When I was small......

I found these two photos and thought I might share them with you.

I was not exactly sure initially if this was me. The hand-writing at the back of the photo said the kid was my sister, but some of my siblings were sure that the cute kid was me. Anyway, I think I was probably two years old at that time. We lived in one of the government barracks in Kuala Belait and the picture was taken at the back of our barrack.



This picture was taken in 1980 when my family and I went for a holiday trip to Singapore. If I am not mistaken, we were visiting the Singapore Zoo when the picture was taken. Yeah, somehow the photographer managed to miss the top half of my head; a skill that I sadly inherited!

Can you do Treasure Hunt?

Someone asked me a while ago if Treasure Hunts were easy to take part in.

The answer is yes..... but... Yeah, there are buts. Firstly, you need a good team; one with team members who listen to everyone's opinion and do not argue.

Secondly, it is really important to give tasks to each team member. During the three NBT Treasure Hunts, I was appointed as the driver (well, probably because the car was mine!). As a driver, my main tasks were to follow the navigator's instruction and to watch out for those tulips (tulips being the markers/milestones that indicated where each treasure would be located). Being the driver, you would have to watch your odometer too, as it would be really easy to miss the treasures and you would have to turn back and look for them again, thus wasting precious time. Even if you are only appointed as the driver, if you are good and sharp-eyed, you could also help to look for the treasures (and I did contribute some!).

It is also important to keep things light-hearted and cool, especially towards the end of the treasure hunt, when you start to get tired as you would start really early in the morning. At this time, having arguments would be the last thing that you needed.

I do not think you need to do a lot of homework before the Treasure Hunt. One important thing to remember is that you must not think literally when you try to solve the questions. More often than not, you would have to think out of the box and sometimes the answers just do not make any sense.

Probably, being a VM helped too! So did having three brainies in the teams. In 2006 and 2007, my three team mates were doctors. (Sorry, Jest!)

So see you at this year's NBT Treasure Hunt!

P.s. This post is dedicated to the two teams that I was part of and both times we were the second runner-up.

2006: Anny, Tat, Me, Amri

2007: Kwang, Tat, Me, Ady

12 years ago......

I was doing some spring cleaning and came across this picture.

This picture was taken in 1995, when I was in Pre-University 1 (or otherwise known as Lower Secondary 6) at Maktab Sains. At that time, Maktab Sains was temporarily located in Rimba; now the school complex is used by Sekolah Menengah Rimba.

I think I know what more than half of the people in the picture are doing for a living. Some are doctors, some work for BSP/BLNG, one is a pilot and at least one works for the army (and coincidentally I met him recently during the Ulu Belait trip recently). The teacher was Syed Abd Rauf (or is it Ravoof or something?). I am not too sure if he is still in Brunei.

Half-sized food spread...

Got this from a friend......

A certain hotel in Gadong is offering a 'semi-buffet' at its restaurant. This is not the first time they have a semi-buffet; there had been a few semi-buffets over the course of last year.



I was just wondering what semi-buffet was...... Was it when the appetisers and main dishes were included in the buffet but desserts were charged separately? Or would it mean that you would only be allowed to take half of the buffet spread?


But the price of the semi-buffet does not seem to really make sense of its 'halved' size..... B$25 per adult for a semi-buffet? Bit too pricey me thinks.

Take a search on Wiktionary and it did not return any result. There isn't any entry on Wikipedia either.



It must have been a made-up word then. May be the hotel is trying to be fancy??

My car and I

So how do I like my new car? I like it. It drives very well, the power was good, the ride is smooth and it responds to curves very well.

So no complaint there then? Not really...... The air-conditioning system is something else. Ever since I got the car in October '07, I had to take it back to the workshop 5 times due to the air con failure. Yes, you read it correctly, 5 times! So it was like once a month. The problem started just about a month after I got it. The air con just failed; instead of cooling, refreshing air, it blew hot, sweltering air. Got it sorted out and so happily I went away as I was assured that that was the end of my problem. But, barely a month after that, the same thing happened. Obviously I was not happy and took it back to the workshop. This time the workshop blamed it on the person who did the last job. I was told that probably the guy did not charge up the air con system properly, resulting in a loss of refrigerant.

So was it the end? Nope! It happened for the third time. Took it to the workshop and clearly expressed my disappointment. The workshop guy was trying very hard to help, but let it slip that my car was not the first one to suffer the air con failure. So I was intrigued; apparently a few other cars have had the same problem. Nevertheless, it was sorted out and I went away, hoping that was the last of it.

