Behind-The-Scenes of My 'Views'

  Some of you might know I like taking pictures of anything that intrigues me and some of you might not; but one thing that questions me some of the time when I shoot is 'what are my views?' Basically; what do I see that made my hand touches the snap button of my iPhone camera or the compact camera? Well, here are my answers to my own curiosity and questionings.

  As a person who loved travelling to places I've never been to, I love taking photographs during the start of the journey every single time whenever I'm on a plane (especially the window seat). It felt like I was starting a new photo book of my new journey; just that its in my gallery of my iPhone. BUT it's still the prologue of my travels that's why I take lots of shots from the window seats most of the time and the outside view through the window seat. The numbers of shots I've taken never fail to amaze me how flying is the only way we can go to another country filled with new adventures in a much lesser time consuming way and that's one of my views towards window seats and the view out of the windows of any airplane I've sat on.

This is one of my favorite shots out of all the other window seats shots. the view through the small window had white clouds that I wished to touch it but will never happen basically to me, the wings of the airplane that I know will take us to my next destination as it acts as the most important prologue of the start of my new adventure.

  Another view that I love to take is the always mainstream one - Landscape views. LOL. But no matter how common it is to be heard as a landscape photography; it's still amazing in terms of the awesome creativity of the photographs that each photographer shoots. I always see landscape as a start of my photography journey and that's why I call it the 'The Beginning of My Photography'. Every landscape view tells a story in my point of view; from the little things that portrays in each shots to the obvious objects that portrays in it - They have their own story to be told.

This shot was taken in Pantai Tengorak, Langkawi. For me, the waves rushing towards me is like how the amount of challenges coming right at me, but in order to not panic; the soft sand relaxes and soothes me unconditionally especially when my feet is buried in it. And for the clouds; they made me continue to look up no matter how down I feel - That's my point of view for landscapes.

  Lastly, portraits are my favorite story tellers! It portrays every details I wish to shoot in my photographs and at the end of the day, they too became my favorite views too; both the expected and the unexpected. Everything portrait shows the details of one person or an animal from the beautiful scars to the little things that are unexpectedly cute but didn't knew you can shoot that too. This made me feel that our flaws will soon be shown to a particular someone one day; whether its your loved ones or your friends. The details shows that one has to learn how to love oneself; look at your own details before looking at others, period. And am still learning too. God made us differently and that's how we have to appreciate the details on ourselves that God has given to us. 

This is a picture of an elderly woman I shot randomly and I'm guessing she loves sunglasses as she puts on herself feeling amazing cause she loves herself more than anyone I bet as she sells fruits on a boat at a floating market in Thailand (I forgot where's the exact location but yeah). And in my point of view, she looks awesome and rugged unexpectedly. 

This is another shot I took in Thailand and I didn't know that the little pug let a little of his tongue out in a cute way and the little too big ears standing up feeling alert made me felt like this cute pug knows what I'm doing HAHAHA. The details are very hard to be seen if you see it a few seconds but you'll get to see the details more after awhile eventually like how you get to know your best friend for I don't know how many years it took you to know your best friend pet peeves and habits. 

  So that's the main 3 point of view in the 3 styles of photography I like shooting of and I hope those who love taking pictures realize why you started shooting the styles you are currently shooting now too! Everyone will have their favorite view and at the same time the Behind-The-Scenes are what made pictures a 'quality' as a wise man said this - 'Every picture is worth a thousands of words'. 

God Bless!

Sincerely, Shannon.

"Doubts"

    Have you ever experienced the feeling of doubt? where you would feel unsure whether that one particular person is genuine or just putting on a facade or maybe you'd feel uncertain whether the words of encouragement from a friend you only know a few months were sincere or not deep down in their heart; is it meaningful or not. Basically its a feeling of suspicion towards a particular someone you know.

    For me, I've been through a lot of stages for the past 18 and soon to be 19 years of my life. I doubted lots of people to be truthfully speaking from friends and peers to sometimes people that I'm close with. Well, I know it's bad and hurtful if my friends know that I doubted them in the past so I'll apologize sincerely first; I'm sorry. As a young timid kid in the past who doesn't speak up or talk much, I tend to over think 24/7 of my life about friends, my future and my life and especially doubt on my own life whether am I doing the right thing or not. But one thing from forming the feeling of doubt changed me to who I am today and that's how I slowly learn to be open minded and at least a little honest to me, myself and I. 

