Day 18: Sawadee Ka

Friday morning I woke up at 5:15am in order to be ready to meet the palacios at 6am. Thankfully Bangkok is an hour behind Malaysia so it didn't feel quite so early. 

"Early morning at the Adventist headquarters in Bangkok"

At 6am I met the Palacios and the women's ministry team in front of the Ekamai church where I was staying. The women's ministry was partnering with other women from four different Christian denominations to put on a health fair for a community on the outskirts of Bangkok. We were going  to play violin for them and provide a nice atmosphere for the clinic.

I met Dr. Ruth, who was going to be in charge of me once the Palacios left and who had provided the opportunity for us to go to the cultural show at Siam Nirimat. She is a dentist and organizes and directs the music group at the Ekamai because she loves music and kids. I soon learned what a wonderful person she is. Dr. Ruth had made T shirts for the team that said "we love mothers" on the front in honor of Mother's Day, celebrated on the Queen's birthday, which had just passed. She gave me one and we headed out for the clinic. But not before the pastor had managed to give the Palacios 15 large boxes of wheat flakes to distribute in Khon Kaen. The back of their truck was packed! The wheat flakes became the brunt of all jokes the rest of the trip.

The site was a ways out of the city and Bangkok traffic didn't help. We arrived around 8:30am and bought some delicious, oily sticky rice with banana inside. Although it wasn't healthy it tasted good and made me feel better after the malaria meds which made me nauseous on an empty stomach. 

"Health clinic in full swing"

"The volunteers"

We got out our instruments and Pastor Ricardo, Daniel (their youngest son) and I played hymns, Canon in D and praise songs by ear. Before the Palacios left I pulled out my book and played Adoration and Schindlers list for them. Around 11am the Palacios said their goodbyes and started the six hour drive back to Khon Kaen. Before they left they exchanged my US dollars with their Thai money because the bank wouldn't accept my beat up bills. 

Later that morning I met Dr. Ruth's assistant, Redeem. She was an outgoing, friendly Filipino girl who had found the fountain of youth. She was twenty eight and looked eighteen! She was so nice to me and invited me to go visit her in the Philippines.

As the clinic wrapped up they brought out pat see yew and I ate it with chili, which made them happy, although it was like baby food compared to how they eat chilies. I always asked for one chili, which is how they gauge spiciness,  and they eat anywhere from five to twenty chilies in one dish! It's incredible. For dessert I tried something called monkey apple dessert and yellow bean with coconut shreds.

By lunch I realized that hardly anyone spoke English fluently but most people understood at least a little bit of English. The Thai people are so polite that they are embarrassed if they don't speak English or even if they attempt to speak English but say something incorrectly. They are much more forgiving with others, praising any efforts that foreigners make to speak Thai.

The drive back in the van took a couple hours but it was nice getting to talk some more with Redeem. Eventually we both got so hot and tired that we fell asleep.

As we arrived at the school around 2pm Ajan Udom, who had taken the Palacios and I to the cultural show the night before, offered to take me home with her Friday night so I wouldn't have to worry about getting my own food.

I put everything for church in my little bag and drove to her house with a couple stops on the way. As we drove we talked about durian and the fact I liked it made her happy. She also thought that Americans throw grandparents in nursing homes and told me how impressed she was with a student of hers who took care of her grandparents even though she was American. How sad that we have that callous reputation.

We ate dinner at a place called Suki Yaki, it was very good. The waiters brought fresh vegetables to the table and we threw them in a boiling pot built into the table. It was both healthy and very filling!

Ajan Udom spent the entire meal grilling me on Thai words. I was so tired that I couldn't remember a thing and kept mixing up Thai words with Malay. I'm also a visual learner so it's near impossible for me to remember words if I only hear them. Once Udom spelled a word out and I remembered it so then she started spelling everything out which helped a lot.

After dinner we stopped by a Muslim couple selling durian by the road. I tried it and it was hard on the outside and soft inside and I loved it. The couple really appreciated it and asked Udom where I was from and how I had come to like durian. As she was translating she whispered "they are Muslim" in case I hadn't noticed the head scarf the wife wore.  In the car she told me they were Thai Muslims which meant they were peaceful.

