Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace, Sept. 2013
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George has been fortunate to get a tour of Brunei with his friend Ben.
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They went to see the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque. The royal Islamic mosque is located in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of the Sultanate of Brunei. The mosque is considered one of the most beautiful mosques in the Asia Pacific and a major landmark of Brunei.
The mosque is built in an artificial lagoon on the banks of the Brunei River at Kampong Ayer, the "village in the water".
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| George at the Kampung Ayer, the Water village is an area of Brunei's capital city Bandar Seri Begawan that is situated after the Brunei Bay. 39,000 people live in the Water Village. This represents roughly ten percent of the nation's total population. All of the Water Village buildings are constructed on stilts above the Brunei River.
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| George visited the magnificent Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque, which is considered one of the grandest monuments to Islam in the region. It is known locally as the Kiarong Mosque as it is situated in Kampong Kiarong, a few kilometres from the capital.
The mosque was built to commemorate the 25th anniversary of His Majesty's accession to the throne, and was officially opened on the 14th of July 1994, so it is fairly new.
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| George went to see the e-Government of Brunei.
E-Government describes the use of technologies by the government to help the citizens, business and even government employees in their access of government services and information.
In the e-Government vision, the public can submit their applications electronically via the Internet and mobile phones, available 24 hours a day. This minimises the time spent queuing and submitting forms at government buildings. The services delivered must be easy to use, navigate and most importantly intuitive.
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| George went to the Prime Minister's office, where he had a meeting at the Prime Minister.
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| George also attended a royal ceremony at the Royal Palace Istana Nurul Iman. The name Istana Nurul Iman means Palace of the Light of Faith.
Upon completion, Istana Nurul Iman, became the largest residential palace in the world and the largest single family residence ever built. The palace contains 1,788 rooms, which includes 257 bathrooms, a banquet hall that can be expanded to accommodate up to 5,000 guests and a mosque accommodating 1,500 people.
The palace also includes a 110-car garage, an air conditioned stable for the Sultan's 200 polo ponies, and 5 swimming pools. In total, Istana Nurul Iman contains 20,000,000 m² (21,152,782 square feet) of floorspace.
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| Here George is checking out the menu.
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| And at the dinner with the Royal family George enjoyed the beautiful plates
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| George had enjoyed his visit to Brunei. It had been a some long busy days and on the way home George needed to refuel.
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