Footsteps around the globe

Brunei

juliewagener — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:29:00 GMT

Normal 0 false false false EN-NZ KO X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

If you want to live in a land that gives free housing, free medical, free education, free travel and pay you to go to university then you need to go to the wonderful dream land of Brunei. I admit that I did about 30 minutes of research before embarking on my quick journey to the land of Sultans, jungles and mosques.

It all began with a prayer…actually two prayers. One to Jesus with my family and friends and then the other to Allah with the flight team and passengers on Royal Brunei Airlines. I thought I was safe… that was until the loud speaker changed tack from prayers to warnings… should I take in too many cigarettes or drinks to Brunei, I will get flogged or whipped. If there is any hint of drug deals or trafficking there is an instant death penalty. So I went from safe in the arms of God to fearing for my life... even though I knew I was innocent.

Brunei is the smallest non-island nation outside of Europe, with a population of 400,000 and 78% of the land still dense forest. The inhabitants are fiercely proud of their heritage and their Sultan. The 29^th Sultan of Brunai… note that he is never referred to as ‘the sultan’ but by his long name and title which takes about 2 minutes to say!

After a pleasant flight and a friendly welcome I took the free tour on offer from the airline. It was 2 hour drive by of the city. It was well worth it if you are going to be around a few hours. We stopped once, and that was at a small food market for 20mins to get a cheap feed. For Brunei $1 ($1.20) you received a bowl of rice, spicy sauce and some fried chicken; Nasi Kotak to be precise. It was delicious. They markets had all sorts of food and drink. I was fooled however and when I ordered what looked to be some kind of exotic concoction to drink (I was feeling daring) it turned out to be a watery chocolate milk! WHAT!!

The tour was fast and very much an overview but good if that’s all you can do. So with the next 7 hours what was I going to do? I decided that I wanted a better look and a chance to get off the bus so I booked a better tour and actually paid! It wasn’t much because this whole country is cheaper that chips but it was well worth it.

I got on a bus with a few others who were also transiting for the day. We learned about the economy, about the government, w e got detailed history of the sultan and his 3 wives, 12 children and son who is the future Sultan. First stop the Mosque of the current sultan. Being a Thursday it was closed in preparation for the next day of prayer however I was awed by the gold mosaic, the water fountains, the superb gardens and the sheer size of the place. I can proudly say that they use New Zealand carpets, specially ordered by the Sultan (mum- it’s the same blue as we have at home, you must have good taste). That useless fact was from my over zealous tour guide called Sam.

The Royal regalia museum was good as was the National museum. I was pretty sure I would have liked it more if I was a little less tired though. There was some cool stuff, especially the royal chariot used for the coronation and the new one ready to be used this year in the 25 year celebration fo the rule if this Sultan. As you can hear from my email… EVERYTHING revolves around the Sultan. HE pays for everything… if you house burns down its ok he’ll buy you a new one!

He seems to be a good guy… 51c a litre for petrol, opening his palace twice a year to anyone who wants to meet him. He does that for 33 days! What a peoples politician!

My favourite thing of the whole day was the 600 year old water village. All the buildings were made on stilts and they have water taxis that drive you around. There is no speed limit in the water so think of a sped up, uglier Venice! Try going here to have a look. It reminded me of the water favela in Recife however these places were big, furnished, not falling down and have electricity. I guess its only that they were wooden houses on brown water that was the same.

http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=4.881156,114.938107&spn=0.01054,0.019312&t=h&z=16

The whole place was pretty cool and I’d like to come here again for more than just a day. There is huge need for missionaries here. They have in the whole county 2 churches- 1 Anglican and 1 catholic. There are also huge forests, walking areas, beaches and a group of really friendly people.

So here I am about to board on my next prayer filled flight to Dubai then London jotting down a few notes on Brunei. I hope you enjoyed.

