An ongoing journey

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

No more blues

Wanted to wait for baby's studio pictures to be out (1.5 mths already!) before changing a new blog header... but can't wait any further, we have gotten sick and wanted to get rid of the blues!

How do you like this? I love it! :)

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Family Photo Shoot

Sis arranged a family photo shoot at the studio for today and only told us on Fri. We had a frantic time getting ourselves ready for the session this morning but definitely enjoyed the session!

Here are some snapshots:

Ahhh, it's been a long time since I donned an academic gown! :) Guess what? The color of the hood for my faculty has changed and the hood I wore for the photo shoot is now for the Masters of Applied Science! Hehe... and I became a master for a day for no reason!

Related Tweets:
11 Oct 2009, DC: Another studio shoot today but not by me :)
11 Oct 2009, 7:38 AM, CP: family photo shoot today, hope baby is co-operative this time!

Related Posts:
Sis's Convocation
无私的爱
Photo Taking at home

Friday, October 09, 2009

1(+)1 yrs together

A good 11 years together with a baby to add this year! As with any other year, it's a good reason to celebrate and to splurge on food!

We didn't manage to get a booking for dinner so we settled for lunch instead. I am not complaining, fine dining restaurants are too dimly lit at night which makes photo taking difficult.

Jaan is a nice restaurant. I mean, who can complain about the view on the 70th floor of Swissotel Stamford! There's very limited seating, similar to Gunthers. Jaan has also made it to No. 4 on the Miele's Guide this year! I like that they provided each table with a small stool for the bags, a nice touch.

BREADSTICKS - Parmesan cheese and squid ink with eggplant dip. Very addictive!

TOMATES AIGRE - DOUCE
Shitsuoka tomato “sweet & sour”, Madagascar vanilla

Sweet sweet tomato accompanied with sorbet is quite out of this world. A good start to the meal. I had to stop myself from gobbling them up.

VENTRECHE DE THON, BASILIC FUME ET POUDRE DE CHARBON AROMATHIQUE
Grilled tuna belly “Otoro”, smoked basil oil and aromatic charcoal powder

Oh la la, I just love fatty tuna belly!

TRUFFE OU FOIE GRAS SELON ARRIVAGE
Truffle with foie gras sandwich

The disappointment of the day. It's foie gras paste that was served. The truffle is very fragrant though, probably the saving grace of the dish.

POULET DE BRESSE CUIT LONGEMENT AU FOUR, FOIE GRAS ET CAUQUILLE SAINT JAQUES;
COMPOTE D'ORGE AUX AMANDE ET L'EMULSION D'MORILLE
Slow roasted Bresse chicken, foie gras and live sea scallop
Barley and almond compote, fresh morel emulsion

Barley, instead of rice, is used here. Tasted just as good as any rice grain.

SNICKERS
Snickers version 2009

Very nice chocolate with sour cream and sorbet. Not overly sweet, I love this choc, it leaves me wanting for more at the end of it.

Fascinated with the teapot:

Reflections:

Finally, how can we resist another photo shoot?

So onwards to the 12th year and may Abba, Father bless us bountifully and strengthen our love for each other!

Related Tweets:
9 Oct 2009 10:13 PM, DC: A good lunch!
7 Oct 2009 11:55 AM, DC: Jaan par Andre is fully booked for dinner on Thurs and Friday :( Have to settle for lunch then. So wanted to try that Jap wagyu at dinner ..

Related Posts:
A for Aaron, A for Aigner
Chocolate Cravings
Celebrated the 3rd
Celebrated the 3rd (continued)
A Good 10 Years

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Sis's Convocation

I took half day off from taking care of my baby to attend my younger sis's convocation today. Had a fun time there (Congrats Sis!) and took lots of photos...

After that was dinner celebration at the nearby park. Long time never go there already, the restaurant name changed again! This time it's called Farrer Park! Maybe the new owner fired the china waitresses, the service improved compared to last time but the dishes portion shrank by quite a lot too! Hearing that I had not enough to eat, my dad went to order satays... so sweet! We bought baby there too... he was quite well behaved this time.

