Day 34-36: Movies in KK & Transit to Brunei

We spent 2 days just relaxing in Kota Kinabalu (KK). The backpackers we were staying at was super comfy. They had a whole bunch of relatively new DVDs you could borrow. Local food was good. Plus we know we are going to Brunei next, which is going to be pretty hectic. As a result, we just chilled around.

We got to explore the Sunday Market and the Night Market in KK. The Sunday Market is fairly normal as far as street markets go. You have the usual bath soaps with breast milk (rose breast milk that is), frog purses, live turtles for sale (not sure whether they are for eating or for domestic pet purposes), honey comb with the bees still on it, and dried fish everywhere. Oh, and some fresh vegetables – just to keep you regular.

The Night Market was really similar to Labuan Bajo’s night market. Only this time, we were on our own to try to select our own fresh fish. We must have circled the place multiple times trying to remember what the Italian Thomas had told us in Labuan Bajo. Look for the clarity of the eyes. Check the gills and make sure they are pink. Round and round we went until finally we selected our very own white snapper. It was super yummy going down and it never came back up – so I’d call that a great 1^st selection by Sarah & Pallavi (mostly Pallavi).

We finally made our way over to Brunei. We’d heard Brunei really has little to do, but we figured, when are we ever going to be so close to Brunei as we are here on Borneo? We’d never go out of our way for it, so might as well go for 2 days in transit, see what there is to see, and get out of there. We took a series of ferries, had an easy enough customs experience, and got on the bus from the ferry into BSB (the name for the capital I can never remember).

This is what we had expected from Borneo. Rainforest everywhere! Brunei is such a funny little country. It had the foresight to preserve the rainforest, has a per capital GDP of $55K USD because of its oil wealth, and has sharia law. The best way I can describe Brunei is like rainforest meets Arab oil meets Asia. When you look around, you can see the wealth on the road and in the housing. You can see that the infrastructure is there.  The streets are super clear, with signs warning against the financial penalties of littering. Plus, as Pallavi hypothesizes, because they have a ruling Sultan, it looks like there is minimal corruption and stuff actually gets done.

We arrived in the afternoon, took a nap, and only made it out for the small Night Market (where all of the women in various stalls seemed to have a television set up and were captivated by some sort of Japanese soap opera. Not sure what was happening, but everybody, including the maid was crying, so it looked like a real tear jerker). Even the food names are slightly different.

We have only one full day tomorrow to explore Brunei. Here’s what I expect to see/experience:

·         A 1,000 year old stilt village

·         A boat ride on the ‘Venice of the East’ river

·         See the Sultan’s gold car. I will also accept an entire room filled with gold trinkets.

·         The Sultan’s palace