Old Penang Guest House was the place where time had stopped and brought us as far back to the era where British personnel was walking down the street. It had a classical touch into it; a two storey building that is now fully operating as a guest house. I was completely overwhelmed with architectural design of this building. Not to exaggerate, it was not like a Colosseum (that kind of grand historical masterpiece) or a Tudor house (my specific inclination to French traditional house) but to be in a place where you could just stand and absorb the thoughts and feelings to be in a present moment was a total tranquility. This guest house had a similitude of local and western work of art. Nestled in a multicultural neigbourhood with predominantly Chinese culture filling the atmosphere, I could witness Western architectural ambiance at every corner. Upon entering the guest house, we were greeted by ages old fading tiles on the floor with attractive pattern on it. Some of it had seen its better days creating admirable rustic effect. There was an arch that led us to another section of the guest house of which we could see a few breakfast tables were nicely arranged. Also, there was a wooden stair led to upstairs for more rooms on the right where Jen and I were going to be roommates during our stay. What had really drawn my attention was the natural lighting that came from the ceiling. There was a little square uncovered rooftop that allowed a generous sunlight to illuminate the entire café area. I could imagine myself reading a nice novel for a whole lazy afternoon looking out the street and drinking fruit juice and enjoy every bit of the experience. But, apparently, I was not into novel so I would replace it with some books on world history or theology that should evoke my perspective about the world. It seemed to me that reading these kinds of material made me feel alive encapsulated with life energy stirring within. I really should stop talking about books now. The room was decently furnished with wooden floor and green wash on the wall. I could almost feel homey feeling. Outside the room, there was a hallway leading to a window at one end. I remember, I stood there on a cloudy day trying to comprehend historical essence by looking at nearby buildings on how was the place looked like when it was first built, who were the people living across the street or who was the very same person who used to stand here watching the day as the time went by as what I was doing. I sank in my own thoughts and entertained myself with array of nostalgic moments. I let myself being intertwined with the present moment without allowing myself to be pastist or futurist. This is what I call as being passionate about life. After freshening up, Ain, another good friend of mine of which I would describe her as a person with exquisite beauty with substance, drove us to one of the exciting hypermalls in Queensbay, Penang. To be continued….