From what I understood, this museum was the "furthest" point from the city center, but still walkable to the central city area.
Right at the entrance
Where you leave your shoes before you step in.
No cameras are allowed into the exhibitions. However, rest assured there is plenty to see (and learn) about the sultan and the country.
You can take pictures freely in the foyer. There is plenty to look at and take photos of in the lobby itself.
Panorama of the golden chariot from the Sultan's coronation ceremony in the foyer.
The dome above the foyer
I don't need much time to go through museums. I was ready to explore the city. Just 6-7 hours before my hostess could pick me up. I felt the need to make the most of it.
Sunday morning (13. Jan. 2019), I arrived into Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam!
Some of you may be wondering what Brunei is and why go there. Glad you asked (cheesy, I know). Brunei Darussalam is a tiny country on the island on the northern coast of Borneo. The Malaysian state Sarawak surrounds Brunei, except for the coastline. Brunei takes up all of 5,765 sq. km. (2,226 sq. miles). Not big by any stretch of the imagination, but not quite minuscule either.
I have a thing for tiny countries. I'm also fascinated by countries/regions that are unknown to the majority of people I know. I guess I'm an explorer.
Something else is that I was supposed to go down there last winter vacation, but I sprained my ankle and canceled all those vacation plans instead. Better said, I postponed them indefinitely. Needless to say, I was extremely grateful and excited to go this time around!
From Singapore
To catch my 8:40am flight to Brunei, I needed to get to Changi Airport by 6:30am. Since I wasn't familiar with Singaporean traffic, I decided I needed to get a taxi by 6am. Mission: "6am-taxi" was successful.
Chinatown (where my hostel was), Singapore at 6am.
You'll never see Chinatown like this at 6pm.
Beside my hostel. There's a lamp post going through the "H" in "Chinatown."
Arrived at the airport, went through the first batch of security (check boarding pass, passport, & a fingerprint), and was able to roam freely around the terminals.
First things first: where can I get breakfast? Oh, at a 24hr food court? Let's go and see what they've got.
At your gate, you go through security again, but this is when your bags go through the x-ray machines, and you have to empty out your pockets. Singapore does airport security differently.
In the airplane
Brunei and Singapore have a lot in common.
The 2(+/-) hour flight to BSB was one of the few times I got an exit row seat. Having to put all my stuff in the overhead compartment was a little annoying, but the legroom I got more than made up for it. I had the row all to myself too. I was assigned an aisle seat but then moved to the window for landing. I love flights that aren't thoroughly booked.
One benefit of having an exit row seat. This was a first for me.
I appreciate the list of ingredients. Who would've known?
Immigration was very painless. Perhaps that was because there wasn't much of a line (were we that early at 10:50am?).
I was Couchsurfing for my accommodation in Brunei, and my hostess was really busy and wouldn't be able to pick me up until 20:00+ that evening. Good to know I didn't need to rush to get anywhere. Not-so-good to realize I had to drag my carryon everywhere I went. It wasn't heavy or anything, it's just the fact that I need to have it with me at all times.
Meh, onward.
Bathrooms
When you go to the toilet in Brunei, you have 2 options...
Option 1
Option 2
Notice that there's a hose? Westerners/toilet-paper-users, toilet paper is used, but it's not that normal of a thing there. The common thing to do is to use the hose. I'm not used to it. I prefer toilet paper, but I accepted the challenge, even though I didn't like it that much.
Money
Brunei has their own dollar. The paper money is actually made of plastic. The Bruneian Dollar is tied in value to the Singaporean Dollar. This means, you can use your Singaporean Dollars in Brunei--and your Bruneian Dollars in Singapore (however, I've found Singaporeans to be not-too-happy to take Bruneian Dollars. Ten dollar Bruneian notes in Singapore are fine, but don't push your luck with Bruneian coins).
Bruneian Dollars (front)
Bruneian Dollars (back)
Brunei International Airport Mosque
Brunei is a Muslim country. In case you didn't know, you should when you see the airport has its own mosque--and it is lovely.
My winter vacation started on January 12, 2019. I flew from Incheon International Airport (ICN if you use airport codes) to Singapore (SIN), where I had about a 16-hr, layover before continuing on to Bandar Seri Begawan (BWN), Brunei the following morning.
Very fortunately for me, I was meeting my good friend Carina (whose family adopted me while in South Africa) in Singapore that night (we even booked 2 capsules in the same hostel).