But no! It happened for the forth time. This time I called the dealership and complained bitterly. The workshop that I brought the car to for the first three instances was an authorised workshop. So I opted to take it to the dealership's workshop. Now, the service manager said that the car manufacturer had identified some problem with a batch of the car and offered a solution. I told that two hoses would be replaced.

Barely a month since the last visit to the workshop, the air con failed again. That was the last straw. I called the dealership and spoke to the Sales Manager. Obviously I was not a happy bunny. I complained endlessly; at one point I told him that I might have lost them a few customers as I had not said anything nice about the car. Well, I did not really lose them any customers, but I thought it sounded dramatic and probably caused the Sales Manager to sweat a bit. I also told them that I barely drove the car since the last repair as the thought that the air con might fail always lingered in my mind and I was in denial about the air con problem. The Sales Manager also informed me that there was another car which had the same problem. I asked some owners and they told me they had brought their cars in at some point because of the air con. Anyway, I was told to bring it back for a more thorough check. I told him that I did not have the luxury of skipping work to bring it to Bandar for check-ups. So he offered to pick the car up from KB and lent me a car for my use (that was another story of its own). I was just told that during the last visit, instead of changing 2 hoses, the service guys thought that one of them was still ok and did not change it. The Sales Manager was quite convinced that that was the problem and changing it might solve the problem altogether. As I type this, the car is still being repaired and I should get it back tomorrow.

I did some investigations and found the following links quite unnerving: here and here. Apparently, the failure of the air con was caused by a design error, where the air con system was heated by the hot turbo exhaust or something like that.

So if you asked me if I would have bought the car if I had known the problem earlier..... I do not know really. Apart from the air con, everything about the car is good.

Oh, the story about the replacement car: When I got it, the fuel tank was empty and I had to fork out my own money for the petrol. Yeah, the dealership is not that good with the little things like this. When I first got my car, the tank was less than half full; my sister bought a Honda on the same day and her tank was brimming with petrol.

Kuala Ingai In Pictures

It is said that a picture speaks a thousand words... So here I am giving you some pictures and many thousands words.

Many thanks to Kakarrot, Kicks and Tom for allowing me to use their pictures.

WARNING: Identities will be revealed.

The gang on a log somewhere along the river. We were supposed to help getting the boat pass under the log, but we saw some people clicking away, so we posed for them.

A group photo of all the people who managed to reach Batu Melintang.

Batu Melintang; it literally is a rock that goes across the river.

The first waterfall, the imaginatively-named Wasai No.1.

Crossing a river. Why? To get to the other side! Somewhere there, with the water going waist high, suddenly my mind kept reminding me of piranhas.

Bulgemeister and RunningDiva on a log crossing.

I thought this was very Blair Witch-esque!

RunningDiva getting a leech bite on her shoulder. I thought it looked like a snake bite.

Bulgemeister topping up on his energy and sugar levels, before starting the 5 hour-trek back to the base camp.

The water level was very low on the day we arrived in Kuala Ingai.

The water was high the day we left Kuala Ingai. The boat ride was almost four hours shorter than earlier expected.

Lastly, a group of 'Orang Kebanaran' in the river.

CNY 2008

Regardless of your faith, here's wishing you all a very happy year of the rat. Hope it brings happiness, prosperity, peace, wealth and good health.

Enjoy the festivity.

Wilderness Weekend: The Ingai Report

Tiring. Exhausting. Long walk. Feet killing. Dehydrating. Scenic. Invigorating. Exciting. Exhilarating. Refreshing. Very green. Loving it. Well worth it. These were some of the things said by everyone who were on the working visit to Kuala Ingai and managed to reach the last waterfall.


We set off from Pengkalan Sungai Mau in Mukim Bukit Sawat, Belait after a brief breakfast stop in Sungai Liang. After enduring a 2-hour boat ride and numerous leg cramps, we reached our rest stop in Sukang. As we reached Sukang, words got around that one of the boats capsized 15 minutes after leaving Pengkalan Sungai Mau. The boat had hit a floating log and lost an engine and the rear half of the boat. Fortunately, all people onboard were safe. However, one of them had to withdraw from the trip as he had lost his bag, which held his personal belongings including mobile phones and an MP3 player.

