Brunei Babymoon : Brunei International Airport, Jubilee Hotel, and AHKA Car Rental

This trip was unplanned. We just had a glimpse of air ticket prices two days before, with no specific destination on mind. We clicked almost all SEA destinations and found that Brunei had the cheapest air fare among all. Anyhow, two days after, the return ticket was up strike that made us turned to AirAsiaGo.com for flight + hotel.  Still, the total amount was pretty handsome, but who cares, I NEED A VACATION! Pfft!

I quickly started the Trip Cookbook with not-so-santai itinerary to cover the whole Brunei in just one and a half days! Proud to declare that this time, the itinerary was done by yours truly. Hehehe!

Both of us worked late on Friday and luckily, we’ll be flying off on Sunday. The only drawback was the flight time…6.45am! So we had one solid day to do all the preparation, including preparing the breakfast for Sunday, for we will be taking the first train and bus to LCCT. We woke up at 3.00am, went out at 3.45am, took ERL and bus at 4.20am, and reached LCCT at 5.00am.

Ok, listen. This is the boiling point where I turned to be a very VERY emotional pregger! We have never, EVER, done any counter check-in for all trips. We have never, purchased any baggage by this far. Everything was simple, web check-in, carry-in, and off we go.

ANYHOW, with no flying experience while pregnant, I bluntly followed what was stated on AirAsia website, where pregnant lady is needed to do counter check-in. So I quickly walked towards the assigned counter, but the officer directed me to another available counter, where that available counter was not yet in operation! AND the queue was SUPER LONG! I looked around and started to join the crowd, complaining on the situation.

I cannot tahan anymore lah kan. I went straight to the officer and hit my luck. I told her that I just need to print my boarding pass and pregnant lady can’t do so via the web! Guess what she told me? “Owh…actually can…you just need to clarify the document at the counter jerrrrrr”. Honestly, I felt like slapping her forehead! HEY, THEN PUT IN ON YOUR WEBSITE LA DEY!

She instructed me to print it via kiosk, and I had to run over the other side of the section to get it printed! The second level of boiling point then, HIT! The option ONLY allowed me to print the return ticket (from Brunei). ARGHHHH! So I ran back to the counter section and queued! By this time, I was on FULL FORCE of showing my bump to the liners! (Thank you baby!) They allowed me to go first and I quickly repeated the whole story, again! Guess what she said? “You are late and that is why the system didn’t allow you to do so.”

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…NEVER, EVER, mess with emotional pregger! “I’ve been here since 5.00am, the counter was closed and the backup counter was not yet operated, and the officer asked me to print via kiosk, I ran back and forth, and now you telling me that I AM THE ONE WHO IS NOT ON TIME???”

And she handed me the boarding pass.

Hubby then said “Next time, we just do web check-in. Jom blah!” We sat at one corner and had our tapau breakfast (rice with fried chicken and petai, with vitagens) that hubby cooked the night before. Erkkkk alhamdulillah. We threw the containers and walked towards the check point and passed by the check-in officer, immigration, and scanner, with FLYING COLORS! NO one noticed that I am 5 months pregnant and NO one asked for my gynea’s letter!

Owh wait…wait till I blog about what happened during the return! DRAMA CONTINUES!

We boarded the 2 hour-journey flight and reached Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei around 9.05am. The Brunei International Airport looked pretty new with half part of it was still under construction. We walked to the arrival hall and looked for our pick-up of the day (free airport transfer by Jubilee Hotel), but neither sign of my name nor the hotel name was displayed. Hmmm…he could be late, I whispered internally.

It was half an hour past 9.00am and no one left except two tour agencies who waited for their tour group. We decided to walk out from the arrival hall and looked for the guy. We then went up to the departure hall but still, no sign of a pick-up guy. We walked back to the arrival hall and sat on the bench. 

