Cant remember which day, but I went for Didie and Zam (our Malaysian friends) house for their open house. I think it was Khamis malam Jumaat, before Independent Day tu.

Masa tengah makan-makan tu one of our friends, told us, that her officemate going to Istana on the Saturday, for Hari Raya celebration at Istana. Anak officemate kwn iols tu satu class dengan Princess Ameerah (ini anak Sultan Brunei dengan Azrinaz, in case anyone wondering). Kwn iols tu cakap lagi, ‘tak tau lah tahun ni bagi berapa untuk duit raya, maybe sama kot dengan tahun lepas, sebab tahun lepas sorang dapat $500’.

Terus tercekik air sirap. Hahahaa.

One kid $500? Bayangkan berapa orang yang datang? Satu family? Fuhh.. Okay. Fine. Sultan yang kasi. Sila terima dengan senyum lebar.

I asked our friend tu, 'Anak Sultan je ke? Cucu takde ke? Haha’. Sekadar bertanya, sebab talking about going to Istana for raya je dah buat I tersedak, apatah lagi nak poei sana. I cant imagine my son running around, making noise at the palace, kang tak pasal-pasal kena perintah buang negara kan, haaa, tak ke naya. She told me, ‘anak je kot. Cucu tak dapat kot open house or dapat macam tu’.

The next morning, we went to pick up the husband at the airport. Suka benar outstation. Apa kata lepas ni kitaorang pula outstation. Ingat best sangat ke apa tinggal-tinggal. Huh.

Lepas tu the husband duk tanya, ‘Your friend, Hafeez, tak jemput open house ke?’, tanya kat budak bertuah. Lepas tu dua-dua orang, the boys, bising nak gi raya rumah Hafeez. Maka I jawab dengan bestnya, ‘Huh. Bertuahhh! Hafeez tu duk kat istana lah. Bukan kat rumah dia’. Husband, ‘Mana tau duk istana? Mana tau kot-kot dia duk umah sendiri ke'. I jawab balik, ‘Tengok police yang escort dia gi school pun dah tau dia duk istana, dia kan anak Princess, police tu siap bawa motorbike BMW, motor tu untuk Sultan and sesape duk istana je’. Haha. Confident tau jawab. Lols. Few years in here, gua dah tau dah boleh cam serba sikit about the Royals.

Anywayy, on Friday night tu ada open house. Saturday tu ada open houses jugak. Dengan on Saturday tu ada Hari Raya celebration at the kecik’s school. Dalam tengahari gitu I’ve got text from the kecik’s teacher. Ingat something urgent, like ada budak nangis ke, demam ke apa, rupanya invitation to Pengiran Anak Abdul Hafeez open house on that Sunday. Maka sessi peluh jantan keluar pun bermula.

Out of nowhere, gua berpeluh. Hahaha. Nervous memikirkan amenda protokol neh, what if anak kesayangan poei langgar semua makanan and siap jerit-jerit? What if? What if? Hahaha.

Masa amek the kecik from school that Saturday, I asked the teacher ada special protocol ke apa ke. She said just bring family lah and makan. Tu je. Maka hati iols tenang. Kalau gitu, itu bisa diatur. Jangan kang nak kena siap salam sembah ke apa ke, gua tak terer bro part tu. Orang Kg Raja takde nak junjung-junjung kasih ke apa, kitaorg dah biasa tengok Raja-raja kat kawasan rumah. Hahahaha. Sila muntah now. One of the questions to the teacher, ‘Boleh amek gambar tak nanti?’. Hahahhaa. Whyyyyy I have to ask that question? Whyyyyy? Maybe sebab tahap camwhore itu berleluasa lagi. Ini sume salah datin jeng and phoress. Haha. Tetiba je salahkan orang.

Sunday morning ada open house at one of hubby’s friends place cum client? Eh? Entah. Tapi time kat rumah Didie and Zam, his wife jemput iols gi umah dia on Sunday morning tu for raya.

Muka manusia beraya di pagi hari. Tin air tebu, kosong, semalam time Raya celebration at school, ada parents kasi. Siap goodies bag semua, meriahh uols.



Songkok size 20 1/2



Gaya YB masih berleluasa.



Bila gi open house time pukul 10 pagi, maka, menunya adalah mi kolo and roti canai and segala macam roti. I baham kek lapis and segala macam kek je.



Lepas dah habis makan mencekik menghabiskan kuih raya orang, moh kita gi next open house.
The first time I went to istana for Hari Raya, was years ago. Time tu tobat dah takmo datang dah. Haha. Sebab tunggu lama. I dah siap dulu, the boys stranded dekat dalam, sebab the Royals take a break for lunch. Maka I duk sorang lepak-lepak dengan staff Shell yang their partners also stranded kat dalam tu. One is Chinese and the other one orang UK ke mana ntah, tak ingat, tapi yang pasti omputih. Three of us lepak depan main entrance, tepi longkang.

