Day 2:: Brunei – Royal Regalia & Back to Labuan

W.P. Labuan & Brunei Trip 2013
Date: 10 (Sunday) - 13 (Wednesday) February 2013

Royal Regalia

Built for the 1992 Silver Jubilee of Sultan of Brunei ascension, this is where the collection of ceremonial regalia and gifts to the Sultan is kept and displayed for public to see. 


Entrance fee was free and the building is opened daily. You are not allowed to bring a camera in (leave at the reception) but once you’re done with the main gallery, ure allowed to take photos at the front gallery. The main item here is the royal coronation carriage surrounded by the regalia from the royal crowning ceremony in which the current crowned sultan was pulled through the streets of the city.

The Regalia is my final visiting place when I was in Brunei. We’re done on time close to 4pm and went directly to the ferry terminal. Luckily the ticket counter was opened so I managed to get my ticket back to Labuan.

All in all, I really had an express tour! Around Bandar Seri Begawan in 2hours hehehe. Before departing, Uncle Saiful and Aunt Alina invited me again for a visit, next time I could drive around myself. I definitely need to come back someday to go around Brunei thoroughly.

Ferry departed on time at 4.30pm and i reached Labuan shore at 6pm.

Day 2:: Brunei – Kampung Air & Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien

W.P. Labuan & Brunei Trip 2013
Date: 10 (Sunday) - 13 (Wednesday) February 2013

Kg. Air

What’s unique about the Kampung Air (Water Village) is that there are no bridge that connects the mainland to the village. U have to use the water taxi to get around the village. One way trip is charged 50cents and if I’m not mistaken, the tour around the village is B$20. Water taxis embark in front of the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah in the centre of town and the water village itself. All of the Water Village buildings are constructed on stilts above the Brunei River.

Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien

More like a dataran in the middle of the city. At the time of visit, the place in the midst of preparing for the Sultan of Brunei’s birthday.

Tea – AyamKu Restaurant

 Before heading to the Royal Regalia, we had a pit stop at the local KFC named AyamKu. Actually, we bought some food since Insyiraah was hungry. And by having food, they could just eat in the car while me and Aunt Alina had a quick visit into the Regalia.

Day 2:: Brunei – Istana Nurul Iman & Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque

W.P. Labuan & Brunei Trip 2013
Date: 10 (Sunday) - 13 (Wednesday) February 2013

Istana Nurul Iman

First stop was Istana Nurul Iman. This is the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei and the seat of Brunei governments. Civilians are not allowed to enter the castle and its compound so I was only able to get photos from the main gate.

“Upon completion, Istana Nurul Iman, became the largest residential palace in the world and the largest single family residence ever built. To be considered for the Guinness World Record, the palace must have once been intended for use as a royal residence, and only the actual combined area of the palace’s indoor floors (a measurement commonly known as floorspace) is considered. As measured by these standards, Guinness World Records currently considers Istana Nurul Iman to hold the title as the “world's largest palace.”- Wikipedia

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque

This mosque was completed in 1958 and is a must place to visit if ure in Brunei. It is considered as one of the most beautiful mosque in the Asia Pacific. The most distinct thing about the build is the pure gold dome. The mosque is surrounded by a man-made lake with a ceremonial barge at the side.

Day 2 :: Labuan to Brunei

W.P. Labuan & Brunei Trip 2013 
Date: 10 (Sunday) - 13 (Wednesday) February 2013

Location: Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Weather: Sunny

Transportation: Ferry

Woke up early to make sure I would be able to get the earliest ferry to Brunei. Reached the ferry counter around 7.30am and there were 2 ticket counters opened where 1 is for domestic and 1 for international. Well, domestic is for Menumbok, Kota Kinabalu(KK) etc and International is Brunei. Queue for domestic was very long and I heard the ticket to KK that day already sold out (don’t know why a lot of people going to KK during Chinese New Year). One way ticket to Brunei costs RM35. There are 2 class and this is for 2^nd class. I saw in the ferry that 1^st class has bigger individual chair (like in a 3-seater bus) and more private space. Anyway, you cannot buy return ticket at the counter. Return ticket from Brunei to Labuan has to be bought at Brunei’s Ferry terminal itself.

Since it’s still early, I went for breakfast at the mamak shop across the street. There were quite a lot of people. The food price here was not as expensive as I thought, almost similar to KL.

Journey to Brunei took 1.5hrs and as I suspected, the ferry was empty hahaha! I got the whole row to myself. The aircond wasn’t that cold either and there’s a movie played but I can’t remember what it was.

Custom clearance was smooth as there’re not many people around. Upon arrival outside, I straight went to the ticket counter which is located to the left of the arrival hall. To be exact, it is located directly in front of departure hall. Don’t fret, the ferry terminal is very small. U won’t get lost. Unfortunately for me, all of the counters were closed. I (and a lot of others there) waited for an hour when I finally gave Uncle Saiful a call. Uncle Saiful is my friend’s uncle who is living in Brunei. Coincidentally  we met earlier when I went to my friends’ brothers’ house in Shah Alam. He’s returning from Malaysia the same day as my arrival. Since it’s already 11.30am, I thought he must have arrived.

11.50am, Uncle Saiful and his wife, Aunt Alina picked me up and brought me to their house. We had a chat and after lunch, we started our tour. Well, they’re asking me to just spend the night there since the time will be very tight if I were to return with the 4.30pm ferry on the very day. Basically, I will only hv 2hours in Brunei. They insisted that I stay since I hvn’t bought the return ticket but I had to decline as if I stay, I won’t have time to go around Labuan.

Around 2pm, we departed from the house- me, Uncle Saiful, Aunt Alina and their 2 youngest kids, Insyiraah and Amsyar; and the journey began!