Yes, Chinese New Year is finally upon us, and that means I had time to do a huge massive update of photos backdated since like.... um...my
Crocodile Shoot in Vietnam. Haha. Okay here goes...
Veron and I on the plane to Vietnam. By SIA, no less - because the Singapore Girl is a great way to fly! Haha.
We stayed at the Park Hyatt Saigon. 5-star Hotel okay,
shiokness! Apparently we were supposed to stay at another hotel, but it was said to be haunted, so our sponsor (i.e. Crocodile) upgraded the entire group! ;)
This is the room I stayed in. Quite posh right?
Posh so must pose. Hahaha.
At night, we were all treated to a sumptuous dinner spread. The barbequed sotong was the best, but this one was stuck to the satay stick. Above picture shows me in a sotong tug-of-war with Haizad.
The next morning, we were all up bright and early, ready for a full day of photoshoots! From left: Poh Choo, Veron, Me, Haizad, Christie, Thomas.
Wah, so many clothes... 辛苦我们了！
Things you don't get to see in the magazine pictures. Like human light-stands, for example. :P
Getting dressed up. Veron says I look like some cartoon character in this shot. Haha. Wait till you see my Grinch face... Or maybe not. -Wink-
We took a number of shots on an old-skool schoolbus. Damn cool, I like.
Photographer Skye Tan gets down-and-dirty (literally) for the love of his art. Was very happy to be working with him this time round as I'd knew him way back from my modelling days. He was the one who did my first hair shoot, which I quite liked, so I was definitely in good hands! :)
While the artistes/models are getting shot, Veron and Poh Choo decide to do their own shoot too. I like this picture, the whole colour turned out really nicely even without Photoshop, cos' they shot it at what the camera-guys call "the magic hour", which is approximately between 5pm - 6pm. That's when the natural light is a nice warm yellow, and brings out the best skin tone & texture, especially for Asian skin.
Everyone watches on as I take a dump by the roadside. Hahaha.
This is one of my favourite shots :)
We've shot till night-time now...
Last shot for the day! Was quite drained already... and then suddenly, Keith (makeup/hair) said that the area I was standing in reeked of urine. And then, that's when I caught a whiff of it. He was right. Damn gross. Bleah. Anyway I'm not surprised because earlier that day, we saw an old man pissing by a tree. In a park. In full view of everyone else. Hahaha.
Went to this Mediterranean-style restaurant, where I tried "yogurt soup". It isn't as gross as it sounds. In fact, it is quite nice. The yoghurt wasn't the normal sweet-and-sour type, but rather, salty/sour. Sounds strange, but the way the flavours mix was really quite nice. And it contained lettuce bits inside, so it was thick (from the cream) yet crunchy (from the lettuce). Yes, crunchy soup. Haha.
Last day in Vietnam. Haizad was my roommate for this trip, but that was cool cos' we go way back to Idol days, where he also happened to be my roommate. Funny how people come in and out of our lives when we least expect it. He flew off earlier than the rest of us to join his friends and girlfriend over in Thailand for vacation part deux.
I had a Saigon breakfast set. The egg yolk burst. I remember I got very upset with one of my friends in Primary school because she poked my egg with her fork during recess. I was saving it till the last. Hahaha.
At Chinatown, because I was supposed to look for giant
hei3 bi4 (giant dried prawns). We took a cab there, and it was super cheap. I wish Singapore had Vietnam taxi fare prices. Sigh. Need.A.Car... haha.
Decided to do the whole touristy thing, and hence I bought some food from a roadside stall. I don't know what it was called, but it was some sticky rice, with banana (I think, can't remember) inside, topped with a special gravy and sprinkled with sesame seeds. It was piping hot and very delicious! :)
This picture has captured the essence of Vietnam. So "feel" lah. Haha.
However, if someone asked me what I remember most about Vietnam (or rather, Ho Chi Minh) it would be...
... Motorcycles! Tons and tons of 'em! Many of the riders don't even wear helmets. And crossing the street is not for the faint of heart. We asked some locals what was the best way to cross the road, and they told us, "Just cross. The motorists will try to avoid you." Hmm... somehow, the word "
try" didn't sit too well with me, haha. But at least I'm back in one piece, lol.
Everyone was taking pictures on the bus on the way back to the airport. Here's Team MCS (see drawn-in red arrows). Since we're so patriotic to the company, I think it would be nice if we all got a nice, fat, payraise. Hahaha.
Okay, that's all the updates from me for now. Enjoy! And yes, Happy Chinese New Year again! :)