Time tu gi naik istana, naik via bus. Parking kat luar, and nanti ada bus/van bawa naik till the dining hall. But not this year. Tahun ni, masuk istana pakai kereta sendiri. Haha. Jangan nak tersengih macam masuk ikut entrance depan. Itu Sultan punya. Guna entrance belakang sudahhh. Haha.

Ini entrance belakang. Dekat guard tak amek gambo. Jangan tunjuk darat sangat boleh?



Lepas parking kat basement, semua pakat blur. Tak tau nak gi mana. Memang lah tau kat this one hall tapi hall mana satu? Kat mana hall tu? Bukan ada signboard or peta punn. Maka, melilau kat atas ni .




I’m not the only one who took photos = p

Other parents pun. Haha. Sama darat. Face it. You cant always enter the istana everyday unless you become one of them. Lepas tu one of the parents call the teacher, rupanya kena turun balik dekat basement and naik lif.

Ini dah keluar lif. Kitaorang dah lambat pun sebenarnya time ni. Dorang kata by 1.30pm dah kena ada kat hall. Tapi kitorang sampai istana je dah pukul 1.35pm, campur parking, sesat dulu semua. Haha.



Ini lobby depan lif. Ada bape banyak lobby daa. The next one after this lobby, lawa sungguh! Punyalah I aim nak amek gambar family kat situ lepas makan-makan, huh, sekian, terima kasih. Bila nak balik, dah tak lalu situ. Sampai hati tak bagi weols amek gambar sekali lagi. Sampai hati. Sobss.



Pernah dengar cerita yang kononnya karpet dekat Brunei, bila pijak, tenggalam kaki? Sebab tebal and gebu? Karpet dekat atas ni macam tu, and so at the other lobby. I was wearing heels, tenggelam uols heels iols.
Naseb baik the kecik tak buat perangai golek-golek atas karpet tu. He’s one habit to golek on the comfy carpet. Yang selalu jadi mangsa adalah karpet sheepskin Ngian.

Before entering the hall.



Raya at Istana Nurul Iman 2012.



Kitaorang kan lambat. Haha. Masa sampai tu, meja yang dekat depan-depan tu je yang kosong. Maka kitaorang pun duduk lah meja ni. Depan meja Princess je. Haha. Maybe sape yhang datang awal kena isi tempat belakang dulu kot.. Entah. Yang pasti kitaorang punya table lawa lah sikit. Nak lagi lawa, duk sebelah table Princess or table Princess tu. Tak tau pun ada Princess kat situ. I tot ada Pengiran Anak Khalil (Hafeez’s father) je. Rupanya ada his wife dekat depan with her friends. Sebab on that morning, my friend yang kata officemate dia gi open house Princess Ameerah tu kata, Sultan takde pun. Just makan-makan tapi ramaiiii orang.

Look at during our visit that time, takde lah ramai. Orang ramai macam makan kat Rizqun or Empire, or less than that. Sebab classmates the kecik ada 27 je including himself and they also invited staff and family.

Maybe yang Princess Ameerah tu ramai orang sebab dorang nak duit raya kott. Hahahah. Ye lah. Each kid got $500. If 5 orang anak dah berapa? Sila kira. Kitaorang je yang ada anak seorang. Yang lain semua dua tiga. Siap bawa anak sedara adik-beradik semua. Kiranya kitaorang ni tahap innocent giler ah. Kalau tau I angkut sume anak-anak kawan. Lols. Risau how the kecik will behaving at the istana, pastu fikir nak angkut anak kawan lak = p

Parents at our table. Pengiran.. Errr tak ingat! Tapi his wife Kith and anak dia nama Sarah. Somehow muka Sarah’s father I rasa macam muka Mr G sikit. Ada related lah kot. Dorang sama Pengiran.

The kecik told me.

: Mommy, thauffiee ada friend tau. Nama Saraaaa.

Ewah. Over.



Masa ni tunggu apa ntah, I pun tak tau. Tapi semua orang duduk je. Takde sape makan. Takkan I je nak gi amek food kot. Haha.



The two S.



Sorang pegang iphone sorang lagi pun iphone. Molek sungguh.

Sebab tunggu tak tau nak buat apa, I pergi toilet dulu. Haha. Rasa macam bersalah giler guna toilet mahal. Haha. I dunno if I’m using the gold toilet ke apa, tapi if gold pun tak heran, they have all the money in the world. Lepas keluar je, rupanya ada baca doa. Lepas tu baru makan.

This is the Princess aka Princess Majeedah (correct me if I’m wrong) aka Hafeez’s mother. Hafeez ni classmate budak bertuah. Yang semalam I citer duk interframe gambar tu. Kurusssss je Princess ni! I ingat dia berisi sebab gambar sokmo tengok dia berisi tapi memang kurusssss. Maybe sebab baju and pesen tudung kot.



