Beijing has “wow” us upon our arrival. One of the cities that has developed so fast; with convenient public transport from buses to train systems; friendly and nice people, even the taxi drivers are polite and kind-hearted; clean and developed city with many high rise “archi-structure” buildings; wide highways with plenty lanes, had us almost jaw dropped. We have seen so much of Beijing during our stay, it’s as though we have lived there for a month!

Our stay has been pleasant and fun, thanks to our couple kammy and daniel for their finest arrangement, from food wise to lodging to transportation, all has been carefully planned and taken care of. For the first day, kammy brought us around literally to most of the amazing nice places in Beijing for a quick recce of the locations, then only moved on with the shoots for the next 3 days! With kammy and daniel around, it felt like friends hanging out talking, eating, and chatting. So we had full 2 days of shoots going on, travelling from one place to another, covering basically the entire Beijing city in less than a week! No doubt filming in beijing is nice, but it was rather hard to film at most locations as the security is pretty tight at all times. Luckily the security guards did not give us hard time and allowed us to finish our shoots!

In a nutshell, it was nice to be in Beijing and was nice shooting our loving and charming couple, Kammy and Daniel. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their accommodative, hospitability and friendship. Stay tune for their wedding on July 17th in Bintulu, meanwhile do enjoy their love story shortfilm shot entirely in Beijing.

Daniel + Kammy | Beijing | Love Story from Doodle Studio on Vimeo.

January 2010 has been meaningful to us, both jared and myself. 4 years ago in January 2006, we left Melbourne for good after our study years has ended. After 48 months, we finally had a ‘come-back’ to our second home, only that this time the work-cation has turned out to be more than what it was initially meant to be! Think it was more like a transition to us.

When we were back in melbourne this Jan, it was more to us reminisced about our love journey in the past. In fact, many of our fond memories surfaced as we step foot in melbourne city. Many places still remain the same except for a few, nevertheless the feelings still remain as old times. Our shooting was pleasant and stress-free; the people, the place, the environment, the natural light source and the weather has made it so much fun and enjoyable!! And of course with the help from some very nice people like our friends gary, joey, prashaanth, anupriya, sharu and frankie, our shooting went all well. (though at times the cold wind was rather chill for the sleeveless me!! lol ) But the shooting was beyond my expectation… and i did not see it coming…

Melbourne is the place where we first met, where our friendship blossomed to another level, where we had the best uni years, where we had the booze nights with our sefton buddies, where we experienced weekends getaway and literally everything of melbourne together. And moving back to Malaysia was a transition. For the past 48 months, things had not come easy on us; we have had our hard times in relationship like a roller-coaster ride, the post career-transition criticism from people of far and near, the pressures from peers and families, the hardships and strong wills to keep believing in ourselves and our work; and all these meant a lot to us. And in that 48 months, we have learnt to accept and comprehend each other’s needs, and like any other couples, we had our fair share of ups and downs. But the transition has sculpted a stronger us in terms of friendship, working partner, lover and life-time partner. (yeap, the transition of our love to marriage!)

Here goes, presenting to you the long awaited love story….  Red & Line’s Melbourne love story “the transition”.

RED & LINE | MELBOURNE LOVE STORY | THE TRANSITION from Doodle Studio on Vimeo.

Peter has a pretty much different love story short film. For the first time, we have not included the bride-to-be in a love story, and this time, peter’s love story is all about him getting ready for his wife, Lavina to move in and start a new life as husband and wife. This concept love story is based on how his life has changed since lavina came into his life; from a simple guy with no fashion sense to a fashionable man, from a guy who had no regular meals to a health conscious guy who has organic oats and tea every morning and a vegetarian these days, and from a guy who dislikes house-cleaning to someone who does house chores. The changes that lavina brought into his life has made him a better and healthier person. Despite all the obstacles that they have gone through, they’ve made it through. That is why pete wanted to surprise lavina with this video..

Peter’s Love Story – I am all set to go! from Doodle Studio on Vimeo.

Peter who is of greek background, whilst Lavina of northen indian background had a mixed culture wedding in Melbourne last week. It was a great fun coz they had a mehendi night 2 days before, and a greek lunch the day before their wedding day. This is our first experience in filming a greek event. In their greek lunch, they had their tradition greek dance and plate breaking session. Yeah the greeks love dancing as much as indians, they each have different style but are equally fun!! It was fun to be there to experience their double-culture celebration and they certainly have not missed any of the tradition moments.

