Looking back.

It’s right smack in the middle of 2013, and I had sometime to take stock of… life. Scrolled through the endless photos on Facebook and timeline, I have so much to be thankful for.

1. Friends
Looking back through the years, I realised some friends consistently appear in photos of meetups. I’m glad that we are still friends, despite only being able to do so maybe once a year if we’re lucky. Proves that distance isn’t the enemy of friendships and relationships, but sometimes the strengthener. (Also thankyou whoever invented Whatsapp and Skype and Gchat, making the world so accessible.)

My all-seasons friends, I love you, thank you for being my friend and here’s to more seasons. To those whom I don’t catch up with all that often, or just say hi when I bump into you, thank you for making an impact on my life even if it was for a short while, it was good while it lasted. 

2. A colourful life
I’ve had my share of crazywild-ish days and travelling a small part of this world, opening my eyes to a big beyond that I would have otherwise never have known or experienced. Thank you parents, for letting me strike out on my own and learn and figure all these things out on my own, make my own mistakes, pick myself and start all over again. I’d never trade any of these adventures for anything else. It makes me heart sing to know that I’ve (already) had such an amazing life.

3. Photography and music
The most important things, both for remembering the good and the bad moments in my life (so far). I can pinpoint a song which I have specifically attached to every turn in my life. Each time this song comes up, I will remember that particular moment, the people involved, the place. Photography of course, captures the moments that I would otherwise never remember. Where, how, why, who I’ve met along the way, details like what I wore, what I drank/ate etc. Like today, I know to be thankful for all these things because of the photos that exist. 

4. Facebook and Instagram
This website and app has always been tangled in a web (pun intended) of social and privacy issues, but today I say thanks for existing because of it, I have reconnected and kept up to date with people all around the world without having to visit websites or email endlessly. It is really the best-est way to keep in touch and up to date.

I say 
"Oh got this feeling that you can’t fight" 
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life, a good, good life.

- One Republic, Good Life

Home, a place to learn and grow.

Penang will always be home number two no matter how many other countries have won my heart over. With family as the biggest draw, it’s food and culture have so much to offer. As many times as I’ve been here, I’m always pleasantly surprised by the stories that live and exist on this tiny island. People here have such interesting stories, jobs, histories and it’s amazing how much you can learn from them. 

We visited my mum’s friend, Aunty YY, who has a not-so-little veggie garden on a plot of land where her family used to stay. Her brother and herself have converted the place into a workshop/garden where both of them explore their respective hobbies of carpentry and gardening. Aunty YY would harvest and donate these vegetables to orphanages and homes for consumption. So simple and sustainable. 

While my mum managed to harvest some kangkong, (my dad and I were being eaten alive by mosquitos) I thought about how awesome it would be to have madskills like that and what I would use them for. 

I realised, I WANT TO (somehow) CHANGE THE WORLD. I want to leave a mark on this planet. 

It’s back to the drawing board for some serious learning and planning. 

Tai-O.

Having friends and family visiting meant it gave us a chance to play tourist over the last month or so. One of our trips brought us all the way to Tai-O, a fishing village near Lantau Island. 

This quiet little village doesn’t wake up till after 12noon and makes for a nice walk before all the tourists start streaming in and crowding the small little streets. You can have the famous gai-dan-zai (egg pancake), which is made using the traditional iron cast pan and charcoal, plus lots of other (apparently) famous eats around there. We spent the better half of the morning walking and just chilling before heading back.

I am loving all the old iron and metal doors and windows they still have here in Hong Kong, they do have cobbled stoned streets (maybe not cobbled, just uneven) and really charming old school eateries and shops. It’s a bit of an asian Italy if you ask me. Definitely alot more to explore around here. 

We are young.

Yihui and Victor are possibly the youngest couple I’ve shot for. These two have been together for a while now and are getting married. I love the chemistry that these two have, even so early in the morning.

Love, sometimes, should be as simple, as being young and carefree is.

Baby bumpin'.

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This shoot was a while back now, but couldn’t resist putting up more shots of this super fun loving couple! We had a small-ish space to work with, but made do, the energy in the room was great, Sophie the pug joined in the shenanigans too and kept wanting to be included. 

There’ll (really) never be another dull moment. 

Hello again.

Hello.

I know it’s been a while. But here is what I’ve been up to.

Hong Kong is such a charming place. I never knew why people love coming here, but I might have a slight idea now. It has only been about a week, but so far, this city reminds me of an Asian version of Italy - and I’m quite enjoying it so far. 

So, I’ll be updating again once we’ve settled down.

Till then, you can find me on Instagram @tngying where I’m posting everyday, go there for daily updates!

Laters alligators.

I miss this.

I miss this place. The times where people would come over, cook dinner together, grab drinks, sit around on the rooftop freezing our butts off. Even the times when I sat with Kara, after dinner, listening to music, chilling out and reading a book on the couch with a hot chocolate on those cold wintry nights. Love the silence, the peace around this space. 

To, Yan.

Dear favourite-est psych, 

You’re in a faraway land, and we’re all missing you heaps, but doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate your birthday!

Thanks for being there always, for all the caffeine we have inhaled on Saturdays, all the brunches/lunches/dinners/desserts we have had - it’s been awesome and still is (even through Whatsapp). I hope we’ll be the same place someday soon to have our usual Saturday sit downs and story-telling (we are missing all your stories.) Most of all, thanks for being our friend. 

Have a coffee on us, or have 5. We’ll be seeing you soon hopefully! 

Happy birthday and plenty of love from the sunny island.

x

Of a highland proposal.

This was shot sometime in June - (now you know how backlogged I am heh) in Genting Highlands where a really good friend planned a proposal for his now fiancée! Of course, alot of planning went into this and it started about 3 days before where he gathered a bunch of us to help him out! Best part is that she never knew that he was that romantic and was completely overwhelmed. The Lego man was such a genius idea too, and adorbs! Kudos to the planning team too on an execution well done. (I suppose we definitely could make this a full time thing, hurhur.)

I must say too, that we had the BEST celebration meal EVER. The prawn hor fun was SOOO amazing! 

More pictures coming right up!

Around the wharf.

I love how everyday at about 4.15pm, the golden sunlight filters through our office, and then at about 5pm or so, we always manage to catch the brilliant sun setting in the distance. Little things like that make every day so much easier to get through; when you know that something beautiful is waiting for you at the end of the 45 unread emails in your inbox, or the numerous spreadsheets open on your computer screen. 

Come on and we’ll sing like we were free, push the pedal down, watch the world around fly by us.