A few weeks ago, some of my friends and I decided to have our own KNK - Kenali Negara Kitani - outing. Apart from the obvious touristy reason, it was also intended as a farewell outing for a friend, who had left to pursue his Masters degree in UK.
Did not get permission from the KNK tourists, so can't really post pix with our faces in them.
I was wearing my new slightly-oversized Man Utd jersey ...
We started off with breakfast at CAM Yayasan. We had this ...
and this ...
We had a good view of Masjid Omar Ali Saifuddin with its tilting fountain 'bowl' ...
First stop was Kampong Ayer ...
Made a detour to see Jong Batu ... (so kids, be kind to your parents!)
Made a quick pitstop at the Riverine Filling Station ...
Got off at Sungai Kebun and walked through Kg. Peramu ...
Took this picture and thought it looked nice ...
Stopped briefly at the latest monument in Bandar; the HM's 60th Birthday Monument. It definitely looked bigger in the picture....
How much did you have to contribute to be a platinum sponsor?
Made quick visits to the Brunei Museum and the Malay Technology Museum. Was not allowed to take pictures at the Brunei Museum. Comments on both museums: it was hot (not as in nice hot, but warm hot; no aircons perhaps), most displays were outdated (cantik was spelled chantek), most interactive displays do not work anymore, same displays as the ones that I saw when I last visited it 4 years previously, some displays were just too scary (just go the the Brunei culture gallery) and yeah, some galleries were not even lit up properly (energy saving measures kali?). And yeah, we completed our visit to the Malay Technology Museum in 15 minutes! We saw some funny comments left by visitors to the natural history gallery; one visitor was disappointed because he did not see any dinosaur bones.
Because of the disappointment with the Brunei Museum, I just could not be bothered to take my camera for the Malay Technology Museum. So no pictures from either museums. One positive point: we now know how a Kedayan tribal house looks like!
We then made a stop at the Sultan Bolkiah's Mausoleum ...
We then head off to visit the Royal Regalia building ...
We were wondering what happened to that statue of Winston Churchill and all those fish in the Aquarium. Several must-see items: the Crown as used during HM's coronation, the miniature Throne Room of Istana Nurul Iman and spot-the-face game at the Silver Jubilee Chariot Hall. No camera is allowed within the inner galleries, so only took pictures in the hall that houses the Coronation Chariot.
Last visits were to the Jamek Asr Hassanil Bolkiah and Masjid Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin. One of us tourists had never set foot into a masjid before. Again, no cameras were allowed. One of us tourists was stopped from entering the Main Praying Hall of Masjid SOAS as he was not a Muslim. Think I was more embarrased than he was; what's wrong with a non-muslim entering the Main Praying Hall? I know it was almost time was the next prayer, but they were not going to make some noise, were they?
Well, lastly the tired feet of the KNK tourists ...
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