PETER + LAVINA | MEHENDI NIGHT + PRE WEDDING LUNCH from Doodle Studio on Vimeo.

The year 2010 has started off amazingly and unexpectedly great for us as jared and i spent almost 3 weeks of Jan 2010 in melbourne, the place where we are most fond of. I’m sure many of you have been wondering where have we disappeared to for we have not been blogging for a long time. Alas, we’re back and this time with some great stuff to share with. This long work-cation (work plus vacation) has turned out to be the most memorable amongst all, with the hospitality from prashi, anu, sanjev, rashmi, their family members and friends, and the opportunity to film prashi and anu’s love story and wedding. It was our great great honor to work with anu and prashi, they are simply nice, natural and coorperative; shooting them simply made us laugh.

When prashi and anu discussed their storyline with us, we were thrilled and could not wait to film theirs.  Since it was our first attempt, we were under a lot of pressure ‘coz they would be premiering it on the reception night. It was not easy but we got to pull it off. Shooting in melbourne has been great; the shooting process was fun despite the long hours, wonderful melbourne streets as any little corner could create superb shots, and the cool weather that makes the shooting pleasant. Of course it was not easy to act in public, but with their out-going and easy-going characteristics, all these was not a problem to them, and they only had one-take for most of the shots.

They had this pre-wedding love story video premiered it at their dinner reception and the thunderous response got us (and the couple) blown away!! Everyone of the guests enjoyed watching it coz every single act of theirs got the guests laughed heartily, and even the waiters and waitresses stopped their work for the moment and stood at the side or back of the hall to watch the video.

Of course, our video won’t be a success if it wasn’t for prashi, anu and their amazing friends’ coorperation through out the filming process. Again, to prashi and anu: thank you so much for having us there

ANU + PRASHI | LOVE STORY from Doodle Studio on Vimeo.

SPLIT SCREEN REACTION | (ANU + PRASHI) from Doodle Studio on Vimeo.

It has been years since we last set foot in genting themepark, and this time we ain’t there for all the fun rides, but to film sri and kumaran’s pre-wedding love journey. Sri loves the themepark rides; and suggested that we should take a drive up to genting when we proposed to have the shooting at funfair-like location. Reason being kumaran is an absolute funny guy who literally cracks about anything on earth; hence the chemistry of them together at the themepark would work perfectly fine. They have such funny yet loving chemistry that it was hard not to note it here. Kumaran is the wittiest guy that we’ve ever met thus far, it is hard not to laugh when we’re around them. The few meetings with them prior to the shooting was hilarious to see them being themselves and most of the times they were bullying one another despite our presence there.

This is our first shooting in genting and probably the most unforgettable experience. The whole shooting was awesome, minus the fact that we did not expect the weather to be uber cold and misty, and that it was already school holidays and we had to queue for every ride. It was so cold that sri and myself could not stand the weather the minute we’re out of the building! Luckily sri had her hat and gloves for the extra protection. Yet the cold had not affect kumaran; he was still very energetic and hilarious through out the shoot and kept having all the funny ideas for video purpose! The funny part was we all thought he looked like the energiser battery-man and had him posed next to it.

Here you are, presenting to you the funny-loving couple, sri + kumaran’s love journey video…

KUMARAN + SRI | PRE-WED from Doodle Studio on Vimeo.

Next Destination: Its Me!bourne

Travel Period: 11th January 2010 – 29th January 2010

Mission: Wedding Assignment (3 days) + Prenuptial Video-filming (spots available for booking..contact us now!!!)

It has been about 3 years plus since Jared and I left me!bourne after our degree graduation, and both of us just can’t wait to go back there and experience the me!bourne lifestyle that we both missed so much. Jared and I first met eyes in me!bourne during our RMiT university study years via malaysian student association club of RMiT, and the rest is history. Me!bourne is the city where we first met, where our love blossomed, where we shared our passion and love, where we enjoyed our companionship with one another, where we had our little weekend getaway together, where we spent most of our times with our Sefton-42 buddies and we literally experienced everything together. As the months draw nearer, all the fond memories of us in me!bourne keep flashing pass our mind, with all the images of me!bourne that we could still picture. The figure 3 years plus may not be long for most people, but the period is definitely a long one for us. Me!bourne is like a second home to us, and it just feel so great having to know that we will be flying back to our second home when our me!bourne couple booked us about 9 months back.

