Rainy Evenings: Reflections from Penang

I ducked into a Chinese café to eat egg tarts and wait out the rain. It was only a drizzle then but soon it began to pour like bucket of marbles hitting a tin roof.

I ran to the other side of the street and took shelter in another café, sat down, and promptly ordered food. The rain sounds like thousands of hands of an audience clapping vigorously. I had my back turned to the stage. I wondered how long I would be trapped in the cafe. There is no possibility of  walking in that rain. Those slick bullets would tear right through an umbrella, bounce off the ground and come at you from below. Better to stay under the tin roof, no matter how much it clamors.

After haggling for an umbrella the sky cleared up immediately. Oh well, I’ll use the umbrella as a parasol. I love this city. This is, perhaps, the first place I have been thus far on my trip that I have truly loved. I could spend days walking around Georgetown’s painted streets, eating food from the hawkers stands and passing the long hot afternoons at cafes. There are more cute cafes here than I could even sample in weeks. Quiet mornings. Hot sunny afternoon. Rainy dark evenings. This could be my life. 

Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014 Kaffe Kafe, Penang