I’m always a big fan of dressing up for occasions. New Year’s Eve is obviously no exception. 

I wanted to put out some outfit options for New Year’s Eve and photograph them too. But by the time Xiaoyu arrives, there comes my Ayi (cleaning lady) and I know my apartment would not be the ideal location anymore. 

“Why don’t we shoot outside? ” I suggested, Xiaoyu and Tina agreed too, but my Ayi is like: “ Miss are you crazy? It’s so cold outside! ” True, and I just recovered from a nasty flu. 

“Oh, I have an idea! ” 

 

The Fruit Shop Owner

5 mins later, we found ourselves in the corner fruit shop, owned by a family and they are such sweet people, I asked them if we can shoot in front of their shop, and the guy is like it’s too cold outside, come inside and shoot! It’s all yours! 

I know you would think that because I buy fruits from them all the time and they know me. Truth is I usually just order from certain apps. Very few times I physically shopped in their store and they remembered!

I grew up in a house of a street where everyone knows everyone.  People don’t just close their doors all the time, especially in summer, the gate of each house is wild open, even when they are napping or out for grocery, and as a kid, when you pass by, the neighbors are always asking if you would like some chocolate or a slice of watermelon.

Back to the city, everybody lives in their own squares and even in the elevator we just stare at our phone and avoid eye contacts (guilty).

The fruit shop owner’s sweet smile just melts my heart and I decided to do a few more experiments.

The Florist

The same story goes to the florist. I have the habit of having flowers in the house always, and I shopped in their store several times, but every time it was a girl and today it was a guy, I guess it’s the husband. I felt terrible to ask him the question since he has customers in the shop and I would just be in the middle of the thing. Out of complete surprise, he said do what you must do, any flower you like can be used in your photos! In fact, he actually gave me a pink rose. I felt utterly grateful and head to toe overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers.

The Teashop

I knew it wouldn’t be a problem to shoot in this tea shop, cuz judging on the color and the decor, this place is made for Instagram. After receiving the confirmation from the shop staff, we jumped into the pool and had a great deal of fun.

At this point, I already forgot about the purpose of what we were supposed to do today, who cares what you are wearing, today I learned that our fruit shop owner is an ex-military, our florist used to live in Indonesia, and the girls in the tea shop are studying computer science.

 

Talk to your neighbors, and love them too.

If you don’t know it yet, they love you.

 

Wearing: Black evening dress Marina Qureshi London. Flower print jumpsuit Topshop.

Makeup by Tina Cai, shot by Xiaoyu in Shanghai, China.