It's
our last day in Brunei, but I'm really looking forward to it because of
the much awaited visit to the 6-Star rated hotel and the biggest Mosque
in Brunei. These are the highlights of our visit in Brunei.
Our flight back to Manila is not until 2:25am
so we have more than enough time to explore of what Brunei has to
offer. We started our day with the free breakfast at the hotel, again,
not much to choose from, but well it's free so it's better than nothing.
8:15am: 45-Minute Viewing of the City
One
of the reasons why we booked at Jubilee Hotel is the free 45-Minute of
the City once during our stay. It's literally just a viewing and
passing; the driver will not stop even if you want to take pictures.We
carefully planned our itinerary and had to schedule everything. We
scheduled this free 45-minute viewing of the city early morning so we
can have the rest of the day free to explore more of Brunei. Some of the
attractions in this trip are new to us and I wish I can just go out of
the car and take pictures. I got the chance, though, when the driver let us go out for a minute to take pictures of the biggest Mosque in
Brunei,
the Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque. I had to use a restroom so I took
more than a minute and other guests got kind of mad because of that. Oh
well, at least I had the chance to snap a few pictures before we left
to go back to the hotel. To know more about this free tour, please
visit: Jubilee Hotel & Plaza
9:25am: Travel from Jubilee Hotel to Istana Nurul Iman
We
still have one more free trip, drop-off only for staying 2 nights in
Jubilee Hotel and we have the picked the Sultan's palace, Istana Nurul
Iman. After the other guests were dropped off at the hotel, the driver
took us to the palace. There's no traffic in Brunei, even though almost
all of them have cars, so we arrived at there after 10 minutes.
9:35am: Istana Nurul Iman
The
palace is only open for public during the 3-day Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
festivities at the end of Ramada. It's supposed to be drop-off only, but
since we can't go inside, we begged the driver to just wait for us
while we took a few pictures, and he agreed. To know more about our trip
to this Palace, please visit: Istana Nurul Iman: Palace of the Light of the Faith
9:50am: Travel from Istana Nurul Iman to Brunei Arts & Handicrafts Training Centre
9:50am: Travel from Istana Nurul Iman to Brunei Arts & Handicrafts Training Centre
10:15am: Brunei Arts & Handicrafts Training Centre
The
building where the center is located is currently under construction,
but since the center is still open, we were able to see the
handicrafts.Taking pictures is not allowed inside, and it made me sad,
but I had to follow their rules. I tried to snap a few pictures
secretly
using my digital camera but the lighting is poor so I gave up. Their
products are really beautiful and unique, but even though I want to buy,
I can't because it's very expensive. Well, think about a dress with
real gold and silver as the threads! For more info, please visit: Brunei Arts & Handicrafts Training Centre
10:25am: Travel from Brunei Arts Centre to Brunei Museum
The
next attraction from our list of places to see is the Brunei Museum so
after a while, we headed to the bus stop near the centre and wait for
the bus. The museum is located outside of Bandar Seri Begawan and it
takes about 15 minutes by bus to go there. Most of the passengers are
male so I guess, women do not travel much. I can't really remember how
we told the the driver that we're going to the Brunei Museum but he dropped us off there.
10:40am: Brunei Museum
I
looked outside the car and I can't see a single person or even a house
so I was really terrified. And when we entered in a village-like place
compound with guards, my feet and hands started shaking. I started
praying, looking at my friend, while my other friend is oblivious to
what were thinking. When I saw a building, i let out the breathe I
didn't know I'm holding. There's really a museum! I'm really grateful,
and was guilty of thinking bad about the man, but can you blame me?! I
will never watch horror movies about girls traveling ever again! Know
more about our adventure, please visit: Malay Technological Museum
10:45am: Malay Technological Museum
So we thanked the man and almost jump out of the car when we got to the museum.
We found out that he's from Malaysia and just visiting Brunei. He's
part of a tour with mostly men from Malaysia, he even introduce us to
some of them. However, we still can't get over the fear so we just say
hi and moved far away from them. We made ourselves busy visiting each
display in the museum.
It's interesting and before we know it we forgot
everything. We even forgot that we don't have a transportation going
back to Bandar Seri. And
when we're done exploring the museum, we went out without a plan. The
road that leads to the bus stop is really far if we will walk, so when I
saw this young man getting into his car, my friend and I approached
him. We asked him if we can hitch-hike up to the bus stop and he's
actually reluctant. We begged him and explained to him that we're
tourists and did not arrange a transportation going back to BSB. We're
still lucky because he agreed and when we talked to him, we found out
that he's heading right to Bandar Seri. 
And
after more begging he agreed to take us with him. He's a student and
with little English, we were able to talk to him. Again, when you travel
to Brunei, make sure to check if the attraction is open before going.
And make sure to check the schedule of the public transport if you're
going to commute. Otherwise, you will have to hitch-hike like what we
did.
