Last day of the trip!

September 10, 2015

This morning we woke up with hopes of having breakfast at Starbucks, but apparently Starbucks does not open as early as it does in the states, so we ended up walking to 7/11 and picking up some random snacks and juices to eat for breakfast. We then took a four hour bus ride to Singapore, having to go through all the same customs and immigration that we did on the way out of Singapore. From there we boarded the MRT and rode it to the Caldecott station, from which we walked to the SDA guest house. It was nice to come back to the place that we started the trip in. Unfortunately, Singapore was not as nice as we had last seen it because it was extremely hazy in the city. Apparently the haze was so bad that Singapore was reaching out to Indonesia to cut down whatever it was they were doing to cause the haze.

Once we got settled into our rooms, we all showered and relaxed a for a couple hours before going out. Andrew was going to meet with the Unilever offices in Singapore for a couple hours, so we took the MRT to Chinatown to finish doing souvenir shopping before going home. We spent a few hours there shopping and enjoying some iced teh tarik. Finally around 6pm we took the MRT to another area and walked to the Hard Rock Cafe. Andrew met with us there after his meetings, and us guys shared our last dinner together as a group. We had all grown tired of asian food by that time, so we all wanted a very American meal. Therefore, we had two plates of nachos as appetizers and then had burgers for our meal. I must say, the meal was absolutely amazing. Although we were going home in a day, it was a much needed meal that could remind us of home. The combination of the delicious food, live music, and excellent service made for an excellent end to the trip.

To finish off, I want to thank Dr. Perumal for all the hard work he put into planning this trip for us as a class. I can only imagine all the work it took to get everything organized and ready for a group as large as ourselves. In 18 days we learned so much about the culture, history, and religions of both Singapore and Malaysia. It was great being able to see in person all the topics that had been discussed in our Spring quarter class. Not only that, but for most of us it was our first time traveling to Southeast Asia, so it was nice being able to experience everything with each other. All the lectures, tours, museums, temples, mosques, and talks with Dr. Perumal taught us priceless information about Southeast Asian culture and history. Although I have done my fair share of traveling throughout my life, this trip is one of my favorites that I have ever been on because I learned so much about the places I was in, I grew closer to my friends, and built a great bond with my professor. Not only that, but every time you leave the states it makes it easier to look back and think about your perspective on life back home and how it could be changed for the better. At times its hard to do so when you're living it in the states, but when you're completely out you can stop and look at your life back home and what improvements can be made. I think I did a lot of that on this trip and I'm excited to see how my life changes when I get back home.

Thank you so much for reading,

Louis (Andrew) Ugalde

Final Exam day in Melaka

September 9, 2015

This morning I woke early, around 6am to start studying and to have an early breakfast. I had breakfast by myself since nobody else was awake, and it was nice to just reflect on the trip by myself for a little while. Dr. Perumal joined me towards the end of my meal, but unfortunately I had to leave shortly after because I still needed to continue studying.

You could tell it was the day of the test because everybody was sitting quietly on the two hour bus ride, focusing on studying and doing some last minute reviewing before the exam. We arrived to the hotel, and although it was a beautiful and huge hotel, we had no time to take it in because we had to rush up to our rooms, drop off our stuff, freshen up a bit, and head back downstairs to start our test. Dr. Perumal led us up the elevator to a small conference room. We had a quick word of prayer and then began our test. Midway through the test, Dr. Perumal came back with some snacks for us because we were all starving due to not having lunch.

Matt practiced his Japanese speaking skills and asked these Japanese tourists to take a picture with us. 

The test took an hour and a half in total for the last people, and then we had a short half hour break before leaving to the Portuguese Museum. Since we had just finished taking our final exam, it was clear that many of us struggled to pay much attention at the museum because we all wanted to rest. Luckily we only spent an hour there before heading to our final dinner as a group. Dr. Perumal took us to a Chinese restaurant, and we had chicken rice, chicken, duck, and fish. To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of the meal, but nothing beats a free meal.

