I want to take this time to wish everyone a very blessed new year. Another year has passed and we can usher in a new one with much hope and something to look forward to. Well, for me, I have a lot to look forward to. But before I start looking forward, let's take a step back and reflect on what happened in year 2007.

1. Missed all of my last year's resolutions :P
   
   
   
   • Losing weight = failed!
   
   
   • Run a 1/2 marathon = failed! Only achieved 10km runs :P
   
   
   • Properly save money = failed, didn't achieve target!
   
   
   • Practice my guitar = failed, I sold my guitar to fund my new passion.
   
   
   
   


2. Broke up


3. Became broke by becoming in a huge debt


4. Found God


5. Lost God in the midst of flurry


6. Halfway through SOL 1


7. Got promoted at work


8. Found new and old friends


9. Found munZ


10. Started a new hobby/passion


11. Invested in my new hobby/passion and shot 3 weddings this year


12. Joined Facebook - sounds sad isn't it?


13. Lost some sort of my passion at work and in church


14. Found out that a lot of my friends are getting married

And the list goes on and on. 2007 was definitely a year where I can reflect on but should not dwell on but to look ahead. As I begin my next ritual of writing my 2008 resolution, perhaps there is something I can plan better as 2008 promises to be good year ahead, and as Ps. Daniel said during watchnight celebration, 2008 will be a year of multiplication.

1. Multiply my relationships with God, family and friends


2. Multiply my passion for God


3. Multiply my passion for building and strengthening relationships


4. Multiply my gifts and skills which God has given me


5. Multiply my abilities and resilience at the workplace


6. Multiply my wealth

Nothing comes ever so easily from God and as many people would say that a job won't fall unto our laps but we have to take the effort to look for one believe that God will provide us with one. Therefore, in order to achieve all of that above, I have to put in the effort and believe God will be there for me.

1. Spending more fixed time with God


2. Spending more fixed time with family and friends


3. Sharing more openly with friends


4. Practicing hard with my camera until it becomes an extension of me


5. Learning to save money as well as spend it wisely


6. Be bold and have confidence in the skills and gifts which God has given us


7. Find and continue to look for ways to invest money

And the list continues on and on. But until then, HAPPY NEW YEAR. My feet is killing me, just followed Zung around today of ThePhotoz.com for a wedding shoot. Real fun and definitely a very good learning experience for me.

Amidst all the rush and dash through the long weekend, it was definitely worth all the effort and hard work put into it. From running about doing a photoshoot for a website, to rushing for a wedding in Subang and planning a surprise party for munZ as well as shooting in church on Christmas morning, I can say that it was a terribly hectic 5 days.

Because of that, I totally forgot to wish everyone a very BLESSED CHRISTMAS!

Oh yeah, and don't forget, Happy New Year! (in case I forget next week :P)

A normal weekend usually starts off on Saturday, for me it was a rush all the way from Friday till early Sunday morning. It all began with my department dinner being held on the same night I was to drive down to Muar to shoot a wedding the very next day. Things started to become hectic when I left work at 4.30pm (the managers literally chased everyone out so that they wouldn’t be late for dinner) and rushed back home to pack. I had to pack all of my gear including my laptop for on the fly video editing as well as my clothes for the night in Muar.

One problem I faced was that I had to shoot the same dinner event as well but thank God that I wasn’t the main photographer but one of the backup and runners.

The night before…

 

 

Client: “Hey Mark, can you be one of the photographers for the dinner event tomorrow night?”

 

 

 

Me (attending the wedding photography workshop busy toying with my camera): “Er, yeah, sure thing!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moral of the story, pay attention to calls to avoid jamming up your time and session. Anyway, back to the story.

Dinner was held that the KL Hilton which is one of the craziest places to get parking. Because KL Hilton shares the same basement as Le Meridien, it is practically impossible to find a space and after going around for 30minutes, I finally decide to park via valet parking which costs a bomb but also split 4 ways since I had three passengers with me.

Dinner was fun and interesting especially since the organizing committee hired in JJ and Rudy, two local DJs from the Hitz.fm morning crew to be the night’s emcee. It was interesting to actually see them in person but most of the time I hear their voices in the morning, especially the “gotcha” prank calls. Many fun things occurred throughout the night including several impromptu performances where I had to play the guitar for Ramon and also for the 2^nd placed winning team for the Jingle Shell caroling competition.

Sadly because of the photoshoot the next morning, I had to leave the dinner early and rushed down to Muar. By the time I arrived at Muar, it was already 1.30am and I was totally worn out. By the time I actually laid down on the bed, it was already past 2.00am!

The next morning started extremely early, I was bunking in with the other photographer, Daryl, and there was a loud knock and scream at the door at 5.45am asking us to get ready! Dragging myself out of bed, I got up, packed my gear and began preparing for the shoot. This time it was a little different than the usual shoots because none of the photographers could be at the bride’s house so both of us started off at the groom’s place. We left Muar at 6.30am to arrive in Malacca by 7.00am.

