The day to leave

For the past few days, I’ve been watching dvds non-stop. It’s like one of the things you can do in Brunei till to the ever-growing pirated industry. The brothers plan to have a weekend getaway to Miri, which means facial, massage and shopping in the high Malaysian ringgit conversion rates. In the meantime, they’ll drive me to the airport.

Facial is a stress relief. My skin is very dry till to the air conditioning in the Wong residence. Fully charged! I bought 2 shoes and have a lovely lunch in cook with chilli with Patrick & Gilbert. With quite a bit of Brunei currency in my wallet, I’m all set to return Singapore. Leaving with gratifications and gratitude for the Wong family…

The wedding without the Alcohol

Early in the morning, Philip and his “brothers” went to pick up the bride. All the relatives were there crowding around, anticipating the arrival of the groom and bride, Stanley and his nephew take care of the fire cracker where Patrick born in the dragon year has to hide in the room after the groom and bride step into their bedroom.

Friday, is an off day for the country instead of the weekends Sat and Sun, which is annoying or interesting, because you off on Friday and carry on working on Sat and off again on Sun.

I got to meet one of Philip’s “brothers”, Rick whom is a Bruneian but now works in Australia. He has a wicked sense of humour and what’s more he is a Vegan so Patrick and Stanley label us as same species which I prefer not to associate with alien. Happy to meet like-minded friend and have someone I can talk to in the wedding, to be specific on the same table which serve vegetarian dishes.

As both the Groom and Bride are teachers, so the wedding banquet was held in the school hall, interesting venue. Very Malaysia in a way, as there is a karaoke machine on the stage waiting for people to belt out. I sang The power of love and How do I live as a tribute to the wedding couple.

As the Chinese Emcee, I almost forgot Brunei prohibit public alcohol consumption and I fail to realise the champagne don’t pop because there is no alcohol content. It’s a beautiful night! Everyone is happy; I can see tears from Philip’s eyes at certain moments, when I sang and Gilbert giving the thank you speech...

Hairy preparation and the final touches

Everyone is running around in Seria for errands, Pat, Stan and I went to the local Indian barber for a shave :) As I've very hairy....beard, don't think otherwise. The shave is incredibly good, clean-shaven and with head massage for just $2!  How I wish, Singapore has such barber conveniently located in the land of woods.

I then run through the Emcee script with Stan, catch up with Walter and finishes it off with watching a horribly hairy Jap movie, hair extension.

Borneo here I come!

Travelling to Brunei with less than S$60 from Air Asia, the journey might have a little detour but all in all the money saved for this trip is “priceless”. I started off with exiting the woodlands custom, from bus 950 then continue my journey to the Kota Raya bus terminal, from there, the RM8 coach brings me directly to the Senai airport where I took the flight from Johore Baru to Miri, which is near to the border of Brunei.

A lot of people might not know that the East Malaysia is very close to Brunei, just like JB and Singapore. My friend Patrick and his younger brother, Gilbert then picks me up from Miri airport. Patrick is not a stranger, he has been to Singapore several times and I usually try to catch up with over dinner or coffee but Gilbert is growing bigger and slightly taller, when I was working in Brunei, he is always the most reserved brother among the Wong family. Inquisitive yet as all boys do, infatuated with computer games. We then immediately cross over the border from west Malaysia before it closes by 10pm on our way to Lumut, Brunei, Wong residence.

Everyone is at the residence when I arrive, warmth and lovely welcome, I met Stanley first, which used to be my roommate, colleague and lastly good friend, how time flies, it’s almost 6 years since we last saw each other, his figure is still “swell” and chubby. :) I then saw his mother, the kindness and generous woman whom cook for me when I was working in Brunei every weekend. Nostalgic surely, her husband, Uncle Wong, with Einstein hair-do woke up in the middle of his sleep just to welcome me. We chatted quite a bit mostly about Philip wedding. After discussing further, we then discovered there is a wedding notice that needs to be design and print on this Friday newspaper. Without further delay, I then volunteer and immediately work on the wedding notice. Gilbert helps to “Pin Yin” as we have to type out the Chinese text in the computer. Finally, all work is done and I went to bed soundly...

Working Destination - Brunei

Brunei! Yes, I used to work in that country, at this point, most of my friends raised their eyebrows, up and down, thinking why on earth will I work there. How about first of all, the currency is the same as Singapore which means the value is not deflated. "Troublesome" as it sounds; I really don't have to change my currency even when I'm working abroad. After working a year, I agree with the lacklustre opinions you have for Brunei, quiet, dull and sometimes boring. What's surprising is the genuine friendship I've made with my colleagues and their family. With special invite from my friend, Patrick to attend his brother, Philip's wedding, I'm heading back to the country I once worked in where the quiet, dull and boring country will not seem quiet, dull and boring anymore!