adorable ours was. Well one of us must have accidentally displayed our emotions because now that we have past Dylan's 3rd year, all the signs of a brat has started to emerge :s He has bouts of terrible rage and tantrums which he seem unable to control. He would hit out at us or his brother and scream or shout in protest before giving you one extremely evil angry look! When these displays of brattish behaviour happen in public, I wished the earth would just swallow me up.

But then again, he has this other side of him that's cheeky and funny, adorable and clever that makes you wonder if he was possessed that moment ago when he flew into a tumultuous tantrum! Here are some examples of the other side of Dylan.

I was drinking apple juice and his sharp eyes spotted that. He came up to me asking for some. I said no, you already had yours. He then said,"Mummy, sharing is caring!" (a phrase we often use when wanting him to share with his brother) :D

He has been going diaper-less in the afternoons after his nap till bedtime. When we were in the car the other day after picking him from school, I asked if he needed to pass urine. He said no. While daddy was parking the car at our block he suddenly exclaimed that he needs to WEE WEE! I panicked and asked if he could hold it till we get home? He replied exasperatedly, "That's why I don't like LIKE THIS! (points to his diaper-less crotch area) I want to wear pampers!!!" :s

He doesn't let anyone else hold my left hand as that is meant for him (and him alone). When gor gor accidentally holds that preferred left hand of mine he will shout possessively," That's MY MUMMY!" and proceeds to tear off his brother's hand. On occasions when I am tired and can no longer bao bao him, he relents and let's daddy carry. I will then hold Kayden's hand and he will be looking over daddy's shoulder and explaining to gor gor,"That's my mummy, later you give me back ok gor gor?" Haha! All if a sudden, I feel like an object!

When I ask him to do something and he doesn't listen, I'll say,"I'm going to count to 3!" and start counting threateningly "ONE!....TWOOO!!!...." Then that bugger continues counting to 10 while doing whatever I was asking him to before the counting started :-|

Some days he will be very considerate, like when I've been carrying him for some time, he will suddenly say,"Mummy tired, I will walk walk" and he will come down!

When I drop him off in school, he will not let you go without a hug and a kiss. On days when you feel and look like crap, he comes and hug you and say,"My cute mummy!" awwww, how not to love this little brat you tell me?

Retro Radio Baby!

2011-07-06T17:44:00.000+08:00

Can't resist posting this shot of baby Jun (9 days young) I shot this morning. He is lying on top of a giant retro radio! Isn't it cute?! And the baby too of cos :D Happy midweek everyone!

Children's Season @ SAM

2011-07-04T01:00:00.021+08:00

The Children's Season is an item on my "Things I Die Die Must Do With The Kids" list and we almost missed it! Well, we did missed the one we went to last year at the National Museum but heard from friends that the Art Garden installations at the Singapore Art Museum are way better so earlier this week on my day off, I brought the boys down together with the whole studio :p

Here's a video of what the Art Garden is about in a nutshell.

And yes! It was as fun as it looks! The boys started off by prancing on Walter, the curious colossal bunny. SHHH, we didn't know they were not allowed to touch him as there were no guards around to stop us and you know kids, they were attracted to the big white thing the moment they saw it.

When the museum opened it's doors after a 15 minute wait, we were off to catch the dancing solar flowers installation. There was also an elephant where the kids could decorate with colourful stickers given by the museum staff.

Next came the paper fruits market where we fold and create our choice of 3D paper fruit. Dylan selected an apple and Kay a starfruit. It was terribly tough for us adults to put the fruits together let alone the kids. But finally we got them done, ta-dah! And you could exchange your paper fruit for a real one! But we opted to keep the paper fruits after all that hard work we put in :p

We rushed upstairs to catch the animated shortfilm Lost and Found by Philip Hunt which is about a little boy finding a penguin on his doorstep and his determination to help the penguin find his way back home to the south pole. This magical tale of friendship and loneliness is based on the best-selling picture book by Oliver Jeffers which I am going to buy for Kayden since he enjoyed the film so much :)

Ok, then it was off to the room decorated with toys, sand, artificial grass and styrofoam with walls covered entirely of modular toy train tracks. This was definitely a hit with the boys as they got to build their own tracks and once completed, they were given a battery operated toy train each which would run on the tracks they created. Boys haven I tell you! We were stuck here for the longest time.

This is the Tree of Love which is decorated with papier-mâché animal dolls, created by children and participants from non-profit organisations with the artist. Visitors are invited to add on to the work by penning their hopes, thoughts and feelings on the trees.

Kayden covered the entire giant cake with decors made of fabric in the Mummy Dearest room.

We didn't have time to do the GO! installation as it was past the kiddos' lunch time and somebody was getting extremely grouchy! Don't look like it from these pictures but the end of acceptable behaviour was drawing near :D

So we quickly headed to the colourful room which had big round blocks for the kids to push and colour match to the round circles on the ground. They were busy here for all of 5 minutes :p

And so ends our visit to the Art Garden. We certainly enjoyed the exhibits and interactive installations and can't wait for what they will have lined up for us next year!

Trainspotting

2011-06-30T23:57:00.007+08:00

Today marks the end of an 80 year run for the KTM train service into Tanjong Pagar railway station. It is a historic event with reporters, photographers and the man on the street clamoring at the station for one last look, photo or meal before the last train rolls out slightly before midnight. From tomorrow, the service will only be available from the Woodlands station.

Exactly one month before, my friend Ik Hui decided that just for fun we should go for a ride on the train with the kids to Johor Bahru and back! What a swell idea and the boys were pretty stoked about going on their first train ride too (i try to ignore their whining while we got seated onboard about "what's that smell mummy?!").

Here are the pictures taken with my iPhone yet again. Yes, I brought the DSLR but with two kids to mind for, it was just easier shooting with the phone :p

CHOO CHOO!

the 3 adventurers

our seats and ticket

love the reflection of kay

the boys missed their naptime

jaeden chirpy and checking out the onboard brochure

while Ik Hui looks on

two good friends

sharing is caring!

KTM, the end of a good run.

SAM with the iPhone

2011-06-30T14:45:00.003+08:00

An excursion with the boys and mummy's entire studio yesterday :p Will update with full blogpost and DSLR pictures soon. All shots taken and edited with my iPhone.

Sultry Siren / Sweet Angel

2011-06-28T14:23:00.006+08:00

Ok this post is probably coming at a bad time since I am in the Best Family Blog category of the Singapore Blog Awards so I have to warn you first that this blog post is rated PG :p

After my advertising photography workshop with Geoff Ang, my classmate Tanti and I had a photo session in my studio with the very beautiful Ena to try out different lightings we learnt during the workshop. Here is Ms Ena in two different looks :)

Tanti says Ena looks like Shu Qi (the actress) and yes I think so too! Thank you Tanti for the friendship and Ena for being our lovely model. Look forward to working with you both again soon!

BTW this is the last week for voting on the SIngapore Blog Awards. If you haven't voted for me, please if you can spare a moment of your time to do so. I appreciate all your votes and support :)

Save the Colour

2011-06-27T00:02:00.007+08:00

Birds have enjoyed a raised level of interest in our lives lately, in particular the angry one who resides in our iPhones :p There was also the recent animated movie Rio which told of the adventures of the last two remaining blue macaws and the mission to get them *ahem* doing the *errrm* so that they will not be the last blue macaws, oh you get the message!