    Doubts are hurtful and terrible especially in worse case scenarios where you realized you have thoughts that your closest friends are cheating on you, using you or betraying you in whatever matter but instead; just to let you know, you are cheating on them too by just a single doubt you have in your mind right now. This leads to the thinning of your friendship strings  and at the end of the day of conflict rising; 'SNAP!' your friendship ends unfortunately and yeah, it's REALLY sad cause that's when you'll go through a few days being a lone ranger. 

    However, there are times doubting can be a little helpful; at least to say where we would train ourselves to be more alert of our surroundings and the alert towards the people we hang out with. We try to not trust easily at the end of the day to avoid ourselves from getting hurt and its good actually, it shows that we know how to protect ourselves in my point of view. In contrast, people will know that you are firm and strong enough to stand on your own and that you are not someone who can be used easily and get kicked easily like a ball. 

    Hence, the main point of doubting is to know when to doubt where there are moments that we should doubt before we do anything rashly and times where we should not doubt when we already know its perfect and balanced. Sometimes it's all about moderation like how one would eat moderately of their favorite junk food in order to get their summer body line they hope to have by summer; we too need to learn how to doubt moderately. Life is a roller coaster ride; 'up and down here we go' but always remember that we will definitely have a day we can live without any worries, simple yet satisfying type of happiness that we will face when all problems are solved. And most of all. do not worry 365 days as one should always trust in the Lord and believe in Him as He continues to write our exciting roller coaster journey but with a purpose in one's life. 💙

"Like how the sun shines and makes the ocean beams, let's shine even in our darkest days too."

Sincerely, Shannon.

A getaway to Thailand

  Whenever we say 'Thailand', all we could think about is the loads of car on city streets, the flavourful food and the refreshing fruits and drinks. Not forgetting the shopping spree that everyone especially girls are crazy about! ;) 

  During the Raya Holidays in Malaysia, I got to spend my one week holiday in Thailand with my family. It was lovely and crazy as we spent a few sleepless nights where we would only sleep at 1am or 2am in the morning! We spent our days in the car for hours and went to different tourist attractions and locations that was awesome; and for the nights, we spent walking down the streets of night market and sometimes even just lying on bed at our hotel busy deleting pictures that we took a little too much. But overall, thank God we were safe and we did not get sick throughout the journey. Heh. ;)

  Despite the fact that we had to travel a few long hours from a destination to another, there are a few locations that left a great impression on me as I take out the camera and capture the memories that I'd love to keep it in my gallery. At the same time, I would love to share a few shots that I've taken during this family vacation in Bangkok and Hua Hin, Thailand. I do hope you enjoy the pictures like I did too! ;) 

We sat Thai Airways to Bangkok on our very first day of vacation. It was our first to experience Thai Airways and turns out, it was great! The food was delicious too! ;) more pictures below! 

That's my sister looking out the windows of the airplane. 

The busy city of Bangkok. I took this when we were walking on a pedestrian bridge. And all I heard was honking and exhausts ringing in my ear. 

This shot was taken at the Railway Market in Hua Hin. The canopy for all the stores will be pulled inwards to let the train go through. It was really cool too because I met my Uni mate there heh. ;) what a small world ~ 

Okay this coconut is legit awesome and I recommend trying it if you go to Thailand! It's roasted coconut basically and the taste of the coconut water is different from the other normal coconut you drink on a daily basis. 

Coconut ice cream on a boat is goals ;) 

This is my slippers ;p haha okay this three shots above was taken at Hua Hin beach and I had to stand under the scorching hot sun for quite a few ten to fifteen minutes just to take a good shot of the waves too. In the end, I got sun burned, a little. 

