Florist in Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Flowers and Hari raya

AMONG the shops that were busy serving their customers on the last day before Hari Raya Aidil Fitri yesterday was the flowers and tailor shops.

A florist at one of the flower shops in the capital said that the shop has actually been busy since the beginning of the week as customers made their orders of which were not only to be used for home decorations but also to lay the flowers on the graves of their loved ones. "We have been busy since last Wednesday," said the florist in Jalan Tutong in the capital.

She also said that the customers who came to the shop were not only those who celebrate Hari Raya, but also from different faiths who wished to send the flowers to heir Muslim friends.

Mastura Jaafar with her family members came to the shop to buy several stalks of fresh Daisy of different colours. She had made a plan to visit her daughter's graveyard on the first day of Hari Raya. "We always visit the graveyard to lay the flowers on the first day of Hari Raya," said Mastura.

Still at the same venue, another customer came to buy fresh Lily, which she said she would place them as a centre piece on her table. The type of flowers she bought, said the florist, would stay up to six days in the room with airconditioning.

A tailor shop in Gadong also busy serving their regular customers picking up Baju Cara Melayu and Baju Kurung (traditional Malay attires for man and woman respectively). 

The tailor, Imtiyaz Ahmad, said that he has been receiving orders since last July. "After the pay day last month, we never stop receiving orders from our regular customers," Imtiyaz said.

The customers have placed different orders from Baju Kurung to Baju Cara Melayu both for adults and children. "Two weeks prior to Hari Raya, my customers have been in and out to pick up their Baju Kurung or Baju Cara Melayu," he said. 

Usually, per customer will order more than one pair. "I have one customer who has ordered 15 pairs of Baju Cara Melayu and custom-made dress," he said, adding that the customer has picked up the orders few days ago.

In total, he said, he had received 400 of various orders since the beginning of Ramadhan. He and his two other colleagues, worked until predawn, to ensure that the orders were met.One of the shop's regular customers, Ahmad Afham Mohd Ramli said that he ordered three pairs of Baju Cara Melayu and three other pairs for his father. 

"I placed the orders about two weeks ago," said Ahmad Afham, adding that he would only need to buy the sinjang (a cloth wrapped around the waist; usually worn with the Baju Cara Melayu).

The Brunei Times
http://www.bt.com.bn/news-national/2012/08/20/busy-day-florists-tailors-prior-raya

Brunei Flowers, Sending flowers to Brunei? Shop safely online through our secure virtual Brunei flower shop and send a beautiful arrangement.

A Bit About Brunei Darussalam

About Brunei Darussalam country, a small country located on the northern edge of the island of Borneo. Overlooking the South China Sea (if you are on the edge of the beach I wish to jump and in an instant had reached the Philippines .. LOL). The extent of land measuring approximately the Province of DKI Jakarta Indonesia (minus of  the Kepulauan Seribu).   

Brunei Area isdivided into 4 regions (a kind of district / province), namely:
• Brunei Muara (here lies the nation's capital Bandar Seri Begawan).
• Kuala Belait (here are mine oil & gas).
• Tutong (here a lot of beaches, one of which called Jerudong beach).
• Temburong (for here must pass through Malaysia. Should be Malaysian visa if by land, and do not need a visa when passing water / river).

Here are some sights in Brunei after've lived there for 1 year:
1. Traditional houses of stilt houses made of wood.
2. Alphabet pronunciation using English pronunciation. ie bi ci ei in ji ef .... ff. This is due to the influence of British who once ruled there. Bahasa Malay is the language of everyday life in Brunei, which is sometimes mixed with English vocabulary, eg kek = cake (bread); selipar = slipper (flip); kempen = campaign (campaign); KES = case (case).

