Since we missed visiting Brunei the first time I was in Miri, we made sure we get it checked in our lis
t of mini places to go this time around, and also to get our passport to finally stamped on! haha.. yaya.. very the “mountain” but that’s our first trip having to use the International Passport! *GASP!* hehe.
Before embarking our journey early Saturday morning, we double-checked on all the places in Brunei that we wanted to see, and brought the map to get there and to get around the town. Yes, we drove there and it is actually not too far from Miri – bout half an hour drive from Miri town to the border, and another 2 hours from Brunei’s custom to Bandar Seri Begawan. It’s a day trip thus we only go around town 
It was a good day to travel though the sun was a bit too hot and bright. Thank God for air cond! Throughout that 2 hours drive, there’s really nothing much to see except jungle, jungle clearings and more jungles! 
I soon got bored and heh… dozed off (as usual). Next that I opened my eyes, we reached Bandar Seri Begawan dy! haha. Kesian kat tu driver takde driving companion 
Colorful Bandar Seri Begawan
Upon reaching, the car’s air-conditioner k.o.ed. It’s blowing air alright, but hot air -____-” and the uber hot weather wasn’t helping either. At first we thought we can just bear with it till we get back to Miri to get it fixed.. but slowly we are suffocating! LOL… First time in Brunei and already the drama! Luckily, we found a row of car-servicing shops and simply picked one to get it checked. While waiting for the mechanic to ‘diagnose’, i saw Mr.Bibendum standing really really high above very nice lor! It’s really like he’s among the clouds dy
okok.. back to the car’s problem. It turned out that the air-conditioner was all frozen up inside thus the cold air can’t be release.. (somewhere along that line larh) … and the solution is just to turn it down for a while and voila! it functioned normally again! wakakaka… The mechanic was kind enough not to charge us for the ‘consultation’ After the whole car-drama, we got hungry and started going round and round again looking for that sushi restaurant that, everyone who came to Brunei said, MUST TRY! I know, it’s weird to come all the way to Brunei to eat erm..Sushi. heh.. but since it’s highly recommended, so. This popular sushi place is called Escapade Sushi, located in Gadong.. (around town) and yep, it’s really worth the countless rounds we made to find it. Yummy fresh food and not over-priced (mental note: don’t convert currency). The whole place is a bit small and filled with lots of people. Full house and noisy. But overall, a pleasant dining experience.
lovely dish!
jas, your favourite!
I did not take all of the food’s pictures cuz I was too hungry halfway and when I’m hungry I tend to order a tad too much. resulted to tapau-ed few sushi back as dinner.. heh.
Right after, we just drove around doing the usual touristy stuff – taking pictures, visiting Museum! Seriously, there’s nothing much to do lor, but I’m glad we went cuz at least now I know how it’s like in Brunei. Since nothing much to describe, i’ll just let the pics do the explaining.
MAJESTIC! very postcard worthy, no?
it’s an advertisement
Kampung Ayer
man waiting for the ‘water taxi’
Okok.. this Kampung Ayer is worth mentioning. It’s something quite spectacular. I took these pics standing on the jetty overlooking a whole “kampung” on water! Not ordinary small fishing village but kinda like a bloody SS2 on water! There’s even a school! But what I found ironic there of the village is that most of the villagers own a car..hehe, some luxurious ones some more. They will park them by the road side (near to where i’m standing), then take a “water-taxi” (speedboat) across. One of the ‘taxi-driver’ came by and asked to take us for a tour for 10Dollars (i think) but we did not take it . Thus went on to our next stop – the Museum!
Yours truly at the Museum’s entrance
hehe.. sorry, but we have to surrender all our belongings, including handphones before entering. Therefore, this is the only pics of the Museum. Nothing fancy inside. Mostly about petroleum and it’s history.. quite empty also, it’s eerie lor. Did a quick tour then cabut.
Next, we went to this very nice and special Mosque. The Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. It’s under renovation but still very nice nonetheless. Brunei have the most elaborate mosques I’ve ever came across, and so are the domes. It’s all glittering-gold in color!and this particular mosque’s main dome is made of PURE GOLD! Take that! The replica of a royal barge in front of the mosque is kinda like a stage where boys and girls read quran during events, and it’s in the pond surrounding the mosque. Very unique. My pictures here don’t do the architecture of the mosque any justice. Go ahead and Google it for nicer pics.
Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque
Us in front of the mosque 
And that’s our last destination in Bandar Seri Begawan. It also started drizzling and so we drove back to Miri. A very educational experience, this trip to Brunei, but I don’t think I’ll be going in a long, long time Final pics to end with. toodles!
