Borneo Trip Part 3: A Taste of Brunei and Back to Kuala Lumpur.

 I think Country – Crossing Part 2 wasn’t put well enough in words. Pardon me because I was in rush that time since we had to leave early to Miri, stopping by at Brunei.


So here comes Part 3 (the last part).


Wednesday, March 16 2011 --- Quick Tour Around Brunei.


We checked out from Kompleks TH Kota Kinabalu about 7 in the morning and headed to Miri via Brunei. Since Syahirah has never been to Brunei before (the last time my family went there she didn’t have her passport with her), Ayah decided to stop by and have a quick tour around Brunei. We, however, had to really rush since the border entering Sarawak from Brunei is closed at 10 pm, and if we missed it, we would have to spend overnight in Brunei at some cheap hotel (obviously sebab Brunei mahal kot). The last time I went to Brunei was in early 2009, with KMB people for Borneo Global International Conference. That was not so long ago, so this trip didn’t really trigger me. In fact, when my family went there for the first time last year, I was in Bandung, Indonesia having my sweet own time. Orang ajak vacation mengada3 buat trip sendiri tssk3.


Brunei. Other than the kaya part, I don’t think there’s much. I used to think that the chocolates there are cheap, (they were when I last went there okay), but apparently not much different. So tak jadi lah memborong coklat. Ke I sorang yang rasa coklat kat Brunei ni murah? The exchange rate is roughly MYR2.50 equivalent to BND 1 (Brunei Dollar). Of course, it fluctuates, but just so that you get the idea. Lebih kurang Singapore jugak lah.


We left Bandar Seri Begawan at about 7.30pm, sebab kena sampai border before 10pm. Too bad on our way we ran out of gas, so we stopped by at Shell Gas Station (Brunei takde PETRONAS, please take note) but foreigners aren’t allowed to refill there. They asked us to go to the one at Seria (Seria is where Shell punya kilang refinery segala) but we just had to fill like, BND 10 to get to the border! Tapi orang Brunei baik3, they let us refill for BND 5 just so we made it to the border in time. Agak musykil la kenapa foreigner takboleh refill kat situ an, sekali tengok, harga petrol kat situ BND 0.54++ per litre. Kira lah sendiri MYR berapa, tak ke menangis kat situ.

A day before their anniversary :)

KN bawak Lexus kat Brunei. Siap custom-made nama :D

Kampung Air, Brunei.

Hello Miri!

Few facts about Brunei. Their vehicles plate numbers start either with B or K, and have only two alphabets. B-vehicles come from Bandar Seri Begawan, while K-vehicles are from Kuala Belait. So KN from Kuala Belait lah :D


Also, Brunei is a very small country. The addresses of most of the kampung residences often have Simpang (3 digit) e.g. Simpang 169. If you write this address like this -- No. 5 Simpang 169, Brunei, most likely the postman can already find it. The digits are actually running numbers, like Simpang 169 followed by Simpang 170, 171, and so on.



Thursday, March 17, 2011 --- Meeting Miri.

Now let’s talk Miri.. Panas, not much different from KL. And the thing in common that Miri, Brunei and Sabah have is roundabouts. They sssuuuuureeeeeee LOVE roundabouts. Agaknya orang Borneo memang suka pusing3 kot. Another thing is the seahorse. If Kuching, Sarawak got cats, Miri’s would be seahorse. If I’m not mistaken Bintulu also has its own ‘mascot’, tapi tak tau apa.

The famous Lalapan at Miri.

It actually comprises of eight lauks, sebab tu panggil Lalapan. More or less like Nasi Ayam Penyet.

Afiq and Adam's school. Once.

Ummi's school-to-be.

View from Canada Hill.

Muzium Petroleum.

The oldest oil well in Miri - on top of the hill.

Marina Bay.

Air laut dia kaler merah. Scary.

Seahorse. 

More seahorses.

Dan lagi kuda laut. Ps. Miri is a CITY.

SMKA Miri - semangat SMKA sikit.

SMS Miri - Now semangat SBP lah pulak! 

Laksa Sarawak. Macam Mi Kari.

Sunday March 20, 2011 --- Home is KL (or Terengganu, or Miri, or wherever). Identity dispute.

TODAY. Balik KL flight pukul 6.20 am (awal gila mata pun half closed lagi). Went to Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Festival but since it was really hot, sempat snap few pictures then merayap kat Alamanda (ada air-con, lagi beeessssttt). Sebenarnya merajuk. Sebab sampai sana baru pukul 9 lebih, tapi queue nak naik belon tu panjang gila. Lepas tu tengok plak encik3 paraglide macam kelkatu, lagi lah rasa macam, NAAAAKKKKKKKKKK! Helicopter ride was also provided. And all these are paid. But since the sun was too scorching hot, and people were like DEMMMM RAMAI GILAAAA, and me myself was still from the uneasiness from that two-hour plus flight, sekian sajalah.

Another MUST DO --- Terjun udara macam Yuna dalam iklan Libresse (okay tak perlu) ++ BUNGEE hokay!

I love heights. ^^ (muka syok sendiri terbang)

And oh, just a quick glance at our house in Miri. 

Rumah usang lagi bersawang. (HAHAH macam title blog orang pulak dah)

The bedroom when it was first 'discovered'.

Sekarang tengok pulak our life kat Myanmar dulu. Takpe, boleh menangis tengok.

Golden Hill Towers, Yangon, Myanmar,

Living room.

The bedroom when it was first discovered (tengok date sudah).

Oh did I mention that we had house-keeping services everyday, our own driver, a maid to do the house chores, wireless Internet connection and a gazillion things more back in Myanmar?

I’ll love Miri. I will. I will definitely love Miri. (ulang banyak3 kali dalam hati) T.T