A Park Called Joke

Jerudong Park—–the Disney equivalent in Asia, the largest in the region. Really????!

I sort of like riding thrill rides. The higher, the better. So when J’s friends here in Brunei told me that there were lots of rollercoaster with unbelievable loops in Jerudong Park, I prepared myself for a lot of dizzying fun! I even convinced J to buy us the ride-‘til-you-drop ticket.

 J didn’t want to ride in the bump car since he had already been driving all day. So, with a couple of J’s friends, I went along to try the ride. Uhmm..in a weird sense, it was fun. The car was smooth and easy to handle. The thing is, I guess since Bruneians are so used to good driving manners, they avoided bumping into each other! I mean, that’s why it’s called BUMP car right (or is it bumper car?)?  We’re supposed to be bumping into each other. Hmm..after 5 rounds of not being bumped, I did the right thing. I intentionally bumped my cars into theirs! Man, you should see the look on their faces! I thought I was going to be deported. Haha.

(I’m coming just right behind you…! bwahahaha!) 

Whew! After that, I was ready for the big rides.

From afar, I saw a roller coaster whose tracks lead between trees and beyond. Cool. Ride closed?? Not cool! Okay, let’s see that one.  The one that’s going to drop me 15ft or so to the ground. How exciting! Wha–?? Ride closed!? (By this time, I was beginning to get grumpy).  Look! A giant boat that’ll swing me like crazy! You guessed it…closed! Everywhere I looked, rides were closed! And to think we went there on a weekend!

 

(closed!)

(I was this desperate for a ride!) 

I was already thinking of demanding for a ticket refund when I saw this ride became the park’s reprieve.

Supakart.

The moment I saw the race track, I knew I’d go karting. In a country where fuel is so cheap you can drink it everyday (kidding!), I knew Supakart won’t be a disappointment. Anyway, while J was telling me that the helmet smells horrible, I was imagining myself behind the wheels…racing.

C-o-o-l-n-e-s-s.

Since that’s the only decent adult ride in the park, the queue was a little long. But I didn’t mind. I was willing to wait all night. J was there to coach me.  Both of us knew I cannot drive so he must have thought I was nuts. I thought so, too.

I was signaled to put on my helmet (which weighs a ton!) and get in the car. This is it, my hands suddenly felt clammy. “Accelerator on your right,” J keeps telling me.  The supakart guy, after  fussing on my helmet, blew the whistle and the race began…

 (A blue Honda F1…let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! Wha–? The red Porsche at the back is better???)

(I was THIS fast! You can’t even see me coming haha! My camera was bad..) 

I realized two things at once. First, when I step hard on the accelerator while going on a turn, I would fly out of my seat. Second, I was driving last! These Bruneian pros! In my eagerness to out race them, I didn’t know I was stepping on the brake. At first I thought I’m out of gas but when I moved my left foot, I zoomed past the barriers and almost into the grass! Since I knew in that moment that my racing career was over, I stopped racing and concentrated on just driving. I saw J and some friends cheering me from the benches.  I was going to give them the thumbs up sign to say I was feeling great but I was afraid to let go of the steering wheel even for a second. Anyway, the silly grin plastered all over my face should’ve said it all.

(The self-proclaimed racing champ, her silly grin and her coach/photographer/runner)

Today’s sing along song: Why Can’t I by Liz Phair

     

Eating Galore!

Aside from cars, there’s another thing that Bruneian is very, very, very, fond of. It’s deadly, it’s lethal and it’s called FOOD! Nope, there’s no bars or clubs here since liquor is banned in this country. No nightlife! Nada! The closest to a nightlife here is sipping tons of caffeine-filled drinks (at 12mn!) at a few coffeehouses in Gadong that stays open ‘til about 1am. And when I say few, it is really few…about 2 coffeehouses. Looks to me like people are at home at 12mn…just like Cinderella. The only decent place to socialize here is at shopping malls! 

Well, back to food. As I was saying, since there seemed to be so little to do here, the best that one can do to kill boredom is EAT! And that’s what I do (waah! Last night, while I was dressing up for dinner, I discovered that I can barely zip my jeans! So instead of wearing this hot body-hugging shirt I bought at a sale, I ended donning on one of what I call “maternity” costumes!).  

I try odd and weird-looking food. Yesterday, I killed time at a grocery and found out that there’s so many durian-flavored food here. Durian chips, durian spread, durian balls, durian everywhere! I tried durian balls then I realized that the bad thing about trying weird food is that it’s too late to know how bad it would taste. So, there I was forcing durian balls down my throat! I could still taste it in my burp hours after dinner. Eww… 

One dinner,  J took me to this dingy-looking seafood house called Jenny’s where I ate buttered prawn that tasted so good I forgot that J took me to a grimy place hehe. After dinner, we went to Gadong night market. When he first mentioned the word “night market”, I was so giddy with excitement coz’ back home, when you say night market, it meant bargain goodies. When we arrived there, I was a little dismayed to see that, yes, it was a night market, but with stalls after stalls of FOOD (again!)! 

Hay naku, I eat so much, mukha na kong siopao talaga! I wanted to try this pinkish chunks of something but when I asked what it was, the vendor just said “siti”. I said, “fruit?” She said, “Huh?” I repeated a little louder (thinking THAT’ll make her understand), “siti, siti, siti”—she said over and over like a chant. Well, since there’s no way I’m going to eat something that looks weird and nobody can even explain what it was to me, I left in search of something to eat that is more familiar.  