In the real world, birds are also dwindling in numbers as they lose their natural habitats. In a bid to raise awareness of this fact to our children, the Jurong Bird Park has been running the Save The Colour event this month.

To help the kids learn more about bird conservation in a fun way, there was an Origami Village at the park where kids fold paper fishes to release back into the sea, create ice blocks for the penguins, plant some origami flowers and colour butterflies to set free. The boys chose to fold the fishes and colour the butterflies. It was challenging for Dylan to do the origami on his own but he had lots of help from the park staff and Gong Gong. Colouring of the butterflies was a breeze though! Ok, he had a bit of help from Daddy :p

kayden putting some finishing touches to his fish

dylan letting his origami fish go into the "ocean"

our butterflies are ready!

setting the butterflies "free"

the madatory family pix by the waterfall :p gong gong was our photographer

There were also other activities like adding your own origami crane to the Pledge Tree with a written promise by you to do your part for conservation. You can also send your friends and family a free postcard sharing the conservation message! And a hit amongst the kids were of course the air-brushed bird tattoo and bird-face painting stations :)

The month long event may have come to an end but the message on bird conservation to our kids especially, will certainly resonate through our daily activities and actions. Save the colourful birds of our world, save the colour!

Rah Rah video (ok ok, it's a slideshow)!

2011-06-24T00:02:00.007+08:00

Sorry for the plug again...we finalists for the Singapore Blog Awards have been ~~ordered~~ told to make a video of our blog to garner votes :p Here's my little video slideshow made with iMovie. It took me way longer and way more effort than expected as it was my first time using this software. Stuff that I could easily do with professional software like Final Cut Pro or Premiere are not possible with iMovie. But please do turn up your speakers, I have edited the video to the piece of soundtrack :) Hope you enjoy it! Please vote for me once a day till 3 July under Best Family Blog category, thank you! :)

xoxo,
maryann

Getting that look

2011-06-21T02:02:00.006+08:00

While researching for Dylan's birthday cake on the internet, I was surfing through tens of websites and food blogs. I came across one whose pictures I really love and as I was reading the blog posts, I realised that this blogger WAS FROM SINGAPORE! What the?!?! I scrolled back to look at the photographs on the site again and they were darn good! This can't be shot in Singapore (what terrible light we have) I kept muttering to myself. BUT THEY WERE! And they have that look, I dunno how to describe...the "ang moh" look that's what I would say hahahaha. Anyway, I showed the photos to the girls and they too were impressed. I said we HAVE to try shooting some food and getting THIS LOOK so one afternoon in between shoots, we took some shots of the leftover cupcakes that Audrey from Sugar Pie Gourmet Cakes and Classes made for my photography workshop with Geoff Ang last week (more on this in another post).

So here you go, our virgin attempt at the "ang moh" look kind of food photography wahahahahaha!

How? Do we get a pass? :D

Happy Daddy's Day!

2011-06-20T01:12:00.000+08:00

What do you call your father? I call mine Pa, short and curt. My kids call their father Daddy, one syllable longer and slightly more endearing :p But that don't make me love my Pa any less. I gave him a call at almost midnight to wish him and he was asking why I left it so late as I usually remember such things. I guess when you have your own children, there's another father to celebrate for and one thing rolled over another and I only got the chance to call him when the kids have slept. But hey I made it before midnight so it counts :D

Growing up in a broken family, my Pa has always been there for me more so than my mother. My husband is saying the same now about him being around for the kids more so than me, their mother. This makes me sad. I do not want my kids to feel resentment towards me like I do towards my own mother. I want to be the sort of mother I have always dreamt of having, one that can be my best friend and whom I can tell anything to, one that I turn to whenever I am in need and one I hold in high regard over everyone else. It seems that at this juncture, Daddy is this person to Kayden. And I admire this bond that they have built. My husband worries over every little cough that comes out of his mouth, teaches him maths, chinese and english every weeknight, goes for workshops and essentially making sure his daily needs are met. He is a great Daddy :) But don't rest on your laurels Daddy, this Mummy will be catching up soon with my plan to work lesser hours this year on!

Meantime, here's wishing the father of my children a very HAPPY DADDY'S DAY and a very HAPPY PA'S DAY to my Pa! You both are great fathers and thank you for being there.

(The iPhone picture above is a Father's Day art piece Kay did for his Daddy, cute isn't it?)

Beauty For Japan

2011-06-17T00:48:00.009+08:00

The earthquakes and tsunamis that hit Japan earlier this year claimed many lives and caused so much devastation that it made the rest of the world want to reach out and help the land of the rising sun. Singaporeans too offered their hand and donations in anyway they can and we were delighted to be a part of the Beauty For Japan fundraiser organised by my client and world renowned makeup artist Andrea Claire. It was a gathering of the top makeup artists and hairstylists in Singapore offering tips and a beauty clinic to the guests of the event. With a minimum donation of $50, participants got themselves prettied up and had a portrait shot by us on the spot :)

We thought it would be fun to shoot some iPhone pictures of each fundraiser participant holding a speech bubble with their message of encouragement to Japan.

Here's a composite of some of the ladies (and one guy!) who had their shots taken after being made up!

And here's one shot in colour (so you can see the wonderful makeup) of Andrea's beautiful daughter, love the hair too!

For 2 hours of all our time that day, we managed to raise for the Japan Red Cross just under $1k. We hope this will help you in some small way Japan, gambatte!

Terrific Three???

2011-06-11T11:07:00.003+08:00

My little Dyl Dyl, you turn three today! Fiercely competitive, full of character and never one to lose out, you have turned out to be one tough cookie :) Yet you remain a loving son and brother. Well behaved and quiet in school your teachers tell us, you remain the big boss at home :p We have enjoyed the year so far since you turned two but now signs of a strong willed little boy are emerging! We think this is just your way of coming into your own and may this be the year of the terrific three and not the tyrannic three :) No matter which, you know you are loved dearly by your sweet brother Kay, daddy and mummy and that we will do anything for you!

Keep that trademark scrunchy smile shining always my pooky pie >)

Looooooooove,
Mah-meee!

Singapore Blog Awards - The Newbie

2011-06-08T00:30:00.005+08:00

Can't believe it, I was booted out from the Photography Blog category but got into the Best Family Blog category! Wahahaha! This is my very first time participating in any blog contest so I'm going to do the shameless and ask that if you are a reader of my blog and be so kind to help out this newbie in the blog awards scene (so that I don't come in last place at least!), please vote for me? You will have to register to vote, thanks in advance for your help :) You can vote once a day and I'm grateful if you vote just once. I promise to update my blog more frequently from now on :p

Gratefully,
the mummy, the photographer & the wife

The Blue Cake with a Hearty Surprise

2011-06-07T23:08:00.002+08:00

So this was my first attempt at working with fondant for a cake and yes I had to do it on such an important occasion as my son's birthday and even more ridiculously ambitious, I decided it needed something more interesting on the INSIDE of the cake! I was doomed for failure right from set go but miraculously it still looked presentable despite the amateurish fondant decorating work :p