After a quick lunch, we all set off for Kuala Ingai, Mukim Melilas. If we thought the first leg of the boatride was slow, this was even slower, especially with more floating logs and the low water level. There were a few times that we had to get off the boat as it had to pass under logs that had fallen across the river. During one of the stops, RunningDiva (one of the two ladies in the trip) managed to accidentally drop my camera bag into the water. I had put my camera in a water-tight zipper plastic bag, so my camera was safe. But yeah, I got me all worried and only picked up the courage to check if it had been spoilt when we eventually arrived at the base camp, almost 4 hours after we left Sukang.

The base camp in Kuala Ingai was not exactly Empire or even the Belalong camp. Nevertheless, everything was already made ready for us and it was as luxurious as we could have wished for. The initial party of Belait District people and army had prepared the site very well and they left us with nothing else to do to the camp site. The base camp consisted of a sleeping tent, with more than 40 beds arranged in 2 rows and a makeshift kitchen. Probably because they had not expected any lady to be in the party, there was no proper toilet/changing facility provided. The initial party had to be commended for their effort to quickly build the toilet/changing facility. As soon as we arrived, we chose our own 'bed' to sleep on and it apparently caused some problem initially as some of us ended up sleeping at their least favourite spot, like towards the end of the tent. So some shuffling had to be done, but still some people were not too happy, and they had to live with it! One of the first things that we did when we arrived there was to freshen up after spending the best part of the day travelling in a boat. Since there was no toilet facility, we decided to take a dip in the river. There was something about camping that brought out the unexpected from us. Some of us had not brought any swimming gear or even shorts, so had to resort taking a dip in the river in their underwears.

While waiting for dinner, we had some card games. I learnt to play this new game, called Bluff. Dinner was cooked by the District Office staff and consisted of canned sardines and pineapple cubes. When you were in the middle of the jungle, sardine became everyone's favourite dish! After the dinner, we had a briefing session led by the Penghulu of Mukim Labi. We were briefed on the long walk that we would have to do the following day and we were advised to sleep early, which we wisely followed. By 10pm that night, we were all sound asleep. Well, some of us were till one point when a certain person in our party snored loudly and apparently almost made someone to smack that person in frustration!

The next day breakfast consisted of bread and jam, boiled eggs and biscuits. For the expedition to the waterfalls (wasai) and hot springs, we were divided to groups, each led by an experienced guide. We set off almost immediately after breakfast. We walked through the forest floor, river streams, on logs that had been fell across the river so that we could walk on the logs to cross the river, up and down often muddy slopes and mud, and got bitten by numerous insects and the odd one or two leeches. The first destination, an abandoned camp site, was reached after a 2-hour walk. Immediately after that, we reach a natural rock formation called "Batu Melintang" which literally meant a rock that lied across the river. The rock actually separated a lake from the river. After a quick round of picture taking, we set off for the first hot spring which was reached after a 10-minute walk. The water was not actually hot; it was warmer than the river stream that flowed nearby. We then set off for the first wasai (waterfall). To reach the wasai, we had to walk for almost half an hour before reaching the top of a hill. We had to actually walk through a trail that branched off from the main walking trail at the top of the hill. However, the walk down the hill was actually worth it as we reached the wasai at the foot of the hill. The water flowed with a ferocious current and if one were to be carried off by the current, he would eventually drop into a lake some 10 metre below. The water was cold and refreshing. We all took a dip in the water and it took a lot of coaxing from one of our guides for us to leave for our next destination.

The next destination was a second hot spring. The water was warmer than the first one. Some of us had run out of water and we were encourage to refill our water bottles with the hot spring water. Needless to say, the water smelt unappetising and you could actually taste sulphur. I could not really stomach it but I had no other choice! The final leg of our walk took us for the ultimate destination, a taller waterfall and a cave on its top.

Arriving more than 4 hours after we set off at the base camp, we finally arrived at the final waterfall. The sound of the waterfall encouraged us in our remaining last gasps of breath to reach this wonderful place. Its breath-taking view was enough to make us drop our bags and run for the lake at the foot of the waterfall. The water was even more refreshing than the first waterfall. We could not resist the children in us to splash water to everyone and to just stand under the cascading water. We just could not care if our feet turned pale and became pruned! For afar the cascading water of the waterfall resembled the map of Brunei (you just have to use your imagination a bit!). The cave at the top of the waterfall led to another part of the waterfall, which was equally beautiful.

