First, it’s incredibly expensive! The average hotel is around $300/night. Normal monthly rent for a small 2 bedroom furnished apartment is around $6,000, and that’s on a long-term lease (and you can find much higher). If you want to buy a car, you must pay $50,000 for the right to drive it, and you have to renew that every ten years, in addition to the cost of the car itself which is also ridiculously high. Fortunately, the public transportation system is fantastic with trains, buses, and affordable taxis, so a car isn’t really necessary. Food can be found at reasonable prices ($2-6/plate) in the hawker stalls (food courts) but prices at restaurants vary greatly.

Second, it’s a big city on a small island. While you can find nature here, most of it is cultivated. You won’t find sweeping hills of untouched foliage with no sign of man, or a spot where you feel alone and far away from it all. And I would miss that. I already do. It’s a very busy and crowded place. But it’s still wonderful and amazing for what it is. They do have some nice nature spots in the botanic garden, Sentosa Island, and in parks, but you can’t really live in a park.

Despite all of Singapore’s benefits and the number of fun activities to do around the island, the locals I’ve talked to all seem to echo a similar sentiment: it’s boring. Although they say it’s less boring than it used to be. We have been anything but bored since our arrival, but maybe that’s just because it’s all so new to us.

Because the prices were high already, we decided to kick off our start in Singapore with a bang by staying at the biggest hotel in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands, which looks like a giant boat held up by three tall buildings.

Unfortunately, we were all recovering from bad colds, and Jen was sick in bed both days we stayed there. But if you have to stay in bed, it might as well be a comfortable one, with good room service, and a view like this:

The long infinity pool on top of the hotel is quite spectacular, and you can see far out into the island on one side, and the harbor on the other side.

There’s an upscale mall connected to the hotel, and a cool fountain show by the bay at night for free, which you’ll be able to see some of in the video below. We didn’t go to the nearby Art/Science museum or do much besides eat (the food court in the mall is great), but we still enjoyed our time at Marina Bay Sands. And we’ll be returning one evening next week to see Wicked on stage!

Next, we moved into a serviced apartment in the Orchard shopping district. While there, we met a really nice family from Ireland. The wife is Singaporean, and they invited us to a fish farm along with her family. What a cool experience! We took a boat out to a floating fish farm in between Singapore and Malaysia. The kids especially enjoyed feeding the big fish with the smaller fish, and also going fishing for their first time (then eating the catch). We watched a beautiful sunset over the water and had nice conversation over some of the freshest and most delicious seafood I’ve ever eaten. Thanks Peter and Pyn for the great time!

Here’s the video and the rest of the photos.

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Moving a group of elephants is no easy task, for the humans or the elephants, but domesticated elephants like those in the sanctuary are used to encourage the wild elephants to move to their new location, often requiring a trip on a truck or boat. At the sanctuary, we watched a 30 minute video of the process, which mostly left me feeling frustrated about the destruction of the forests to create farms, and feeling sorry for the elephants who had to leave what was once their home. They also had a small museum where we learned about elephants and their abilities.

We enjoyed a nice lunch and then got to meet the elephants themselves. The babies were especially cute but all of them were fun to see. We fed them bananas, peanuts, and papaya, rubbed their trunks with love, and even got to ride them for a few minutes! We all enjoyed the ride except for Aysia, who cried the moment we put her on the elephant and didn’t stop until we took her off. We could have gotten in the water with them as well, but we didn’t want to get splashed by the workers like everyone else was.

A visit to the sanctuary is free of charge, but donations are requested. There is also no way to get there via public transportation, so you either need to rent a car and drive (that’s what we did), hire a taxi, or pay an overpriced tour company to take you there. But we found our visit to the Kuala Gandah elephant sanctuary to be very enjoyable, educational, and worthwhile.

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At the base of the towers is a 5-story shopping mall including a fantastic and fun science museum called Petrosains. We really enjoyed the museum, which starts with a short Disneyland-like ride and leads you through dozens of interactive and educational exhibits. Because the museum was funded by a petroleum company, there were a lot of exhibits about oil, fossil fuels, drilling for oil, uses for oil, etc. Personally, those weren’t my favorite exhibits, and I did appreciate that they had some exhibits on solar power and the future of energy. It took us about three hours to get through everything, and we had a great time.

Even though we visited the towers several times, we never went up in them to the bridge. You can’t go all the up to the top unless you work there, but the bridge connecting the towers is still very high. Our main reason for not going up was simply because we never got there early enough (8:00 AM) to get the tickets (which are free). We’ve been late risers and lived a good distance from the towers. But we’ll see if we can do it next time we’re in KL.

