The Most Fun Couple: Frances & Jason

© Jasemaine Gan. Please do not distribute or re-publish contents of mainestage.blogspot.com without written permission.

Frances and Jason are by far the most fun couple I've ever shot. So full of life and laughter...

Deborah & Nicholas

© Jasemaine Gan. Please do not distribute or re-publish the contents of mainestage.blogspot.com without written permission.

Note: This blog entry's images were taken with Sony A200.

Deborah and Nicholas's wedding reception in Malaysia was a wedding that displayed a tight-knit family bond. Relatives lend their helping hands throughout the big event and I think this made the wedding more personal and memorable for the couple.

Cheers, Deborah and Nicholas!

Travel Log: Machester to London

© Jasemaine Gan. Please do not distribute or re-publish contents of mainestage.blogspot.com without written permission.

When I first stepped out of Manchester Airport, my first reaction was, 'WHY IS IT SO COLD? ISN'T IT SUMMER?!' Thankfully Carmen had a jacket for me. That was a life saver!

So after a hearty dim sum lunch at a Chinese restaurant (I miss the porridge, so fragrant!), gege took me to the town.

He took me to a telecommunication shop to get a prepaid sim card. While I was waiting around, a lady came up to me and pointed at my camera. She asked if she could have a look at the lens. I held it up and she looked back at her colleague gleefully. She beckoned him to come over. The male colleague was interested in my camera so we strike up a very brief conversation. Gege even took a picture for us. My first encounter with the locals. One word, friendly! Throughout the trip, my camera actually sparked off alot of random conversation with strangers/fellow tourist :)

After settling down in Manchester for a day, gege and I took a train to London, via Virgin Train.

The journey took close to 2-hours. According to gege, train journeys on weekends are longer as they move slower. To conserve energy? Perhaps. We were on the first-class coach, hehe. Apparently it was only an extra 1-quid (pounds).

Ta-da! First stop-London China Town! It's bigger than I thought. Gege took me to his favorite duck rice restaurant. True to his words, it was the best duck I've ever tasted. Mmmm...

We then roamed around London by walking and underground tube.

This is just one part of the famous Hyde Park. I love Hyde Park! It's huuugggeeeee and beaaauuuutiful! If only we had something like this in Malaysia. This is a must-go spot if you ever come to London.

The Royal Albert Hall. Something about foreign land's sunlight that makes the subject look more pretty. Ahem.

Covent Garden. If you're into arts and theater stuff, this is a must-go place! There are so many talented street performer there. Super entertaining. Really makes you doubt your local celebrities.

In the evening, gege took me to Belgo Central. When he knew I was visiting, he booked a table for us... says the lobster there is goood. Lobster? I wouldn't say no, would I? :D Indeed, it was very fresh.

Next, we went to see Big Ben. Standing there looking at this iconic building at my favorite time of the day-dusk, really made everything feel surreal.

I just stared at it... trying to soak in every detail and minute of it. This is the wonderful thing about traveling with just 1-2 close friend/family, there's no one to rush you; you can have all the time in the world to soak in the moment. Incredible, just incredible.

London Eye and Big Ben.

Note: My Travel Log blog posts may be a lil' brief than expected as I realize there's too many photos to sort! I'll upload the full/semi full album to my Facebook soon. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed a taste of what I experienced!

Malaysia Deserves Better

I love my country, my home-Malaysia.

We are blessed with beautiful landscapes, rich culture & history, natural resources and most importantly, we do not need to be fearful of natural disasters.

However, the government we currently have is just a disappointment and disgrace beyond words.

All Bersih 2.0 supporters want is to express our desire for clean and fair election. We want the whole world to know that we're sick and tired of our selfish and corrupted government and system. Enough is enough. Rally participants merely wore yellow clothes and chanted... but the government had to portray them as chaos makers and dangerous people. Seriously, tear gas and water cannon? Is that even necessary? Ridiculous and nonsensical.

The government is fearful. They will try to say everything is fine and dandy. Seriously, I know you're stupid, but don't assume everyone else is stupid like you. Wait, you are stupid afterall, if you could think like that. I call this the Ostrich-mentality. Say all you want; go on and continue to be in denial. You can win one time, two times, but you can't sneak your way forever. One day, there will be an ending to all of this.

