Just Married ♥ and some things I wished I'd done

Yesterday was a nice cloudy day. Absolutely perfect for an outdoor photo shoot!

Yesterday was the first time I agreed to do a paid photo shoot, and the brief was post-wedding. Honestly when she sought me out for a photo shoot, I was super nervous. I'm used to helping people do photo shoots, but they were always free of charge, so obviously there was less pressure on what I had to deliver. With it being free and all, people can't demand as much.  

So yesterday was a turning point in my photography "career". After some confidence boosts from friends, I decided to just go for it. After all, someone has to be my first customer. 

And so yesterday happened. 

It was pretty interesting (and totally nerve wrecking!) to be photographing people who aren't from my circle of friends. Giving instructions on how to pose, proved to be more difficult when I'm not as comfortable with them. Especially since I'm quite a newbie, I don't think I have the right to boss them around ahahahhaha. But obviously I'd have to suck it up one day and have to be able to direct them because both the client and I want pretty photos.

A night before the shoot, I decided to do a bit of research on Pinterest on Couple Photography. I jotted down some ideas and was supposed to keep them handy during the shoot. With all the nerves, I actually forgot to bring the sketchbook so I only managed to do a few of them that I had at the top of my head.

Also wished that I took more candid photos. Specifically, more useable candid photos. If I'm photographing my friends, their candid photographs could be used for blackmail of some sort. I couldn't very well do that with my clients, can I?

Lastly, I wish I wasn't so hard on myself. I love photography, I love art and I love most things that I do. But I constantly seek people's validation which I wish isn't the case all the time. Sometimes even though I love my work and personally think it's good, I wished someone would validate it, which I think shouldn't be the case. We should always be confident in our work especially if we, ourselves love it and think it's good. 

Again, it's a journey for me and I aim to better myself in that aspect though it'll take a long time. Slowly, but surely.

All in all, it was a good experience and I love the results! 

And then there's me; 

   

The Weekend Edition: Jakarta-Bandung

This is a post on we did our 3 days and 2 nights in Jakarta-Bandung

Warning: This is a long post. Read only if you're bored, or you need travelling tips to Jakarta (which is at the end of this post)

DAY 1

Soekarno-Hatta Airport

When I first touched down in Jakarta, the first thoughts of their airport was 

"It looks a bit like Malaysia's R&R (rest & relax)"

It wasn't terrible feeling, merely a thought. I've seen worse airports in my 20 years of living.

We were welcomed by our local driver there. He looked nothing like how I pictured in my mind. It shocked me somehow, I have no idea why. He was to bring us around Bandung and Jakarta for the whole of our stay.  

On the Way to Bandung

We made our way to Bandung straight away. The first shock I got on the road was the vast amount of cars on that filled the highway ! On certain stretches, we barely moved an inch. 

On some of those stretches where we took half and hour to move a kilometre, there were quite a few people selling things on the road.

Cihampelas Walk (aka Ciwalk)

This is an interesting place for those who love to search for cheap t-shirts, jeans etc. You might also be able to find a tailor that can finish your order within a day!

I'm not one to really recommend places to go here because I didn't stay here for long since there was a big downpour at the time.

Rumah Mode

Another shopping haven for those who love branded items at a much lower price! There are so many good bargains here but if you're the type that hates crowded places, this isn't exactly the best place for you. When in Rumah Mode, you have to expect extremely long queues at the fitting room and also the cashier. Nevertheless, it's the place to go in Bandung now so you wouldn't want to miss it even if you don't buy anything!

DAY 2

Bandung City

We pushed off at 7.30 am to avoid the jam. We managed to sight see Bandung city (without being stuck in traffic for most of the time). Our driver also managed to negotiate with the security of the parliament house to let us in for about 10 minutes to take photos.

Kawah Putih, Ciwedey

Supposedly 2 hours away from Bandung city, but with the endless traffic, we reached there in 3 hours. It was raining heavily at the time we reached there so we couldn't enjoy the supposedly beautiful sights of the old volcano crater. It was extremely disappointing especially since it took us a long time to get there. Moral of the story: Come here when the weather is beautiful because it's really worthwhile if the place wasn't foggy. 

 What it's supposed to look like

Source: Image googled

What we saw that day .

Taman Mini Malaysia Indah, Jakarta

This place is really a worthwhile place to go and you'd probably spend at least half the day here. There are cultural shows and lots of museums here to fill your time. There's also a mosque and church if in need to pray.