All in all, this cake took me one full evening and another half day the next day to complete. Yes, sweat! I cheated and bought an interesting couple of cake pans from B-I-Y. They were designed in such a way that you can get a filled cake in the shape of a heart on the inside. Ok, I've lost you...please refer to iPhone pictures above. Firstly, I bake 2 chocolate cakes in the specially shaped cake pans. While waiting for them to cool, bake another cake, this time a red velvet cake. Crumble up the red velvet and mix in some buttercream (again, I was being a smart arse and did this from scratch). Fill the cavities of the cooled chocolate cakes with the red velvet. Flip one cake over the other. MESSED UP! I didn't put enough buttercream to the red velvet so it was still crumbly and when I flip one cake over, some of the red velvet came loose and spilled out. Yup, I was mortified when that happened but there was no turning back. Next, ice a thin layer of buttercream over the entire cake, sort of like a crumb coat. Next, time to exercise. At least, that's what preparing the fondant felt like. I put in some food colour and started kneading and rolling out the fondant so that it's big enough to cover the entire cake. First two attempts the fondant tore as I tried to put it over the cake, third attempt was successful but trying to smooth the bottom edges was a disaster, some buttercream started oozing out and by then I had about enough and was ready to drive down to Awfully Chocolate and just get a damn cake. But my little boy wanting a blue cake was more important so I persevered and got something half decent after I cut off the excess fondant. Then I thought it looked kinda plain, so i cut out some triangles and rolled two strips of fondant together to form a bunting along the sides of the cake, pretty cute huh? ;) Idea not original of course, Google and YouTube were my assistant designers. For the finishing touch, I poked 3 meringues I baked for the party into 3 chocolate Pocky sticks and they sat on top of the cake. TA-DAH!!!

OH, did you see the inside? When you cut open the cake, there's a red heart shape (the red velvet)! Of course the heart didn't look so good due to the lack of buttercream mixed into the red velvet, so the heart came crumbling out (like mine) :( Not nice? Well, my little boy loved it! That smile was all I needed to take the fatigue away and make it all worthwhile.

I DID IT! *pat pat* :D

The Naked Cake

2011-06-02T23:55:00.004+08:00

I made this simple cake for Dylan's early birthday celebrations..................NAH! I wouldn't do that to my little boy! See next post for what the cake really looked like :)

(shot and edited with my iPhone)

The Monster and the Whale

2011-05-26T00:16:00.002+08:00

Hahahahahah don't ask me why but this picture of the boys taken last week simply cracks me up! Their stance, their sunnies and their mouths...all that separates them is their height, the monster and the whale :D

Straight to Mummy Jail!

2011-05-20T12:31:00.011+08:00

Kayden has perfect teeth and Dylan at less than 3 years old has 4 teeth with decay!!! :(

As I write this, I'm still feeling the guilt of being a terrible mother. Many months ago, I noticed that he had some yellowish stains on his front teeth near the gums. Thinking that it was plague or tar tar, I scraped at them with my fingernails to try and remove them but to no avail. I researched the internet for some answers to the stubborn yellow stains and found out that they were actually early tooth decay! A pang of guilt surged through me as I look back to those nights when I was tired and lazy to brush his teeth, or when he protested to brushing them and I let it go. Now when he flashes me a sweet smile and I see evidence of my flawed parenting, my heart aches like it's been trampled on a hundred times and I can't say sorry enough to my little boy.

We were lucky to get an appointment immediately to see Dr Serene who happened to be a client last year with her newborn baby girl :) I half expected her to tell the nurse to call the police and arrest me for neglecting the dental health of my child but she assured me that it wasn't all that bad and is treatable. I was most concerned about whether Dyl needs to undergo GA for the treatment. Serene proved to be awesomely great with the kids and Kayden went through his check up and cleaning with no fuss :D Dylan reacted well to Serene as well but he didn't open his mouth long enough for treatment so Serene suggested we do it the following week to give him some time to warm up to the event. I was to psych him up for the next visit by reinforcing what a great job he did earlier, encouraging regular brushing and telling him that getting his teeth fix is painless etc :) Promises of toys helped as well haha! I owe him 2 Power Rangers now :s

Our second visit went really well this week! My brave little boy had one tooth filled and no GA was required (big phew!) :) Serene said we will do one tooth at a time so he doesn't get turned off by the treatments. Already he is looking forward to the next visit! Yesterday when I picked him up from school, he asked,"Are we going to take taxi to see Dr Serene?" :D Ok so I got off with a warning (from the husband) for this incident, the next time I commit another mistake, it will be off to Mummy Jail for me :-/

Dr Serene showing Dyl what she will be doing to his teeth

by doing it on his fingernail first

My brave boy!

Ok he stopped opening his mouth, so more demo and encouragement

checking out his decayed teeth

showing off his one filled tooth! 3 more to go over the next few weeks :p

some love for Dr Serene

Teeny Weeny Alicia

2011-05-16T23:53:00.009+08:00

Since we came up with the Teeny Weeny newborn package last June, it's been a year of pee, poop and regurgitated breastmilk :p I'm not complaining though, the perks of handling a sweet smelling baby, the touch of velvety soft skin and at times, flashes of sweet dreaming smiles just about put any mess the babies make away.

Here's a session done in January for the Holland family. Thank you for having me in your lovely home and capturing shots of your sweet Alicia :)

the cuties who hopped out :D

2011-05-06T00:21:00.008+08:00

Here are some of my favourite shots from our recently ended Easter Hop-Out shoot! Overall I have to say that the weather was very unkind to us but we got lucky on the second day with dark clouds looming the whole day but the rain did not fall till we left :) WIN! As for Joanne, Wen Lin and I, we felt like we have returned from battle with mud, rain, sweat and insect bites all over us. I developed some allergy during the shoot, it was either to chocolate (we only ate a chocolate cupcake each that day) or to the grass. Either way, it would be tragic! I was scratching like a monkey for the next couple of days and developed hives :-/ A client told me today that it must have been the pesticide that was on the grass, aha! Anyway, here are the pictures, more to come as I finish editing them, enjoy! :)

more on our Facebook.

The Great Easter Hop-Out!

2011-04-15T01:06:00.005+08:00

You are invited to our Easter Hop-Out shoot! Happening on 20th April 2011 at a special outdoor location in Bishan which we have dressed up specially for the occasion :) Easter eggs and bunnies, cupcakes, balloons and spring/easter theme decors all around await your kids! It's a tea party so bring along a friend/sibling/cousin for extra fun and laughter :D

We will provide all the props but feel free to bring along anything suitable. Dress your kids in happy spring colours! Children will be given a cupcake each for the tea party. Please bring your own drinks. As this is an outdoor location, there may be insects on the ground, so please get your children to wear covered shoes if possible. We will also be at the mercy of the weather so if it's too hot or raining, we may need to take breaks in between. Hope for your understanding. Selection of photos will be on another day.

Do give us a call if you have more questions or if you would like to make a booking. Only limited slots are available so act now 6235 3696.

More pictures on our facebook album.

cheers!
The Studio Loft

I don't have any pictures with my children!

2011-04-05T00:15:00.009+08:00

Many mothers who are also photographers will understand me when I say,"I don't have any pictures with my children!". It's true. We are always behind the lens and the person who has the most shots with the kids is the daddy-o! So last month, I took advantage of a day where I had no shoots and the boys had no school and we took the train down to Sentosa beach with Wen Lin jie jie in tow to help us shoot some mother and sons pictures. I've just finished editing the pictures and I think Wen Lin did a swell job, thanks girl! :)

more on my facebook.

Red Dot

2011-03-28T22:39:00.005+08:00

It was my first time at the Red Dot! We walked passed it after a shoot and the red wall and windows were just shouting at us to take a picture there so here you go :)

Ms Wen Lin looking all hip and cool. Profile picture woman!