Yes! Jared and I will be flying back to me!bourne in january 2010 for a wedding assignment, and we will be staying there for a good 2 and a half weeks. Hence we would have plenty of time for some good me!bourne prenuptial video filming within the city (or even within victoria vicinity!!) for you me!bourne couples out there! Or if you are travelling to me!bourne during our stay there, and would love to have your prenuptial video film in an entire different feel, just give us a ring and come experience the doodles prenup in me!bourne !!

Looking back at the me!bourne pictures sure remind me of how plump and chubby i was... *blush*

Beautiful places... carlton garden & botanic garden

Our Dubai couple, melanie + creswell (better known as chris) met in college during their uni years in dubai about 9 years back. It was since then their love blossomed like flower. And after 9 long years of relationship, they had decided to have their wedding day exactly on the same date that they started dating which was on 17th Oct 2000, and hence their wedding day 17th Oct 2009!

They both had a mutual agreement to have their church wedding celebration in mumbai, with a bollywood wedding night and roce wedding ceremony prior to their wedding day. And they flew in their friends, family and relatives from Dubai, Chennai, Goa and etc to attend their big days in mumbai!

Mel + Creswell had their Bollywood Night on 15th Oct 09. It is one of the pre-wedding ceremonies that are practiced by the northern indians, and it was also their day-one of pre-wedding party! The entire theme is bollywood night party and everyone was dressed in bollywood attire. Boy, not only was it meant dancing night for them, it was also meant liquor night for all! They had all the liquors and beers ready at the cocktail counter where liquor is free flow… And mel’s bridemaids and friends had prepared many dance performances on stage for their entertainment and we could tell they really choreographed for this night. Until the end of the night, the guests had even pulled us in to join their floor dance!

On the day prior to their wedding day, they had the ROCE ceremony, it was where mel got the blessing from her relatives and friends. This is somewhat different from the southern indians as they (the northern indians) give their blessings to mel by pouring (plus showering) her with coconut milk and eggs! She was not alone, as her bridemaids were there to back her up as well! The fun then get dirtier when it was her friends turn to give their blessings. Mel and the bridemaids were showered with 2 packets full of coconut milk by their close friends!! Pity her and the bridemaids…

Finally, thanks again to mel + creswell to share your love journey with us and here is the premiere of their love story featured on their wedding reception at Hyatt Regency Hotel on Oct 17th…

(Do upload it fully for better viewing… enjoy the video and stay tuned for mel + creswell wedding highlights soon!)

Cheers.

Creswell + Melanie | Mumbai | Bollywood Wedding from Doodle Studio on Vimeo.

A Happy Diwali to all Indians out there!

Yeah, some of you might be wondering where have we been as we have been out of touch for quite some time due to the inconvenience of getting a wireless internet access here in Mumbai. We are all good and having loads of fun here in the ‘Incredible India’! (well, this is actually the tag line for india tourism ‘09!) And we are staying in the same suburb as Shah Rukh Khan, which is the Bandra town! Want to know more? Well, here are what i have summarized out of our past 6 days mumbai journey…

What can we say… it is simply ‘incredible’ of our couple Creswell + Melanie to bring us around the suburb and bandra town during our stay here in mumbai. On day one, we had arranged an outdoor pre-wedding shoot with them within mumbai city and bandra town. Both Creswell + Mel were so spontaneous and sporting with the pre-wed, so much so that they are so natural and loving in front of the cameras. We had several awesome shots by the sea shore along bandra town despite the sunny day. It was really hot and humid, but both mel + creswell did not complaint a tad bit of the weather, yet were so thrilled of the entire shoot! They even had their hands and feet dirty in order to get a nice shot… and the outcome? It was awesomely incredible!

During our shoot, they even introduced us to the local stall food which taste simply delicious. We had the famous ‘dani puri’ where you stuff some ingredients into the crackle and dip it into the soup, and then eat it right away. We learnt that it is one of the local’s favorite and it has since became our favorites too! Apart from that, we even tried our taste bud on the lime juice made by the locals. The lime juice is somewhat different from our local mamak ‘air limau’ as they put the ‘masala’ spice into the juice and make it thrist-quenching on a sunny day! And all of us had two glasses each! And the best part of it is that we could see Shah Rukh Khan residence from the dani puri and lime juice stalls!!! It was just a minute stroll away and we even snapped a photo in front of the gate! Luckily the security guard did not chase us off. lol…  Before we wrapped up the shoot, mel managed to get one of the rickshaw drivers to spare us the ‘classic’ rickshaw for our shoot, more-so-over we have been dying to use it in our shoot as it is the classic icon of mumbai… Well, that was the end of our day-one pre-wed shoot.

