Francophonie Week in Brunei

When was the last time you've been to the circus? I haven't the foggiest notion when MY last time was. I’ve been to freak shows which you pay P5.00 per entry or horror booths that scare you off shitless (this must've been eons ago) but none of these would ever compare to what I saw last Sunday at the Jerudong Amphitheatre. Dubbed as Francophonie Week, the French Embassy hand in hand with The High Commission of Canada, Embassy of Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos came up with a full week of activities that covers an Art Exhibit, Latin Jazz Concert and a Family Day with a Circus as the main high-light. It will run from the 5th to the 10th of April. To note, all these were for free. That being said, I sorted out my uber packed week to make sure to get to all these events.

April 06:

I went to the exhibit the day after it was launched. What I saw was the remains of a rainy night and the sculptures or whatevs were wrecked by the mean weather. Hence, there were no photos taken. I was pretty hopeful to catch the other 2 events anyway.

April 10:

Phare Ponleu Selpak is a Cambodian based group composed of 7 buff men performing jaw-dropping stunts on stage that kept the 4 thousand plus crowd in complete awe. They clowned for everyone, walked on tight ropes and did some rope skipping (with the rope on FIRE), juggled, did some acrobats and other amazing stuff that sent my stomach in a knot. Patrick Erard, a French musician, was featured playing the hurdy-gurdy (at least that's what it say's on the program). The music was done by the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports.

We had an awesome musical treat the previous night (April 09) as we went to the Mini-Amphitheatre to catch Dominique Fillion & Co. as he enthused the crowd with his very own compositions. Along with two other travelling musicians: Brett Hirst on drums and Nic Cessire on bass guitar, the trio rendered songs which were like a breath of fresh air to an already windy and rainy night. Good thing the slightly bad weather did not deter the audience from seeing these world-class musicians perform live. There was a mention of local singers who will do a couple of songs with the trio. The program read: Brunei will experience an unusual performance. I am quite lost here. Did they mean the Jazz Trio or something that happened when we left? Well anyways, it was a delightful 5 days. I wonder when's the next French Film Festival?