After dinner I went with Satchel, Daniel, and Matt to do some shopping for souvenirs. Daniel was able to buy the last few things he needed for his family, but unfortunately I wasn't able to find anything for my brother or dad.

To end the day we went and bought some soda and snacks and brought them back to the hotel to just hangout and relax. Andrew, Daniel, Branden, Satchel, and I shared snacks and spent hours in my room discussing the trip and all the parts that we liked and disliked. It was nice to relax with the boys and just recap over our trip and all the places we visited. I must say that as much as I love traveling on my own, it can never beat traveling with friends. I am very happy that they happened to come on the trip the same year as me because I can't imagine how it would've been without them.

Full Day in KL

September 8, 2015

This morning we had breakfast in the hotel lobby, and I must say it was really good. I love the chicken sausages that they have here in Malaysia, and I also enjoyed a fried egg on a piece of toast.

After breakfast we traveled to the Batu Caves, and we immediately fell in love with the place. The huge mountain rising above us, the monkeys walking around us, and the giant Buddha statue all combined to create a beautiful picturesque moment. Being a rock climber, I stood in awe at the cliff above us and wondered if anybody had ever attempted to climb the face of it.
The girls had to pay 4 Ringgit to borrow a cover up since they had shorts on, but luckily the guys were allowed to go up with shorts on. We climbed up the endless number of stairs, and finally reached the caves. As soon as we reached the top of the steps, our jaws dropped in awe of the beauty of it. The caves were very large, big enough to even have vendors with small carts on the side of the cave. Looking up you can see strangely shaped pieces of limestone protruding from the ceiling of the cave. Not only that, but there is a Hindu temple in the higher cave. It's crazy to see the things that people of other religions have build for their religion. Satchel and I joked about how SDA's need to step up their game on the churches that we build.

After the Batu caves and having lunch at a small restaurant at the bottom of the mountain, we headed over to the National Mosque. This was definitely the largest mosque I have ever seen in my life. Before walking in, we were all required to wear a purple garment that covered us from head to toe as a sign of respect. We didn't really get a tour of the place, so it was up to us to walk around and meet people and talk to them. There was a stand with several brochures on the different beliefs, so I grabbed a few to read at home. A few of us actually had an interesting conversation about certain Islam beliefs, specifically Jihad. She was very open to answering questions, and it was obvious that she was very well familiar with these brochures that we had been reading.

After the mosque, we headed over to a museum that focused on the history of Melaka, which is the city that we're taking our test in tomorrow. I took my time reading things in this museum, in case any of it my be on our final exam tomorrow. After the museum, Satchel and I got a bit lost walking home but were finally able to get to Chinatown after asking several people on the sidewalk. We did a little bit of last minute shopping in Chinatown and then spent the rest of the afternoon studying for our test. I finally finished studying and now I'm going to bed early so I can be well rested for our exam.

Traveling to KL

September 7, 2015

This morning we woke up pretty early to leave the hotel and head over to the ferry. Zoe was kind enough to have a light breakfast prepared for all of us. We boarded the ferry from Penang and took it to Butterworth. Then in Butterworth we boarded a train that would take us to Kuala Lumpur.

The train ride took about five hours, so I used it as time to rest and hopefully get over my sickness. I pretty much slept the whole train ride, other than the few times when I would wake up and see the same Jackie Chan movie playing on the tv.

After a bit of confusion in the train stations, we finally made our way to the metro and rode it to chinatown. Our hotel is called the Swiss Inn and it is in the very middle of Chinatown. Luckily, the wifi is really strong here so we've all been able to catch up on anything we missed while in Penang.

After having lunch and getting settled into our rooms, we went out with the group to see the Petronas Towers. I now know why Malaysians are so proud of the Petronas Towers, they are magnificent when seen in person. They are the tallest twin towers in the world, and I'm sure the view from the top of them is amazing. Unfortunately, it has been extremely hazy all day, so you can't really see much at all in the sky. To be honest, it's almost disgusting how dirty the air is. It was mentioned that we could pay to go up the Petronas towers, but it would be a complete waste of money with all the haze in the air.

