Couplehood | Engagement | Kevy + Foo, Falling For Penang

{Disclaimer: This is a long post. When you are on the road for 8-10 hours and the back seat knows your behind a little too well, words in your head just screams “i need to bleed out! write me down!”. But more importantly, I have this penchant for stories, and i hope to write kevy & foo’s story that day. Here’s (quiet) a few of my favorite takes.}

A series of unfortunate events, that’s how I would call it to start the story going during the last engagement session I did. A series of unfortunate events that led to something… well beautiful.

It was a day where almost everything we planned didn’t happened. Kevy and Foo had decided to take me to the place where their love story started. In the island of Penang, one of the beautiful islands in the southern tip of the Malaysian Peninsula. And me being a sucker for heart tugging tales, more than willingly said yes.

Originally planned to book a flight there, but that changed later and they opted instead to take the train all the way from Singapore to Penang. However, Kevy then thought that we would need a car going around, so she then informed me that we will driving instead from Singapore all the way to the heritage island. Did somebody say roadtrip?! Sounds good. Right? Rigghhhhtttt.. 🙂

So Friday night, I waited for the duo to pick me up at Starbucks in One North with my camera bag and clothes to last me throughout the weekend.

And the series of changed plans continued and road bumps starts showing more clearly as the journey progressed. As soon as we were on our way to the Singapore Immigration – Tuas Checkpoint ready to cross to the Malaysian Immigration, we noticed that it’s slowly getting stuffy in the car. The air condition is not blowing it’s usual chilly breeze. Nothing cold or breezy is coming out from the vent, so we rolled down the windows and I entertained myself with the ever increasing traffic outside.

Once we crossed the border, we stopped at Johor at around 10:00pm to have the car checked, and we’re told that we have to either make do with having a busted aircon, or postpone the trip as more time is needed for the fix. But a busted aircon is nothing, we thought, and the journey continued. So off we go to our next stop, Kuala Lumpur, to spend the night at Kevy’s sister’s place. We reached KL at around 3:30 in the morning already. Haha, so much for spending the night. The long trip can really tire you out. So kudos to Foo for driving tirelessly with nary a complaint. We all feel sticky and badly needed a shower, but the comfort of a soft bed is just much too strong to resist even for just a few hours of sleep.

I stayed in one of the vacant rooms, realized that I forgot (hello! it’s me, ever the forgetful bunny) to pack extra shorts/pants for the trip (more on this later), and checked my mails before drifting off. That was when I read the news about the Sandy Hook shooting, and I just lost it. I bawled in silence and couldn’t read the rest of the news because the floodgates of tears just won’t close. I found myself down on my knees, in a stranger’s home, in tears as if I had lost one of my own from the shooting. I know the whole world is mourning together with the families of the victims. I didn’t questioned God, or asked Him the why’s and the “where was He?”. Moments like this, one is just so lost for words to even ask. I trust that He is still God and that He is still in control.

By 6:00a.m we were up already. Skipping this little substory with the make-up artist, I was just told that we will be meeting the MUA at a hotel KL instead, then do the 6-7 hours drive to Penang. Yes, I was also worried that all that make-up will melt and the hair will be a (beautiful) mess by the time we reach our destination.

We met with Cindy the HMUA, and she is soooooooooooooo pretty! Hahaha. She did her magic to Kevy in her hotel room, while Foo waited in the (hot) car and hopefully catching some Zzzzz while his bride is being “prepped”.

The planned “quick” make-up, turned into almost 2 hours of “prepping”. But it was so worth it, because Kevy looked gorgeous. We left Cindy’s hotel room at around 9:30am, and will be meeting us later in Penang around the late afternoon. Foo and Kevy took turns on the wheel. Passing drivers from other cars sometimes steals a look at the this Chinese girl driving.

