Catching Sunrise

It was Deepavali, a public Holiday in Malaysia. But instead of spending the morning in the bed and compensate for the sleep debt accumulated over the working days, we ended up waking earlier than usual. The reason? Some silly promise I made to myself a few days back.

I was driving to work on the coastal highway when the sun was rising from behind the hills on the main land. It rained the previous night so wafts of mist could still be seen near the top of the hills. As the sun was still low, the morning rays cast interesting shadows on the clouds that lingered above, making them appear to be popped out from the backdrop. It was perhaps the most beautiful sunrise I've seen in Penang. Oh well, maybe there are better ones. It's just that I seldom beat the sun when it comes to waking up early in the morning.

So, that was when I vowed to come back to that spot to capture a sunrise as beautiful as that. Of course, you don't get a sunrise like that every day. It's a matter of chance. Never mind, I'd come back every weekend till I get a satisfactory shot, I told myself. Now, that's a matter of determination. And I'm in short supply of that.

It happened that two days later was a public holiday. And whaddaya know, I managed to pull my tuches out of the bed at 6.15 in the morning! Much to my surprise, Zhi was willing to tag along too, though it was evident that it was a tough decision to choose between me and the bed.

There used to be a path along the coastal highway where you could jog in the morning/evening while feeling the sea breeze. Alas, it has to make way for some reclamation projects. The coastal highway will be a coastal highway no more when the high rise buildings completely block us from the view of the sea. Already, more than half of the stretch has been fenced up for construction works so we had no choice but to head towards the plot of reclaimed land opposite E-gate for the shot.

With every step we took, our shoes sank into the soggy ground. We trod slowly but thankfully made it in time for the sunrise. The result is what you see up there. Certainly not as great as the sunrise you'd see in the Maldives but it was as good as we could shoot that day.

Maybe we should make another trip here this weekend... Or maybe not. I need my sleep.