We made another stop by the fresh market by Udom's house and got a wonderful experience of Thai friendliness and anatomy of animals still squirming and being chopped alive. Thankfully I handled it much, much better than the wet market in KL.

When we got to her house she went upstairs to tidy up and got the wifi password from her neighbor for me to use. I was so excited to get the wifi. I hadn't had any contact with my family since I arrived in Thailand and I was anxious to talk with them. Just when I finished typing out my message the wifi cut out. I was so sad and homesick I started to tear up, which only made me mad at myself. I felt like such a kid!

After I got a grip I asked Udom if she could help me. She asked her other neighbor who was riding by on her bike for some help. The neighbor then preceded to invite me in to her house to use the wifi and some ice water. Although she couldn't speak a lot of English kept saying "please no worry, no worry, no problem". I was so touched by her kindness.

After I finished emailing and updating I went back to learn how to make Som Tum, green papaya salad from papaya straight from Udom's tree.

We then enjoyed a fruit feast from the fruit we had picked from the market. Durian, mangosteen, snake fruit, rambutan, we had it all. Something I learned with Udom is that everything I was hesitant to eat apparently cures cancer. For instance, the seeds of the mangosteen, which I had assumed you spit out like most seeds.

While we ate Udom said that she has seen God work through the missionaries and she believed that God wanted me in Thailand for a reason and maybe in the future to come back. 

At the end of the night right before worship Udom asked if I had boyfriend. When I informed her that I didn't she immediately wanted to set me up with a violin teacher who she wants to become a Christian. We both enjoyed a good laugh especially when she immediately called him to invite him to church the next day.

Right when I was about to brush my teeth and jump in the shower I heard Udom holler "Tori!!!! A little surprise for you!" Her nephews and cousin had stopped by for a surprise visit. They were university students and I was embarrassed that I looked like a sweaty mess. The first thing she told them was I liked durian! When she told me to thank them in Thai I completely blanked. I just kept bowing and say "ka" after everything. As I went back upstairs I bowed and said "goodnight ka" which made them laugh. 

It had been a great day and I although I had moments of homesickness, I wouldn't traded that day for anything. It was my second day and I was already amazed by Thai culture and hospitality.

Day 17: Goodbye Malaysia, Hello Siam

Thursday August 14 we all left the hotel before sunrise at 6:30am. Before we had even gone a block Dr. Perumal told me to come with him to the bus station and I hurriedly said my goodbyes and gave awkward back pack hugs. I have to admit, It was hard to say goodbye and I started to tear up. I was grateful for the darkness. I was going to miss the whole group, especially my partners in crime, Jenna and Zoë. Don't get me wrong, I was very excited to go to Thailand. I have always wanted to go, but I'm not a solitary type of person and the thought of traveling alone was intimidating. That was one of the reasons I wanted to go, to get past that fear and mature a little. Side note, I'm a planner and the fact that I didn't know every detail of what would happen once I arrived added to the nerves. There was so much swimming around in my head and all I was certain about was that I was going to have to put my trust in God. 

Dr. Perumal bought my bus ticket and asked the man to tell me which bus to take when it came. I waited from 6:30am to 7:20 with all the locals at the bus stop. The worker who Dr. Perumal asked to inform me which bus to load instructed the bus driver to help me know when to get off. Or that's what I gathered from the hands signs and grunts, no one really spoke English. I was so tired but I didn't want to fall asleep on the bus in case I missed the stop. I noticed everyone else knocked out so I figured it might be a little while and allowed myself to nod off every now and then. I had no idea KL was so big! It took an hour to get to the airport. The bus level was not where I was supposed to check in so I asked a worker for help. He was an older man who was very kind and asked me if I was alone. I chose the longest line to check in but got thankfully I didn't have an hang ups. I picked up a Chai Time iced coffee to try and shake off the stupor of exhaustion I was in. As I looked for food I was so excited to find a veggie wrap because I was craving something light and fresh, the breakfasts here tend to be quite heavy. It was a good wrap but the veggies were cooked like stir fry. Afterwards I headed for my gate even though it was early and I'm glad I did because it took a while to get there. First I had to pass through immigration where the man asked if I was alone, I think it was part of his job though. I responded yes and then he asked if I was going to meet anyone in Thailand and I said family friends. He asked if I had been alone this whole time in Malaysia and I said I was with a class. It's the most questions any immigration officers have asked the entire time we've been traveling here. 

