Contrails: Apr '26, Week 4

Minerva Murasaki
Apr 27
5 min read

I'm back home in comfy attire, with a full heart and stomach! 💜 This past week was almost completely dedicated to the trip to Penang to visit Ari and Mogu with Yuraia, that it feels strangely long ago now that I'm trying to wrap up the week to look forward to other things.

🎮 Gaming 🎮

There. Done. Next section! (Actually, I didn't have much time to game this week because I had agreed to spend a few evenings to watch a friend's Danganronpa V3 stream.)

🧳 Packing and Preparing for the 4D3N trip 🧳

Spent a day out to pick up stuff for Ari and Mogu, and another day to pack and clean the house before the weekend. I was busy, but happy because I was constantly reminded of the trip to come! ✨

🌙 Work as Minerva 🌙

I didn't have much time or energy left to work, but I did manage to get to 2 things:

I had a commission that I thought would need a whole week to complete, but I ended up finishing it in a day. 🎉 Client seems satisfied! So all good!
I finally decided to close my Discord server. 🥹 Made the announcement on Thursday night, but decided to only finish the closing process after I got back to give some people time to comment on it if they wanted to. I wonder how many of the Gems would still read this blog even if they are not notified weekly? 🥹 (Hello, you. 💜 Thanks for reading. Hope you had a good weekend! Have a great week, and remember to take care and be kind -- to yourself and others!)

🇲🇾 Trip to Penang, Malaysia! 🇲🇾

Before I knew it, it was time to fly to Penang! ✨

We did so many things: Shared many laughs, walked many streets, ate many goodies... I tried to capture all the highlights in photos, but the true highlight was simply being in good company -- nothing can truly encapsulate precious moments, I feel, so I was glad that I stayed fully present to enjoy them while they lasted. ❤️💜🤍🖤

I'll let the photos do some of the talking! (Wanted to use the Gallery layout, but I don't get to add captions! 🥺💔)

Day 1 - Friday

Caught a glimpse of a full rainbow as I was boarding the plane to Penang! Realized in post-processing that the phone camera managed to capture the double rainbow too! 🥹💜 A good omen for the upcoming trip!

Yuraia and I went to get coffee before meeting up with Ari and Mogu. Saw this wall at the back of the cafe we randomly walked into for our daily caffeine hit. 💜

Ari and I suddenly had cravings for grilled stingray on Thursday, so Ari and Mogu brought us to a hawker with a seafood stall... and was greeted by (probably) hundreds of creatures. Even they were taken aback by the sight!

Finally saw the sea! I think I haven't seen a coast since my trip to Estonia? 🤔🤔🤔🥹🥹🥹💜💜💜 We shared various dishes (photos of food at the end of this section), went to have dessert at an ice cream shop near my accommodation, and called it a night! 🌙

Day 2 - Saturday

After Yuraia and I had our morning coffee at a nearby cafe, the 4 of us went to a weekend market (Hin Market)! There was live music, food stalls, and many small businesses selling their goods! I got a few cute socks to feel cute at home. 🥹

We then fought off food coma by visiting a board games cafe! I think we were there for almost 6 hours?! Played Mysterium Park (I love Mysterium) a bunch, and tried Illiterati -- which turned out to be way less chill and way more challenging than we expected. 💀💀💀💀

Yuraia and I saw this quaint street on the way back to our accommodation. 💜 It was really late by then, so we quickly headed back to rest after taking some pictures. 🌙

Day 3 - Sunday

Yuraia and I got up early to visit 2 historical museums, then met up with Ari and Mogu to have lunch with a couple that Yuraia and I got to know through Ari. They're lovely as always, and it was so good to see them after... 2 years? 🤔 They brought us around Penang the last time Yuraia and I visited, so we owe them a lot! 🥹💜 Plus, they've been a big part of Ari's life, so I am full of respect for them for all the support they've given her over the years. 🥺💖

After a quick visit to Mogu's home to play a few rounds of Tools Up!, he brought us to a beach with a night market. Despite all the schedule changes, we somehow managed to stroll to the beach just in time for golden hour. Honestly, it was near magical... if not for the insane amount of tourists. 🤣🤣🤣 We took photos and waited for the sun to fully set before grabbing dinner and visiting the night market. When we returned to the beach, despite the weather forecast that it was soon to rain, we saw a clear, starry sky. ✨🌙

Before embarking on this trip, the weather forecast had predicted that it would rain all day over the weekend, but somehow the rain predictions kept getting pushed back every day, such that it only rained after we were done for the day. When we were on the way to get ice cream one last time for the trip, I joked that we must have had good weather because we HUNG out with Mogumogu the teruteru bōzu. 🤣🥹💜

Day 4 - Monday

It was time to head home... Mogu and Ari came to send Yuraia and I to the airport early in the morning. Despite meeting up only for a car ride, I noticed that everyone was wearing the friendship bracelets I had made for them a some time back. 🥹 I'm not sure what I did to be able to call such lovely people friends. 🥺

I just got back from this trip, but I'm already looking forward to the next time we all get to have fun together! ❤️💜🤍🖤

Aaaaaaaand... here's the collage of all the food I had over the weekend, excluding the Burger King Breakfast Croissan'wich I had on Friday morning. 🤣 (Scroll to see the full collage!)