“Brunei” – a land of beautiful mosques, ornate palaces, luxurious shopping malls, nature reserves and beautiful coastlines

This blog, I introduce about Brunei from the photos of my memories.

I went to Brunei Darussalam in April 2019. The only city I visited was Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital, but it is a small country. The language is Malay, the currency is the Brunei dollar (BND). The Brunei dollar is exchanged equivalently to the Singapore dollar, so there are many places where Singapore dollar bills can be used.

To be honest, Brunei does not have so many tourist attractions. However, I have decided to travel to only one country per trip, so I think it is quite unusual to stay in Brunei alone for a week.

The “mosque” – a sacred space with magnificent domes and intricate carvings

A mosque, “Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque”, that symbolizes Brunei. Islam is the state religion, with about 80% Muslims. As a result, mosques of various shapes and sizes are everywhere.

The difference from mosques in other Islamic countries is the splendor of the building. It looks beautiful, big, and dignified. It can be seen that the total construction cost will be an order of magnitude higher.

A floating city where residents live

The biggest feature of Brunei is that it has a floating city. “Kampong Ayer” .

Located on the Brunei River in the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, the buildings are all built on stilts above the water. What makes it different from Thailand’s floating cities is that it has not become a tourist destination and is actually inhabited by many locals.

You can see the rustic life of Brunei up close. Just traveling by boat is quite exciting, and the road is made of wood, so it was interesting to feel the creak every time I walked.

A market where you can relax and shop

Markets are everywhere in Brunei. It was often used by locals to buy food and daily necessities.

The difference from Southeast Asian countries is that many markets are held in well-made buildings, and every market has a roof. Still, what was sold inside was cheap and there were many fresh things.

Everyone in the store was kind. It was a lively place and a good place to experience the kindness of the local people.

One of few playgrounds

Jerudong Park is an amusement park built by a millionaire. Not a park, but an amusement park? It was a sense of gap.

If you pay only the entrance fee, you can look around without getting on the attraction. The site is quite large as it was funded by the Brunei government with a billion dollars. In terms of scale and facilities, I felt it was similar to Tokyo Dome City Attractions.

The difficulty is the long walking distance between playground equipment.

Equipment for pumping oil

Nodding donkey pumps, “pumpjacks”, “nodding donkeys” and “walking beams”. A ground drive for a boring pump used to pump crude oil from an oil field.

It was the site of Brunei’s first oil drilling in 1929 and has been the center of the country’s oil and gas industry ever since. The town has few retail stores, fresh food markets, supermarkets and banking services.

They are found all over the world because of the equipment used to lift crude oil. The ones in Brunei are decorated with orange and green colors, and they are small and thick, so they are cute.

The GuestHouse I stayed

This is the guest house where we stayed. In contrast to how hot it was outside, the air conditioner was working hard and it was cold.

If there is sad news, this guesthouse has gone closure.

One kitchen of local market

This is a kitchen in a different market than the market I mentioned earlier. Actually, it’s not something you can put inside, but I got along with the mother in the picture and talked.

She offers a wide variety of foods, including skewers and indomie* dishes.
*Indonesian instant noodles, there is a ramen type eaten with soup and a yakisoba type without soup.

However, she is from Indonesia. She is probably also multinational in Brunei and has various histories.

Measures against heat

Drinks are essential in hot Brunei. When you order a drink, you get a sizeable one.

This is including cutted jelly. It is nice.

The symbol of oil rich country

Lastly, the monument “Billionth Barrel Monument” which can be said to be a symbol of the oil powerhouse. It seems that it was made to commemorate the production of 1 billion barrels of oil produced in the onshore oil fields of Seria.

2023-09-25

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