Brunei Darussalam - 11 July 2011

The flight was on a Monday 9.05am, SilkAir via Changi Airport T2. But first of all, had to meet my boss at the office to prepare some stuffs and carry those to the airport. I had a duffel bag for my clothes and whatever necessities, a laptop and a small sling bag that contained important documents, camera and wallet. On top of that, had to take a 6.4kg box to our client site.

Check-in was a breeze, and we boarded our plane about 10 minutes before take off.

first time on SilkAir!

Airbus A320

Very soon onto our flight, we were served our meal. Can choose between Hainanese chicken rice or prawn pasta. I chose the latter.

prawn pasta

It was quite yummy. The prawns were fresh and just barely cooked. Nice. The plane ride was smooth and the sky was clear and nice. Was sitting at aisle seat, so didn't get to take pictures of the clouds.

The plane landed in Brunei on time. The landing was alright, but the plane seemed to be 'braking hard' (or what we call in dialect "jiam brake") after touchdown. But thankfully, everything was fine.

The weather in Brunei was hot! Probably about 33-34 degrees celcius.

cars at the airport

We're staying at Hotel Centrepoint (hahaha, Centrepoint Orchard?), right at Bandar Seri Begawan. Here's the address of the hotel:

Abdul Razak Complex, Gadong BE3519
Bandar Seri Begawan, Negara Brunei Darussalam

some scenaries along the way to our hotel

our hotel facade

hotel lobby

hotel staircase

We wasted no time in checking out the hotel room.

twin beds 'coz sharing room with a colleague

view from our hotel window (right view)

left view

all the available channels

can lounge here to watch tv

my bed!

green toilet bowl

bathroom

toiletries

Overall, the room was quite comfy. But unfortunately, it doesn't have free wifi. Wireless internet connection here is chargeable and the rate is about $40 per day (if I remember correctly).

my cup of coffee @ 5.10am in the morning

DND will turn on the "Privacy Please" sign door panel so that people don't click on doorbell

 

must put the keycard opposite

walkway to our room

at the lift

take the lift to Level 2 for breakfast!

After settling in to the hotel, it was time for a quick lunch before we proceed to our customer site. Didn't have to go far, as there's a restaurant called Fratini's just next to the hotel. Very convenient indeed.

stuffed (tiny) mushrooms

seafood pizza

mediterranean pizza

The food was nice, and until 17th July 2011 there is a 40% discount promo on pizza if you pay by cash. But best of all, this place has wifi!

After lunch, we headed to our customer site. It's about a 10-15 minutes drive from our hotel. Brunei seemed to be spacious and with green lungs everywhere. Think I did not see a single high rise except government buildings...

trees and signboard

HM Sultan of Brunei's 65th Birthday

Brunei is celebrating His Majesty The Sultan of Brunei's 65th birthday (15th July) and the celebration lasts for about 2 weeks.

Our car passed by some important looking buildings and those turned out to be embassies, high comms and ministries.

Cambodia Embassy

Ministry of Culture and Sports

We spent a few hours at our customer site, and then we headed back to our hotel.

lots of trees lining up the roads

residential units

someone's house

entering town area

office space for rent

According to our source in Brunei, a Mitsubishi Lancer costs just $24000. So it is not uncommon for one household to have many cars.

We rested abit at the hotel, and went out to source for dinner when night falls. Walked to a shopping mall nearby called "The Mall". It's about 5 minutes walk from our hotel.

The Mall

nice ceiling

The Mall houses a cineplex and it is just 3 storeys high. Seems like you may bargain for the price at the stalls on the ground floor. We settled for Secret Recipe because, it has wifi! Hahahaa.

caribbean fish

Connie's grilled fish in lobster sauce

dessert for sharing

Mrs Das looking happy with her ice-cream

The restaurants that we have been to thus far (Fratini's and Secret Recipe) seemed quite desserted when we visited. Maybe Bruneians don't usually eat out at these places? Not sure. The service staff are generally very nice. Service was good. We asked for a small glass so that we can share the ice-cream, and they brought out a cute small glass with whipped cream and some nuts. So that when we scooped the ice-cream onto this smaller glass, it looked like a replica of the bigger version. Hehehe.

mini ice-cream

After dinner, we strolled back to our hotel. Was quite surprised to see a car parked at a parking lot with its windows wound down and unlocked, with no one inside the car. Wow!

Then we had to cross a zebra crossing before we can get back to our hotel side. There was a pizza or mac delivery staff on his motorbike that literally waited for us to cross the zebra crossing (I think he waited for about a 30 seconds or more). So courteous and patient. Impressed.

That practically summed up the first day in Brunei. It was midnight when I finally settled into bed.