Thank you, kuala lumpur!

The last two days were a whirlwind of sightseeing, song exchanges, and travel! This group really knows how to maximize their time to get the most out of an opportunity like tour. On Wednesday morning the whole choir visited a few iconic landmarks of KL together: the Batu Caves, Then Hou Temple, and Central Market. The Batu Caves is a Hindu temple set inside a cave formation just a short drive from the city center. This historic site is known for its rainbow staircase leading up to the mouth of the caves and a gold statue of the Hindu God Lord Murugan that is over 140 feet tall. While climbing the colorful steps (272 steps total!), we were greeted by hoards of wild monkeys. It’s clear that these monkeys are trained from birth on how to tactfully steal food, and even jewelry apparently. Aggressive monkey encounters aside, we safely made it to the top of the stairs and into the temple where altars of various sizes are set in the cave walls. Built in 1920, the temple itself is made up of vibrant cave paintings and various prayer stations, but what feels even more ancient is the fact that these limestone cave formations are over 400 million years old.

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While Batu Caves represents the Hindu people of Malaysia, Thean Hou Temple represents the Buddhist Chinese people. As we walked up the steps to the blazing red roofs and yellow lanterns swaying in the wind, the temple representing the Chinese sea goddess Mazu was hit by a massive thunder and rainstorm. Rather than seeking shelter and waiting it out, many chamber choir members embraced the storm and went straight up to the exposed rooftop lookout. One would think that us Portlandians have had enough of the rain by this time of year, but between the sudden tropical storm and stunning traditional temple, you could say it almost had some kind of mystical effect on us.

For our final stop of the day, we of course participated in one of the most quintessential Southeast Asian pastimes: shopping! Founded in 1888, Central Market is right in the center of the city, surrounded by landmarks such as Chinatown, Petaling street, and KL’s waterfront called the River of Life. The next day was our final in KL and began with a small hiccup in our bus arrangements which we quickly problem solved and worked our way through. This group has been responsible, patient, kind and flexible with anything that comes their way. Ethan always says that tour teaches us the valuable skill of how to recover when you hit a bump in the road, not if.

Once we all arrived at Universiti Teknologi (UiTM) we had a short combined rehearsal with the incredible UiTM Chamber Choir, singing our Precious Lord and their Soleram. Made up of just 26 singers, the powerful UiTM Chamber Choir is 100% music majors, and it shows in their musicality and passion! They are also lucky enough to have both a choreographer and a costume designer. (see their stunning traditional concert attire below) Though we only had the opportunity to get to know them for a few hours, we immediately felt welcomed by the singers of UiTM and left Kuala Lumpur feeling inspired by their performance. A huge thanks to their emphatic conductor Maryann Magdalena Linnis and all the students we had the privilege to sing with! Find out what makes UiTM unique and follow their journey on their facebook page here.

And with that we were off to Thailand! One delayed flight later, we made it to Bangkok and were reunited there with Natthita Wongprom, our good friend and an alum of the PSU graduate conducting program, but more on her later… Tomorrow it's beach day!
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- Lindsey