3. Each house has a car 2-10. As poor-poor families in Brunei must have at least 2 cars. One for the wife, one for the husband, the other for alternating. Both adult men, women, all can drive a car. Because a lot of  the number of cars, the garage could be there in the front and back of the house. Garage fence need not be given or rolling door. Open and safe. nearly all absorbed in formal employment with a salary above 2500 Brunei Dollar/month /person. So if the husband and wife work have a minimum income of 5000 Brunei Dollar / month. That is just ordinary workers. If officials and experts could certainly double. Grandmothers and grandfathers who are not working and orphans can also benefit from the state.
4. Parking in public places (markets, mall, office) free. No guards and no ticket clerk. . All set his car each with orderly.

5. If any pedestrian street, a distance of 2-4 meters from the car had stopped. Very polite yes. Pedestrian was also a bit anyway. May be in the word no pedestrians in Brunei. Motorcycles also have rare reply.
6. Gasoline prices about 30 Brunei cents per liter. Very Cheap, is Brunei citizenship benefits too.
7. Houses in Brunei large, multilevel facility and have air conditioning.
8. Children, teenagers, mothers, fathers like to see Indonesia following tv advertisements. Indonesia has a range of products sold there. Instant noodles, pastries, sweets, drinks, clothing, soap operas, songs, baby diapers, crackers, spices, soy sauce, cosmetics made in Indonesia there all.
9. Cooking oil is very cheap. They buy a large 5 liter packs. It costs 8 Brunei Dollar .

10. The price of rice and sugar are also low 12.5 Brunei Dollar / 10 kg. In 10 kg bags. Cheap food and clothing because there are no taxes and levies.
11. Populist side dish there is the fish of the sea. Mothers are very skilled cleaning fish belly. They are not afraid of her scuffed or scratched fins are sharp. Feedback from the time of the ancestors have been wrestling with the fish. While eyes closed like they could clean fish betimes, because skilled. But unfortunately limited in fry cook, burned or boiled. Others with culinary Indonesia which is very diverse. Can in a sweet-sour flavor, contrived dumplings, pempek, meatballs, Balado, pickled yellow, kalio, rendang, shredded, presto, brains, etc..
12. For those who like to fish, they do not have enough fishing line, but also has a boat engine. There is a fiber boat parked in the driveway ordinary. If you want to sail the boat pulled by car.
13. Because looking fish in the sea, fish course, you gain very much. Let not foul up in the house kept to the freezer. So in addition to a refrigerator 2-3, most of them also have a freezer.

source

http://wisata.kompasiana.com/jalan-jalan/2012/07/29/sedikit-tentang-brunei-481697.html

Masjid Pengiran Muda Abdul Mateen

About Masjid Pengiran Muda Abdul Mateen 

The New Village Mosque 

at Kampong Mulaut Brunei Darussalam

Open by Sultan of Brunei Darussalam  on Friday  August 3, 2012, Friday.

 The mosque is located in Kampong Mulaut Brunei Darussalam, could meet the 1600 pilgrims

source :

http://masjidmulaut.blogspot.com/

Bukit Patoi Recreation Park is one of Brunei attraction

Bukit Patoi Recreation Park is one of Brunei Darussalam attraction that located within the Peradayan Forest Reserve, Temburong. 

The Bukit Patoi Recreation Park has many unusual cave and rock formations, and also home to a variety of readily seen wildlife such as Borneo’s native kijang (deer).

The high of Bukit Patoi is the 1.6 km from the land level and 310m (950ft) above sea level. 

We can see many unique natures like Batu Berdinding, Batu Tergengam and so on. It's takes around 2 hours to reach the Bukit Patoi's summit.  

 

Batu Berdinding Bukit patoi

Batu Tergengam Bukit Patoi

Bukit Patoi Recreation Park One of Temburong attraction

http://ayangphotography.blogspot.com/2012/07/bukit-patoi-recreational-park.html

Brunei Holidays : Jong Batu Brunei

Brunei Holidays - Tourist attractions in Brunei, Brunei has many legends, one of them is the 'Jong Batu'. It was said that Jong Batu is actually a sinking ship of  Nakhoda Manis, a son who has betrayed his own mother. He ordered his crew to push his mother small boat away because he was embarassed that his wife was disgusted with his poor mother. His mother was then heartbroken and she cursed his son, a storm then came and capasized the ship, it sank and everything including the people inside the ship turned to rock.

