The old school "throne of the cop", the well preserved architecture with lasting style and a touch of retro love. Saying hi to Yat again. The Blue Mansion (The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion). The unexpected surprise of the amazing Street Art. The Street Food. The mix of Religions and origin. Grandma's school.
Above all, finally sharing these kind of fun, random and spontaneous moments with Anna, including our search for that precious cat before that glorious morning swim, and finally having that Nyonya-not-Assam Laksa thanks to Marco Polo - stubbornness (or perseverance, nicely put) must run in the family.
Note on The Gift of Rain: The storyteller raised his voice and said the title of this book twice just as we were about to step out from that magnificent mansion. I looked back, paused for a moment, and stared at dark corner of the last room where he sat. I left The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet for this Malaya; in a strange way it pierced everything together: the unlived memories, the passing visual images, the conflicts, the struggle of embracing cultures which one has internalised beyond measure without even had realised, the week before, and essentially the four weeks after Penang, and most valuable of all, zazen. Who is anyone to judge or decide afterall?
