DAY SEVENTEEN

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I had looked on lds.org the night before and saw that there were three options for churches to attend. One was far away, so was ruled. I then went on Google maps to see which was most subway accessible. I decided to attend the 9:00AM Kuala Lumpur Branch.

**If you are ever bored and want something fun to do open a tab on your brower for lds.org meetinghouse locater and another tab for Google maps, satellite view. In the lds.org browser type in a random city or country and find the address of a church building. The key to this is use think big—a remote villiage in Mongolia, a little island in the South Pacific….Then you go to Google Maps, enter the address of the church, remember to stay in satellite view, zoom in and see where people go to church and what their building looks like!

Anyhow, I got up, got on the subway, transferred trains (felt like living on the wild side and rode the mixed gender coach)and arrive at a station less than a mile from the chapel. I started walking in the wrong direction, but felt finger on my shoulder gently turn me around and point me in the right direction---kidding on that, after walking about five minutes realized I was going the wrong way and started walking. About 15 minutes later I found the right street. I guess I was expecting typical Utah church building, and couldn’t find it at first. Luckily a taxi dropping of a man with a white shirt and tie drove by and I followed them to the right building. The street was short street, but had a few embassies on it. The chapel the Kuala Lumpur branch meets in apparently used to be the Spanish Embassy, so it has a very villa esque type feel to it.

The website said the meeting started at 9:00, I got there at 9:10, but they were having a special conference and it was combine with the other branch, so it didn’t start till 10:00 this week. I took the opportunity to take some pictures and chat with some of the members that were there. Ten came around and church didn’t start because the DVDs they were sent for their digital conferences were not working. Eventually they just asked the four missionaries and two members of the Branch to speak. There were only about 60 people there, usually the branch (before it split last month) had 120 members combine. There were quite a few visitors that week (me, the guy in the taxi from New Zealand), a couple from Vanuatu, and a couple from Utah. There were also quite a few American families that attend. After church a lady came up to me and then invited me and the guy from New Zealand over for dinner (along with three other members of the branch).

They lived in a beautiful apartment building a few blocks from the church with a gorgeous view of KL. Funny thing, when we were in the elevator she asked why I was here (I said for a work conference) she asked where I worked in DC (she had lived in DC) and I told her IIE. She said that she has been trying to apply to work there for the past year! She is doing her PhD in Higher Education Administration and her husband and another man that were there had founded a university in Utah and now worked in Asia buying universities—so the dinner conversation basically revolved around our shared field which I found quite interesting. Dinner was good too—my first American meal since being in Malaysia: chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, onions and peach pie.

I was at their home until about 4:30, then was walked to the train station and made the half hour trip back to my hotel. Rested a bit and then headed out for my last evening in the city. It all came full circle because I ended up at the mall.

Now, if someone came to the US and spent their time eating at shopping at, for example, the Yuba City mall or even the Galleria—you might thing—what a waste. Cumulative I did spend 6-7 hours at these malls but feel it was time well spent and something of a cultural experience. Here is why: The food there is just as good as you get at a restaurant. It really was quite interesting to watch Malaysians in this environment. I was traveling alone and it rained a lot at night, so this was probably one of the safest, driest areas to be in (though I repeat, I never felt unsafe in Malaysia—except around monkeys). There were several malls within walking distance, so it is not like I was at the same one every day. These malls are huge with plenty to do: I ate, got my foot massage, people watched, shopped a bit, exercised, ate some more! They also had full grocery stores. I found these especially culturally enlightening. To walk down and compare the volume of one item (or the absence) with what would be in a US grocery store was interesting. For example they had stacks and stacks of rice. Also, their choice in fruit juices puts us to shame. Anyhow, I feel like my time in the KL malls were well spent.

I was still full from dinner so I had a light meal of Roti Cannai (the Indian cheese bread) and my final juice: watermelon juice. It was all natural and very sweet and very good. My final dessert was Pultut Hitam with Tong Yeung. It was black rice porridge with two rice dumplings filled with a peanut mixture—all served warm. Very good.

Walked home and on the other side of the street (on my way over I saw a RAT on my normal side—glad I saw it on my last day!) and finished packing up. I forced myself to stay up a little past midnight because I wanted to be nice a tired so that I could sleep some on my flights for the next day.

I will write a blog on my departure and flight back and then one final blog to sum everything up.

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Photos

Sand decor at mall
For an upcoming Indian celebration

Fruit Juices
Many varieties