While wanting to walk out of a mall, we saw a sign which said “German Embassy.” We included myself, three Germans, and a couple from the USA . It was hard to find, to be honest, but after some failed attempts, we actually made it there without even knowing why to go there. We didn’t have a reason for it when being honest.
There was a lady at the entrance, and I told her, “We don’t have an appointment, we just wanted to talk to someone.” She was clearly confused, but actually, somebody was coming to see us. This was nothing we actually expected.
Our ambassador
A guy was coming and spoke right away with us in German. He wasn’t the ambassador, but for us, he was! He was sharing some stories about his life and how working for the embassy is. Brunei was not his first destination; he was, for example, in Brunei and also other African countries. The family was always with him, but the kids were big, so they live in Germany now.
Every time he is in a country, he has a contract for being in the country for five years. It was for him the first time that something like that happened, just being visited by random tourists. Usually, he has to deal with business people from Germany because in Brunei, there are not many tourists from Germany in general.
We enjoyed it a lot, and at the end, he was saying in German to the couple, “you guys should learn German for the next time,” which was kind of hilarious for me. A really cool guy!
Finish of the day
At the end of the day, we were searching for something to eat and found a restaurant not far away from the place we stayed in. It was a restaurant from people from the Philippines, and when we entered, there were all eyes on us. It seemed like not many tourists would go there to actually eat. They had an amazing drink, which was some type of homemade traditional iced tea!
The food was amazing, and the people were actually super friendly as well, adding to this, the price wasn’t that much, which made it even better.
After finishing the food, we went to a supermarket because I really wanted to eat some ice cream. I don’t know why, but I do it sometimes during my trips, usually at the end or beginning, so that I get myself some ice cream. It is not really traveling on a budget then, but it is also there to prevent another travel burnout, so it is good to take care of yourself a little bit and do something good.
I got myself a kilogram of cookie ice cream, which I was eating while watching a movie by myself, and it was a great thing to do.
Seeing Brunei in a local perspective
From Couchsurfing, I met a local girl from Brunei, and Shirley was willing to show the couple and me around. The other Germans had different plans. So she was picking us up with her car and drove around the capital city with us. She was taking us to a local restaurant where she ordered some local snacks which we shared all with each other. We thought that we went yesterday to a cheap restaurant, but really cheap were the places she took us. They were hard to reach when being honest when not having a car, so that could explain it.
It was quite hot, and she basically went to one place, and then we drove somewhere we actually went a day before already. We went back to the famous mosque, but we saw it from a different perspective, which made it actually better. Also, we were seeing while walking there on a river a little crocodile, but it looked like doing some sunbathing. At least there was a group of motivated sport doing people, who we spontaneously joined on their stretching workout. Really nice from them to include us, even though it was just for a short time.
We went to one of the longest bridges in the world, which connects both parts of the country. It was actually quite interesting to see the other parts along the way. We didn’t cross the bridge; it would have been too long a route. It was also raining which I enjoyed a lot. We didn’t have much time because we were on our way to see the sunset at a special place. On the way there, we stopped at the palace of the leader of the country. We couldn’t go in due to security reasons, but that was fine.
Sunset experience
We were arriving at an interesting place to visit at sunset, so we went to a hotel. This hotel was more than just massive! It had a pool, which wasn’t possible to capture in a picture, not even on a video. Once I thought it would finish, it kept going, just crazy. There were kayaks in the pool, to get from one place to another! I wanted to swim, but I had nothing to use for it, it was just so super tempting. The water wasn’t that hot, which made it even more tempting.
The hotel had two big beaches at the ocean as well, and the best thing was, it is possible for everyone to get there. It was the most popular hotel in the country. We were relaxing at the beach and at the pool while hoping for a great sunset, but it wasn’t that amazing to be fair, which wasn’t a problem. Being at the hotel was so interesting and just cool. Usually, I don’t like fancy things like big hotels or something like that, but in that case, I really enjoyed it. Also, the US American couple enjoyed it, who were also not really doing many fancy things, like me.
