Brunei Oh Brunei
Posted by admin | Filed under Brunei Log
It’s been a month since I arrived here in Brunei and so far my experiences are awesome. Here’s what I have to say about Brunei, my new home for the next two years:
1. “Ayos ah, parang Laguna”.
That’s my first impression. Brunei is like a clean developed provincial city in the Philippines. Imagine Laguna or Baguio, but only with good roads and huge houses. And to top it off, there’s a lot of Filipinos here. I can’t go into any fast food, boutique or grocery without bumping into a kababayan.
2. Brunei drivers give me the creeps (in a good way)
They have discipline, a real road discipline. None of those I’ll-behave-on-the-road-because-MMDA-is-watching sort of attitude. They would fully stop when a stop sign is visible. Pedestrian is always a priority to them. And they always give way to each other.
3. Coins have value again.
One Brunei Dollar is somehow big so cents of course have value. Although I don’t want to keep a lot of them because its so difficult to count. Especially because Singaporean dollars are also mixed up with my change, and it’s so difficult to know how much is what. (S$ and B$ are both used here)
4. Everybody has a car, gosh even we have one
Cars and gas here are cheap. Imagine an entry-level employee can already buy a second hand car for his one-month salary. And gas here is c50 a liter (c30 for diesel), that’s like 15php for a premium. So who can’t afford to cruise on the streets of Brunei with his very own car?
5. Late because of distance and traffic? Not applicable!
Our staffhouse is 10 minutes away from the office and the only “traffic” that you will encounter is 3 cars in a stoplight. So how the hell can we use “traffic” as an excuse? No we can’t! But that’s okay lah, we have so much time to prepare at home, that being late is ridiculous.
6. Minimum size of houses here is 3 bedrooms and 2 baths…
Well, at least that’s what I think it is. Most of the houses here are huge. Corinthian Gardens doesn’t even come close. And the best part is, for the local that is, it’s free. The government subsidizes the housing. Cool lah~!
7. Lah~ will get yah
Lah doesn’t have any dictionary meaning nor it translate to anything. It’s just a Malay expression to emphasize what they just said. And people here say it a lot. Like “Oke Lah” or “hurry up lah”. It’s just another thing to add to my long list of expression -“Sabaw” “Adik” “Selos” “Lah~!”.
8. No pork and alcohol… not!
Being a Muslim country, pork and alcohol consumption is a no-no. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get some. Every grocery here has Non-Halal section where you can get Non-Halal goods like, duh, pork. Alcohol is easy to get, that is if you have easy access abroad like Malaysia. You can import up to 12 cans of beer and two bottles of spirits. (We have a housemate who is Malaysian. Woot!)
9. Wear daring clothes if you dare!
Bruneians are very tolerant. Even if this is a Muslim country, people are allowed to wear whatever they like. That is if you have the guts to wear them. Before I arrive here, I always thought that wearing sleeveless clothes will attract a lot of angry eyes, but that is totally the opposite. Bruneians don’t really care. And since they don’t care, I would care, and then I become conscious. Then I wear them in a minimum. Labo noh.
10. Pinoy food? No problem.
Filipino dishes and local dishes are very much the same. So I had no problem adjusting to the new choices. Although most of the time we just eat in KFC or Jollibee (duh parehas lang amp). Hehe.
