Disclaimer: Now for the few grammar and spelling specialist of mine whom may read this please note that you are reading this at your own peril. I will often being writing this blog at night after long days and in a hurry. So this will mean that there will be errors and you will just have to put this aside while reading this.
After months of a countdown my time away has finally come! So for the next 7 weeks there will be no more gym, no more Palmy cafes in the weekend and most importantly no more work! Instead there will be adventure, rough sleeps, lots of airports, new friends and a hold load of fun!
My trip started Friday night after completing a busy day at work tidying things up. There was nothing special about my flight to Brunei. Once there (this was 7am) I arrived to find one of the smallest international airports I have ever been to and what was there was shut! Please be aware that I have 11hours before my next flight. I was lucky enough to have this lovely 84 year old gentleman befriend me for a few hours. It was really great just being able to hear about this stories and how he came to be transiting here too. In short it was a promise to his belated wife whom died two weeks earlier from a terminal illness. Finally at 11am the free tour starts it however only last 1.5hrs and is a tour around Brunei. Just quickly these are a few things that I learnt while on the tour.
- The Sultan is the ruler of the country and he is referred to as "His Majesty". Other wise you need to say his full name which is made up of 28 names.
- His Majesty subsidises petrol so they pay about 53 cents a litre
- If you work for the govt you get a free home and just need to pay utilities
- Health care cost $1 and this includes services such as being treated in Singapore if the hospitals there can't treat you
- Alcohol and tobacco are unable to be brought in the country. You are able to being in from the boarder up to 12 cans of beer and 1lt of wine. This is not to be drunken in public.
- His Majesty is the 2nd richest person in the world due to oil
- You need to be a resident for 15 yrs before you can apply for citizenship
- There is no income tax or other forms of tax in the country.
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| Brunei Water Village |
Anyway, so while the tour may not have been all that great it did allow me to meet so people whom I later spent the afternoon with. We jumped on a local "bus" which took us the long way back into the city. Saw a great local market, had a boat ride with a local around the water village (this has over 30,000 people living there, their own schools, police stations, fire stations and hospitals) and visited His Majesties Mosque. All in all it was a pleasant afternoon. I have to say though that from what I have seen the country confuses me esp since it is meant to be such a wealthy country. Overall I have the feeling that there were parts that were like Ghana and Samoa and then other parts that were like Singapore.
The best part about the day though I have to say is being upgraded to First Class without even knowing it!!!! I have to say I could really get use to it. Sadly however it was the shortest international flight I have ever known. I was pretty much only in the air for 20 mins!!! I really do have to ask is there really any point to this flight?
My arrival in Kota Kinabalu, Brunei was straightforward. I was quickly taken to my hotel where I then had a quick turn around to join my very small tour group for dinner. In all there are only 6 of us plus our guide. After dinner it was another walk around a night food market where I was taken with the variety of produce, smells and colour there.
My first real day in Brunei was started by me going for a 7am run. I have to say I was very proud of myself. It was however only a 30min one due to the heat and also not wanting to get lost. I also got many a look from the locals as there does not appear to be many people out running, esp a woman. The later morning was taken up with preparation for the rest of the trip. This mainly meant shopping. This is an adventure in itself. The malls and huge and are not easy to navigate. The stores love playing music very loudly and proudly. From the number of cell phone stores in the complex, one can only say that the country has an obsession with cell phone and the accessories. There were truly at least 5 to 10 cell phone style shops on each of the 5 floors!
My afternoon was taken up with travelling and preparation for the BIG CLIMB up Mt Kinabulu. I will however make this another port.
- Bathroom cleanliness 3
- Functionality 3
- Facilities 3
- Decor 3
- Staff 6.5
- Food venues 5
- Duty Free 3
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