Some of the cultural buildings. The houses here are actual life size buildings

 (not the miniature type we expected). 

Padang Food - Restoran Sederhana

Padang food is famous in Jakarta and now I know why! The way they served the food was different from other restaurants and the food was delicious. Definitely a go-to when in Jakarta.

DAY 3

Jakarta City

Jakarta city is way ahead of Bandung in it's looks. It was more modern in comparison and was way bigger.

Things we saw in Jakarta City:

- Kota Tua

 - National Monument
  You can enter the compound free of charge. We didn't though, because it took us too long to park so we decided to just drive around it.

 - Istiqlal Mosque 
  Supposedly the largest mosque in South East Asia. Didn't take too many photos here because we rushing to move to our next check point.

Shopping

- Mangga Dua & Majestik
 Like Rumah Mode, these places were extremely crowded with so many people smoking even inside the building. If you don't know what to find and you're claustrophobic, again, these are not for you!

But if you're searching for souvenirs and imitations, these complexes are worth the visit.

- Pasar Baru
  We had a better experience at Pasar Baru simply because it was in an open area. It probably also had to do with the fact that we went there at about 4pm (it closes at about 6-7 depending on the shop) when a lot of people has already left. It is a 1 km stretch of road with shops on either side. Here you can get good quality cloth (depending on which shop you enter) at a much lower price as compared to Malaysia.

There were some places which Jakarta and Bandung are known for that we didn't have time to visit such as Tanah Abang (another cloth shopping haven), Gunung Tangkuban Perahu (similar to Ciwidey) and other things. All in all, it was an eye opening trip (will be writing a seperate post about it later ).

Travelling Tips:

 1. Get a local driver there.
     Not only is it energy saving, is it time saving (and you definitely need to save time especially since Jakarta and Bandung are notorious for their traffic!) since they know the streets, temperament and places better than we do. It may be a bit more difficult to get around using public transport outside of Jakarta. Plus, with a local driver, they'll do the all the talking and negotiations when we need to enter the parks i.e Taman Mini Indonesia Indah and get the tickets at a lower price as compared to foreigners! So you get to save money too.

2. Be prepared to tip random people
   Here, you must almost always tip people when they help you out in any way, any where. Not even exaggerating. Have small change handy if you don't want them to chase you down because you didn't tip!

3. Be prepared to be shocked
    Especially if you live in a glittery world.

4. Use a wide angled lens (for DSLR users).
    It's quite obvious I suppose. This is actually for me because I traveled with a 35mm lens, so I didn't get as much in the frame as I would have wanted to. Gotta save money for that!

5. Go to Jakarta during weekends
    We did, and the roads were almost traffic free because the locals travel outside of Jakarta i.e Bandung during the weekends !

6. And travel to bandung on weekdays! 

This is all I can think of for now. I'll try add more if I remember later.
Thanks for reading!

*Fun facts:

There are over 15, 000, 000 people in Jakarta in the day (10, 000, 000 at night). That is half of Malaysia's overall population in Jakarta alone!

There, the term "jam" is known as "macet" .

Theodore's Tales

I think I met Theodore when I was about fifteen. I wasn't close with him, I wasn't attached to him in any way but my sister loved him for years.

He was always around, before and after her marriage. Even after she got her first child.

Theodore makes her happy though his lack of presence in our lives was becoming more apparent due to a certain nephew of mine which has stole all the attention.

(Yes, he is that adorable!)

A few months back, I asked my sister her opinion on which camera to buy. Since I travel quite a bit and I love taking random photos of anything and everything, I figured a good camera would come in handy on my adventures.

She surprised me by offering hers.

She offered to give me Theodore.

Fast forward to the present, she finally handed over Theodore to me a few days back (though I think it was with quite a heavy heart hehe).

Now, he sits comfortably on my table along with my art stuff (and everyone knows how much I love love love my art stuff) after going out for the past few days being all snap-happy. I think he's gone out more in the past few days than he's gone out in the past year so I think he's really happy to finally see the world again.

And you know what? He's just as wonderful as ever ♥

Don't you worry Theo, You and I are going to have great fun together, you'll see!

(I also think Kakak is now secretly happy that she gave me Theodore, because now, she gets to be in my photos! Teehee!)

♥♥♥♥♥