Tea and ease

As last year flowed into this one, I was given to reflect on ease and the lack of struggle.

I saw the new year in at Penang this year. Getting there was a bit of a struggle, both for me and Mary, whom I was meeting there.  

My flight was first retimed and then delayed. At one point, sitting at the gate, having already checked in, I wondered if I would ever take off. Turned out later that there was much wrong with the plane and they needed to fix it. I'm lucky it took off at all. I made a mental note not to book flights on budget airlines. Also, not to book a flight so late.

Mary came over from Kedah by ferry. The ferry was also twice delayed and there was such a press of people she could hardly breathe. It brought up all her customary anxiety. When she landed, she ordered a Grab and couldn't find him. They were both waiting on opposite sides of the road. And when the driver dropped her off, she struggled to find the entrance - a few steps down from where she was. 

She's usually efficient and organised. But today with all the little and not-so-little roadblocks, she was back to feeling list, unsure and uncertain. Not a prepossessing start to a holiday that had been much looked forward to. 

Last year seems to have been characterised by struggle. Even working and planning ahead (with the aid of my trusty bullet journal) I seemed to be always scrambling to finish things at the last minute.

On the first day we both simply caught up on sleep. Yes, we had a nice meal at Kesum, met the lovely waitress Azimah who paid us so much attention and spoke to the lady running the place about the art on the walls. Turns out the artist is her father, Rosli Jaafar, who used to be an architect in a government department, and who only started painting 5 years ago. But his pieces were so stunning, they drew me into the place. Turns out they are all for sale.

Mary with Azimah

The art on the wall

Then we visited Areca Books which was just down the road from our hotel and I bought myself a copy of My Father in his Suitcase by John Corner, the last remaining copy at the bookshop. The last time I had cone, there were loads. Apparently, they had just flown off the shelves. 

We went back to the hotel for a rest, which lasted a lot longer than we both had anticipated. But we were tired. And rest when weary is time well spent.

Waking late, there were few choices...so we strolled down Lebuh Chulia and had some kueh teow, oyster omelette and (for me), nutmeg juice...

Strolled back to our lovely hotel. 

So ended our first day in Penang. 

I decided the next day to make a list so we would not while the time away without doing or seeing anything. 

So we did. 

And we saw... 

And we met people

On our last day, I realised that things had become effortless. We were no longer chasing the clock, found our way round easily with time to spare, made it to the airport and jetty respectively with loads of time and everything just...flowed.

And so I decided that would be my word for the year -- flow. Life does not have to be such a struggle. And we don't get brownie points for enduring rather than enjoying an experience.