I'm on the MRT after work to the airport (Wednesday, July 13, 2011) - crazy move but much better than sitting in rush hour traffic!! I'm off to Brunei to visit a friend for the long weekend and am very excited. It's my first real trip since returning to the work force 3.5 months ago.
After a very easy check-in and clearing immigration I find somewhere for dinner, nearly fall over at the cost of a glass of wine - $20.......... I mean come on!! I elect for a beer, aah my holiday has begun.
I end up having a good 45 minutes at the gate waiting to board, making good use of the time updating my apps on my iPhone and doing some research on things to do in Brunei. I have received a wide variety of comments on my holiday destination, and from my own research am going with no expectations at all.
For those of you that aren't aware Brunei remains the world’s only Malay Islamic run monarchy which is a dry country.
Before taking off I hear "we'll have a blessing/prayer before take-off" - something new for me to have happen on a plane.
I manage to sleep the majority of the trip, although was woken a couple times to see if I wanted food or drink - no thanks.
On queuing to clear immigration I notice my fellow passengers have an arrival card, clearly I missed out as I was sleeping. For the first time ever I had the nicest person at immigration whom just made me sign and put my name - brilliant! The size of the airport (I've seen so far) is surprisingly small, not what I expected at all. After a long wait for the luggage, which was also drip feed to us I had to complete a customs form then was free to find my driver. Let's hope the hour and a half drive goes for by quickly as it's now 12.10am and I'm tired!
What is scary is I have NO idea where I am and if he’s taking me to the right back, after a fairly bumpy ride I arrive at Rach’s.
Thursday morning I woke just after 7am but forced myself to go back to sleep to 9am. No need to be getting up for work thanks very much.
We went for a drive into the closer town, Rach paid her bills (which she is unable to do online). I was amazed at all the people double parking, apparently the fee if you are caught is the same as what you pay for parking which isn’t much hence the reason everyone does it.
Midafternoon went up to the Army base, Rach and Andy get their mail delivered to Andy's work as the post to their house takes forever to arrive. While on Base we checked out the Army supermarket, which is a big hit as it sells alcohol.
After a mini sleep in Friday morning we had a relaxing morning at home. After rushing every morning to get to work it's a refreshingly change taking your time.
We headed to the Boat Club for lunch, sitting waiting for our lunch Rach spotted a huge lizard - I'm mighty pleased we're upstairs. Given the heat it wasn't moving at its usual fast paced. We returned to Rach's for some much needed a/c and more Army wives watching - I've become very addicted!!
Early evening we headed to the Army base to a gathering of some of the families from the same Army group that Andy belongs too. Everyone was so kind and friendly but unfortunately the majority really couldn't speak English so it was a bit of a struggle but ooh so nice to be invited. After an hour we returned to Rach's for yes you guessed it more Army wives with takeout pizza.
Saturday was just wonderful – a sleep in then chilling out. The weather wasn't very good – perfect for watching TV.
Sunday morning I woke up like it was a school day - such a pain! The helicopter noise didn't help. We headed out mid-morning to see the famous Billionth Barrel of Crude Oil statute, which is surrounded by nodding donkeys who are digging for oil. After a quick stop at a friend’s place we ended up at the Sport's Club for lunch.
Drove back into the town centre we saw a few helicopters then a number of motorbike police - the Sultan had been here this morning visiting but no idea why they are still hanging around.
My taxi arrived just after 3pm, after a slow trip to we hit the motorway we were off with a puff of smoke! Arrived at the airport 2 hours before my flight, hours early, but given the birthday celebrations we were sure how busy the roads would be.
I've had a very relaxing long weekend away and am returning to Singapore feeling very relaxed!!
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