The aerial view of the urban development on Penang island can be pretty awesome when viewed from the top of Penang Hill, also known locally as Bukit Bendera. On my way up the hill via the funicular, I met a Malaysian who was touring Penang, expressing his disappointment that the tram-ride up was devoid of decent views, too quick and too pricey. Perhaps he would have complained less if we weren’t packed like sardines on the tram. I just hoped the view up there would make up for it. Well, it is quite pricey for tourists to head up there, especially if the weather doesn’t play nice. While I found the summit cooling, dark clouds came quickly and I felt light drizzling. It proceeded to rain intermittently during my time up there.
I have to work against light fog and the usual atmospheric haze while capturing the essence of the view, which makes me miss having a neutral density filter or a polarizer. Then again I was shooting this scene with the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 on my Nikon D800, which is nearly impossible to get any filter on. Yup, also quite a load to trot around with. Haha, I’m spoiled rotten with lightweight mirrorless cameras. Yet, I can’t totally let go of my DSLR. Such a modern day dilemma… I previously tried the Fotodiox WonderPana filter on the 14-24mm, but the quality of the filter holder and the filters themselves suck so bad. Nasty color cast from the filters and rough construction on the holders, reasons why the set costs so much less than the equivalent from LEE Filters. I wonder if I should just save up for the LEE SW150 kit, or just solely rely on Photoshop tweaking.
Penang is pretty urbanized. If not for the hilly terrain, it might be more developed than it already is. The view looking down towards Georgetown in the center left is marked by the 65-storey skyscraper KOMTAR tower. Across the sea is the town of Butterworth and the rest of peninsular Malaysia. The smaller island on the right is Jerejak island.
During my short time in Penang, I’ve heard from locals telling me there is nothing much to see from up the hill. I don’t blame them for their cynicism, I feel the same way (perhaps worse) for Mount Faber, which should be more accurately named Faber Hill if we want to be precise. I do however prefer the view from Penang Hill as it gives better perspective on the (small) size of the island as compared to the mainland. It’s a humbling view of how large the world is out there, as compared to the views we see in Singapore.