This wasn’t our first trip. The last one was a jungle weekend that somehow turned into Truth or Dare. This time, it was Penang and art. Same intention, different setting.

 

So I invited the whole HQ team and our store managers to Penang for two nights.

 

We took the train up, first class. Proper seats, proper meal, a bit indulgent (best nasi lemak), but also very easy. No stress, no rushing, just arriving together.

The first day we walked. Penang allows for that. It feels like moving through layers of history without needing a guide. We stopped by Cultprint and spent time at the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. That part was important. Peranakan culture sits at the root of Nala, so seeing it as a team, in real life, not on a moodboard, changes how you understand it.

 

And then we ate. Nasi kandar, fried kway teow, everything you would expect. Penang doesn’t really allow you to hold back, and no one tried.

 

The next morning started with roti canai, and then pottery. All of us on the wheel. Slight hesitation at first, then complete focus. What stood out was the quiet. No one had done it before, but everyone was fully in it. We’ll get the pieces in a couple of months. Not everything needs to be immediate.

 

That evening, the team joined the exhibition. They saw how it comes together, what happens behind it, how people move through it.

 

We stayed on Armenian Street.