Category Archives: Brunei Life

Farewell, Home

Posted by Jewelle Tan on December 9, 2011 2 comments

 

Golden sunset over the whole neighbourhood

This will be my last post from our current home.

It feels like only a few days ago when my husband called to tell me that he had found a house that he was sure I would like and which I did, from the moment we turned in our junction and I caught sight of the house.

Reminiscence of my parents’ house was all around and that instantly made me feel at home. The big grassy lawn, trees all around the neighbourhood and that small forested hill behind our back block are everything that I want.

But it has been two years and now we have to bade farewell to this house.

Oh, the things that I will miss about living here. The proximity to stores and restaurants, easy accessibility to the highway – even the sounds of the police sirens and helicopters!

And how can I forget the best albeit elusive (I’ve seen it only twice) gift of nature to this neighbourhood. The most amazing sunset that the whole area would turn bright yellow. It looked so surreal that the first time it happened, I actually checked the sky if there was something up there that casted such glow – because it cannot be JUST the sunset!

I will miss this strange sunset, the house will miss my children’s laughter (and cries) but we will always remember the memories of joy and happiness we had in this house.

Good bye for now, dear home and thank you for looking after us.

Best Country To Live In

Posted by Jewelle Tan on November 6, 2011 None comments

So Brunei is the 33rd best country to live in – out of 187 countries/territories.

Well, I don’t need this survey to know what I have always known for sure – I am living in a wonderful place.

Of course it is not for everyone but this country fits most of my needs – and most importantly, I can live without all the things that I cannot get here.

Just last night, memories of smoke-filled outings, loud music that pulsated harder than my heart while ordering yet another Long Island Tea over the bar came to mind after reading a certain weekend-is-here Facebook status.

It was nostalgic to think of the days when we were young and foolish – but I am happy to move on.

I am happier to note that I am so much more relaxed here as compared to my hometown (with the traffic jam, crowd, crime etc etc) that I no longer need the above-mentioned-activities to de-stress. So much so that I even find it interesting to learn random things like heatshrink (check out this animated picture) and a real and relatively recent head-hunting tragedy.

In short, I am not even curious to know about the other 32 countries because I am totally fine here.

Lightning Prone Lumut

Posted by Jewelle Tan on August 9, 2011 None comments

For some reason, our family home in Lumut is regularly struck by lightning.

Just a few months ago, it happened again and several of my family in-laws appliances were damaged – modem, television, DVD player and etc. Fortunately our house is insured, not from Wholesaleinsurance.net but from a local agency, replacing those items were not much of an issue.

It was only a little inconvenient when they could not go online and there was nothing to watch.

Actually, come to think of it, it was quite a BIG inconvenience and fortunately it happened during the weekdays (when we were not around).

One of our neighbour whose house was without any home insurance had his house spared and was about to breath a sigh of relief – until he realized that the lightning struck his big electric gate.

*Photo : Lumut road leading to Seria

Speed Boat Nostalgia

Posted by Jewelle Tan on July 21, 2011 None comments

Whenever you drive by Kampung Ayer in Brunei, there will be at least one speed boat on the water, with passengers travelling between the village and Bandar Seri Begawan.

It is quite exciting to see those boats from the safety of dry land.

Because as much as I enjoy the rides I had more than 10 years ago – when I was younger, more adventurous back in the days when untamed flyaway hair looks so utterly sexy – I doubt I will willingly go on another ride.

At least not on boats without any roof (UV rays, people).

And definitely not speed boats because the old-lady in me will be holding on the sides for dear life. Gone are the days of standing with arms outstretched to feel the breeze ala Winslet – not to mention that the diCaprio in my life will just be pulling me back down none too gently and tell me to behave.

Besides I hair-sprayed my hair for a reason and no flyaway whatsoever is tolerated.

So now, the only time I will ever get the rush of a speed boat – in motion – will probably be if I am on some roadside and a car or truck with a boat hooked up via one of those boat or trailer hitches passes by.

Yes, how very gripping.

Trees Abound

Posted by Jewelle Tan on July 12, 2011 None comments

There was an article that says Brunei government housing schemes will no longer be offering individual homes but high-rise apartments similar to those in Singapore in the near future.

We attended a conceptual show unit of these future high-rise apartments and was quite impressed with the design. It was the size that not many Bruneians will be too thrilled about – since we are so used to spacious landed properties and we are not talking about houses the size of park models either.

One comment on this that I remembered well was why the need for high-rise housing when we have acres of undeveloped land. In fact, this was the exact question a friend asked me years ago when told how hard it is to buy or build houses here.

I have no conclusive answer to this except that despite the scarcity of (affordable) houses, we appreciate being in a country with so much greens around.

I will definitely not be happy living in a highly developed city with no trees in sight and I would not want my children and their children to grow up in a land where it’s concrete for as far as the eyes could see.

So if they need to live in high-rise apartments in the future but are guaranteed views of green lush hills nearby, I am all for it.

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