A new travel adventure to the island of Borneo has just ended and Asian Images blogging will now resume. This new adventure included time in the Sultanate of Brunei and the Malaysian States of Sarawak and Sabah. Unlike more 'comfortable' visits to Vietnam and Bali this year, Borneo was very much a wilderness adventure to seek out the flora and fauna of the pristine rain forests and the remote tropical islands of the Sulu Sea. It was an action packed trip, filled to capacity with new sights and experiences, and not without a few challenges along the way! Stay tuned for future posts and Photo Albums.
A highlight of the Borneo adventure was viewing wild orang-utans in the lowland rain forest. This is a juvenile female at the Sepilok Sanctuary and Rehabilitation Center, Sabah where orphaned and captive orang-utans convalesce and learn the skills required to survive again in the wild.
This young lady came down out of the forest canopy to check me out. Fortunately, I just wasn't her type. Orang-utan apes share 95% of their DNA with homo sapiens!
The Sultanate of Brunei - otherwise known as Negara Brunei Darussalam or 'Abode of Peace' - is a small country, about the size of Rhode Island, squeezed between the Malaysian States of Sarawak and Sabah on the north coast of Borneo. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah (the full title runs for about five lines) rules a population of about 400,000 as an absolute monarch. The Sultan's dynasty has a continuous history reaching back over 600 years, also laying claim to a direct descent from Mohammad.
The Borneo adventure started with one day in the capital of Brunei - Bandar Seri Bagawan or BSB for short - which has a population of a mere 60,000. A new Photo Album - Brunei, Bandar Seri Bagawan has been posted to record a few random images of the day. Oil and gas production have made Brunei and Brunei-ans (?) wealthy. The Sultan is one of the richest men in the world. His palace boasts 2,400 rooms and he owns over 4,000 cars, including one of every Rolls Royce model ever produced. Other high ranking members of the royal family have their own palaces and exotic car collections.
The Brunei Photo Album includes my paparazzi-style photo of the Sultan's sister-in-law driving her red Ferrari out of the palace gate! It might be impudent to suggest that her son in the front passenger seat would be safer wearing a seat belt! The paparazzi are watching!
The Photo Album also includes images of the Jame' Asr Hassanal Bolkiah or Kiarong Mosque completed in 1995 to commemorate the 25th year of the Sultan's reign. Unfortunately, photos do not come close to capturing the beauty and elegance of the mosque's architecture and finish. As befitting the Sultan, the mosque is constructed from the finest marble and most exotic woods, with interior and exterior detail including golden domes, gemstones, Venetian glass, Kashmir carpets, fountains and landscaped gardens. It is a brilliant expression of human artistic achievement and an inspiring place of worship.
A less spiritual expression of Brunei's ostentatious and extravagant wealth is the Empire Hotel and Country Club where we indulged ourself in luxury for two nights at a surprisingly low price. The EHCC was originally built by Prince Jefri as a personal club for himself and friends. In typical Brunei 'palace' style the 'hotel and club' includes a 50 meter high vaulted reception lobby capped with a stained glass dome, the finest Italian marble columns and gold plating throughout, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course, a polo field, a full size movie theater, too many swimming pools to count and a collection of antiques worthy of any museum in the world. Unfortunately the service was not 6-star!
Prince Jefri, the estranged brother of the Sultan, is a notorious playboy who now lives in exile in London after reportedly looting $20 billion from a State development company. The Prince has four wives and seventeen children. His somewhat un-Islamic lifestyle included gambling, drinking and the pursuit of Philippina beauty queens. By contrast, Brunei is a strictly 'dry' country - no alcohol - and there is little to no night life after 10pm! Unsurprisingly, attempts by Prince Jefri to reconcile with his traditional brother have failed. Prince Jefri also has an enormous collection of cars in BSB - neatly stacked in racks in a warehouse the size of a football field.
Brunei is surreal!
sabah is not part of malaysia. malaysia illegally occupies the island. north borneo(sabah) belongs to the Philippines!
Posted by: marvin nuevo | 09 June 2008 at 06:13 PM