After taking a group picture, we proceeded to split up and I went with the guys to get some dinner in the food court of the mall. I had a fish burger with a smoothie and it was pretty tasty. After eating, we did a little bit of window shopping in the mall and then walked back to the hotel to explore Chinatown a little bit.

Chinatown was awesome because of the cheap prices for all the items. Not only that, but it was fun bartering to buy fake name brand items, like a Louis Vuitton wallet. After buying a few things, I still felt quite sick so I came back to the hotel and I am going to bed. I really wish I wasn't sick, I can tell that it has been holding me back a lot these past few days. I really hope I can enjoy our last few days on this trip.

Penang Island Tour

September 6, 2015

This morning we started with breakfast, followed by hopping on the bus and driving to the floating mosque. Despite its name, the mosque is not actually floating, but rather just standing right over the water. As we got off the bus, we all stood in awe of how beautiful the view in front of us was. The mosque sits on a foundation that is right over the water, and behind it the ocean stretches out for eternity. It was truly quite the sight to see. I didn't get my hopes up though because we had experienced such bad luck already with trying to get into mosques.

At the mosque there was nobody to guide us, so we borrowed some clothing at the front of the mosque in order to cover ourselves properly before entering. I'm pretty sure I had on a female's piece of clothing, but I used it anyways so I could see the inside of the mosque.
The inside of the mosque was large and open. The floor is covered with soft carpet, designed with lines to direct people on where to kneel when praying. What really surprised me was the acoustics of the mosque, they were great! You could hear a person whispering from 10 feet away.

Afterwards, we went over to the beach to walk around for a little bit, but some of the students in our group ended up paying a small amount to go parasailing. It looked like it was a lot of fun, but I was low on money at the moment so I couldn't participate too. It was nice to relax on the beach, listening to the sound of the waves crashing as the guys flew buy in their parasail.

Next we went to the Batik factory to see the process of how batik shirts and other items are made. It was very interesting getting to see people painting the material by hand, or using a block to apply the color. Not only that, but the process of staining and washing in order to achieve a certain design was fascinating. Also, they taught us how to tell the difference between a hand painted batik and a screen printed one. Apparently a screen printed batik will have the design on both sides, but a hand painted one will only have the design on one side. Again, as much as I wanted to buy a scarf or shirt from the batik factory, I was low on money so I had to hold off on spending.

Our last stop on our drive around the island was the Chinese Snake Temple. They had a few rooms in which live snakes were relaxing on metal structures. It was funny seeing Royce scared out of his mind as he tried to hide from all the snakes, poor guy!

After the snake temple, we were dropped off at the mall and given the rest of the afternoon free to explore the city. Five of us guys decided to eat at Sushi King, a sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt full of small sushi dishes. The food was surprisingly very good despite the fact that it's a chain restaurant for sushi.
After lunch we decided to walk back to the hotel, thinking it wouldn't take us more than half an hour. As we walked, we slowly realized that it was a lot farther than we had initially believed. Being very sick still, I stayed towards the back of the group with my head down, focusing on nothing more than just placing one foot in front of the other to keep on going.
When we finally got to the hotel, I went straight to bed and slept for almost four hours. When I woke up, I could tell I had a bad fever. The guys were about to leave for dinner, and I was starving so I threw on some pants and a jacket and walked to Gurney Plaza. I had an immunity booster smoothie to help recover, and the guys had burgers at Chili's because they missed American food. Interestingly enough, although Chili's is an american restaurant, the service there was the worst any of us have ever experienced. The waiter was pretty much nonexistent and one of our dishes never arrived. I was glad I opted for the smoothie instead of eating there.

I'm honestly sad to leave Penang tomorrow morning, I really enjoyed my time here. Being by the ocean has always been a passion of mine, so Penang will truly be missed.

