Havana Estudio Monthly Social: May Day!

We're here once again, for the much awaited Havana Estudio Monthly Social. For the month of May, we have a little something special planned out for our beloved Aisha!

San and Aisha welcomed the charming Azlan Sopiee in the wee hours on 14th February 2011. Yup, you got that right, St. Valentine's Day. Since delivering her bundle of joy, Aisha has been recuperating well and putting in lots and lots of love and care towards her lovely lion cub (inside joke...). Although her leave of absence is very much necessary for Aisha's health and well-being, her students miss her terribly. That's why I decided to try to organize a little something for her.

I arrived at the Studio fairly late, approximately just past 11 p.m. due to another shoot earlier in the evening. Surprisingly, the Studio was packed! The guest list stood at 93 pax. I've not seen those numbers in quite a while. This was very convenient for me since I planned to have a group photo with as many people as possible present - and holding a banner I printed out.

There was an odd event though, a slightly disturbed individual who apparently caused quite a bit of ruckus in the Studio and refused to leave. I'll not comment on that here, but suffice to say, that was enough to delay my planned group shot for quite a bit. Annoying to say the least, but such is life and it's nuances.

Anyways, the shoot went well (I took over 20 shots of the same frame - eventually choosing 2 'finalists') and later I made everyone sign their names and write a message on the said banner. Someone asked me if it was OK to write to Aisha that Sam was bullying them. I told them, it was a message for AISHA, so they could write whatever they wanted to. At least Sam was amused by it all, considering that about THREE intakes of new students have yet to meet Aisha in person! 

So sorry there were virtually NO photographs on that night. Partly because I came late and wanted to slip in a few dances, and partly due to the unfortunate aggro incident. However, there will be many, many more. This time round, this is for Aisha, from her friends and/or students of Havana Estudio!

For those of you who like statistics:

Vital Stats for May: 8 post 296 pics

Vital Stats So Far: 77 posts 3,084 pics

Disclaimer: The views published in the above photoblog are the author's and the author's alone. If readers are not agreeable with the above views, well, you can bugger-off. All rights are reserved for the photos and the article itself. This article may be reproduced with permission of the author for private or public usage, or other forms of general mayhem. Any unauthorized usage of the images or articles contained therein is expressly prohibited and violators will be prosecuted with the full force of Malaysian law applicable. Thank you for reading this disclaimer.

Sirocco Secrets 3rd Annual Dance Recital [7-5-2011]

The term 'Belly Dance' which is used to describe a popular dance style originating from the Middle-East, is very curious. Very curious indeed.

Consider the fact that the actual belly of the dancer plays a small role in the said dance. In fact, the major movements of the dance are found in the dancer's hips. Let's not forget that while performing this dance in certain parts of the Middle-East, modesty is paramount and thus the belly will be covered with sheer pieces of cloth. This misleading misnomer can be attributed to literal translation of the French term for the said dance (danse du ventre).

In recent times, Belly Dancing has gained widespread worldwide popularity, contributed in some measure by celebrities such as Latin songstress Shakira. Shakira, of Colombian and Lebanese descent, has made the Lebanese form of Belly Dancing a part of her trademark routine. Today, you're bound to find a variety of women (and sometimes even men!) finding interest in this art. Some dance for health and fitness reasons, some as do it as a hobby, and some even belly dance professionally. 

In that regard, I bid you welcome to the 3rd Annual Sirocco Secrets Dance Recital! Sirocco Secrets was founded in 2003 by the very very lovely and extremely talented Sherlyn Koh. Herself an established and internationally renowned professional belly dancer, the list of her credential are as long and impressive as she is beautiful. Key elements of a successful dancer / dance teacher is passion, dedication and patience. Armed with these principles as well as a burning desire to share the art of belly dancing, Sherlyn actively motivates her students to partake in this art form. As a result of six months of hard work and dedication, Sirocco Secrets is proud to present to you....

My Oriental Dream 2011

I hope you enjoy the photos. If anyone is interested in this article, you can find more information by paying a visit to the Sirocco Secrets website by clicking on the link provided herein (http://www.sherlyndance.com/).

[My utmost apologies to all for the late posting of this article. The extremely large number of photos + a very, very busy May in preparation for a very, very, very busy June contributed to such delay. Thank you for your patience - Dom]

For those of you who like statistics:

Vital Stats for May: 7 post 294 pics

Vital Stats So Far: 76 posts 3,082 pics

Disclaimer: The views published in the above photoblog are the author's and the author's alone. If readers are not agreeable with the above views, well, you can bugger-off. All rights are reserved for the photos and the article itself. This article may be reproduced with permission of the author for private or public usage, or other forms of general mayhem. Thank you for reading this disclaimer.

Broga Hill Challenge [17-5-2011]

Allow me to quote a friend and fellow salsero, Mr. Aaron Fan. "The real challenge is to wake up at 5 a.m."

And that we did. I personally slept for about 2 hours, woke up and drove to our meeting point 15 minutes late at 5.45 a.m. Some of us had a super-quick bite and we took off for Semenyih at about 6 a.m. We arrived at Broga at about 7 a.m. We started our ascent almost immediately. We were well aware we would not be catching the sunrise, but that didn't really matter since I wasn't particularly interested in shooting the sunrise (I'm more of a sunset kinda-guy).

I've seen countless numbers of photographs of Broga Hill and there has been many good shots of the area. I'm NOT talking about shots of friends smiling and posing. Those are "thanks-for-the-memories" kinda shots. I'm talking about landscape photography. That's why I was so gung-ho about lugging a ridiculous amount of equipment all the way the Hill in order to find something interesting to shoot. Hopefully my 'camera-eye' can find something nice along the way.

This is my first time up Broga Hill (Broga-Virgin no more!) and I needed to get used to the fact that I was climbing up a bloody mountain. OK, I'm exaggerating. It was only a Hill. But I am more used to steps (Batu Caves anyone?). My cheap, brand-less hiking shoes (with spikes) worked wonders but I developed nasty blisters on account of me not wearing any socks. Don't ask me why.

Anyways, I have a few pictures of the morning. I hope to be able to represent the raw beauty of nature in and around Broga Hill, along with some general misbehavior and mayhem from the participants of course. By the way, Happy Wesak Day!

Participants Honour Roll (in no particular order, save for my sketchy memory):

Aaron, Rizal, Ini (Rizal's nephew), Diyana, Emily, Denise, Lai Heng, Arin, Jamiliah, U Joe, Jen Chong. Now did I forget anyone?  :-)

For those of you who like statistics:

Vital Stats for May: 6 post 254 pics

Vital Stats So Far: 75 posts 3,042 pics

Disclaimer: The views published in the above photoblog are the author's and the author's alone. If readers are not agreeable with the above views, well, you can bugger-off. All rights are reserved for the photos and the article itself. This article may be reproduced with permission of the author for private or public usage, or other forms of general mayhem. Thank you for reading this disclaimer.