More Sweet Than Bitter

Today is the big day, we're finally going home! In the flight from Singapore to Tokyo I was in the middle seat, but thankfully that flight was only a 6 hour flight. In the flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles I got the aisle seat and this was the 10 hour excursion, so thank God! The line to get back into the US was crazy, I've never seen so many people in one room. 

We finally made it back to La Sierra at around 5:30 PM on Friday. This experience has really changed my viewpoint on a lot of things, but I'm most thankful because I feel like it prepared me for my missions year. I have never been on my own for longer than a week, so this was a good test to see what I'm actually capable of. I took care of myself and it gave me the confidence I need in order to succeed on my own in another country. Other than helping me grow as a person, this trip really broadened my perspective about religion. Previously all I knew was Christianity, specifically Seventh-day Adventism. These experiences helped me to see other religious from the viewpoint of the people in their respective religions. Talking to Sikhs, Buddhists, and Muslims really helped me understand what these religions are all about. The one that stood out to me was Sikhism, the Sikhs who were talking to us explained their religion in a logical way that I related to. I genuinely enjoyed and respected what they had to say. I feel like even though we're part of different religions, I can still use the same ideas and apply it to my daily life. Now there are a lot of things I believe that isn't necessarily Adventist. The biggest thing that I took from it was the fact that they believe every religion is just a path. They are all different pathways to the same God. Even though we have different names for Him and different ways of worshipping Him, I believe that we are all worshipping the same God. All in all, this was definitely a life changing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I want to thank the school and specifically Dr. Perumal for making this all possible for me and my fellow classmates. I'm writing this final blog entry while in the plane, so hopefully we return to La Sierra safely. I can't wait to be home! 

Sal Puma

Hello Again Singapore

Today we're leaving Malaysia and returning to Singapore for the last day of our trip. We traveled by bus again and it was a 4 hour ride. We had to go through customs and this was the first time I experienced discrimination. For some reason they chose me for a "random screening". They pulled me aside and thoroughly checked my bag, they even opened and checked the bag inside of my bag. They took out literally everything from Lysol spray to a box of tic tacs and thoroughly examined it. It definitely got on my nerves. Once we arrived at our hotel in Singapore it was better though. Our last day was all free time, so everything I did, I had to pay for myself. Since we had a lot planned for today, I had to exchange some money for the first time on this trip. I thought that exchanging $80 dollars would be enough, but I was still cutting it close. The first place we went to was an aquarium, but not just any aquarium. We were informed that it was one of the biggest in the world, so I was pretty disappointed when I got there to find out that it's not. Actually, it's one of the top 3 aquariums in Asia, so that's pretty cool I guess. Once I got over my initial disappointment, it was actually a really fun place. They had one tank that was huge! They had so many fish and sharks. They even had one shark that's indigenous to Asia, so I have never even seen, let alone heard of the Bowmouth Guitarfish. The Bowmouth Guitarfish looks like a mix between a stingray and a shark and I never knew that mix could look so good. 

After the aquarium we walked to the beach. Even though I couldn't get fully it, I did put my feet in. So technically I've been inside the Indian Ocean. 

We didn't stay there for too long though because what my group of friends really wanted to do was walk across the tree bridge in Gardens by the Bay. We wanted to do it the first time that we went to Gardens by the Bay, but we couldn't fit it in our schedule last time. This place was awesome! Even though it wasn't the highest thing we've been on all trip, the view was definitely one of the best. 

After that we ate and then went to the famous Singapore Flyer. It's basically a giant Ferris wheel, except flyer's have enclosed sitting areas. In total the whole ride was about 40 minutes. The view from up there was incredible too. The picture really doesn't do it justice. 

Seeing views like this is what really inspires me to actually get out and do things. Usually I'm the type of person who would rather stay at home than go out, but this whole trip has really changed my perspective. Although I've had the time of my life on this trip, I am definitely ready to go home tomorrow. I can't wait to see my family at least for a little bit before I get back on another plane to Honduras for 10 months. I'm very excited for tomorrow.

Sal Puma

It's Been Real Malaysia

Today we left Kuala Lumpur and entered Malacca. It was a 3 hour bus ride, but I'm starting to really appreciate the time we have in the bus because I slept almost the whole time again. Once we arrived in Malacca we went on another walking tour before anything else. The first place we went to was a church, specifically the first Dutch church in Malacca. Apparently it was taken over by the British, just a little fun fact. Then we went to the ruins of a Portuguese church, which was actually a fort as well. 

