Bintan, Indonesia, Day 125

Orchids aren't the only flowers grown in Singapore's National Orchid Garden.

The Insignia pulled out of Singapore harbor at 6 pm May 18th and into port in Bintan, Indonesia at 7 am May 19th. Interesting! One of my guides in Singapore had mentioned that Bintan was a 45 minute ferry ride away. In fact Indonesians routinely take the ferry to come there to work. This lengthy stalling tactic, no doubt, is the result of ports being closed to us, or being scratched for safety reasons. Ports are booked months if not years in advance, fees paid, schedules set then up pops the devil and we improvise. Perhaps the Captain was doing figure eights in the South China Sea. No matter to me, I was basking in the memories of the past two days.

Seems I had been having such a good time the last few days that I had not organized my thoughts for the next segment and just flat out forgot that I had booked a tour, "Bintan Resort Surroundings" which included a mangrove boat tour, a walk through a rice paddy & refreshments in plaza lagoi. Guess I will never know whether the tour was a boat ride thru a grove of mangrove trees or a ride to a poyotomo rice paddy in a boat made of mangrove wood. Hmm. Reading the description again I can see the potential for several new experiences, but starting at 7:30 am? What was I thinking. My friends who are in better shape than I took the tour and had a wonderful time. Learned a lot, saw some interesting sites, and irritatingly enough assured me I should have gone. Thank you very much. At 2 pm we set out for Muara, Brunei, necessitating almost two days of cruising the South China Sea. Oh goody! I do love my sea days eating, knitting, blogging, listening to Dr. Sherry, playing Trivia, and attending cocktail parties. All good things must come to an end, but I WILL ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS!

Our next stop, May 21st, was Muara, Brunei, home to the world's richest man. Once this country was dependent upon coal production for its revenue until the 1920s when it ceased to be economically viable. No worries, oil was discovered shortly thereafter and money is no longer an object - at least for the Sultan of Brunei. Our beautiful guide on this day revealed some interesting statistics about her homeland. According to her, the Sultan treats his subjects very well, but with expectations. Everyone must work to receive housing, medical care, education, all one's needs up until the age of 55 when retirement is mandatory. At that time, as I understood her, one had best have been successful in multiplying because one's children must then provide housing. So apparently one gets the use of a house only as long as one works. No ownership accrues. Everything we saw on our tour was high-end, plush, new, modern and well maintained. No slums here! The Sultan has also decreed that there will be no smoking or drinking allowed in his country. That's okay, says our guide, Malaysia is less than an hour away. Though she was born in Brunei and has lived there all her life, once she reaches 55 she will no longer be able to reside in Brunei because she married one of those sinful Malaysians. It is fine for him to live and work here now, but doesn't expect to be allowed to do so once he turns 55. No taxes are paid by Brunei citizens unless one becomes a successful entrepreneur earning $1 million a year, then and only then do they pay tax.

An edict of The Sultan's that I really do appreciate is that 75% of the land must forever be forest. What a pity it would be to destroy this lush jungle paradise! Thank you!

High Tea being served at the Royal Polo Club, Muara, Brunei.

Mosque located across a large expanse of green from the Offices of the Minister of Finance/Sultan, uncharacteristically not embossed in 24 carat gold as most are.

Part of the water village from across the bay. These were originally the brainchild of the Chinese workers who quickly discovered that property taxes were assessed based on the amount of land on which houses sat. If that land was covered by several feet of water, no tax was assessed. Quite clever those Chinese coal miners.

Our first stop of the day was at the royal Polo Club and grounds, initially built solely for use by the royal family and whomever they chose to invite. It was opened to the public (for a fee) in 2020 and is now THE most popular wedding venue in Brunei. Upon entering the club house, I immediately understood why. Therein we were treated to "light refreshments" according to Oceania's description of the tour but was instead yet another High Tea! Wow! High Tea at the Royal Polo Club of Brunei. Not shabby at all. Between the club house and the beach was a beautiful but empty golf course and on the other side, the polo grounds and stables for THE most beautiful horses I have ever seen in my live. Too busy appreciating them to snap any pics, however. After enjoying high tea, our tour took us by royal palaces, seats of government, grand hotels, and elaborate mosques to Bandar Seri Begawan waterfront for a photo op of the water village wherein all the houses are built on stilts over the water and only accessible by a pedestrian bridge or watercraft. Here I saw for the first time on this trip, people actually engaging in water sports, boating, etc. Another first on this tour, while walking across a parking lot to take the pictures of the water village I spotted an empty cigarette package. Oops, that's two no no's. Then it was back to the ship for a 4:30 departure to cruise The South China Sea toward Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam.

Today Is Someday! Revel in It!