I took a water taxi down the river to the downtown area. It was the Sultan’s birthday. Many businesses were closed in observance.
It was quiet–a little too quiet. I quickly learned that everything was cancelled. They didn’t want a break out of the Swine Flu (H1N1).
Dude, that sucked so bad. That was the main reason I came here. I thought it would be perfect timing to experience Brunei. There was going to be huge festivities and displays of Bruneian culture. I was therefore relegated to second and third tier experiences, such as the Royal Regalia Museum and the main Mosque.
It’s funny. They were trying to prevent a large gathering of people. But many still came to hang out.
It was like an apocolyptic movie. There were hardly any women or children out. Scores of adult men just chilled in the shade next to closed businesses. Many stooped outside the mall. And many more sat in the stands at the sports field cheering at nothing–at themselves. So odd.
The Royal Regalia museum was cool. The guards carried large curved knives instead of guns. I saw some pictures and relics of past birthday parades. Oh well.
I checked out the main Mosque in the late afternoon. It’s pretty cool. Well, it’s the first mosque I’ve ever seen. It was quite decadent. I read that it had gold trimmings on the exterior.
The Muslims are strict about keeping non-Muslims out. I was able to step inside at a specific time in the late afternoon. There was only a 30-minute window for non-Muslims. When I took photos later on at sunset, some motioned me to go away. I got a strong feeling of exclusivity from the Mosque–quite the opposite of Buddhist temples.
I perched in a courtyard near the Mosque. Two nice, young guys interviewed me for the Brunei Times newspaper. They wanted to get quotes from foreigners about the festivities being cancelled. I gave them plenty to write about. 
Bill Paetzke, a computer programmer from the United States, was also hoping to witness the celebrations. He found out about the celebrations from a guidebook and was interested in the images depicting the joyous occasion. “It looked really cool, so I wanted to go and see it for myself,” said Paetzke, who is on a four-month holiday around the sub-region after quitting his job recently.
He said that it was not easy and cheap to come to Brunei, but would come to see the celebrations in the future, if he was in the area at the right time. He diverted his time in seeing other aspects of Brunei. “Brunei is awesome,” he remarked.
Source: The Brunei Times
I was careful to end my rant on a positive note. The Sultan has supreme power in this land. And I didn’t want to provoke him. 
