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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Brunei Babymoon : Kampong Ayer, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, Kubah Makam Diraja Brunei, and Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque

We bought a bottle of H2O and kaya buns, and off to Kampung Ayer. It is located 5-minutes away from Jubilee Hotel! Hooyeah! This place is called Venice of the East, the biggest water village in the world with 30,000 over population. This population roughly represents 10% of the nation’s total population. They purposely reserve this place as a Malay culture and tradition. Though it looks simple and plain from the outside (more to a slum), it is said that it looks nicer and better in the inside, with satellite, air-cond, internet and what not. So don’t judge a book by its cover ya! This village also has its own school, mosque, clinics, police station, marine station, and etc. WOW!

Ok. We didn’t exactly go to Kampong Ayer to examine what they have in their house, for the boat ride was too bumpy for me. If you want, the water taxi can take the visitor on a boat ride, enjoying the village with the price of BND15. We only enjoy the village from the opposite side of it where we drove along Jalan Residency and stopped at one of the jetty. There was one local guy who was enjoying the breezy wind with fishing rod in hand.
It was like a normal day with normal routine, where boats were seen here and there with locals lingering around their balcony. The water wasn’t clear and blue since it is an estuary. Nothing more, the same view that we can find in any fishing village in Malaysia. Anyhow, we were amazed with the parking area, where most of the villagers parked their cars at the other side of the water village, took a boat ride back to their crib, and it has been said that there was no case of car break-in till date. Isn’t that great?!
The sun was too hot that both of us had to quickly capture whatever needed. After few snaps of Kampong Ayer, we continued driving at Jalan McArthur (you may find souvenir shops along this road too), headed to the gorgeous landmark in Bandar Seri Begawan, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque. We had to make two rounds since we missed the entrance. We didn’t see any parking slot along the roadside, so we had to go to the back of the mosque via one government building and small village.
From this side of view, we actually positioned ourselves at the most perfect location, where we can cruise along the mosque outer gate. I quickly asked hubby to drive slowly along the curvy black gate, and stopped whenever I asked for. Huih penat gak la! We’ve been stopping for more than 8 spots started from the left side to the center of the mosque, where a ceremonial barge was located. There was another entrance led by a walkway. The reflection looked so marvelous with the help of scorching sun and cotton clouds.
This mosque is built in 1967 with the main dome covered in pure gold. I repeat, PURE GOLD! Like other mosques, the main minaret is the tallest feature where it is equipped with elevator to the top that can view the entire city. The interior is decorated in stained glass windows, arches, domes, and marble columns, where these materials were fully imported from abroad. Nangis tak tengok dalam!
There was no exit at the end of the corner, hence we had to turn back to where we came from.

“Two popular spots checked!” I re-confirmed.

“Now, where to?”

“Another mosque before we off to Kuala Belait…well, what else?” Both of us laughed.

On the way to another mosque, we accidentally stopped by at Kubah Makam Diraja Brunei which we didn’t spend much time to explore. The graves kept all four generations of sultans and all graves were nicely covered and carpeted. They were:
1. Al Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddin III (28th Sultan)
2. Al Marhum Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin  (27th Sultan)
3. Al Marhum Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Allam II (26th Sultan)
4. Al Marhum Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam (25th Sultan)
We then headed to Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque that is located at Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Highway, Kampung Kiarong. (Note the different in spelling.) Okay! This issue has bugged me for the whole day when I was reading the road sign, and I need to ask you guys out there. Why is he naming EVERY SINGLE road and building after his name? Confuse la weh. Hahaha! If its not his name, it will be his wife’s or children’s name.

It is claimed that this mosque is the largest mosque in Brunei with four terrazzo-tiles minarets and 29 golden domes. Gold lagi! Again, we didn’t enter the mosque, for we had a very minimal and limited time since we were heading to Kuala Belait. We quickly snapped the gate pictures, the mosque, and drove away. Macam paparazzi!

17 comments:

Supermeng Malaya said...

mcm kapas awan gemawan tu....

memang x ambik free tour tu ke?