Behind the towers is a beautiful strolling park with an extremely large playground area for younger children, and a nice wading pool and waterfall to cool off in. There is also a fun fountain show to watch as it gets dark (usually around 7:30 PM).

Here I am with the kids in the pool. Even just getting our feet wet helped cool us off a lot on a hot day, and felt great.

Check out more pictures and videos below.

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We also met up with some new friends at the bird park, Steve & Amy and their kids, a really nice traveling family from the states. It’s been great getting to know them, even though our time together was short. Another day, we met them at the Craft Complex and the kids had fun doing batik paintings on cloth, a traditional Malaysian artform.

Check out more pictures and videos below from our time at the KL Bird Park and the Craft Complex, as well as some shots from the Pavilion Mall, where we enjoyed some delicious ramen on “Tokyo Street.”

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Batu Caves Entrance

Guarding the entrance to the Batu Caves is a 43 meter high golden statue of the Hindu diety Lord Murugan, followed by a staircase of 272 steps. I’m not sure which is more formidable. Regardless, the caves themselves were breathtaking!  The ceiling is a towering 100 meters high, and extends through multiple caverns. The inside of the caves has been leveled and cemented with stairs, so walking through it is easy.

Inside the Batu Caves

At the cave’s end was a Hindu temple where priests were accepting food offerings and performing rituals with paint and fire. A mystical and reverent spirit was in the air in that impressive setting.

Hindu Priest

On our way back down the stairs, we took a tour of a second cave known as the “Dark Cave” which is home to the endangered trap door spider, poisonous centipedes, several varieties of bats, large cockroaches, snakes, and more. This tour was optional and the only part of the trip that cost money, but we thought it was worth it. There were some beautiful formations in the cave, a smooth and sparkling limestone wall, and giant stalactites and stalagmites. At one point when we all turned out our flashlights, complete darkness came instantly, and all you could hear was the chirping of the bats. It was fun to feel that for a minute, but I’m glad I had a working flashlight.

The Dark Cave

After exploring the caves, we had a nice Indian lunch, and then the girls had a henna artist decorate their skin. Emily had one painted on her foot, and Marie on her hand.

Emily's henna

Marie's henna

We really enjoyed the Batu caves. Tomorrow, they’re celebrating the huge festival of Thaipusam, an eight hour pilgrimage where men pierce their skin with large metal hooks to which they attach ropes and pull heavy decorated carts on wheels. We won’t be witnessing that, but we’re impressed with the devotion.

Check out the video below for more footage and pictures of our time at the Batu Caves.

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It’s been fascinating to hear others’ experiences and beliefs on this topic, and to have the chance to clarify my own views as I’ve responded to questions, accusations, and praise for my decision. I admit that I was afraid at how others might react, but am pleased to report that most of the responses were positive, and that many of my relationships have deepened as people opened up to me like I opened myself up in the document. I’ve also met some new friends both in and out of the church. This has been a wonderful learning experience for me and has taught me more about myself, human nature, and why people believe what they do.

It’s also made it even more clear to me how each of us see the world through our own filters of reality, and how difficult those filters are to remove. Even when we think we’ve removed them, we usually haven’t. I’m reminded of the common mistakes we all (including me) make in our thinking, so well explained in the book Don’t Believe Everything You Think which I reviewed last year. It’s a great book that really increased my awareness of how our brains work and how we form our beliefs.

I thought it would be interesting to summarize the most common responses I received to my announcement. While each response was as unique as the person writing it, there were some common themes that kept coming up. Each of the items listed below is an idea I heard several times in the responses I received. I think this list demonstrates that people have their own minds, experiences, opinions, and emotions that vary greatly even within the same belief system. Personally, I think that kind of diversity makes the world a more interesting place to live and probably helps us grow more than if we all felt the same way about everything. That is, if we can all learn to love and accept ourselves and each other with all our differences.

Here are the most common responses I received:

