Sunday, Off to Penang

Please click the photo above to play the daily videoUp early to get everything organised before the drive, the boys already keyed up about it — they'd been looking forward to the E&O for a while now, and it shows when they get like that. Quick breakfast, nothing fussy, then on the road before eleven, which felt like a decent achievement given how the morning had started.

Stopped at Tapah on the way, the usual sort of break, stretch your legs, grab a coffee, let everyone shake off the first stretch of road. That's about when Anita found out her reunion venue had changed — got the message mid-drive, and you could tell straight away it wasn't sitting well with her. Not the news itself so much as finding out that way, stuck in a car with nothing to do about it but sit with it. Quiet stretch after that.

Got into Penang before four, which was a relief after a drive that had picked up a bit of weight along the way. Settled into the room, and once we'd got our bearings, turned to sorting out the venue business for the reunion — a few calls, working through the change, trying to get Anita back to feeling like it was in hand rather than sprung on her.

Evening brought canapés, then a complimentary dinner at Java Tree, and honestly it did a fair bit to smooth the day back out. The place has that old E&O feel to it — colonial luxury the hotel's been known for since 1885, and Java Tree itself sits right in that spirit, tables in white linen, that big painting of the java tree on the wall, everything understated but done properly. Food matched the room — good mix of Nyonya and European, nothing showy, just done well. Exactly the kind of evening you need after a day that started a bit rattled.

By the time we got back up to the room, the venue matter had settled, Anita seemed more at ease with it, and the day had rounded itself out nicely despite the bump in the middle. Turned in early, worn out in the good way — not from stress, just from a day that had covered a lot of ground, literally and otherwise.

Tomorrow's its own thing. Tonight, just glad to be horizontal.