Joint Tribute to Mother’s Day by Wu Chun and Mr Baker’s Bakeshop

On Friday 11th I had a long-planned photo shoot of Mr Baker’s Bakeshop business that would take me from the showroom all the way back to the heartbeat of the bakery. On this day, Cyril joined me on this very early road trip from Seria to Batu Besurat in Gadong where Mr Baker’s Bakery is located. It had to be early for a number of reasons: to capture the essence of their very busy kitchen before shop opens for business and to avoid the traffic jam along Tungku link road that would inevitably delay the shoot. Mr Baker is a well established name in the healthier eating community with cafe outlets at Jerudong Park Medical Centre, a newly opened cafe at the Airport Mall including, in case you didn’t know, Fitness Zone at Serusop — the healthy goodness of Mr Baker’s breads (choice of Rye, Low GI, Sovitol, etc) can now be found right up the stairs.

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Wu Chun explaining about the Fitness Zone and Mr Baker’s joint promo to newly head shaven Rano (not pictured).

Fitness Zone chose Mr. Baker’s Bakeshop because they are the healthier choice and due to their strict policy of no added preservatives, dough improver and as much as possible, no added stabilizer / emulsifier is used. For instance, you may notice that the sponge used in our cakes is less spongy but firm in texture and most of our cakes are less sweet.

According to Eric, the founder of Mr Baker’s Bakeshop, “In conjunction with the upcoming Mother’s Day celebration, we are having a 15% discount on our top selling cakes, Fresh Fruit Vanilla, and on top of it, we are also giving complimentary gift voucher worth $140 to the first 50 customers which entitles holder for one-week free entry to the #1 Health Club courtesy of Fitness Zone.” In addition, Wu Chun added, “We are thankful to Mr Baker’s Bakeshop for allowing FZ Members to have the privilege of having their cakes made to order and have them delivered to Fitness Zone free of charge.”

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Eric Pui, founder of Mr Baker’s Bakeshop speaking to Sin Chew and United Daily News journalists about the mutually beneficial partnership with Fitness Zone.

Mr. Baker’s Bakeshop is also baking their record-breaking biggest fruit cake ever baked specially for Fitness Zone’s Mother’s day activity which is to be held on 12th May Saturday at their Serusop Branch. This coming weekend, there is also a ‘Surprise’ Mother’s Day promotion and Fitness Zone will also do an open house for all families to enjoy their state of the art facilities plus free gifts as well! Start living healthy and start SAVING MONEY by becoming a member of Fitness Zone today!

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Size matters! Wu Chun unboxing Mr Baker’s biggest fruit cake ever baked specially for Fitness Zone’s Mother’s day activity including an FZ open house for all families to enjoy their state of the art facilities plus free gifts as well!

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Mr Baker’s best selling fresh fruit vanilla cake specially upsized for this Fitness Zone Mother’s Day promo. Why is this best selling? Stay tuned for behind-the-scenes photo documentary of how the cake is assembled.

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The best selling fresh fruit cake looks and tastes ever bit as good from afar and up close (remember, if you find the cake a tad too creamy, you can order one with less cream).

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Wu Chun says, “Good health not only add years to life but also add life to years! Quality of life is so important to people nowadays and this month, we are giving very good promotion for all mothers which we believe it’s one of the proudest ‘Gift of Love’ that a mother can own on mother’s day!” Photo courtesy of Fitness Zone

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Founder of Mr Baker’s Bakeshop, Eric Pui, poses with Wu Chun holding their bakery’s largest and most popular Fresh Fruit cake for a press photo. Just how big is the cake? According to Eric it’s about 15″ in diameter.

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The massive cake makes it inside a drinks fridge at Fitness Zone and staff checks for clearance before closing the door. I understand the cake didn’t stay inside very long — frankly I would be surprised if it did. :)

How time flies! Catching up with Chun for a quick photo op after 5 years since our paths last crossed at the launch of Fitness Zone Kiulap in 2007. In case you missed that launch, click on this photo to check out the massive media event.

Tweet from a fan of Wu Chun who initiated a comment my Facebook Page.

BUTTERFLY LOVERS. WU CHUN BIG SCREEN DEBUT.

Moving from art to artiste, a big thank you to BAIDURI BANK for the exclusive treat along with a Prestige entrance ticket-cum-bookmark to remember the event by. In spite of heavy rain reminiscent of the heart wrenching scene in the film, having also driven from Seria to join the capacity crowd, we escaped the rain for a night of anticipation. An online contact in Singapore who attended the Singapore premier of BUTTERFLY LOVERS 梁祝 recently expressed her disappointment of not having lead actress Charlene Choi there.

