Month: September 2012

I didn’t plan this and I am really sleepy now.

Lying in bed blogging from my phone because I am being overwhelmed by guilt of blog negligence :P

Was in Melbourne last week. The last time I was there was way back in 2006, which seems not too long ago till I realised that 7 years had passed since.

I had more time to explore the city this time though which was great. I stayed in a nice service apartment right in the middle of the city & was very near to the main train station which was great!

# – I had ghost chairs.

Had an 8 course degustation menu for dinner where I ate cute wallaby for the first time! Delicious!

Will blog more of the restaurant when I have time. In the meantime, feast your eyes on this:

# – King trout with grapefruit sorbet.

Sorry sleepy now, and my elbow is aching…..resume tomorrow. Nights!

Why I left the field of public relations?

I have always wanted to write about why I decided to leave public relations, but held my fingers time and time again as I didnā€™t want to sound bitter, petty or ungrateful.

However, this morning I read an article by Karamjit Singh called ā€œAre journalists so special?ā€ and it struck a nerve, particularly this bit:

In fact, I have always suspected that deep down in their hearts, those who deal with the media, the PR folk and the corporate communications people in companies, do not really respect the profession. And this is mainly because some of us journalists are quick to ask for a ā€œmedia priceā€ whenever there is an opportunity.

I wonā€™t say that my lack of respect for local journalists was the catalyst for me leaving PR, but I wonā€™t deny that it plays a rather substantial part.

/cue sounds of bridges collapsing

From my brief experience in the PR industry, I find that the undesirable attribute wasnā€™t just limited to smooching for media prices, goodies and better treatment.

Thereā€™s the ego, hot air, hypocrisy and my biggest peeve, the lack of self-awareness. I mean, yeah they are definitely aware that they are being restricted in what they can write by both government and their paymasters; the corporate advertisers. Weā€™ve heard a lot of those….

But yet, they seem to be strangely unaware of the results of those restrictions: unreadable hot mess. Atrociously written articles. Are you effing kidding me stuff. For crying out loud, what on earth are they smoking? Okay, stop me.

Ethics? A simple search on the Internet will reveal that there were intances where even the content of syndicated materials from a principle foreign magazine had been changed to put local advertisers in better light!

So weā€™ve covered ethics. How about simple decencies as a human being? Journalists and writers publically bashing PR people for making unintentional mistakes, calling us stupid, RSVP then not turning up due to traffic jams. Got more? Feel free to add below.

What I am trying to say that, local journalists could do with a bit of humble pie for the quality of work that they are turning out. PR & journalism should enjoy a symbiotic relationship, however in my final weeks of being a PR consultant, calling myself a Pandering Rogue did not seem so funny anymore.

I left PR because of many things that I felt were wrong with my job. The money was good, it really was but at the end of the day, I hardly felt any ownership towards my work.

When successful, itā€™s because of how well I pandered to journalists, hardly the story. And when failed, itā€™s because I didnā€™t pander well enough. Sigh, honestly I really didnā€™t have that much dignity for that sort of constant beating down.

Of course, I had wonderful, wonderful clients and media friends who made me feel so appreciated and treasured that I felt like just being with them forever (you know who you are), but these precious few numbers in the single digit and sadly, thatā€™s just not enough for me.

Why I changed my mind about pre-wedding bridal studio shoot.

Some of you might know that I was quite opposed to having a bridal studio shoot. I found it a bit cheesy but the real reason is because I actually really don’t like other people taking pictures of me, not even Gareth, haha.

Seriously, we have had numerous quarrels over pictures he took of me for my blog because I didn’t look good or right in them. Truth is, I should blame myself for being unphotogenic but of course, being me, I blame him lah hahahaha.

When this wedding thing happened, I told Gareth that we should go on a kickass holiday and then take our own pre-wedding pictures, armed with a remote trigger and tripod. He thought it was inviting trouble but hey, people have done it before! Damn pretty the pictures right?

Anyway, just the idea of having other people take pictures of me, important pictures of us freaked me out. Maybe it has something to do with all the horrendous press stuff I’ve done before. For instance, the last magazine shoot I had was so bad I had just completely lost faith in local “professional photographers/stylists”.

I mean, after all the makeup, hairdo and matching outfits, this photographer just made me sat on a chair behind a damn coffee table, and posed with my hand. The stylist also stood by the sideline and didn’t say a thing. Trust me, I tried to work it but dudeeeeeeeeeeee, I was wearing a billowy top with high-waisted trousers and the outfit was supposed to be seen full. Needless to say, when the pictures came out I looked like a chunky body builder thanks to having half my body blocked by an ugly table. Gah!

Even when Gareth engaged Anna-Rina to be our ROM photographer, I had my reservations. I mean, I knew Anna takes amazing pictures and all, but I was still stressed. What if my pictures sucked and I had to scream at Anna? I can be a big bad difficult bitch….

Thankfully, it never happened….my fears were unfounded! She restored my faith in local photography so to speak. Hehehehe.

Anyway, back to bridal studio shoot. I was dead against it but you know what they say….never say never. We had one done this afternoon and surprise, surprise, I had fun!

# – Getting made-up! This went on for about 1.5 hours.

# – Gareth too. 3 minutes tops…lol.

Why the change of heart? Well, it just made more economical sense to take a photography package and topping up for the dress I want rather than just renting the dress alone. Besides, my mom and granny think I should have some bridal shots taken because it should be part of my wedding experience. In the end, I agreed…why not? :)

I’m now very glad we did it. The photographer, Wah was patient and funny. My makeup artiste, Berry was just a lovely, lovely girl who is passionate about what she’s doing. I really loved the hairstyles and the makeup and the dresses, which I chose of course hehe.

# – Gareth, flanked by Wah and Berry :)

I really think Gareth should function in a tux full time. Today, I was like…wow my husband so handsome one!?

My first dress is a sleeved A-line gown. I had just wanted something simple & classic and hurmm young…hehe. I also wore my hair down but I had another sort of chignon later on.

# – The A-line gown.

2nd dress is a mermaid cut fuschia pink tube dress. This one, I just told Berry to go all out, make me SPARKLE! By the way, am wearing this on wedding day too…I was too lazy to choose another different dress. Choosing dresses is EXHAUSTING!

# – Getting ready in the evening dress.

Lastly, I got a traditional “kua” to wear. It’s got funny looking dragons on it. I don’t mind them one bit.

#- Berry gave me what she called, “ball ball” hair. Hahahaha. It’s really just those Shanghai 1920s inspired wavy side bangs with a puffy updo. LOVE IT!

By the way, my red stilletos…got ’em for RM75 in Sunway Pyramid. I love Payless Shoes!

# – My wedding shoes, revealed. I’ve got another similar pair in blue with chunkier heels which I got from Bangkok, so I might wear those too…not sure yet.

You must have noticed I’ve only got 3 dresses, that’s cause I reduced the normal 5-6 dresses down to 3. Even with only 3 dresses and a strictly indoor shoot it was so tiring!!! I salute all the brides who can do 6 costume changes and outdoor shoot and still look gorgeous as hell. Just seems impossible for me! I will never be a fashion model, not that I’m unaware that I am genetically incapable of being so already :P

So pre-wedding bridal studio shoot or not? If you’re renting a dress from a bridal studio anyway…why not? It works out cheaper, you’ll have pictures you can remember fondly or funnily by (depending on outcomes) and it is quite fun to play dress up :)

I am quite excited in seeing the pictures next week. I hope they turn out well. Actually I think they will turn out well because Wah showed me a few on the camera and I was like, heheheh how come I can look so nice one :D :D :D :D