2009 season is now closed
Hi everyone
I am not accepting anymore sessions for this year. Next season starts April 2010 but depending on what happens in my life, I may or may not continue with this venture. We will see.
Apologies for not updating much here. Life is hectic.
Enjoy your summer with your loved ones. Have a good one. 
A little excursion to Granville Island….
After dim sum on Sunday and since it was just only 10am, I suggested a drive to Granville Island. The kids haven’t been there.. I know, I know… what kind of mom am I but seriously.. what is there on Graville Island besides expensive stuff and toys??
Well, I found that JJBeans’ Caffe Mocha is SERIOUSLY good… just SOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!
The store “South China Seas” inside the public market is SERIOUSLY overpriced!!! I just bought the same matcha (green tea) brand at T&T Supermarket for over $5 for a 40g canister. They are selling a 20g canister for $9.45!!! Crazy!
I am seriously considering a contest for a family shoot at Granville Island… stay tuned and come back here for details.
So with all the seriously asides, here are a couple of pics of kids. I happened to carry our small p&s camera that morning.
No, I did not ask her to pose like that.
Nearly forgot about this session….
I had a blast photographing this kiddo. He ate, he threw up, he pooped, he slept; everything a newborn did.
From the maternity session:
Same scenario with new additions:
Mom & Dad with baby.
Newborns don’t look like newborns anymore.
Mom is all right with this. It’s beautiful isn’t it?
He has a beautiful smile.
Contents on dad’s arms.
And dad is of course, happy with having a boy.
I’d love to post more from this session but I have to cook dinner now.
Long overdue…
so I am going to show a couple of maternity pics which I haven’t had the chance to show. More coming as long as I can recover fast from my flu and cough. My coughing fits are horrible and I am never so glad that I don’t have any sessions scheduled.
I’ll be back soon with more pictures.
Thanks for all the enquiries…
but I need to kick myself out of hibernation to start updating the gallery with pictures and finalizing my 2009 pricing.
Happy Holidays!
Have a merry, happy holidays and great cheer for the new year. I will be back after the New Year with pictures from the past sessions which I haven’t had the chance to update here.
Best wishes for the holidays from my family to yours.
Happy Birthday to me
I am still here and today, I am 28 again! :0
Although I’ve officially closed my 2008 season, I won’t say no to requests for photography as long as I am not expected to have the session “within this week” (why? because I am a natural light photographer and heavens know, we only have one good day in a week nowadays) OR you want to buy 50-100 digital images for the price of $150.
I’ll be using the christmas holidays to update my gallery (I’ve procrasinated so far) and my pricing (I don’t expect much changes).
In the meantime, have a look at my birthday cake. Hubby bought it from T&T. I think it’s Mango mousse.
We didn’t do anything special today for my birthday but I think our family buying our first 6 feet christmas tree is very special. We finally found one we like at Zellers’ Coquitlam.
While taking this break, I will be busy with my kids’ school and stuff. I’ll be stopping by here to show the pictures I’ve taken so far this year including some pics from our Hawaii trip. So drop me when you have the time.
Mia…
It has been a long time since I have a baby girl to photograph; well, not just a baby girl but a baby girl who doesn’t fret or cry. She was 8 days old when I photographed her in her own room which she has yet to sleep in yet. I couldn’t get any window light but then it was cloudy and gray… still is (boo!).
I can’t wait to babysit her.
With proud daddy
I think she’s trying to tell me something… LOL!
Who wants to pinch those cheeks? Wait in line!
Congrats to my good friends and neighbours…
Marcin and Liisa for their new baby named Mia. And guess what? I have a session date with the baby. I’ve photographed both Marcin and Liisa individually but not together. Strange.
When my daughter was born 5 years ago, Marcin used to remark that if he ever has a baby, he wants a girl just like my daughter. Guess what, eh? Wishes do come true!
Trying to catch up with things.. lots of things
While Hawaii was fun, trying to catch up with everything when we are back home is not! Two days after we were back, I went for a newborn session. Chauffering my kids to their after school stuff isn’t fun either with this kind of rainy fall weather we are having. I hesistate to say “promise” but I’ll do my best to update this blog with pictures.
I have to deal with our dog’s diarrhea for the past three days. Definitely NOT FUN to clean up. Thank god he only does his business in the kitchen (when he really, really, really has to go) or else, he whines and looks at you saying “I really, really, really need to go!”
Now, I have to get ready to get the kids to school and then get my car serviced in Richmond.
ALOHA from Waikiki!!
It’s our second day here in this gorgeous part of the world with beautiful hot sunny days and the atmosphere on the beach is just fantastic. I am not trying to get a tan here.. who will see it when I get back to cold, rainy Vancouver?
It’s our first time here on the island to celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary. The kids are jet-lagged, the water’s great and things are so darn expensive!! But life is good… we go to the beach at 6:30am!
*********************
On a sadder note, my dear aunt is very, very sick. I love her dearly and things aren’t looking too good. She’s very old and has lost some memory — she can’t remember who I am at times. As much as I am prepared for the worst, I want her to get well. This is not the way to go for her… Not the way at all after so much has happened to her. 
