Municipal Youth Park, Penang

Youth Park is located close to Botanical Garden in Penang. however, it is located off the main road and not readily visible. so, i did not really know of it's existence even though i passed by there many times. plus, the signboard pointing there is not even written "youth park", but taman perbandaran...

i spoilt my original plan to reach there by 7-8am, when the sun is just rising and the lighting not too strong, by waking up at 9-something instead :p. sigh... and ended up reaching there around 11, after missing the entrance and had to turn back...

the park is quite well-maintained and beautifully landscaped. i saw at least two gardener at work while there. there's a cafeteria open as well.

there's a fairly sized skating rink here. nearby is the chess area, with many chairs and tables with chessboards painted on top, and also a large chessboard on the ground with large-sized chess pieces accompanying it. the large chess pieces doesn't seem to be complete though, and they looked obviously in need of a fresh coat of paint :p.

walking around, one can find various exercising equipment located around the skating rink. there is also a playground nearby, where one can find the statue of hang tuah and hang jebat (i think?). there are also a few fountains scattered around.

a few pools (3?) are available for children to splash around. somewhere, there is also a short adventure trail, leading to a cliff where you can have a view of the surrounding area. not forgetting, there's a trail that leads up to penang hill as well. for something less challenging, try out the foot reflexology path.

fountain of flower vases, with 8 vases in total - a lucky number?

a pretty, orange-y flower near the skateboard rink... spotted only a single plant with flowers of this shade in the entire park.

a few more flowers...

spotted this metallic-colored bug as i was about to leave. and the bug was probably sleeping, drunk, friendly, idiot, or any combinations of those, as it doesn't budge at all with my cam hovering so close to it. as the flower bunch that the bug was clinging to is exposed to strong noon sunlight, i found myself shading it with my cam pouch with one hand, and another hand trying to get a good angle with the 1cm macro - before the bug sober up...

got some shots of a few butterflies and dragonflies too, but their colors are kinda dull (i mean the flies, not the quality of photos that i took :p - ok, the photos are dull too anyway).

and strong, harsh sunlight can sometimes results in surprisingly interesting photos too. i actually stepped up the exposure for the photo below even though the sky was already overexposed - and i liked the outcome. kinda have a chinese new year mood to it...