On the recommendation of Sue, who teaches bridge on the Pacific Princess, we signed up for the Bandar City On Your Own tour for independent sightseeing and shopping. Sue told Sara that Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital city of Brunei that is known as Bandar City, was easy to navigate. Janie Gilkey, who has been mentioned in our blog, had lived and worked in Brunei for 22 years as an occupational therapist developing play groups for physically-handicapped children. On Saturday, she had given an excellent presentation to a packed audience in the Cabaret Lounge about her life and work in Brunei. While there, she met the Sultan and his wife, took her kids to swim in the pool at the Istana Nurul Iman Palace that is the largest residential palace in the world, and to parties hosted by the Sultan for the opening of Jerudong Park and on holidays. Janie had a letter to the Sultan with the hope that she would see him during our day in Brunei.
We found Bandar City to be a delightful city in one of the world's smallest and richest countries, thanks to its treasure of oil. After a 45-minute bus ride from the port to Bandar City, we were told by our guide that we would have five and one-half hours to tour the city on our own before the bus returned to the ship. Nine of us intrepid travelers (Lila and Al (with whom we toured Hanoi, Sue from Las Vegas, Lee and his wife, and Janet and Dale from Leesburg, Florida, and we) hired a longboat for $10 US per person to take us through Kampong Ayer, the 600-year-old water village that is home to more than 30,000 people in 28 separate rural communities who live on houses built on stilts in the Brunei River. This is one of the greatest sights in Southeast Asia and has to be seen to be fully appreciated.
Our driver, who wore a New York Yankees baseball hat, lived in Kampong Ayer with his wife and three children, 12, 8 and 3--the oldest is a boy followed by two daughters. These communities have their own clinics, mosques, schools, fire brigades, police stations, restaurants with menus facing the water, gas stations (we saw a Shell station), and mini-marts. The homes have piped water and sewage, electricity, air conditioners, television antennas, satellite dishes and house numbers. Like in all neighborhoods, some residents had decorated their porches with potted plants and flowers and had painted their homes green, blue, orange or pink (the Peptobismal shade) while other owners left their porches plain and used duller paint colors. The dwelling were connected by a maze of wooden promenades, where children were picked up by boats to go to school. The boys' uniforms consisted of round black hats; white shirts and black pants. The girls wore white head scarves, white tunics and black slacks. Laundry, including a Snoopy and Woodstock towel, hung on one of the porches while men repaired a roof. Every home had at least one boat parked in the dock underneath it so there was no need for cars. Mangrove trees grew in the water. Attempts to move the inhabitants onto dry land and into housing more in keeping with a country with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world has met with resistance because of the strong sense of community.
Next we visited the Royal Regalia Museum, where we had to remove our shoes and lock up our cameras and purses in lockers. The only pictures we were permitted to take were those of the royal chariot in the lobby. However, its size and opulence should give you a taste of what we saw. The four galleries in the museum consist of the Royal Exhibition Gallery that documents the life of His Majesty, the 27th Sultan, from childhood up to his coronation; the Royal Regalias Exhibition that displays the regalias used during the coronation of His Majesty on August 1, 1968, including the crowns placed on the heads of The Sultan and his wife, and the gold hand that held The Sultan's chin while he was being crowned (heavy is the head that wears the crown has a new meaning for us); the Silver Jubilee Exhibition Gallery that documents the ceremony of The Sultan's 25th anniversary of his ascension to the throne on October 5, 1992, with the Royal Chariot on which His Majesty road that was carried by 48 soldiers dressed in black and had an honor guard of 48 soldiers dressed in red who carried shields and swords (displayed are the outfits of all 96 and the ceremonial chariot and the gifts presented to The Sultan from other countries. We have never seen so much gold, silver, jewels and ornate cut glass that the recipients obviously did not need because The Sultan built a museum to house these objects); and the History and the Development of Constitutional of Brunei Darsussalam Exhibition Gallery that explains the pre-l959 period, the 1959 Constitution and Agreement, the 1971 and 1979 Agreements, the Proclamation of Independence in 1984 and the post-independence structure of the government (no gold, silver, jewels or cut glass).
The group split up after this tour with five going in search of authentic Brunei food and Janet, Dale and we heading for the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, at the very heart of both the city and The Sultan's Muslim faith. The mosque was commissioned by and named after the present Sultan's father and was opened in 1958. Inside are opulent yet tasteful fittings of Italian marble, granite from Shanghai, carpets from Arabia and Belgium, and chandeliers and stained glass from England. It is surrounded by a tranquil lagoon in which a replica of the royal barge is docked. We all took off our shoes before entering the mosque. While both Janet and Sara were modestly dressed, the door attendant gave them long black robes. Sara did not tie hers and was given hand signals by several men in the mosque to cover up herself. Fortunately, both Janet and Sara, who were looked up and down by the men who smiled at them, were glad that their bare shoulders and knees did not cause the men to swoon. However, Sara was concerned that she was made to wear a robe because her arms and knees were covered. The women in her book group told her that women are not second class citizens, they are at least 10th class citizens. She need to ask Janie who reported that women do drive cars and are not held back.
At lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken, we learned that Janet and Dale had been college professors. They lived in Highland Park in Richmond in the 1960s while Dale finished his degree at VCU and Janet taught in an inner city school, toured Europe for 10 weeks on very little money after Dale's graduation and spent 35 years in Miami teaching in colleges and universities. Now they live northwest of Orlando, and have spent more days on this cruise than they have in their new home.
On our way back to the port, we viewed the Jame'asr Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque, with its sea-blue roof and 29 golden domes. Brunei's largest mosque, it was constructed to commemorate the silver jublilee of the Sultan's reign in 1992. Now all we needed to do was learn if Janie Gilkey had received an audience with the Sultan.
It truly was a golden day!
NOTE to JANIE GILKEY'S FANS: Janie did not get to see the Sultan because he was out of the country. However, one of the play groups that she started had a party for her. She told us that they had a giant sign to welcome her, lots of tears and laughter were exchanged and a good time was had by all! Way to go, Janie!
ADDITIONAL NOTE: At breakfast on Thursday, Janie invited to Frankie's discussion on Malaysia vs. Brunei--Who's the Winner. Who rules the country? Wealth or Religion? She said she was not speaking but would display pictures. The discussion quickly turned into Ask Janie any questions who have about Brunei or Malaysia, and again she was magnificent. She even told the story of her car being stolen and how the chief of police helped to return it to her. Joe Snyder, the speaker on Asian governments and politics, answered appropriate questions for her. Janie and Joe would make a terrific team with her providing social insight and him answering questions about the history and government. Sara and Joe's wife, Ann, keep running into each other and have developed a friendship. So when you depart, Joe and Ann, please keep checking our blog and do call us to get together when you are in Florida.
No comments:
Post a Comment