SE Asia Travel Part 5

by Noel

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MUARA, BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

On December 4th, while our cruise line ship transits through the channel on the Northern Coast of Borneo, numerous offshore oil platforms and the formation of cargo ships and fishing boats can be seen through the fog from the balcony of my ship's cabin.

Here lies Muara, Brunei Darussalam (a tiny nation on the island of Borneo), was our scheduled next port visit. Reading about Brunei's demographics, legal systems, and economy is attractive as I write this blog. It is the fifth most prosperous nation in the world (Forbes, 2012) and one of the major exporters of oil; a monarchy government ruled by Sultans and predominantly an Islamic religion. It's also one of the closest to the equator of all the countries we visited, evidenced by the extreme heat and humidity we felt there!

My wife and I didn't purchase an excursion tour but acquired expensive city tour tickets at the very last minute. Surprisingly, it was my least favorite stop for this Asian country cruise. My daughter Michelle, her husband Chuck, and my son Jonathan may otherwise contradict that statement as they went on a separate excursion tour, and they said it was the best.

Our day started with our tour guide waiting for us to board a tour bus on the pier. She reminds me of the kid from the animated Disney movie "UP" with all the mannerisms and outfits.

The city center is approximately a forty-five-minute drive, and public transportation is scarce in the urban areas. Ninety percent of the residents have cars per tour guide. I’m not sure if that is true. I mentioned above about their Legal System; the Sultan regime adopted a system of Sharia Courts. You don't want to commit a crime in this nation. We visited one place and one place only. We got dropped off in the middle of the city center mall, and you're own you're on until the tour bus picked us up in five hours at the same spot. Most of the stores and businesses are barely open.

As usual, my mode of operation is to find a money exchanger to exchange our US dollars into their Ringgit currency. I have to say their dollars even feel rich to the touch.

My wife and I started walking around the city on a humid, hot, sunny day. I was frustrated because my Verizon cell phone carrier was unavailable in this city. On the other hand, my wife's T-Mobile cell phone had good service and connection. As you know, I'm very fond of posting on social media regardless of your perception of me, which is that I couldn't care less. Facebook specifically, no excuses required, LOL. Whether you are posting about selfies, content, conversations, connections, or approval, it is a fact that we are full of emotions. We want the energy of satisfaction, reaction, the gesture of "like" thumbs up sign, and in most cases, a psychological effect of negative or positive thoughts from viewers; one could see my post as disappointing, showmanship, comical, or nostalgic. At the end of the day, who the hell cares? Right, I'm living my life to its fullest. What you see is what you get, they say.

Returning to my blog, my wife and I ventured to the local public market.

The foul stench of some of the seafood products in the market has some similarities with the Philippines. Fresh fruits and vegetables like Durian, Rambutan, Lychee, and Mangosteen are well-known sellers in this public market. Ensure you carry some of their monetary coins just in case you use the public toilet. Then, we started to walk back near the iconic Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque.

My wife took some pictures from the outside area, and we didn't bother to go in because we were exhausted with sweat from the hot weather, and I could feel heat exhaustion was about to happen. We walked in and sat at a coffee bean restaurant to suppress the blistering heat temperature. Afterward, we returned to the mall area, where we got dropped off earlier. I wanted to get some food at Jollibee Restaurant, but the long customer line suppresses the urgency to get a good chicken meal. Instead, we fought our hunger until we returned to the ship.

Our trip back to the port was uneventful, and we were about done with the day's activities. It's nice to visit and experience the city of Brunei. However, it wasn't one of those uplifting experiences for me to recommend visiting.