Panoramic View Of Taman Pekaka, Taman Lip Sin And Bukit Jambul

Panoramic view of Taman Pekaka, Taman Lip Sin and Bukit Jambul
Panoramic view of Taman Pekaka, Taman Lip Sin and Bukit Jambul.
Click on image to enlarge.

The image in the previous entry did not do justice to what I could actually see from the bedroom window in my apartment in Penang. The view from the 20th floor is practically unobstructed to Teluk Kumbar and all the way to the Straits of Melaka in the horizon. On clear days, I could see the tail of aircrafts on the runway at the Penang International Airport.

There are a lot of memories locked in that 850 square feet of space 30 meters up in the air. Mum spent the last four years of her life there, and I another two years after she passed away. Since 2006, after I moved down to Kuala Lumpur, I have been in two minds whether to keep the apartment or put it up for sale. I will definitely miss the breathtaking view should I decide to sell it off.

View From My Room

View of Taman Pekaka Asia Hills and Bukit Jambul
Early morning view of Taman Pekaka, Asia Hills and Bukit Jambul from my bedroom window.

No matter how I tell myself that there is nothing left in Penang for me except memories, I am invariably drawn back to this little island that was home for forty years. How could I simply walk away from a place where I was born, grew up and spent almost an entire lifetime in? Try as I did, I still pine for those familiar places that were occasionally stirred up from my deepest memories.

I am glad I still have a home to go back to in Penang. I love the view from my bedroom window in Taman Pekaka. I could just sit there and look at the unfolding dusk as the sky turned from blue to orange to the colour of darkness. The sights of kids scampering in the playground, people playing soccer and joggers running around the field brought back memories of how Mum would lean on the window and look out from that exact spot. I wonder what she was thinking those times.

Haze In Penang – July 2009

The stench of ash and thick veil of haze shrouded our entire journey from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh and then to Penang last Saturday. It has never been this bad since we started travelling the E1 of the North-South Expressway (NSE) three years ago.

From our observations, the haze not only came from Sumatra. It is also a locally-induced problem as people are still practicing open burning even in this hazy condition. The following two images were taken on Sunday from my apartment at Taman Pekaka in Penang four hours apart. What a world of difference the view was after a downpour.

Haze in Penang as viewed from Taman Pekaka
Haze in Penang as viewed from Taman Pekaka at 8.04am, July 19, 2009.

No more haze after rain in Penang as viewed from Taman Pekaka
No more haze after rain. Taken at 12.03pm, July 19, 2009.