Flowers and congratulatory messages—a scene reminiscent of Wu Chun’s Grand Opening of Fitness Zone!

The theater’s overhead display sets the scene for what’s to come as Baiduri Prestige guests young and elderly with complimentary bags of popcorn and drinks are ushered into each cinema.

I thought these introductory screen shots would help readers who aren’t fans of either celebrity understand the film’s genre. I was skeptical at first not knowing what to make of the film as I had neither researched nor heard much about it. Those who have seen it, feel free to post your critique or comments. I’ll reserve mine for another day! The film comes in two versions: mandarin and cantonese and Brunei audience gets the latter. Butterfly Lovers is a HK$20 million film based on a Chinese love story whose main characters Liang Shanbo, Zhu Yintai and Ma Wencai (played by actor Hu Ge) get into a messy love triangle.


© Butterfly Lovers


© Butterfly Lovers

“SMARTER” is an acronym of Society for the Management of Autism Related issues in Training Education and Resources and SMARTER Brunei, formed on September 9th 2001, is a member of World Autism Organisation.

Capacity crowd gathers at the entrance of Cineplex after watching Butterfly Lovers as the emcee periodically teases them about the imminent arrival of the celebs and their entourage of fans and media folks. As I am not a regular movie buff, I’d venture a guess that this crowd overwhelms even a blockbuster movie evening. Yes or No, you tell me.

Representing Baiduri Bank, Mr Ti Eng Hui, Deputy General Manager welcomed the HK celebrity with a bouquet of flowers …

… while Alvina Chung, Manager of Baiduri Prestige and Yayasan Branch welcomed our home grown celebrity to the delight of Charlene.

I thought this photo was rather interesting to include here. Clearly there’s some kind of point-a-thon going on where emcee is seen pointing to either the floor or crowd while Wu Chun gestures to a fan maybe and someone behind Charlene holding a compact camera is saying something else.

In a split second, Wu Chun and Charlene exchanges a glance while Brunei Tourism Director SHEIKH JAMALUDDIN and SMARTER President MALAI HJ ABDULLAH shake hands in appreciation of the generous donation of B$10,000.

Wu Chun works the crowd while Charlene looks in. Boyish charming good looks, he makes the whole business of being an international artiste seem to easy but we know that isn’t the case if it weren’t for his dedication and commitment to always do the best you can and exceeding expectations when you can!

Charlene hanging on to an autographed poster while Emcee Mei Ting makes an offer to the first person in the audience who answered the question correctly. Note the interesting silhouette resembling that of someone pointing a gun. Butterfly Lovers is not an action movie and there are certainly no guns in an era where swords and bow and arrows.

Wu Chun rolls up a poster to the delight of a very lucky and ecstatic winner (female participant in pink top).

Proud owners of a poster autographed by Wu Chun and Charlene

It’s not everyday that you have major celebrities make a public appearance in Brunei and the overwhelming turnout time and again says volumes. Having experienced first hand the sensational Grand Opening of Fitness Zone Kiulap Branch last year, this event while not nearly as big managed to pull it off rather well in comparison.

Know where’s Jan Shim?” Correct guesses win nothing. I suggest you use your time wisely. About 4 years ago, I began using the Lightsphere II diffuser at weddings and major event shoots and used to always get strange looks from onlookers. I used to have to come up with spur of the moment answer when I would get asked what it is. The LS-II has evolved quite a bit but I continue to use and believe in its effectiveness to create softlight (can also produce harsh  light in the wrong hands), and I just call it my ‘rice bowl’ literally and metaphorically speaking! So there I was captured by ranoadidas.com with visible beads of sweat running down my face!

NOTE: All photographs except where indicated including flash gallery © Jan Shim Photography. Under no circumstances should any of these images be used for commercial purposes without express written consent of the owner. Linking of images to other sites is allowed as long as © JAN SHIM PHOTOGRAPHY or © SHIMWORLD.COM is indicated below each image (right-click on image, select properties and copy .jpg link).

WU CHUN IN THE ZONE!