A photo of us with the baby sleeping:

At home, while I was going through the convo photos taken today, I took out photos of DC and me on our convo days to reminisce... :P

It seems like yesterday that I had my convocation but it was actually 8 years ago! Time flies!

CP's Convocation: 6 Sep 2001, NTU at the then new auditorium

CP's Convocation: 22 Sep 2001, NUS Cultural Hall

Studio Picture: I think we have this framed up - hmm, where's the frame now?

Related Posts:
无私的爱
The day before delivery

A for Aaron, A for Aigner

I'm thinking of a gift for CP, a little treat for her labour. It must start with A, just like our baby Aaron. Aren't we crazy? :)

It could be the LV's Alma, which is a nice bag, but CP has more than enough to go around. Knowing her, she'll just keep it on the shelf till it disintegrates.

Well, who knows, along came the Aigner and off it went on CP's wrist. Quite a nice watch it seems.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

人生有几个十年...

人生有几个十年，要活得痛快！ I quote this from the HK drama Rosy Business that I watched recently...

Both DC and I have been together since 1998 and in 2 days' time, it will be our 11th year together! The past 11 years together (十一年了！) was good (非常痛快！), the next 10 years and years ahead will definitely be better! :)

I did a search on the photos of us celebrating this day for the past 10 years and thought I could share them in this blog. This year we have a baby, it's a little tricky, I'm waiting for DC to plan... :P

2008: Tree Top walk, Flyer and Dinner at Gunther's

2007: Trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia

2006: Spa, Dinner at Pierside Kitchen, Photo taking at 1 Fullerton

2005: Karaoke, Wedding gown trying, Suntec Sky Garden and Dinner at Labordor Park

2004: Dinner at Swensen's, J8

2003: Dinner at Cafe Cartel and Present opening n coffee at Starbucks, Marina Square

2002: Lunch at Ghim Moh and Dinner at Breeks!, Marina Square

1999-2001: Hmmm...can't seem to find them on my Mac...They must be still in print format! Must dig them up from my stack of old photo albums and digitize them before I forget!

Related Posts:
A good 10 years
Over the years

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

More light!

Yes, the 2nd studio light has arrived. I should never have hesitated on this 2nd light. The ease of control over your own lighting makes it a joy to shoot studio.

I used both the strobes immediately on a watch I just gotten. What a difference compared to the last product shots I took.

Related Tweets:
6 Oct 2009 3:16 PM, DC: My 2nd studio light is coming tonight! Plus an octagonal softbox!

Related Posts:
Home Studio Home
Not as easy as it seems

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Photo taking at home

I lost no time in trying out the studio strobe. Had to pull in my Nikon Speedlight to act as the secondary. Some guesswork needed on the light intensity as my lightmeter hasn't arrived yet.

Babies, they just make you want to capture more photos of them :)

Home Studio Home

My lights finally arrived late on Sat night, about 10 p.m. together with the backdrop.

I'm still missing my light meter, so the light intensity needs some guesswork. Still considering if I should get another light strobe. I'm using my Nikon SB800 speedlight as the secondary strobe. Sweet thing with Nikon lights are they can work in conjunction with studio strobes as well. Just set it to slave and it will fire when the main strobe fires.

The Jinbei brand of lights, although made in China, produce accurate white balance and consistent colour temperature. My photos can be used right out of the camera. Minimal post-processing needed.

Related Tweets:
5 Oct 2009, 12:16 AM, DC: Home studio up!
1 Oct 2009, 2:45 PM, DC: So excited for the weekend. I need that light!
1 Oct 2009, 1:06 AM, DC: How about a home studio?

Related Posts:
Maternity Photo Shoot 2
Maternity Photo Shoot

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Mid-Autumn Festival 2009

Even though we couldn't go to Chinatown to soak in the festivities, we still got ourselves mooncakes to enjoy with our families.