After a good rest, we continued our day-two pre-wed shoot at the sanjay gandhi national park. Mel suggested that it would be a really nice place to shoot as contrast to the busy city, whereby it is more natural and it has a waterfall deep inside the forest! Mel knew it so well ‘coz she had spent a good few years in mumbai during her childhood years and she has had fond memories of the national park. True enough, when we got there, we could see what she meant with the nature jungle-ly look and feel as we had to drive a good 15 minutes ride into the jungle-ly park in order to reach the waterfall spot. Unfortunately the waterfall has dried out due to the hot weather, (as it has not been raining since september, we heard..) but we are still lucky to have the ancient caves!!! Yeap, the caves are still in good condition and it was uber-cool to have our shoot there. And the caves are one of the ‘incredible india’ visiting spots as we could see tourists and locals walk and climb their way up to the caves, like we did! It was simply amazing though we had no idea of the historical past of these caves… Well, during our shoot, the locals kept stopping-by to watch and kept thinking we were from international broadcast station! Haha… you will see why i said so in the picture later.

It was just shortly less than five months back that we had covered simon + leena’s engagement ceremony in kl. They both are very fond of babies, so much so that they were caught playing with babies through out their engagement!

Some time back in august, we had arranged a prenup shoot with them entirely taken in putrajaya to unfold their love story. Simon who is rather a shy guy had put aside the shyness and unveiled his part of the story with us. He get so excited talking about their story and had eventually ignored the camera. Leena, on the other hand is not the shy type, as she even unveiled to us that she was the one who asked simon whether he liked her and from then on, their relationship went smooth sailing.

If you could notice in our latest post of jessica + suraj wedding highlights, you would have noticed leena was in the clips as she is jessica’s best friend and had given her say on stage that night. And simon is related to jessica, as he is jessica’s cousin brother. Ha! Hope i have not confused you with their relationship. And with leena being jessy’s best friend, she tagged along to most of jessy’s family outings and functions, and that was how she got to meet simon in one of the occasions.

To unfold the rest, you had gotta watch the video and find out for yourself. Do let it load fully before viewing it in full screen. Enjoy it!

Simon + Leena Love Journey from Doodle Studio on Vimeo.

With pauline and sasi’s love journey in this post, this video concept is brainstormed together during the meet up. it was also during then we found out that sasi is our national team hockey player and has been playing for the country for years; and pauline herself is a teacher in the special kids school. thus, their differences in interests and hobbies has proposed the inspiration and idea to cover the interview of them with some prenuptial shoots to bring out their interesting journey.

it has been 4 months (since june, to be specific) since we started our signature concept — unfold your love story — whereby love story is conceptualize through interview and some prenuptial snapshots.

the reason being — it is more than a wedding journey and every couple has a unique and distinct love story. this is why we want all couples to share their love story and journey with their family and friends through this concept. of course, it does not stop here. this has further enables us to know and understand our clients in depth, allowing us to create a “story of them” and for couples to get down and have their hands dirty in creating their very own video, for it is their participation that maketh our best videos.

during pauline and sasi’s prenup shoot, it was also the first time we got to watch a real hockey match and experience the sight of remote-plane flying (although there was a minor accident of the plane during the shoot, but sasi managed to pull it off with the minor damage and kept the plane flying still!!!), and the best part is to get to meet the hearing-disability children at pauline’s school. if not for them, we would not have experienced so much in such a short time. And pauline, thanks for your flash-cards idea, it was brilliant and it makes the best ending.

2 different people living in 2 different lives, finally got together as ONE.

here is the episode of their ‘unfold your love story’ — sasi and pauline.

sasi | national hockey player + floorball player + teacher for the disabled children

pauline | national sign-language translater + teacher for the special children

sasi’s journey | active sportsman

pauline’s journey | dedicated teacher who helps the special children and the community

sasi – greatest life achievement | to be the national hockey player + to educate the disabled children in the special school

pauline – greatest life achievement | to educate the special children (children with hearing disability) + to help other special-case children in the community

sasi + pauline | 2 different journeys | 2 souls | 2 gentle-loving and caring hearts towards the special children

BUT it is the journey of 2 becomes 1 from this day forward…

(remark: to view in HD video, click on HD button and you will be directed to vimeo link. click “play” and wait till it loads fully, there you have it… Enjoy!)

Sasi + Pauline Love’s Journey from Doodle Studio on Vimeo.