The Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque is right smack in the city center and was within walking distance of our hotel. We got there at around 11:30 A.M., giving us enough time to go inside (prayers start at 12 noon so the doors of the mosque would be closed to visitors at that time). The exterior of the mosque is stunning, with its golden domes (the main dome is made of pure gold!) adding a touch of extravagance to the pristine white walls.
Visitors are not allowed to take photos inside, which is too bad because I would have loved to take a picture of the dazzling Venetian mosaic that can be found in the interior of the main dome. Anyone who enters needs to put on an Islamic robe.
This "boat" that stands right next to the mosque is replica of a 16th century mahligai barge.
We headed to the Yayasan complex, which is just across the road from the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, to have lunch before walking over to the bus terminal in Jalan Cator. There we got on a bus that took us to the second item on our itinerary that day: the Jame'asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque.
This mosque was built to commemorate the 25th anniversary of His Majesty the Sultan's reign. Naturally, this landmark just absolutely takes your breath away. We first caught a glimpse of it on our way from the airport to the hotel and it was spectacular in the evening lights. During the day, it was just as awe-inspiring. The first thing that hits you is the scale of it. I mean, it's just so massive, and the four minarets that surround it seem like giant soldiers keeping watch.
There was no one at the entrance of the mosque so my mom and I got a bit confused about the whole process since no one could tell us which parts of the mosque we could visit and which were off limits. But as luck would have it, a small private tour was going on when we got there, and the tour guide who wanted to make sure we followed protocol invited us to join them (for free haha). Once again, no photos are allowed inside. Such a shame because once we entered the main prayer hall, my jaw just dropped. It was beautiful! The thing that drew my attention the most was the massive golden chandelier in the center of the hall.
We took a bus back to the city center before walking to the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption. We went to the church in the morning and learned that masses on Sunday were held at 7:30 A.M, 9:30 A.M (both of which we missed) and 5:30 P.M. So we made it just in time for the late afternoon mass. The good thing for us was that the ceremony was held in English.
On our way home, we decided to swing by the Sheraton Utama Hotel (or the Radisson) to have dinner since the two restaurants in our hotel were both under renovation. We figured the Radisson would have a good restaurant with a buffet dinner and we were right. The buffet dinner was "only" 26 Brunei Dollars or about P800, which is actually really cheap for a hotel buffet. The fact that it came with refillable coffee made it an even better deal!
I ate way too much food to compensate for the exhaustion and lack of sleep (I was working like crazy leading up to the trip) and I got a very bad lesson in overeating. I'll talk more about this in my next blog post.
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