And here's the skinny one Joanne, the small one Wen Lin and the giant - me :s

a gathering of 3 friends, 3 kids and one hubby

2011-03-23T09:55:00.007+08:00

It was a lazy rainy afternoon when 3 friends, their kids and one hubby gathered at Rochester for lunch. You may recognise one of the ladies, it's Phyllis, our then bride-to-be :p The other lady is my Dylan boy's godma Ik Hui and the lady with the 2 adorable kids is SK.

Adorable Miss Hayley

Her brother Dylan with Jaeden boy!

Monkey faces!

Nothing like some juice to recharge their little feet again!

thanks for having us ladies! :)

Portrait swop with Zurina Bryant

2011-03-18T23:44:00.006+08:00

A few months ago, fellow photographer Zurina Bryant posted on her Facebook that she is looking to update her profile picture and welcome any photographer to do a portrait swop with her. I thought it would be a fun challenge and responded to her request seeing that I needed some pictures myself :p We did her session first as my hair was still a mess from the short crop done over CNY. We had a blast and lots of laughs during the session. In case you do not know, photographers are horrible in front of the camera but check out Miss Z! She totally looked like a seasoned model ;)

Thanks again for the opportunity Zurina, till we meet again for my session. Cheers! :)

Phyllis & Simon

2011-02-23T15:44:00.006+08:00

Phyllis' & Simon's engagement shoot yesterday.

Dear Geoff

2011-02-17T10:22:00.025+08:00

I am as my blog title describes, a mummy, photographer and a wife. I am also someone trying to get into your advertising photography workshop :p My day job is running The Studio Loft, a photography studio I started almost 5 years ago. I shoot newborns, kids, families and the very pregnant nude on a daily basis and work 6 days a week. I love what I do but lately I've been feeling that I am capable of better and in need of some guidance and inspiration to move to the next level of my photography. Registering for your upcoming workshop is my first step towards achieving this. Deciding on 15 images to convince you I am student-worthy was tough. I've decided to present you with a hopscotch of images from the past couple of years which spans both commissioned as well as personal work. Please look through the below and I hope you will accept me into the class :)

Sincerely,
Maryann

Studio work

This wasn't shot in the studio but I did use an off camera flash. It's my first miserable attempt at fashion photography but I do like this shot starring my son :) It's a punk rock themed shoot.

Natural light on location

The below was one of the images I shot for the book Our Very Own

Due to my fear of flying, I have only a handful of travel shots but last year something exciting happened to me which required me to leave my comfort zone and fly. I was one of 6 photographers in the documentary series Asia Exposed on Channel Newsasia. My assignment was to photograph the Hijras (the third gender) in India. It was an eye opening experience. Here are a few shots I like from the slums of Mumbai.

Breastfeeding is bestfeeding

The Hijra Widows

Shreya

Street kids wise beyond their years

Cheeky peek

Lots of love from my two Valentines :)

2011-02-12T16:46:00.004+08:00

is it going to rain?

Boxing Day party

2011-02-12T15:40:00.007+08:00

It has become tradition for me to have a Boxing Day party to celebrate Christmas with family, friends and those I work with so it was no different for Christmas 2010.

I love the challenge of getting interesting and relevant xmas presents for my friends and family and the look on their faces when they unwrap the pressies (can be bad sometimes!). So here's what I got for them, tell me am I a good gifter or what? :p

Ok for my family, Kayden got a Bey Blade stadium from his daddy, that's a no brainer, he's been going on about bey blades for the past few weeks! For Dylan, I got him a 3 wheeled scooter! He was so happy when he opened the gift becoz now he can join his brother for scootering adventures along the HDB corridor :p For Erwin, I got him a book on millionaires' secrets so he can strike it rich soon and I can be a tai-tai hahaha :D

For my dear friend Corinne and my employee Wen Lin and ex employee Charlene, I got them little handmade lomo camera necklaces from an Etsy shop, aren't they just simply adorable?!

Yvonne, another dear friend who loves everything Japanese, I got her a cherry blossom fragrance from The Body Shop so she can smell japanese all day long :) For my other dear friend Terence who's been training and taking part in triathlons, I got him a phone pouch which he can strap to his arm while running. Dave, my writer friend who's into comics, I got him a thick hardcover book from DC Comics. Ik Hui who complained to me about her dark circles, I got her a concealer for her eyes kekeke. Ashley my ex employee who recently got an iPhone, I got her a speaker for her phone and for her girlfriend Shirley who recently picked up photography, I gave her a tee with a hanging camera design.

Ok next came the tricky ones, the bloggers. For Edmund, the pastor, I got him this book The Case for GOD which talks about the mindset of religion in this modern day. Eunice my travel blogger friend got a travel pouch designed like a postmarked letter from Italy, very cute :D As for Walter, man he was tough to buy for, so in the end I got him some hanging mobile photo holder thingy :p

We had too much food as usual and I made desserts we learnt from our last staff outing to Palate Sensations (cooking school). I made Vanilla Panna Cotta with raspberry compote and Chocolate Lava cakes :D

Hope you all had fun, see you at the next party!

2011 so far

2011-02-12T12:09:00.000+08:00

Ok it's more than a month into the new year and I have to apologise for the lack of updates because after Christmas, my laptop passed away and I have not bought a new one yet as I am waiting for the new Macbook Pro. It's still not out as we speak, so I am using the studio's computer in the meantime.

2011 is passing by faster than I wished it would! So far I have missed telling you about my awesome start to the new year when on new year's eve our family won 2 iPads at a dinner and dance! January was also a great month for the studio. We had the Chinese New Year walk-in promo which saw our best walk-in day in The Studio Loft's entire walk-in history! And the Valentine's Day walk-in ended yesterday! So expect lots of pictures in my next few posts :D Oh yes we also welcome Joanne Tan into our studio! She used to teach in a childcare centre so she's great with kids! Don't mind her, she's a Canon user, pffft! HAHAHA! Just kidding! She will be working closely with Wen Lin and I to bring you more fabulous portraits :)

On the homefront, the boys started art lessons at WowART Studio and I have been very impressed with their art pieces so far :) We had a very quiet Chinese New Year with all our visiting done on the first day! :p But it was a good break for me to recharge. We have also been to the zoo with AMK Gong Gong during both new years, pictures to come soon. I have also started Instagram-ing, it's really fun, like twitter but with pictures. I hope you will add me if you are using the app, my nick is tubbykat.

Ok enough talking, I shall be working hard in the next few hours to update this blog now :p Don't give up on me just yet!

A Thankful Christmas!!!

2010-12-25T14:07:00.001+08:00

This Christmas, I would like to give thanks.
Thanks to my husband for doing the household chores, for tutoring Kayden, for feeding the kids breakfast each morning, for clearing Momo's poop and for chauffeuring us around.
Thanks to my kids for being the cheekiest and cutest rascals you can have around to perk up your everyday!
Thanks to my staff and vendors for keeping our studio running efficiently and profitably.
Thanks to my in-laws for cooking dinner and saturday lunches for the kids and looking after them on days when we can't.
Thanks to my dad for being our studio's handyman and the kids' go-out Gong Gong.
Thanks to the big man upstairs for our health.
And thanks to having peace on earth.
Wishing everyone and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!

