Several months before the travel began,
my family and I were searching for a perfect place to spend our
holiday together after my SPM. After taking some considerations, we
decided to go to Brunei and Labuan as we had never been there before
(except for my father who had went there for the work purposes). So
we bought AirAsia flight tickets differently (one way, not return);
KLIA2-Brunei and Labuan-KLIA2.
Although Brunei was actually a very
small country with small population, it is comparatively one of the
richest as it has many natural gas and petroleum sources. However, as
soon as we stepped into the land, nothing seemed to be so rich! There
are not many skyscrapers (KLCC is far much higher than the buildings
there) and only medium-sized malls(not like Mid Valley or Sunway
Pyramid). But why I love it very much?
First of all, traffic congestion is
almost impossible to occur in Brunei. That makes me feel really
excited and sedate. No more stressful time to arrive anywhere! Most
cars there are driven much slower compared to the ones in Malaysia,
and that allows the pedestrians like us to walk around safely. They
even stop when we were crossing the roads! Thus, no worries if you
are going to walk in Bandar Seri Begawan. Furthermore, the city is
quite small actually. That's why we chose to walk instead of renting
a car. Almost all attractions are within walking distances in the
city. However, from the hotel(Traders Hotel), we had to take a public
bus which can easily be taken from the bus stop near the hotel. Yet,
we also took a tour provided by the hotel to fill our free time in
the second day. Some places like the botanical garden and the royal
palace are situated quite far from the hotel and the city. The price
is quite reasonable, maybe.
During the tour, the first place we
went is the botanical garden. Free entrance! And we could see vibrant
flowers and trees there. I was fascinated to see the animals
actually; the deers, goats and many more are placed in such
spectacular fields. We could walk around and snap some picturesque
photos of the plants and also the animals. There is also a shop where
we can buy some plants, but we buy nothing there (how can we get the
plants into the airplane?). The next pitstop is the royal palace.
Nothing can be done there. In fact, the driver just parked in front
of the gate to allow us to take one or two pictures before we move
on. Then, we went to a place we had never thought we would go. It was
a hotel! The first thought in our minds, how can a hotel be the place
for the tourists to come? Are we the only ones who would go there for
a visit purpose? So, it is actually the most luxurious hotel in
Brunei, ranked 7 stars if I'm not mistaken. And no, there are
actually other tourists who visited the grand hotel. We were startled
to see the tall building with many facilities: swimming pools by the
beach, restaurants, cafes, escalators and the huge lifts. However, it
is surprising to know that the room price is actually about the same
as the hotels in Kuala Lumpur! What a shock! So, most people can
actually afford to stay there, not only the millionaires or the
ministers. But we actually did not know what to do there, so we just
walked around for a while and then headed to the mosque to perform
Friday prayer.
Fridays there are totally different
from Malaysia. From 12 noon to 2 pm, no shops are allowed to open
because Muslims are obliged to be in the mosques for Friday prayer.
And some females are also welcomed to join, they still provide a
small space for the women to pray. However, there are only a few
women compared to the men.
There is another reason why I like
Brunei. 'BAUNYA!' We saw the poster for the first time during our
first lunch there. It is actually a law which prohibits the smokers
to light up their cigarettes in the building and in the compound, up
to 5 meters from the building. Thus, we would not exposed to the
carcinogenic smoke! Alhamdulillah... I think Malaysian government
should enforce this law to reduce the cancer patients. Moreover,
cigarettes are totally 'haram' for the Muslims. So, it is a
responsibility to prohibit the Muslims from smoking, including using
the electronic ones.
I think that's all about Brunei. To sum
up, Brunei is a great place for us to relax our minds!
Labuan is totally different from
Brunei. InsyaAllah, I will write about it later.
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