Nyonya Memoirs – first live environmental Peranakan show in Melaka (iPhonegraphy)

It caught my attention when the ad in the mall stated it to be the first 360° musical show, not only in Melaka but Malaysia’s. The show is the product by the familiar Malaysian film director, James Lee whom I admire of the short films he directed (read about his introduction of this play in his Facebook too). 

Last week I got an entry ticket from my friend and invited to see, I would say ‘participate’ in this show happening in Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall. The musical show is about the love story of the young couple, a poor Baba and tailor ‘Zhang Min’ and a pretty Nyonya ‘Bao Zhu’ from a wealthy family, set scene to the 20s of Melaka, yet something different than the usual musical show or play I had been.

When I entered the show, I realized everyone was standing. There was no seating arranged for the guests. It was a garden-like open area with a narrator in the center doing the talk while the other actors and actresses wearing of the 20s Baba and Nyonya, and some Chinese costumes and danced around us.

The stage was in fact around us. Shops like photo shop, tailor, sundry shop, street food stalls, fortune teller booth from the 20s of previous century were setup as of the street of Melaka. After the introduction, we could visit each stall or shop and interact with the actors and actresses, behaved and talked like they were in the 20s.

The play then continued. The use of lighting, actors and actresses would directly or indirectly guide us to the spot where the play progressed. There were spots decorated like the interior of a Baba and Nyonya house, including a main hall, backyard, dining area, kitchen and bedroom (what is showing on the picture above was a feast setup, called Tok Panjang in dining hall).

The story took place in all area of the theater, so-called 360° setup, and involved the participation of the audiences. Such as in a scene when the main actor ‘Zhang Min’ was in dilemma of proposing to ‘Bao Zhu’ whom he admired, he seek the help from the audience for advise. A guest from Klang was sporting and was invited to the front and taught ‘Zhang Min’ how to propose. In addition to that, the guest’s wife was too invited to the front and the guest demonstrated proposal to his wife by kneeing and said the magic words. Everyone laughed.

There was also a scene when a kid from the audience was requested by a messenger of ‘Bao Zhu’ to pass a letter to ‘Zhang Min’. The kid was requested to walk and deliver the letter to the tailor’s shop of ‘Zhang Min’. He did so and ‘Zhang Min’ then replied the letter by passing it to another elderly from the audience and requested the elderly to deliver a letter back to ‘Bao Zhu’. Of course, the elderly was intercepted by the evil family members of ‘Bao Zhu’ before he could decide what to do with the letter in his hands.

It was a happy ending for sure, and the final scene was a traditional Baba and Nyonya wedding ceremony of ‘Zhang Min’ & ‘Bao Zhu’. It took place outside the theater. A lovers’ bridge was setup in the shopping mall for the scene, which drew the attention of many shoppers too, and joined in the play. They missed the front part in the theater anyway

The dances and songs during the play were definitely outstanding. I enjoyed very much. The actors, actresses and the back-end people were putting a lot of effort for the show and doing a splendid job. The show itself is a fresh experience to me and beyond my expectation. I would recommend to all friends whether you are from Melaka or visitors here, to enjoy such a wonderful play, at the same time, understand more about the Baba and Nyonya culture of Melaka.

A few things to note about this show. It is conducted in Mandarin and some Bahasa language. English translation however, is displayed on the many TVs hanging at the walls of the theater.

It’s good to have your camera with you because you are alright to snap photos with the actors, actresses and the setup. However, please do not fire the flash during the play

The show is on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the 3rd floor Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall (of the GSC cinema’s block), and it’s only until mid of July. So don’t miss it, grab your ticket and join the fun!

May all bEE happy

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Congratulation to Cindy and Chee-Seong!

The proposal, Chee Seong + Cindy

After nine years, Chee-Seong decided to take a big step forward in life with Cindy.

I know Chee Seong for years and he is always a caring and daring person. His first idea would be to propose in public, to give something unforgettable for Cindy. After hearing the good news from him, I was so happy and congratulated him. So I talked to Kenn-Wai and decided to give our support to Chee-Seong. The whole thing was but to keep it secret from Cindy.

