VACATION TO BRUNEI WITHOUT ANY TOUR GUIDE..

Assalamualaikum and hi, readersss. ❤❤
so, today I'll like to write bout my family trip to Brunei Darussalam.. Well, I just wanna share some tips and guidelines if you are thinking of going to Brunei by yourself. Cause we had went there without a tour guide or any guide from there.. 😁😁

so, here's the itinerary of what places we had visited and some tips if u wanna go to Brunei 💜

so, our first day was on Thursday.. (since it was a public holiday, so yeahh!!)

• we had went to KLIA 2 using KLIA express from Putrajaya.. the car parking fee was cheaper at train station than KLIA parking spot.. 
• we arrived at 3 pm from KLIA 2 to Brunei International Airport.. Their airport was smaller compared to ours but nevertheless, it was nice and very very very clean. (not saying ours is dirty, but theirs was super duper clean... even the toilet and food stalls was clean.)

 ✅ the tip here is that.. don't underestimate their kastam.. it took the 6 of us like 10 minutes to pass the kastam 😁 it was very professional.. eventhough there are a lot of people, but still. the kastam there work very fast and professional..

• Cause we had went to Brunei by ourselves. so, we had to rent a car online.. My dad rented the car online in KL. The car was cosy and the same as Malaysian car.. we had rented a nissan car.. so, it was nice and comfy for us all. 

✅ cause we thought that the kastam will take like one hour minumum.. so, we told the car owner to come at 4. one hour after we touchdown at the airport.. But no man,, nooo.. The car owner was already there after we finish our kastam 👍👍 they were very nice and reallyy punctual.. ( this is the kind of etiquette that Malaysians need to have, broo.. learn from other people!!)

• so, we got the car.. We go straight to our hotel. Which was like 20 to 25 minutes drive from the airport.. the hotel name was Badi'ah Hotel at Bandar Seri Begawan.. The hotel was legit nice!!!! One room can accomodate 2 people.. we had booked 3 rooms.. since we had 6 people.. My parents' room had one king size bed.. my brothers', my sister and I had 2 rooms with 2 single size bed.. The room was quite large and very minimalist.. it was VERY NICE for me cause I am a minimalist.. 👍👍
• at night, we had went to the mall. the mall's name is THE MALL 😆 It was quite near to our hotel.  
• then, we went to a pasar malam.. the pasar malam was reallllyy different from Malaysian pasar malam. it was REAAALLLLLYYYYY CLEAN.. no rubbish on the floor, every stall ada their own chimney.. so, it was not suffocating at all.. the road was clean.. even the eating place was clean. sqeuaky clean.. 👌 the pasar malam was just a walking distance from THE MALL. they sell vegetables, chicken, fishes, fruits and some food like burgers and fast food.. there was rice also... nasi katok for 1 dollar brunei.. yupp. one dollar........ even the fruits and vegetables were very cheap. 
• we ate dinner at WYWY restaurant.. the food was thumbs up but the quantity was way tooo much for us Malaysians 😅  we were very hungry actually, cause we did not eat anything. we only had mcd for lunch.. so, we were legit hungry.. but, we still cant finish the food by ourselves. 😅😅 but, the food was nice.. 

                               
✅ I really like to observe people.. so, what I had learnt during my first night in Brunei was that, the attitude of the Brunei people are the type that we, Malaysians should really look up to. the drivers stop whenever there are people who want to cross the road.. THEY WILL STOP! if you are the passerby, you don't even have to wait for long.. once the drivers see that you wanted to cross the road. they will immediately stop. No worries.. 👍👍



2nd day :

• we had went to Kampung Ayer. Kampung Ayer is a place where the houses were on water... the difference between Kampung Ayer and most water villages is that, the houses there were really nice. there was like 60 houses if I'm not mistaken that had been built under the Sultan's order.. Then, we rode on a water boat.. 5 dollar per person.. we rode the boat and saw almost half of Brunei 😆. the water was clean with minimum amount of rubbish..

 ✅ if you want to go to Kampung Ayer.. try not to use Google Map.. we used Google Map and it brought us to travel half of Brunei.. 😅😅 cause it brought us directly to Kampung Ayer itself.. actually there was a boat that can bring you to Kampung Ayer.. it was like 20 minutes from our hotel 😆. sokay, pengalaman in Brunei 👍 thank you Google Map..

