September 4,

We were up and around by 0700. We made our Javas, well I did Jeff said he was too hot for his hot chocolate! Anyway, we went down to breakfast. I went with half boiled eggs and toast with a milk coffee. Jeff had roast chicken rice and an iced lemon tea. My eggs were not satisfactory- less than half boiled, but I managed. The toast had butter and coconut jam – YUMM! Jeff’s entree was the “winner, winner chicken ‘dinner.’” We had to pay some as it came up to more than 3 BND. But this was after the fiasco of them finding our breakfast tickets. Reminded me of Keystone Cops. I went up to our room. Jeff stayed til it got all sorted.

Anyway, we got around and Jeff hired a Dart cab. We were going to The Mall, as it is aptly called here. The Dart cab arrived and he was taking us. He was also friendly. Jeff mentioned in passing he was going for a haircut, and asked the driver if there were barber shops in the mall. The driver said yes. It came around to the place he goes is right near The Mall. Jeff asked if he would drop us off there instead. So the driver pulled in front of the barber’s and he showed how to get to The Mall from there.

The barber shop was called Cut ‘N’ Shave. It had a cute logo of eyeglasses and a mustache. Jeff was able to get right in. The haircut was only 4 BND and Jeff had a head/shoulder/back massage as well which was another 3 BND. The massage lasted 15 minutes, so I went out and walked around. I found a little artist/stationary shop and went into it. I was in heaven. Just looking around. One thing that caught my eye was a set of colored pencils… they must have been older than me! The plastic cover they were in was very yellowed. The pencils were made in Germany. The pencils looked as if they were soft and could leave a very distinct colored mark. Time flew too quickly and I rushed back, only to find Jeff was still being worked on for five more minutes. Finally finished, Jeff paid, leaving a 3 BND tip, so the total was 10 BND, or $7.76.

Now we went to The Mall. We found some chocolate, not from Brunei, but from Malaysia, which we could not find in Malaysia! We walked around, getting steps in. We found a smaller toiletries bag for me. It only cost 5.90 BND, or $4.58. I’ll try it out. We are trying to find smaller ones, as ours now are too bulky. Jeff did not see one he liked. We moved on, walking and then went to the food court. I found, Thai Food Corner stall that had Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken and a Mango/Passion Fruit Tea. Jeff found, Sbinati Arabic Food stall and had a Lamb Kebab and a Watermelon Juice. Both dishes were greatly appreciated! 😋 We paid 17.30 for lunch, which is $13.42.

After we finished we hired another Dart to get us back to our hotel. But as we were talking with this driver (they have all been so friendly and helpful!); he mentioned the Royal Regalia Museum will be closed tomorrow!! So again we detoured as he dropped us off at the Museum. It was 1445, and the place closed at 1700. We should have enough time and purchased tickets for 5 BND, or $3.88 each. It was a fascinating museum. It had many gifts that the current Sultan of Brunei has received from all around the world and from local Bruneians. There was a room dedicated to the life of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. The Sultan has many other names… like most kings/royalty do, but it’s too many to list. I overheard a guide talking about how in school every one has to memorize and say his name correctly or they will fail that grade in school! Anyway, he was born in 1946, having become the Sultan of Brunei in 1967 and prime minister since 1984, when Brunei gained independence from the UK. He is one of the few remaining absolute monarchs of the world, and one of the richest, due to the oil reserves that he owns.

The museum houses a 25% reduced replica of the Coronation Throne; the actual Coronation Chariot that he was paraded in: and a miniature replica of the Throne room, to name a few things. We took our time and unfortunately missed a couple of rooms that they closed early. We finished and left just before 1700. It was a good museum.

We walked back to our hotel, but at a brisk pace as it started sprinkling. We arrived still dry thankfully. It rained much of the evening. We had a light snack in our room. Around 2100 we went out, but had to use umbrellas. We wanted to see the night time lights of Brunei. There is one street with a web of lights covering it. This reminded us of Las Vegas, except there were not hoards of people. In fact, it was fairly empty, occasional cars, but it is pretty dead. Jeff had heard this from a vlog on Brunei. Lights are all lit but – no one is home – so to speak. Anyway, we took some pictures then walked by the Mosque (we had visited yesterday) getting some night pictures there as well. It is lit very well and showcases it well.

We returned back to our place and settled in for the night.