• You’re an anti-Mormon, deceived by the devil, and are just trying to destroy people’s faith.
• You will regret this at Judgment Day when you’re forced to humbly kneel before Christ.
• I know you left just because you wanted to sin / have more free time on Sundays, etc.
• I’m really sad and disappointed in your decision. You must be very unhappy. I will pray for you.
• I know the church is true. It brings me so much peace and I can’t imagine going through life without it.
• I’ve heard it all before, and I’m still strong in the church.
• I don’t agree with what you said, but I still love you.
• You will always be our friends. It doesn’t matter to us what you believe.
• Your document was well-written, but your logic is flawed because you’re not taking into account the witness from the Holy Ghost.
• I think you over-thought some of these things, and intellectualized yourself out of the gospel. You’re “too smart” for the church.
• I’ve had more powerful spiritual experiences than the ones you describe that I could never deny and they prove to me that the church is true.
• You were an inspiration to me growing up and helped strengthen my testimony through your example. I’m really shocked to hear this news, but I still consider you my friend.
• I can tell you’ve really thought this through. Here are some other questions you might want to consider.
• You’ve caused me to think a lot, and you’re right about many things. But I still believe in the church.
• I don’t believe everything the church teaches, and it doesn’t really matter if it’s true or false because it makes me a better person and/or it’s what I’m comfortable with, so that’s why I believe.
• I want to believe the church is true. It’s really scary for me to think that it might not be. But I have to know the truth. I’m going to find out for myself. Thanks for sharing your journey.
• It’s so nice to know I’m not alone! I feel the same way as you do, but my wife/husband/brother/mom/etc won’t even try to listen to my concerns.
• Your article makes perfect sense and I completely agree with everything you said, but I still go to church to keep my family together (my spouse would divorce me if I left, and my kids would disown me).
• You’ve really helped me at a crossroads in my life and your document brought me so much peace and has given me courage to do what I know I need to do. Thank you!
• I left the church years ago for many of the same reasons you did, and have been so happy ever since. You put into words beautifully what I was never able to articulate, and it really resonated with me. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
• We’ve been trying to figure out how to tell our family and friends that we left the church, and your document really helps spell it out in a non-offensive way. I’m going to share it with them / use some of your words in my response.
• I just want you to know that you’re not alone and that despite how some people will mistreat you for this decision, there are thousands more who support you. It’s great to see you being true to yourself.
• You should write a book about this and publish it! There are so many people struggling with these issues who feel so alone and afraid and they need your help.
• Writing that took amazing courage and integrity, and you handled it with such grace! Well done! You inspire me!

What a spectrum of responses! Do you see your response (either thought or written) in the list? Of course there were many more, and some went into great detail, but this is a summary of the most common ones.

Interestingly, when we decided to sell our material possessions a couple years ago and travel the world as a family, we received similar backlash and support from various people (although the severity was on a different scale). Some people thought we were crazy and stupid. Some were concerned about our health and safety. Others felt like we were living the dream and wished they could join us. Some ignored us. Others were inspired by us and made preparations to do the same thing themselves. I suppose whenever we make a radical decision, or a choice that breaks the barriers of culture and “normal” expectations, people will react differently, according to where they’re at in their own life, their own fears and desires, their own experience and expectations. These reactions say much more about the speaker than they do about our decisions or about us as individuals, but we can learn something about ourselves from each response if we choose to, and help each other grow.

We’ve been fortunate to come to a place inside of ourselves that we’re very happy and content with. We’ve realized that we don’t have to live to meet others’ expectations, and that’s not what ultimately brings happiness to anyone. Instead, we do what ignites our passions, fills our lives with meaning, and makes the world a better place in our eyes. My hope is that we can all do just that, in our own unique ways.

Howard Thurman said, ”Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

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Perhaps part of why we’re enjoying it here so much is because we decided to splurge on a nice apartment with views overlooking some greenery on one side, and the cityscape on another side, including the famous Petronas Towers. We’ve found that having nice views, large windows, and nature close by help us feel more relaxed, reflective, and elevated, so it’s worth the expense to us. We’re paying RM 6,900 (roughly $2,220 USD) for one month in this 2 bedroom, 1800 sq ft apartment, which includes furniture, all utilities and Internet, cleaning service twice a week, and amenities like a swimming pool, gym, and playground. It’s also just a 10 minute walk to the train station and the Mid Valley Megamall with hundreds of shops, restaurants, and activities to choose from. Of course, this would be much cheaper if we committed to a year lease, and maybe we’ll come back and do just that. Here’s the view from our master bedroom.

And the night view out our bathroom window.

Yeah, we’re enjoying it.

The only thing our apartment lacks is decent kitchenware. We have the basics: an oven, a microwave and a small refrigerator/freezer. But we only have four plates and four cups, no blender, and not much in the way of pots and pans, beaters and other utensils. So we still haven’t been doing much cooking. We’ve been buying a lot of fruit, though, and we try to at least eat breakfast at home because most places here don’t open until 10am anyway. Fortunately, we also found that we can order food in from a variety of restaurants via http://roomservice.com.my. It’s been great for those days when we don’t feel like going out, but don’t really want to cook either. Who needs a private chef?

