Travelogue to Brunei - Part III

Day 3

Rise and shine! D didn't follow his group today so finally I'm exploring Brunei with him! D requested and got his wish for Jolibee for breakfast.

Heading off to Temburong National Park today! It is advisable to have a 2 day trip here to fully explore the area, but no time so one day shall suffice. It's a 45 mins boat ride to Temburong from Kianggeh jetty (at Jalan Residency) since it's away from BSB at Temburong district which is at the other side split by the sea. Stock up on pills if you will get seasick cos it is quite a long journey! It cost B$6 per pax per way.

We arrived at Bangar Town and it was raining! There are some shops selling local snacks and food but not sure if we are too late or what, again, not many stalls were open. Managed to buy some dried prawn crackers (to be deep fried at home) and also fried banana, green bean and sweet potato fritters. B$1 for a bag of these!

From here, we need to take a taxi to Temburong. We could ask the staff for help to get a taxi but lucky for us, D met some people from the conference there! So we hitch a ride from them! Unfortunately for us, we were told that the traditional longboat ride was not available for the day anymore. Apparently we have to book early/in advance and it is advisable to do it through a tour group.

So after about 20 mins ride, we landed up at Outward Bound in Temburong 

No longboat rides =(

I asked if we could at least take a walk down the suspension bridge which hangs 60m above the forest floor. But as unfortunately as it already is, it is closed for maintenance. Had to make do with this bridge that brings us across to OBS.

And so this marks the end of our waste trip to Temburong.

Back to BSB city for sightseeing and food tasting!

Came to Mei Kong Cafe (108 Jalan Pemancha) through recommendation from the Travel Brunei guide by Brunei Tourism. Had quite a hard time finding because there were no signage outside the shop. Moreover the guide stated "Mekong Coffee Shop" when it's actually Mei Kong. 

Tried their recommended dish, Kolo Mee noodles. 

and also fried losu dan thai-style (they really mean 老鼠粉).

I though both dishes were so-so only, since I can easily find similarly nicer dishes in Singapore, but for chinese cuisine in Brunei, perhaps this is considered not bad. D loves them!

With D's request, we visited another famous mosque, Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque (opening hours: Sun - Wed, 8am - 12pm, 2pm - 3pm, 5pm - 6pm). 

Since it was a Thursday, the mosque was closed in preparation for the next day's prayers, and we could only walk around the exterior to admire the Islamic architecture which glistens in the sunny and clear blue sky.

It was a short stay at the mosque before we move off to the next destination. The mosque was quite out of the way from the main city area though there was a straight bus here. The trouble was finding the way back from here. Since the bus kinda stopped us randomly at a side road, we were clueless where to hop on the bus back. In the end, after asking round, we took a free hospital shuttle bus and from there, took the public bus opposite the hospital to Gadong Mall and back to hotel.

Gadong was an impromptu stop since it was out of the way and since it's mainly malls, I honestly thought we can give it a miss. But we passed by this pasar malam and got all excited.

Compared to the peace and quiet in the city area, this pasar malam is one of the busiest and bustling place I visited in Brunei already.

Saw many local food and snacks which were sold here and was feeling adventurous. Besides their nasi katok and other similar packed rice, there were quite a lot of bbq stuff as well. 

Selurut. a sweet and salty pudding made with rice flour, coconut milk and eggs wrapped in palm leaf. It's a little sweet and salty together, not exactly to my liking.

Kueh Penyaram. Hat-shaped crispy treats made with flour and palm sugar, chewy on the inside. Yummy when eaten hot!

Learnt my lesson from the fritters in the morning at Temburong, so I asked for just 1 of each will do. They usually sells like 5-6 pcs for a dollar and do not mix their snacks but I literally begged them because I really don't wanna waste the leftover food.

Next to the pasar malam is a wet market which looked almost closed with only a few stalls open in the late afternoon. Their wet market looks similar to those we have in Singapore!

Saw this weird looking fish on sale. So cute!

and an extremely friendly crab seller.

Gadong Mall was boring as expected. There's supposedly many malls all together, with Hua Ho departmental store and a theatre too, but it's not worth the time.

Spot it, Missha in Brunei! The only thing we got from here is Beard Papa's choco puff.

Then back to the city! Brought D to Jalan Residency to eat the satays! Had 2 plates of chicken satays, 1 plate of beef satays (meat was tough imo) and a huge plate of mee soto.

And this marks the end of the third day in Brunei!