Friday, October 13, 2006

Brunei : Kampung Ayer (Water Village)

Another feature of Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei is the Kampung Ayer (Water Village) - If I am not mistaken, this is one of the largest water village in the world.

Kampung Ayer or Water Village is a cluster of several Malay villages built on stilts in the water over the Brunei River - with wooden houses, shops, schools, mosques etc. 30,000 Brunei citizens live in the Water Village. Private water taxi (long wooden speed boats) provide rapid transportation mode for the villagers. I guess we can refer this Kampung Ayer as "Venice of the East".

Huge wooden house on stilts. I wonder how many people stay in this huge house. Does this belong to a big family?

While walking on the wooden boardwalks, I saw 2 fishes swimming in the river. (Points to remember.. Must look up, look down, look infront, look sideway, look at the right side and left side when walking (in summary, look everywhere.. ) Too bad I haven't master the skill of looking behind while walking :P )

House on stilts with jetty extension. There is a water taxi (long wooden speed boats) not far away from the jetty.

Modern amenities are available, including electricity, water supply, sewer systems, air conditioning, astro and satellite tv, and internet access too!

Almost every household has Astro and some have Satellite TV facilities.

Would you take this "shortcut" to visit the neighbour next door? I guess I won't. ( I scared I might accidentally trip and fall into the river, hahhaha.. kiasu kiasi spirit).

41 comments:

a^ben said...

*push loktor down the sg~*

hahahahahahah

King's wife said...

Reminds me of Pulau Ketam.
I definitely won't walk on that plank. Looks too precarious!

Chen said...

ben,
sikui Ben..
wanna drown me ah?
piak u with joo hoo then u know :P

KW,
I've never been to "the Crab Island" yet. Can consider that as my next "cuti-cuti Malaysia" destination :)

Scary to walk on the plank.
I guess it is better to be safe than sorry :P

L B said...

So nice!! I need a holiday already.. somewhere where there's actually nothing to do but looking up, down, left, right, center, behind, underneath... *sigh* Take me away from all this madness! Pack me in ice, ship me.. only rm65++..

L B said...

BTW, I read somewhere that the ethnic Chinese in Brunei are really, really 'marginalized' to hell, and back.. Did you notice that?

Chen said...

LB,
how about going to the beach?

Looking up, down, left, right, center, behind, underneath (don't look underneath skirt, okie? :P )

Errr, u r not mushroom nor maggie mee..
your postage fare is definitely more than RM 65++
might be RM 67.92?
or RM 69.31?
However, if wanna pack u..
need to include in few lormaikai together with the package :P

Chinese is minority there.
There are only 2 churches and ?1 temple (from what i noticed) but several mosques everywhere around the corner. Quite a number of Chinese there are expatriates. Can earn good $$$$ there, and summore don't have to pay income tax :)

Anonymous said...

those pictures... I'm reminded of that jetty, I think it was at Tawau, when we were leaving to Sipadan Island. nostalgic...

Anonymous said...

Very nice
The fish
Can catch and keep ah???

Pink Cotton said...

aiyoyo

so scary le!...

i wonder where all the sai and urine go 'x'

Daniel Yiek said...

Just like the old seafood village in Johore west coast.

mistipurple said...

i didn't know brunei got houses on water. simple is so good, after seeing many modernised things. but if stay in simple place, maybe the feeling is not the same.

Unknown said...

Imagine if I fall into the sea i sure drown sei jor... coz i dunno swimming... LOL

Chen said...

may,
wanna pay Sabah a visit again in the future? Likely I will, but dunno when :)

zeroimpact,
Luckily u asked "can catch & keep ah?" instead of "can cook & eat ah?"
hahaha...

pink cotton,
aiyoyo...
where else leh u think?
*grin*

Chen said...

daniel,
I've never been to Johor west coast before. The only town I've been to in Johor is Muar :)

misti,
dunno never mind, at least now u know :) If I'm not mistaken, this is the world largest water village.
Yeah, simple is good.
Remember the good old days, when life is simple..
*alamak*
babbling about good old days again :P

kenny,
I'll be in the same shoe as u :P
That's why I say "kiasi spirit" earlier on.. cos I dunno how to swim :P

c a r c a r said...

you are not mistaken, yes it is the largest water village.

i been there many years ago when i was in brunei!

and there are many beautiful dome and mosque ard once you come out frm that area..right? (if im not mistaken too, haaa)

Winn said...

aiyo the fish so ugly one. can eat meh?????

nice pic.very professionally taken . like those postcards one. hehe.....u use ur big big camera to take those pic is it

Anonymous said...

from the outer looks they seem to lead a simple life..but AStro and Internet Access!?

..maybe it's time to rewrite "malaysia is full of jungles"

Chen said...

carcar,
thanks for the info :)
Woh.. u been there before? great :)
This is my first visit to Brunei, and first visit to Sabah too, but not my first visit to Sarawak.. :P

Yeah, there is one big mosque next to the water village (but too bad I didn't capture any picture of that mosque). There are several mosques and domes (or onions?) surrounding the area too..

winn,
Dunno ah? But hoh, Chinese eats almost everything, right? Ugly or not ugly, sapu also :P

wah.. floating to Cloud 9 after reading Winn's compliment :P Yeah yeah.. those pictures were taken with the big big camera (which u played with inside the Hakkan Restaurant) :P

mr goober,
yeah, don't play-play :)
Air conditioning, ASTRO & internet access ;)
Looks simple but actually not simple at all...