Church in Penang

September 5, 2015

This morning we had breakfast in the hotel lobby, and then boarded the bus and drove to church. All of us guys went in our new batik shirts, and I must say we looked good. Check the bottom of the post for a group picture of us guys in our batiks.
Church was not the most entertaining, since it was pathfinder sabbath. Not only that, but I came down with a bad cold this morning so I did not feel very good at all. I'm still very congested, have a bad cough, and have fever symptoms. Due to this sickness, church was not very memorable for me, but the rest of the day was.

Church got out very early, and we had some time to kill before going to Eugene's house for lunch, so we went to the botanical gardens of Penang. As the bus was pulling up, we could already see a small family of monkeys running around and climbing trees on the side of the road. This immediately woke us up and got us excited to explore the gardens. We walked around the gardens, enjoyed seeing monkeys everywhere, and simply relaxed and took in the Sabbath in nature. Although I was sick and felt miserable, I thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the gardens. I also love that the monkeys are able to roam around without being harmed by anybody there. I know I keep comparing everything to the states, but I wish there were some place like this in the states where the animals could roam free rather than having to be stuck in small cages for people to see.

After the gardens we headed over to Eugene's house for by far the best meal of the entire trip. His mom cooked typical Malaysian food, Indian food, and Chinese food and it was all delicious. Although I had eaten similar dishes on the trip, these were significantly better. I didn't realize how much better a home cooked meal was until having this one. Not only that, but it was nice to be in an actual house rather than a hotel or restaurant. Especially on the sabbath, it made it feel more restful. It was also great getting to try some of the foods that I talked about in my report for the spring quarter class, like the dessert kuih.

When I finished eating, I changed into more comfortable clothing in preparation for the rest of the day's activities. Once everybody was done eating and talking, we took off to the Kek Lok Si Temple, typically known as the "temple of a thousand buddhas." This temple was spectacular because there were many different levels, and you had to go through different shops and temples to reach the next level. Finally the highest point was the temple at the very top. Standing up there was beautiful; the view of Penang was breathtaking and the silence was soothing. Just standing there I could imagine a buddhist meditating there in peace. Although the steps were numerous, the view and feeling were definitely worth it.

After this, we went to Penang Hill. To reach the top of the mountain we had to take a cable car that felt almost like a roller coaster at times because of the quick turns that it had. Unfortunately, the mosque there was also closed, so we just relaxed at Penang Hill for a few hours, mingling with locals and finding more information about the country's culture. Andrew Ranzinger was even asked to take a picture with three random girls simply because he had blue eyes. While I first thought that nothing could beat the view from the Temple of a thousand buddhas, the view from Penang Hill was even more breathtaking.

After this we went and had dinner with eugene's family at an all vegetarian chinese/malaysian restaurant. I love that all the meat was replaced with fake meat, so I could eat anything without worrying about possibly eating pork or shrimp. Not only that, but the food was delicious! We also enjoyed some hot chinese tea which was very soothing for my throat after coughing all day.

Since I'm still pretty sick, I came straight to my hotel room after dinner and I am going to bed. Again, Penang has turned out to be quite the beautiful city. Penang Hill had a view that was just breathtaking. It was nice to have a restful Sabbath here in Malaysia. I can't wait to continue learning about Penang tomorrow.

Penang Day Tour 1

September 4, 2015

This morning we started with a breakfast in the lobby restaurant, and they left at 9:30 for our tour of the city. We first went to the waterfront and walked along the water, passing the Penang War Memorial while James explained the history and culture of Penang to us. One thing I found interesting is that Penang has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and I can totally see why. You can see that Penang cares about their older buildings and monuments, taking care to implement them into the rest of the city. It's a perfect mix of older culture with the newer advanced culture of the city. We passed by the supreme court with its pristine white walls, then continued on to the Parish of St. George, the first Anglican church in Southeast Asia. Although it was built back in 1816, it still looks amazing, another example of the city taking care of the older ruins. It was interesting learning about the structure of the church and the different materials used in the walls and pillars. They explained that the specific materials were the reason that the church had lasted for so long and still looked nice.

