How About a Brunei Trip?

I was with Royal Brunei Airlines when I came back from Perth. I stayed a night at Brunei, thanks to Kwong who offered me a place to stay. He was also the tourist guide who brought me around Brunei.

After picking me up from Brunei International Airport, he suggested to put all my stuff back at his home first. Actually, the main concern was the Apple Strudels. ;)

Excapade Sushi.

He, then, drove me to Gadong for dinner. What's better than the famous Excapade Sushi in Brunei?

Full house.

Wow! I was shocked by the amount of people in that restaurant. It's "people mountain people sea" (in Chinese means lots of people).

"You see that guy so jakun. Take photo of this restaurant for what?"

Although Kwong had booked a place in advance, we were not given any seats. We had to wait for about half an hour before we were being seated. I wonder what's the point of taking booking then...

So much food!!!

The photo only shows part of the food. Kwong ordered so much food that he forgot there were only two persons eating.

Just a brief review, the food was quite scrumptious except some were fried way too early. End up, not that fresh though. However, I would still recommend Excapade Sushi to everyone considering the reasonable price and also the numbers of choices they have. I would love to go there again if I have the chance.

Oh, did I mention? Kwong footed the bill for that night. Thanks to him for such a filling dinner. :)

We went for a walk around Gadong. There's a huge shopping mall which I couldn't remember the name. The night continued with him driving me around Brunei city. I must say the two mosques at Brunei were quite impressive. Too bad I didn't take any photos as the weather didn't permit me to do so.

Mosque in the day.

This is the photo of the mosque which I took the next day. According to Kwong, there were two huge mosques in Brunei; one belongs to the father of Sultan Brunei and one belongs to Sultan Brunei.

Since it was a bit late, we decided to call it a day after a drive around Brunei.

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Next day started off with brunch cooked by aunty (Kwong's mum). Without wasting any time, we went out to explore Brunei.

Istana Nurul Iman.

Again, Kwong drove me around. We went to several places. One of them was Istana Nurul Iman (Istana means palace) which is the residence of Sultan Brunei. Too bad, no one was allowed to visit the palace except during Hari Raya when the Sultan is having open house.

Kampung Air.

For B$20, we went for a boat ride around Kampung Air (Water Village). All the houses are built on stilts over water. For your interests, Kampung Air here is the largest in the world.

Would you like to live in these houses?

The villagers have all the basic necessities like water, gas and electricity. They even have a school for the children. So, would you like to live in these houses?

Shell Petrol Station.

Look, there's a Shell Petrol Station available for the villagers to top up the fuel for their speedboats which are their main transport.

What a beautiful scenery...

The boat driver asked us if we were interested in Long-Nosed Monkey (Proboscis Monkey). Just add another B$10, he would take us further to look for that. Our curiosity told us to go for it.

Mangrove Forest (Hutan Paya Bakau).

Mangrove forest was all along the river. This is the habitat for the Long-Nosed Monkeys, according to the boat driver.

Spot the monkey.

We stopped at a spot while the boat driver was pointing at one of the trees. Both Kwong and me looked up at the trees and found several monkeys. Blame it on my camera that I couldn't take any nice photos for the monkeys. Anyone wanna sponsor me a DSLR camera? ;)

I must say this is a very interesting tour. If you are planning for a holiday at Brunei, why not spend an hour or so in this boat ride around Kampung Air? I'm sure you'll like it as I do.

Next two stops were museums; The Brunei Museum and Royal Regalia Museum. Nothing to shout about for the museums. I didn't take any photos as well. However, some might find Royal Regalia Museum is a must visit in Brunei because visitors can take a look at the Sultan's full royal regalia.

Classy and luxury hotel.

The last stop for the day was at The Empire Hotel and Country Club. This is the most classy and luxury hotel I've ever seen so far.

I just love this pool.

Relaxing...

Although this is only a hotel, you can expect a wonderful scenery here. For your interest, its Emperor Suite costs B$ 14,375 a night. This is equivalent to almost RM 33,000 a night. Who can afford this, I ask you.

Time to say goodbye...

After an eye-opening tour round the hotel, it marked the end of my one-day-trip in Brunei.

It's an enjoyable and relaxing trip. I would love to go back again especially for more food or maybe, spend a night at The Empire Hotel and Country Club (not the Emperor Suite though :P). Who want to join me?

I would like to thanks Kwong and his family for giving me such a good hospitality while I was there. I truly appreciate it. :)