Learning about local life
It was great being around Shirley to learn a lot about the country about which you don’t really hear anything from. Not many people travel there. So mainly when the government is deciding something “crazy” in the eyes of western media, then we might hear about them. To be fair, I also find some of the laws crazy, due to the sharia law, but Shirley was telling that it is not really happening in real life. First you need to be a Muslim to be punished by this law and there need to be some witnesses.
We asked a lot of questions about the stereotypes we had in our mind to get them out of the way. In the end none of it was really true unless the country is quite strict, but there are ways around all of the strict laws. Also good is to read the expectations vs reality Brunei article if you are interested in this topic!
It was great having her by our side, to not leave the country without knowing anything about the culture. When you just walk around in Brunei without a local, you don’t really see much of the culture, at least on the first day in which we were exploring by ourselves.
In the end, it sounds like any other country, where the locals find their way of living life!
End of Brunei
At the end, we still went out to eat, to have some traditional food, sadly it was with meat, so I had something else which tasted good as well and wasn’t spicy. We arrived back at the room and were checking out the supermarket again so I was buying another pot of ice cream. The supermarket was about to close, but the owner was allowing us to still do the shopping, the day before we were already interacting with him. Somehow he liked us, which was helpful in this situation. Everyone was in general quite nice to us during the time in Brunei.
The ice cream was great, like the day before, and was ready to leave, but with positive feelings. In the morning I was texting with the Pakistani guy from the first day, and he was picking me up to drop me to the airport. It was nice to have a talk with him, and when we arrived, I wanted to pay him the money he wanted at the beginning, which was still cheaper than when driving with a taxi, but he declined at the end. I insisted, but he didn’t want to, which was nice, but still I wanted to pay.
He was a very kind person. If you would look at him, you would have many stereotypes in your head, but don’t judge a book by its cover. I, of course, had stereotypes in my mind as well, but that doesn’t stop me from talking to them and giving them a chance!
Problematic flight
I was checking in on my flight, which was delayed for a few hours without letting me know beforehand. They were quite strict with checking the baggage, so I left most of my stuff with someone random at the airport, so they could check my bag and it would suit the guidelines. They gave me my ticket, and then I was allowed to go into the security control.
Now the shitshow started, I was arriving at my gate, where a new control was happening. They were again checking all the baggage, and now I couldn’t give my stuff to anyone because I had to get through. I tried my best to hide my backpack a little bit, but no chance. They checked it right away and were like, “you need to check it in.” I was like, I was at the check-in shelter and everything. So they were calling someone from there so that I could pay $100, and I was shocked a bit. I told them that I can pay here and that I don’t want to check it in. I wanted to take it as hand luggage, due to it being quicker and safer.
The waiting took forever. I waited for 30 minutes at least, while not knowing what was going on. In the end, they actually let me have it with me on the flight without paying, which was amazing, but for everyone to know, they are strict at the airport, at least if you fly with Airasia!
Another flight to Kuala Lumpur Airport
This time I arrived at a different gate than my next flight, so after hoping to get there without exiting the airport, there was no chance. I had to wait in line with thousands of others, was stamped in and had to leave the Kuala Lumpur airport, to get to another gate. Now I have a stamp of Malaysia, without really visiting, so obviously I don’t count it.
Getting through the passport control took a while, but the thing which was really annoying, the security check wasn’t open. So I had to stay the whole night with many others inside the airport, where everyone could enter. There was a free shuttle between gates, which was nice.
While starvation started, I had to go to the next fast food chain to just get something quick. It is always interesting for me to see different menus at the same chain.
I was again sleeping at the airport, after a while I chose the air mattress, which was a good decision. I had my traditional clothes from Timor Leste, to cover me, it was amazing. Even though it was at a public access region of the airport, I felt really safe, same as other travelers.
What is coming up next?
The change from Southeast Asia to the Middle East, my short trip to Qatar!