To Santa from The Studio Loft

2010-12-20T19:50:00.010+08:00

Dearest white bearded fat man in red suit aka Santa, for Christmas our studio needs the following:

a MacBook pro for the boss whose HP laptop feels like a hot grill when in use
the biggest screen iMac for WenLin, who needs more desktop space for her retouching work. if u can fit dual monitors into your sack, even better!
a new fulltime colleague who can work well with us
backdrop pulley system that doesn't break or comes loose every other week, it sucks for two girls to have to climb up and down the ladder each time we need to roll up the backdrop paper
Nikon D3X or upcoming D800, one for each of us please
a NAS storage system or 8Tb of hard disk space for all our data storage and backup for 2011
plenty of wonderful clients with happy kids that are never cranky and newborns who don't pee or poop on us :p

Hope our requests are not too much of an ask, we have been really good this year! Thank you in advance :) Our stocking is hanging at 58A Pagoda Street :p

love,
The Studio Loft

The Dinosaurs Are Alive!

2010-12-20T01:40:00.008+08:00

Ok so obviously we cannot miss this show right since Kayden is so dino-crazy! Walking With Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular, was AWESOME! At first when we didn't know much about the show, we thought what could the dinosaurs possibly do for the hour or so? They can't sing and dance like Barney right? Haha! But boy were we impressed! There was a storyline told and unfolded by a paleontologist character (taking you through a 200 million year journey), the props were appropriate and they moved with each scene (there was even a pile of dinosaur poop!), the sound effects was incredible and of course the dinosaurs themselves were very impressive especially the mechanical animation! It really was as if the dinosaurs are alive again! If they do come to Singapore again, you have to catch the show, it truly is a great production :)

Our dino buff eagerly awaiting for the dinos to appear

Don't be scared didi!

Gor Gor's here to protect me :)

one of their favourites, the Stegosaurus

Brachiosaurus

a flying one! the Ornithocheirus

2 Torosaurus fighting, one of them had it's horn broken!

and then the one we have all been waiting for emerges!

the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Boy he was intimidating! till the comet killed them all...

the paleontologist concluding the show

There were plenty of other dinosaurs, you can find out more about the show with a google search.

the WOW experience

2010-12-19T10:49:00.005+08:00

It's no secret that I am very proud of my Kayden's art. He can draw very well from just using his imagination and some of his art are really abstract which I love. Check out his "Fire Rocket in Space" piece below.

Racing Cars

Family of Dinosaurs

Erwin and I have talked about encouraging this artistic side of him by sending him for art classes but I was kind of afraid that structured lessons teaching him the "proper" way of drawing, painting etc may influence or limit his creativity. So we have been sitting on the fence till now.

Last week, the kids and I were invited to a sneak preview of WowART Learning Studio's Holiday Workshop!

This was a great opportunity for me to check out art lessons for the kids and the boys were excited to be taken early out of school as well :) When we got there, I was amazed by some of the art on display done by kids as young as 3 years old. Here's an artpiece by a 4 year old titled Peacock. WOW!

At this workshop, we were supposed to create a whimsical Christmas art with the theme of Fantasy & Magical dreams. Now here's the catch, the kids were put in one room to do their art and we adults were placed in another room to do ours! I was afraid Dylan would act up without me around but the instructors assured me that he was blending in well and participating intently. I took a peek every now and then and he really seemed very serious about his art together with his gor gor by his side!

Here are some pictures on Wow's facebook. Check out Dyl's serious face :p

After about an hour, we finally finished and the artwork of the kids were compared with that of the adults. Adults' work tended to be more deliberate, we were more obsessed about getting things "right". The kids' work were more spontaneous :) Nonetheless everyone's work looked great!

WowART aims to develop creative confidence and inspiring expressions. They believe every child is an individual, and are confident that each child learns best when they explore, observe, express and play. To ensure that every child gets the most out of his learning experience, class sizes are kept small, to allow their team of dedicated and well trained instructors to nurture and encourage each child to grow intellectually, emotionally and creatively. Their learning courses are for children from the ages of 2 and a half years to 12 years old.

I like it that they use many different mediums in their art classes, from clay handling to glass painting! Do check out their website for more details. Here's to more WOW art from my boys in the weeks to come :)

I've hung their whimsical Christmas art pieces as ornaments on our Christmas tree. Don't they look great?

*all pictures in this post shot and edited with the iPhone*

neh-nee neh-nee poo poo

2010-12-19T10:19:00.002+08:00

Of late, the boys have been uttering naughty words, thanks to influence by other kids in school. Using them on each other and in regular conversations, they will give a hearty guffaw after they've said them :s I've read that when they do that, just try not to react to them and it will eventually just be a phase they get over. BUT it's been more than a month and still, this goes on.

Typical banter between the boys:

K: Baby, you cannot catch me! Neh-nee neh-nee poo poo
D: I beat your backside!
K: Orh hor! Mummy, didi say "backside"!

They also enjoy saying the word "penis" in dialect:

(during bathtime)
K: Eeeee! Baby naked!
D: Gor gor, see my ku-ku jiao!
K: Didi is so naked!
D (starts singing and dancing): Twinkle twinkle ku-ku jiao!
Then the two of them starts laughing hysterically :s

Some other words they have been using are "chicken backside" and "ah boo neh neh". It's still not too bad when it's within our home but when we are outside in the company of others, it gets embarrassing.

Can't wait for this phase to pass, I should be thankful it's not the F word. Well, at least till they turn into teenagers! But that's another chapter.

The Perfect Employee

2010-12-11T01:45:00.002+08:00

She came to us fresh from school, a young girl who has never held a baby before, little experience in dealing with clients, rather quiet and still green to the ways of the working world.

More than two and a half years later, she left us yesterday, a confident young woman about to embark on a new career. Wiser to the ways of the world, she is Charlene my longest serving employee.

It's funny thinking back to those days when Ashley and her will be looking after newborn Dylan in the studio while I am shooting. By the time he was 3 months old, the two girls were experts at patting him to sleep, clearing his soiled diaper (yes even the BIG business they can do it!) and playing with him. Often they would put him infront of the iMac and have photobooth sessions with him :p When he started solids, Charlene can manage preparing his meals and feeding him too. And the girls were a great help with the boys when we all went for a holiday in Perth.

How time flies, now Charlene can handle clients, shoot solo, tackle naughty kids etc. She even helps me with the marketing of the studio and overall I feel that she has been the best help for me and the business thus far. So when she broke the news to me that she wanted to fulfill a dream of hers in another career, I was kind of sad. But I have to be a good employer and not hold her back. After all, she has been with me for more than two and a half years and this is also her first job straight out of school so I should be thankful already that she has been with me this long. Young kids nowadays don't last more than a year in their first job. Char is the exception. She has the right attitude and is hardworking.

My dear girl, I wish you all the best in your new career and if you get bored of it, you can always come back to The Studio Loft haha :p Send me a picture of you in your kebaya to complete this blog post :) I hope you had enjoyed yourself working with us and take away with you some lessons in life and photography. I also hope that I've been a nice boss ;p Take care and we will miss you!

Me

2010-12-07T01:28:00.002+08:00

i'm 37 today
but look slightly younger ;)
I became a wife at 29
a mother at 31
and have been shooting professionally since 2006
i use nikon exclusively
although at times I do use my iPhone
almost anything that involves numbers
i need them to be multiples of or add up to nine
eg. heating up the milk in the microwave has to be 27seconds, not 30.
keying in the levels for a shot in Photoshop has to be 234 and 63%, not 235 and 60%.
yes I think this is a problem especially since i can't have 9 kids :p
i am not into luxury clothings or accessories
why pay hundreds or thousands for a LV or Coach bag when the repeated logo/emblem print on the bag is so ugly?
i am not shy to still whip out my Billabong wallet when paying for an expensive meal in a restaurant
hahaha even my employees have more luxury items than me!
i used to be a rocker and only like rock music
but now the sound of my children's laughter is the best music for my ears
my all time sports idol is Michael Jordan
the only sports I do now is watching :p
i am terribly messy, you should see my computer desktop
and secretly wish that I can have a personal assistant who can help me organise my everyday
my birthday wish for this year
is to be a better mother, wife and photographer

happy birthday to me! :)

Christmas Walk-In 2010

2010-11-30T14:28:00.002+08:00

It's that time of the year again!