I had no choice but to ask hubby to get some help from the one and only convenient store. Hubby asked whether is there any phone booth and she said “Nope!”. She referred us to the information counter, but there was a sign “Sorry, we are closed.” HOI, it was 9.30am! I tried my luck to get the girl to call the hotel using her phone but she asked me to look for phone booth at the departure hall. EH, BUKAN KO KATA TAKDE KE TADI? PFFT!

I had no choice but to beg for help from one of the tour agency guys who was still waiting for his group. I was lucky enough that he was SO KIND and HELPFUL. He even gave a detail description of my outfit to the hotel and forced the hotel to come a.s.a.p. I thanked him and 20 minutes later, the driver came with my name written on A4 paper. And they wrongly spelled my name! Owh well, the whole van was ours!

 

Like a fully loaded AK14, I bombarded the driver for wasting our time! It was 10.30am and we only have one full day to explore Brunei! He apologized and told me that it wasn’t in his schedule. The reception must have missed it. OK, SIAP LA KO RECEPTION!

On the way to Jubilee Hotel, we were amazed with signboards that is written in both rumi and jawi. I was wondering whether the non-Malay communities know how to read it or not. As we were approaching the said hotel, we saw Pusat Belia, one of the cheapest stay at Brunei.

The driver then drove us into Jubilee Hotel and the moment I reached the reception counter, I straight away complained. Huh! I tell you, tak kasi muka punyaaaaaaaaaa! Blogger tau, blogger! Hahaha! We then asked him to get us any cheap car rental and called us once he got it. We went into the room and had a quick rest. 

Jubilee Hotel is located Jubilee Plaza, Jalan Kampong Kianggeh Road, BS 8111 Bandar Seri Begawan, that offers free airport transfer, wifi, and free city tour (one hour). The room that we got was a bit smaller with the price of RM239.29 per night (free breakfast). This price was cheaper than what Booking.com offered since it was bundle up with flight fares. 

Within 5 minutes, the reception then called us and said the cheapest was BND70 per day, with BND300 deposit, IN CASH!

HOI! We only bring BND150 each kot! I told him that I will do the negotiation with the owner, so just get me the car. Cewah! An uncle came with a maroon Vios, and introduced himself as the car owner from AHKA Rental. While hubby was checking the dents and scratches, I negotiated with the owner. The rental was BND70 but I told him that I can only give BND100 as deposit, since we didn’t bring many cash with us. Plus, we’ll be going back tomorrow afternoon. The uncle finally agreed and offered us a driver. 

“You can hire a driver if you are not familiar with the road…”

“Owh it’s okay…we used to drive on our own whenever outside Malaysia, so shouldn’t be a problem…” I told the uncle. (Malaysian Driving License is valid in Brunei. Cool!)

“Yeah…if you can drive in KL, you definitely can drive in Brunei…hahaha!” Hubby added, and the uncle agreed! NO TRAFFIC JAM AND THE HIGHWAY IS SUPER WIDE AND HOLE-LESS!

Brunei Trip Cookbook

This trip was unplanned. We just had a glimpse of air ticket prices two days before, with no specific destination on mind. We clicked almost all SEA destinations and found that Brunei had the cheapest air fare among all. Anyhow, two days after, the return ticket was up strike that made us turned to AirAsiaGo.com for flight + hotel.  Still, the total amount was pretty handsome, but who cares, I NEED A VACATION! Pfft!

And so we forced ourselves to buy this combo THOUGH it came with few hiccups here and there. The trip cookbook was done in ONE DAY and believe it or not, for the first time ever, I did the itinerary BY MYSELF! *flip remos* 

It was an end-to-end road trip with different kind of experience, I must say. It SHOULD be a "santai" trip but knowing us, we WILL explore this place! Haha! When others claiming that "Brunei has nothing...", for travelers like us, will definitely find SOMETHING in all of our trips.

So stay tune for Brunei entries. Highlight is "Don't mess with pregger!"

