Brunei

We also make a trip to Brunei. Susanna get Julian to drive. The custom clearance was a breeze since Julian also has been dealing with the officers for clearance (they are in transport company). It was another 1.5 hours drive from the checkpoint to Bandar Seri Begawan.

The petrol is really cheap. $0.53/ litre. It is still cheap after conversion.

And we saw this 1st old extraction machine which has a stop function just by the road side. Saw another one, really old one in the middle of roundabout. Actually, all these machines are every where. That means the country is really rich in petroleum.

We stopped by Jerutong Park which has been abandoned.

Then, we visited The Imperial, 6 stars hotel in Brunei. It was really huge. And painted with golden colour. I was asking if all these were gold. Then, my sis told me, this is not Middle East country.

The most interesting part was we visited the rest room. It was a huge restroom, where they have sofa to allow people to chit-chat (?). I don't know. But, it was huge. Actually, it was nice just sitting there, really relaxing.

And we moved on. After lunch, we went to Gadong Mall. Just to experience the local lifestyle. A lot of Jawi words here.

The Bandar itself is very quiet. Doesn't feel like bandar at all. And mosque. Nice.

And yupe that was Brunei. It was kinda boring. I wouldn't recommend people to visit there. Apparently, people there do not need to work and the lifestyle is really slow. And so, I appeared o be the weird one who walked so fast.

Mom reckon that I am so much happy during my holiday, this trip. I laughed and smile from my heart.

And we left Miri the very next day. It was a great trip. It was great to catch up with old friend.

Mulu & Miri part II

We woke up at 6.45am. We have to be punctual today as we need to catch the afternoon flight back to Miri. We were told that our luggages will be transported to the airport directly and we will go to airport from the cave. So, no shower or anything like that? hmm.. ok...

The air is so fresh and Melanau River is so calm. We will be in boat today. Actually, there were other fun activities around, like ATV motor which I think will be really fun.

The sampan motor boat ride was good. We enjoyed the view and saw people living by the riverbank. We stopped at Kampung Bangan to help a bit on the economy there. The locals were selling crafts. Then, we continue the journey to Wind Cave and Clearwater Cave.

We have to climb the staircase to the Wind Cave. It was humid, very humid and I didn't like it at all. Was amazed by all the limestone formed there. We are not allow to touch the stones. Actually, there is an adventurous trail in the cave which is only 1 way. There is no turning back.

Then, we moved to Clearwater Cave whis is neighbour to Wind Cave. We had some snacks before taking the 200 steps up. It was total darkness in the cave, and we have to use the headlight. There were some stones used to be washed by water and the marks can still be seen. It has a very wide river in there. I don't know how deep was that and I don't want to know. We cross the bridge and walked along the river. We can hear the rushing water. It was kinda scary that you can't see but, you can hear. Imagine the blind and be grateful.

Then, we need to proceed to airport by boat. Bob, our guide, told us that the airport was very near to the river only. Indeed. We WALKED to the airport. Wow.. Another experience. It's like 1 minute slow walk away. This was really cool.

I reckon people here in Mulu has very simple life.

After resting awhile, Susanna brought us out to market. Since mom wanted to go market.?! Pasar Tamu. OK. We went. It's really interesting to see the local fruits. Durian hutan(?) also. It doesn't have a strong smell like the normal durian. Still, I will not try it. Sarawak manggo. Looks like a big ciku. It tasted weird. Talap, weird fruit. Nice sayur bilin and many more. I kept taking pictures and people thought I just came back from overseas. Yes, over the South China Sea. :D

Next is to a local park to walk on the canopy. So many people in the park. It's a nice park with nice view, I must agree.
Before we proceed to dinner. We went up to the 1st oil well and look at the sunset. It tells us the history and the process of oil discovery to extraction.