After planning the surprise proposal, we invited their friends and family to gather at the concierge of Dataran Pahlawan Shopping Mall Melaka on last Saturday. And Cindy was otherwise didn’t know anything about this, but was only invited shop there with the sisters.

So the whole thing followed by Chee-Seong making a sudden appear on the stage with roses and singing a song of theirs when she was shopping at the concierge, just like what happened in the video. He gave her a really wonderful surprise, touched the heart of the bride-to-be and filled her eyes with tears.

And the answer was YES!

Congratulation to the lovely couple, Cindy and Chee-Seong. May the lovEE you share always continue to shine. As you look forward to all you’re dreaming of, may you be blessed with love and happiness forever!

Enjoy the video (watch HD version on Vimeo, or alternatively on YouTube) here as much as we do.

Have a lovely evening and may all beings bEE happy.

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2012 Wesak Day procession in Melaka

Wesak is the thrice blessed day to commemorate the birth, enlightenment (nirvana) and death (parinirvana) of the Buddha. On every Wesak Day in Melaka float parade is held; and a larger scale one is held on every decade of the celebration.

This year 2012, Wesak Day was celebrated on last Saturday, 5th of May and it also marked the 50th year Wesak procession in Melaka, one of the grand celebration. Procession which is normally held on the eve on Wesak Day however was carried out on Wesak’s night this year.

Thousands of devotees thronged Melaka town and some from outstation just came by and joined the celebration. More than sixty Buddhist Temples and organisations took part this year’s procession which covered 7.7 km, from the former site of Eye on Malaysia passing through Jalan Merdeka and Bukit Cina, to Kubu Stadium in Jalan Kubu.

Kenn-Wai, Fred Yap and I didn’t miss such a grand celebration. We gathered at the main entrance of Dataran Pahlawan shopping mall which was also the judging stop and enjoyed the colouful and brightly lit floats, performance by dragon and lion dance troupes, rhythm from several school bands, Chinese and Sri Lankan dances.

There were tens of photographers gathered there to capture their best shots in order to take part in the Wesak photography competition. So we had to get a little room to see and photograph the procession.

The last float was from Seck Kia Eenh Buddhist Temple as usual. And it passed through the judging stop just before midnight and it was only half the journey to Kubu Stadium. We wondered what time the procession concluded. It would be very late we guessed.

We enjoyed ourselves on that night. Although the Wesak procession is held here in Melaka every year, we would have to wait for another ten years to see such a grand one again.

Thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, community members, students and supporters for the hard work in helping to make this procession such a success.

Sharing some shots taken. May all beings bEE happy.

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outlook of Eye to Eye optical shop in Dataran Pahlawan shopping center

After helping my old friend, Henry to take staff photos of Eye to Eye optical shop a year ago, he asked me again to take a photo of the shop’s outlook end of last month. It was a difficult task and I completed in only few minutes.

While waiting for Henry to go for a tea break, I found the design of some optical frames very beautiful and interesting especially those of Ed Hardy, its amazing tattoo tastes design. Before I packed my camera into the bag, I took some photos of some nice frames and the staff Henry, Danny and a new colleague I yet to know her name.

If you happen to drop by Dataran Pahlawan Melaka, get a closer look of the beautiful glasses available from the shop.

Sharing the shots of the day. May all beings be happy.

PS: mention of the name cj might get you some discount. Hehehe..

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Eye to Eye optical shop in Dataran Pahlawan. From left: Danny, Henry, and Jaron

Early last month of July, Henry Lee invited me to get a staff photo of the optical shop, Eye to Eye in Dataran Pahlawan where he works in as a memento. I happily agreed to help him and apart from taking the group photo, I made a request to snap some photos of the optical products available in the shop such as Gucci, Guess, Tag Heuer, Ray Ban, and many more brands which I couldn’t even recall.

Other than that, I didn’t forget to snap my favorite glasses, Oakley Livestrong Jawbone special edition. It’s really stylist and sporty and I fall for it after I saw my friend, Jason owning one. It’s really cool-looking when Jason puts it on. Besides, Jason helped the cancer patients when he bought this pair of glasses as Oakley donates $20 USD to the Lance Armstrong Foundation which helps in the fight against cancer on every sale of Oakley Livestrong series. Unfortunately it’s too expensive for me to get one.

