Tip of Borneo & Kudat - August 2, 2011

Jeff only wanted to do one thing on this trip and that was to go to the tip of Borneo. We rented a car/mini van and left at 5:00 a.m. with Sister Lillian as our guide and Leslie along for the ride. It is about a four hour drive on not the best of roads.  Jeff would be driving along on paved roads and there would some times be a sign that would say; "AWAS" which means "caution" and the next thing you know you are on a washed out piece of road. Landon and I were in the very back of the car and can verify the bad roads by the sore tailbones we sustained :) It was totally worth sore tailbones!

Tanjung Simpang Mengayay, is also known as the Northernmost tip of Borneo, the third largest island in the world, after Greenland and New Guinea. It is locate in the district of Kudat, in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. The tip is the meeting point of Sulu and the South China Sea.

A bronze globe marks the location of Tanjung Simpang Mengayau at latitude 7 degrees north and longitude 116 degrees east.

Every where you looked was an incredible sight. Here are a just a few...

 

Rungus Longhouse that you can stay in at the tip of Borneo.

This is the view from the porch of your room.

Farther down the beach looking back at the island.

On the way back we stopped at a Traditional Rungus Longhouse in Kudat

Today, only the Runggus and Murut peoples still maintain the longhouse system. Each family has its own "apartment" but share a common living area. A longhouse may be made up of 20 to 40 families. Each of the doors is an apartment.

Kota Kinabalu - August 1, 2011

From our room at the Hotel Promenade this is the view that we had. Nathan lived in the condos next to this Hotel and this was his view he saw every morning. Kota Kinabalu is a very popular tourist destination. Off in the distance you can see two islands...there are three islands all together. Famous for snorkeling and beautiful water off their sandy beaches.

We walked across the street and to this open market on the edge of the water. They sell lots of things made in Sabah. Sabah is a state in East Malaysia and Kota Kinabalu is the city. Lots of lots of souvenirs. This is were we bought all our souvenir from East Malaysia. Nathan found him a native bow and arrows and a carved wooden vase. Every thing was pretty cheap.

There are speed boats that leave the shore of Kota every hour to ferry people across to the island gems. Thank heavens we picked the closest island called Manukan. They are not luxury speed boats...they go about a 100 miles an hour I think and they cross the waves and you hit hard on your bottom every time they hit the waves. Jeff found an extra life jacket for me to sit on to help cushion the blow. The boys couldn't stop laughing.

View from our speed boat

An aerial view of Manukan

From the Shore of Manukan

The rocky side of island. We didn't do any snorkeling because Nathan was still a missionary. We tried to stay away from the enticing sandy beaches so he wasn't too tempted.

This cool sand sculpture of a sea turtle was just sculpted the day before we got there. They always put the day first...31/7/2011

Okay...the boat ride back was even faster and Karen was sitting at the back of the boat where there was no cover over head and she got drenched from the spray off the ocean. This was her after she got off the boat. At least she was cool the rest of the day.

Gary with a member friend Peter and four of his six children under the age of five. His wife had just had a baby the week before we got there. They live in very humble circumstances and yet they are very content and happy. We all can learn a lesson from these wonderful people. He tried to give Nathan his Malaysia guitar. Nathan not trying to offend him finally was able to satisfy him by signing his name on his guitar with a black sharpie. We had to go buy a sharpie and come back so he could sign it. I kept thinking how blessed we are, we have everything we need and then some. We probably have at least a dozen sharpie just laying around the house and yet Gary wanted to give him his guitar which was probably one of the most expensive things he owned. They love the missionaries who have shared the gospel with them and will do anything for them.

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.

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.

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.