As quoted by Albus Dumbledore (even fictional character makes more sense than you):

"Don’t you see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one that rises against them and strikes back!"

Travel Log: Drama Before Flight

Hi everyone!

I just arrived in KL on Tuesday night and I dived back to work the next day. Been clearing off emails and outstanding tasks since. Now, I finally can take a lil' breather and start planning to blog about my wonderful trip to Manchester, London, Santorini and Scotland. In total, I've used two 16GB CF card (one bought in Santorini!) and one 8GB CF card. Can you imagine the amount of photos and videos I've took?!

Through this series of travel log, I hope to share with you images and information of the places I went to; not forgetting the expenses and things to look out for.

So, let's begin.

Flight Detail:
On 24th May, I finally purchased my flight ticket via Emirates.com with my debit card. The return flight ticket costs RM 3,745.00, which is considered the cheaper option then. The other tickets were priced above RM 4,000.00 return.

During the days leading to the trip, my schedule was jam packed with different tasks. I hardly had the time to breathe or even think about the trip.

17th June 2011-One Day Before The Flight (or so I thought, read on):
My schedule for the day was to complete a ROM photography by 12pm, head to Midvalley to change currency, get some toiletries, then head home to rest and start packing. During the night, I would collect my gears from a fellow photographer then call it a night. My plans for the next day, 18th June would be do some last minute check on packing, attend a friend's wedding, have dinner with family and Boonyee, then head over to the airport.

That was the plan.

However, after completing the ROM photography, while in the car ready to exit the JPN. Gege pingchat me '

'Maine ah, have a good rest tonight ya'.

That message prompted many invisible question marks on my head. Why do I need to rest well tonight? The flight is not until tomorrow night anyway. So I brushed the thought aside and next thing I knew, I got an email from Emirates, reminding of my flight on 18th June at 0200. That email really got to me. Why did this reminder email made me feel so uneasy?

I read the email long and hard, and then it hit me. 0200 on 18th June is tonight itself! I focused too much on the date that I didn't realize the time.

My heart plunged into the pit of my stomach. No, I think it dropped to my feet.

Breathe-in.... Breathe-out...:
So I made a boo-boo on the flight schedule. I couldn't think straight after that. To the point that when I changed some currency and got some cash from the bank at Midvalley, I had to get myself a drink at Coffee Bean, stone and gather my thoughts for a moment at the couch.

That helped.

Papa also called to say that he and mommy will come to Midvalley and have lunch with me.

They came and we had lunch at Dragon-i. I was mentally back to normal by then.

So anyway, to cut the long story short, went home, speed packed, shower, Boonyee picked me up and headed to Cheras to collect my DSLR from a fellow photographer (thanks Sunny of Perfectmoment.com.my for managing a customer for me!), then drove straight to KLIA.

The flight to Manchester was generally pleasant. Perhaps due to the entire day's drama, I knocked out in the plane and during transit (6hr 50mins flight + 3-hour transit + 7hr 30mins flight).

Next up: Day 1-3 in Manchester & London!

Greetings from Manchester

Its 7:51am in Manchester. I will be departing for KL tonight, at 9pm.

The past two weeks has been a crazy adventure. I'm super thankful for this experience... I'll definitely blog in detail when I'm home.

Right now, I'm feeling thankful and happy for a few things, which I feel it's important for me to pen it down:

I'm thankful towards my brother and his girlfriend Carmen. They have taken such good care of me throughout this trip. I know there is nothing I could do or say that could 'repay' their kindness. I just want them to know that their hospitality and love has deeply touched me. I'll never forget this trip.

I'm happy that both Boon Hui and Ling Yn have found a new, fantastic job. Nothing beats the feeling of being excited going to work; a career/company that you like and treats you right (and of course, pays you well!). Equally happy and proud of you both!

I'm thankful for being loved and being able to love back. I can't stress this enough-life is short, make the best out of it.

As much as I would love to continue exploring new sceneries, I can't wait to go back home to execute a few new ideas! I just can't sit still.

Life is super!!! :)