It was probably all in my head but I felt like everyone could tell I was a nube at this traveling internationally alone business. It was almost like I was wearing a sign that said, "hi, I'm a foreigner and I'm traveling alone for the first time". It didn't help I was extremely tired and had a hard time understanding anyone, even when they spoke English. I had to repeat what they said and ask them to repeat themselves at least twice. 

I waited attentively at my gate and double checked my ticket at least three times. As I boarded the plane a whole group of flamboyant, transgender men flounced on to the plane. Oh man, I thought. I'm not even to Bangkok yet! 

The girl sitting next to me was Chinese Malaysian and was vacationing in Bangkok with her boyfriend for the first time. We talked a little and when she heard I was twenty she said, "oh my, very brave travel alone." When I told her how I liked all the water in Malaysia she couldn't believe it didn't rain in California .

When I landed in Bangkok I was super excited but all I could think about was how on earth I would find the Palacios without a phone. I'm so dependent on my phone at home that the thought of traveling without any means of calling anyone in case of an emergency was unnerving. At immigration they almost gave me a hard time because I didn't know the address I was staying at so I put the Seventh Day Adventist school which seemed to satisfy them. 

As soon as I walked out of baggage claim Alicia Palacios was the first person I saw! It was a God thing for sure!! Her husband, Ricardo, and two boys, Gabriel and Daniel, greeted me with their Ecuador jerseys which made me so happy. The whole family was so sweet and friendly that I didn't feel shy at all. They explained how they came to Thailand almost three years ago and how they like the adventist frontiers, or AFM, style of mission because it focuses on learning the culture first and then empowering the locals to take over the church. They have picked up a remarkable amount of Thai, and the language isn't easy at all! We parked at the adventist school, Ekamai, and walked to a Chinese-Thai restaurant. As we jay walked Alicia told me to be careful because some foreigners just got hit and died recently. That was the first hint I had that I would be flying solo that week in Bangkok. As we ate they told me I would be staying in the guest room behind the church and gave me the key. They had to leave the next day back to Khon Kaen for cultural meetings but would leave me in the kind care of Dr. Ruth. 

I tried exchanging money at the bank after lunch and the man wouldn't take it because it was torn. It had been roughed up in my wallet the past three weeks. The man didn't speak English and I wasn't in the mood to be given a hard time. I almost teared up I was so disappointed. Thank goodness I didn't really show how I felt and the Palacios exchanged their own money with mine! It was so nice!

As we walked back I asked Alicia if there were any cultural taboos I should know about and should told me a few. In the Thai culture the head is considered holy and as you go down it gets worse. As a result the sole of your foot is really bad. Pointing with your foot or raising it is the equivalent of giving the one finger salute. Therefore it isn't polite to sit with your legs straight out. In fact women never sit indian style, which is what I had been accustomed to in Malaysia. Instead women sit with their feet tucked under their legs. Another thing is it isn't considered appropriate for women to show their shoulders or  breasts but shorter skirts and shorts seems to be fine. And, from what i've gathered, jewelry seems to be a big part of their culture for both men and women. A couple other things are that you should never do are touch or pat children on the head. Everyone greets with their hands in a prayer position below the chin for equals and in front of their mouth for superiors. Women say "sawadee ka" and men say "sawadee kap". When motioning to someone it is important to keep the palm of the hand down towards the ground and motion towards yourself instead of what we do with our palms up ( in Thailand that is asking for a different kind of service).Lastly, there is a lot of non verbal communication. The Thai people are peaceful and  will never say no or show you they are upset. For them, it is worse to get hot headed than have an affair.

The Palacios and I met with two moms from the church who took us to a music store in the mall to buy violins for their children. They wanted us to try them out. It was really fun and for $160 the shop had some good instruments from China. 

