The top left picture is the Istana Nurul Iman (The Light of Faith Palace) — the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, and the seat of the Brunei government. It’s dark because it was taken from inside a taxi with tinted windows.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do today, so I took a trip to the north coast (about 20 minutes) to spend the day at the Empire Hotel. It was awesome. Wasn’t allowed to swim in the ocean because of crocodiles.

The Empire Hotel in Brunei is practically its own little kingdom – a palace of luxury where even the air seems to whisper "indulgence." It's the kind of place where you half expect peacocks to strut across manicured lawns and butlers to appear with trays of champagne at the slightest whim.

Honestly, the decision to spend an afternoon there was less a choice and more a surrender to temptation. Who could resist a chance to swan around in that kind of opulence, even for a few hours? I figured I'd trade my usual afternoon slogging through the heat of downtown for a taste of the high life, stroll through gardens that probably cost more than my apartment, and maybe even sneak a peek at the kind of folks who call this place home. I went swimming, had a coconut smoothie, did a crossword puzzle in the print edition of the Borneo Bulletin (local newspaper) and saw Deadpool x Wolverine at the hotel’s own cinema. Call it a mini-escape into a world of pure, unadulterated extravagance.