Sunday, July 31, 2011

Kota Kinabalu - July 31, 2011

We took a bus to the church or what they call a bus. It is like a mini van with bench seats that they cram as many people into as they can. It was the first week that the KK Branch was split so, we went to two sacrament meetings.  During the second sacrament meeting the power went out so they canceled the rest of the meetings. We met a lot of the members and recent converts of Nathan. I can see why he loved all of them.
Kota Kinabalu Chapel
Visiting with the members after church.

Sister Jemimi took us to a beautiful sandy beach where we put our feet in the China Sea.


There was big open area were we had roasted corn on the cob. Nathan had chicken butt, this ABC Fruit drink pictured above and of course another durian.
Adrian Harun and his Mom, Dad and one of his twin sisters. Adrian was with us all day and has been called to the Utah, South Mission. We will be picking him up at the Salt Lake Airport on August 15th. We will take him to the Salt Lake Temple for his endowments and then taking him to the MTC in Provo the next day.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Kuala Lumpur - July 30, 2011

This is the view of Kuala Lumpur from the Hotel room. When we stepped out from our hotel to leave for the day it was just pouring. Nathan bought two umbrellas at a convenient store by the church. By the time we got off the subway it had stopped raining and we carried them all day and it never rained another drop.
This is where the Klang Branch meets in Kuala Lumpur. It is located in a small strip mall.
We met up with Sister Rinet and Sister Chang.
The bulletin board in the church shows the newest members of their branch. I think I recognize one of the missionaries in some of the pictures.
Yanti, Maria, and Dewi are the three girls from Indonesia that Nathan taught. Two of them joined the church. We met them at a park so they could say goodbye to Elder Watkins.
 

Making our way to Petaling Street.


Here is where the guys bought Rolex watches and Ray Ban and Oakley sunglasses knockoffs.
The Petronas Towers were the world's largest buildings from 1998 until 2004 when Taipei 101 was built. It still remains the tallest twin buildings in the world. When we came into the city from the airport the night before you could see them off in the distance and they were very impressive to see. They were even more amazing to see up close.
 We had lunch in the mall at the bottom of the towers.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Penang - July 29, 2011

Our transportation around downtown Penang.
Grandma Watkins loved her Rickshaw ride.
One of the open markets in Little India.
This is where we had lunch. It was the best Indian food. We had Tandoori Chicken and Naan. You take the naan and scoop up your chicken with it. The next three pictures below show what other menu items they serve.
 



Nathan having his daily fix of Durian...he had to share it with the Rickshaw drivers because none of us would eat it.
Shopping in Little India for traditional Batik clothing.
These Rickshaw drivers were tireless, they took us around all afternoon.
The driver took us by this temple on the way back to the Hotel Royal.
 


Penang Hill & Bird Aviary - July 29, 2011

Taking the tram up to Penang Hill
 

Looking out over Penang on the way up...it was very misty.
Watching the mist start to clear.
Thirumurugan Temple on top of Penang Hill

The hand painted marble in the temple.
Landon thought this parrot was the coolest bird ever...He would say "Hello", shake your hand, give you five, and mimic you bobbing your head.
Some of the other birds in the Aviary
Our SNAKE boys
Views of Penang after the mist cleared.
You could see this huge Buddhist Temple on the way down. It was very impressive.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Singapore - July 28, 2011

We had Wendy's for breakfast again today. It is the cheapest and the best in Singapore. The menu choices are different than in America. I had a Egg, Turkey Bacon & Tomato Panini for breakfast. After breakfast we headed off to the Singapore Bontanic Gardens. Lunch was at a the mall by our hotel at a place called "You & Mee". I had Lemongrass Noodle Soup. Then we watched them make this cool taffy candy called "Made in Candy". We flew to Penang that night and had dinner at the "White Coffee House". Landon had two pieces of bread with peanut butter in between...there was no jelly.

Singapore Botanic Gardens


This tree with the vines was so cool and they vines were huge.


It is a little hard to see the turtle but, it was so fun to watch.



Ribbit
Elder Watkins behind the waterfall.
If you look real close on the left you can see the twisted root vine.
More awesome turtles