Day two, October 3:
9 am: Ministry of Primary Resources
11 am: Authority for Info-communications and Industry

More presentations on Brunei's plans to expand its non-oil sector. It's still a fledgling plan. Brunei is still an oil dependent country and there is hardly any other industry worth the name. Almost everything is imported except the oil. Petrol costs about 50 Brunei cents a litre (about Rs 15).

Talk soon veers back to life in Brunei. The director in the Primary Resources Ministry tosses the ball back on the media contingent by speaking of Sania Mirza. "I was reading about your rising tennis star," he says. "She is doing good. I read in the local paper about a fatwa against her for wearing short clothes. I shook my head in dismay."

We were taken aback and put on the defensive. We assure him that it is a fringe group that has issued the diktat.

He isn't convinced. "A fatwa is a fatwa," he says.

India really is not on the radar of Brunei and its people. But Bollywood and Indian music is very popular. Ikram is familiar with most Bollywood films. He also know most stars, with Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and 'Amita Bashan' being the most popular.

In fact Ikram and Diana try and belt out a Bollywood song in the van. Their accent is appalling. We stop them and a group of us break out into a chorus of Bambai se aya mera dost, shocking Ikram, the driver, Diana and even a few passing motorists.

Noon: The Airport Hotel

Our host is the Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office Ismail Mohamed.

It's another sumptuous spread. There's lamb, beef, chicken and fish made with typical Bruneian flair. There's a great salad section too as well as a sinful dessert menu. We tuck in.

One of the members of our group is so impressed by some of the waitresses that he insists that they could give our current Bollywood divas a run for their money. I agree that a few of them look lovely in their smart uniforms, but about making it in Bollywood I am not so sure.

4.30 pm: The Indian Embassy

The embassy per se is not a very impressive edifice. But once inside, the grandeur of the place softens even the most hard-nosed men of the media contingent.

India's Ambassador to Brunei Butshikan Singh is an impressive figure. And he is a straight-talking man.

He adds perspective to what we have already learnt. That Brunei is a benign monarchy, where the subjects are well taken care of by the Sultan's kindness and oil money.

He says the Sultan is favourably inclined towards India and that his teacher was, in fact, an Indian.

He is candid enough to say that the embassy there is not terribly busy. There is the odd case of an Indian with a lost passport, but nothing more.

8 pm: Dinner

For a change, we are taken to the Bruneian version of a dhaba. After the 5-star ambience of our previous dining, this is a welcome change. The buffet table is still well-laden with assorted meats, salads and sweets. We have been bingeing too much, so most plates are light.

Director Masu'ut is also there. We sit with him at a table outside the restaurant and watch Brunei's version of rush hour pass by. It's mild by any standard -- just a gaggle of cars swishing by.

The talk veers to Iraq and the recent bombings in Bali. Though a mild man, you can see that he is seething at the American invasion. He shakes his head at the Bali bombings. Brunei has been spared any terrorism till now, but the bombings so close to home has made fear come bubbling up to the surface.