It’s Wednesday, in a foreign country, in a minivan for at least a three hour, 270 km drive to see the experts “handler” of hazardous waste. Fortunately I have my trusted “I-Pong” (to the not so well verse with this terminology... it is the Chinese copy of I-Pod.. can’t afford to get the real McCoy) and my notebook to keep me company. The last couple of days spent travelling, over 6,000 Km. On the plane, managed to let two movies watched me sleep. Arrived with the roaming phone not roaming at all. (DST please do something about it, your website says you have roaming here but even with 3g set, it is roamingless here.. was told B Mobile is the better option here...). Feeling lost without it, fortunately the hotel provided a local mobile set complete with number. At least, for official matters, we have means of communication. Another bummer, such a upscale hotel does not have free wireless (USD22 per day is a bit steep!) ... so have to look for a place for free wifi... the Coffee Bean and Starbucks behind the hotel looks like a nice place to sit and get free access. But then again a cup of iced mocha is about USD5 here... maybe it is not a bargain at all. Not worth it just to update the Facebook or even upload this entry. Sounds like Hj Bakhil talking here......
Right now, we are on a suspension bridge with a breathtaking view. So far, apart from those mentioned above, everything has gone well. Halal food and delicious ones plenty around. Myriad of cheap things to buy (asal saja wang matusin ada). Last night, briyani with onion nan was excellent. Add to that one quarter of a really enormous watermelon. Not forgetting the juicy sweet strawberries. Sure the indo mee packets and canned stuff will remain untouched.
People are fashionable here. Even the old ones seem to have great sense of fashion. Felt out of place standing next to them. Some know a few words of Bahasa Melayu especially to say “terima kasih”. Tried to learn a few local greetings, but a simple word like “good” ended with a mouthful of the local version, “belingkar lidah” just to say it. Even worse, almost all the signages are in the “belingkar character”.... lucky our drivers know a bit of English.
In general, people here are very friendly and helpful. Special mention must be given to the Hotel Duty Manager here who helped me a lot and made life easier for me (apart from not getting me free internet access... I suppose I should not be greedy he he he). Unlike the one in Singapore who checked me into the wrong, occupied room (Yes, occupied! Lucky there was no one around. Imagine the surprise on the face of the occupants seeing me entering their room.... if they were there) despite checking in at the so called privileged counter.
Weather has been excellent. Before I left Brunei, the Yahoo! weather forecast painted gloomy next few days. But was confident enough not to bring “baju sajuk” ( a strange terminology since it is meant to keep you warm.... if we can call the blanket “kain panas” why not call it “baju panas”? They serve the same purpose....) apart from a couple of suits. May be the Singapore Airlines pilot knew about me not having any baju sajuk, he announced 17C outside temperature when he landed. He must be having me on.... Yahoo! said it is going to be nice comfy 24C not 17C! With wind chilled factor, it is going to be cold. Without baju sajuk, can end up “karau kesajukan”. One of the first things I asked our embassy staff who greeted us was..... “Sajuk kah?”. When he said, the last few days had been warm and will be warm in the next few days, the decision not to take baju sajuk seems to be a very good one. No baju sajuk means a few extra kilos for the shopping.
If there is one thing or rather complaint I have so far, is that some of the street vendors are not that friendly. Some were even angry at us looking and trying the stuff they are selling. Even worse if we don’t buy anything after bargaining. To me, a “marong” face doesn’t help, a simple smile will go a long way in helping to do the selling for them.
Talking about smiles, the first thing that greeted me when I entered my hotel room was a smiling Bruneian lady. Hey! Don’t get me wrong! The smiling lady was on the TV. They were showing a documentary on a special hotel channel about Brunei especially on Kampong Aing. Those smiles sure will help in promoting our beloved home....
Apart from the Bruneian smile, the sight of the special toilet with the heated, “spray, bidet, dry control” toilet seat brought a big grin to my face. It will sure bring a nice warm feeling every morning .....
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