Our Very Own

2010-11-27T23:47:00.007+08:00

This was a special project (thanks Chin Kar!) I was working on some months ago, shooting the images that go into this book of stories celebrating adoptive families. I am so touched by the families I've met and shot for this project. Their love for their adopted children are so genuine I never would have guess that they are not their own flesh and blood. Quoting one of the families - they may not be related by blood but they are bounded by love.

Too sweet! <3 Makes me tear... now pass me the tissue!

Here are some of my favourite shots from the shoots, do go to The Studio Loft's facebook page for the rest of the images.

All Aboard!

2010-11-25T00:47:00.007+08:00

Myself and 39 other bloggers were lucky enough to be selected by OMY for a half-day ship tour onboard the Royal Caribbean ship - Legends of the Sea, as part of a contest where we could win the grand prize of a 7D5N western mediterranean fly-cruise!

I was looking forward to catching up with my fellow blogger friends whom have also made it into this contest. Namely Eunice, Edmund and Walter. You can go to their blogs to read their far more detailed posts on this ship-venture we had :) Unfortunately we were split into 4 different groups and I was separated from the three of them. This forced me to make new friends! They were the cheeky newlyweds, Benjamin & Michelle, the Keropok man, bubbly young girl Peimin, the personal trainer Lionel (i think if this diet of mine is not going anywhere, i will require his services!), food blogger Catherine, Lynn, and Peggy. Everyone was SOOO young! I felt like an aunty amongst them.

Being the photographer, everyone thinks you'll be snapping 8G worth of pictures but I didn't want to show what you can already find on Royal Caribbean's website so in this post are some "alternative" photos of my little trip onboard the ship taken and edited with my humble iPhone.

Roman and nautical themed decorations/artifacts/paintings were present throughout the vessel.

To be truthful, my mother-in-law goes on a cruise at least once every few months so I've come to associate cruise holidays with the older generation. But after being on this ship tour, I've changed my mindset somewhat. Here's one important thing I found out - all your meals are taken care of, included with your cruise ticket. Not only buffets but fine dining in a proper restaurant too! You can use any/all of the facilities onboard at your whim. I particularly liked that you could leave your little ones in the "day-care" while you enjoy a swim, a movie or perhaps a spa treatment. Here are some of the facilities available onboard:

Rock-climbing wall
Outdoor pool
4 whirlpools / jacuzzis
Indoor/outdoor pool in a Solarium with a sliding roof
9-hole miniature golf course
Beautiful glass-walled dining rooms
Themed bars and lounges
Centrum, an open atrium featuring shopping and more
Adventure Ocean® youth facilities
Casino
Day Spa and Fitness Center

We also got a chance to check out the rooms onboard. The more luxurious rooms like the one and only Royal Suite can rival any 6 star hotel rooms on land, maybe even better because this room had a baby grand piano in it!!!

The luxurious sheets used, I can only imagine the threadcount in this sheet!

While we were ooo-ing and aaa-ing at the room, we suddenly noticed that the guests (a friendly indian couple) who booked this room were already sitting in the living area of the suite! They must be wondering what we were doing taking pictures of their suite :p Thankfully they were friendly and not upset by the disturbance :p We quickly took our leave and proceeded to lunch.

I was impressed when we walked past this room which had streamers and banners hanging from the ceiling that screamed Happy Birthday! It was a guest's birthday and they actually decorated his room, nice touch of service.

Then the highlight of the tour was a wonderful lunch in the two-tier glass-walled Romeo and Juliet dining room.

yummy shrimp ravioli!

Thanks again to OMY and Royal Caribbean for organising this contest, I had a great time :) If you my readers are considering a fuss free vacation, why not book a cruise with Royal Caribbean? I guarantee you it's not just for old folks ;)

Gabriel Mendes family shoot

2010-11-05T03:20:00.008+08:00

After your kid is past 2 years old, I recommend an annual photoshoot for the family :) This has been my practise for the past 3 years and this year, we decided to go with Gabriel Mendes. He is a wedding photographer who loves shooting families but the main reason I chose him was because he's also a parent of 2 cheeky boys (and one more on the way!) and I figured he would be most able to tackle my two boys :D I met Gabriel in a photography workshop in Sydney last year and we have been talking about getting this shoot done since then and finally we did it a day after Dylan started school and on my 11th "go steady" anniversary with Erwin.

Here are the pictures! (I tweaked the colours for a few of them hope you don't mind :p) Thanks Gabriel for the shoot! Love love love the first shot above, will have it printed on canvas in a square crop!

Halloween with the 3 witches of The Studio Loft

2010-10-31T01:55:00.006+08:00

It's been awhile since we had our own studio sessions. Here's one we did just for fun. We used to have these crew shoots more often when Dylan was around, now that he has started school, we got lazy :p But we will definitely be doing this more often from now on.

Happy Halloween everyone!

A major investment

2010-10-26T23:04:00.002+08:00

This morning, I made one of the biggest decision of my adult life (besides getting married, having my first child, starting a business etc), I bought a SOHO!

Although it's a few years away from completion, it could be my future studio, a place for the kids to enjoy condominium facilities, or even a place I rent out. Who knows? It's still some time away to think of it all but as of now, I am pretty happy and excited with my purchase :) "Mummy, how are you going to carry home the new house?" Kayden asked when we told him that we bought a new place *LOL!* My precocious 5 year old!

It's a studio unit with a loft - The Studio Loft! Haha how apt right? Click links to view the property from ground level and the loft area. It's so lovely :)

The baby has left the nest

2010-10-11T23:59:00.004+08:00

It's official, the small one has taken flight. He started school more than a month ago and has been doing great so far. Teachers says he's attentive and interested and eats well too! What more can we ask for? He turns 2years 4months today but already at this age he is far more advanced in social and linguistic skills than his gor gor was at the same age. Not that we are comparing but Dylan always surprises us with the things he can do and say rather than the things he can't. We feel fortunate that he has adapted so easily to school but I do miss him a lot in the studio :( It's different without him around, our in house model/guinea pig.

At this age, he has a terrible temper though! Often, his brother will bear the brunt of his angry assults. When frustrated or when he doesn't get what he wants, this small thing will hit his brother and sometimes even me or his daddy. It's getting to the point where we have to bring out the cane or use the thinking chair to make him stop. On the flip side, he is also very loving! When I fell asleep on the couch the other day, tired from work, he crept up to my cheek and planted two kisses on me :) When gor gor cries for whatever reason (which is quite often!), he will take a tissue to him and say, "Gor Gor don't cry." then give him a hug. He is also very clever in manipulating your emotions. When he sees you getting angry with him, he will quickly put on the sweetest smile and say, "Sorry mummy!". Darn this little rascal! As his daddy put it, he can commit murder and get away with it.