Jong Batu is located at the Brunei River, on the east side of Istana Nurul Iman. The rock outcroping is a shape of a sinking ship and the size is about 20m long and 15m wide at its widest point. The journey to Jong Batu is about 15minutes by boat from the Kampung Ayer.

source :

http://bruneiinformation.blogspot.com/

Nahkoda Manis Tales From Brunei

Once upon a time there was a widow, Dang Ambon, who lived with her only son in Kampong Ayer Brunei. They lived a comfortable life but were certainly not rich. She loved her son Manis so very much. As a boy she used to sing this lullaby to him: 

Manis, Manis, 
My sweet natured boy! 
Manis, Manis, 
Devoted and kind, 
Manis, Manis, 
Truly a mother’s pride! 

When he was older Manis wanted to travel. He wanted to become rich. As a loving mother Dang Ambon knew she would miss him terribly. But because her love was so strong she allowed him to go. She wanted him to be the happiest he could possibly be. 

For a long time there was no news from Manis. To console herself in her loneliness Dang Ambon sang her song everyday:

Manis, Manis, 
My sweet natured boy! 
Manis, Manis, 
Devoted and kind, 
Manis, Manis, 
Truly a mother’s pride!

Many years passed and there was still no news from Manis. Dang Ambon kept herself busy by helping the poor. She gave whatever she could until the day she herself became poor. Despite her now sad situation she still sang everyday:

Manis, Manis, 
My sweet natured boy! 
Manis, Manis, 
Devoted and kind, 
Manis, Manis, 
Truly a mother’s pride!

One day a large trading ship docked at Kampong Ayer. There was a rumour that the owner of the ship was Manis! He was already called Nakhoda Manis for being the rich captain of the ship. Excitedly Dang Ambon paddled her small boat in the direction of the big ship. She was to be reunited with her beloved Manis! In anticipation she sang:

Manis, Manis, 
My sweet natured boy! 
Manis, Manis, 
Devoted and kind, 
Manis, Manis, 
Truly a mother’s pride!

Nakhoda Manis was proud and he was indeed rich. When he saw his mother he was ashamed of her and turned away claiming not to know this poor old woman. Dang Ambon was heartbroken. In her despair she cursed the ship full of riches – riches that had taken her son’s love away from her.
She would never sing her song again…
Suddenly, lighting flashed and there was a heavy storm. Rain, thunder and lightning!!!
When the storm cleared, her son’s ship was gone and in its place was a huge rock in the sea.
Today this rock is known as Jong Batu.

source :

http://asianfolktales.unescoapceiu.org/folktales/read/brunei_1.htm

Jong Batu Nakhoda Manis Kampong Ayer

Last week I took a boat ride, when we came across an oddly shaped rock, at a glance it shows nothing more than a large rock, but viewed an angle the rock reveals itself to resemble a capsized ship.

When ask about this,the boat driver, he said there a story that goes way back,,,,way way way back

The story goes there was a young man named by Nakhoda manis who lived with his wealthy widowed mother,Dang Ambon in Kampong Ayer ,disputed being wealthy Nakhoda manis grew restles.He longed for adventure so being a young man he decided to travel to seek opportunities, The mother like any other mother was sad to see him go as he was the only son she had,Dang Ambon pleaded his son not to see the world and leave her all alone, but Nakhoda Manis promise her to return soon.

