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.
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