A Past in Penang

I'm blogging from the Penang Airport. The accommodation that I booked is not ready yet, so I decided to loiter a bit at the airport and do my obligatory blog post for the week.

Penang brings back a lot of memories. It feels strange to fly here from KL--a route that I used to do a lot in the early days of my career. In fact, my first job after graduation was here at a factory in Bayan Lepas. I didn't like Penang then: for someone who grew up in a small town, it felt like I was going backwards. Work means something in an exciting urban city like KL or Singapore. At that young age, I certainly did not appreciate the eclectic charms of Penang.

My stint here was brief, but I had good memories here. I had a beat-up Honda Civic which I drove all over the island and Butterworth. I especially liked driving driving into the ferry to go across to Butterworth. My other favourite places are the cinemas along Penang Road. I used to spend every night watching movies there after work and then had some nice nasi kandar at one of the stalls along the side alleyways.

Things were much cheaper then. I could afford to eat and drink quite often at the Equatorial Hotel, City Bayview and the E&O Hotel. Ah, the E&O was my favourite place; there was a lounge called 1885 with a couple of lady crooners belting out classics to the accompaniment of a piano. The beachfront walkway at the hotel had a great view of the harbour--especially on New Year's Eve when fireworks shoot up into the nightsky from the anchored ships, illuminated the still and dark waters of the straits.

It was a romantic time. But I was restless and yearned to be back in the real city. Penang felt like a petty and provincial place. I had everything a young man my age then would have been pleased with---freedom, a steady job, money, love and friendship. But I had other plans. Embarking on a live of yuppiehood wasn't my cup of tea. I wanted to do some soul-searching. That led me to other adventures, which I will recount probably, in my usual oblique and fragmentary style in other blog posts.

Well, I'm back in Penang. This time it is a short business trip. I'm enjoying the book that I brought with me--a Conrad--after finishing an elegant and scholarly tome by Bernard Lewis. I look forward to spending two leisurely days here in Penang, mixed with a bit of work.

Penang is a very different place now. Many of my friends who had started their careers in Penang with me have also taken root here. I'll probably spend some time catching up with some of them. They all have beautiful families and successful careers now. While I am still the tramp that I've always been: Never staying put for long in a city--a wanderer across time and space. Well,I'm older now but to me age is like the version number of software--the higher the figure, the more stable it is. Being back in Penang gives me a good opportunity to reflect on myself, when I was version 1.0.