This place was pretty cool because somehow the church lost it's roof and the view from up there was amazing. There was even a ladder that led to a lookout because that's where the Portuguese would go to keep watch. Unfortunately when we climbed the ladder we saw that the hatch to get into the lookout was locked. I was definitely disappointed by that, but it didn't take away from the beauty of this place. 

Then we went to a museum, it was the "Proclamation of Independence Memorial". Apparently, the idea for Malaysia to try to gain independence from the British was started in Malacca. We learned about how important Malacca was for trading, which is why the Portuguese, Dutch and British fought so hard to conquer it. 

Following that we ate lunch at a mall food court and it was probably the most disappointing meal of the whole trip for me. I got a bowl of rice and literally 5 little pieces of chicken, I counted. After that snack, we walked to Jonker Street. This place had a lot of nice shops and was the only place that had a specific souvenir that I was searching for the whole trip. We got to look around and shop for a little bit, but then we walked down harmony street. So far almost every place we went to had a harmony street and I really love the idea of it.  Usually harmony streets have a mosque, a Buddhist temple, and a Hindu temple all on the same street. There hasn't been fighting or conflict between them since the 16th century because of Malaysia's efforts to promote tolerance and peace. We got to visit the mosque and the Buddhist temple. The unique thing about both of these places is that they are the oldest functioning places of worship for their respective religion. The mosque was the oldest one in Malacca and the Buddhist temple was the oldest one in all of South East Asia.



That was the last stop on our walking tour, so after that we were able to walk back to the hotel. On the way back I noticed some captivating street art and a pretty nice view from a bridge that we crossed.



The hotel we stayed at was by far the nicest hotel that we've stayed at and it had the best internet, which was just icing on the cake. My friends and I went up to the pool on the 9th floor and it was outdoors! I didn't expect that because it was a 20 story hotel.



We hung out there until we got hungry and went on the hunt for some food. This was our last meal that we had to pay for in Malaysia so I blew all of the ringgits that I had left. The food was good, but definitely not the best meal that I've had. So I was a little disappointed to leave Malaysia on that note. After dinner a bunch of people met up in one of my friends room and we had a movie night and it was really fun! We watched the movie "No Good Deed" and it was pretty bad. Although it was really suspenseful, so if you can get past all the plot holes it's actually very entertaining. I'm finally back in bed and ready to hit the hay because tomorrow we are going back to Singapore. My time in Malaysia has been unforgettable!

Sal Puma

Batu Caves

Today we had our final exam for the class. Everybody was stressing out, but really it wasn't bad and thankfully I got an A. After we took it everybody was in a much better mood. We all felt like a burden was lifted from our shoulders. It was perfect timing because today we went to my favorite place of the whole trip, the Batu Caves. It is actually a Hindu temple inside of these caves which I thought was really cool because we actually saw people worshipping, it wasn't just a tourist attraction. Although, the amount of tourists there definitely outweighed the amount of Hindu worshippers. There was 272 steps from the bottom to the entrance of the cave. I really liked the architecture they had here. The statues were ginormous and so beautiful, but my favorite part of the caves were the monkey. Unlike the monkeys we've encountered previously, these monkeys thrived off of human interaction. They were much more friendly, but if you didn't have food to feed them they are known to attack. Luckily we had some trail mix and all I had to do was hold out my hand and they would kindly take it. It was so weird! They're little monkey hands were basically human hands, I thought it was hilarious how they were literally just smaller and hairier humans. They would even walk on two legs when they approached us. One of the younger ones was actually ballsy enough to jump on me in order to get the trail mix before any of the others. It was definitely an experience I will never forget.



We came back to the hotel by train and for dinner I cracked. I had to get myself KFC and it was so good. It was much needed because I was kind of getting tired of rice, noodles, or soup for every meal. Then some friends and I hit Chinatown for some good old fashioned bargaining. I got a lot of souvenirs for almost half the asking price all because of my friend Ronia Ali. This girl is fierce, she definitely knows how to work people and get the best price possible. After shopping our whole class met up to try durian. I genuinely enjoyed this durian! Our professor, Dr. Perumal, had the durian people set aside the best of the best just for us. They did not disappoint me, I am a believer in the durian now. Now I'm back at the hotel and I am ready to go to sleep. Kuala Lumpur has been really fun, I can't wait to see what Malacca has to offer.

Sal Puma