Penang in Autumn

"You have to pick the places you don't walk away from." - Joan Didion

"This is water." - David Foster Wallace

Even though this was the first time I visited Penang, I felt like I have been here before. I felt like I have come home. Maybe it is because of the people who radiate kindness and treat you like one of them. They all contributed to my sense of déjà vu.

There is the café owner who walked a few blocks with me during business hours to make sure I could find my next destination. There is the jewelry designer with a penchant for working barefoot who introduced me to Peranakan culture which shaped his childhood and inspires him. There is the taxi driver who refused to charge me anything because the place I wanted to go to is just around the corner. "I don't want to take advantage of you," he said.

There is the bar owner who tried to spread the gospel of Bob Marley to me at the temple he erected for the reggae icon two decades ago. There is the penny bank seller who thinks it's wonderful that some Hong Kongers are fighting for democracy. There are numerous grandparents and parents in the street who generously let me take photos of their grandchildren/children.

And then there is the motorcyclist who asked me to take lots of photos when we were both passing through (I was trying to capture the elusive pigeons on my camera and he was chilling with his fellow motorcyclists). I took his advice, and here they are.

It is the pieces that form the puzzle, the notes which create the chord, the people who make the journey – I hope these random photos will come together to exude for you, no hyperbole intended, the warmth that enveloped me like a bear hug on my trip. And my belief that we are all on the road together, regardless of our differences in race, gender, and religion.