Brunei Day 4-5: Ulu Temburong National Park

Day 4 – Wednesday, 13th January 2010

It began to rain in the wee hours of the morning, and part of my sub-consciousness must’ve heard the rain battering our roof and everything around us that I began to feel even lazier and ignored my alarm. Not to mention that I slept a little late having played Dragon Age again the night before, and when Des entered my room only to find that I was asleep, he urged me to wake up and I told him that I didn’t feel like going to Ulu Temburong anymore, especially since it was raining.

He didn’t buy that however, and after more egging on his part, I begrudgingly got up and showered, and then Desmond’s dad sent us (including Pei Yi who went to Desmond’s place that morning) to the jetty, where we took the boat to Ulu Temburong National Park.

#1 Desmond talking on the phone while in the boat.

#2 The boat kept moving about and made some pretty sharp turns that at several points it feels as if water was going to gush into the boat. It’s hard to see in this picture, but the whitish thing by the window was actually waves of water as we were incredibly close to the water when we turned.

#3 We met up with our tour guide, David, whom we have arranged to meet via his boss (Haji) whom I called yesterday whilst we were on our way to Tasek Merimbun. He then led us immediately to eat some light refreshments (mostly kuih-muih, and there are some curry puffs too) at a nearby restaurant.

We had a chat with David, and he turns out to be a Sarawakian who came to Brunei to work and became a permanent resident or something. Pardon my ignorance, but I initially thought he’s Malay because of his looks until he told us that he’s an Iban and a Christian. Fascinating, this.

#4 Getting down to our speedboat after driving some stretch of road spanning some kilometres in David’s car.

#5 Snapping a photo while in the speedboat—I had this fear or paranoia that the boat might topple over and I’d lose my camera equipment and photos to the river in Brunei (which thankfully didn’t happen here). :/

“Mao ambil gambar”? asked David towards the end of the video.

#6 Which he actually did, while I placed full trust on his capability to handle my DSLR without having it drop into the river while standing on top of the speedboat wtf.

#7 This almost reminds me of Laos, if not for the fact that it’s sorely lacking the mountainous landscape in the background which dominates much of Laos, as well as the speedboat’s overbearingly loud sounds that disrupt what would otherwise be utter peace.

#8 Going beneath some trees.

A little terrifying at times because sometimes it feels as if we could easily tilt and fall into the river.

#9 At the place where we register our names to enter the Ulu Temburong National Park as well as for a toilet break.

#10 Point infinity.

#11 We finally began our actual ascent on incredibly muddy grounds.

#12 And up a long flight of stairs.

#13 Us taking a short break, with Pei Yi constantly talking to David in BM. (Can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before or not, but both Desmond and Pei Yi marvelled at the way I spoke BM, lol.)

#14 This is the insanely high canopy walk.

#15 A better look at this.

#16 Perspective from a worm.

#17 Pei Yi and Desmond posing at a distance. At the first tower, there were actually some flights of steps that would allow you to see a better panoramic view of Brunei, but by then my acrophobia kicked in and I decided to forgo it.

#18 Apparently the tallest mountain in Malaysia is that way.

#19 A not entirely great attempt at a HDR image.

#20 A better perspective of the canopy walk from another tower.

#21 Me looking too afraid to even cross it wtf.

#22 A long drop to the bottom.

Relief washed over me when we finally reached the bottom of the last tower—I didn’t exactly regret the experience after it was finally over, but it’s a different matter altogether when I was in the midst of doing it wtf.

#23 On the way down. David was telling us about a group of Koreans he had to bring around once, and he complained that some of the girls were wearing high heels while a guy was afraid of sweating or exerting himself too much or something, lol.

#24 Pei Yi, Des, and me at a suspension bridge.

#25 Me and David.

#26 Me overlooking a river.. although in this picture you can’t really see that wtf.

#27 We finally, actually, reached the bank of a river of the national park, where we took the opportunity to rest.

#28 A wider look.

#29 A moth or whatever it was that decided to land on Desmond’s arm.

#30 We eventually got back on the boat and were brought to a rocky area by the river to have lunch! =D Apparently the lunch was cooked by David’s boss’ wife, which was pretty good.

#31 David, Pei Yi, and Desmond eating on a log (where I later joined them).

#32 Slogging through the river to reach a waterfall after our lunch.

#33 Solitary.

#34 Flowing river.

#35 Beyond the rock.

#36 Low shot of the river.

#37 Our prize of trekking for about 5-10 minutes through the river.

#38 Me together with Des and Pei Yi at the waterfall.

#39 This is quite fascinating—you can’t see it in this picture, but there was a bunch of tiny little fishes who would swim around your legs nibbling at your dead skin cells, or so we were told by David. Completely natural fish spa!

#40 Took awhile before I managed to snap this pic as other tourists kept coming up to the waterfall to snap a photo. >_>

#41 Shortly after taking this photo, it began to rain so I had to keep my camera (even though I have no waterproofing bags around). After a while David offered to keep it for me in his waterproof bag and so I passed the DSLR to him (and not the Lumix DMC-FT1 as it’s waterproof).

