Brunei, is it really worth it? | Travel Guide for First Timers

Brunei didn’t meet my expectations but it blew me away (at some point) ✌ ??

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Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions and feelings expressed here are my own and based solely to my experience and does not guarantee that you will undergo the same.

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I assumed it would look a lot (or at least feel) like Singapore. I mean,  both of them are really small yet very expensive and wealthy countries! Both of them are literally attached to Malaysia as well. And the most exciting part? Both of them have diverse population, including a huge number of Filipino workers! Which I didn’t really expect in Brunei. The people who were waiting at the airport’s arrival hall were speaking in Tagalog and I was shocked! I had to double-check if I was really in Brunei. And there came that moment when we went outside the airport and saw Jollibee! There’s a lot of Jollibee branches in Brunei actually. ?

Also, I was looking forward for a fast-pace happenings around me during my stay. But no life happened. I mean, it was so chill. Brunei is so laid back, a relaxing place at some point. Major highways are almost always deserted. Well, we experienced traffic jam only near the local market in the main town but other than that, it was a quiet sunny day. They have no trains. Local transportation ends at around 6pm. No night clubs. Almost all establishments close before midnight. And I only saw few people on the streets. I wonder where they are hiding. Seriously though.

What can I say? Well, I’m pretty sure our visit was just a quick sip of tea. And even though we stayed less than 24 hours, we had a great time in Brunei and learned some things that I can’t wait to share with all of you! I wanna give a high level idea of what this country looks and feels like… and hopefully help you set the right expectations. ?

Describe Brunei

It’s given that Brunei is really not a typical tourist destination but it has its own taste of things which makes it interesting. The atmosphere is basically chill and the weather is hot, just like the rest of Southeast Asia. But the physical city itself (in my opinion) looks like a town that is still in-progress. I don’t find it modern or advance despite it being a rich country. Well, that’s the beauty of Brunei.

Where to stay in Brunei?

A friend of mine flew to Brunei few months before our trip and highly recommended this place. And it turns out to be a nice, centrally located, clean and comfortable place to stay and I highly recommend it as well! The host, Dina is so accommodating and helpful! No wonder she’s a super host at Airbnb. However, I never met her. Haha We only communicated through the Airbnb app. ✌

Our room has a regular size bed with basic stuff. There are 2 shared bathrooms, just beside the stunning kitchen. A humble sala set welcomes the visitors just in front of the main entrance door but it was empty most of the time. You can also cook your own meal but there’s no free drinking water. There’s also a CCTV camera in the common area for security.

What did I really like about this place? It’s simple but serves you with your needs. Also, I have to mention their colorful doors. They’re so cute! And lastly, the kitchen! This massive transparent window that occupies the entire wall with the forest view in the background just gives me a classic countryside vibe, very relaxing and peaceful. ?

The Place: EZ Lodgings
Location: Gadong District
Airbnb Link: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17306528

Use this link to sign up and get instant discount on your first trip:
www.airbnb.com/c/laagank

If you ever decide to stay here, just ask Dina to arrange your transportation to her place. She will help you with the rest. ☺

Local transportation and affordable tour in Brunei

Brunei’s local transport service is not available all the time. Public buses are only up until 6PM. Their taxis are notorious for overcharging its passenger especially tourists (which is common in Asia by the way). And No, there’s no Uber or Grab in Brunei (as of this writing).

In our case, we hired Kuya Archie, a pinoy working in Brunei who also drives around tourists as his sideline when he’s free. He’s nice and very informative. Our journey from the airport to our hostel was pretty smooth at midnight.

You may contact him through FB Messenger, which is what I did. But before you do, please remember that he has a real job. So don’t expect him to be available anytime and drive you around Brunei. Inquire first and negotiate the price. In our case, we paid 10BND each for the 8 kilometer distance from the airport to our hostel in Gadong. That’s basically 400 pesos per person! It’s expensive to wander around Brunei at night. ?

Private Pinoy Driver in Brunei: https://www.facebook.com/archie.devera.5

And as for our tour, we got a driver from the hostel arranged by Dina for us. The rate was 75 BND for 2 people, from morning tour up to airport drop-off in the afternoon. His name was Yasdi. I really recommend him though! If you wanna get in touch with him, please go through Dina. ☺

We didn’t commute in public in Brunei at all because it just doesn’t fit with our short time frame.

People in Brunei

Honestly, the only legit local (Bruneian) that we encountered was our tour guide, Yasdi. The rest was foreigners. Not from the west though. In fact,most of them are Filipinos.

After settling our things in the hostel past midnight, we checked the nearest convenience store just downstairs. Two boys came in, scanned some products and started a Tagalog conversation. Also the person in-charge of the store was an Indian.

