Okay, I have to be honest... I've never really considered going to Brunei until my cousins from Switzerland pushed me to plan a trip. It was all last minute planning so I had to look for the cheapest flight I could find for any destination in Asia. There were no seat sales available for our travel dates so I had to make do with the VERY limited options. ROUNDTRIP AIRFARE: 5,600 via Cebu Pacific HOTEL/LODGING: 2200/night/2pax/free breakfast | Jubilee Hotel ITINERARYDAY 1: A R R I V A LJubilee Hotel is located at the center of Brunei. It's not a 5 start hotel but it was definitely a good place to stay. It's located near the Business District and Center of Bandar Seri Begawan so everything you have to see within the city was just a walk away. There's really no need for you to rent-a-car or ride the Taxi. But of course, do not set expectations too high because this place is a budget hotel so get what you pay for. There are other hotel options available but this place attracted me the most because they offered a FREE AIRPORT TRANSFER. Some hotels I've seen offers Airport Transfer for a certain amount and I think it's about $10/passenger. Our flight to Brunei was at 8:15PM Manila Time, it was a 2-hour plane ride so we got there around 10:00PM HKT. Obviously, there was no place we could chill during our first night because Brunei doesn't really cater to 'night life'. Everything was already closed by then. We just decided to sleep early to get ready for the next day. DAY 2: CITYtourAll the must-see places within the city can be visited within a day and the best thing about it is you do not need to spend a lot since it's all just accessible via walking. FIRST STOP: Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque I personally loved this Mosque because of how elegant it looks - inside and out. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside the Mosque because that's being disrespectful of the very solemn place. We were also asked to wear the Abaya and removed our shoes as we went inside the Mosque. SECOND STOP: Water Village To get to the Water Village, you have to ride a water taxi that costs B$5 per person (if I remembered correctly). It take a 20-minute boat ride to roam around their community. I think it's skippable but also good to have so you'd understand the life of locals. One thing I noticed though was they had lots of schools in the village. They have I think 3-4 schools so education is really one of the most important things for them. To get to the schools, students ride the water taxi (and I think that's really COOL). We roamed around the village for 20 minutes, went to the mall to buy a sim card and had lunch at a nearby restaurant. Brunei does not have their own cuisine but they pretty much offer the same food as what you find in Singapore, Indonesia, or Malaysia. They have Burger King, KFC, Jollibee and Coffee Bean if that will make you comfortable with other food choices. :) After lunch, we went back to the hotel to rest a bit. It was really hot so we had to go back to our hotel to rest, freshen up and prepare for our afternoon activities. THIRD STOP: Royal Regalia Museum (Open form 9AM-5PM) The museum is FREE for everyone to enjoy. Unfortunately, they have strict rules inside the museum. 1) No shoes allowed, 2) No cameras or mobile phones inside. You are only allowed to take photos outside and at the lobby. But the museum houses and shows the very rich culture and traditions of the Brunei Kingdom/Palace. DAY 3: Getting to know Brunei more For our third and last day, we opted to avail a tour. It was very hard to go around Brunei without getting tours. I can do without it if I just need to tour around the Business District because everything was very accessible but the other must-see places are just too far from where we are.... I forgot where I placed the card of the travel agency we contacted for it but once I find it, I will quickly update this blog so readers will be made aware. We booked the tour for B$70/each and we were lucky enough to have a Filipino tour guide and a Filipino driver! Phew! It made everything so much easier. Brunei may not be one of those places that would make you want to visit the place. But it's a very beautiful place with such rich history.
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Reann | 27 MNL
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