California Dreamin’
All the leaves are brown / And the sky is grey / I’ve been for a walk / On a winter’s day
I’d be safe and warm / If I was in L.A. / California dreamin’ / On such a winter’s day
My Mini-Me is 5!
After the windy yesterday, there were so much leaves on the ground. And what a great surprise to see some sunshine today.
Happy 5, baby-girl!! mmmmmmmm…waaaaaa.
I want to squeeze and squeeze my head….
for the past few days, felt Something was coming. Throat felt dry, slight headache, tiredness and this morning woke up with my head feeling like lead. Achooo!! Uh-oh….! I went to Save-On to get some All-In-One Tylenol but I didn’t eat any. Instead, I had a minor workout on the Wii-Fit (it was under the couch, neglected for 84 days It tells me when I checked-in my Mii to start “training”). Felt slightly better but now I just want to sleep. It’s going to be 3pm soon and I have to pick up my kid from school and then math tuition at 4pm.
Lovely weather we are having this week, eh?
It’s October already…
and it feels like summer is still here. Haven’t the past two days been glorious? Beautiful blue skies and wow, did someone say “hot”? Forecast says we still have one more day of good warm weather before the rain comes again. Let’s enjoy it.
My kids played with a rolled laminated board and I decided to have some photography fun from the other end. The leaves on our street have started turning their colours. Time for roll in the leaves sessions.
My baby is 8 today!
Our personalities clash, he gets mad, I go crazy, he throws tantrums, I punish, we keep silent, he says sorry mom, i say sorry baby, we hug, i kiss my baby, he kisses me, we love — this is our mom and son relationship. he can’t choose a more perfect mom, i won’t choose another son. we’ll help each other foster a better and greater mom-son relationship as time goes by.
Love you baby.
Coming out from a funk
Boy, what a week!
We renewed our mortgage. Each time I signed that dotted line, I feel like I am signing my life to the bank over and over. Then, on Monday my son was snarled at by our neighbour’s huge dog. Its teeth scratched my son’s face somewhere between the eye and nose bridge. I know -scary! So near the eye… [shivers]. It supposed to need a stitch but we only went to the doctor’s the next day and the wound has closed up. The next day, it’s hubby’s birthday and his father treated the family for dinner. On Wednesday, my daughter woke up with a fever. Treated her with Advil Fever and she went to school. After school, she started having the chills and her temp shot up. Each time the drug wears off, the fever is back. On Thurs, she was pretty stable and I thought, “Hooray” but on Friday she woke up with a 40 deg temp and I hurriedly took her to the doctor. Of course, by the time the doctor saw us her temp was normal (drugs and more Advil drugs!) but he said there’s a virus going around in school and most probably, the fever will stay till Saturday. Friday went pretty well and I took her off the Advil/Tylenol combination recommended by my doc. But of course, this morning she woke up with a 39 deg temp. Sigh. So, now she’s back with the 2 hours interval of Advil and Tylenol.
So, that’s my week in a nutshell.
We welcome autumn with our vancouver special of rain and fog. At least, it’s not that cold.
Happy 10!
Yes, 10 years of marriage — to the same guy. LOL!! Wow, hubby & I have finally reached this milestone and it seems like yesterday we’ve just met. It sure has not been easy but it takes two. What I’ve learned so far is that you must not be too proud to say, “I’m sorry.”; whether you are the right or the wrong party.
Last night, we went to Janet Jackson’s concert at GM Place. The headline I will give to the show is: “Janet got swallowed by the bass”. We felt the show was visually appetizing but the crowd wasn’t really into it except for those closed up within the perimeter of the catwalk. I wished she sang the full length of her hits instead of the medley. You can tell when the crowd go crazy hearing, “Black Cat” or “Rhythm Nation”. But I am glad she started the show with medley of her 80s hits starting with “Pleasure Principle”. Lovely! And the heart thumping bass. Whoa.. it seriously drowned out her voice.
Me & hubby at the concert. We needed the light from the stage to illuminate our faces. Taken with a camera phone.
Me & hubby today.
Another boy!!
Congratulations to K & A (the mom with the red feather boa!). Baby boy Henry arrived on Saturday weighing 7lb 2 oz.
I’ve lost track of how many baby boys and girls my clients have this year but I am sure the boys are winning
Wrapping up…
August is coming to an end and the kids are going back to school next week. Holy! Did summer just pass by like that? My daughter is going to kindergarten. Sadly though, I am not as excited for her as when my eldest went to kindy. I really do think that events that happen to the first child is very exciting for new parents. My daughter is excited to go to the same school as her big brother now. She is well versed with the kindergarten teacher and my son’s teachers. For a 4 year old, she has sat with Grades 3 & 4 Community Circle time lots of times. I am very happy for her to try something new other than the same old preschool teachers and materials.
With Back to School, I am wrapping up my active season for the year. I’ve picked up all my clients’ orders from the lab and preparing to send out their orders.
