A visit to the Sultans Palace

Every year on Hari Raya (Eid), the Sultan of Brunei opens his Palace doors to the public. On this day any man can come in to meet the Sultan and every woman to meet the Sultans wife. Last year it was closed due to the swine flu pandemic so this year we were very excited to be able to make this trip. It is definitely one of those things you have got to do if you are coming to stay in Brunei for a while.

We set off at 7 in the morning as it does tend to get quite busy. On arrival we could either take the bus to the entrance or walk for about 10 minutes. We thought we'd take the scenic route.

It wasn't too busy at this time so we were hopeful we'd be able to see the Sultan and his wife and leave quite early. Like I said- hopeful.

(The entrance)

(The equivalent of the Guards Regiments! He seemed slightly bemused at me taking this picture)

After we had registered and gone through the security checks, we thought it was waiting time but at 8 in the morning, it was breakfast time! I had thought we would see the Royals first and then eat but nope, they were feeding everyone first. The food was delicious although if you were vegetarian you would have to have gone without as all the food contained meat!

After we had eaten we had to walk a bit more to get to another waiting area. Thankfully they had loads of fans along the way but these fans were amazing in that they also blew out a spray of water and it was heavenly! (Simple pleasures....)

This was the waiting area. As you can see there were a heck of a lot of people and more were still arriving!

We were seated in rows and then had to wait for ages until our row was called but as we were sitting, a girl wearing a reporter badge came up to us and asked us if we would mind being interviewed for the local news. We all jumped up at the chance but mostly because we thought we'd be able to jump the queue a bit! The interview was slightly nerve wrecking in that they interviewed us one by one and I kept screaming 'I'm so excited!' over and over until they ended my interview! A kid at school did see me on the news though so I was quite proud of myself!

(Simi getting interviewed)

We did manage to jump the queue and thought, 'This is it! We're going to see 'em now!' So we walked on a bit more and ended up.........in another waiting area!! It.took.forever!! But this room was beautiful so it wasn't too bad a wait and everything was air con too.

(They like their gold!)

Then another queue........

and then we saw them! We went inside the room where her Royal Highness and their (5-6?) daughters were standing, shaking everyone's hands. Her Royal Highness did speak to us and asked us where we came from and what we were doing in Brunei so that was a really nice surprise. After we left the room we got given a card and a yellow box (the women's looked like a jewellery/treasure box) containing a chocolate cake which was gorgeous! Yusuf got given $5 too. He was quite happy about that.

We took some pictures of the garden but this plastic palm tree made us laugh loads! What was the point of it when there is a real, much beautiful one, right next to it???

It was a really good day out and we're glad we did it. We were finished by about 11:30 so the wait wasn't too bad. Zaheer and Yusuf can now boast they shook the Sultan of Brunei's hand (and I can boast I shook his wifes..........)

Recap of the UK (WARNING: contains lots of pics!!)

I know it has been absolutly agggggggeeesss since I updated this blog but things have just been so busy and getting back to everyday life after a long holiday always takes some time. Anyways before I start blogging about Brunei again, I though I will do a quick recap of what we did in the UK. We had soooo many people to see and so many things to fit in and there just wasn't enough time to do everything. Most of it was taken up with visiting people and shopping! But we did have a lovely time overall.

I have put all the pictures as a collage because there were just too many to upload and its easier this way. Just click on the picture to get a bigger view and you will be able to see them clearly (and if you click again it enlarges again).

1. Out and About

We missed the English countryside like CRAZY and wanted to spend as much time outdoors as we possibly could. So we went on a few walks in the Peaks (we live 20 minutes away) and had a few good picnics. The weather was beautiful and we really enjoyed it. I also managed to go to Alton Towers with my brother and sister and me and Zaheer also had a weekend away in Sheffield for the Tramlines Festival.

2. Family

More than anyone, I missed my niece and nephews the most. It had been a whole year and I was very excited to see them all. They had all grown up so much but cute as ever. I spent 2 weeks with them and still miss them. I also caught up with my parents and brothers and sisters.

3. Friends

We went to the Peaks for the weekend and stayed at a beautiful cottage with stunning views of the countryside with some of Zaheers friends. I also met up with mine a couple of times for a meal. It was nice catching up with them all and seeing how things were going for them.

4. My sisters wedding

This was the highlight of the trip. The first week back was my sisters wedding and it was hectic! The weddings in our culture last for a good long week, with every day being some kind of event or another but it was such fun! A good way of catching up with relatives and people who I hadn't seen in a while. My sister looked amazing and it was just a beautiful event.

(Mehndhi (henna) night)

(Wedding days)

Right, that's over and done with!! I will be back to posting about Brunei soon.

xx

A year in Brunei...........

I can't believe we have been here a whole year! We have met so many amazing people, seen things we never thought we'd ever see, trekked through the beautiful Borneo rainforest and seen exotic animals we only ever heard David Attenborough talk about on his BBC TV series! I still feel incredibly lucky that we are living here in Borneo. It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we are trying to make the most of our time here.

