Monasteries (gompa's) in Ladakh

Village of Leh

Medievil Village of Lamayuru

Lamayuru Monastery

Taj Mahal

Back in Singapore

Hi Everybody ~
Just a short post to say that we are back in Singapore. Leah and I have been awake since midnight, Evan woke up shortly after, and Mom is still sleeping (although it is only 6 am). It was good to see Bauer, who is now very big and also wicked skinny. It was also good to see Alona, who has been lonely without all of the noise the 4 of us make. We only got to see Dad for a little bit, since he had to work and then fly out to Korea last night. Despite the fact that I've enjoyed seeing these people here, I already miss everybody back home.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for taking time out of their busy summer and visiting with me (and the rest of out family). I had the best summer ever, even though I was constantly busy. Now Singapore seems very dull without visitors and get togethers. I can't even begin to count the number of board games I have played with Leah. Plus the 50 spring rolls I made with Alona. And the TV I watched with Mom and Evan.
Anyways, thanks for making our summer so much fun, and can't wait to see everyone next summer!
Love,
Jane

Brunei

I was able to tick off another country with my first business trip to Brunei. Many people think Brunei is in the Middle East because it is an oil-rich Sultanate (a country ruled absolutely by a Sultan). It tends to get mixed up with Bahrain. However Brunei is in SE Asia on the island of Borneo. Also on Borneo is part of Malaysia and even an Indonesian territory. So Brunei is small, but quite interesting.

The Sultan has been named the richest man in the world in certain years. He has two wives. Wife #1 is the main wife and he is now on his second wife number 2. The first wife #2 was a former Singapore Air stewardess who he divorced. The second wife #2 is a former TV personality. He has 5 sons and 7 daughters with his 3 wives. He lives an extravagant lifestyle to say the least.  It is said he owns 3000-5000 cars worth about USD 4B.  Many of them are one of a kind.  He also has a 747 with gold plated furniture.

His brother, Prince Jefri is famous for stealing money from the Brunei Investment Authority he once ran.  The BIA is one of those so-called Sovereign Wealth Funds that held the significant foreign reserves of the country.  It is said he stole and spent over USD 27B.  Both the Sultan and his brother have many palaces and own hotels such as the NY Palace Hotel.  The Sultan's main palace is huge - something like 1400 rooms.

However, there is some sharing of the wealth as all the citizens of Brunei get free education and free healthcare.  Also, there is no individual or corporate income tax.  95% of their revenues are from oil.  And to think, the Sultan and his brother lived like this when oil was $12 a barrel!

We stayed at the Empire Hotel which was built by Prince Jefri.  It is an amazing place and the pictures below are just of the atrium and do not do it justice.  There are something like 4-5 thousand guest rooms.  They also have a grand function hall, ballroom, movie theatres, bowling alleys, a country club with badminton, tennis, basketball and squash courts, multiple pools, and, of course, a Jack Nicklaus designed golf course with lights for night time playing.  I definitely want to bring Lauren and the kids back here for a long weekend and just run amuck in this place.

Only one downside - Brunei is a "dry" country - no booze!  Apparently, you can bring some in, but it is limited and there is no place you can get booze in Brunei (although I would wager there might be some at the Sultan's palace)

Cheers,

Jed