Soul Food

There is something more better for the ass than a pair of good jeans…

That’s my Reyes’ Grilled Chicken Ass…yummmmmy! I don’t care if my husband said it just tastes like longganisa. But how’s that for my health, huh?

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!