We started off towards Chinatown for our light dinner. We were each given vouchers worth SGD 5 and let loose to wander and taste the streets of Chinatown--by a specific time. If you were late, that's it. The bus would leave without you. No exceptions.
It also started to rain quite heavily. We were given ponchos and a choice: either watch the Garden Rhapsody Show at Gardens by the Bay as planned (unprotected from the rain) or watch Spectra at Marina Bay (from the protection of a glass shopping mall just beside the bay). We voted for the second option, seeing the rain was pounding at the time.
Here is a video compilation of the 5 clips I recorded during the show:
Afterward, we continued our tour on to Bugis Street to taste the local, seasonal fruit of the evening and to do a little shopping. Singapore is an expensive place, not gonna lie. However, if you want to buy souvenirs (or anything), the two budget-friendly places are Chinatown and Bugis Street. The deals you can get are too crazy to turn down (unless you have admirable self-control).
Later, we drove through Orchard Road, which is the shopping area of the country. They have lots of high-end, luxury brands, as well as others closer-yet-not-quite-at my budget. You want to burn money like there's no tomorrow, Orchard Road is the place to do just that.
We ended back at Suntec City to see the largest water fountain in the world (I didn't know this at the time). Click the link on the previous sentence to find out more about said water fountain. It's not an affiliate link, I'm just in a time-crunch.
Once the bus tour was done (3 hours later), we tried to make it to the Singapore Flyer before it closed, but were not successful. This was a bummer for me. The tickets to the Singapore Flyer were good for 5 days from the date of issuing. Carina had 2 more days in Singapore, but I was to leave in the morning and return 6 days later. I was going to miss it by a day. Blast. Oh well, I did go back and stay for free for 4 nights so I cannot complain too much (Couchsurfing).
Good (short) night
With all that done, we returned to our hostel. We got ready for the night and went to bed. I had to get up at 5:30 am to get a taxi* to the airport for my 8:40am flight to Brunei. Whew, fun times!
Some pictures of my capsule...
That's my carry-on bag in the forefront! This capsule was HUGE!
You need to tap your card outside (and push a button inside) to unlock this door.
Pitiful panorama of my entire capsule (nothing was exciting on the other side).
That mirror and lights were out of this world (the clock is off, by the way)
For those interested, this is Atlantis Pods @ Chinatown. You can check them out here (not an affiliate link, although you could click here to get a discount and I'll also get pocket change)
*By the way, I paid SGD 20 for a metered 20+min. taxi ride to the airport at 6am. Again, my hostel was in Chinatown. Keep that in mind when considering taxis in the early morning (before traffic!).
According to the Chinese zodiac, 2019 is the Year of the Pig. With that being said, I hope you receive as many blessings from The LORD as to make you as fat as a pig--blessings-wise, of course.
Since my last post on Oct. 8, I've just carried on working at my 2 schools. I conducted the winter camps at both schools with my respective schools' co-teachers. As soon as my last camp day ended, I was more than ready to start my winter vacation.
If you follow my blog, you know I only post when I have something to share--and that is basically whenever I travel somewhere.
There are many pictures, videos, and stories to share. Ready to dive in? Well, you'll need to give me some time. I just returned last night, and I haven't had enough sleep for 2 nights. Once I'm well-rested and can make coherent sentences again, I'll be back.
Yesterday, I went to Jeodo Bridge. Today, I (finally) checked out Dotseom Island. This is a small island about 10 minutes off the Masan coast. You can get there via ferry at the Masan Passenger Terminal. They run ferries every half hour from 9 - 18 (8,000 Won per adult, which includes roundtrip tickets on the ferry). Supposedly, there is a guesthouse on the island, but I don't know much about it (alright, I don't know anything about it).
Let's go through the pictures.
A panoramic view of the ferry terminal.
Stuff to see/do in Changwon + Map
Some people really had a ball feeding the seagulls.
Arriving at Dotseom
Climbing to the top, then glancing back at the dock.
Green tunnel
The top of the island: statues, memorials, & flowers.
Walking "lego" man
Inside the "Poem Tree" statue.
Poem tree info
A view of the beach behind the island (across the island from the boarding dock).
Serene
Trolley, wheelchair friendly-ish!
Hanging pedestrian bridge (really liked it)
The sign at the dock, but before we go, let's check out the other part I hadn't seen yet.