We rushed back to meet Ajan (which means teacher) Udom who is good friends with Dr Perumal (small world) for a cultural dinner and show at Siam Nirimat. Because we were in a rush to meet her we each grabbed a motor-taxi. I sat on the back, thankfully not side saddle because I was wearing pants, and held on to the back of the motorcycle for dear life. As my driver weaved, sped around and slammed on the brakes I kept thinking "if worst comes to worst I will grab this driver with the iron grip of death". 

When we got back to the school I grabbed my bag and Gabriel dropped me off at my room. I quickly changed into a skirt, not taking the time to even see where the bathroom was in the room I would be staying in for the next week. During the drive to Siam Nirimat I got to experience infamous Bangkotraffic and enjoyed some World Cup talk with the Palacios.

Siam Nirimat was beautiful! It was quite touristy, but gave me a good overview of Thailand for my first day. As we walked in they had live elephants and traditionally dressed attendants. 

The buffet dinner had the best coconut ice cream in the world! They also had coconut milk with cooked pumpkin. I knew I was going to love Thailand already when I saw all the coconut. 

During dinner a lady started screaming and it sounded diabolical. Everyone in the eating area freaked out. Even the waiters were having a hard time masking their terror as she screamed and convulsed on the floor. We said a prayer for the woman and concluded it must have been a seizure. It was so unnerving! Now that I have heard more about the spirit worship in Thailand it scares me even more to think back on it and I'm glad everything ended well.

Our hostess for the evening, Ajan Udom, fit the stereotype of Asians and pictures perfectly. She constantly posed with peace signs and every five seconds had us stop and strike a pose ourselves as we toured different villages that represented the different regions of Thailand. She was very welcoming and eager to show off her beautiful country. Before the night was half over she wanted tour me around Thailand.

The show was quite a big production and exhibited the different styles of music, dance and costumes from southern, northern and northeastern Thailand. They also acted out Thai mythology including their Buddhist interpretation of heaven and he'll. it was fascinating and involved rain storms, flying people and creatures amidst the dances and "mock battles".

By the time we got back to the Ekamai church where I was staying it was well past 10pm and I was feeling the affects of being an hour ahead on Malaysian time and waking up at 5am. But before I headed to my room I was thankful to borrow Chris', the Palacios missionary friend, computer to let everyone know I had arrived safely. I wished them all a goodnight and headed up to my room  on the third floor behind the church. It was my first time staying or sleeping alone and I hesitantly opened the door. I was extremely grateful to see an AC unit but I couldn't find the bathroom. Eventually I realized I had to go through the back and it was right outside next to the room. For the first time in my life I felt very homesick as I went to bed that night. I have travelled without my family before but this time it felt so different. Two weeks seemed like an eternity stretching before me. Thankfully I was so exhausted that I didn't have time to dwell on how homesick I felt and fell asleep within seconds. It had been a great day and it was time to rest up for the adventures that waited for me the next day!

Day 16: This is a class, I promise

So you might have forgotten that this beautiful trip to Singapore and Malaysia was actually a class. I did too, until we had to take the final. I'm just teasing. Thankfully we all helped each other review our notes, from our class spring quarter, throughout the trip. Furthermore, while we travelled throughout Singapore and Malaysia we were living, experiencing and reinforcing what we had only learned on paper back at La Sierra. Wednesday morning we took the two hour test at 10am. I was the second to last person to finish, as usual. At 12:30 we all met up for lunch close to our hotel. Most people ate as quickly as they could to go finish their presentations at 2pm. I went back to take a quick nap. I had spent the early morning hours putting together my presentation and needed to recharge my brain cells.

The presentations were in Dr. Perumals room, which made it a little less stressful. 

I focused on the Malay people and culture because before this class I did not know there was a difference between Malays and Malaysians. The Malay people are an ethnoreligious group who came from Indonesia and became Muslims around the 5th century AD. They are the people that run the government of Malaysia and that is why Malaysia is a Islamic state. Unfortunetly, my presentation went twice as long as it was supposed to-15 minutes. In fact, everyone delivered lengthy, yet fascinating, presentations on what they had focused on the throughout the trip. I really enjoyed hearing everyone's perspectives on Islam, architecture, cuisine, Sikhism, and Seventh Day Adventists and the environment.