Front Cover

Back cover

A History of Port Weld, Taiping, Perak

I grew up following my dad to fish at the back of fisherman’s boat owned by Chinese. The hot spot was called Port Weld or Kuala Sepetang, just few kilometers from Matang. This fishing village is fully occupied with Chinese fishing community, whom specialize in fishing breeding. The type of fish that we caught back then was Sembilang, Pari, Duri, and Belukang. They were tasty in curry, especially those with mouth-watery eggs!

That was not the point that I would like to highlight.  

  

Recently, hubby and I watched one documentary, where the host went to Taiping and explored those interesting places, such as Taiping Zoo, Taiping Museum, Maxwell Hill, Taiping Lake Garden, Fireflies Spot, Taiping Railway Station, and many more. But what caught our eyes was the old railway at Port Weld!

“How come we didn’t visit this place?” Hubby pointed out.

“Ya, we should!” I agreed no more, since we were going back to Taiping that weekend.

I told my dad of what we’ve seen on TV and he kept on telling me that the old railway had been demolished, including the rail tracks. I argued with him hardly, and repetitively saying that it is still there. So, right after we took a delicious breakfast at Kedai Kopi Kari Ikan Sembilang atMatang, my dad directed us to head to Kuala Sepetang.

On the way, my dad pointed the place where old rail track used to be. It was along the swamp by the federal road side where we can clearly see no rail was laid. We then proceed to the end of the Kuala Sepetang small town where Chinese community operates their daily business such as clamp processing and fish selling. They do open seafood restaurants as well, with one huge eagle head, pointing out from the roof! Hahaha! No dancing crab meh?

My dad tried to remember hard on the old station of Port Weld. He told us that it should be somewhere in between those Chinese’s houses. We drove slowly towards one old classic-look warehouse and saw “Jalan Kereta Api Godown Kuala Sepetang”.

“There! There!” I shouted happily and almost had hubby a huge heart attack! Hahaha!

My stepmom was laughing out loud and enjoyed the exploration, for she always admires us who have a huge love and interest in history. She then asked me to get out from the car and snapped few pictures of the old warehouse. The presence of the rustic tricycle and antique cart lighted up the mode.

 

I went back into the car and asked, “So, where is the memorial?”

My dad instructed hubby to drive further into the village and then there was…“Port Weld” with three other languages and KTM logo underneath it.

“HA! TU DIA! TU! TU!” I shouted even louder. Hubby slammed on the break pedal and all four of us laughed like hell!

“Could you please stop giving me heart attack?!” Hubby warned me.

My dad and my stepmom waited in the car while hubby and I then stepped out from the car and had a quick photoshoot using my Lenovo Ideaphone S890. (Yeah, we didn’t bring the camera. Pfft!) 

The rail between Taiping and Port Weld was the OLDEST railway in Malaysia. It was built to facilitate the tin mining industry and transport them to Port Weld, before being exported to Penang. Before train was used, tin was transported by elephant. Remember my entry on Kota Ngah Ibrahim, whom his father, Long Jaafar, found silvery tin stuck on his elephant’s feet?

My dad asked hubby to just park in front of someone’s house, where he then, went to see the house owner to get permission to do it. See, how cool my dad is! Sesuka hati dia je! Hahaha!

We walked to a newly built flyover that connects the main land to the other side of the island. During old days, whoever smuggled anything cannot be chased by the authority due to no connecting bridge. But now, no more excuses. Hahaha! 

From the top of this flyover, we had a beautiful and serene atmosphere of the fishing village. The scene was interrupted by one passenger boat which transfers the villagers to the both sides. 

 

After 10 minutes of enjoying the surroundings, my dad then walked us to one of the clamp processing factory, where he explained on how the clamps being separated and categorized, just by rolling them in the cylinder cage. Amazing huh?

So, if you ever have a chance to go to Taiping, please spend your extra time to visit this forgotten place, besides Kota Ngah Ibrahim, Matang Mangroove, Mee Udang Mak Jah, and other places located in Matang and Kuala Sepetang.

Note : All pics are taken using Lenovo Ideaphone S890.