Insta-Post 2013 – 001: Unexpected Inexpensive Finds from the Mall

I went to the mall to look for
comfortable shoes for my training next week. I had no definite budget, but I was planning on buying Crocs, which would mean that the minimum budget would be around 2000PhP. To my surprise, I found these cute and inexpensive shoes that were on SALE! For 399PhP, I can choose any two pairs on the rack. I took the black and gray ones. =”> I know I did well because they are really comfortable too! Tried to walk around the mall wearing them
after paying. Talk about stress-testing. I should have bought two more ~ hmmm..

I had to look around for work pants since I don’t have plans on wearing my cute-sy skirts in Thailand. None of the pants were on sale so I headed out of the department store. As I was passing by the make-up section, I remembered that I needed to replenish my cream blush, I didn’t want to waste anytime so I asked a lovely saleslady if they had what I needed. She showed me the rack where they had my brand but she also showed me another brand, and it was 50% off!

So, for less than 500 PhP, I was able to buy 2 pairs of shoes and a cream
blush.. Thank God I chose to visit the mall today! It was indeed a good shopping day! =”>

Travel Log 2013 – 1: Oh Brunei!

This isn’t a pleasure trip. I did not go to Brunei for rest and recreation. As some people have violently reacted, “WHY ARE YOU GOING TO BRUNEI? There’s nothing to see!”, I patiently answered that I did not go there for tourism, I went there on business.  At first I didn’t want to believe my friends who worked there that there’s nothing to see, I went there with an open mind, no expectations, and after 7 days, I did find out for myself — that Brunei is not for a “lakwatsera/budget-traveler” like me. It was for people who enjoyed eco-tourism, who would rent cars and drive on their own, who would enjoy watching European cars breeze by. I wasn’t one of those type of travelers.

Brunei is a Muslim-dominated country and the place had huge mosques, where women covered their heads, some their faces, and wore long dresses.   This country is so rich that there are more cars than people (1M cars is to 350T people), and water was more expensive the oil.  They don’t pay taxes, and they pay their young people to attend school.

We were privileged to have met a wonderful host, who liked to take us out every night. But we could not go every night because we had so much to teach and so little time.  I agreed to go out one night though, to drive through two cities and see the lights.   Here’s one of the places where we stopped. I felt like Jasmin singing “A whole new world” in Disney’s Alladin.  The design of the mosque is beyond words.  I was truly in awe with the structure.

After our training, our hosts graciously took us around Bandar Seri Begawan as well as the neighboring towns.  We went to the King’s palace, another mosque, the floating village, and a luxurious hotel. Even the faucets in the mosques are gold or maybe gold-plated.  (See photos below).  One thing I noticed when we were going around, that a lot of Filipinos worked there as boutique, hotel or restaurant staff.  They greeted us with warm smiles knowing that a fellow Filipino was going around town with the locals.  They spoke to us in Filipino and I can see in their faces that they are so happy to have met us.  One Filipino actually gave us advice on where to go and buy things.  First question that they’d normally ask if we were working there. And when we answered no, they reacted the same way as some of my friends did, they’d ask if we were on tour with dismayed look on their faces.  Then they’d smile again when we answered that we were there to teach the locals.

King’s Palace, Mosque, High Tea at a luxury hotel

I was a bit disappointed because I was not able to go around like I did when we were in other countries, we were limited by the public transportation (more of the lack of it), and taking the hotel taxi was very expensive.  But I am still grateful to our hosts, Nona and Fatima, who took the time out to show us around, enjoy a little before heading to my beloved Philippines…