and the award goes to...

" Short Note: I haven't been watching much movie since the last one - Pathfinder, in January 2007. I just watched Protégé and Ghost Rider. Might do a quick review later on. But in case I don't, here's the verdict: Protégé = Good, Ghost Rider = Bad. "

The recently concluded Academy Awards , also known as the Oscars, has seen The Departed as the biggest winner for the night.

Here are the winners for the 79th edition Oscars:-
Actor in Leading Role
Forest Whittaker [The Last King of Scotland]

Actor in Supporting Role
Alan Arkin [Little Miss Sunshine]

Actress in Leading Role
Helen Mirren [The Queen]

Actress in Supporting Role
Jennifer Hudson [Dreamgirls]

Animated Featured Film
Happy Feet

Art Direction
Pan's Labyrinth

Cinematography
Pan's Labyrinth

Costume Design
Marie Antionette

Directing
The Departed [Martin Scorsese]

Documentary Feature
An Inconvenient Truth

Documentary Short
The Blood of YingZhou District

Film Editing
The Departed

Foreign Language Film
The Lives of Others

Makeup
Pan's Labyrinth

Music (Score)
Babel

Music (Song)
An Inconvenient Truth ["I Need to Wake Up" Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge]

Best Picture
The Departed

Short Film (Animated)
The Danish Poet

Short Film (Live Action)
West Bank Story

Sound Editing
Letters from Iwo Jima

Sound Mixing
Dreamgirls

Visual Effects
Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
The Departed

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Little Miss Sunshine

For more details on Oscars, click here to access the official website.

the wedding: Steven & Helen

" Short note: Not much words will be used in this post, instead photos will narrate through the day. "




The bride.


1301.




Bride & Bridesmaid


Bride & Bridesmaid.


She awaits.


The kiss with petals.



More to come in the next post.

a day to remember - 6 February 2007...

... for the newlyweds, and myself.

After months of planning and preparation, the day has finally arrived. The day we all eagerly waited for - 06.02.07.

It was a Tuesday, and the day started early for almost everyone, especially the bride and her groom, and of course me. That Tuesday started as early as 2a.m. (That's how early I woke up, I only managed to sleep near 11pm the previous night).

The streets were almost as silenced by the night, traffic was almost nil. The drive to Hilton Kuching looked shorter than usual.

My first wedding assignment started as soon as I arrived at the door front of the room, where the bride is preparing for her makeup session.


The makeup tools were ready, the makeup artist was on standby.


The gloves await the bride.


The wedding heels.


The bride is ready to go; the artist in action.


My first assignment starts here.


More to come.. in the next post. Stay tuned!

happy new year @ gong xi fa cai

" Short Note: For a moment, I felt as though I was in middle of battlefield in Iraq or something, putting my life on the line while taking the photos when the show began. "



Gong Xi Gong Xi.



Happy (Chinese) New Year!

Year 2007 is the Year of Boar (Pig). I'd like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year ahead!

It's been quite a occupied schedule for me lately, hence the lack of update here. Anyway, here are some of my firework shots when midnight struck.









The neighborhood actually started warming up for the show hours before 12. Despite the rain, there was no stopping for the firework/firecracker displays.





Firework/Firecracker has been part of the tradition for Chinese for a many years already. Other than sign of ushering new year, there is also a myth behind the act of burning firecrackers for the New Year.

In Chinese mythology, Nian (Traditional Chinese: 年獸; Simplified Chinese: 年兽; pinyin: nián shòu) is a beast that comes in spring. The Chinese word for year is based on the arrival of this beast. A phrase for celebrating Chinese New Year, guo nian (Traditional Chinese: 過年; Simplified Chinese: 过年) means the passing of the beast. It is believed that it lives under the sea. It came to attack people at the same time of the year. The Chinese tradition of decorating in red, burning firecrackers, and the lion dance with loud drums and gongs was to scare the beast away.

- Quote from Wikipedia -











The skies were beautiful, isn't it? (Take away the smoke and smell after the heavy explosives.) Wish everyone all the best in the upcoming new year!

恭贺新禧,新春快乐!





" End Note: When they declared the tighten regulation on fireworks over Chinese New Year, I really thought it was unjustified, and unfair. How could they take away the tradition from us? It was as though they're trying to turn us into them. Those found guilty may be fined up to MYR 100, but who really cares? It's our symbol for Chinese New Year! "

the wedding.. (not my wedding, i'm not married!!!)

" Update: A friend just left Malaysia for Melbourne, and another friend just got back from UK. Happy Valentine's Day "




The rings that bond them together.

A week ago, the much awaited wedding was finally here. It was my first up-close experience attending a wedding. Prior to this one, I had never attending any wedding before (minus the wedding dinner, I had attended once before this).



There were a lot of firsts' in this wedding for me - first time attending a wedding, and first time covering photo-shooting for a wedding.


Just married in S-Class

It was quite a tiring day, but it sure was fun! This is just a prelude to the wedding coverage. More to come soon. (I need time to go through the chunk of photos I took the other day, need to filter out some photos too. My count to date, I am having 700+ photos recorded. More filtering needed.)


The newlyweds.

post wedding update

The wedding was finally over. The wedding day drained me out empty. I stayed up for about 24 hours, having on slept for about 3 hours or so only.

It took me more than half a day to recover what I had lost. On 7 February (Wednesday), I slept straight after work, and almost through the night. (From 6++pm onwards)

And right now, after the wedding, I have to deal with the photos I had taken. About 10GB of RAW files to go through with.

Till then, just patiently wait for the photos. Stay tuned


" Short Note: I am featured here, in the orangeland. "

countdown (random)

We're just a day away from the big day. After tomorrow, it will happen.



While the wedding is just a-day away, Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) is approximately 2 weeks, or 14 days away.



How's everyone's preparation for the celebration?



Even flickr has gone for a massage, I seriously think of a vacation sometime soon.




It know the season is wrong, but still I feel like posting these photos.


Just try to imagine them singing Chinese New Year tune la. Gongxi Gongxi ni~.


Mei tiao da jie xiao xiang~ (每条大街小巷...)





" Photo Note: All photos published here are all extracted from my old image archive. All photos were taken with Canon A70. "

movie trailer: The Invisible

This trailer caught my eye some time ago.

How could I not notice it when the movie is from the producers of "The Sixth Sense" and co-writer of "Batman Begins".



I love this line the most - "How do you solve a murder.. when the victim is you?"

The movie is scheduled in theaters (in U.S) 27 April 2007. (I have no definite information on release date in Malaysia.)

Regardless I believe it's a movie worth watching.

The Invisible is directed by David S. Goyer (Blade 2, Blade Trinity, Ghost Rider), and leading the cast are Justin Chatwin (Lost - TV series).


Official site: TheInvisible

it's february

It's February now.

We're about 2 weeks away from celebrating Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year), and more IMPORTANTLY, we're about 5 days (or less) away from celebrating their BIG DAY!

I've been rather occupied these few days, schedule's pretty packed.

Time flies, don't you think so?