11:45am: Travel from Malay Technological Museum to Bandar Seri
We
arrived at Bandar Seri safe and sound. We thank the young man and we
really wanted to treat him but he seems like he's scared. Oh and later
on we found out why he's reluctant in letting us inside his car. It's
punishable if a man was caught with women inside his car, and they are
not even related!
12:00pm: Lunch at Kopi Bandar
We
were glad that we were dropped off near the riverside where food stalls
are located. After the traumatic experience we're really hungry. So we
ate at the first restaurant that we've seen. It's a good choice though
because the food in Kopi Bandar is really good. We ordered a lot and
while waiting for the food, we talked about what happened and I didn't
believe we can just laugh it off. A must when you eat in Kopi Bandar is
the Teh Tarek and the fresh Lychee Juice. Make sure you ordered their
fried rice too as it's to die for! Please visit: Kopi Bandar: My Favorite Restaurant in Brunei1:05pm: Mircu Dirgahayu 60
After
lunch we started walking back to the hotel for our afternoon trip, the
much awaited visit to the popular hotel in Brunie. On our way to the
hotel we passed by the Mircu Dirgahayo 60, a monument built to
commemorate the 60th birthday of the current Sultan of Brunei. It's a
git of the people of Brunei to their Excellency. Their way of showing
gratitude for giving the people the best lifestyle. The people of Brunei
currently enjoy free medical services, education, housing and they pay
no taxes. I'm really kind of envious with this tiny country for being
naturally rich and for having a leader that knows how to take care of
his people. The monument is located not very far from Kopi Bandar.1:30pm: Rest, and be a Little Crazy (LOL)
Our
trip to visit the hotel is not until 4:00pm so we just stayed in our
room, rest and be a little crazy. I like Jubilee more because they
allowed us to stay in the room way past the check out time without
charging us any. However, since we don't know what time we'll be back
from this trip we have to check-out and leave our luggage at the
reception. 
Before
we do that, we had to take a lot of pictures in the room LOL! We
decided on staying inside the room because it's much cooler than staying
outside. Brunei can really get hot and it's best to stay inside if you
have nothing to do. After several pictures, we decided on checking out
and wait at their cafe on the second floor. Jubilee Hotel, by the way,
has a cafe and a restaurant.
I don't know if we're the only tourist guests but when we went to the cafe no one was there. Although, I saw a family staying in the hotel like they are living there. I had peek when the little kid open the door and ran out. I can see their things like they've been living there for quite sometime. We had ice cream while waiting for the our time to go, and let me tell you, their ice cream is really good!
4:00pm: Travel from Jubilee Hotel to The Empire Hotel and Country Club
We
decided on visiting the hotel in the late afternoon so we can also
observe sunset there and see the hotel at night. The hotel is located in
Kampong Jerudong, 26 minutes away from Bandar Seri Begawan. It has
become a very popular attraction for tourists. Another popular
attraction nearby is the Jerudong Park Playground.We originally wanted
to go there, but our time is limited.4:30pm: The Empire Hotel & Country Club
Two of them were swimming in the pool, and one old man just walking around. We even asked him to take pictures of us, and he's very friendly. We also asked one of the staff if he can take pictures of us near the pool, which he did but he told us after that the area is restricted. Well, at least he still took our pictures. There's nothing much to see here actually, but it's worth the wait until it gets dark. Please visit: The Empire Hotel & Country Club: The Most Elegant Hotel in Brunei
7:00pm: Travel from the Hotel to Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque
7:20pm: Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque
7:50pm: Travel from Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque to the "The Mall"
We've
told the driver to wait for us in the parking area for 30 minutes while
we explore this Mosque. I really wished we can go inside, I wonder if
this is as grand as this outside, how much more inside. After 30 minute
of admiring the structure of the Mosque we headed to the night marker
near "The Mall" to have dinner. We told the driver to pick-us up after
an hour.8:15pm: Dinner at "The Mall's Food Court"
9:30pm: Travel from "The Mall" to Jubilee Hotel
On
our way back to the hotel, we passed by this street and I can't help
but take a picture when I saw another Jollibee store. I guess I really
do miss Manila! Inside the car, I took more pictures of buildings that I
find interesting. I had to because, I don't know when I'll be back to
this country again. Traveling is a little expensive for me so I have to
make sure to go to a different country first before going back to where I
already been to.10:30pm: Travel from Hotel to Airport
Travel from Jubilee Hotel to Airport for our 2:25am flight back to Manila. We still have enough time but we don't want to be late. All in all, I enjoyed our trip to Brunei!!
For more of our (mis) adventure in Brunei, please visit:
Brunei Darussalam Day 1: Tamu Kianggeh | National Day Celebration | Tamu Selera | Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque
Brunei Darussalam Day 2: Royal Regalia | Tasek Lama Recreational Park | Kampung Ayer | Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque
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