Rise 'n shine was around 7:30am, followed by the breakfast buffet at the Radisson. As a side-note, we have had such an excellent all-round experience at both the Radisson in Shanghai and again here in Brunei, from the food to the genuine attentiveness of the staff. It's a chain we will probably include in our travels more from here on. But I digress!
We hopped in a taxi at 9:45am and headed for the main jetty on the Harbourfront. Within a minute, we had negotiated with a water taxi to take us out and about, to see the Sultan's palace from the river (it's not otherwise possible to see it from the city), to search for some proboscis monkeys, and to tour the main sights of the various water villages that together make up Kampong Ayer, the largest water village in the world. 
Istana Nurul Imam Palace is the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah and the seat of the government. The palace is located on the banks of the Brunei River. It is possible to visit it outside of Ramadan but such was not possible for us. From the river we could see only the rooftop. 
Our driver also pointed out the new palace currently under construction. 
We soon meandered into a small tributary off the river, which felt like a journey into the heart of Borneo!
We were in search of proboscis monkeys (long-nosed), which are most active early in the morning and again at night. Despite being outside these two windows, we did see two sleepy monkeys from a distance in the trees. Our driver said he'd knock $10 off the fare if he didn't find us some monkeys, so needless to say, he got his full tariff! Here's an Internet photo to give you an idea of what they look like.
Finally we toured Kampong Ayer, or the Water Village, which is an area of the capital city, in Brunei Bay. 39,000 people (10% of Brunei's population) live there. All of the Water Village buildings are constructed on stilts. It is totally self contained, with schools, mosques, a fire station, shops, etc. Absolutely fascinating!
After this amazing morning, we said farewell to our driver who, by the way, showed us his house in the village, where he lives with his six kids:
He dropped us back at the Harbourfront of Bander Seri Begawan,
and we headed to the local market. Bander Seri Begawan is known as "Venice of the East", and this photo shows why:
Anyway, about the market... Ugh -- more ole stinky fish than you could imagine. See these piles? They are dried minnows. Yum. What on earth would one do with these?! Pizza toppings maybe?!
From there, we went to the Royal Regalia Museum, which is an amazing collection of all things related to His Royal Highness. Check out his ceremonial chariot!
Back to the Radisson for an hour by the pool before heading to the airport at 2pm for our Air Asia flight to Denpasar, Bali (via Kuala Lumpur). We arrived 11:30pm, and ran the gauntlet of crazy visa /immigration/ bag collection/ customs/ X-ray/ ATM search/ non-corrupt taxi driver selection. By the time we arrived at our Melia Bali Hotel, it was 1:30am.
And that's all for July 24th. Falling into bed!
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