When some American relative came over to Brunei a few weeks ago, the first thing they noticed was our infrastructure – how much better our roads are here compared to Sabah.

Most roads are sealed and having proper 4WD cars here are quite unnecessary.

There are simply very few roads on common routes that offer a Camel Trophy kind of challenges that local 4WD-natics are forced to do their 4WD-ings elsewhere!

Fortunately for the ATV enthusiasts, there are enough places to test their all-terrain-vehicles-driving-skills and make full use of their accessories such as ATV Lights and power steering kits and that’s what we have here – all terrain driving enthusiasts.

Unlike in Sabah where knowing how to engage their low gears and maneuver the wheels out of sticky situations is not for fun but out of necessity for some!

And since I grew up with roads like this and drivers who handle roads like this – it’s not surprising then that despite our good roads, I’ll take a 4WD over a comfortable plush sedan any day.

It can be a little difficult to be enthusiastic about the attractions that we can offer visitors to Brunei.

We describe our country using the same keywords that highlight neighbouring countries – nature and culture. But how can we sell our nature when there are two UNESCO World Heritage sites at both ends of our border?

As for culture, ask anyone on the street about it and they would probably google for it first with their BlackBerry or iPhone – before they can tell you.

But this is the mistake we make. Instead of peddling our tourist attractions, we should highlight what is good about life here.

Which for one is this – personal space and safety.

We are not crime-free but we can certainly walk on high streets or shopping areas without rubbing against another person or being stepped on by people who won’t even look us in the eyes or needing always to be on alert with our belongings – we know that electronic pickpocketing and physical bags snatching are very real issues elsewhere.

No smart visitors won’t feel relaxed here, knowing that they can let their guards somewhat down and enjoy Brunei and life in general – with what may not be available at their place.

Now isn’t that an easier point to sell?

One of the interesting people that I come across on a regular basis is our grass-cutter.

An Indian man in his mid or late thirties, he convinced us to engage his service within a few days of us moving into our house more than a year ago – effectively taking over the service from another grass cutter who dejectedly told us, when he came a few days later, that he used to service our lawn for many years before we moved in.

As for our grass-cutter, one of his sales pitch when he approached us then was telling us that he does the lawns of nearly all the houses in our small neighbourhood – with his one and sometimes two assistants, using none of those fancy mowers the likes of ariens zero turn mowers but rather, hand-held cutters with metal blades and nylon strings!

Still, we are happy with him and his services, no doubt helped by his impressive PR skill – a warm greeting whenever we see him. I especially liked his anything-can-do attitude with a smile while my husband was won over by his “Chinese clients are the best – they always pay on the spot”.

It is a pity that someone with his ability is doing only grass-cutting business.

But as my husband reminded me, he may be a grass-cutter here but he might be a millionaire back home – living in a mansion with a team of men doing HIS lawn.

Along one of the nicest road that leads to and from Bandar Seri Begawan city centre, with tall trees and orchids on the road dividers, there are these blocks of old and rundown flats.

Recently however, this area was cordoned off with a notice stating that upgrading work is taking place.

Yes, these flats need to be renovated. This is a kind of place where a new coat of paint or simply fixing the broken windows or cracked walls are not enough. Even without planning to install fancy Murray Feiss lighting or state of the art AV system, electrical wiring work is surely required. Perhaps a lot of water piping work too.

But I wonder what will happen to the tenants of these flats who would surely be asked to leave.

While it is easy to simply tell them to find another place, a glance at the rental listings in the local paper would straightaway tell you that this will be a distressing year for many of these families.

After the many activities my daughters had the past few weeks – on some days, having to ferry them to school back and forth so many times in a day – it’s amazing that the calender still says February!

With the kind of schedule my daughter has being involved in just TWO extra school activities, one thing is for sure – working mothers will go nuts being expected to drop everything at a moment’s notice to accommodate their practice and rehearsals.

At this stage of my life, I don’t have a life- beyond being ready for anything when it comes to what their activities demanded. Fellow mothers whose kids are in the same boat practically live in school on some days!

I shudder to think what it will be like when the other two start to get their teachers’ attention.

It’s STILL a month away from the next school holiday – but honestly, my mind is already on a beach somewhere, lazing around and happy that I could ignore some indoor tanning lotion reviews because I will getting a proper tan – even if what I need to be is at least two shades fairer!