Braving Borneo

Finally I arrived, a mere 3 ½ hours later than planned (thanks a lot, mister VIP).  Only 1 day in Brunei so this robbed me of 15% of my time!  Part of travel though: take it as it comes and make the most of it.  Right after getting to my hotel, I headed out to the night market.  This was one of the key “to do and see” items on my list, and also my plan for dinner.  Which, as you look through the photos, you’ll realize was rather adventurous.  Remember the Survivor weekend, Mom, and the spin-the-wheel of death-by-strange-food game?  Now I know what you do with chicken feet to eat them – BBQ, of course!

So I wandered around the market, asking people if I could take photos and prying them for information on the contents of their

stands.  After having a taxi driver who spoke perfect English and employees at the hotel who speak English very well, it was a good reminder that even in a former colony and well-developed Sultanate, your average Bruneian speaks Malay, or Iban, or Tutong, or Chinese.  Or whatever, as per musings in my last entry.  But not necessarily English.  Nonetheless, I was greeted with friendliness whether I bought or not, and people made a huge effort to try to answer my questions and tell me about their wares.

Dinner?  Well, it comprised of three different banana leave wraps (nasi lemak – rice in banana leaves, I guess).  One with rice and beef (says the vendor), one just with rice and sweet paste of some kind, and the third with rice and “fish things”.  I probably should have guessed it, but was horrified to take a bite of wrap #3 and taste my nemesis anchovies – this was not a good thing as merely the smell of those little buggers is enough to make me ill for a day!  Thankfully, the other half of my dinner was a bag full of rambutans, so I quickly peeled a few and ate them FAST.  Problem solved.  Total price for my dinner of nasi lemak, rambutans and water:  $2.50

After my visit to the market, I walked back to the hotel, despite hotel staff encouragement not to – they wanted me to call for a car to pick me up.  (Jill, why is it that wherever we go, hotels think we shouldn’t be walking around on our own – remember the horrified looks in Moshi when we insisted we did not need a guide?)  On my way, I went past Brunei’s largest mosque, which looks stunning all lit up at night.  This mosque has 29 golden domes, 4 minarets 58m tall and space for 4500 worshipers.  And is not far from my hotel, which was a bit unfortunate at 4:30 am when the call to prayer songs woke me up.

Now – on into the center of Bandar Seri Begawan!  Lots to do and see in my                    remaining hours!

we are perhaps all used to having flights delayed due to inclement weather conditions, technical issues, crew members missing, and the like.  My flight to Brunei today is delayed due to VIP movement on the other side.  That is, someone very important in Brunei has decided to travel today, and therefore the airport has been closed off to all other air traffic for 2 hours.   So – once again I’m hanging out in a lounge.  Which gives me the chance to share my experience hitherto with asian service and my confusion about languages, nationalities and countries.

Let’s start with that – although the final conclusion is really quite simple, this morning I was rather boggled by the manicurists.  There I was, having someone working on my hands while another girl worked on my feet (yes, I tipped them for taking on such a daunting task) and they began chatting with each other.   I naturally asked which language they were speaking and to the answer “Mandarin”, followed up with an innocent:  “oh, so do you come from China or from Singapore?”  They giggled and answered then deadpan, “from Malaysia.”  Now, I’ve been dutifully reading in my Borneo tourism book and I had to ask…”um, shouldn’t you then speak Malay?”  They giggled again and shook their heads.   That was my answer.  And really, it is about that simple.  This part of Asia is such a melting pot, that you can’t really create simple ratios like we tend to grow up with, such as Germany = German, France = French, US = English.   In Singapore, there are 4 official languages (English, Tamil, Malay, and Chinese) and the situation isn’t that different in neighboring areas like Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.  In most of these countries you’re likely to encounter any number of people with heritage from one of the other countries.  So it’s commonplace to hear all different languages in all different configurations – and very often an amalgamation of several tongues at once.

Regardless of which nationality or language I’ve dealt with so far, it’s been paired with first rate service.  T he concept of service here is still one based on what seems in western countries to have become antiquated notions that the word derives from “to serve” and basically means performing duties or tasks in order to satisfy or fulfill someone else. that “someone else” being the customer who is therefore by default “king.”   My flight delay for example: obviously, Singapore Airlines has no influence over the travel decision of VIP in Brunei travel. Nevertheless, I was informed by 3 different airline employees, all of whom profusely apologized for the delay.  In addition,  at check in, I was presented with an official letter of apology and an invitation to eat lunch at the airlines’ expense to help ensure my comfort during the wait.  I politely declined, indicating I would just proceed to the lounge to get a cup of tea.  Once in the lounge, I realized the invitation for lunch still exists – there is full buffet replete with various curries, noodle dishes, rice, vegetables and so on.  In addition to the standard lounge food and snacks that you find everywhere.  Okay, no champagne like in Lufthansa lounges, but that is simply a cultural difference rather than a lack of providing comfort for their customers.  Why do so many people really like Asia?  Plenty of answers to that question, and I think this service mentality is certainly one of them.

let's start today's post with a question: does anything beat Indian hospitality? Everything with my trip went fine - the A380 lived up to expectations (quiet, very smooth flying) and I had an empty seat next to me, so a bit ... [Continue reading this entry]

do I have all the right things?  did I pack too much?  and why exactly don't I have a super light-weight duffel bag with wheels? half of my suitcase is dedicated to my travel pharmacy and gear for the mountain climb ... [Continue reading this entry]

Some of you know that I have been a bit of an excel freak since about the age of 16 - so of course my trip is completely planned in a spreadsheet.  To get things started, I'm doing a quick ... [Continue reading this entry]