By the time we finished our presentations and final reflections it was 5pm! We met at 5:45 for our "last supper" as an entire group. The next morning, Thursday, I was  leaving the group to head to Thailand. I was excited but also very sad to leave all my friends and tried to enjoy the night without thinking about it too much. For dinner I had the spiciest Gado Gado of my life! My mouth and lips were numb.

After dinner we took the train to the Petronas twin towers. They were amazing! The picture doesn't even come close to representing how talk they were.

My favorite part was the musical water and light show they had in front of the towers.

As I watched the show I thought about all the wonderful experiences we had all been through in only three weeks. From the urban wonders of Singapore to the amazing hospitality of the rural Iban longhouse we were able to get a glimpse of the rich, diverse culture of Southeast Asia. As I looked back on all that we had done I felt the butterflies of excitement flutter in my stomach in anticipation for the next morning. Thursday I would continue my adventure alone, in Thailand!

Day 15: Just keep walking, walking, walking

At 8:30am we all walked down the street for a delicious, vegetarian, Chinese breakfast. I must say, the breakfasts here are so much heavier than I'm used to! Rice and noodles with cooked vegetables and veggie meat are usually what I think of as lunch or dinner, but in Asia it seems they eat like a king for breakfast. 

After breakfast we walked through the wet market and I almost lost my breakfast. A wet market is where they sell and kill all different kinds of animals. The animals are in all different states of life and death and I am embarrassed to say I was a little lightheaded going through the wet market. I cringed and grabbed on to the backpack in front of me as a man grabbed a chicken to drown. I'm glad we got to observe the wet market though because it is an experience I would never have at home. 

From there we walked through china town to the oldest mosque in KL. Jenna and I had the best conversation with a Muslim woman called Normah. When I told her my grandma's name was Norma she replied, "mine is with an h" and smiled. She invited us to ask her any questions we might have about Islam and was very kind and gracious with our inquiries. The only time she became more reserved was when I asked what the difference was between Sunni's and Shiite Muslims. She quickly responded that there weren't really any important differences because they all believed in the same God. As we were leaving we told her our names and she called me Queen Victoria. She gave me a Koran and offered bottles of water to our entire group. She was so kind and hospitable and I really enjoyed talking with her.

We spent the subsequent hour walking through the central market looking at all the handmade trinkets. There was so much it was a little overwhelming.

We then walked to the train station and got off at Sentral station, the oldest train station in Malaysia

We walked to little India explored a bit, soaked up the sights and sounds and then sat in KFC to enjoy the air conditioning before lunch. We ate at a wonderful vegetarian restaurant. I was so impressed with how many vegetarian restaurants there were in little India and KL in general. 

We continued our walking adventure after lunch in the rain. It was quite the thrill as we  traversed through the wet city to the cultural museum. We were happy when we arrived safe and sound to learn about the Malay culture and history of Malaysia. I found that the museum was the perfect review for the final exam that we were preparing for the next day. 

Dr. Perumal allowed us to call the day a little early so we could study and prepare for our final exam, oral presentations and final reflections the next day. 

Around 7pm Jenna and I went out to grab a bite to eat. On the way back we found that all the street vendors had packed the street in front of our hotel and there was hardly any space to breathe, much less walk. The vendors were very pushy and in our face asking us to stop and buy their products. We felt uncomfortable and tried going around them but ended up getting a little lost in the sea of people. I was eventually able to regain my bearings and spotted our hotel entrance. I called to Jenna and as I did so the vendors started yelling "Jenna! Jenna come here!" We grabbed each other and ran, more like pushed, our way back to the hotel. We collapsed on our beds with nervous laughter and shallow breaths. We knew our lives weren't in any danger but we didn't want to go through that again. 

That night we stayed up late practicing our presentations and helping each other study for our 10am test the next morning.

Day 14: The Capitol

Monday morning I woke up at 5am and enjoyed the most beautiful sunrise as we took the ferry from the island of Penang to mainland Malaysia.

