Confronting My Greatest Fear

All of a sudden, darkness enveloped me. I looked at my surroundings, but there wasn't a faintest ray of light reflected off any surface. A moment ago, I looked back to the gate, just in time to catch the last glimpse of light faded away into the distance as I made a right turn. Beyond that point, light ceased to exist. I was shrouded in total darkness. As I stood there, in the middle of a palm oil plantation, a bizarre fear built up in me.

I didn't want to continue the descend.

This wasn't what I expected to encounter when I visited Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary. I have come to the sanctuary a day before Kathina Day to avoid the buzzing crowd, to soak myself in nature wonders and to frame the spectacular views into digital files. But at 8 p.m., after a two-hour stay in the sanctuary, I was starving and tired. I longed for a hot meal and wanted to leave Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary as fast as possible.

I walked to the rendezvous point where I could ride a jeep down. To my dismay, the jeep would only depart after another 30 minutes. I couldn't wait. And I didn't want to wait. The hike down by foot would take 20 minutes. If I quickened my pace, I could probably make it in 15 minutes. I contemplated the options I had. Was it wise to foray into the darkness alone? Could there be muggers hiding behind bushes waiting to ambush me? Or maybe there were things even more sinister out there in the wild?

I was scared, but I started the descend.

The air was still. I breathed heavily. Raising my hand while activating the illumination, I looked at my watch. It was 8.15 p.m., merely 5 minutes into the descend. I knew I wasn't that far from the gate of Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary. Should I turn back? But that would mean conceding defeat. Besides, if I pushed forward, there was just another 10-minute walk ahead. It wouldn't take long, I reassured myself.

I was still scared, yet I continued the descend.

Fortunately, the concrete pavement made easy my descend. I didn't have to worry stumbling over tree roots or rocks. Without a way to illuminate my path, I took out my cell phone and pressed the cancel button repeatedly to get the small screen lighted all the time. With that dim light, I kept a steady pace.

The night was eerily quiet. An intense fear crept up my spine as flashes of horror scenes from movies flickered through my mind. To make matter worse, a Chinese graveyard was just a stone throw away. I couldn't help it but think of the inhabitants there. My mind had played a trick on itself and I was cut out of the loop. I wasn't in control. All I could do was to chatter prayers.

Soon, steep slope became flat land and the concrete pavement ended abruptly. In front of me lied a narrow path cutting through a palm oil plantation. The fear in me did not subside. Raising my feet higher to avoid kicking rocks on the uneven earth, I broke into a small run.

I had no idea how long I ran. I only slowed down when I heard the distance sound of the roar of a car engine. The head lights came nearer and nearer until the jeep halted beside me. The driver looked expectantly at me and smiled.

"Why don't you get into the car?"

I must have looked like hell. Without uttering a word, I climbed onto the back of the jeep.

As I sat there in the jeep, I realized that my skin resembled a goosebump farm. The night wasn't hot but I was soaked wet. It was cold sweat.

I didn't wait for the jeep, but I ended in one.
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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.
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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!
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