Brunei Arrival

Continuing my previous story.., so I arrived at my final destination, Bandar Seri Begawan!

Nostalgia nostalgia.., after more than two decades, I was back in this tiny but rich country, that is just a little wider than Iloilo Province, yet, with a total population that's even less than that of Iloilo City. Da!

But even as we landed, I noticed many things have changed - mainly mas madami nang bahay hehe!

Oist eto, scoop! I knew I just landed on Brunei, but when we passed by some hangars, I saw these:

I blurred that photo a little, baka pagalitan tayo hehe! But those two (I think) Chinook Helicopters bear the flag of Singapore! I glanced at nearby aircraft, aba ganun din! I really whispered: syet nasaan ako?!

Nag-duda sa location hahaha! Where's the flag? Midway from front to back, at the lower portion of the fuselage. If you are familiar with Singapore's flag, it should be easy to spot on that polopokter in front! I think lahat sila ganun ang watawat! I counted at least 8 (others are not anymore in this shot's range).

But I quickly checked online, and discovered that it's public knowledge naman pala, that the Singapore Armed Forces keep/maintain some of their support aircraft in Brunei, naman pala. And that they even have their own hangars (baka isa yun) and jungle training facilities in this country. Yun naman pala eh!

I think that's cool. Birds of the same feather. Tiny wealthy nations supporting each other. Dabarkads!

Anyway, here we were, taxiing to the passenger terminal of Brunei International Airport.

Of course it's a small one. Even if they can easily afford it, why would they build a big airport, eh as we said above, the entire country's population is less than that of Iloilo City. And the country's land area is just slightly bigger than Iloilo Province. Di rin naman siguro sangkaterba ang turista nila! Swak na yan!

At least I counted about 8 aerobridges hehe! Ilan ba sa Iloilo? Tatlo lang yata eh! So okay na yan!

Okay, now this - arrival! From the floor alone, I could sense "quality"! It reminds us of Changi Airport!

That make and style of a carpet (and wall-to-wall, mind you) does not only imply affluence. It also tells us the airport authorities have the time and resources to properly maintain it. It is not easy nor cheap.

Most importantly, this arrival route is simple and direct - it goes straight to immigration, luggage claim and customs, all on the same floor - without passengers going up and down the many building levels!

Here's a shot I took from arrival level. You see, it's not too high up from the plane unlike at KLIA 2!

Just a short walk.., turn left at that corner, unto the main arrival area operations. Unlike at KLIA 2!

And this is that main arrival area operations. Transfer Desk at left, Immigration further at right!

After that, do a few steps more to the baggage carousel, then customs, and out! Yes, unlike at KLIA 2!

Then I was out at the arrival lobby. Now what?

Nge! I could not find my hotel's representative or any counter that represents hotels and the likes. Eh I have arranged a pick-up service (paid) with my hotel. No one could, or even seemed willing to help me in this area. The sim card vendor insisted I should call my hotel, so I should buy a sim. Eh, ayoko nga!

Maybe that should be another blog story, I don't put my phone to roaming and I don't buy sim cards at other countries. I just don't find it necessary when there's free wifi everywhere. Ah that's another topic.

I went outside looking for my probable "sundo" limo service, wala! Nag-yosi pa ako sa isang bandang dulo, tumanaw sa Jollibee, wala talaga! There were many taxis, there's a taxi counter, but not my limo!

Back at the arrival lobby, I finally found an information desk in the very middle of it all. It dumbly faces outside - blocked by information boards/monitors, which can't easily be seen by an arriving passenger kasi andami naka-tambay sa area na yan (mga Pinoy pa ang iba) waiting for their arriving passengers!

Anyway, there was no one in that information counter, and it looks like it's not being used as such. So I asked around. Someone told me to go upstairs to departure area as there is an information counter...

At 530PM, walang tao! Tawag daw says that sign. Nasaan ang talepanong gagamitin para tumawag? Is this country already that high-tech that everyone is expected to have cellphones with available load to call a landline? Hmm, malay natin baka nga. Basta ako, walang pantawag. Ako lang ba ang ganun?

I looked around the departure area, hoping to chance upon an airport employee that might be able to help me. Wala. I passed by the Royal Brunei First Class Check-in Counter. I asked the girl if there was a public phone or a landline that I can use. Wala daw. But she asked me what seemed to be my issue!

So I told her, that I just really wanted to know, where the hell would I find that pickup service supposed to be provided by the hotel. You know what she did? She picked her cellphone and called up my hotel!

Ayun, she found out the hotel forgot to send one. So tapos na ang boksing? No, not yet. This beautiful girl still used her phone to call a cab for me! Naisip ko nalang 'hindi lang sya maganda matulungin pa'.

I could not thank her enough. Imagine, she had nothing to do with me as a passenger. Eh Royal Brunei sya first class counter pa tapos ako wa-class na budget Air Asia lang. Yet, she unconditionally helped.

Me mga tunay na anghel pa pala talaga sa ating mundo! I got her name, but sorry I misplaced it. Kaya until now, I'm still thinking paano makakabawi sa batang iyan. If at all, she became the face of Brunei to me, since she was my first real personal encounter since I stepped out of the plane. Very pleasant!

[Yung tindera kasi ng simcard, eh gusto lang maka-benta ng buruhang yun]! Anyway...

Out of the airport, proceeding to the city, I said to my self again "everything here has changed"!

This is the passenger terminal building seen from the parking lot and highway in front of it. Ganda na!

I noticed that they spruced up not only their public buildings, but even the surroundings and the roads.

This, I think, is the main highway to/from the airport, named Lebuhraya Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

"Lebuhraya" means highway. If you see "Pusat Bandar" in traffic signage like the above, it doesn't point to any specific place yet. It means city center or downtown. "Pusat" means center and "bandar" is city.

Still along the way, I saw the Masjid Jame' Asr Hassanil Bolkiah in the distance. [Masjid = Mosque]

Of course it was in my bucket list for this trip, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to find a time slot in the next few days even for just a quick visit. We will see in my next stories if I can. I need to, because I want to!

I am really hoping I can visit it. Because in my last visit of two decades ago (it was newly inaugurated) there were no digital cameras yet (hindi pa uso), plus, cellphones were new and had no cameras then!

I also caught a snippet of Taman Jubli Perak Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah - something new to me.

I did not even know about that. It is big and looking beautiful by the bank of a river - I took that shot as we crossed the bridge. But by scrutinizing the name, I seemed to figure out, at least what it stands for.

"Taman" is garden or park, "jubli" is jubilee, perak is silver (pilak sa TAgalog). So, silver jubilee park. Ah, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Silver Jubilee Park - to commemorate his 25th year as Sultan of Brunei!

Anyway, so that was my taxi ride from the airport. It is not far, I think the whole ride was even just ten minutes or less. And yes, I arrived at Radisson Hotel Brunei Darussalam na naka-simangot 'todamax'!

Ah, let's talk about that later.
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