Sunday, October 15, 2006

Trip to Wales: Family Portraits

If this post seem abit wordy, please blame DITH. She has been urging me to write more in posts rather than posting pictures so this morning I'll try satisfy her reading hunger.

First and foremost, Puan Mama Sarah and I would like to say the biggest "THANK YOU" to all our friends in Cardiff - Rosli, Hila and family, Sabrina and family, Kak Sawiyah, Ajean and Juwaidah. They have all been extremely welcoming and accommodating. In fact, every single one of them have invited us to come over for dinner and/or to stay overnight and we feel the utmost regret that we could not entertain their requests.

A special thanks goes to Rosli, Hila and family for we had the pleasure of staying with them over the weekend. We have enjoyed it ENORMOUSLY, their house was comfortable, spacious and homely and they have catered to our tiniest whims.

Rosli, Danial and Hila at Sabrina's House over iftar. The picture was conceived and planned by Rosli and was taken using his Canon 30D and 70mm lens; I just happened to press the shutter.

One such "tiny" whim was my desire for photography. One morning, to capture a picture of sunrise over Cardiff Bay, Rosli even stayed up after sahur and drove with me in the cold morning to the Bay at 6.30 in the morning. Unfortunately, the sunrise was not at all visible over the thick haze covered skies but despite our disappointment, we carried on to take several pictures:

Cardiff Bay at around 7.30am. The hazy skies meant we were not able to capture the sunrise ;(

The Wales Millenium Centre at early morning. Reflections of the surrounding buildings were visible on the tall "water tower".

When I apologised for bringing Rosli so early in the cold-freezing morning to the Bay, Rosli answered with a smile, "My pleasure, it's great to take pictures with other people interested in photography" [translated from Malay].




Later that day, and without sleep to recover from the morning, Rosli and family kindly came with us to Penarth Pier (pictured above). The day continued to be unrelentingly cold but despite that, our children's animated stunts made us all smile throughout the morning:

The three children sprawled over the pier. (Picture taken by Rosli)

Amar in his eskimo jacket was unusually active. He was running around the pier with Sarah and Danial...

... and Sarah was eating icecream, despite the already cool temperature.

Amar struggling to be released at the Penarth Marina.

Overall, we as a family have truly enjoyed our short stay in Wales with everyone. How we wish Uncle, Auntie De and family were here with us! As for yours truly, the weekend was almost like a Photography Workshop. I have learnt A LOT on photography and Photoshop techniques from talking, learning, discussing and observing Rosli at work. We are both still learning, and I just hope that it was a learning experience for Rosli as well. The following pictures were all taken by Rosli, and to me they are all just amazing and very personal-looking photos. The thought that came to my mind was, "I've never seen Puan Mama Sarah/ Amar/ Sarah looking like that in a photo before". See for yourself:

Kak Sawiyah, Hila and PMS with Danial and Amar after iftar at Rosli and Hila's house.

Sabrina and her son, Erfan also taken during iftar the same evening. Rosli managed to bring out a sincere smile and capture the closeness in the mother-son relationship.

Puan Mama Sarah, Sabrina and Hila this time at Sabrina's house for iftar. I absolutely love the relaxed, informal pose - I think Rosli slid in a joke before capturing this picture.

Amar fervently biting my finger (he's still teething).

We love Wales, and during our visit we could see the "magic" was still in the air. Many of the buildings which were still in construction before we left Cardiff are all now completed and proud. Everyone seems friendly; during our visit to Caerphilly Castle, most passersby greeted us with a warm smile and a "good morning" in their melodiously beautiful Welsh accents. There are so many interesting places to visit in Wales and we have managed but a few. I am looking forward to a future visit, but this time complete with Auntie, Uncle De and family. And I can't wait for Uncle De to join Rosli and yours truly in the DSLR club!

Lastly, today Hila said that, "... after being married to someone for so long, your significant other somewhat stops being a "lover" and more your best friend ..." [translated from Malay, with inaccuracies]. During the first years of my marriage with Puan Mama Sarah, I thought in terms of we share little in terms of "common interests". However, lately, I've come to realise that we do, in fact, share a lot. We both love updating our respective blogs, we both love photos (notice I didn't write "photography") and most importantly, we both absolutely enjoy travelling. (Thank goodness I have an advanced, sophisticated, voice interactive GPS system* for travelling). So here's to my best friend ...