Year pass with no sight of Nakhoda Manis.Dang Ambon Had spent all her wealth on charity in return

For prayers of his safe returned,

Than one day news came that Nakhoda Manis had returned, he had prospered through his journey and had a beautiful wife which he was so excited to introduce to his mother, which he missed so much

Dang Ambon in her old and worn out boat, eagerly row towards Nakhoda Manis ship, only to be dismissed by her new daughter in law who thought she was a filthy beggar wanting money

Nakhoda Manis recognized his mother but was embarrassed by the looks of her appearance,

Denied her and asked his crew to push the old lady

Dang Ambon was so heartbroken and insulted; with this she cursed her son, as the saying goes

Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned and at once the clouds gathered on what was sunny day and a great thunderstorm broke loose.

A massive bolt of light struck Nakhoda Manis ship causing it to capsize. After the storm subsided,

The villages of kampong Ayer was surprise and shocked to see that the ship had morphed into a giant rock, which is now known as Jong Batu..There u go on the story of Jong Batu...

http://kaporsirih.blogspot.com/2011/12/jong-batu-kampong-ayer.html

Brunei Holidays : Tamu Kianggeh Brunei Open Market

share Brunei Holidays - Tourist attractions in Brunei Darussalam, 

Lets Hunting at Tamu Kianggeh, Brunei open Market

source :
http://ahsahj.blogspot.com/2012/06/tamu-kianggeh-kianggeh-open-market.html

Wedding Etiquette in Brunei Darussalam

About Living in Brunei Darussalam, How much is in your ENVELOPE? Do you know how much you're supposed to put in?

After the guests duly settle down and sit, the family of the bride and groom will come around to greet and shake the hand of every single guest in the congregation. This is called bejarah. During this session, not so subtly, envelopes are slipped in.

It is an unspoken rule for every single person who is already working and earning money that you need to prepare an envelope containing a certain amount of money when attending a wedding. It's like a "sedekah" and so there's really no set amount you need to put in. Furthermore, no one ever talks about how much they put into envelopes cause well, that will pretty much seem like you're showing off of how charitable you are. Haha.

However, I've come to find out that most brides and grooms actually use this money to pay off the caterer, which is usually the most expensive part of a wedding. So I've come to use this as a basis of how much I contribute to the newlyweds.

1. Venue of the wedding. Is it a hotel? Is it at home? Is it in a hall? For hotel weddings, menus start at $20 up to $70 per person. Hall weddings generally use outside caterers which are generally quite cheap, but they spend more on rental. So it can range from $15 to $50 per person. Home weddings are cheaper, starting from $5 to $20 per person.

2. Menu: Is it a simple nasi lemak breakfast? Could it be a 5 dish lunch? Is it a full 8 course Chinese style dinner? Take this into account when deciding how much u put in.

3. How much did they or their parents gave on your wedding? When a very close friend got married I was tasked to note down in a book how much each person gave. I asked her father what it was for and apparently its so that they can give back the same amount during weddings of their daughters and sons. It's a good idea to note down how much everyone gave so that u also know how much to give. :)

4. How close are u to the newlyweds? Generally when you are close to the newlyweds, you give more (although I generally don't go to weddings of people I'm not close to!). This one I suppose is a matter of how deep are your pockets :)

That said, most people would agree that BND$10 is the bare minimum. :) (Unless of course, it's a Chinese wedding then the bare minimum is BND$50 hehe but that's another article altogether!)

There are some rules of etiquette regarding the said envelope:

1. Write your name on the envelope. I know this may sound showy but it is considered poor etiquette if u don't. After all, only u and the newlyweds will know of the amount u gave.
2. Always give it to the head of the bejarah congregation
3. Before giving, fold envelope into palm size
4. You do not simply give it, you subtly slide it into the other person's hand when they touch yours

Hope this is helpful! :)

Source :
http://bruneiweddings.blogspot.com/2012/05/wedding-etiquette-how-much-should-u.html
and Pictures :
http://stoney-mylifemyworld.blogspot.com/2009/01/hari-persandingan-nina-hazren-on.html