Borneo may not be the first choice for most travelers and our last trip to Miri was 7 years ago. However a road trip with not much planning can be quite exciting, too. Without exceptionally high expectation, we took our first road trip in Borneo.
Before our AK flight, we enjoyed the complimentary lounge service at Changi T1. Courtesy of Krisflyer Amex and SATS. There are lots of food and lots of magazines to kill our time.
Touched down in Miri on a weekday after a 2-hour flight. Got our rented car from the workshop and there began our journey to find kolok Mee, dry curly noodles with little oil and some minced meat. A simple yet delicious noodle dish that Singaporean entrepreneur tried hard to penetrate the foodies' stomach but hardly succeeded. The best is still to be found only in the original place, Sarawak!
We drove around Miri city to familiarize ourselves with the road signs, road condition and drivers behavior etc. Generally they are courteous and not in a hurry. At night, dinner is settled in Bintang Plaza adjacent to Meritz Hotel. This stay-and-shop concept is quite common here. I got my hubby a 小礼物 & he was thrilled.
Day 2 (Miri - BSB)
Buffet breakfast fueled us up & our 150km drive to Bandar Seri Begawan began. We reached the Sarawak-Brunei connecting bridge at Sungai Tujoh and paid a whopping RM10 toll. At Rasau, the toll is only B$3.
Sarawak ICQ is not far from the toll and we cleared Malaysia check point quite smoothly. But after that we were stuck inside a "ruin" and don't know where to go.
A few cars came from the opposite direction shed lights on our way forward. That ruin is the old checkpoint, which is no longer operational. That explained the extremely rundown state. We drove through a police post and then got our first ever Brunei stamp on our passport.
2-hour journey is not that long but it's still quite tiring. Fortunately Hotel Radisson didn't disappoint us. Things are not expensive in Brunei. No service charge, no GST, B$0.53/ltr petrol and amazingly there is no traffic jam! Malaysian car can only pump petrol at selected stations. There is special lane for Malaysian cars with special price of B$1.10/ltr.
Not forgetting to mention that movie ticket is only B$4 on weekday. We had real good laugh watching The Internship by Owen Wilson and Vince Vaugh.
Vacation is all about food and we had soooo~~~ much food.
We had (D1) Sushi King, (D2) hotel breakfast, pasta, Excapade Sushi (again),
I'm so full
(D3) hotel breakfast, 烧鸭白鸡饭&蒸羊骨, KTM Thai food
Steam lamb ribs. No pork in Brunei.
(D4) hotel breakfast, 明财seafood (Jalan Merbau, very near to Meritz & Imperial Hotel)
(D5) noodles, Dynasty Chinese restaurant, 明财seafood again.
Huge lala RM30/kg
thick Marudi (hand made) Kuey Teow
Day 3
As part of this lawatan sambil belajar (learning trip), we headed to Brunei international Airport for excursion. The main building is currently under major construction. It should ready is another say, 2 years?
Kampong Ayer
Highlight of the whole trip gotta be our stay at The Empire Resort and Country Club. This place is huge. Facilities include a golf club, club house, theater/ cinema, villas and a few blocks of guest rooms. Buildings are far apart and the guests need to take buggy. Upon check in, desserts are readily served in the room for Mr. Dining!?!? Pampered like royals for once. There are also salt and fresh water pools in the resort compound. Impressive!
Surprisingly, Jerudong Park is the exact opposite. B$1 entrance fee. Very few visitors and the place is very badly maintained. One side of the park across the road looks like a jungle full of knee height bushes and infested by mosquitoes. Although some children rides have been added but it can never bring back the charm.
Day 4 (BSB - Miri)
Back to Miri. A section of Brunei highway is still under expansion works. Judging by the life pace, the road works should be completed by the time we return for the next visit, in 2 years perhaps?
Throughout this trip, we "hotel hopping" almost everyday. At The Imperial Hotel, we changed from room to apartment so Yes, we changed room everyday. I cannot imagine dragging our luggage around in public transport. Because of Hertz (RM180/ day), we managed to cover more places in shorter time such as Luak esplanade, Sea Horse Light House (from afar), Lambir Hill etc.
Day 5
The highly anticipated Borneo Tropical Rainforest Resort cost RM70 per pax so we patah balik to Lambir Hill National Park (RM10 entrance fee). Many locals come here for family outing picnic. We had a good time at the Latak Waterfall. Fun can be as cheap as RM10.
欢乐的时光过得特别快，又是时候讲bye bye. Once again we are convinced that cuti-cuti Malaysia (or SEA) rox!