See also:
MAY 11 2012 | Joint Tribute to Mother’s Day by Wu Chun and Mr Baker’s Bakeshop
OCTOBER 17 2008 | Wu Chun in Butterfly Lovers

If there is a name the media loves getting it wrong and gets away with, it’s Wu Chun who also goes by Zhun and Zun. Perhaps this is all part of show biz creative licenses at work or perhaps it [show biz] simply subscribes to the notion of variety being the spice of life! This post begins with photos of Chun at his new establishment on the eve of the grand opening. It was the first time I had stepped into Fitness Zone and certainly the first time I had met Chun in person and I must say—he looked every bit like what I’d imagined and he handled himself with finesse when I introduced myself. The following three pictures are candid shots with a telephoto lens at 200mm on my EOS 5D.

Photo gallery from the Fitness Zone Grand Opening at the end of this post (incl. a bonus gallery dedicated to Wu Chun’s fans)

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Wu Chin @ Fitness Zone © Jan Shim Photography

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Wu Chun © 2007 Jan Shim Photography

With so many digital cameras and camera phones pointed at him, Chun remained unfazed by the attention and took a couple of shots of us in reciprocity.

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Chun taking a snapshot of his customers and the crowd

On Grand Opening day right after Chun concluded press conference, there was photo opportunity with Chun before he handed me a goodie bag and another for a special friend, Leukaemia patient Desmond Chin for whom I’m helping raise donations. Many thanks, Chun, you’ve just touched someone with your kindness.

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Me & Chun on Grand Opening Day

As a token of my appreciation, I produced these photo DVD as a gift to celebrate his success. On it contains still photos and a gallery of the grand opening that Chun can share with his family and friends and is welcome to share them with his fans on his personal blog. I’m working and commuting for most part of this week before I head over to my next shoot in Hanoi for the ASEAN 100 Leadership Forum. I’ve asked my sister in law Julie to pass the discs to Chun. I hope he gets them before he leaves Brunei.

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DVD design and photography © Jan Shim Photography

This is one of my favourite moments that I chose for the DVD cover.

Selected photos from Grand Opening day starts here …

Chun delivers his speech in Malay and English.

Well, I have to admit that I was rather amazed by how broadly fitness is now defined this century. What is fitness? It’s not just about working out at clubs anymore. It has also to do with how you eat, sleep and live … it should be part of everyone’s life!

This is why I had this dream to build a world-class fitness club that allows Bruneians to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of changing ones lives through fitness. That’s why I had a great passion for this job as much as today as I did when I was just starting out. ~ Wu Chun

Chun taking time out to refuel.

Press Conference nonchalance

One of Chun’s many faces during the press conference

Chun makes his way to autograph signing after press conference

Chun spreading his magic in various colors.

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The Brunei Times: Wu Zhun willing to help to promote Brunei tourism (click on image to read article)

The grand opening day was quite an eye opener—for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why there were so many edgy females that morning, an encounter that is rather unusual. Walking around with my long lenses and camera pouches, I sensed that they did not want to be photographed and when they began covering their faces or turning away, I knew something was up and it quickly dawned on me that these rather peculiar and uncharacteristic behaving females must be his fans who had come from several countries to see their idol. WOW!

PHOTO GALLERIES/SLIDESHOW:

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These images are the property of Jan Shim Photography. You may save them for personal viewing only. Hosting them on other sites is strictly prohibited. You may show your support by providing a link to this page using the address below.
http://shimworld.wordpress.com/2007/08/11/shimworld-feature-wu-chun/

Gallery Highlights:
The photo gallery begins with the walkway between the Palm Garden Hotel and Fitness Zone and goes on to give you a journalistic view as events unfold including a peek inside Fitness Zone and the facilities it offers to give members a one-stop healthy lifestyle programme.

Oh, did I mention it was a HOT DAY ?

Thanks to poster and fan Rebecca_mel for the heads up on BAIDU.com, a huge site with a ton of information on Wu Chun and his Taiwanese pop band Fahrenheit (interesting background info) and SHIMworld makes its online appearance in China.

At the moment how much I wish you could read Chinese writing, then you could feel and understand how deeply the chun’s fans who have seen your works are thanking you and cherishing such precious pictures taken by a professional photographer like you….

All these high compliments are not only from myself, but also from the bottom heart of every Chun’s supporter…And they are one hundred percent sincere…I wish you can feel it ….

And at the end, please allow me to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH one more time, on behalf of Chun’s fans. As one of them, I’m more than moved by these rare pictures, and as a photography enthusiast, I sincerely respect and admire you…  Rebecca_mel

Here are previously unpublished photos of Wu Chun

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© Jan Shim Photography

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© Jan Shim Photography

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© Jan Shim Photography

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© Jan Shim Photography

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© Jan Shim Photography

I hope you enjoy your stay and thank you for visiting!