This was taken at the River Kwai Bridge. It's in Hua Hin and we had to drive like a few hours just to reach this destination. Most of the tour guide never really recommend this place just because it's out of the way but luckily we were able to come here thanks to my mum for arranging it. ;p

This shot was taken at a vineyard and no we didn't get to taste any wine at all. But at least I got to drink red grape juice which was kinda refreshing ;) 

This is the Death Railway. Don't ask me why cause I wasn't listening to why it was called since it's history and I have no interest in history. ;p BUT it was cool to walk on train tracks and as you look down, all you can see and realize is that you are a few feet down the river. And you will hold your phone tightly unconsciously if you're standing in the middle taking photos of it. 

    On our last day, we went to a cafe called True Love cafe where it's a cafe filled with Siberian Huskies that you can play with after having your light refreshment drinks and piece of cake which is awesome and nice! It was kind of hard to take nice shots of the huskies since they are unexpectedly active and hyper everytime but I was fortunate enough to shot a few good shots and am would love to share it with you guys! 

Woof! ;p 

P.S. For more photographs, you can visit me on Instagram (shannonpsl) and VSCO (shannonpsl.vsco.co)

Sincerely, Shannon.

There are things...

    There are things that are meant to be voice out. Everyone is imperfect right? We all; no age limits, no thoughts like 'I'm older, I'm wiser enough', literally EVERYONE are still learning how to become a better human being in this world and someway or another; we make mistakes ALL THE TIME even myself to be truthfully honest and i bet we all regret what we say or do sometimes too. 

    There are things that we should learn to forgive others even if it makes one feel really disappointed. We get upset and down even if it's just a fight but what I did learn about life is that we have to learn how to be calm and forgive even if it's our fault; we have to learn how to forgive ourselves and also to others most importantly. 

    There are things that we have to learn how to put ourselves in other people's shoes. Basically it means we have to try to understand other's situation. Look on the bright side instead of looking the darker side. You'll feel better and you'll definitely have more 'comrades' with you when you're a person who understands their situation the most as you try your best to find the good in them instead of trying so hard to find the bad in them. 

    Also, there are things that we should not judge people on easily. Whether it's because of the statement they mentioned or because of the stories they've posted on snapchats and Instagram stories; that doesn't define them. Not all people who have thousands of friends are those who doesn't feels lonely; not all people who doesn't smile are rude. Most of all, not all people who smiles all the time have no worries too. ;)  

    That's what I've learned throughout my first year in university and the people I hang around with and not forgetting some lecturers. You meet different people and you may either get backstabbed or get rewarded by someone whom you'll never expect in your whole life. I believe we all are different and we have different opinions about our ownself and even others. That's what makes us special right? As a student and a youth myself, I am trying to change too and changing is not a bad thing; it just gives you nervousness but soon it'll be alright, trust me. ;) God made us with different facial features, personalities and talents and we as sinners should learn how to voice out the positivity, forgive and love others no matter how much you dislike them as well as understanding and accepting other's differences and beliefs and not forgetting - the flaws. ;) 

Sincerely, Shannon. 

On The Tables

  'Dear God, thank you for the food and drinks that you have provided us as we will eat and drink with a thankful heart. In Jesus name we pray; Amen' That's what I'll always do before I eat any food served on the table wherever we are - I pray. And yes it is indeed important to appreciate the food we have on our tables and not to waste food; so if you know you are easily full and happen to have a big plate of rice in front of you; call for a change of small one or just give half of your rice to someone who can eat a lot! ;) 

  Food has always been a part of our lives ever since we were born into this world. From the types of cultural food to the different methods prepared by each restaurant with a visual that is always so attractive and also simple yet delicious to be eaten and snapped a picture before we eat. Every time I stepped into a cafe or a lively restaurant or even just a small snack/dessert shop, I would always take a few pictures of the food I've ordered and edit the photographs when I get back home. That's my hobby; food photography. 

  As a youth and a university student, I know all of us LOVE going to cafes and dessert shops that are sophisticated and trendy to take a photo of and post it on any social media we have like Instagram and yeap, I'm one of them too! ;) Going to cafes had me getting all kinds of inspirations whenever I stepped into their cafe where you can see some cafes have wooden tables and chairs that are vintage but covered with transparent glasses and modern music to make it a modern vintage style of cafe. Some even have an all-white concept cafe which is so elegant that we ourselves can't succumb to our urge of taking photographs of their cafe structures or if it's not food; just snapping an 'OOTD' (Basically means 'Outfit of The Day') picture to post on Instagram is good enough. 

