More of Brunei

Just a couple more of the village, the canal from our hotel, and Kay and Tanya outside the handicraft building.

Brunei Police Station

This one is for you Damian - the police station!! There was also a fire brigade- all built over water - quite amazing!! The second photo is of families and children in their school uniform. All very clean and happy. We had children waving to us constantly calling Salam Allikum. Out tour guide was impressed that we could greet them back in Arabic!! Allikum Salam.

Brunei

The mosque above is one of the main ones on the island. Note the contrast between it and the housing. The other photo is a water taxi - and it was full of Australian teachers going home after the morning classes. Brunei is a Moslem country and is run by the Sultan of Brunei. He is another benevolent dictator, and the people love him. They get an income from the government, which is rich from oil - many similarities to the UAE.

Brunei water village

The building above is a school, again, built over the water. They have Grade 1-3 school in the morning, and grade 4-6 in the afternoon. The kids all arrive along the board walks or in a water taxi. Some of the houses are quite old and dilapilated, others are quite new. The river was very brown - I think there had been a lot of rain recently. The tour guide told us the only thing in the water was crocodiles!!! Not sure if I quite believe him, but certainly was not going to get in and check it out!!

Stopover in Brunei

On our way back to the UAE, Kay, Tanya and I had a 10 hour stop over at Brunei. We had a hotel voucher, so were able to have a shower and look around the city. The first photo is of the canal with the food market. The hotel is in the background. While we were there we hired a boat and had a tour around the water village. It was amazing, all the houses were built on poles over the rivers and canals. There were miles of boardwalks connecting them all.

Jacko's Birthday

Jacko provided a wonderful BBQ and drinks for the day. We all went back to his and Michelle's place for dinner. Damian - being the Koro of the group - presented Jacko with the PDFS trophy!!! It is up to Jacko now to organise a sports event so that the trophy can be passed on.

Happy 40th Jacko!

Te Teko races

We all went to the Te Teko races to help Jacko celebrate his 40th birthday. Here are Kevin, Mo, Wilky and Damian, doing what they are best doing!!! The races were fun, with about 30 of us in a corporate tent.

My paintings - Arabic theme

I did another set of three paintings - Arabic theme - for Julia. This one is a bit different from the last, and I have been asked to do more for other friends!

The camel market

Karen, Martin, Julia and I took a visit to the local camel market. The camels were beautiful,, ranging from small racing camels, to mothers with their tiny 2 day old babies. Some camels are sold for well over a million dirhams - especially the racing ones. The men at the camel markets were keen to be involved (for money of course!!) and became a little too friendly for us. Martin told them to 'leave his wives alone' which got their tongues wagging!! Lucky Martin to have 3 wives!! I think Martin was quite chuffed for a while too.

Emirati wedding, the men!

The men's wedding is usually held in a hotel or large celebration tent and much of the time is spent dancing and singing, playing drums and doing sword dances. Iinside the hotel they chat, drink coffee and eat plenty. These photos were taken outside our Hotel room. It is a very public affair, so different to the women's wedding celebration. The wedding is videoed.

Emirati Weddings

We were invited to a wedding the other day, which was a real treat for us all. It is different to anything we experience in NZ. There are two weddings held, one for the women and one for the men. The women arrive in their abaya's, covered completely, and once in the hall they take their abaya off to reveal the most spectacular and lavish dresses - a couple of photos of models in shops to illustrate my point as cameras are strictly forbidden at the wedding. There is an abundance of food, mocktails, chocloates, perfume, dancing and oud (like incense). The bride arrives later in the evening and walks the catwalk. Her dress is absolutely gorgeous, covered in diamantes, swarkovsky crystals, tulle, ruffles, and with a longggggg train. The husband and male members of the brides family arrive for a short time later in the night for photographs. At this time all of the women abaya up again. Weddings generally finish before midnight.