Booze Free in Brunei

When we learned that our time in Singapore was limited, we came up with a list of the places we hadn’t visited yet on this side of the world that we wouldn’t likely travel all the way back for. Sydney, Melbourne – we would venture back for that. Myanmar (Burma), Brunei, Bali, the beaches of the Philippines were a few on a very long list of places that we were much more likely to visit with Singapore as a home base.

After doing some research, the most logical choice for one of our last few weekends left in Singapore was Brunei. It’s a short flight on a Friday night after work and we were able to be back in Singapore by noon on Sunday.

Brunei is a small country with a population of 413,000 which shares the island of Borneo, with Malaysia and Indonesia. According to the BBC, Brunei, which gained independence in 1984, has one of the world's highest standards of living thanks to its bountiful oil and gas reserves. Although you can certainly see the discrepancy between the working class and the upper echelon.

The water village in the shadows of one of the palaces

The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, is one of the world's longest-reigning and few remaining absolute monarchs. He was crowned in August 1968, is one of the world's richest individuals. (And oddly enough has a giant property around the corner from Brother B in Las Vegas. Small world!)

Not a bad "starter" house for a 34 year old prince!

In 2014,  Brunei became the first East Asian country to adopt Islamic sharia law despite widespread international condemnation. In all fairness, I had girlfriends travel to the country alone and the Bruneians are quite welcoming to tourists. These were some of the friendliest people we’ve met in our travels. American and UK passport holders do not need a visa to enter the country.  Just behave yourselves and do not expect to find any beer, ANYWHERE!

The water village

Because the country is under sharia law, smoking is illegal and alcohol is not available/served anywhere. A perfect spot for a post-wedding detox!

Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque

We had a great tour guide Razie and driver Helmi from Borneo Trekker. They were students studying hospitality and tourism at a local trade school. They showed us some of the magnificent mosques, one of the Sultan’s Palaces (from the outside of course), as well as a cruise down the river through the mangroves to see the wildlife such as the proboscis and leaf monkeys and crocodiles. We didn’t have time to venture out to the rainforest which is 3/5th of the country and is supposed to be a great place to explore and stay overnight.  We spent some time in a water village with Razie’s aunt and cousin (everyone called him superman) who was a professional body builder, boat fleet owner/driver, gym owner and all around entrepreneur.

Superman's boat business (he's the guy driving) in the mangroves

One of our favorite parts of every holiday is the food. We went to the big night market where we had kebabs (anyone who knows Raegen is not surprised by this), fried bananas, Sambal Nasi Katok, fresh coconut juice and honey BBQ chicken. Earlier in the day we tried Ambuyat, which is the national dish of Brunei. It’s a starchy dish with a sticky but bland taste. We gave it a try as we were told it was good for our insides. (All in the name of detoxing right?)

We asked Helmi where they were going out to for the evening with their friends. That’s right you guessed it, Starbucks. (Starbucks - bridges all cultures.) 

Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque at night

We were glad to check a new place off our list although the passport stamp isn't quite as cool as it used to be.

Happy trails,

Amy & Raegen 

Sumo in September

Only in Japan would a nation obsess about the ballerina like grace of round, pale, flabby men dressed in diaper thongs. I had the opportunity to attend a wonderful afternoon of sumo with some of my local customers who had never attended a tournament, but were avid followers of the sport and taught me to appreciate the art of sumo.

A roof resembling a Shinto shrine suspended over the dohyō (ring)

The original sumo wrestlers were likely samurais or ronins looking for additional income opportunities. The current format dates back to the mid 1600s.  This sport is heavily weighted (no pun intended) in tradition and ceremony.  While a typical match will only last about 8-15 seconds, the pageantry to get there can take over five minutes.  The spectacle reminded this observer of a chauvinistic male animal mating ritual to woo the opposite sex crossed with the New Zealand All Blacks Haka dance.  This ritual has all of the key dramatic features including intimidation, throwing of salt, multiple squats, occasional towel break and an interesting costumed referee all culminating in a short burst of belly rubbing and hugging.