  For me, I take food photographs from the top most of the time where you can see everything on the table. So here are some that I've taken in the past. ENJOY! ;)

 

This picture was taken in VCR, Jalan Galloway. In my opinion, they have the best coffee and cakes and even main course there! :) They have this Black Velvet Cake which I personally loved it too! I love how they show their modern characteristics in the cafe but at the same time I also love how they show their love for a hint of vintage where you would see some straw weaved chairs and small tables, wooden tables and chairs too!

 

Another one from VCR, Jalan Galloway. :) this is Latte and Lemon Poppy Seed Cake. It's really really nice! ;) Also, whenever you stand outside their cafe, their walls are painted in black and I feel like it gives off a sophisticated yet elegant feel to it. :) 

 

This one was taken at Merchant's Lane, Jalan Petaling. They serve fusion food where there's Western and Chinese and I think there's many more. The combination of fusion food are what makes them special! :) Their cakes are a 'to-die-for' too! ❤️ I also actually love how they serve the dishes with different types of plates which makes them somehow unique and different; basically not standardised in a good way cause different is always good. :) 

 

Well, it's not always all about cafes so this picture was taken during Chinese New Year where we had a gathering with my mum's sides. 

  In conclusion, the food we have on the table brings happiness to us and also bonds our relationship between each other who surrounds the table. That's why we need to thank God for the food and gathering provided by God and also the person who cooks and the person who hosts ;) 

Sincerely, Shannon. 

Things that makes me happy

   From hoodies and long comfy sweaters to sneakers and sport shoes; those made me happy. But unfortunately, those are the things that made me happy for only a short while as I avert my eyes on something that's even more important; things that were meaningful in my life. :) 

    I remember the time where my family would go out on Saturdays with another family to have dinner together. In fact, it still happens now. We see each other grow taller, older and more mature and we see each other going from primary schools to Univerisities. Some may have gone to out of their comfort zone and study abroad and some may have stayed and continue their studies, but one thing that didn't change was the gathering we have between two families where we would tell stories about our weekday happenings. Even though one member in a pack is not around, remembrance is always the key in keeping us together as Saturday buddies and these every Saturday get together are what makes me happy & I love that. 

    I also remember the time where we would text each other in our group chat; 'When can we meet up', 'Where should we go?' are questions we always asked each other in Whatsapp and the times when we could find time to meet up; we were excited for it. Whether it's going to the movies or just leisurely walking around malls with no destinations in our mind, we were having fun as we share our stories from each of our univerisities and school stories. We might be on our different pathways, but our friendship was so tight that even though we told ourselves we were busy and had no time to hang out, we'd still be able to find the time to meet up and have fun. The four of us, sometimes five or six; we made a group of great friends during our high school days despite the fact that we had different characteristics, we were a group of friends that was trying to pull each other from the ground together and one thing that made me happy about it is we are still doing it till now. I thank God where I am able to meet you girls and I hope that we will be able to meet up soon! ;) 

    Time flies as God continues to write my life stories whether it's a companion or new friends to meet. They were all a great existence that came into my life. A companion that would be patient with my crazy self as he accepts me for me where we could have fun times together going through cafe websites and going to that destination we want to whether it's under hot suns or pouring rain. To top it off, friends that I could make jokes with are one of the things that makes me smile all the time. We might have some dramas between groups but we were able to pull it through somehow even though it might not be a perfect landing as we convinced each other to look on the bright side everytime we see the dark side coming on us. From doing things we love together to always thinking of where should we eat for lunch every single time after our lecture ends, these are the things I feel happy and I hope this things will last forever; at least longer than the objects that I have at the palm of my hand. 

    The moments and memories I have in my mind until now, from having my tears of joy being shed from touching moments to the sound of laughters coming from my friends where they would wear smiles on their faces without fail; these are the things that makes me happy as I continue to hope I can see those moments every single day of my life as I thank God for their existence on this earth. :)  

Just like how these tiny flowers grew beautifully, I hope the little moments and things in life will continue to increase more as we appreciate them from the bottom of our hearts like how the roots put their faith in these flowers too! 