Small fridges

juliewagener — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 07:12:00 GMT

The capital of Switzerland. Bern is a beautiful city set on a river that curls its way close to the inner city. Bern has a sad, but getting better, bear enclosure. This may seem random but Bern means bear, so of course they have a few token bears in a enclosure for people to look at.

The best part of Bern however is the shopping, unlike Zurich which has all the designer and really fancy shops I don’t even dream of entering, Bern has the mid range shops. I live in Lausanne, a city just 1 hour away but let me tell you, the shopping is far betting in Bern. First of all its all in one street. Lausanne has so many shops but they are hard to find and its a challenging walk to go around and around the city. Bern has one main strip with all the shops on it. The great thing is that because it doesn’t have the Gucci’s and Marc Jacobs etc it is good for the average Joe. They have great H&M etc.

Bern is also extremely accessible. Most trains stop in Bern and their public transport is phenomenal. On time and accurate. God I love the Swiss!

Bern has all these cute little apartments with the little courtyards and flower boxes. They are fun but I have never seen a decent sized fridge. All fridges in their apartments are tiny bar fridges...and this is what they use for everyday living. Strange how we keep so much food in ours.

opens at 11

juliewagener — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 07:09:00 GMT

Touchdown and the heat hits you. It may only be 6.30 in the morning but the 28 degree heat and humidity combo faces you as you exit the air conditioned airport.

For those of you who have not been to Singapore before, I have noted a few things. First...you need to be a night person. If you have 5 hours and it is 6am... don’t bother leaving the airport. The airport has all you need to get through a few hours. There is free internet, chairs that you could sit in for hours and cafes or restaurants at every corner. There is also a few nail (feet and hands not building) places and a roof top pool so you can lie in the sun.

If you don’t have great advice you may make the same mistake as I did. I arrived early morning and had till 11am before I had to be back at the airport. I had a few hours to mull about. I decided to look around Singapore. I was told it took only 20 mins to get into the city by the metro.. this information was correct. However there is no point in going into the city when it doesn’t really open till 11am.

The metro was easy to find and easy to figure out. It is also surprisingly safe. Being used to the chaos that is the London tube I was expecting something similar. I was pleasantly surprised when it has almost bothing the same. Yes you are in a metro train... that is where the similarities end. This was clean, on time, and QUIET. I couldn’t believe it. There were no Chav’s swearing and abusing people. There were no MP3’s that you could hear half way down the aisle. The people were polite with “excuse me “ and I saw a stranger give another stranger a tissue as he had the sniffles. When wa s the last time that happened to you on public transport? There was not one moment when I thought I was going to be assaulted or mugged or pick pocketed. Those thoughts were an everyday occurrence on the tube.

Ok so back to what to do and where I went... well as there were no shops other than the odd cafe open I wandered the streets. I did go to an Indian temple and was surrounded by statues of cows (I still don’t understand the obsession) and pictures of people with four arms and three heads. As a Christian I was surrounded by the things I don’t know much about and don’t believe in. I took it in as a tourist does. Confused by the multiple arms and the funny elephant heads I wondered about the meaning of it all. I liked the incense but was completly distracted by the intrigue of what went on behind the funny curtain and behind the scenes. There were big signs saying that tourist could not go in there or in here. I don’t know why so many faiths have so many secrets. It just makes me question them even more than I already did.

So without the famous shopping markets what is there in Singapore? Singapore seems to me to be a bit of a landmark and attraction in itself, with the lines and forms of the buildings, the creativity if the staues and fountains, the roadside decorations showing you exactly what part of town you are in... it is quite the sight. Oh and you can’t forget the smell. Its the same scent that hits you at eery humid location.. the faint smell of sweat and fried food. While not much is open untill 10.30am the scent of the night befores delights are still hanging in the air.

Singapore is clean, as clean as you expect Singapore to be and so while my time was uneventful (other than seeing a lady; who was to me the most out of proportion person I have ever seen) I enjoyed singapore and it lived up to its wonderful transit reputation.