A Walk in the Park

Last weekend Faye and I decided to do a little exploring.  Faye had seen a park on a trip to the market so we set out to find it.  It didn't take long for our left turn, right turn, GPS Lucy talking to us and then there it was.  From the street it looked great...lots of green space, a playground for kids, a gazebo or 4. 

We had to circle around before we finally found the entrance.  Once parked, we headed out into this park.  It was deserted. It didn't take us long before we both commented that it sure did need some TLC.  The grass was overgrown, electrical boxes were open and exposed wires sticking out at a 4 year old's level.  Faye had gone to a sort of zoo that was gorgeous when it opened and now, a couple of years later, it too was overgrown and appeared no one was taking care of it.  It was really a shame because it is such a large beautiful area and has so much potential.

He's down there somewhere...

We both heard a sound that I thought was go carts in the distance.  Something caught my eye and I saw a speed boat flying across the water of the river that ran alongside the park.  We walked toward the walled border of the park.  I saw an opening and as I approached it I noticed that it was several very wide steps that disappeared into the water.  Just then, I saw it.....a giant Komodo Dragon!!  He saw me at the same time, our eyes met and my feet left the ground as I screamed and tried to turn to my left to run.  I ran smack into Faye who heard me scream but didn't know why!  The instant before I turned to run/jump/scream, I saw this giant animal look like he was heading up the steps toward me but at the last second, he dove in the water and disappeared. 

Not the guy I saw but he looked JUST like this!

Faye was saying "WHAT WHAT WHAT?????"  I told her and then we both realized how we must have looked and we both cracked up.   We walked along the wall for a few more minutes until we were sure that the dragon had left for good.  The Komodo Dragon is common in this area and this guy was probably 4-5 feet long....the biggest damn lizard I've even seen!  Of course, now we can laugh at ourselves, which we've done many times since last weekend, but at the time it was no laughing matter.  

Here's a link to an article in the Brunei Times, the local English language paper.

Komodo Dragons in Brunei


So much for a leisurely walk in the park.

The Joys of Serving Overseas

This weekend Faye and I found a fabric/craft/knitting/costume/tailor store.  And let me tell you, this store had everything under the sun.  Anything you would need for a wedding, birthday, costume or any occasion was there, yarn, thread, plastic and silk flowers, baskets...it was like a giant MJ Designs and Joann Fabrics rolled into one.  

We decided that we needed to have something made so I decided on a top and Faye was going to get 2 jackets and a pair of slacks that would go with either jacket. As amazing as it sounds, the gorgeous satin brocade was cheaper than cotton fabric.  So we went back today, armed with pictures of tops, jackets and pants downloaded from the internet that we wanted made.  I decided to have 2 tops and a jacket made.  I fell in love with this gorgeous red satin material and just had to have a jacket made out of it. 

The tailor went about taking our measurements and wrote them all down.  Another man sketched a design from the pictures we had, noting any changes in sleeve lengths, neckline or length of the jacket that we wanted.   I found a beautiful top online  and it will have sheer sleeves and a lined bodice.  It will be made from the yellow print sheer fabric.  Another top was from a Simplicity pattern I found online and the fabric is a cotton with what looks like peacock feathers on it.

The whole experience reminded me of when I was serving in Pakistan and several of us found a leather man who could copy a purse from a picture. I better have better control over how many pieces of clothing I have made than I did with the leather purses!

We go back on August 5th to either pick them up or have alterations done to them.  

Oh, the joys of serving overseas!

Life, So Far, in Bandar Seri Begawan

I've been in Bandar Seri Begawan for almost 3 weeks now and am finally able to find my way around.  The rental car has a Garmin GPS in it but sometimes it gets confused.  I wish I had a Sim card for my iPhone because it is so much easier to use to get me from Point A to Point B.  But I have a few landmarks that help and I can get back and forth to the Embassy without any GPS assistance.  Plus I can now find my way to the grocery store.  I think I have mastered driving on the left side. Maybe. 

A bit about Brunei...Brunei occupies 3,580 square miles on the northern coast of the island of Borneo and is the smallest non-island country outside Europe.  The country is comprised mostly of primary and secondary rain forest with only a small coastal strip of land that has been cultivated.  The total population is approximately 375,000; 67% are Malays, 15% are Chinese and 6% are non-Malay indigenous people including tribal groupings and expatriots.  

The country is 67% Muslim and recently celebrated the end of Ramadan and following that was Hari Raya.  Hari Raya is a week long celebration with open houses and lots of food and inviting friends and family into your home.  The abundance of food is sort of a reward for a month of fasting during daylight hours.  I attended one and it was quite impressive. 

Another tradition during Hari Raya is the opening of the Sultan's Palace and the opportunity to shake hands with the Sultan and the Queen.  The men and women are in separate lines and the women visit the Queen and the men the Sultan.  She was most gracious and along with her were all her Princesses.  According to the newspaper, approximately 100,000 people over 2 days shook their hands.  The Royal Color is yellow so you should not wear that color in their presence...thankfully I had a non-yellow outfit to wear.

This region is very tropical with afternoon showers nearly every day.  And after the showers the humidity hits...and boy, does it hit!  I haven't been able to see a real sunset but at that time of day, the sky is a golden yellow.  I need to find a sunset watching spot!

I haven't had time to do much sightseeing but I did make it to one of the mosques.  It is the Sultan's father's mosque and it was beautiful. We couldn't go inside because there was some event going on but we walked all around the perimeter and got a few pictures.  I have been to mosques all over (Muscat, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi) and think they are marvels in architecture.  This one was no different.  Amazing...

                                            

During my 4+ months here, I hope to do some regional travel like Bali, Kuala Lumpur and/or Bangkok.  I've been to Bangkok so hopefully an island will be on my travel itinerary!

Week One in Brunei

It's been almost a week since I arrived in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.  I endured the 16 hour flight from Dallas to Hong Kong with no real bumps or bruises.  Well, my hind end was a bit weary of sitting for that length of time but it got over it.  The empty seat next to me was a welcome sight.

Bandar is much like Hawaii. I hear the same bird that I hear on Kauai in the morning but the frogs are a different story.  At night frogs, somewhere, make noises like a go cart track.  The first night, that's what I thought was nearby because of the noise!  But after talking to a few people, they told me it was the frogs.  I've been told that the frogs I hear at night are big enough to eat the bull frogs, so I can only imagine just how big they are.  After all, Brunei is on the island of Borneo and mostly rain forests.  Snakes call Brunei home, so I'm not straying far from civilization!  I googled snakes and Brunei (and Borneo) and seems there is every variety possible here.

So one week of the 21 weeks I will be here is in the books.  I hope I'll have lots of adventures to write about with pictures. After all, I'm just a 2 hour flight from so many cool places and I hope to visit a few of them!