Our first few days here were just spent looking for a place to live, and our first week here, the girls were involved in a fun technology day camp where they made computer animations, stop-motion video, and learned the basics of engineering with legos.

Kuala Lumpur doesn’t feel as hot as Penang. That’s probably because it’s much less humid, being further from the ocean. But it’s still hot when the sun is out. As for traffic, despite rumors we’d heard, we found the drivers to be quite courteous, at least compared to Costa Rica and Penang. But the roads themselves are often crowded with cars, and because of how they’re laid out, it can take a long time to go short distances. Fortunately, Kuala Lumpur has an excellent train system every bit as developed as the one in Japan (although not quite as expansive — it’s just for getting around the city). We haven’t tried the buses yet, but we hear they’re nice as well, and very cheap.

One of the major attractions here that surprised us has been the shopping malls. Wait, malls? Seriously? Yeah, we’ve never really enjoyed malls or shopping, and certainly wouldn’t think to go there just for “fun.” But these malls are different. First, they’re massive! Usually at least 5 stories high, and with hundreds of shops each, selling lots of unique items we’ve never seen before, restaurants with every type of food you can imagine, and even activities like ice skating, laser tag, bowling, and movie theaters. One of the more spectacular malls, Sunway Pyramid, follows an Egyptian theme with a giant pyramid and sphinx out front, and even has a ferris wheel inside!

Maybe we wouldn’t think the malls were so cool if we hadn’t arrived during the celebration of Chinese New Year, when the malls are decked to the hilt with red lanterns and golden dragons, and when there are regular free performances of Chinese acrobats, cultural dances, and musical artists to liven up the air. On the night of Chinese New Year, we also got treated to the most spectacular fireworks displays I’ve ever seen, and at eye level from our apartment window. It’s an amazing time to be here in Kuala Lumpur.

Unfortunately, the prices on everything are much higher than Penang, but I guess that’s what you get in a bigger city. Still, it’s very reasonable and probably cheaper than most other major cities in the world, especially the food prices.

Next post I’ll be writing about some of our outings around KL. Until then, enjoy the pictures and video below. This video includes some cool acrobatics and dance performances, fireworks, and lots of baby Aysia footage, as requested. :)

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Our first stop was Orang Utan island, in the middle of a large lake, where some of the last of this amazing animal are being protected. In the Malay language, orang means person, and utan means forest. These forest people are even more intelligent and human-like than I expected. For example, I saw an orangutan pick up a long stick and put it through a fence to draw a piece of fruit closer to him. I also saw him use it as a weapon to hit his friend when he tried to take the fruit for himself. The babies in diapers were especially cute.

We then drove to the Cameron Highlands, a mountain town at the end of a very winding road, first settled by the British in the early 1900′s. We hadn’t booked a hotel in advance and just thought we’d look around once we got there, but we all felt so exhausted and car sick from the drive, that all we wanted to do was rest at a nice place. After the first hotel we checked was closed, we gave up looking and settled on the Heritage Hotel, which was fortunately a lovely hotel with a large room, beautiful views out the window, and a great dinner and breakfast buffet, for $115/night.

The Cameron Highlands has many farms, and the next day we toured a tea plantation, a strawberry farm, and a bee farm. The tea plantation was an especially beautiful sight to behold, with rolling hills of tea plants, and we learned a lot about how the crops are farmed. There are other things to do in the Cameron Highlands, and we enjoyed the cooler temperatures, but because it made us so sick to drive anywhere on the winding roads, we decided we’d had enough, and drove back to the town of Ipoh at the bottom of the mountain to spend the night.

We were really impressed with Ipoh. It’s a clean and spacious city surrounded by jagged limestone mountains covered in foliage. The size and overall feel of the city reminded me a lot of Salt Lake City, where we grew up.

The next day, before leaving Ipoh, we walked around an impressive temple we passed the day before that was built right into the side of the mountain cave, called Ling Sen Tong. You can see more pictures in the gallery below.

From Penang to Cameron Highlands, to Kuala Lumpur, the drive was beautiful all the way, and we enjoyed the greenery, the mountains, and the clean and fast roads. There is a lot to love about Malaysia, and we’re glad to be exploring more of it. Here’s a little video and some photos we took along the way.

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Here’s a list of some of the highlights of 2011 for us, in no particular order.