I think the best part of sending him to school is when I pick him up from school. He sees you at the door and flashes you the brightest and happiest grin before exclaiming as he runs to you joyfully with a loud, "MUMMEEEEE!!!". Awww :)

I am not pregnant, I am fat

2010-10-11T23:58:00.003+08:00

Ok so there I've said it.
I've never been this depressed about my shape (or lack of) before.
From M size or UK10, I've ballooned to L or XL or UK14!

Getting a $200 pair of running shoes only got me running for 3 days :p I have ZERO stamina, it's worse than giving birth, I think I'd rather go into labour than run 1km, it's too difficult!

I tried not eating lunch because those two girls in my studio seem to survive on just air :p thought I could do that as well but the tummy complains to my legs who then walks to get food for it :s

When one client asked me how far along I was, I almost grabbed her by the throat and wanted to say you are not that skinny yourself, Porky! But I didn't and just said meekly, "Oh it's tough to get rid of this belly after #2." Grrrr!

Plastic surgery is out of the question because I am too chicken to go under the knife.

I've contemplated hiring a personal trainer like Bob on The Biggest Loser to whip me into shape but where to find one in Singapore without going to the gym? I have no time as it is for 6 hours of sleep each night, let alone an hour at the gym.

Please let this be a nightmare that I wake up from and back to my post-Kayden-breastfeeding days when I was svelt and even my close friends noticed that I was in better shape then than before pregnancy!

Dylan boy! You have turned your mummy into a chubby person who looks forever 5 months pregnant.

Sigh.

Help me please, anyone.

Just happy being children

2010-10-01T23:46:00.001+08:00

Kids they don't bear grudges
They live for the moment
It's either happy or sad
No in between or grey areas
Ours adore each other
And we love them heaps too
Happy Children's Day kids! :)

The right card

2010-09-26T23:33:00.000+08:00

After my initial post on Citibank Credit Cards, a few readers have commented to me that there are so many cards, difficult (and lazy) to make a choice but hey it wasn't difficult for my husband at all who applied for one through the Citibank Card Recommender.

There are a few ways you can go about selecting your card once you are at the site. You can just click on any of the cards featured in the animation to get a full overview of that specific card.

You can also click on "Compare our cards" (bottom left) to choose a few cards to compare benefits and features before deciding on the one that you prefer.

What my husband did was I think the easiest option, just click on "Choose the right card for your lifestyle" at the bottom. Then just take your cue from the animation as it prompts you for information like your age, benefit preferences etc.

Finally it will present you with a couple or more cards which suits your lifestyle. For Erwin, he was recommended the Citi Dividend Card or the Citi Platinum Card. He went for the latter as he was already getting petrol rebates from another credit card he owned.

So there you go! Easy and straightforward :)
There are still a few weeks to go before our collaboration with Citibank to give you a $40 TANGS voucher ends, so please do hop on to the Citibank Card Recommender site to select a Citibank Credit Card suitable for yourself then sign up for your card of choice through this special link to get your $40 TANGS voucher. Happy shopping and charging! :D

Children's DAYZ 2010

2010-09-20T01:58:00.004+08:00

Our Children's DAYZ promotion is back for this year! At a new price of just $50, you get 3 colourful settings for your child. This year we have 2 natural light settings and 1 studio setting to make things a little different :) So total 3 settings at one price! Your kids will love the colourful ideas we have come up with for this special :)

Dates are 27. 28 and 29 September 2010, walk in between 10am to 4pm, no appointments necessary. Shoots will be conducted on a first come first serve basis. You get 2 edited shots in high resolution JPGs.

Note that photographers will be Charlene, Wen Lin or Maryann, no choosing of photographers.

Hope to see you all then and wishing everyone a very colourful Children's Day ahead! :)

The Studio Loft

Gabrielle

2010-09-20T01:01:00.007+08:00

Oh my, I just realised that I have forgotten to update my blog with newborn pictures but they are all on The Studio Loft's facebook! So here's the first of many backdated newborn shoots. Ah we have renamed our newborn shoots to Teeny Weeny by the way :) Fitting don't you think?

Ok, on to teeny weeny Gabrielle.
Remember our very cheerful father-to-be from our Blooming Fun album? Here he is still as cheerful with his brand new baby girl! We love how enthusiastic he was about the shoot and even brought some of his own props. Thanks Chloe and Andrew for choosing us to shoot Gabby's newborn portraits, hope you love the pictures!

Talking about enthusiasm, Andrew even edited a video of some shots he took during the session together with the final retouched shots. Check it out! Thanks again you guys :)

And on to the pictures (1st 3 shots by Charlene)

The Nation's 45th Birthday

2010-09-12T13:07:00.010+08:00

On the eve of National Day, we were given tickets to the parade! For you non locals, getting tickets to the parade IS a big deal as they are neither sold nor free at the door. You have to ballot for them, win them by calling radio stations, be a participant of the parade, beg friends or relatives of those who happen to have extra tickets or in our case, have a relative who was involved in the parade so had tickets to giveaway ;p

We were more excited than the kids as this was my first time at a National Day Parade ever! The kids were just there for the "fa fah works" (fireworks pronounced by Dylan).

It was hot hot hot and security was tight. We had four goody bags hehe that contained patriotic paraphanelia and some snacks and drinks. You can spot us newbies straightaway - whilst others brought sunglasses, fans and donned caps and hats, we brought egg mayo sandwiches :p

Anyway, it was an interesting experience, I never thought myself a patriotic person but teared when Kit Chan sang "Home" by Dick Lee.

Happy Birthday Home!

Kay is 5! and all things dino

2010-09-08T23:29:00.008+08:00

Kayden my boy, you turn 5 today! Still crazy about dinos and drawing, we had a dinosaur themed party for you upon your request. Yes, you can make known your opinions now :p We can't say no if we wanted to :)

It's amazing just thinking back to when you were a (fat) baby, how far you have come. Be it expressing yourself vocally, helping daddy with the housework, doing things on your own, you have certainly developed and grown into a little man. Still clumsy like your mummy though but otherwise a fine young man :p You are ever such a loving elder brother to Dylan, giving in to him most of the time and teaching him all that you know. We beam with pride when we see you looking out for him as any good brother will, knowing in our hearts that this brotherly bond is going to be a great one!

Kay my dino boy, we wish you all the happiness in the world for your birthday! :)

lots of love,
mummy, daddy and didi (even though he don't say it, you know he loves you heaps! you are the first person he looks for when he wakes up)

RARRHHH! (dinosaur roar) :D

Notes:
This year we didn't have a party, just a small one in school followed by lunch at marche and then a small bbq party at aunty ik hui's place over that weekend. I tried to be clever and did his cake from scratch! The school cake looks horrid but his classmates had 2 or 3 helpings so it must have tasted good! :p The fondant dinosaurs I hand modelled also looked quite ugly and they only slightly improved in appearance when i made them as toppers for the bbq party's cupcakes.

Anyway, here are the pix, he really enjoyed himself, that's all that matters :)

Bali 2010 - Last minute shopping & SPA

2010-09-04T00:21:00.013+08:00

Our final full day in Bali was met with a light drizzle in the morning but it cleared soon after breakfast. I've decided that today, it was going to be shopping and a spa treatment for me at the villa while the kids took their afternoon nap :)

Look mum! We have a palm tree sticking out of our heads :D

We also indulged the kids by letting them swim as long as they liked in the pool. After the tips of their little toes and fingers resembled raisins did they finally get out of the pool for a bath.