After a quick bite or two (of Take It chocolate bar, courtesy of the Belait District Office), we left the waterfall to return to our base camp. I thought the walk was faster, but someone in our group hurt his knee when he slipped on a muddy slope and this slowed down our pace a lot. On our return journey, we could not stop at any of the places that we visited earlier in the day as we tried to reach the base camp by sunset. On the final hour of the walk, it started to rain quite heavily and this slowed us down much further. The day was getting darker and the rain got heavier as our slow trek back to the base camp progressed further. I felt sorry for the person with the injured knee as he practically dragged his leg during the last hour of walking. When we reached the base camp, we were greeted by a flash of lightning and a thunderclap! I had mistaken it for someone's flash camera and was stopped dead on my tracks as the thunder roared above our heads. RunningDiva was startled by the lightning and thunder and for a second she looked lost and got rooted on her spot. We practically sreamed our heads off, telling her to make a run for our tent. As soon we reached the tent, we binged on any food that we could grab, just to give us back the energy that we had spent walking from early morning until late afternoon.

Dinner on that second night was simpler; canned chicken curry was served with mixed vegetable. We were so tired that we all slept by 9 o'clock that evening. We all agreed that it was probably the first time in a very long time that we slept really early on a Saturday night! That night someone else in the party took over the loudest snorer title! Also one of the two guys who slept next to me was mumbling something in his sleep.

The next day, we were treated to a more special breakfast of corned beef fried rice! The water level had rose overnight and it would ease our boat trip back to Pengkalan Sungai Mau very much. At one point, someone with Global Positioning System (GPS) told that we were going 5 times faster than the trip 2 days earlier. On the way back, we stopped by for a quick visit to the Melilas Long House. To reach the long house, we walked along a 700ft (~200m)-long wooden walkway. Most of the residents in this long house have converted to Islam. Considering more than five families with a total residents of more than 50 people lived in the long house, I found that the long house was really clean and very homey. During the visit, the residents kindly performed some traditional songs. They also made some preparations for our visits; hot drinks and traditional malay kuehs were served during our visit. I thought it was very thoughtful of them to do this and I appreciate what they had done for us.

Kicks with his tapau from the long house!

The rest of the boat trip did not go quietly. Almost one hour away from Pengkalan Sungai Mau, our boat stopped as it had run out of fuel. We thought that we might have to paddle back to Sungai Mau. Fortunately, there was a forest ranger boat behind us and the forest rangers had kindly 'loaned' some fuel. We finally reached Pengkalan Sungai Mau just after noon, more than 4 hours earlier than expected.

Picture shows RunningDiva cosying up to Kicks on the boatride back to home comfort.

Before setting off for the trip, we all confessed that we had no idea how we were going to do a "No. 2" in the absence of proper toilet facility. Somehow we all survived three days without going to the loo. I was pretty sure many of us made a visit to the loo once we got home.

If I were to take away few learning points from this trip, I would say:

1. Do not, I repeat, do not ever forget to bring water if you're going for a long walk.

2. Good friends are earned, not given.

3. Regardless of how green Brunei is at the moment, we should not rest on our laurels and forget about our forest.

4. Brunei has these natural beauty spots to offer and we shall not forget about them. At least try to visit them once in your life.

5. Let not surrender our green forest easily to development.

I am posting some pictures on this blog. I will post more as I get permission from the other photographers.

Wilderness Weekend

I am excited! Why? Cos I'm going for a camping trip to the middle of the jungle in the inner part of the country.

A group of us from work will be joining the District Office and some other government departments for a working visit to Kuala Ingai, Mukim Melilas, situated very near to the Brunei-Sarawak border. The trip will start tomorrow and we will return Insya Allah on Sunday.

To get to Kuala Ingai, we would have to take a small boat from Pengkalan Mau upto Sukang and continue further to Kuala Ingai. Total journey would take about 4 hours of boat ride, unless the weather does not permit us to go by boat. Then, it'd probably take longer to reach Kuala Ingai.

We will leave tomorrow morning and we are only expected to arrive in Kuala Ingai in the late afternoon. We will be setting up a base camp at Kuala Ingai, from where we will go further to the Hot Springs, a cave and a unique natural rock formation.

I, and some others, will take our cameras along, so expect to see some pictures here. I will try to keep a journal during our trip and will post some highlights here.

And to the Diamond, too bad you can't join. I'm gonna take some more nice macro shots! Ha ha. Have a good day at work!

Emblem 2007: Part Deux

Just a small update from the Emblem Nite.

1. Click here for Jan Shim's write-up on the Emblem.

2. Look at that guy gyrating! Eat your hearts out, M Daud Kilau!!


p.s. thanks Jan for the link and Tom for the picture.