Brunei - So Rich Yet So Quiet & Lonely

As my friend and I arrived at Miri Airport, Sarawak from our trip to Gunung Mulu National Park, we decided to go Brunei Darussalam for a short exploration before heading back to Kuala Lumpur. After all, it wouldn't take too much time to get there. Looking at my friend's digitized wrist watch, it showed half past two in the afternoon of November 3, 2003.
The land renowned to be rich for its oil (oil is its main source of income), Brunei is located on the northern shore of the Island of Borneo, between longitudes 114'04" and 114'23" East and latitudes 4'00" and 5'05" North. Although the country occupies less than 1% of Borneo's land area (approximately 5,765 sq. km.), it has become the only sovereign country on the island, which it shares with the Indonesian provinces of West, East, South and Central Kalimantan and the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Since gaining independence from the British in 1984, Brunei has adopted the national philosophy of the Malay Islamic Monarchy (Melayu Islam Beraja). This is a system that encompasses the followings:

• strong Malay cultural influences
• stressing the importance of Islam in daily life and governance
• and respect for the monarchy as represented by His Maj esty The Sultan.

We rented a car and headed straight to Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital city of Brunei. As we constantly lost our way, we reached Brunei's gate at 1830 hrs and the sun had already sunken down. Finally we 'successfully' arrived Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital city of Brunei at 2015hrs. Roaming around the city centre, I snapped few photos of the exquisite Omar Ali Saiffuddien Mosque. We stopped at the entrance and savor ourselves in the supernatural splendour of the luminous pearl white mosque. The lights that surrounded the building somehow enhanced its beautiful exterior making it look more like a palace instead.

As we rolled along the road to find a place to dine, I started to feel the pain in my stomach due to lack of nutrition (we hadn't taken a single meal because it was the fasting month for the Moslems) and it was extremely excrutiating. I could here it drumming inside but the loud music coming from the radio saved me from the embarrasment. I was hoping to find some lighted shops but none could be seen and I felt more and more terrible. I almost screamed when my friend who was behind the wheel slowly said,"We're running our of gas." Great! Restraining the anger that was burning inside me, I told my friend softly,"Ok, dinner can wait. Let's fill up the tank first". So we went searching for a petrol station. At 9.00pm, the city was already dead and empty. Unlike Kuala Lumpur, most of the shops operated til 8.30pm including the petrol stations. Keeping our fingers crossed and sending few numbers of prayers to God, we tried our luck to search in secluded areas. At this point, gas was running real low. As God might have answered our prayers, we found one which was about to close down (eventhough its a country that prospers for its oil products, the price of petrol per liter is not much different from the price in Malaysia). After enduring the 'agony' for so long, we managed to find a pizza restaurant that operated til 10.00pm. I ate like a pig! I looked out the window only to discover the emptiness and silence of the city. No sound of humans talking or walking by the street. Finishing up our last slices of pizzas, we paid quickly and searched for a good place we could spend the night. I fell into a stupor as soon as my head touched the soft pillow in my cheap hotel room. 

We took a tour that started from down south and headed on straight to northern part of Brunei. Most southern part of Brunei were residential and light industrial areas. In a rich country such as this one, people were still living in moderate terrace houses and apartments. No lavishness and luxury in their way of living. But still I did not see a single person live in a state of destitution either. My opinion was that people here lived a simple and moderate life. I flipped upon knowing that Brunei did not have kareoke centers, discotheques and pubs. They're strictly prohibited.

And so our trip went on smoothly with the help of a map we bought from a bookstore along the way. Back in city center we visited some places such as the Brunei History Center, Brunei Royal Regalia Building, Galeri Bumbongan Dua Belas, Kompleks Yayasan, Brunei Crafts Centre (where I bought plenty of souvenirs), Kampung Ayer and the notable Jerudong Theme Park. We also visited the distinguished palaces, the Nurul Izzah Palace and the Nurul Iman Palace and another amazing mosque, the Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque. Then we continued our journey to northern part of Brunei. Muara Beach was about 2km more to go. I started to envision myself on a warm, sandy beach, with a light tropical breeze grazing my body. Upon reaching the beach, what I had expected came true. Getting out of the car, my eyes wandered around to the cotton white sandy beach. So beautiful it was it seemed like a fluffy carpet that had been laid infront of me waiting for me to roll my body over it. I felt so blessed. Far away across the South China Sea, I saw quite a few offshore oil rigs.

Few hours later we were back to Bandar Seri Begawan, stopped for some food and drove straight to Miri. We arrived Miri Airport just in time to catch the last flight to Kuala Lumpur.