Oh dear!

Last night I sort of loosely planned my morning. Walk to the mosque and back and suss out the neighbourhood before my afternoon siesta. 

As the say well laid plans…….  

I struggled to get to sleep last night. One minute the air con was too cold, then the room was too hot, then there was a weird noise that was bugging me, then the sound of the rain was annoying me. You know how it is. The last time I got up frustrated was about 3:00am. 

Then is was 12:20pm. I don’t know how that happened but I obviously needed the sleep but what a waste. Now it’s too hot to go outside. The weather channel tells me its 30 degrees but feels like its 39 and I aint going out in that. 

My afternoon is planned and it should be cooler then so for now its reading my book. That in itself is a thrill. For months I’ve had problems with my eyes and slowly I am getting to the stage where reading anything wider than a screen is easier. Yay!  

I had a bit of time to reflect on Brunei so far. The city is unusual. Despite it being such a wealthy country there are no obvious signs of opulence other than the gold domes that tower of places of significance. There are some beautiful buildings housing basic shops or modern department stores but even those are not like the lavishness I expected. 

Just as no obvious opulence at street level most women look ‘ordinary’ in their loose trousers or skirt with loose fitting tops and their hair totally covered with a headscarf as well. Every now and then there is an elegant, well dressed woman with beautiful jewellery and a beautiful posture.  Wealth oozes out of them but those people are few and far between. Occasionally there is a woman in burqua or abeya but again very plain. Similarly with the men. I haven’t seen anyone in robes. 

I waited till about 4 to venture out. By the time I did it was pleasantly warm and I got a driver to take me to the city so I could go see the floating village. 

Well that was so interesting.  I found a water taxi (well an old dunger of a speed boat that came with toothless captain and a filthy dirty life jacket). He took me for a cruise around the river, criss crossing between the rows of buildings and the boardwalks linking groups of them together. 

Unlike other floating villages in Southeast Asia, Kampong Ayer. resembles more of a mini-city than anything else. A whopping 38 kilometres (23.6 miles) of wooden and concrete boardwalks connect the 42 or so villages. Timber houses with sun-faded exteriors sit next to mosques, schools and restaurants. Children sit in classrooms as old men fish from their verandas. Speedboats carry the local police force and fire brigade as well as passengers around the maze. Everyone has access to electricity, running water and television. And of course, Wi-Fi is available throughout! Some residents spend most of their lives above the land while others commute by boat to work in the city centre. 

Despite its appearance, not everyone maintains a traditional lifestyle. The flashy cars parked along the Waterfront belong to the wealthier residents who live in two-storied concentre houses. They live in Kampong Ayer’s more exclusive neighbourhoods away from the shanty towns, corrugated roofs and weathered exteriors. Both areas become apparent when walking over the boardwalks. Sadly, Kampong Ayer’s population is in decline as more than half the residents have moved to land in the last 40 years. Those who resisted the pressure to move onto the land keep the ancient customs and traditions of the former Bruneian Empire alive.

It’s hard to describe but the photos tell the story. 

Next I wander to where I had seen a food market opening up. Sadly most of the stalls were shut and of those that were open there was only one selling local food. I chose exactly the kebab I had last night and thoroughly enjoyed it despite the gristly bits. I didn’t quite understand what it was when the guy told me and it took a bit to realise I was eating Parsons nose kebabs. AKA - Chicken bum kebabs.  Tasty and for 60cents what do you expect. 

Tonight it is beautifully warm and pleasant. The first time I have been happy to just wander until it was time to get home. 

And that is just what I did. Wander around my block - 12 restaurants within 100 metres of home. I chose Area 786 and had a choice of Malay, Indian or Indonesian food. OMG this is too hard. I settled on a Mee Goreng and a Kashmiri Naan with a Lychee drink. Total cost $8.50. 

The Kashmiri Naan was missing the stuff that made it Kashmiri but was freshly made, came with three small bowls of curry and no different to a plain nasn. Oh yes!  At last a bit of heat. 

My lychee drink was a sugar syrup with lychees atop. Sweet and delicious

And then came the Mee Goreng. Damn. Wish I’d found this place before. Warm, sweet, savoury, salty, all in one mouthful. Divine and 1 minute from home. 

My sweet tooth was rewarded with a raspberry cupcake from the local bakery and the only thing left for me to do is to decide if the aircon stays off (in which case it is too not to sleep) or stays on (in which case it’s freezing).  There is no middle ground. 

A relaxing but enjoyable day.