Tuesday, November 24, 2009

embracing the inner khmer royalty...

if you're family, then you won't be reading this. but you'll definitely know that every year, with our christmas greetings, we send out gratuitious pictures of us! we're assuming they are as thrilled to see our faces as we are to send them! or at least, they love us enough not to say anything. last year we had an awesome selection of travel pics but this year...we wanted to work on something different. having spent most of our year in cambodia, we hatched our plan.

so we did some research, got some help and found a local photo studio. For $15 dollars, you get a traditional makeover, and dress up in any khmer costume and (3) edited selected prints !! best part is, daniel get to get dressed and jump into my picture for free!!! what a cheap date!!! so we did it! :) rolled up in our dinky bicycles and off we went!!

first up, they grabbed me for my makeover. it was insane!! by far the MOST make up i've had caked on my face. like seriously more than stage makeup! :) it was also the first time i had sticky double eye lid stuf and two sets of faux eyelash!!

then, they pinned a bunch of fake hair at the back of my head and promptly created a beehive. i kept telling them i wanted something less dramatic. which was probably the wrong move.. cos they loosened the bun and made my hair grow out of my ears.. daniel found it hilarious. but i learnt a painful lesson to let them do whatever they wanted.

afterwhich, they squeezed me into their corset-like costume, padded my boob (!! never before!!) and my butt (oh well..) and threw on a tonne of random jewellery on me!! daniel started getting involved (before that, he sat chuckling the entire time *sigh*) and got dressed in a shirt. thats it! and they threw on a gaudy gold necklace cos he was looking like a pauper next to me and my princess crown..

then we were brought into this crazy studio with backdrops, japanese bridge in one corner, khmer furniture in the other and was posed "naturally", tilt chins up, angle here, stick my butt out, chest out.. at the end of the session, my body was aching from the weight of my bling and how long we had to hold these "natural" poses!! and we were done!

24 hours later, we turned up at the same shop and received these! heavily edited, three shade lighter against bas reliefs of angkor wat. so classic! :) love it!



i cant get over my brows.. they're so boxy!!! and check our daniel's pseudo smothering-sexy looks!!

we can't wait till our family receives them!! :) :) :) from the reaction of daniel's secretary when he showed her this morning, i reckon they're gonna be sure hits!! now we're cracking our brains... how to beat this next year??

32 comments:

  1. NIIIICE!!
    i think i should go over to cambodia next year and do this too!! care to be our guide?? :D~~

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  2. hahah.... way TOO cute the both of you!!!

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  3. actually its not too bad lah, i kinda curious to try this out too!

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  4. you should!!
    its kinda fun and inexpensive. but have to keen an open-mind about the brows and tacky lip colour!!! :)

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  5. definitely!! :) i highly recommend it!! $15 is worth it, even just for the laughs!

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  6. hahaha!!! now my mum can't complain that im not taking pre-wedding studio shots. prewedding, check. studio, check! :)

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  7. thanks babe.. they weren't too amused by us though!! i guess we weren't very natural models. *shrugs*

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  8. Ok I am feeling a bit lost here... aren't you guys married already? Or was that just the ROM? :)

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  9. just ROM! :)
    so our current status is pretty weird cos we loosely call each other whatever we feel like. so one day im a girlfriend, next day he's my husband...

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  10. This picture is insane, but CUTE! :D

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  11. yay i just scored myself a guide! :D~~

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  12. They even PS-ed in the light flare! LOL... Nonetheless, i think u guys look pretty good.

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  13. they PS-ed EVERYTHING!!! my skin is nowhere as fair or smooth! :)

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  14. the whole experience was kinda crazy!! :) but fun! but their studio was pretty impressive! had all reflector flash thingies!! :)

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  15. yeah i guess so... but you see, it confuses people when we say we're married and say "so next year, you're flying in for our wedding right?"
    *shrugs* can't wait for the status to be a little more definite!

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  16. Love love love the picture :) You guys look like royalty!!!

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  17. You guys look like you belong on a Khmer version of Dynasty or something... Will be in PP for one night only at some point next week, staying at the Pavilion hotel behind Botum pagoda - any tips on a nice relaxing evening before heading back? :)

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  18. indeed!! i think the brows are very disturbing though! they're like right-angled!!!
    relaxing evening in town..hmm!! you could start with dinner at friends! (street 13) its kinda fun tapas, style local-ish but clean food. some of the $$ from your meal also goes into training street kids.
    then wander up to waterfront (about 1 block away) for a beer by the water. FCC is the most sanitized and they serve $1 during happy hour!! its not SUPER scenic but as good as it gets!
    poke your nose into kravan house, (street 178) 1 min away from FCC. they have the best selection of nicely made silk stuff! great for gifts!
    then head over to some khmer spa for a foot or back rub! :) have fun darling! and don't pay more than $2 for tuktuk and $1 for bike! :) oh! wear a mask in the streets! esp to and from the airport!

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  19. thanks hon! we had a grand time dressing up like them! :)

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  20. You two are super cute!!! But I noticed Daniel doesn't have a crown. So it's more lucky-guy-marries-beautiful-Khmer-princess? Wonderful opportunity to remind Daniel that he's DARN blessed to have you! =D

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  21. haha.. thats true!!! he totally married UP man!!!! i'll prod him later and remind him how blessed we both are! :)

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  22. hahhahaha.. too much make up, right? and whats with the brown nose bridge! :) :) :)

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  23. hahaha but for 15bucks it's pretty cool!
    i wna go cambodia too!

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  24. omg! babe, this is like, so cool! u 2 look gorgeous! i wanna be khmer princess too!!! (the inner princess in us will always be there! hahaha)

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  25. Thanks for all the great recommendations hon! Will let you know if we get a chance to check them out. xx

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  26. come come! :) you can stay with me! :)

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  27. hahaha! :) its such a silly project! :) i chose the biGGEST crown just for kicks! :)

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  28. "we are legally married/ we are married under the singapore laws, so next year you are flying in for our wedding celebrations right?"
    :P

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  29. good one! if only facebook has a status that says that!!!
    i suggested putting "its complicated" but daniel thinks thats for woeful angsty teenagers!! hah!

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