I woke up at 7:30 AM and ready to adventure the small but rich city of Bandar Seri Begawan.
I went out of the centre to the main road and took some photos. On my way back to the centre, I met the assistant supervisor of the centre, Mohd Noramizul HJ Serbini. He was a nice person too. He said that he wanted to visit the Philippines someday and discover the beaches and diving spots.
Just walking around with the map, I was able to reach the Tamu (Open Market), Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Complex (or Yayasan Mall), a plaza along Jalan McArthur, and the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. Many boatmen convinced me to ride the water boats towards Kampong Ayer (Water Village), but I was just not interested. Kampong Ayer can be seen anyway while I was at the plaza. They are houses in stilts like water villages of the Badjaos in the Philippines.
I ate brunch at a Pinoy Fastfood. The workers there were all Pinoys too. The janitress was a Pinay from Calumpang, General Santos City. I also met many Filipinos working at Yayasan Mall – some of them were kind and some were proud.
I bought some souvenir items at 1.80 Store when the rain poured out very heavily. I was trapped inside the store for more than an hour. When the rains poured slowly, I decided to go home and sleep.
I woke up at 3:00 PM and it was still showering. I thought I can still walk outside with my sweater on, so I decided to go back to Yayasan Mall. But on my way down to the office, I saw Mohd Firdaus Abdullah, the center supervisor. I got his email address for posting at Trip Advisor website. I was at the gate when Mr Firdaus called me to come back. He told me that I should also go and see The Mall in Gadong, and since he was going to that area to fetch his son from school, he told me to ride on his car and he will take me to The Mall. He was so kind to me. We fetched his 11-years old son in school and they dropped me at The Mall. Then he told me he would pick me up at 7:30 PM at the mall entrance. It was a blessing in surprise!
At The Mall, I had snacks at KFC, thinking they have wi-fi, but there was none. A Pinoy crew named Jay told me that the Jollibee at the next corner has wi-fi. So after taking out 1 piece chicken with rice for dinner, I went to Jollibee. There were many Pinoy service crews there too.
At 7:30 PM Mr Firdaus picked me up with his son and took me back to Pusat Belia. Some new guests were there waiting for him too.
The night was dark and quiet at the centre, so I decided to go and see Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque. But the place is quite far and I needed to walk for about 30-45 minutes. I first passed by Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and took photos of it with the lights. What a site to behold at night!
After taking photos, I hurriedly go to locate Bolkiah’s mosque. But only a few steps going there, the rain started to pour so I walked fast back to the centre.
I ate my dinner, took a bath, typed some narratives in my laptop and slept.
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