Weon

It's a teary farewell to the behemoth at Perth airport this morning and we leave it with an extra 2650km on the clock. It has served us well, despite it's lack of power and enormous size but it's time to get on a plane and go to see Steve get married. Perth airport is the only place we have seen any merchandise relating to the World Cup which is kind of odd considering how much this country loves sport.

The eight hours to Brunei goes quickly and there is no jet-lag to contend with due to the two places sharing the same time-zone. Having filled in the required forms (Brunei is the land of forms) we head for customs to declare our booze. Brunei is a Muslim state and therefore is dry so no alcohol is to be found anywhere but we are allowed to bring in a measly two bottles and twelve cans which is very frustrating considering we have come from a region that produces some of the finest wine in Australia.

Waiting just outside the doors is Steve. We haven't seen each other for about five years but we hug it up and within about 5 minutes we pick up were we left off, trading insults and ridiculing each other - old habits die hard! We pile into the ever-so-butch Honda Jazz (Steve assures us he intends to get a Toyota Hilux) and head for Steve's new house. On the way we pass a petrol station where unleaded is going for 90 cents (30p) a litre and diesel is 30 cents (10p) a litre - at this point I contemplated filling a few bottles with fuel for our car back in the UK. We roll up at Chez Lai and it's awesome - a really nice big house complete with geckos and air-con. It's a real batchelor pad with a single sofa directly in front of the TV and PS2 and very little else but this isn't a problem for Olly and I as we settle down to catch up with Steve and Wei. I'm sure by now that Wei has weaved her magic and turned it into a regular palace!

We then head out for supper and Steve takes us to a small café that he usually goes to with all his rugby mates and we have Rotti Jon (I have no idea on the spelling of that) along with noodles and rice. All round a great meal and I think it cost us 2p and a few buttons. I was quickly realising that I wasn't going to feel quite as at ease as I expected to due to a large proportion of the population not being able to speak English (Malay is the native tongue although most people speak english). Still, everything seemed to be ridiculously cheap so it’s all good!

Having eaten our fill we headed to the shopping mall where the wedding reception was to take place. Yup, it sounded odd to me too but one look at the function hall and I understood the logic - this room was massive but it needed to be with there being two receptions, each with over 600 guests! While the planning and setting up was taking place, Olly and I went for a wander around the shops. I can honestly say I have never felt so out of place. We are both very obviously white and both very obviously taller than the average Bruneian. As if to ram this point home, as we were leaving one of the stores I was aware of laughter off to my right. I turned to see one shop assistant pointing us out to her colleague, laughing at us, as surprised to see us as we were to be laughed at as oddities. It was a very odd experience coming from cosy little England where I fit in quite anonymously thank you.

Rehersals over, we all go our seperate ways and Steve takes us back to his place where we sit up chatting until late but eventually the travelling gets the better of us all and we have to turn in. It was so good to see him again and to finally meet Wei.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 11th, 2006 at 10:48 pm and is filed under Friends/Family, Travels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.