• Then, we visited the Malay Technology Museum. it shows how the people of Brunei lives.. Malay traditions..there are 3 halls.. the first one shows kampung perumahan. the second one was about teknologi kampung melayu and the last one was perumahan on land.. 
• Next, we went to The Royal Regalia.. this place depicts Sultan Hasanul Baqiah's lifetime journey since He was young... from the museum I can sense that He is a true leader that the people of Brunei look up to. owhh, He had also studied in Victoria Institution, KL.. 😀
• We ate lunch at Warisan Restaurant.. Their nasi goreng was reallyyyy delicious.. SEDAP GILAAAAA.... 😋😋

✅ In Brunei, all shops need to be closed at 12.40pm on Friday for friday prayers.. so, make sure you set your lunch time.. we arrived at the shop at 12.00 pm and the staffs were ready to close their shop. but, they still served us our food. just that, we need to eat at a fast rate cause kesian plak kt diorg..

• we ate dinner at Tarindak d'seni.. this I must tell you.. 😀😀 the place looks expensive.. but the price was really cheaper than what we expected..  this restaurant is near to Kampung Ayer..

✅ Do not hesitate to eat at an expansive looking restaurant cause the price rate was almost the same as local food stalls. we had ordered 2 tomyam, 3 omelette and also fish.. they gave us A BIG FISH!! 😀😋 and my mom thought it would cost like 80 or 90 dollars or even 100++.. but no,, it costs only 40 dollars. 😁😁 so, do not hesitate kay.. really recommend this place.. TARINDAK D'SENI RESTAURANT!!

                  

3rd day (raya haji day) :

MASJID SULTANAH BOLQIAH DURING NIGHT TIME

• we had went for  solat sunat raya haji at Masjid Sultanah Bolqiah (kinda like their masjid negara) .. since the time zone was an hour early in Brunei compared to Semenanjung, so we had left the hotel at 6.45 am.. the people of Brunei wore the same baju kurung and baju melayu as us. the routine was the same. the only difference was that the imam will start the solat without briefing how to do the prayers unlike Malaysian's imam who always brief first.. it was good nevertheless.. the takbir raya was quite different from us..  owh owhh.. even the Sultan and His son came and pray with us😏

                          

• then, we went to Sultan Ali Saifuddin's Mosque.. this was really AMAZING!! the kubah was made of gold.. solid gold.. so rich meh.. all the kubah including the small ones.. 😝

               

• then. we went back to our hotel. before that we had brought some ice cream.. don't be surprised.. i bought a magnum and it costs 1 brunei dollar 😆 (why is it sooo different for us).. the bread cost 2.10 brunei dollar and 3 pieces of banana cost 81 sens. 😋
• the last place we visited was Jerutong Park..for me, it was kinda similar to Legoland Malaysia or MAPS in Perak...we had stayed since 2 pm until 9 pm 😀😀 we also did not expect to stay that long... most games are for kids taller than 51 inches.. so, my lil bro can't play most of it.. he's 49 inches tall 😂.. the food court near the park was very very very clean.. the food price inside the park was also cheap.. the mineral water cost 1 dollar brunei, junk food cost 2 dollar brunei.. ( the same as outside price) there's also a train that you can ride to go to the opposite end of the park.. 

✅ it's better to go in the morning or afternoon. cause most Brunei's people will come at night.. so,, come during the day and play as many times as u want to. the ticket price was quite similar to any park.. owh,, you can't use credit card to buy the ticket.. so, make sure you have enough money to pay the entrance fee.. but then, stay till night kay. cause during night time, it is more nicer will all the lights.. and there was also a movie at the field in the center of the park near the entrance. during our visit there, they had tayangkan Moana The Movie.. u can sit on the grass.. most locals brought carpets and tikar.. sokay, just sit on the grass.. it was nice to watch movies together.. 💜💜

✅ All the games in the park will closed for 30 minutes every time the azan starts.. this is to let the staffs pray before continuing their work...

 

4th day:

• time to go back HOME! ❤❤

thank you for reading.. do drop your comments and suggestions...

recommended to do in Brunei :

• eat at TARINDAK D'SENI
• stay at BADI'AH HOTEL
• play at JERUTONG PARK 
• eat as much as u want especially ice cream 😀😋 cause its cheaper there ( if u don't convert it to Malaysian ringgit ) 

                  

xoxo,
Yours truly 💜❤💜❤