*my "voice interactive" GPS system is in fact Puan Mama Sarah - normally 95% accurate in finding our way.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wah look likes u really had fun in Wales, panjang giler nak baca nih! hehehe but interesting to read tho, we are definitely got to plan our photo sessions sometime after raya!!

Anonymous said...

The pleasure is all ours! You guys are welcome here again anytime. It was a learning experience for me as well. Thanks a million Muh!

dith said...

Phew!

Mynn, that was good! The sincerity was almost palpable! I read it as though I was listening to you narrating it to me and in fact I could swear that some of your 'ayaq lioq merecik' as you narrate! hehe

Simply love all the friendly pics, especially of Nisak doing her 'pose' in the end.

Yes, after all the years your spouse becomes a good friend that you can't do without, be it in good times or bad.

Thanks. As for now my reading hunger is satiated! :p

Anonymous said...

Nicely written with beautiful photos to accompany. MS looks stunning in the last photo, apa rahsia? ;)

I am missing Cardiff more and more...

p/s I will write more later, busy sket ni :D plus I'm still bengang with beta blogger (read my comment for your previous entry)

Anonymous said...

Rosli & Arep
would like to introduce you to Arep, someone staying close to my house in coventry. he's also very into photography and also a canon user :D

and arep, rosli is my friend from our old days in cardiff. he's an avid photographer and it's his ambition to become a pro (originally self-taught he now has a diploma in photography). his interest is in photo journalism.

Rosli
pleasure is ALL ours too. thanks for having us - insya allah nanti datang lagi dragging fazuan kicking and screaming.

arep
insya allah after raya we have to plan a photography outing :D tapi satu lah - weather kat UK ni selalu frustratingly dull!

dith
:):):)

see what lengths i go for you dith? nak RSI dah my wrists and fingers writing the post tau?

i should have warned you to read wearing a parasol, sorry for the "ayaq lioq". i sengaja go off topic just to make the story longer - LOL.

Anonymous said...

naja
alamak, your comments didnt publish itself did it? ive had the problem for ages with this blogger beta. grr. what i normally do is before pressing the "publish" button i select and copy all my text, just in case i need to paste it again if the prior comment failed.

btw, it felt queer going to cardiff without seeing you and wan - we passed by your house and had to resist the temptation to stop by and ring in for dinner with you two:D

as for the photo of MS i suppose she's always been that pretty, only took a seasoned photographer to capture it on camera.

Kynne said...

Nothing composite a photo better than emotions being captured in thousand of colours and "frozen in time" forever on paper. Candidly too at times. :)

Best Mynn & Rosli! Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

herm..i got his YM hehe penah sembang sikit dulu Fitri yg bagi Id YM Mr Rosli ni ;)

Anonymous said...

Informal pictures are the best!

Formal pictures for family potraits are fine but nothing captures a momeng more than candid photos.

My fav pic must be Amar teething... nice set pf gnashers...

Another four more days to go. I am so excited!

Dith, Ikelah.. me and KKL plan to be in Kuantan by Thursday kot (TBC). So we have a long time before and after Raya. I am on standby duty the weekend after raya but the requirement is 2 hours max from the plant so I can only go as far as Kuantan or KT for the weekend. As to when we are going back to Dungun, not yet decided. Maybe once we have sampled the food in Kuantan first hehehe.. I must also remember to take pictures before eating...

dyanna said...

Wow, this is your best entry. With pictures and words.

Furthermore, it's always nice to see a familiar face (even in photos): K Sawiah, K Ina, K Hila & K Nisak.

dith said...

Excuse us Mynn, tumpang tinggal message kat sini! hehe

OK, KKL, Friday nanti iKelah nak masak bubur lambuk, kita org bawak ke rumah Cik Ma and menjemput diri kami berbuka puasa bersama anda sekeluarga. Ok tak?

Anonymous said...

kynne
if only it's easy to evoke natural expressions from our subjects!
... and you too kynne, keep on shooting:)

o-k
raya nanti, jemput lah datang to my house - you know where it is, don't forget to ajak ikelah, dith & family as well... boleh jumpa my parents :D - and do take lots of pictures, please.

dyanna
we was thinking of naja, wan, auntie & uncle de and yourself all the while in Wales - we made sure to capture places we thought would make you guys feel nostalgic :)

dith
jemput lah datang you and my family to my parents' house raya nanti ok?