Biqque said...

meng, tak amik sbb sampai hotel dah lewat pun patu kitorang terus sewa pi kuala belait. the next day plak return keta and dah nak balik. so kitorang terjah sume tempat guna kereta sewa je la...

Supermeng Malaya said...

oh. memang btol amazing race ni...

Unknown said...

bagus jugak bnyk2 masjid ni, bleh pilih nk solat kt mana..harap negara lain buat masjid/surau di semua tempat POI, senang semua ummah mengerjakan kewajipan huhuhu #modesetazah

Biqque said...

meng, tidak syak lagi...mmg org hotel pun terkejut dgn plan kitorang...

na, kan? senang ha nak solat tak kisah waktu apa pun. mmg mudah kat brunei tu. CUMANYA takde signboard nak ke tempat2 tu...dah sampai baru ada...pfft!

MasZuber said...

OMG gate masjid tu. entrance pon dah grand gile!

Hulubalang said...

tu belum tgk tv dorang kan...asek2 citer sultan dia...hehehehe

oh ya...samsung s3 kat sana dalam bnd700-800 shj masa launching dulu (org brunei sendiri tunjuk kat aku)... hehehehe

Khai said...

Kaya sangat tu pakai pure gold buat kubah. tapi dorang memang kaya pun. tapi still, kalau kaya kenapa buat rumah atas air [tak puas hati plak i. haha]. susah je kena park, pastu naik boat. tapi, kagum gilerla kete tak kena break-in. I parking tepi rumah pun kena. Ni lagi, seberang laut. Haha.

Ren said...

Wow gambo last tu! Al hijrah sangat!

Biqque said...

maszuber, ha gate pun dah mcm istana negara yg lama kat mesia ni okayyyy hahaha!

hb, ha aku tgk berita kat sana, anak2 dia lari marathon siap buat coverage ok! patu org tua salam cium tangan budak kecik tuuuuuu...owh murah ek? cis nyesal tak beli!

khai, agak terpikir kat situ...kalo kaya sgt nape nak menunjuk kan? tapi takpe la dia bayarkan bil letrik kat mekah nun ha...ha pasal kg ayer tu aku cam heran gak nape nak idup susah camtu, tapi mmg dorang cam ok jer sbb tu kawasan malay reserve. tah la...kawan aku keje kat sana, gaji tak leh idup plak katanya...melainkan oil n gas la...

janggel, takde jubah putihhhhhh!

Anash said...

komen janggel tu..nyaris akak tak tekan 'like' tadi...
oh lupa
bukan fb


last mosque tu unik...

suka!!

awan tu macam 'candy cotton'...

Khai said...

gaji tak ley hidup? igtkan okay gajinya. sebab duit besar. tapi mcm boring jugak kan kat sana. takpelah. aku sayang malaysia #ehpatriotikplak. haha

Biqque said...

kak anash, ada button like tu, tak nampak ke? haaaaaaa jaga2 haha!

khai, aah member keje IT tak sanggup pi keje sana sbb gaji tak banyak kata dia...so kena la hidup berjauhan dgn org rumah dia (org rumah org sana). aku nak gak sayang malaysia tapi...tapi...hahahaha!

Khai said...

Ala aku cakap je sayang Malaysia tapi hakikatnya,... kbai. hahaha

Blackswan said...

Love those gorgeous shots, Biqque! I've only been to Brunei few times, & your post certainly reminds me of my visits there.

Came over from Diana Diane Teo's blog. Congrats on being the top commenter! I'm following you at Twitter (blackswanst) & would love to have you follow me too. Happy 2014, & looking fwd to sharing!

Anonymous said...

Hello there, we recently found your blog and enjoyed reading it. Since we recently started blogging, we've been looking for other Malaysian bloggers with similar interest with us. Hope you would drop by our blog Happy Campers Walkabout so we can share our travel journeys with you. On behalf of Happy Campers Walkabout team we wish you all the best and keep those travel posts coming.

Regards
Raja Badri & Nurashikin
Happy Campers Walkabout

Biqque said...

shirley, tx for following, ya i noticed u in my twitter list :) we knew diana virtually but have not yet to meet her...

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