Brunei Darussalam's Landscapes & Greens (Ep. #2)

Continuing my previous post, I owe it to you guys to share the depths of Brunei.

The first thing I noticed about this country is the little (or almost zero) availability of public transport. You'll be surprised seeing less than a handful taxis wandering around the airport, and I haven't seen even one single bus during my four days stay there. After uncovering more facts from our lovely driver, the answer is that because almost everyone in Brunei owns a car. The exact number is one private car per 2.09 person. That makes Brunei withhold one of the highest car ownership rate in the world. The reason is attributed to the low import taxes and definitely one of the lowest fuel prices in the world, with only 0.35 $ / liter for diesel gas, and 0.53$ / liter for unleaded gas. How convenient does that sound in comparison with the current protest against subsidy cuts in fuel price in Indonesia? I suppose that can only happen in Brunei where there's only 415.000 citizens and the government really manage its resources well.

This phenomenon resulted in more and more curiosity in me. Further discovery leads me to another joy of being a Brunei citizens: rice and housing are all subsidized by the government. Added to that, healthcare is provided by government as well. Healthcare for citizens is charged at 1$B per consultation.

Ain't that lovely?

Indeed. Now what's lovelier are the pictures I'm going to show you. It's funny that when I typed in "places to go in brunei" on Google, there's only 5 places shown even on Lonely Planet website. But we were lucky to have friends who've been to places in Brunei. Some of the highlights are:

Labi with its beautiful landscape, greens, and trees. During our visit there, the water level was on the lowest, which was quite an attraction cause we get to see the living grasses that usually hidden under water. 

Kampung Ayer where you could see the indigenous people who lived practically in houses on water. They make bridges to connect from one island of houses to the other and travel to the land using boats. They even managed to set electricity with poles on the water.

Beach & Woods at Empire Hotel where we were staying. It was probably the most luxurious and complete hotel / villa complex in Brunei. I'm sorry that I couldn't reveal anymore than this as it would spoil the surprise we prepared for the couple I was photographing. In the mean time, this will do to represent.

Jerudong Park where the Sultan keep his breed of horses. I didn't take photos of them though. They fleed as I fired the flash. =p

 
Here is Gadong night market where street hawkers and food vendors are mashed up with the hungry night eaters (read: me!). They practically sell anything here, from clothes, bags, daily groceries, until soft lenses! Credits to Erika for the Gadong photos. It was one of the most fun dinner, we bought a bunch of foods from the traditional 1$ Nasi Katok, Roti Melaya (which is what they call martabak manis), to the finger foods such as Cheese Chili Dog, and a lot more. We brought it back to Empire, our hotel, and bash it together.

I never expect Brunei to be this flavorful. But I guess that's the beauty of travelling. With fresh eyes you see, discover, and experience new things, and hopefully it will trigger fresh thoughts, enlight your soul, and free your mind from clutter. I did. And I hope this post will spark you too.

I've got one more in store. Another food adventure in Brunei. Until then, tune in, smile on.

Will travel for food,

Fellexandro Ruby
Food Conversationalist & Photographer

Munch on my tweets @Wanderbites

Experiencing Brunei Darussalam For The First Time (Ep. #1)

Visiting this country is probably the last thing that ever occurs in my mind, and yet here I am, as God allows, I have just spent an exciting four days trip on a photo assignment. I couldn't reveal that part yet, but I'm happy to share my very first visit to The Green Heart of Borneo.

Be mindful that booking a CGK - BWN flight is not exactly free of hassle as with coming to other countries. Not only that there are only Malaysia Air and Royal Brunei serving that distance, there's only one flight per day at a very unreasonable hour, and unreasonable price. With so little option, off we go with a 5 am Royal Brunei flight.

On the plane, the attendants wanted to be helpful but inconsiderate in my personal opinion. It did not occur to them that a 5 am flight, means us passengers have to wake up at least one and a half hour earlier to get ready and drive to airport. This led to their unthoughtful action of waking me up in my much needed power nap. For what? To ask me if I cared for a fish or chicken. I put on a straight face and see if he gets my message. Guess what? He did not! And kept poking my shoulder as I tried to regain my sleepymood.

End of drama: I spent the two hours flight with eyes open and we arrived with a slowly building up excitement. =D

We went straight to the hotel and was surprised when our kind driver, Akbar said that "Oh, Times Hotel, sebelah aja itu." Indeed, he really meant 'sebelah' as in next door. I suppose everywhere in Brunei is considered close, especially with the little traffic. In less than 5 mins we were there already. Nice, clean, less-than-a-year-old hotel, yet somehow still feels old fashioned through my eyes. I guess overall this country is a little behind in most things related to design. I noticed more and more confirmation to my hypothesis as I walked in to their relatively new mall which probably one-tenth the size of Senayan City with interior resembling that of Blok M Plaza.

But then again, as a poet once said: "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things"  I embarked on my new findings with fresh eyes. Memorizing each moments with my unconscious passion for travel. Taking each step of small adventure with enthusiasm, until ... my belly calls out for food! =p

It was about the right time for lunch and off we go to our very first food place called De Olde Cottage Cafe & Restaurant at Batu Bersurat, Gadong.

It is a cute little cafe with about twenty tables or so and an atmosphere resembling a country side cottage as the name suggested. Brick walls, wood panels, and handcrafted items are common sightings inside the cafe. Great mood for a breakfast, lunch, or even dinner.

Having the strong will of trying local food, I went straight for something sounding foreign. And the choice goes to these three. Kolomee, Laksa, and Teh Tarik. The first one was very similar to hokkian egg based noodle minus the savory taste. The second was quite bland for Indonesian tongue, the broth was quite thick, but lack of taste. The drink however was quite satisfactory. A further research reveals that the ones I tried was actually of Kuching origin, but then again, as it shares the similar Malay roots, I guess it's still counts right? =p What's important is that I've tried something new and added a new story to share with you biters.

Kolo Mee Pork ($2.5)

Laksa - Kuching Style ($5)

Teh Tarik ($ 1.5)

I did not notice this post has become so lengthy. I guess I'll have to catch up with another post soon. One that will have more travel shots, I promise to show you the beauties hidden in this small country. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this post and have a great week everyone.

-- To be continued

Will travel for food!


Fellexandro Ruby
Food Conversationalist & Photographer

Snack on my tweets @Wanderbites