Mid-Autumn Festival is on Sept 14th and watching “Moonlight Resonance” has gotten me into the mooncakes baking mood. I’ve never tried baking mooncakes. Only the biscuits. Armed with various recipes found on the internet, I began my mooncake baking journey two days ago. It’s a lot of preparation and time-consuming process. No wonder mooncakes aren’t cheap. The good ones from Hong Kong are like over $35. Phew!
I decided to try the most common of mooncake. The lotus paste filling. Since I like durian, I decided to do half of the batch with durian/lotus filling. I went to Chinatown with my mom-in-law to pickup some ingredients. I went to Ming Wo to look around and saw these cute Hello Kitty jelly mold. I made Konnyaku jelly with them for my kids.
This is lotus seed (seong lin), after I’ve taken off the skin and boiled it till soft. It’s back breaking getting the skin off at the sink.
Then, dump them into the blender and blend them into thick paste with some water.
To make the lotus filing, you cook sugar with oil till golden brown. Add the lotus paste, maltose and more oil. Stir constantly over low fire. Lotus paste is ready when it is thick and doesn’t stick. Add wheat starch and more oil.
To make the pastry skin, first you have to prepare the golden syrup. The more “aged” syrup, the better it is. I don’t know why. I just use Rogers Golden Syrup or you can make them by boiling sugar with some water and lime/lemon/citric juice till golden brown over low heat. Too much work. My golden syrup “aging” takes 4-5 hours. Then, add flour and mix into a dough.
Leave it to “age” for another 4-5 hours.
To make the mooncakes, most people use the special mooncake mold made from wood. I checked that most places are selling them at $18 a piece and the wood is not good wood. So I didn’t buy it. My mom brought this “ang-ku” mold here 5 years ago to make “ang ku” for my daughter’s first month celebration. Here’s a ang-ku recipe link with a picture.
Here’s my balls of pastry dough. Measure the weight of the mold with some dough. 2/3 of it ought to be the filing while 1/3 of the weight is the pastry skin.
So, here’s what went wrong with my baking. I couldn’t get the filing to be 2/3 of the weight without breaking the pastry skin when covering the filing. Doh!! So, the filing is nearly the same weight as the skin; hence my mooncakes became moon biscuits or “chee-chai-peng” with filling. Sigh. If and when I get a mooncake mold, I will try baking this again.
Bake in 375 C for 10 mins. Take it out to cool for 5 mins. Glaze the top with egg glaze (one beaten egg with some water). Then bake it again for 10 mins. That’s it.
Actually, doing the lotus paste is the most consuming but if you were to do just do simple grated coconut filing, the procedure is very easy. I’ll be baking pandan essence grated coconut filing mooncake biscuits next week. Why? Because I love them! I know, I am so darn ambitious in getting them right. I am going to try Snow Skin mooncakes next. I’ve made the custard + durian filing. Just need to make the skin. You don’t need to bake snow skin mooncakes. Just chill them in the fridge. YAY!
To top my baking today, I even baked plain calabrese bread!!
I want to share this….
I have been certainly behind in showing some maternity sessions I had over the past months. Yes, months. Summer is just utterly busy – not just with sessions but with my kids. One client, C announced that she has a baby girl called Isabella about a week ago. She’s beautiful and caused mommy a 50 hours labour and in the end, a c-section was performed. Congrats to C & R. Hope you are guys are recuperating well.
Anyway, my recent client, K is deciding on her order and from her sessions, I found several pictures that I put into storyboards. This morning, she asked if I could place these particular two pictures on a storyboard for her to decide upon. And guess what? I love it!! Hope she does too.
Wow! Today marks my first year in business….
I’ve totally forgotten all about this till I signed my son up for camp this morning and checked the date. I had wanted to run a special but the past few weeks have been so busy and exhausting. It has been so hot at night that I dread sitting at the ‘puter working the images from my latest session last week. That said, this picture puts me to a party mood. I love the joy K portrayed and thank goodness she has a feather boa!
Watch out for my posting on the 1st year special here, craiglist or at your midwives offices.
My “bro” is in town….
and bunking on my couch for two nights. Imran whom I’ve known for 10 years (we started as online Pet Shop Boys fans) is now living in Edmonton but he once lives at Metrotown area. Yes, ladies, he is available at the age of sweet 31.
My son was in a good mood in posing for us.
On the side, I’ve been watching this dragonfly nearby. The last one is my favourite shot. I am in the mood for TLR, hence its colours.
Tiramisu… the most sinful dessert
Whisk egg yolks with sugar until creamy smooth. Add mascarpone cheese and set aside.
Beat heavy/whipping cream till stiff peaks.
Whisk in mascarpone mixture.
Mix kahlua & espresso — heavenly combination.
Dip ladyfingers into kahlua & espresso mixture. Line them in your tray.
Spread half of the cream mixture on top, then another layer of espresso soaked lady fingers. Finally the balance of the cream mixture. Chilled to set. Easy, right? It’s easier to eat them too. Hence, you don’t see any pictures of the tiramisu, LOL!!!!
