One amazing weekend

This past weekend was amazing and crazy. I honestly can't remember what I did on Friday for some reason, so I'm just going to continue on before this internet connection I'm stealing from my neighbor dies.

Saturday, a van came to Villa Puteri and took us to all the big sites around KL. We began at the Pewter factory called Royal Selangor. Malaysia was the world's largest producer of tin until the 1970s. We toured the factory and learned that everything continues to be hand-made by artisans. There are no machines to do any of the work.

After Royal Selangor we went to my favorite place of the day, the Batu Caves, a giant Hindu shrine embedded in a mountain. You have to climb 270 very steep steps to get to the top and there is a huge golden Hindu god watching over it. There were also a plethora of monkeys everywhere which was really interesting. They seem like cute furry things, but are really satan's little helpers. I saw one attack this lady for her Coca Cola. I stayed clear and admired them from afar. While I was there I was also blessed by a Hindu priest and got the telltale red and white dots placed on my forehead. Very cool. That, plus the fact that I've been blessed by the Pope should cover me for awhile. Also, if you climb to the top, supposedly all your sins are forgiven. My soul is squeeky clean! :-)

After the Batu Caves we visited the biggest Chinese Temple in KL. There just so happened to be tons of married couples there waiting for registration so it was really cool to see them all dressed up. It's a very peaceful place with candles and incense everywhere. I donated 1 ringgit and got my fortune which was very good:
"Be cheerful, your fortune is changing for the better. From the 8th moon to the 12th moon all will gradually turn propitious to your advantage.
Financial pursuit: Very hopeful
Honor and Merit: Success within grasp
Matrimony: Will tie the knot
Change of Abode or Travel: Good

I thought that was all very promising!

We ended the day at Putrajaya, the government's administrative center about 30-40 minutes outside of KL. The Mosque there is unbelievably beautiful, but sincer none of us were muslim we couldn't enter. Just to walk around the outside we had to put on these pink choir robes with hoods. Very interesting.

That evening we met up with 2 young Malaysians, Kai and Kenny, for dinner and drinks afterwards. Despite being a developing country, Malaysia is very progressive and cosmopolitan. It was interesting to realize that Malaysian youth are just like American youth (well, the non-Muslim malaysians anyway). BTW: I saw a giant poster ad for Harry Potter 5 while we were out. Very cool.

Oh, I just remembered what we did on Friday - We met with Vince Leuson, president of AMCHAM the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and afterwards he took us to Outback Steakhouse for "American food and beer." It was very generous of him!

Today we went to see the Sisters in Islam NGO that fights for women's rights using the Koran and Islamic teachings. They are part of the reason I even did this course and the campaigns they fight are so important and amazing. More on them another time b/c this entry is getting very long and I'm very worried about this internet thing.

More soon (I hope). Much love to all.

P.S. Seem to be getting a head cold. Please send me all of your feel-good healthy karma so I can be ok before we head to the rainforest on Sunday!