OgBlog.net

KUALA LUMPUR FAITH and SCIENCE CONFERENCE

The real reason for the trip to Malaysia was to talk to a couple of churches about issues dealing with science and Scripture. I was scheduled for five meetings (including one church service) in 24 hours starting Friday evening….. We had technology:
.

including the words for song service being projected on the screen. We also had a FABULOUS piano-player
.

a little girl who played twice as much music as appeared on the page….she was something!

I was introduced by James Edward, the man who set up the Conference on short notice in order to take advantage of the GRI “experts” at AIIAS during May.
.

James was a better computer jockey than photographer - at least I THINK it’s his fault I ended up looking a bit like Boris Karloff in his most famous movies…..
.

Sabbath morning, I attended Sabbath School at the English church
.

and when it was time for classes, we adjourned to the exterior
.

where three or four groups discussed the lesson. This is an eminently practical arrangement, as the overhang protects from most rain - it rained lightly that morning - and after church, tables were set up and the potluck was served here, as well.

Once classes finished we re-entered the sanctuary for the worship service, which provided the largest audience of the Conference
.

The hall was packed, and we enjoyed the choir
.

and the special music, which was a quartet, two of whose members also played violins…..
.

In both the churches, shoes are removed and left outside, which leads to interesting views
.

My talk/sermon was titled Why It Really Does Matter What We Believe About Creation (thanks to my colleague at PUC and SAU, Greg King), and it was well received. We had lunch outside, and then spent another hour or so talking before heading back to the Chinese Church for the afternoon meetings.
.

The idea was to have three consecutive one-hour presentations, with time for questions after each. However, despite the smallish crowd (I estimated Friday night at 25-30, and Sabbath afternoon at perhaps 40), there was a LOT of interest, and many questions, not to mention the special music between two presentations
.

I ended up doing two prepared talks, and then spending an hour down among the pews talking about things that the attendees were especially interested in. Afterward, we adjourned to the all-purpose room for a noodle supper and a lot more talk. I was at a table with four young men, and others kept coming by the table to ask about the topics that particularly troubled them. We didn’t finish up until 9:00 p.m. or so, and then headed back to the hotel.

On the way, James stopped at a fruit stand and bought me a DURIAN. It was the smallest I’ve ever seen, with only three sections and a mere four seeds…..but it was scrumptious!! The only one I can remember eating that was better was the third one I ever tasted - bought from an Asian market on CLEMENT STREET in S.F. Of course, that was maybe 15 years ago, so who knows which was best - this one from the street vendor in Kuala Lumpur was GREAT!! James told me that the Thai fruit-growers have found a way to clone the best trees, and this one was numbered (working from memory, since I can’t find my notes at the moment) U-24. He apologized, saying that D-24 is better, but I could not have cared less—it was a wonderful durian, and just the right amount.

Next morning, James picked me up around 5:00 a.m. and I left Kuala Lumpur on Asia Air, another budget airline, but with a slightly better scheduling for the trip back to Manila. We landed at the former CLARK AIR FORCE BASE, called Clark Field since the U.S. military left the Philippines.
.

I cleared immigration and customs, and found my bus to the MegaMall
.

which even had a TV showing local shows (HORRIBLE stuff - modeled on material being shown in the U.S., and it is to our shame that this c**p is flowing from our country around the world)
.

Evidences of the airfield’s former life were everywhere
.

I focused on the sign over on that building, and here’s what I saw
.

which appears to indicate that at least SOME Filipinos with discretionary income these days…...

Once we were all aboard, off went the bus….and the driver was a wonder. He drove that giant vehicle like it was a Jeepney, and in nearly a month in the Philippines, I didn’t hear anyone close to him as a performer on the horn!! The incongruity of his appearance - unprepossessing little guy who sat there calmly like an accountant and juked his bus through traffic, defending his position stoutly, and providing the traffic with a concert every time someone even appeared to THINK about blocking his path. It was amazing—and just the kind of driver you want if you’re on his bus!!

We got to the (appropriately named) MegaMall
.

and I dragged my roller-bag into the nearest entrance and saw this…..
.

Having lost so much sleep on the KL trip, and coming down a bit from the psychological high of all those presentations, and having flown a budget airlines and had nothing for breakfast, I immediately went in for PHO. It was SO GOOD…..just how I remembered it from Santa Rosa (PHO VIETNAM), Sacramento, and Portland. There is nothing pre-possessing about any of these restaurants
.

but the clientele isn’t there for flash…..but for the food, which is plentiful, relatively cheap (I paid just about the same here in a giant mall that we paid in the hole-in-the-wall places back home in the States) and delicious.

After eating, I headed up to find the computer store where I’d agreed to meet the Whiddens, and then down to find the bookstore, planning to spend an hour or so until our appointment. On the way, I passed the first amusement park I’d ever seen in a mall
.

and some of the (currently) ubiquitous photographs of Algore, who was in town officially to talk about GLOBAL WARMING, Ooooops!, I mean GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE.
.

Within a couple of minutes at the bookstore, who should walk in but the Whiddens!! Good deal—we spent 45 minutes or so looking for books, and then headed back to the campus of AIIAS through the traffic of Manila
.

It was a good trip, and I was glad to have gone, and would do it again in a minute. It was also extremely tiring, and I was really happy to be back.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/26 at 12:02 PM

About

Categories

Monthly Archives

Search

Join Og's Mailing List

OgBlog.net

OgBlog.net

KUALA LUMPUR FAITH and SCIENCE CONFERENCE

Reading

Web resources

Friends