I was very fortunate to have Japanese guests with me to explain the sport, backgrounds of the fighters and all of the things that make this sport so unique and exciting.  There is way too much to explain and one can only truly understand if you witness this, but I will do my best.  There are six tournaments a year (three in Tokyo, one in Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka) and each tournament is 15 days.  Top division wrestlers will have one match a day and each day they will be ranked and matched based on their previous day’s performance.  There are no weight classes, handicaps or restrictions - it is mano y mano and the winner either pushes the opponent outside of the ring or he falls over.  The initial impact from a sumo wrestler is said to be the equivalent to being hit by a car going 35 miles per hour. 

While weight is not the primary characteristic of a winner, many of the wrestlers are over 400 pounds.  The training stables help beef up the boys through a diet of Chankonabe which is chicken, fish, beef, tofu, vegetables or anything deemed remotely useful in clogging the arteries which are thrown in a broth and stewed in all their caloric splendor.  The wrestlers are also encouraged to drink beer and take naps immediately after eating.  I was lucky enough to try Chankonabe, but I would prefer a steak.

I hope that you can try to make it to one of these amazing cultural events to witness the strength and beauty of 400+ pound ballerinas performing their rituals and wrestling.

Until then,

rhs and Amy

Smoke on the Water

Cough, cough – greetings from hazy Singapore. Here we’ve been encountering a month worth of Beijing-style air, not from factories but from clearing forests for palm oil farms in Indonesia.

  

The haze varies each year in its severity but this year it’s not only been severe but it’s been very long lived. While we’ve been hiding out inside we’ve learned a few things during the worst haze this year. 

No those aren't storm clouds

• PSI is different than AQI (Air Quality Index – which most of the world uses.) This is Singapore’s own air rating system.
• While we think its bad at a 300+ psi in Singapore we can stay inside and turn on the air conditioner and our air purifiers. There are reports that in Indonesia it’s over 2000 psi.
• At over 300 psi, the Ministry closes their schools, like they did on Friday.
• In these conditions you want a mask that is labeled N95 to properly filter the air.
• You look ridiculous in a mask no matter how hard you try. (Raegen said I looked like Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Personally I was thinking more of a cartoon duck.)
• While we’d all love to boycott unsustainable palm oil so the harmful haze stops happening but it is literally in everything we use from margarine, lipgloss, vegetable oil to ice cream (gasp – not ice cream!)

• For a list of companies who are using sustainable palm oil click here. In case you’re curious, Target, Subway and Costco rank at the bottom.
• Most of the investors in these palm oil farms live in Singapore.  Oh the irony.

Think of us while you’re out on a jog or driving with the windows open and send some fresh air karma our way!

Until then,

Amy & Raegen

Scooting Through Saigon

We’ve already given you a little taste of our trip to Ho Chi Minh in Hungry in Ho Chi Minh. Now that brings us to our Saturday night activity – a foodie tour with XO Tours. The tour boasts that you will not eat ‘typical’ Vietnamese food that you’d see in a restaurant. Boy were they right.

The night started with three lovely ladies who were our drivers for the evening picking us up on three mopeds. There’s no way for me to tell you the details and excitement we experienced on this adventure as it would be three pages long. We explored five different districts within the city and enjoyed every minute of it.

When we were leaving Chinatown it started to rain so we all put on our rain gear. (Yes we know we look like cartoon penguins).  Then the real rain came. It was raining so hard that it hurt your face while cruising on the scooter. I can’t explain how (although watching the video below may help) but that downpour made the night go from epic to legendary. We were driving on the back of scooters over rivers and through the heart of the city through the city getting absolutely soaked.

During the tour we had bo hue (beef noodle soup), grilled goat, okra, frog legs, shrimp, and Vietnamese spirits. The last stop of the night in District Four was certainly the most unique food we’ve had. This place had great seafood but then came the Vietnamese delicacy called balut. (If you have a weak stomach stop reading here and skip to the bottom.) Balut is a fertilized duck egg that grows for 2-4 weeks. It’s then cooked like a hard boiled egg and eaten the same way. Yes there is a bird in there. Trust me, I still think it’s gross. We all accepted the challenge and Mario* was the first to finish his and then Raegen. I will proudly say I tried half but once one of the girls showed me a photo on her phone of  a cross section of the egg I couldn’t do it anymore.

Driving home along the river in the post-rain fresh air was just what the doctor ordered and a great way to wrap up a trip of a lifetime.

Happy Trails,

Amy & Raegen

*Not his real name. I should've called Raegen Luigi to make this post a little more fun.