DAY TEN

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Wheewie, I am tired. But it was a good day and tomorrow should be pretty relaxing. I am doing laundry in the morning and then may go hunt down a fish spa! Will also use the day to plan my three free days (Fri, Sat, Sun) in KL.

I got a phone call probably around midnight (I was slightly disoriented) letting me know that the bike tour was a no-go because there weren’t enough people to make it a go. I wasn’t too disappointed because it had been so up in the air the whole time.

So this morning I got up and got myself ready and then walked to church. It was about a 30 minute walk—I really didn’t get too lost. The church was in a row of other store fronts/business but had the sign on front, wooden doors, and a gate that could be locked but was open. I walked in and saw the Elders right away (both from Utah). According to the Elders: There are probably less than 10 branches in the mainland part of Malaysia and most of those are concentrated on the West side, because the East side is predominately Muslim of the and it is against the law for them to proselyte to Muslims. The east island of Malaysia (Borneo) has a lot more growth especially among the native Malaysians. They only have sisters in the bigger cities because there has to be a set of Elders or a Senior Couple around them. There are only about 70 missionaries in the whole mission. The Branch President gave me a ride home (more on that later) and he said that that the Melaka branch has about 80 members but only about half are active—distance and transportation are the main problem. This particular Sunday the branch was watching the Sunday session of conference (they had watched Saturday the week before and then next week would split up and watch YW/Priesthood/RS). The branch has a mix of people attending: Chinese, Malay, Indian, Filipino—so they hold everything in English. This week since they were watching conference they had one room going in Malay, one in Chinese, and then one in English. They had a lunch between sessions (apparently they have lunch every week!) and all of the members were very friendly and nice. Lunch was good too. The Filipino lady (who was my age and married to a 50 year old man!) knew exactly where I was staying and lives right around the corner from my hotel and so her ride, the Branch President, took us both back after lunch. He was native Malaysian but was working in Singapore eight years ago and was impressed that white guys knew Chinese so he gave them his pager number. They paged him and then he joined the church. He has been Branch President for the past four and a half year—a really nice guy. Anyways, it was fun and good to go to church in Malaysia! I imagine the Branch in KL will be a little different.

I got a taxi from my hotel and then took the 3PM bus from Melaka to KL. The bus had a very weak AC, but other than that it was a very uneventful trip. I took the metro from the bus station to my hotel area, then walked just about 10-15 minutes to my hotel. Though I have always felts very safe in Malaysia, I was glad I arrived in the daylight hours because there weren’t any taxis at my metro stop (found out later that there was another one I could have used that probably had more taxis). My first impression of KL—it is dirty, it probably rivals NYC. Lots of trash on the sidewalks—at least where I have been so far. And—it may have been my mind playing tricks on me—but I would place money that I saw a monkey in one of the alley ways. Anyhow, I got to my hotel around 6 and wanted to go get dinner before it got dark. In order to catch some local vibes, and because it was close, I went to the mall just a few blocks away.

Mall is an understatement. Google search Berjaya Times Square. It has 12 fully functioning floors. It has a bowling alley. A pool hall. A karaoke bar. A movie theatre. And two theme parks. It was overwhelming to stay the least. I had a disappointing dinner. I ordered Nasi Lemak which I had got on the street of Penang for 1 Malaysian Dollar—paid 10 here. Not very good. Had red plum juice, did not enjoy. As I had been scouting out a place to eat dinner I had seen a Japanese crepe stand. After dinner, for some reason, I decided my life would not be complete without one. It took me a half hour to find the stand. It was basically just a crepe rolled up to fit in a paper cylinder (like what you would put a cone in) and then filled with crème, bananas, and chocolate sauce. It was okay. All in all it was a good night though. After spending time in this mall and the Langkawi mall, I have concluded that American malls do not have a monopoly on silly teenagers—it is a universal phenomenon. Also, if you have any worldly good type desire (apparel, accessories, perfume, beauty products, tech products, toys—anything!)—let me know now. I will get it for you. Everything is cheap here—except American candy. A bag of Halloween type chocolate bars was over $7 USD!

Got back to my hotel and just enjoying a quiet evening. As much as I am loving my time here, my days are packed, it is hot and I am pretty pooped at the end of the day. I am generally in my room by around 8 and have quite enjoyed the couple of hours where I can organize my receipts, write my e-mails, check work e-mail, look over my photos for the day, surf the web and and plan my next day. I think coming in early and taking it easy is what has allowed me to pack my daylight hours so full.

Anyhow, next week this time I will be organizing myself to go home. Again, loving my time here, but I will be ready.

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