Luckily (??), I found Brunei’s version of Pinas’ halo-halo that the locals call A-B-C (how exotic!) that is as plain-tasting as its name. It has corn, mongo beans, pink sweetener (hmm..seems like pink is a popular food ingredient), something that resembles ube but tastes worse than camote and chunks (not crushed!) of ice. 

(Finishing my A-B-C while trying very hard not to suffocate in this smoky (sobra!)night market. Those at the back are kebab buyers)

Speaking of kebab, I still wanted to eat kebab but it horribly smells of someone’s (I’m not going to be racial here..haha) onion-scented armpit..Ha.Ha.

Next time, I’ll stick to potato chips and buttered prawn..

Today’s sing along song: Lose Your Way by Sophia Hawk  

The Land Of No Fun

Two days in Brunei and I’m ready to blog… 

I really can’t explain this but the first thing I notice in any place I go to is the smell. For instance, when we first moved to Bulacan, the first thing I noticed was the smell of pigs. When I went to a friend’s house, I noticed the smell of albatross air freshener. Ongpin and Lucky Me noodles when I was in Hong Kong. And here in Brunei..it smells..uhmm (*sniff,sniff*)..smells..curry powder!

Right the first moment I stepped my foot outside Brunei’s airport, it was there in the air! Everywhere I go to, the smell of curry follows me. In fact, I’m getting a little used to the smell already.  

Second thing that came into my mind was that Brunei is unbelievably, horribly QUIET! When I’m teaching in a classroom, what I hate most is the noise of the little kids but here..I will gladly welcome any noise! It was funny the way I was whispering while talking on the streets, it’s as if I’m afraid a police might arrest me for talking loudly. Before I came here, I did a little research on Brunei and what other people thnk of this country so I’m a little prepared with the boredom and the lack of fun activites here. However, I wasn’t able to prepare for the lack of noise! As if that wasn’t enough, the TV has only 4 channels! HBO, BBC, and two other Malaysian channels. The TV was, naturally, forever glued on HBO unless I want a little laughter, I switch to Malaysian teledrama.

 

This was taken during a RUSH HOUR!  

Yesterday morning, we went “mountain climbing” in Tasek. I’m not sure if the name of the “mountain” was Tasek or if that’s what they call that place. I forgot to ask J. By the way, I have to say “mountain climbing” because the “mountain” was just a little bit higher than an 8-storey building. We were at the summit in less than 20mins. Pretty cool for a climbing haters like me. The place wasn’t that bad. There was a park at the foot of the mountain, complete with outdoor fitness facilities, waterfalls, and kiddie park. It was a nice place except that I think almost everybody in Brunei goes to this place on a Sunday! Everywhere we turn, there we would be, panting and out of breath and somebody who smells of curry powder and stale breath would almost always appear out of no where! Talk about hygiene!

 

 

Tasek park’s waterfall..where the water that supplies to whole of Brunei comes from.. 

But Brunei isn’t that bad. There’s some endearing qualities that Brunei have that’s just begging to be noticed. Like how green the place is. There are lots and lots of trees here Greepeace will have a field day.

The reason why the trees are so green is because it’s always raining in Brunei. On my first night here, J planned to take me to a theme park in Jerudong but it rained so hard we decided to go to a couple of malls instead.

Now malls and shopping…uhmm..the clothes and accessories are pretty much the same back home. Well, Tutuban is waaaaayyy better! I was actually looking for something unique, something that Brunei would call theirs but I didn’t find a single item uniquely Bruneian. I wasn’t impressed.

HOWEVER! When we went to a grocery to buy something, I found the place where you can ask me to get lost in! The food (and the prices!) is pretty cool! Since this is a Muslim country and pork isn’t allowed, I found a variety of food in beef and fish and chicken. There’s so many foods here that I have never seen in the Philippines! I was so eager to try them all I couldn’t sleep because of my bloated stomach last night!

So, here I am..bummed and eating non-stop in Brunei! Jersey would be so mad! He told me not to eat too much this holiday or I would never fit into my wedding gown! 

Converted from Cool-ness

I used to think I have this “cool” image I need to protect. During the height of Meteor Garden fever in Manila, I think I was one of those few who didn’t watch them. I remember I was still working at the airport at the time when F4 came here. Believe me, on the day of their arrival, the departure area of NAIA was deserted! I was like, “Where’s everybody??” (I didn’t know F4 was coming). I finally saw them with their faces plastered along the windows of departure area, facing the ramp and trying so hard to get a glimpse of these guys. When a friend told me what was going on, I remember saying, “Who’s G4? Hehe.

Well, I thought I was too cool for telenovelas. Until………

..i saw Taylor Hicks on American Idol! I think for the first time in my life, I hurried home to catch AI at 8:30pm. I watched every single episode of that American Idol season. If only I could vote for him, I would have voted for him. And when he won..I think I cried *cheesy grin*

And now…Taylor Hicks is in Manila! He’s going to be in Trinoma on Thursday. Do I need to say that I’ll be watching him?

       

Today’s sing along song: Do I Make You Proud by Taylor Hicks (of course!)

All This And Heaven, Too

Yeah..sing it! Don’t you love this song? Puts you in a Christmas mood too, huh? Good thing I stumbled upon Sonific.com.

But the best thing is my stumbling upon the King that was born many, many, many years ago. Thank God there’s Jesus! And thank God he’s found me!

Today’s sing along song: Christmas Kind of World by Eric Champion