Family photo attempt in the bath tub was failure #4 as putting the camera on timer and running into position without tripping on the wet floor was quite a feat! Then not to mention we have no control over the kids' expressions when the shutter clicks :p Check out this failed attempt, my right knee in an awkward position, Kay's fake half smile and Dyl's "bo chup" face!

But I did managed to get some shots of the boys enjoying their bath.

Attempt #5...

#6

and #7

Ok you get the picture! I gave up after attempt #7 and decided to just shoot the kids. This is my favourite picture of the both of them together. So loving, makes my heart melt :D

More of the villa before we leave...

Goodbye Bali, we will miss you! Hope to visit again someday.

ZZZzzzzzZzzz!

***read Day 1 here***

***read Day 2 here***

Bali 2010 - The extremely tiring second day

2010-08-31T23:42:00.014+08:00

It's a good morning on our second day in Bali! We had to be up early as we were scheduled to meet our driver guide at 9am and getting kids ready is you know...never easy ;)

The nude milk-drinker

Our breakfast prepared and cooked in our villa by our lady butler :)

We met Pedro, our driver guide and headed northwards to a temple which housed a holy spring, the Tirta Empul Temple in Tampark Siring. It was a really long car ride there and I was stuck at the back seat keeping the kids entertained. By the time we got there, the small one was grouchy (check out his pout) and the big one lost his enthusiasm.

I think the Mr Grumpy shirt should go to Dylan ;P

It was also at this temple that Dyl had a fall and scraped his chin but as we will find out later, it's nothing compared to the many mosquito bites he will suffer! Strangely the kid's blood must be sweeter because us adults got just one or two bites, go figure! We asked Pedro to help us take a family shot in front of the temple, he decided to include the sky so in the picture we had the very beautiful blue sky and all of us in sillouette hahahaha! Attempt at family picture #2 fail!

Next stop was the volcano. Pedro was engaging us in conversations with him so we won't be bored. He's a father of a little girl about Dylan's age but she's 3kg heavier :p He wants a son next as it is hindu custom that the son looks after his parents. Another fact we learnt, the majority of Balinese are hindus! We thought Indonesia was a nation of muslims but no, Pedro explained that in Bali, almost everyone is hindu.

Along the way we passed many villages, Pedro tells us that each village will specialise in a particular handicraft. We saw one that makes beautiful kites! Many were stone and wood carvers and there were also a few that make jewellery. There were also many shops that sold synthetic rattan furniture, very nice to have by the pool area IF I lived in a bungalow *dream dream* Pedro says he's from a village of wood carvers. I find it really interesting that every Balinese will specialise in a certain craft and it makes you wonder how all of them are born creative?

Ta dah! We arrived at last! Here's the view of the volcanos. We also had the worse lunch ever at a restaurant here. I think the only thing keeping it in operation is the view :p

We had another failed attempt at family picture #3 here, both kids having been woken up were not in the least bit happy.

Pedro next suggested the Ubud market for some shopping, hurray! But damn, it was crowded and there was no parking plus the kids had already dozed off in the car so we decided to give it a miss and started our journey back down south to Uluwatu. Along the way, Pedro stopped us at a scenic rice paddy field. He said he will watch the kids while we took some photos. I love this shot of these girls trying to lift the heavy basket :D

Eventually, their father or uncle had to take over the job hehe :p

We arrived in Uluwatu just in time to to see the beautiful sunset plus a free show of two frisky monkeys doing IT right in front of us! :p They were notorious for snatching caps, sunglasses or anything off you if you are not aware so Kayden was screaming for me to stay away from the wall where they were seated as I jostled for a better spot to get my shot. Sometimes this boy worry too much!

It's been a really long day, we were all beat when we arrived back at the villa. We bade Pedro farewell and had a really nice Italian dinner at Trattoria before walking back to the villa to call it a day.

***read Day 1 here***

***read Day 3 here***

Bali 2010 - The Villa, Cafe Bali & Sharkey's

2010-08-25T09:30:00.023+08:00

Our last family vacation was September last year in Oz (good grief I just realised I've not blog part 2 of that vacation yet!). We have never been to Bali before so I was very excited about it. A few hiccups for the trip though, our travel companions who would be sharing the lovely 2 bedroom villa with us stuffed up their flight booking so they couldn't get on the plane. We tried to downgrade to a one bedroom villa unsuccessfully as they were fully booked. So you can say that we ended up spending a bomb on our lodging but seeing how much the boys enjoy themselves, it was worth it.

We stayed at Bvilla in the Seminyak area. Bvilla is owned by one of my clients and I love the contemporary design of the place while still incorporating Balinese accents. Very chic ;) We checked in, had a refreshing welcome drink while gawking at our private pool before setting out on foot to grab some lunch.

We ended up at Cafe Bali, lovely lovely interior! The lamps in the restaurant were the work of lighting artist Robert Nollet and his gifted team of Balinese craftmen.

Naturally I wanted a nice picture of us here but the boys were cranky from waking up so early that morning for the flight and the waitress who took the shot didn't focus the camera correctly so we were one blurred blob of colours in the picture, arrgh... failed attempt at family picture #1. Reminder to self, bring the LX3 next time, not all service staff knows how to use the D700.

The difference between the two, one wears his heart on his sleeve showing me his grumpy tired face, the other acts silly to hide the fatigue :p

yes yes, I am aware that he needs a hair cut.

After lunch it was back to the villa for a dip in the pool. That certainly perked the big one up!

Treating the deck chairs as a trampoline was a genius idea ;)

We tried to make them take a nap but it was quite impossible. So we decided to go for an early dinner so we can turn in early. Friends recommended seafood dinner at Sharkey's which was at Jimbaran Bay. The tables were set out near the beach front and you get sand on your feet as you enjoy your dinner and the sunset was lovely to behold. Just that you get the "smell" of the sea as well which may spoil the ambience for some. But it was small issue for a great meal and view.

Dylan was so sleepy (the both of them did not have their afternoon naps) that he fell asleep at the table with his mouth still full with rice. Poor baby.

It's been a long day, we bid the sun and Sharkey's farewell to hopefully a great night's rest at our villa :)

***read Day 2 here***

***read Day 3 here***

Smartypants

2010-08-08T23:51:00.004+08:00

It's exactly a month to go before Kayden turns 5 years old. Whilst I busy myself planning his party and reflecting on this past year, it's hard to ignore his vastly improved language skills. He even has witty comebacks for everyday dialogue.

Scene - A cold rainy day, driving home after picking Kayden from daycare
Erwin: Kay, later go home you bathe in hot water ok?
Kayden: No daddy, I want to bathe in warm water, hot water will burn me!
Me: LOL

Scene - After dinner at a shopping mall, the boys were still munching on cookies and bean curd
Erwin (to me): Look at these two piglets!
Kayden: Then you and mummy are Daddy and Mummy pigs? (followed by a hearty guffaw!)

What a cheeky fella! But I am happy at how he has progressed. We also started him on Chinese enrichment classes this year. His teacher wrote in his report card that his Chinese has improved by "leaps and bounds"! How impressive! More so since we hardly speak the language with him. All of Erwin's tuition with him is paying off! He does Math and Chinese with Kay on weeknights. And of all things, we realised that he is now lagging behind in reading English! He can recognise words and make the phonic sounds of individual alphabets but he just can't seem to put the letters together to read the word :(

Kay, I hope your English reading improves in the next month so you can read this on your cake: Happy 5th Birthday! :)