We got our speed walking on to get to the train station, which was a sight with all our luggage strapped to our backs. The first time Dr. Perumal tried to buy tickets for the train they told him it was full. Just as we were about to leave they said there was an opening for us. The six hour train ride was awesome. It was a good time to catch up on my blog, study, sleep and see the countryside going into Kuala Lumpur, the Capitol. 

Photo credit: Dr. Perumal 

"The Capitol"

From the train station we walked to our hotel, the Swiss Inn, self described as an "international hip hotel". It is literally in the middle of Kuala Lumpur's China town and was so neat to be in the middle of all the action. Each floor was a different color of the rainbow and we were on the bright green floor. 

There was no vegetarian food on the train so we had survived, since 5am, on Mrs. Looi's fruit and curry pastries she sent with us. They were very delicious, but by the time we arrived at our hotel at 3pm we were ready for "lupper", or lunch and supper. We walked out of our hotel a little "hangry" and ate at the first vegetarian chinese restaurant we found.

When we finished the boys suggested we walk to the mall (yup the boys, not the girls) to check out the indoor amusement park. While everyone grabbed their rain panchos, I worked on getting my boarding pass for my flight on Thursday. The website and wifi were against me and I thought the group was going to leave me by the time I finished. In my rush to meet the rest of our group I forgot to grab my own rain pancho. As we headed out it began to sprinkle, as a warning for the downpour that came minutes later. Thankfully Jenna had an umbrella and a pancho and let me borrow her umbrella. During our thirty minute walk to the mall, the rain was so strong that the umbrella only protected the top of my head. As my pants got wet they got heavier and longer. Pretty soon I had to tie up my pants as we walked through the rain, accompanied by lightening and thunder. 

Once we wrung ourselves out we took a look around at one of the biggest malls I've seen. It was at least twelve floors! Our first stop was to get boba at Chai Time. I got passion fruit and it was so delicious! Then the boys decided to go to the a sumner park which was on the 5th level. They had roller coasters, bumper cars and all sorts of rides right there in the middle of the mall. The rest of us didn't want to spend our money on the amusement park so we hung out and explored the mall. The higher we went the cheaper the quality got. I was exhausted and didn't want to spend my money in a mall so I was happy when we all met up two hours later to walk back to the hotel. 

The walk back didn't rain at all and we arrived to our hotel at 9pm, happy and tired. I had wonderful intentions of studying, blogging and reading which all ended up turning into sleeping. 

Day 13: exploring the island

Sorry my blog posts are a little mores sparse. Our presentation and final exam is Wednesday so I've been using my free time to study and prepare. But here are the highlights from Sunday August 10. 

Sunday morning we started out by riding up Penang Hill on a cable car.

At over 830 meters, Penang hill is the highest peak in Penang. At the top we explored for a couple hours and saw a mosque, Hindu temple, a variety of plants. It is amazing how religion is integrated into everyday life here in Malaysia. It makes me realize how secular America is. I am soaking up all the beautiful sights of temples and mosques now while I can. 

As we left I picked up some soursop ice that was delicious and reminded me of Ecuador and all the tropical fruits there. 

Stopped at flea market and I bought a rice tamale looking deal but it had shrimp in it! I threw it away and crossed my fingers the one bite I had wouldn't make me sick. So far in the trip no one had gotten food poisoning and I didn't want to change that. The flea market was pretty crowded and hot and it Reminded me of going to the swap meet at home. To help me cool down I got some Lychee juice for only one Ringot, about 30 cents!

The rest of the afternoon we drove by UNESCO historical sights. One that we stopped at was a Chinese wharf with little shops that were on the water.

By that time we were pretty hungry for lunch and stopped at India street right in front of a vegetarian restaurant for a 5 Ringot lunch. You can't beat the prices here in Southeast Asia.

One of the highlights of the day was stopping by the chocolate and coffee museum. We got to try so many samples of chocolate, including fresh Durian chocolate. My favorite was the Tiramisu White coffee and the hazelnut dark chocolate. 

I really enjoyed our next stop where we walked around taking pictures of all the street art and got some henna. It was a burning hot day so of course I hydrated with some coconut water. 