Anonymous said...

whoops, forgot:
arep
didn't know you know rosli before this ... tapi the fotopages community is quite tight and everyone knows each other in a way. apa plan raya nanti, balik msia? unfortunately i think im away, otherwise would have given you guys a visit:)

dith said...

Mynn-

Wow! Thanks for the invitation. But where is their place?

Anonymous said...

dith
o-k should know :)

Anonymous said...

i like the scenery with the haze. i think its nice even without the anticipated spectacular sunrise.

ke KT.... ni kena tengok weekend. on first raya we will be going to KL an back on friday evening. anyway thanks for ur invitation, we too are looking forward to meet you and your family.

hotspot still down, skg tumpang PC IT yang mouse dia staggering etc.

mynn said...

my parents pun kinda know you guys already ikelah & dith, plus you're friends and family of O-K & KKL. my parents consider o-k & KKL family -- so i'm sure a raya visit would be nice. they may be busy with my brother's wedding though (28?th october ish)

okay everyone ...
pms & I may be quiet again for around 2-4, for this we're very sorry. but do expect updates once we get back, okay?

off for another adventure :)

salams all ...

mynn said...

ps
and once i get back dith i'll write another extra long post especially for you :p

pycnogenol said...

Wah...adventure saja Mynn and Mama Sarah di bulan puasa ni.

Berbuka kat mana ye? Masjid ke?? ;)

Anonymous said...

Mynn, loved the first pic of Rosli and his family. Fun, totally relaxed family portrait. Nice!

And at least the haze down there is cool, unlike the choking one we've been having in these parts. Bummer!

Just saw the league table. Cardiff are top in the Coke Championship Leage. Dreams of the Premiership maybe? You into football, Mynn?

Anonymous said...

We've arrived! yay this hotel has wifi and im connected to the world:) yayyyyy!!

arrived at the airport this morning at 9am, thank goodness some people here speak english!

insya allah will try to upload pics tonight :)

Anonymous said...

Where are you guys? Paris??

nuhaafnan said...

oooh are we playing guessing game? I guess.... MADRID! heheheh
mynn, you are right, nothing beats a good photographer's eye. These pics here spoke to me in a whole new level. Ada kelainannya. Esp. MS, she looks different in each pic (& the last 1 is my fav too :)
BTW, K.Sawiah & K.Hila doesn't look like they've aged a bit! They still look 17 to me!

Jamil said...

This could be a mini memoir, you know. In fact, I think it already is *smile*

Anonymous said...

Prague, Turkey or Paris??? isk manee niii

Anonymous said...

My guess North of Paris.. near Guardu Norde... (excuse the bad spelling)

Anonymous said...

stockhlom

pycnogenol said...

So, kita berbuka puasa di Paris ye? Cheewah..........seronok nya. ;))

dyanna said...

Malaga... ( I always wanted to say that)

Anonymous said...

Yeay I know you guys are in Paris hehe

Anonymous said...

Uncle Mynn, ze Eiffel Tower eezz magnifique, no? Do take more peekturezz of ze city, oui?

Anonymous said...

cable streamyx to KSH down, depa pinjam cable hotspot.... rimas aku.... mau 2-3 minggu sebab dah nak raya.

paris... bandar artis.... sure banyak tempat yang menarik untuk ambil gambar. fashion lagi.... banyak model untuk diketengahkan.

selamat bercuti, berhari raya... maaf zahir dan batin.

mynn said...

sorry for not being able to answer the comments everyone:) although there is a wifi connection, after we arrive back from our long day we are normally so extremely tired that we have fallen asleep almost instantaneously.

o-k is as psychic as usual - guessed it right even to the place we're staying.

pycno
nice to hear from you after all this while! :) haha, about the perfume, speaking of which, man do people in paris smell nice.

naja, ikelah, arep, dyanna
most of you guessed right: Paris. I wish naja is here to translate! the only words i know so far are
.sortie (exit)
.pardon (excuse me)
.merci (thank you)
.euro (currency)

that's it!
anne
i forgot you knew sawiyah & hila before ... small world eh?

ikelah & moby
PLENTY of pictures - literally thousands. the DSLR really takes pictures like a machine, bursting at 3 per second, it charges very fast, and i have so far never ran out either of battery or memory card yet. amazing.

mynn said...

hiyoshi
whenever you say anything i always think to myself, is there something between the lines? you're deep like that :)

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