Monday, January 21, 2008

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. :)

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dun lar pretend say take pigcher of restaurant, u akcerli wan take pikchers of those pretty gals on the right, betul tak??

Anonymous said...

ok..another place added to my list - Excapade Sushi.

aha.....kok, u're good with food! u can be a food review person!

mayb next u can share where is the best place to eat...erm..rojak, tian piam hu, laksa, cendol...

Somebody said...

see you in brunei this coming saturday!haha..

My Rantings said...

There's another place for Japanese food called Kaizen which is better & more exclusive. Nevertheless, Excapade is still better than Miri... :)

eastcoastlife said...

I have never thought of going to Brunei because many people told me it's boring, nothing to do.

I think must have friends in Brunei to bring me around hor.

I would love to stay a night on the Kampung Air.

Anonymous said...

hmmmm..shudda took close pic of each dish..just for me..to drool over...

WAKAKAKAKAAKAKAKAKAK

kidding kidding!

Kok said...

firehorse: Aiyo, if wanna take picture of pretty girls, need like that or not? Straight away go up to them and ask them for a photo lah. kekeke.

lynnwei: Errr... I'm cannot be a food review person lah. I can't really describe the taste of the food. hehe.

lee: See you!

dancing queen: Better and more exclusive? Means more expensive also ah? :P

eastcoastlife: Seriously, one day is enough to go all round Brunei. I think it's very much smaller than Singapore.

Yaya, anywhere we go, we must have friends to bring us around. If not, we won't find any hidden treasure. hehe.

I don't know whether there's any place to stay at Kampung Air cause it's some sort of residential area.

mott: You sure or not? I can do that if you want. hahaha!

Joy said...

Hi Kok! It looks like you had a fantabulous time in Brunei! I wish I get the chance to visit it soon.

Please go to A Pinay In England where I have left a meme for you.

joy
A Pinay In England
Your Love Coach
The Goddess In You

Anonymous said...

"eastcoastlife: Seriously, one day is enough to go all round Brunei. I think it's very much smaller than Singapore" - Actually Brunei is considerably larger than Singapore. It may have felt smaller to you as you only visited the capital and the outskirts. There are 3 other districts in Brunei. Each has their own individual attractions. If you decide to include these places in your visit, then I am quite certain a day would not be enough take take everything in. I am glad you enjoyed your trip to Brunei. If you're into food, then Brunei is a good place to enjoy them as they say, eating is a Bruneian fav pastime activity.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

wah tats alot of things u did in 1 day!

Anonymous said...

I've been hearing quite a few people telling me about Excapade, I wonder.. is it really that good? HEhehe. Definitely tempting me. I should go make my passport now. LOL! But a part of me feels like trying this Kaizen mentioned by DQ as well. Greedy!! HAha

Christina Kim said...

Ooo...you are right, how can we ignore one of the richest countries in the world for vacation:D

Anonymous said...

Hahaha, I agree with FH, pretend only. Didn't I say you always pretend? See, even FH knows you well.

Great food, great friend.

Kok said...

joy: Definitely! If you have the chance, take a trip there. :)

Alright, I'll get there soon.

bruneilover: Oh? I didn't know Brunei has three other districts. Do you mind to share with us additional information about that? I would be glad to know more about Brunei since I'm so near to Brunei.

joe: No choice. Time is running out. hehe.

lynnx: It's not really that good but at the same time, not bad too. haha! It's tough to describe but do give it a try. It's quite cheap compared to some other Japanese restaurants.

christy: Haha! You must pay a visit there.:D

Aunty Judy: I where got pretend? Aiyoooo! :P

Indeed, superb friend and great food. Enjoyed the trip. :)

Chen said...

RM 33,000 a night... I can use that amount of money and tour around several countries in Europe liao :P

teckiee said...

Thanks for the glimpse of Brunei =) That sushi place looks super packed!

Kok said...

chev: Exactly! And you can actually buy a new Proton Saga with that money (although not recommended :P).

teckiee: No prob. I guess, the price is reasonable and therefore, makes it everyone's favourite dine-in place.:)

Sasha Tan said...

dear kok ah....can u please use photobucket or picspay or post the pics bigger ah..i wanna see the pic but my mata punya urat tersekat together edi....too small la..

MeiyeN said...

Brunei is such a beautiful country! :)

Kok said...

sasha: Alamak, you can always click on the photos' for a bigger version of the photos mah. My blog layout hor, if put a large photos, will be out of margine wor. Unless you wanna design a new layout for me? ;)

meiyen: yaya. Maybe you can try visit there sometimes?:)

Anonymous said...

Lovely place! How many hours to fly back from Brunei to Miri?

Dalicia said...

nice! sure would love to join you :) let me know eheh

Kok said...

Aunty Alice: Only 2 hours car ride from Miri to Brunei. :)

dalicia: Sure! I'll let you know!:)

Anonymous said...

Brunei... I've got relatives there too but haven't been there before myself. So your post has gotten me curious, bro, rather curious... Hmm.

eastcoastlife said...

bruneilover,
I would love to know more about Brunei too. I heard some attractions are free. Food!!! must try! must try!

Kok,
Miri so boring ah? No post on your hometown Miri geh. zzzzzz.......

yenjai.net said...

two of you
How to finish all the food?
OMG

Harajuku PearL said...

STumbled upon your blog whilst doing my PHOTOHUNT. We've never stepped into Brunei yet but looks like there's good food to be found..

Have a good weekend!

P&P

Shionge said...

So nice of Kwong.....Brunei looks nice ya

Kok said...

kenny: Oh serious? How come not going there to pay them a visit? Then you can ask them for food. hehe.

eastcoastlife: Miri actually not so boring. Just that, I won't go to those tourist place since I've been there before. So, quite little post on Miri. Anyway, I'll try to get more post on that!:D

yenjai: Haha! At first, I also doubt our ability to finish everything but we manage to do so. :P

pato and pearl: Welcome here. Hope you have a wonderful stay here. :)

shionge: Yea, very grateful to him. :)

wmw said...

So if go over to Brunei got cheap place to stay or not? Hahaha....I also think like firehorse leh...

Anonymous said...

OI, update lah! See Brunei until 'sien' already! :)

Kok said...

wmw: Err..I think got gua. hehe. Waiyooo...You all... Mana boleh like that? haha!

Aunty Judy: Akhem! You also long time no post leh...:P

Anonymous said...

hot-wallpapers
orbt b ? is 72

~*Lyn Lyn*~ said...

Hey hey I will be going Brunei this saturday and I will be staying in The Empire Hotel!! XD

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