Alone on Penang Bridge

Months after I made my solo descend from Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary, I found myself alone, again, on an endless stretch of road.

This time, I was not in the wilderness with an adjacent graveyard. I was on one of the biggest megastructure in Malaysia - Penang Bridge that spans 13 kilometers.

Penang Bridge Internation Marathon, held once per year, is the only time you will find the bridge closed for traffic.

There was no single soul in my line of sight. As I sat there on the cold rough road, I was finally at ease. No man is an island, but for that brief moment, I had a complete sense of solitude. A calm feeling that was in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan life.

Unlike Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary trip where I ended up in cold sweat and goosebumps, I was happy I started the 10km walk. Continue reading...

Leonid Meteor Shower

More than 10 years ago during my secondary school years, I moved the couch outdoor to the porch in the middle of the night. Coupled with some blankets to keep myself warm and the mosquitoes away, I sat there and waited. Seconds passed. Then minutes. And hours. Not a single meteor appeared. Definitely no meteor shower. I was duped! (or maybe I fell asleep ;p)

That was Leonid Meteor Shower too. I can remember because, well, I'm Leo, the lion.

Today, Leonid Meteor Shower is posed for a comeback. And a grand one it is. Astronomers are predicting as many as 500 meteors per hour. Although the number is nothing compared to the ultimate Leonid Meteor Shower in 1833 with hundred thousands of meteors that literally lighted up the night sky, the number is still relatively a lot more compared to the last couple of years.

This year, the best place to observe Leonid Meteor Shower is Asia. The full Leonid peak will occur at predawn hours.

Let me see, Asia. Yes, I'm in Asia. Check.

Predawn hours. No problem, I have an alarm clock. Check.

Camera to capture the show. Check.

Camera battery fully charged. Check.

Empty memory card to record the whole sequence. Check.

Knowledge to operate the camera. Check.

Clear night sky...

Damn, it has been raining whole night. The past few nights as well. I have everything readied, except this one thing that is out of my control.

Where've you been, clear sky? Continue reading...

The Origin of Apexture Photography

A few friends had asked me the meaning of "apexture". How did Ghee Sin and I come out with that word? Was it something random that we stumbled upon?

Fact is, there is no such English word as "apexture". We created it. Ghee Sin and I and another friend. More on that person later.

We first thought of using our own names, as that would add a personal touch to our photography blog and clients would easily associate it to us. Let me see.. [putting on my thinking cap]

Ah Beng Photography. All Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia know Ah Beng. It is a household name. Everyone will be able to connect with that name. Without doubt it will be a hit. But as usual, good things don't lay around for long. The name is taken. Claimed by a bunch of young males who dress like monkeys and cruise in town with bat cars.

Ghee Sin Photography. Sounds alright. Problem is the name bearer doesn't want his name to be in public's eyes. I suspect it is a ciphertext that leads to endless wealth and the name bearer wants to keep it to himself while he himself decrypts it.

Beng and Sin Photography. The result of combining both our names. More appropriate I would say as the website will host both our works. But when we shorten it, it becomes BS. Yes, BS. Most of us BS everyday but I don't think you want BS as your title.

Sadly, our own names didn't work. I had to blame that on our parents for not giving us better names (:

So, we had to think of something generic instead. We cooked up all kind of names. My memory eluded me here and I can't remember any of them. Needless to say, they weren't good enough.

Finally, Ghee Sin suggested "aperture". Now, that was a good one. Photo is created when light is reflected off different surfaces, and falls onto a CMOS sensor. Aperture is the opening in front of the sensor that ultimately controls the amount of light that reaches the sensor. When we talk photography, we can't neglect aperture. Apple even named their image editing software as Aperture.

You should have guessed it. Aperture Photography was taken. Ghee Sin and I had to think of something else.

While searching for new ideas, I happened to message a friend of mine in MSN. I told her the situation and ask if she could come out with some good idea. She did. She changed the "r" to "x" and tadaa, we had Apexture. Apexture carries the definition of the highest point of something. In our context that something is photography (: Thank you so much, Yin Leng.

With that, Apexture Photography is born.
Continue reading...

New Photography Blog

I'm pleased to announce my new photography blog is officially up and running. It is a joint venture between me and my friend, Ghee Sin. With the launch of the blog, our new photography adventure has begun.

When the idea of having our own photography blog was first born, Ghee Sin and I were very excited. The feeling was like when we were kids, our parents told us they were taking us overseas for holidays. We looked forward to the day our blog would go live and thereafter become a platform for us to post our photos.


As GS wasn't too familiar with web designing and coding, I was put in charge of building the blog. Wait a minute. I am no expert in coding either! Although I had prior experience in internet marketing, all the hard coding part was done by my CEO cum technical director. My job was to oversee the aesthetic of the websites. What should I do?

Building a blog from scratch is certainly out of question because I don't have the technical knowledge to accomplish it. Besides, it is silly. There are different blogging platforms out there which are free and customizable. All I have to do is decide on one, then choose a theme that I like. Simple right? Not exactly.

I chose Atahualpa theme for its easy customization and powerful features. It was the second theme after a failed attempt on the first. In order to get the look that I desired, I had to meddle and alter a lot of codes in the first theme. And that was when I came to a deadlock. I am a coding idiot remember? I then switched to Atahualpa and after getting a few advices from my technical director and some hard work, I managed to get everything done.

The blog was built from ground up in two months. Now that it is fully operational, please help me to share the joy and love. Share it with your loved ones, bookmark it, and best of all, link to it. Let me think of something to reward those who link to the blog ;p

I hope you have a great time reading it.

Thank you so much!
Continue reading...