I can totally relate to how kids feel during long car rides and their incessant asking of “Are we there yet?”. Haha. But I behaved myself and acted like the adult that I am, because I know the destination is worth the journey. Plus, who am I to complain when we have stops along the way and enjoy Malaysian food and fresh fruits.

So we arrived at the place and it instantly feels like home. I suddenly miss Cebu so much. Since Georgetown in Penang is a UNESCO Heritage Site, one can see an abundance of buildings constructed by the British during the colonial era, clan temples of the various Chinese clan associations, religious structures including temples, mosques, churches and shrines, and other structures, including pre-war shophouses within the inner city.

We stayed at an old school inn which is aptly located in the street called Love Lane. Seriously. My heart melted right there and then.

We were moving fast because we were already delayed by almost half a day from our schedule. Even if we felt tired to the bones from the trip, we postponed resting. We were losing daylight. So after a really quick shower, we headed out to start shooting. Kevy had specific spots in mind where to shoot. Her request was pretty straight forward, we don’t have to go to all the touristy locations, she just wants their photo taken on little corners and sweet spots where it meant something to them.

So I told you about the series of unfortunate events right? Here’s another one, I wasn’t even on my 10th shot when the rain started pouring. Hard. Really Hard. At first it was cute, romantic even. Foo headed out to the nearest store and bought 2 umbrella’s (one for me, one for them) and a raincoat! We resumed shooting while the rain kept on pouring. I love the rain. I love taking photos in the rain. But that downpour plus no rest from the trip, was slowly dampening our spirit.

The longer we shoot, the rain just kept on pouring and pouring and pouring. It wasn’t cute anymore. So we had a quick talk while taking shelter from the downpour, and then decided to rebook my morning flight and book the last Singapore flight out of Penang instead; and just start fresh come Sunday morning.

And that decision turned the whole series of unfortunate events into a beautiful and super relaxed prewedding session.

We went back to the hotel, rested, showered again (ahahaha), had an amazing AMAZING AMAZING seafood dinner, went around Penang, discovered quaint cafe’s , shops and resto’s. When I told my friends I was going to have a shoot in Penang and asked them what’s the best thing about it, all of them (no exception) answered Food. And I couldn’t agree more.

We started fresh, energized and totally renewed the following day. Kevy did her own make-up and we just changed almost everything about the original plan. We decided to just go through the flow of the day. bring them back to how it was when they first met there. So this is what we did the whole day, in exactly the same order…

1. Rented bikes

2. Eat the one of the most filling and awesome breakfast I had on an overseas trip in this mom & pop cafe (sorry forgot the name)

3. Went biking around Penang

4. Met 2 of their friends who drove us around town as we shoot (while Kevy and Foo’s car is in the shop)

5. Went to this uber lovely garden inn slash hotel just beside ours in Love Lane.

6. Had Lunch and tasted BEST LAKSA I’ve ever tried… ever… ahahaha. And that sweet dessert whose name escapes me now. Oh my.

7. Went to the beach.

8. Took Photographs of local children playing by the shore while Kevy is dressing up.

9. Got a little too excited while shooting and didn’t see a wave coming in and my shorts got soaked. lol. And I didn’t bring extra.

10. Drove to the ferry terminal.

11. Went to this really gorgeous local old pier.

12. Ended our shoot with fresh sugarcane juice. Ahhh!

13. Drove super fast to the airport so I could check-in on time.

14. Wrote this entry while on the plane. with a damp shorts. Hahaha.

Thank you for the visit in my humble page, and thank you for reading this entry all the way down here. There’s a few more lines after this one, but you’ve done so much already ahahaha. Kidding aside, thank you for allowing me to share that day with you.

The following snippets were written on different notepads in my mobile:

As photographers, as artists, we try to squeezed in that something different from every project that we do, while at the same time keeping true to who we are, keeping true to what feels right for us. But doing this shoot for Kevy and Foo, I am reminded that no matter how similar your shots may be from your previous sessions or how familiar the feel and angle of the images are… they will always be unique to the subject, to the couple.