Mosque, Museum, and a Resort at Brunei

Day 2
May 11, 2013
Bandar Seri Begawan

The next day, we took the hotel's free 45-min tour of the city which included a useless stop at His Majesty the Sultan's Palace (I could not even see the palace from the gate) and a long stop at the grand and picturesque Jami Asr Mosque.

Outside of His Majesty the Sultan's Palace

Jami Asr Mosque

We asked the shuttle driver to drop us off at Royal Regalia museum which houses a collection of royal paraphernalia including gifts from other nations.

Royal Regalia museum 

Later in the afternoon, we went to Empire Hotel which is the grandest hotel in Brunei. This definitely is one of those unexpected treasures - from the hotel interiors with the stately massive columns up to the grandiose lagoon pool. This was also where we decided to eat lunch, at one of the upscale restaurants in the hotel - Pantai.

Lagoon of the Empire hotel

Fettuccine with Pan-seared snapper

Estimated expenses:
1620 PHP - Travel tax
 550 PHP - Terminal fee
2803 PHP - Round trip air fare
4000 PHP - Plaza Garcia (170 BND/night good for 4 persons)
1500 PHP - food (500 PHP/day)
=======
10473 PHP