Nothing much to add at this point, but we took the boat back to where David’s car is amidst the light shower.

Me showing us wearing a ridiculous raincoat garb made out of plastic while it flustered against the wind.

Final video I shot at Ulu Temburong (and in Brunei for that matter).

#42 David then brought us to the longhouse! Definitely my first time ever seeing one in real life.

#43 And that’s why it’s called a longhouse…

#44 This was shot to show how the Sultan’s picture (and his wife) (he has an ex-wife) was put up on display everywhere, especially in restaurants and shops. I think there’s a law or royal decree regarding this or something, but I’m not too sure.

#45 Shot of another kid who was there.

And then we returned to the car and made our way back to the jetty, where the boat arrived not too long after. I slept for the most part of the boat journey back to the bandar, and it prolly took us some 40 minutes or so.

#46 At a cafe of sorts near the jetty while waiting for Pei Yi’s mum to pick us up.

We went back to our respective homes, washed up, and then went out for dinner.

#47 ‘tis a curiously fascinating Bruneian delicacy.. its weird semi-liquid gummish texture made it hard to roll it onto the provided sticks where you can dip into various sauces to it. I can’t remember the name of this dish, but it wasn’t very filling.

#48 And then we went to Jerudong for its theme park (which was famously closed due to declining visitors, and it was initially opened to the public for free by the Sultan), where it began to rain heavily too.

#49 We finally adjourned to a mamak-like place for more food as we were still hungry.

And then it was time to adjourn to our beds. Seeing that it was our final night together, I asked Des to come over to my room so we could play Dragon Age together (where he played on top of his double-decker bunk) while we chatted.

Day 5 – Thursday, 14th January 2010

#50 On my final day, I was brought to this expensive-looking Chinese restaurant for.. dimsum for breakfast wtf. It was an idea on Pei Yi’s part, and yet again they treated me to the food. I don’t know how to thank them enough wtf. T___T

#51 What you’d expect from a luxurious Chinese restaurant.

#52 I was then brought around for a final tour of the city, where Des brought me to his and Pei Yi’s Chinese school (it’s a complex consisting of both primary and secondary schools).

#53 The drive.

#54 Part of a hotel that was connected to the mall we ended up in because we didn’t know where to go wtf.

#55 Mario Kart to pass the time hahaha.

#56 And this.. ice/table hockey game which I used to love playing as a kid.

#57 Basketball.

#58 Then we went to a supposedly good ais kacang place…

#59 …with no milk in it! (At least that’s what Desmond requested for me.)

#60 At a fairly empty mall, where on arrival it started to pour heavily once more. -__-

#61 At Jollibee eating french fries wtf.

Whilst me and Pei Yi waited for Desmond to run under the crazy torrential rain to his car, Pei Yi commented that Desmond used to be really quiet and it wasn’t until he went to Melbourne that he began to talk more (and consistently insulted and teased Pei Yi all the time hahaha). She thanked me for it lol, although I’m quite certain I played no part in his transformation, but that again does show what Melbourne does too people. :)

#62 Unfortunately the rain refused to let up, and as we reached closer towards Desmond’s house, to our horror we found that the roads were completely flooded and was quite impassable.

#63 After contemplating for our next course of action (as I have a flight to take that very evening itself wtf), Des decided to park near some shop lots and rang his dad to pick us up. As his dad’s car is larger and slightly higher (thus wouldn’t cause water to seep into the engine), we managed to reach their house in one piece.

#64 I quickly packed (and discovered much later that I left a brown shirt there wtf, which Des then took to his hometown in Kedah just in case he did go to KL) and then decided to take one last photo with Des before I left.

Des wanted me to go for a dinner too, but as it was too close to my flight time, his dad suggested that we should just head straight to the airport instead, which was what we did and thankfully so as it was surprisingly jammed on the way there. Turned out that there was a car accident -_- and Bruneians aren’t free from being a busybody lol.

I thought they’d just drop me off there, but turns out that Des and his dad parked their car at the airport and waited till I checked in and everything, bless their souls. We hugged and muttered our goodbyes, and then my last remaining connection to Melbourne (recall that I visited Brunei right after I came back from Melbourne) was severed the moment I entered those double doors to passport control.

#65 Food on Royal Brunei Air with a cake I can’t eat—with what could possibly be a Bruneian Chinese couple in their 40s or 50s sitting next to me (I had the window seat). The lady was amused when I took out my camera to snap a photo of my food.

And thus it was the end of my trip to Brunei, where I even skipped my first week of classes in Malaysia just to give Brunei and Desmond a visit.

From time to time memories of my 6-month stint in Melbourne often took me on a nostalgic stroll when I revisited the past, and I realised.. that for the first time ever, I’ve fallen in love with a city.