Cocka Doodle said...

Got sewer system meh? I thought they shit right into the river?

Cynthia said...

why they build house on the water area? not enough land? or Brunei is warmer due to the undergournd petroleum or something? they use water vaporisation effect as cooling effect?

Anonymous said...

Doktor, thank you for the postcard!! received it today. mmmuuaaakkksss!!

Chen said...

cocka,
From what I know, vacuum sewerage system with secondary sewage treatment plants has been introduced in Kampung Ayer since 1994.

cynthia,
The villagers have reside there for generations, for more than 1000 years :) I dunno whether is there any particular reasons why they choose to stay in the river instead of on the lands :)

may,
You are mostly welcomed :)

Anonymous said...

Astro and Internet at (largest) a water village!! thats soo cool..

I might walk on that shortcut.. provided someone give me a life jacket lah.. or 'pelampung' just in case hahaha.. :P

rainbow angeles said...

Psst... u sure it's not the Lim Keou in Penang ar? *LOL* Yaa wat... looks like the Lim Keo or the whatever surname 'keo' in Pg maa... :P

It also reminded me of the canal cruise I went in Menam Chao Phraya... ;)

Chen said...

butt,
Yeah, imaging going online in the river ;)

Wah.. wear life jacket ah? If u wear life jacket, then I can safely push u down the Brunei River liao when u walk on the plank (without any worries). LOL (Jahat I)

angel,
*vomit blood*
I know there are keos in Penang but dunno what are the names.. plus.. I never take photos there leh... Must go there "tembak-tembak gambar" one of these days .

Woh.. this Water Village can reminds us of many places hoh? :)

_butt said...

a^ben pushed you to the sungai edey laa.. how to push me oh? :P

Want my life jacket? LOL

Anonymous said...

I have always wondered how would life be living in those houses. Must be a new experience huh? :D

Chen said...

butt,
Eeeee.. char dou.. :P
in that case, I should be busy searching for pelampung then :P
hahhahha

day dreamer,
I always have the thinking of it must be airy & 'cold' with cooling effect staying on top of the water.. but.. I might be wrong, since they install air cond too :P

Yeah, totally new experience for people like us, who stay on the land all these while :P

ah nel said...

i don dared to eat the fish from thre...

boohhhh...*lokter jatuh bawah jamban area* :D

Chen said...

ah nel,
*choy*
if i jatuh there, I will make sure u jatuh together with me, hahhaahha...

Winn said...

wake up so early got feed ah boy or not?

i fed lucas jus now. i gave him rice and egg he DOWAN TO EAT!! UGH!! then i opened a fresh can of pedigree and gave him a scoop...then only he started eating! spoilt cat!!!

Chen said...

winn,
hehhee.. i wake up long time ago liao
just have my late breakfast
ah boy is watching me eating
(bad hoh?)
but I kesian him & gave him little bit of what I'm eating lah..
(he has his own dry dog food inside his bowl :P )

Your Liucas so yim chim
really spoiled CAT huh?
if I feed ah boy rice & egg, he will sapu all (but if my father in law feed him that, he won't eat.. he very clever one.. he knows when to behave, hahahhaha)

LX said...

That time I went to Brunei, I didn't really make a big deal when was brought to the water village. DIdn't know it's the biggest around.. but thanks to your pics, it's as if I've really visited there! The wonders of blogs :)

Chen said...

lynxx,
Thanks :) I learn new things and gain knowledge every now & then from reading blogs too :)

Redsponge said...

Kampung Ayer...
hmm...i think i might not able to survive there. lol

the water smelly not? 'x'!!!!

Chen said...

red sponge,
u are too urbanize liao.. :P

The water ?
Mmmmm...
can't really remember liao whether it is smelly anot.. But if it is smelly, sure I will remember one, hahahha...

Anonymous said...

nice pictures! the last time I went to Brunei was in 1994.
Not walking on the plank either... you are not the only one who ks ler..
hahaha

Chen said...

miracle8,
Thanks :)
hahhaa.. it's better to be ks than sorry :D

Chen said...

SA,
hehhee.. welcome another new member to the kiasi gang :P

rainbow angeles said...

when i saw the Limbang pics, then oni i remember about the "keo" pics that i commented, which i forgot to come read your reply, so now oni i come! hahaha!! liuliu bohhh?? :P

the "keos" in penang got alot wan.. got the Lim clan, the Tan clan, the Lee clan... but Chen clan, i not sure got anot... :P

Chen said...

angel,
hahah, indeed very liuliu :P
Tan clan can consider the same as Chen clan lah, since the chinese word for Tan & Chen is the same ;) So carcar & I can be considered as distance relative.. kekkekkke...