Speaking of Henry, he is always being helpful and faithful to friends. It’s nice hanging out with Henry as he has good sense of humor and always tells jokes, however sometimes ‘rated’. We are friends since our childhood and we also studied in the same secondary school together. Our family know each other for long too; during the old days, my grandpa owned a watch and clock store in the old street of Bunga Raya and next to one of the oldest optical shops in Melaka, Kong Wah optical shop which owned by Henry’s family. Henry probably has his father gene of being a sociable person and a good businessman.

Having a friend like Henry puts a smile on my face every day. Thanks to Henry and I hope that our friendship will continue to grow and be mutually rewarding for many years to come. May everyone be happy. Sharing a few shots I took on that day:

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Pansy, the model who gave her time to us for portraiture photography

After the Starbizz’s Shooting Date event at Dataran Pahlawan last Sunday, Kenn-Wai, Angel and I went for a coffee at the Old Town Cafe. We shared the shots we took for the event with each other, and taking advices from others to improve our shots.

Kenn-Wai, who does a lot of portrait photography, shared his valuable portraiture photography experience with us. We were so motivated and wanted to put this into practical. While brainstorming for a subject to shoot, Angel’s friend, Pansy came and joined us for the coffee session. Straight away we invited her to be our model.

We then moved to an open area of Dataran Pahlawan, and the four of us had a short discussion of our camera, the area and atmosphere, light sources, and the posture of model. It’s essential to study this before shooting. Although this was not a planned photography session but it was so fun to learn and to spend time with friends.

We had to thank Pansy for sparing her time with us, and of course being patient with us. Special thanks to Kenn-Wai and Angel for their company and sharing their experience which benefits me so much. May everyone be happy. Sharing some shots after the jump:

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Congratulation to the opening of Skinny Yogurt!

Last Saturday it was the opening of Skinny Yogurt at the 2nd level of Dataran Pahlawan shopping mall, Melaka. My friend and I were invited by Danny to the opening and it really surprised us with the cool and fresh looking design of the kiosk. Danny was behind the kiosk together with his sister, Ann and a lovely employee, Siew Huei greeting us and serving us the tempting frozen yogurt.

Front view of Skinny Yogurt shop

The lovely frozen yogurt servers: from right Danny, Ann, Siew Huei

The delicious menu board

Toppings available to make a special combo

Jason, how's it taste?

Yummy and healthy yogurt: the beauty loves it

The toppings such as chocolate biscuit, Oreo biscuit, apricot, pineapple, kiwi, dried prune, dried berry, cereal, watermelon, peanuts, etc. were available and more than I had during the shooting at Danny’s place. It will be interesting for people to make something different with various combination of toppings and I wonder how special the taste would be from the creativity of others.

Again, I had the frozen yogurt with cereal on that day and it tasted as good as those I had before. Although the smoothies were not available during the opening, it would be available next week according to Danny and I am looking forward to try the smoothies.

Flash back of food photography for Skinny Yogurt.

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Fruitie frozen yogurt

I hadn’t tasted frozen yogurt before, until my friend, Danny invited me to shoot his frozen yogurt for his dessert shop which is opening next week, 23rd of January on the 2nd floor of  Dataran Pahlawan, Melaka (next to the old entrance of Carrefour).

When shooting the products, I had the chance too to taste the frozen yogurt with all the toppings available such as lemon, mango, peach, pineapple, kiwi fruit, hazelnut, peanuts, raisins, chocolate and many more.  Danny will be using high quality yogurt mix from overseas.

Though I am a yogurt love, I never tasted frozen yogurt before. When I had the first sip of the frozen yogurt given by Danny, I was immediately addicted to it. That very night, I had 5 cups of the frozen yogurts. It tasted sweet, a little bit of sour, chilling, and of course refreshing and yummy yogurt taste. It also went well with different topping combinations.

I would strongly recommend it to my friends and will definately be there during the opening of Danny’s shop, Skinny Yogurt to snap some photos and yum, try again the frozen yogurts. Below are some samples of my shoots for Danny:

Mango flow frozen yogurt

Cereal and nuts frozen yogurt

Find out more about Danny’s Skinny Yogurt on Facebook.

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