We are however really really excited at coming back to the UK and have missed it so much. This last week has been one long excitement fest! We've been tying up loose ends, trying to finish off everything in the fridge, saying goodbyes to teachers at schools and friends who are leaving and having one final lunch at Excapade Sushi!

We are going to be in the UK for about 6 weeks and have so many things to look forward to. I'll try and update but am not promising anything! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Birthdays, Leaving Dos and Staff Party!

This month has been a very busy one for us! First off, it was Zaheer's 30th birthday!!! It happened to fall on a work day so he had to blow the candles out at school. It was such a delicious cake- white chocolate and vanilla sponge with cream.

Simi and Salome (our very good friends) had taken the keys off me this morning as they had a 'special delivery' for Zaheer when he got back from school. I was intrigued and slightly apprehensive as to what could be soooo massive that it had to be delivered to our house. Well the minute we got home we were greeted with this:

(I think Zaheer liked it is probably an understatement)

His very own football table! Yusuf was probably more excited than Zaheer was!

After that I decided to take him out instead off cooking at home and finally get to spend some money on him! (I saved up this year!) Normally I get the money off him for his birthday meal (plus present!) so it doesnt really feel like I'm giving him something but this time it was all on me! (Well to a limit...) So on his 30th birthday we went to watch................................

It was such an AWESOME film!! I had been dying to see this (so had Yusuf). I loved the other 2 and couldnt believe it had been 11 years since Toy Story 2 came out. But this film was just as good as the rest. A perfect ending I thought.

(I even went all out with the popcorn!! It was his 30th..........)

We then went to Kimchis which is a Korean restaurant (I think) and the food is just gorgeous but Zaheer last minute decided he wanted a good old curry so we went to Tandoor instead. The food here is always good and it is a beautiful restaurant- something that is quite rare in Brunei!

(Yusuf having fun with his poppadom)

I haven't actually bought Zaheer a present just yet but it is one in the making so he will (eventually) get it.

The day after Simi had organised a joint Leaving Do and Birthday at the Palm Garden Hotel.

Some good friends of ours will be leaving in July (don't go Clare!! Sob sob) and it was a good way of celebrating their time here.

Zaheer also got another birthday cake!

It was a really fun evening. The food was delicious and the company was a lot of fun. We are really going to miss our friends. I suppose that is one of the bad things about being an expat.

Then on the weekend it was the Staff Party!! I had really been looking forward to this just because of the Shooting Stars sketch.

It was organised by Rob and Scott and was the funniest thing I had seen in ages. They even made their own A-Team trailer which was just so so funny! They had us in stitches and it was just such a good start to the night. The food was cooked by Tandoor and was delicious. Overall it was a brilliant evening.

And that was the recap of the last couple of weeks. My next post will probably be the final one before we leave for the UK (yaaaaaaaaaay!!) on the 9th July.

Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque

After the Royal Regalia Museum we decided to go and visit the Mosque. I have seen it every time we have been to Bandar but never actually went inside so I thought it was the perfect time. I remember as a child we had a picture of this very mosque in our house and I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be seeing it for real. It was just amazing. (You can click on the pictures for a larger view.)

To get to the Mosque we went past the Water Village.

and directly opposite was this view:

This Mosque is just stunning. We will be going back to it in the evening some time as the lights are on then and its just spectacular.

(This is in the boat opposite the Mosque)

This was one of my favourite trips in Brunei. It is during times like these that I wish I could stay here forever. It really is a beautiful, magical place and I feel incredibly lucky and grateful for the opportunity to be here and experience it all.

Royal Regalia Museum

As I said in my previous post we have actually done no sightseeing in Brunei so yesterday we decided to go to the Royal Regalia Museum. It was a beautiful day and wasn't too hot which was a nice change.

We couldn't find it at first because it turns out the building I thought was a mosque was in fact the museum:

As soon as you enter the lobby you are met with this:

This was the vehicle that the Sultan rode down the streets of Brunei on his Coronation. It was huge and spectacular. Our first words were 'WOW!!!' The whole museum was pretty much the same. There was gold EVERYWHERE! We saw the crowns, presents the Sultan had received from other countries, ceremonial clothes, gold cannons, etc. It was beautiful and showed off just how rich the Sultan is. We weren't allowed to take the camera with us in the museum but were allowed to take pictures in the lobby as we were leaving.

(Shields and spears used during one of the ceremonies)

(Yusuf has mastered the peace sign pose)

(These were REAL gold!!)

(The inside of the dome)

(Yusuf especially loved the gold cannons and said he wanted one....)

(This was my favourite piece becasue not only was it solid gold, it was decorated with real diamonds! What's more there was 6 of them. I was very tempted to get one and run like crazy- so pretty......)

Well that concludes the first part of our day. We went to see the Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque after that which is also in Bander Seri Begawan and was walking distance (its the only place in Brunei where pavements exist!). More on that in the next post.