When we got back to the hotel, a group of us did laundry down the street and studied while we waited. As we walked back to hotel we saw a dead cat perfectly laid out at the base of a tree which was a little unnerving. 

For dinner, Jenna, Zoë and I ate at the Thai restaurant that we ate at on Friday night. The waiter acted like he understood us but when he brought out a water bottle instead of watermelon we didn't know what to expect for dinner. The whole time our waiter and another waiter were busting up and we weren't sure why. Thankfully it all worked  out, but it was an experience for sure. We ended up ordering three main dishes, mango sticky rice and coconut ice cream all for under $20 US dollars.

We were exhausted so we went back to pack, and enjoy the stunning lightening storm from our room. 

Day 11 and 12: The Pearl of the Orient

Friday morning left the longhouse and headed to the airport in Sibu. As we made our goodbyes I realized how sad I felt to leave their warm hospitality and generosity. I gave the chiefs wife a hug and she told us that her daughter had cried because we were leaving. I couldn't believe how well they had treated us as complete strangers.

Our first flight had a two hour layover in Kuala Lumpor (KL), the capital. Dr. Perumal explained that this was not the international airport of KL and was only used for domestic flights. The first thing I noticed was the strong Muslim presence. The picture below is of a prayer room in the airport.

Almost all the women had their heads covered and most of them were wearing black robes with only their eyes showing. What was fascinating was how elegant and stunning they looked with only their eyes exposed. Whatever was showing was adorned with either eye makeup or henna on their hands.Their husbands created a stark contrast, stylishly decked out in modern apparel. I have to say it bothered me a little bit. Coming from my western worldview, it seems unfair that women have to walk around masked from the world with no way to express themselves through their adornment, while the men sport the latest fashions.

After waiting 45 minutes for an teeny-tiny, expensive pizza (airport food is universally a bad deal), the girls and I barely made it to our gate in time and boarded the plane for Penang. As soon as we stepped out of the airport I could tell the climate was more temperate because of the beach. We settled our things in the Georgetwon City hotel and joyfully took showers and sat down to use the lieu for the first time in four days. 

A man from the Adventist church met us before dinner to show us the Adventist college next door on the seventh floor.

He then took us for an amazing dinner of Thai food and coconut ice cream!

Sabbath morning I woke up with a sore throat and headache but the excitement of going to Stephanie and Euguene Looi's home church helped distract me. By the time we got to their lovely church I was feeling a little better. 

As we were warmly greeted at the front door one of the members asked us if we were the Looi's friends because they recognized us from FB. The service was very organized and timely, I'm not used to such punctuality at Spanish church. The Chinese service was right afterwards at 11:00am.

We were all so excited to see the Looi parents! They happened to be having a potluck at their house that day and Dr. Perumal was kind enough to accomsdte the schedule for that. So after church we visited the beautiful botanical gardens and then went to the Looi's home for the best potluck ever. When we arrived we got the best surprise of all. Eugene was on Skype at La Sierra and we sdded Stephanie who was with my family at my home for vespers! She was at my house and I was at hers by total coincidence! It made my day to get to see them and my family all at the same time across the world via Skype. 

The rest of the afternoon we drove around the island. The first stop was a Batik store wear they made traditional patterns for shirts, dresses and skirts by hand.

We also stopped to get  some amazing acerela, a sour cherry, mixed with pineapple juice. And drove across a huge, long bridge that connects Georgetwon, Penang to Butterworth on mainland Malaysia and the Korean bridge which took us back to Georgetown. It was a beautiful drive and thankfully we even got designated nap times that helped me rest get over my mild sickness a little more. 

We finished our island tour and arrived back at the church in time to prepare a little sundown service that they asked us to do last minute. I even got to borrow a violin and do special music! I was so happy  to be reunited with a violin! 

After sundown worship the Looi parents took us to a delicious Indian restaurant, although I only had nibbles of food because I was still full from lunch. By the time we got back I quickly talked to my parents and did the bare necessities of laundry in the hotel sink before I hit the hay, happy and tired. 

So far, Penang has probably been my favorite place we have visited. We are by the ocean, the water is an amazing color, there are hills and mountains, the food is so good, the climate is temperate and the people are friendly.