Sincerely, Shannon. 

A New Year's Warmth

  Every start of the new year; a big round table full of our favorite home-cooked dishes, a big collection of red envelopes given by our elderly or those who are married, a big gathering of one's family and relatives together under one cozy roof and most of all, a big smile on each of everyone faces is what I see ever since the first day of New Year started - every single year, without fail.

  Before every new year, all families clean up their houses from living room to their storeroom to get a 'new year' feeling in their house. As they clean every corner of the house, the start of buying new year's cookies and snacks comes into picture too where you'll see red-cover containers filled with Chinese New Year cookies all being set up on the living room table waiting to be eaten by us sweet tooth. From the sweetest peanut cookies to the most delicious pineapple tarts you've ever tasted; they are what we call the sweetest temptations during Lunar New Year. ;)

  Every New Year, everyone including myself wants to start anew with our own lives and forget about the past. But we clearly all know that the past we have in our memories will not vanish the way we want to, it'll only remain in our memories as it can only fade year after year until we truly forgotten about it and have no remaining scenes playing in our memory lane. Fortunately, we still can start fresh like those freshmen who starts their first day of school (just a comparison). Everyone, young and old has the rights to press the restart button inside of them and live a new life full of what they hoped for; from being more faithful to God to gaining more motivation to start their studies and get good grades or even just start taking up a new hobby one have always wanted to.

  The moment when you really experience yourself the gathering of your family members and relatives from the east to the west or from the north to the south, you'll realize its one of the most lively and the warmest gatherings you'll ever attend in your life. Every year just once, you'll see yourself facing the camera lens to have your picture taken with a bunch of relatives you've known for life and maybe sometime not closed but became closer after a meal or tea and that's when you'll realize that you're blessed by God with so many awesome wonderful relatives who are always attentive to you, blessed with an awesome scrumptious meal and being able to sit in a table full of your cousins that you may share your uni life with instead of sharing it to your siblings and parents.

   I do hope that the warmth and happiness I've felt will be felt by all readers who are reading it until the end. Wherever you are, I do hope you'll feel as warm as I am during this Chinese New Year. May the Lord bless you with his wonderful praises and creations for you, your family and your friends. ;)

A reunion meal is always the best during Chinese New Year! ;)

Sincerely, Shannon.

A New Start

  It's 2017; the start of a new year where we all would wish to have a better life than the one we previously had in 2016. As we start off with the new year of 2017, we realized that we had made a promise to ourselves that we would achieve that particular goal that we came up with in the year of 2016 like, girls tend to promise themselves not to eat so much the following year whereas the boys would promise themselves not to play so much games in 2017; I guess it's what we call it - new year's resolutions. 

  As a girl myself, I always make the most common resolutions I can ever think of like dieting so that I'm able to fit in my new pair of jeans I bought a few days back. Well, there are random ones like continue not to get involve in relationships for the next I don't know how many years of life and trying to not get too much attention in university so that I can just graduate peacefully. Well, come to think of it; some were successful enough to be continued while some are not. I guess it all depends on one's mind of determination and motivation to achieve those goals. ;) 

  The most common new year's resolutions that I've heard from peers are not spending too much money, them wanting to go on a strict healthy lifestyle where exercising and healthy eating is what they only care about and even them wanting to get a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Okay, the third one; not so much. But those resolutions they have made was last year's. During the year of 2016, all I see is no changes (no offence though). Some have changed but most of them; it's a no or a little only. I guess it's hard to follow those footsteps you have made for your own to follow huh. Even I myself had troubles following them most of the time due to lack of motivation. But we all know it's our own fault that we turned out the way we didn't wanted to anyhow. 

  After all the failures and successes we have made throughout the past year, I think it's our own choice to follow what we want and feel right for now. We may face a few consequences ourselves but that's how we learn our lessons right? ;) So just be yourself and believe that you can reach any goal that you want if you put your mind to it. Happy New Year everybody!

Trying new things are one of my new year resolutions too! ;) 

Sincerely, Shannon