Skip to main content

Tea and sweets at a warrior's house

A Warrior’s House
One of the highlights of our trip to Brunei was having tea at a warrior’s house on the Brunei River. It is a house on stilts. I was very curious what these houses were like inside. Thankfully we had the chance to discover this with our afternoon sightseeing tour.

It was quite a challenge to get off the boat and climb up the narrow wooden stairs to the large porch of the house. I did so holding on to the steps with my hands for extra caution as I was afraid of falling into the waters below. Inside the house we sat in the spacious and tidy living room. We were allowed to take photos so I can show you this warrior’s house.

Who are these warriors of Brunei? These are the men who formed part of the King’s military regimen or the King’s Guards. In the 16th century, they were often sent to fight outside of the sultanate and reported to the local chiefs. The Royal Brunei Armed Forces became the official military unit of Brunei after its independence from the British in 1984. 

Notice the photos of the King and Queen of Brunei on the left. The three men who are wearing their toga (graduation attire) are family members who have received their university degree. Education is free in Brunei and students are allowed to choose their university, including those located outside the country. Brunei is one of the richest countries in the world primarily due to its crude oil and natural gas exports. Aside from free education, housing is also free or subsidized by the government.

Snacks with tea
We were served a variety of snacks with our tea. There were cookies, cakes chips, candy, and two local sweets. The banana wrapped rice roll is called pulut panggang or rempah udang and the crispy roll is called fried popiah, similar to a spring roll. I have included links to recipes for both below. 
Recipe for pulut panggang:  https://whattocooktoday.com/pulut-panggang.html
Fried popiah: https://www.rotinrice.com/fried-popiah-spring-rolls/

Stilt houses on the river
Some of the family members brought us the snacks for our tea. They didn’t sit with us. They were all gathered outside on the porch to celebrate the national holiday. Several members of the family had arrived to spend the afternoon with their parents. When we were done, we had the chance to meet and chat with the family who were warm and welcoming and spoke English. It was nice to see them preparing for that evening’s dinner. What was interesting was I recognized one of the vegetables and asked for its name. It has the same name as its Filipino counterpart. That was good to know.

If you would like to learn more about Brunei, you may read my post about it here: 
https://www.travelswithcharie.com/2024/04/highlights-of-bandar-seri-begawan.html

Stay connected

*****

Images by TravelswithCharie 



 

Labels:
Location: Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Carlos Botong Francisco - Progress of Medicine in the Philippines

Pre-colonial period Pag-unlad ng Panggagamot sa Pilipinas (The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines) is a group of four large-scale paintings depicting healing practices in the Philippines from pre-colonial times to the modern period. Carlos Botong Francisco was commissioned in 1953 by  Dr. Agerico Sison who was then the director of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with   Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing of the National Museum, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr. and Dr. Constantino Manahan. These oil on canvas paintings measure 2.92 meters in height and 2.76 meters in width (9.71 ft x 8.92 ft) and were displayed at the main entrance hall of PGH for over five decades. Owing to its location, the artworks were in a state of "severe deterioration" at the beginning of the 21st century from exposure to heat, humidity, dirt, dust, smoke, insect stains, grime, termites and an oxidized synthetic resin used in an earlier restoration. These canvases were restored three times, the last was
Read more

Filipino Struggles in History - Carlos Botong Francisco

In 1968, Antonio Villegas (then Mayor of Manila), commissioned Carlos "Botong" Francisco to paint the history of Manila for Manila City Hall. The series of large scale paintings was called  Kasaysayan ng Maynila  (History of Manila).  The paintings deteriorated over time and no attempt was made to preserve these historical canvases until 2013 when Mayor Amado Lim sent them to the National Museum for extensive restoration. Four years later, in 2017, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada and the Manila City Council signed an agreement with the National Museum to leave the paintings at the museum so they may reach a larger audience in exchange for museum grade reproductions to replace the originals. Kasaysayan ng Maynila was later renamed Filipino Struggles in History and is now on display at the Senate Hall of the National Museum . Carlos "Botong" Francisco died in March 1969, a few months after completing the paintings. He is one of the first Filipino modernists and
Read more

8 Heritage Houses of Iloilo

Lizares Mansion The province of Iloilo on the island of Panay has a rich trove of heritage houses, left over from the sugar industry boom in the 19th century. Iloilo also had the largest port in the Philippines at that time which facilitated the export of sugar to foreign shores and deposited money in the hands of the sugar barons. The barons dropped their earnings into the acquisition of properties in Negros and the construction of beautiful homes in Iloilo, many of which are located in the vicinity of the Jaro Cathedral. The Lizares Mansion was built in 1937 by Don Emiliano Lizares for his wife, Concepcion Gamboa and five children. The family fled to safety when World War II broke out and the house was occupied by the Japanese military. The family returned to the house after the war but left once again after the demise of Don Emiliano. It was sold to the Dominican order in the 1960s and was converted in 1978 to a private school, Angelicum School. The mansion now houses the
Read more