Princess lalu ke sapa lalu ke kat belakang, peduli apa dorang. Yang penting, iphone. *geleng kepala*



Tak clear pulak gambar muka the Princess Majeedah. Tapi dia memang kurus. Gambar dont give the justice. She’s got the good look from her mother. I think among the siblings, muka Princess Majeedah je yang sama like her mother.

Ini her husband. The government staff who married the Royal as told to me by the paper. Haha. I buta kayu okeh pasal Royal sini. Yang I tau, if Pengiran Muda, itu mesti anak Sultan. Pengiran Anak Perempuan, itu Princess. Tapi rasanya if anak to Prince Jeffry and other Princes yang adik-beradik with Sultan, also called Pengiran Muda (for the boys), betul tak? Ke salah? Bruneian, help me out please.

So everyone can dream to married a Bruneian Royal. Sila bermimpi sekarang. Budak bertuah, you want to be a Prince? Sila ngorat Princess depan sekolah you tu sekarang. Senang nanti mommy nak naik private jet balik Kg Raja. Haha. Berangan. If betul lah, bertuah sungguhhh! *pitam*



Even bila Princess lalu pun budak bertuah buat tak tau, apatah lagi when her husband yang lalu. Dasar budak bertuah sungguhhh.



I love watching the Royal couple with their kids. Comel. Dah la their baby princess tu comel sungguh!
Some of the food.



Ini yang I amek for the first round.



Briyani, nugget, and ayam bbq. Dumpling goreng diambil specially untuk maklan G terchentaaa. Nak darling, untuk you, I tolong amekkan. Sila makan dengan bersungguh-sungguh, kunyahlah skrin ni sekali.

Lepas tu another classmate joining the iphone team.



Adrianna, Sarah and budak bertuah.

Adrianna adalah ketua untuk semua aktiviti tak senonoh budak-budak ni lepas ni. Hahaha. Tak caya? Sila tengok.




Bila Adrianna dah start main kejar-kejar dengan Sarah, maka, satu hall pun join sama. Lepas tu siap lepak tengok cerita kartun dekat tengah-tengah hall. Baring okehh. Korang ada? Takde kan. Only kids people, kids. Dekat istana pula tu. Hahaha. Pengsan. Agaknya sebab ni memang open house for Pengiran Anak Hafeez’s classmates, itu yang dorang macam tak kisah kot. Memang for kids. Menu pun memang dorang prepare for kids. Which is nice lah kan. Siap ada chocolate and those fast food yang kids loves. Lemang, lamb, mi kari semua tu makanan for the parents. Yang kids, duk serbu ice-cream. Hottest stall of the day. I tengok staff yang duk isi ice-cream tu berpeluh sebab budak-budak ni duk repeat je makan ice-cream tu.

Some of the menu.



Masa tengah borak-borak with Sarah’s parents, tiba-tiba ada orang tegur the husband from his back. Rupanya Chef Rahim. He’s one of our Malaysian friends yang kerja kat sini. He’s working as a Chef to the Princess Majeedah. Tak sangka pula jumpa dia dekat situ. Hehe. Tapi bukan borak lama pun as he’s working kan, apa barang nak borak lama. Nak borak, sila datang rumah.

The little prince and little princess.



Look at her! Comel kan! Dah la putih, siap dengan handbag tuu. I took this photo specially for Kak Ann. Hehe. Future shopaholic. Masa before school holiday before Raya, the kecik got a Raya greeting card. I tot it was from his school. Baru nak kata, bagusnyaaa school baby, siap bagi kad raya. Rupa-rupanya it was from Istana Nurul Iman, especially from HRH Pengiran Anak Hafeez and his sister, wishing his friends Selamat Hari Raya. Siap ada gambar those two little royals sekali. Soalan budak bertuah, ‘Kenapa adik Hafeez ni tak smile mommy?’. Haa sudah. Nak jawab apa?

See Hafeez face? He was all crying before that. Maybe sebab dia rimas kot, every parents nak amek gambar dengan dia. Masa tu belum lagi official shoot. Dia siap nangis-nangis, merah muka, refused to take photo. Tapi dah namanya Royal, maka you’ve to juga lah kann. Kesian I tengok dia time tu. Lepas tu dia pergi mana ntah with somebody, lepas tu coming back to the hall, diam je. Buat muka macam tu lah, macam dalam photo and duk je diam amek gambar.

