BSB | Street Outing ... Part I

.. So .. we finally went out for an outing .. street photography was the theme ... joining the outing was David Cheok, Bruneian, AnakBrunei & Zadm ... it was actually a fine sunny afternoon .. so we decided that the flow would be... SOAS Mosque .. then the water village near it .. then the vicinity ...

.. 1st stop was Masjid Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien (SOAS Mosque).. the most photographed landmark in Brunei .. hence here I am .. trying to capture it from a different perspective ...

.. the famous Golden Domes in the Capital of Brunei ...

... shoes, slippers or the likes must be removed before entering any mosque ... or before entering almost all of the local Bruneian houses ....

... the official opening ceremony's plaque ... officially opened during the reign of HM Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III .... opened on the 26th September 1958 ... whereby the main prayer hall can accomodate about 3,000 worshippers in one time ...

... a glimpse of what's inside the mosque ... worshippers can be seen praying ... and please barred one self from making unnecessary noises, and as the sign shows .. No Mobile Phone allowed i.e. please switch it off .... respect to others ....

... performing the ablution .. "cleaning" thyself before praying ... Islam teaches its follower proper hygiene.. especially in performing prayers ... an ablution area is provided in every mosque and it is seperated between male and female ... .. btw look at those ubiquitous spiral pillars .... reminds one of those roman style ...

.. a man .. saying a prayer in the mazes of the spiral pillars ..... .. saying a prayer. ... after ablution .... saying prayer after the call for prayer ... saying prayer before entering the mosque .... saying prayer to everything and anything.. as long as it is not forbidden in Islam .... in the teaching of Islam, the followers are encourage to say a prayer as often as possible....

.. the main minaret .. up-close and personal ... with the height of about 50m .... there's actually a lift inside it... to ferry off people to the top ...

... the classic hand-made stained glass window ....

... and loads of them ....

.. as well as loads of spiral pillars .....

.. another perspective of the main minaret .... before the advancement of the modern PA system .. or the loudspeaker ... a muazin ( an elected religious person) will go up the minaret .. and will do the azan or call for the prayer .... the minaret was also used in sighting the new moon in determining the Islamic Calendar ... especially during the month of Ramadhan, Syawal & Zulhijjah .... I was about to write the story during my childhood years where we used to walk around the minarets .. climbing the .. err.. but how can I write a story when it never did happen...?... so no such story ... ;)

... the court yard .... but what I can "story" you ... was up to the 1980s .. the courtyard was always be filled up by worshippers during Friday prayers and during Aidilfitri & AidilAdha ... i.e. Eid Prayers ... n at times up to the main road .....

.. then it started to drizzle ... ..~ raindrop keeps falling on my head ....~ .. and on the camera ... lens ... so gotta do a detour ... cancel the earlier plans ... but still we gotta carry on with our photography outing .... so we need to find shelter ... quuuiiccckk....!!

.. along the way to find shelter ... we found these stray electrical wirings ... hence to whoever is in charge of this .. please do something to rectify it .. make it good ... it is such an eyesore .. n also very hazardous .....

.. and also these ... if u wanna advertise .. do it properly ... clean it off thoroughly ... otherwise u can just advertise on my site .... if u really want to... do let me know ... ;)

.. hmmm .... waiting for someone eh ... ?

.....".. yeaaaah I want this ... ".. yeap .. it was Pay Day ... and schools are about to re-open ... so time to buy school stuffs ....

.. so we've got REST Room ... to rest or "relieve" one self rather .... then we've got RESTaurant .. .. (Rest-to-run) .. rest before we "run" again ... then now REST House ... .. a place to rest of course ... quite a popular spot for backpackers ... quite cheap yet "livable" ... in the middle of the capital .... easy transport connection ... easy to find food .... easy every way ... n notice that sign ... yeaaa ... got a barber shop .. so might as well get an haircut ... cut cut ...

.... a view of Bandar after the rain ... a reflection of the SOAS Mosque can be seen from the window of the building on the left ......



... Mr. Arman (Not his real name) .. walking past a closed shop ...

.. even the money changer was closed ... " .. how to change my money meh ...?"

... Mr.Salman (also not his real name ...) staring at something .... or someone ...? hmmm...

... haha ... what so funny? share- share lah ... eerr anybody knows his not-real name? ;)

...... then the rain stopped ... so we continued our outing to Tamu... then to Tambing..... n Yayasan..... n that to be continued on Part II .... ;)