Of course the usual course of events of a typical Chinese wedding occurred and I was busy shooting away. After picking up the bride from Malacca, the entourages made their way back to Muar in time for the church wedding. In fact, everything went so smoothly that the group of us arrived too early (30mins to be exact)! The bride had to make a detour and wait while everyone could prepare the church and usher guests into the hall.

It was a Chinese speaking church so being an absolute banana didn’t help. Was totally lost and I had to rely on the program to find my cues of when to take the “special moments” photos. Interestingly enough, the ring bearer who brought the two rings before the pastor blessed it was a remote control car. Totally different!

By the time church was done, everyone made headed for lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. At that time I was already looking at the time and made sure that I had enough time to prepare the morning’s pictures to be put into a slideshow, which will be shown on the night itself.

Of course with every Windows OS, you get Windows Movie Maker, which definitely was my main tool, but it kept on crashing! After many hours of frustrations and redo, I realized that the stupid audio codecs were crashing the software and I had to uninstall all of them to get Windows Movie Maker to work properly.

By 5pm, the slideshow was ready and completed and tested. I took a quick 30minute nap and headed to the dinner place and started taking photos. The dinner itself was held at a school hall (Chung Hwa) but this is no ordinary school hall. It was huge, much like the Octagon Hall at where I studied back in my university days and of course, air-conditioned.

The biggest challenge for me was shooting in such low light conditions as I have limited gear and I really had to make do with what I had, shooting away at ISO 800 – ISO 1000. The night was definitely exciting and fun, even the food tasted superbly great! One of the best suckling pigs I ate in my life, honestly!

At the end, the event ended at about 11pm where people slowly started going home. I decided to drive back that night so I drank a couple of tins of Nescafe and headed up to KL, leaving Muar at about 11.45pm. By the time I reached home, the only thing on my mind was sleep.

Coming soon, photos of the event (that is if I can balance my time to post process the photos!)

Edit: Corrections made!

Its always refreshing to be able to take a break from the continuous strain of work and pressure and yesterday was a good example as the diversity and cultural group held an inter department carolling competition in the office yesterday. There were 7 teams in total and there were 7 teams singing their hearts out to win the grand prize of RM800 worth of vouchers.

Teams brought guitars, shakers, and many more whilst others brought their entire departments for support. Creativity filled the air as some teams sang the traditional Christmas songs while others came up with their own creation. My department was one that did just that. Check out the lyrics below, we started off by saying to the judges that these were our "demands".

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas, my Blueprint sent to me
A Lifetime Petrol for Free

On the second day of Christmas, my Blueprint sent to me
Two Parking Lots
and A Lifetime Petrol for Free

On the third day of Christmas, my Blueprint sent to me
Three Off Days, two Parking Lots
And A Lifetime Petrol for Free

On the fourth day of Christmas, my Blueprint sent to me
Four Working Days, three Off Days, two Parking Lots
And A Lifetime Petrol for Free

On the fifth day of Christmas, my Blueprint sent to me
Five Percent Rebate.
Four Working Days, three Off Days, two Parking Lots
And A Lifetime Petrol for Free

On the sixth day of Christmas, my Blueprint gave to me
Six Weeks of Resting,
Five Percent Rebate.
Four Working Days, three Off Days, two Parking Lots
And A Lifetime Petrol for Free

On the seventh day of Christmas, my Blueprint gave to me
Seven Hours of Working, six Weeks of Resting,
Five Percent Rebate.
Four Working Days, three Off Days, two Parking Lots
And A Lifetime Petrol for Free

On the eighth day of Christmas, my Blueprint gave to me
Eight Users Screaming, seven Hours of Working, six Weeks of Resting,
Five Percent Rebate.
Four Working Days, three Off Days, two Parking Lots
And A Lifetime Petrol for Free

On the ninth day of Christmas, my Blueprint gave to me
Nine Lines are Ringing, eight Users Screaming, seven Hours of Working, six
Weeks of Resting,
Five Percent Rebate.
Four Working Days, three Off Days, two Parking Lots
And A Lifetime Petrol for Free

On the tenth day of Christmas, my Blueprint gave to me
Ten Bosses Sleeping, nine Lines are Ringing, eight Users Screaming, seven swans
a-swimming, six Weeks of Resting,
Five Percent Rebate.
Four Working Days, three Off Days, two Parking Lots
And A Lifetime Petrol for Free

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my Blueprint gave to me
Eleven Team Leads Surfing, ten Bosses Sleeping, nine Lines are Ringing, eight maids
a-milking, seven Hours of Working, six Weeks of Resting,
Five Percent Rebate.
Four Working Days, three Off Days, two Parking Lots

And A Lifetime Petrol for Free

 

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my Blueprint gave to me
Twelve Months of Bonus,
eleven Team Leads Surfing, ten Bosses Sleeping,
nine Lines are Ringing, eight Users Screaming,
seven Hours of Working, six Weeks of Resting,
Five Percent Rebate.
Four Working Days,
three Off Days,
two Parking Lots
And A Lifetime Petrol for Free

Now why don't you try singing it for yourself? :)