Oh my! What psychology did the istana used? I want to learn about it! Apparently they really good at making kids  stand still and smile for hours or do as what they’re supposed to do. Terus I teringat cerita anak Paduka cerita. Before Princess Ameerah was transferred to this current Islamic Private school, she was at international school. Same class with the Paduka’s grandson. Anak Paduka told me, during the time Azrinaz cerai with the HM, Princess Ameerah ni nangisss je bila datang school. First day, nangisss je tak berhenti. Second day pun sama. Third day, bila datang school, terus diam tak kata apa. Hah. Takut tak dengar? Hahah. Tapi I was impressed too. Dorang guna psycho apa eh.

While waiting for our turn to took photo with the Princess Majeedah and family. Ini table Princess tu duduk makan with her friend. Kotak tisu siap bling bling. Sila nangis. Haha. Tak. Sebenarnya I duk tengok Chanel purse her friend tu. Haha. Dasarrrr.



Ramai sungguh official photographers. Siap ada sorang babysitter, I selalu nampak this babysitter at the kecik’s school while waiting for him to finish his class, pun tukang takap gambar jugak. Memang this babysitter cum nurse cum nanny memang serba boleh. Balut hadiah boleh, jaga budak boleh, main iphone boleh, jadi photographer pun boleh. Masa tengah makan, she came to each table and took every photo of Hafeez’s classmates. Masa birthday the kecik pun, dia siap amek gambar juga masa this one Prince tengah makan. I bet she can be one good blogger too. Haha.

One last photo of the hall before we left.


Every corner ada je cook yang setia tunggu. Their chefs pun siap turun. Tau je lah kan royal. Chef for every different part. Chef for salad, chef for dessert, chef for lamb, haa, name it je lah. Semua ada.

Walking down the red carpet at istana. Haha.



Ini sesat lagi sekali. Haha. Taklah. Masa tu dah nak balik. Ini tempat kitaorang beratur before bersalam dengan the royals, time yang first time kitaorang dtg tu, if istana opens to public during raya, haa, sini lah korang kena beratur untuk masuk hall and greet the Royals.



Budak bertuah kelebet kuih raya from istana.



Have you ever wonder how Istana Nurul Iman basement look like? I pernah. Haaha. Nama pun pernah tunggu luar istana tu for hours, mesti lah I terfikir, ada apa lahhh kat basement ni. Sebab bila the Royals coming back from their break, I nampak their drives drove the cars masuk basement carpark ni.

This is how it looks.



More like hotel/shopping complex basement parking lah.

On the way home, nampak pula the army marching. Tukar session kot.





Ini lah main entrance.



Motif letak gambar orang kawad? Hahaha. Sebab dah takap, letak je lah. Tak tau dah nak letak mana.
Before balik tu, ada nurse cum nanny cum babysiter cum servant yang tunggu depan pintu hall. Kasi bekas kuning (Raya souvenir from istana) and the raya packet.

Masa kitaorang datang dulu, yang beratur ramai-ramai and siap parking kat luar tu, time tu dapat $5. And also some nice raya souvenir lah kan from istana. As told by our friend, yang open house Princess Ameerah, anakanda HM, dapat $500 each. Kids je yea. And masa nak balik tu, I siap cakap to the husband, masa tu dalam kereta dah, nak balik, the husband opened the raya packet, I kata, ‘I bet dia kasi $5 pun dah cukup baik’. Hahah. Sekaliii, dapat $50.

Kids only kids yea. Anak baru seorang, so $50 je lah dapat. Cer if ramai, mesti terus kaya. Haha. Public, $5. Cucu Sultan, $50. Anak Sultan, $500. Cer if jadi kawan Sultan, kot-kot dapat $5000 kot. Haha.

Sampul duit raya. Kaler biru. M & K. Bukan Muhammad Khalid maupun Marissa Khadeeja tapi Majeedah & Khalil.




Duit limited edition $20 tu the kecik dapat lepas balik raya from istana. Special okeh. Kawan the husband yang kasi. It was a great Sunday indeed. Memang tak guna dah duit tu. Duit yang dapat $5 dulu tu pun I simpan. Kitaorang memang simpan duit $20 tu if dapat. It’s a rare money note. Apatah lagi yang dalam sampul biru tu. Bila lagi nak dapat kan. Hehe.

Masa mula-mula I memang rasa malas nak gi. Malas sebab serba salah. Tak tau how my son will react. Ye lah, masuk istana kot, bukan gi kedai makan ke apa. Budak bertuah tu dah lah boleh tahan lasak, nasib baik they’re not strict sangat. Lagipun it’s considered as open house for the little prince classmates, so, okay lah.
Great experience. One new thing lah kan. At least ada lah juga merasa and have some story to told in the future. Dah pernah gi masa open public and specially invited. Itu baru raya, belum lagi if dapat invitation wedding ke apa, mesti lagi one of experiences kan.

Thanks for inviting us. Great food, great company. It’s such a great things to do, to mingle with the other parents. Nice palace too! Hehe.

No copy and cerita from what I’ve told ya.

Okay. Next cerita birthday the kecik at school.