Day 12: Sabbath in Penang

Today was our second Sabbath of the trip. We got up and went to church in central Penang. It was an early service, with beautiful music from several violins and a cello, and lots of hymn singing. It was a beautiful service, and the congregation was so welcoming. The best part was that we were able to see Stephanie and Eugene's parents! Stephanie and Eugene are some of our best friends from La Sierra, and they grew up in Penang.

They were hosting a potluck at their house after church, so we got to spend some time there in the afternoon. The food was so amazing! We Skyped with Stephanie and Eugene from their house in Malaysia, and Stephanie was at Tori's house in California. It was fun to get to see them, but I wish they could have been here to show us around!

We had driven around the city a little bit before going to the potluck, visiting the beautiful botanical gardens.

After the potluck we had a longer driving tour. The driver took us on a road that wrapped itself into the rocky mountainside on the left, and bordered the white sandy beaches on the right. It was spectacularly beautiful. 

We went to the Batik fabric factory, and saw how they paint and stamp designs onto fabric. After that, we went to a fruit farm where we tried exotic fresh fruit juice. I had a pineapple and acerola juice blend, which was very refreshing. We were all still tired from traveling, and we ended up falling asleep in the car during segments of our tour that Dr. Perumal deemed "nap time." We were woken up to see a very long bridge that spans the distance between some of the islands of Penang and Georgetown, the big city in which we are staying. The bridge was built by the Chinese, and it gave us a great view of the city and the surrounding islands. 

We made a loop back to Georgetown, and went back to the Adventist Church, where we participated in their sundown worship. The church members were, again, so hospitable. 

After the worship service, Stephanie and Eugene's parents took our whole group out to Indian food. It was so good! We got to try lots of different curries, along with my favorite, garlic naan! With the help of other church members, they shuttled us back to our hotel. 

We have been so welcomed here in Penang. It is such a beautiful area, with much more to see than we will be able to cover in our day and a half that we have left here. I guess that just means that I'll have to come back someday! :)