The next morning, we had our breakfast at this small “restoran” full of Filipino workers. We had to make some chika with this “ate” who was curious why we are in Brunei. ?

But let’s talk about Yasdi. He is a native Muslim citizen of this country, who speaks English well and can speak a little Tagalog I’m so impressed. Before meeting him (sorry for my poor imagination) , I’ve always thought that Muslims are formal and behave, you know the conservative type. But Yasdi was the total opposite. He is so modern, funny and outgoing! The whole time we were inside his car, we were listening to Ryan Seacrest and today’s top hits. Yasdi even mentioned that “Havana” is his jam. Hahaha. How cool is he?

He’s a risk-taker too! We went to this bridge near Bandar Seri Begawan and it’s prohibited to stop in the middle because it’s a goddamn highway! But Yasdi was like, “Don’t worry! It’s gonna be fine!”. I told him it’s really okay if we will just pass by but…

He pulled over and got us out of the car and took some pictures! I must admit, the view of Kampong Ayer was pretty nice up there! Nobody approached us so far. I was scared but it really was fun! Yasdi was a badass! (in a good way :D)

How long should you stay in Brunei?

Actually, there’s really not much attraction to see in Brunei. Those mosques just happened to be beautiful which attract people but they were never built for tourists. So I would say, maybe 3 days 2 nights is enough? Honestly, what you will experience in Brunei is their way of life in general. Not some tourist crap. It’s the total opposite of Singapore, where tourism is heavily penetrated. No offense though.

What to eat in Brunei?

Honestly, just try everything in their local menu. I don’t have any recommendation because, well, the food that we’ve tasted were just fine and cheap. Their famous local food is Nasi Katok which is made up of rice, some magical sauce and a fried chicken wrapped together in a paper for only 1 dollar. How does it taste? Regular.

The local food in Brunei is just the same as in Malaysia and Indonesia I think. You know the “Nasi” food. Just my observation.

 

Internet in Brunei

The wifi at the hostel works fine. While we didn’t buy a sim, our guide Yasdi was radio streaming during our entire tour on his smart phone with no cuts.

BEWARE of AIRASIA in Brunei

We had a great time in Brunei until we checked-in at AirAsia in the International Departures. You know when you are so used to breaking the rules but when the time comes someone has to enforce the law, it will hurt so bad? I know the standard hand carry weight limit is 7 fucking kilos. But GOD! No one really checks the weight of your hand carry bag in Changi Airport, or in KLIA, or even in Narita or Taoyuan Airport as long as the size of your bag is acceptable.

But AirAsia was a total killjoy. My bag only exceeds 1 kilo from the weight limit but they didn’t consider and even warned us that there will be people at the gate who will double-check the bags and if they find out that your bag is overweight, you have to pay twice the regular price. We had to pay 40 fucking BND to checked-in our bags T_T I was skeptical about the warning but when we arrived at our gate, damn! They were really serious about double checking the bags! A lady was caught and had to take off some items from her luggage to pass the allowable weight. I wonder if she throw some of her things in the bin. Poor lady ?

This process IS NOT efficient at all. But I think they are confident in doing this because their airport is not busy. They have all the time to check all those bags again and again.

Bottom line: PACK LIGHT.

Filipino Products in Brunei

I had to include this because I’m just amazed. Honestly, at some point it felt like I was still in the Philippines when I visited Brunei. I mean, the city literally looked like a regular city in Philippines (except for the mosques). Plus those Filipinos working their asses off to make money in almost all establishments. And the most exciting part were the Filipino products we saw when we checked out this convenience store. I was like, “WHAAAAT?”

But I realize, maybe Brunei doesn’t have the capacity to produce these kind of products that’s why they import them. After all, Philippines is literally just few miles above them.

Facts about Brunei

• You can’t see skyscrapers in Brunei because building constructions are heavily regulated by their Government. The height of the building must not exceed the height of their mosques.
• Only the royal family are allowed to have tinted window in their cars. So you know one when you see one.
• Locals are given subsidized fuel by their government. I mean, no wonder.
• LGBT is not allowed in Brunei 🙁
  
• Every Friday, from 12PM to 2PM ALL establishments are closed so the people can pray. (We had to go back to our hostel at noon because Yasdi needs to go to the mosque for his prayers and rituals. He changed his clothes to a traditional Muslim attire. I don’t really know what you call it but it was nice. He came back pass 2 to pick us up)
• Prince Mateen is really HANDSOME!!!!! ❤

Lastly, what to see in Brunei? Read here.

So that how our less than 24 hours stay in Brunei went. It was obviously fast but we surely had a great time. But is it really worth it? I think yes at some point. 🙂

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