After the church, we walked over to Harmony Street, which is a street in which there is the Anglican church, a Muslim Mosque, Hindu Temple, and Buddhist Temple all on the same street living in harmony, just another reason to love Penang. I wish the US could take notes from this harmony street, it would be amazing to see all religions being able to live among each other rather than having harsh segregation and irrational hatred towards each other. Harmony street is very inspirational and is setting an example for the world to see.

After Harmony street we were given some time to walk around and look at the various pieces of street art. This was definitely my favorite part of the day, because I love modern street art. Although I'm not an artist myself, I love looking at art and appreciating the talent and time it required to make a certain piece. It was awesome walking down the streets and seeing large murals painted on a wall, or half of a bicycle coming out of a wall. I love that rather than punishing street artists like the US does, Malaysia embraces street artists and gives them a place to practice their skill and display their best work. Once again another thing our country could take notes on.

If the street art walk was my favorite part of the day, then the next thing was my least favorite. We went over to the Chew Jetty and walked around, but the smell was so strong that I thought I was going to vomit the whole time we were there. I felt like I couldn't appreciate the place for what it was because of the horrible stench.

After having lunch at the mall, we went to a bazaar market. Unfortunately I was not able to see the bazaar at all because a few of us guys spent the whole time looking for batik shirts to wear for church tomorrow. Once we finally got out batik shirts, the time was all up for looking around.

From there we went to a Buddhist temple in which the 4th largest reclining Buddha is. I've seen the 2nd largest one in Bangkok, and this one looked very similar to that one, so it wasn't too interesting for me..

The plans for dinner were to supposedly eat at the SDA hospital's cafeteria, which nobody was looking forward to, but thanks be to God the cafeteria was closed so we ate at a local Thai restaurant. I had Pad See Ew with chicken, and I loved it.

After dinner we were pretty tired from walking and sweating all day, so we just showered and now Daniel and I are going to bed.

Looking back at today, I'm really glad we came to Penang. It is a beautiful city and I love all the historical sites that it has.

Traveling to Penang

September 3, 2015

This morning was a sad day because we had to say goodbye to all of the people of the longhouse, forever. I can't help but think about the fact that this was just a two-night excursion for us, but this is real life for those people. They don't get to leave, they will stay in that longhouse possibly until they die... It makes you really appreciate the blessings that you have received, and realize that you have a responsibility to make the most out of your situation because it is a lot better than someone else's circumstances.

After packing up we drove and dropped off the pastor's son at school, then continued driving and got to the airport in Sibu. From Sibu we flew to Kuala Lumpur where we had our lunch. After having local food for quite a few days, Satchel and I decided to eat at an Irish sandwich shop and enjoy a delicious sandwich and coffee. Although I missed the longhouse, it was nice to be back in civilization.

Our flight to Penang was pretty short, and our tour guide James picked us up with a bus and drove us to our hotel. When we arrived to the hotel, the front desk apparently did not have our rooms ready. My roommate Daniel and I were the last ones to receive a room key, waiting about an hour to finally get into our rooms. Luckily, since they made us wait so long we got a huge suite on the top floor of the hotel. The view from our hotel made the wait completely worth it. It was comforting to see that we are staying directly across the street from the SDA hospital.

After getting settled in, the guys and I went out and had dinner at KFC and then walked over to the mall to walk around and eat a little more. Coincidentally, we ran into the girls at the mall and they were with Eugene, one of my classmates from LSU. I had no idea that he was from Penang, so it was a pleasant surprise seeing him there.

After we all ate, we sat down at starbucks for a while to use the internet, and then took our time walking back to the hotel. At starbucks we met a German worker named Norman, so we asked for recommendations on good restaurants and coffee shops to try while in Penang. Unfortunately the places he told us about were pretty far, so we never got the chance to try them. It was still nice to meet someone else that spoke fluent english.

We just got back to the hotel and are all pretty tired, but we're excited to be here in Penang. It seems like it's going to be a really fun and interesting city.