1. Had a new healthy baby girl, Aysia, who was born at home in our bath tub in Costa Rica.
2. Enjoyed visits from my mom, sister’s family, Jen’s parents, and her uncle and cousin.
3. Watched a guy kiss a king cobra on the mouth, then put the snake’s head in his mouth.
4. Moved from Grecia, Costa Rica to Escazu, Costa Rica, to Penang, Malaysia.
5. Enjoyed a fun week in Kauai, Hawaii with my mom, sister, niece, aunt & uncle, cousins, and more.
6. Got robbed in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. Lost 2 Macbook Pros, 3 iPads, camera, binoculars, backpacks, and more. Got one computer back thanks to PreyProject.com.
7. Threw a party in Utah and enjoyed visiting with dozens of family and friends on our way to Malaysia.
8. Drove my car (99 Rav4) through several rivers in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, and almost got stuck.
9. Enrolled the kids in art classes, Chinese class, community choir, day camps, and other fun activities.
10. Donated Emily’s birthday and our Christmas to charity (Emily’s idea).
11. Went to a weekly playgroup in Escazu and made many friends.
12. Played with monkeys at a rescue center who crawled all over us.
13. Tim Ferriss, author of the 4-Hour Workweek, wrote about me on his blog.
14. Watched how the indigenous Bribri indians in Costa Rica made chocolate, then we ate some.
15. Got chased and almost attacked by monkeys in national parks in both Costa Rica and Malaysia.
16. Bought my first real estate investment property. Thanks Shaun!
17. Took family yoga and horseback riding classes in Costa Rica.
18. Enjoyed soaking in several hot springs around Costa Rica, always with friends.
19. Lived for 8 months in this beautiful and artsy house in Escazu, Costa Rica.
20. My eight year old daughter learned to love reading, and has become very fast at it.
21. Toured several organic farms and learned about the farming business.
22. Saw two opossum mating noisily on our deck one night.
23. Spent 6 days without Internet in a Costa Rican rainforest with our friends, the Kings.
24. Physically left the Mormon church. (We left emotionally/mentally in July, 2010, but continued attending until March 2011.)
25. Ate delicious Indian food (roti) for breakfast almost every morning in Penang, Malaysia and usually paid less than $6 to feed our whole family.
26. Changed my blog title from Fulness of Life to Pearce on Earth and changed the design.
27. Went to a fish spa and got our feet nibbled on by doctor fish.
28. Got used to driving on the left hand side of the road.
29. Read several interesting books on my iPad and learned a lot from them.
30. Visited Kek Lok Si temple, the largest Buddhist temple complex in Southeast Asia.
31. Saw the most beautiful orchids at the Orchid Festival in Penang Botanic Gardens.
32. Ate the most delicious, unique, and cheapest food we’ve ever had in our lives in Penang, Malaysia.
33. Watched the dragon boat races at a dam in Penang.
34. Went to a jazz festival evening concert at a tropical spice garden in Penang.
35. Continued to grow my online businesses working less than 5 hours per week on average.
36. Hung out with friends at least 2-3 times every week.
37. Explored a huge 7-story shopping mall in Penang.
38. All my kids (except the baby) now know how to ride a bike.
39. Played Mario Kart wii enough that I got bored of it, but not enough to beat my kids. (It came with our Penang house, and they played it a lot.)
40. Went to a Chinese medicine man for a very strange herbal massage treatment.
41. Watched a Lion and Dragon dance parade in Georgetown, Penang.
42. Watched amazing Indian dance performances — such energy!

What did you do in 2011? Any plans for 2012?

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Let me put all rumors to rest and state openly that yes, we have left the LDS church. As shocking and saddening as I’m sure this news will be to many people, I feel the need to be honest about it and to clear up any misunderstandings as to why we left. I realize that this announcement may cause us to face rejection and ostracism from some family and friends. Sadly, we’ve already experienced some of this. Of course, when the beliefs you deeply treasure are disregarded by someone else, it’s easy to feel like you’re being attacked personally. Please understand that no attack is intended and I completely respect those who continue to remain in the church.

Below you’ll see a link to a document I’ve written that explains everything about my journey out of the church. It’s not anti-Mormon propaganda meant to dissuade you from belief, although it’s definitely not faith-promoting either. Mostly, it’s a personal story about me and my journey out of the church, which was much harder than it sounds. The church was everything to me and was very much a part of my identity and the filter through which I saw the world. Leaving was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and one of the most painful. At the same time, it’s been one of the most rewarding, joyous, and enlightening experiences of my life.

The letter is pretty long, but I hope you’ll take some time to read about my journey, the events and thought processes which brought me to where I am, and how my worldview and beliefs have evolved since I left. Hopefully after reading, you will be able to see us for who we are, not just for what we believe, and to continue loving and accepting us as we still love and accept you.

Also, feel free to email me or post a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Read Why I Left the Mormon Church (PDF file)

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