The Danica Naz Blog

On the 26th of March 2026, I made a spontaneous trip to Penang…

It all started in the car, on the way to school. Originally, I had class until 8:30 PM (yes, It’s crazy). However, out of the blue, my sociology teacher decided to cancel our class. My mom looks at me in the passengers seat and said, “Why don’t you get a train ticket and head to Penang for the weekend?”. How could I have said no??

I booked a ticket for the same day after class had ended (which was at around 3pm) and had my mom pack a luggage for me back at home. Spontaneity is always the best!

I reached Penang at around 8pm, and gave my aunt a little surprise. And with anticipation to your next question, yes. She was indeed, surprised.

Friday 27th of March 2026

I planned to hang out with 2 of my cousins, let’s call them Sherry and Henry. I met up with them at the second most boring mall in Penang, called Gurney Paragon. We went for karaoke for a brief two hours, which obviously wasn’t enough, but hey, I was the one paying for all three of us, so two hours seemed like 15 hours to my poor ol’ wallet.

Anyways. After karaoke, we went upstairs to do a Photo Booth. If you’re a teenager, you most likely know that hanging out with someone without going to a Photo Booth is basically a friendship crime in 2026. We then went for a quick bite at Sushi Zanmai to pop a couple of pieces of sushi into our bellies before… GO KART!

You can already imagine how excited Henry was that we finally did something… moderately masculine, after hours of girl talks and two whole hours of Sherry and I screaming our heart and soul out to Adele.

I, for one, enjoyed go karting, I guess. To be honest, this specific go karting place in Gurney Paragon was pretty lame compared to the one in Straits Quay. The circuits were boring, and to make things worse, the go karts were SO! SLOW! BORINGGGGG!!

It was already around 6.30 PM by then, and we had to get moving to Red Rock Hotel for youth at Kingdomcity Youth Penang. I was surprised Sherry and Henry’s parents let them come to youth, considering the fact that they are Hindus. Another friend of mine, whom I hadn’t had met until that day, Tabby, also came to youth! Tabby and I met online on an app designed to make friends around the area for us anti-social people back in 2022 (no, it is not a dating app) and never had a successful hangout because of our “busy” schedules…

Later that day, once we arrived at our destination, my friend Nivreh introduced himself to the group. Well, I introduced him to the group. Nivreh is that one friend that acts “nonchalant” in real life, but is quite the yapper over text. He’s quirky, but in the best way possible. Nivreh is like the brother I would have wanted to grow up with. I also love bullying him. Sometimes I wish I could hit his head with a pan (Full disclosure: I don’t) or bang his head into a wall or something. Jokes. He’s chill. He’s probably the only person I can talk to every single day without getting bored.

We headed upstairs and to our surprise…There was a whole bounce house at youth! Designed for the kids, but you can’t tell teenagers to not do something without expecting them to do the exact opposite. We didn’t. Cause we’re good teens. Instead, we went to the side to *cough cough* gossip. Save the judgement. We’re all humans.

Praise was okay. Not very hyped. But that’s not the main point.

Pastor Karrie preached about picking up your mat which could be the mat of depression, anxiety, etc. It’s pretty interesting.

I have beef with her, though. She took our phones away during youth. Which I guess is good. Yes.

Anyways.

It was night time and service was over. Time to head home. Finally. Nivreh asked to hang out the next day, so getting a good night’s sleep was crucial.

Saturday 28th March 2026

Nivreh and I planned to watch the movie titled ‘Project Hail Mary’ at 2:05 PM that day, but agreed to meet up at 1 PM for me to help him with some homework he had, which was to create a website.

I woke up at 7 AM, ready to leave the house at 10 AM. My aunt, however, had other plans, She decided to go on a last-minute shopping spree at the grocery store before dropping me off at Gurney Plaza. I was 30 minutes late.

I don’t know if there’s a term called ‘Time OCD’, but if there was, I would have it. Gosh, it would be stamped all over my face! I show up to school at 7 AM even though classes start at 10:30 AM. My rule is:

1. 2 hours earlier than the planned and agreed hangout time (in case of traffic or other transportation issues)
2. 3 hours earlier to school to study
3. 2 hours earlier than the showing time of the movie to secure snacks, food, etc.
4. 1.5 hours earlier in ANY other situation.

When my system does not work. I do not work. I was stressed.

But either way, I made it 25 minutes before the movie after having gone up all the escalators. The movie was around 2 hours and 26 minutes long, and dude. What a cinematic masterpiece, genuinely. I never thought I’d be crying over a rock…

After that, we went to Starbucks to finish Nivreh’s homework. It was chill. A few minor crash outs, but nothing that couldn’t have been handled.

After that, we went to Mercato to get a few groceries I needed to make Pastor Karrie a carrot cake. I also bought ingredients to make my signature tiramisu except… the mascarpone I usually use was sold out.

To my surprise, Nivreh held the Mercato bag for me! New achievement unlocked. Jokes, I love Nivreh, he’s my older brother and I would never bully him.

Saturday 28th March 2026 at Night

That same night, I started making the carrot cake. Mind you, this was my absolute first time making a carrot cake. With no recipe. Yeah. #PRO

I also made the tiramisu for Nivreh which turned out horrible because of the mascarpone I used, Even with every ingredient at the same temperature, the cream got so grainy. Sad. But it’s ok, I’ll make Nivreh my usual tiramisu when he comes to Kuala Lumpur.

My aunt asked me to make my signature chocolate chip blueberry banana bread. She ruined it.

She told me to simply ‘double the ingredients’ so that it would produce a bigger batch… Yeah we threw the entire thing away.

But hey! The carrot cake was BEAUTIFUL. And the cream cheese frosting too!

After a successful carrot cake, my legs decided it was time to go to bed.

Sunday 29th March 2026

The entire morning was basically just me sleeping. I was EXHAUSTED. I had church at 5 PM, so I woke up at 12.

Nivreh asked to grab dinner together with my aunt after church. It might’ve meant something small to him, but to me, it meant a lot. To have a friend that takes time out of their day to spend more time is a blessing. Correction, a brother. But honestly, he might have had an ulterior motive because he chose Nasi Kandar as the spot for dinner, and he is quite the sucker for Nasi Kandar.

After dropping Nivreh off at the ferry, we headed to Parkroyal, which is a hotel in Batu Ferringhi in which my uncle works at. We went for approximately 2 hours. We gobbled up a peach tart, a milkshake, and lots of nuts/murrukku.

I went home and slept. That’s it. The end of a beautiful trip.

Penang is my home and will never compare to Kuala Lumpur. I love my friends and family here.