At 4.30 am, Tom came knocking on our doors to wake us from our deep slumber as we snuggle out of our bed covers.
At about 4.45 am, we had some hot Milo with biscuits before we grabbed out torchlights and life jackets to get onto the long boat which ferried us to the canopy walk site. Oh, spray layers of insect repellent on yourself before you set forth just don’t intoxicate the person next to you with the scent of the repellent.
It was 5.30 am and it was still pitch dark. We trudged through muddy grounds before taking the never-ending flight of steps up to the canopy treetop walk. The vertical challenge of climbing up the steps made of wooden planks had left us panting quite heavily.
Fallen tree logs gives the rainforest a different dimension with its new growth of plants feeding on decomposed tree bark.
Though you might be feeling rather breathless and exhausted at some point of the arduous climb, just tell yourself to keep moving forth because the ending point is nearing. Remember – mind over body. It wasn’t too exhaustive for me but I was sweating profusely by the time I had reached to the very top. I could actually go on like this for hours til I reach exhaustion.
Half way up. Still not there yet! I felt like a monkey climbing up the tree. Oops, I’m literally ‘brown’ that day!
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| The Sunrise Enjoy a magnificent horizon view of the sunrise from the high vantage point. |
Indeed, every morning is the start of brand new day. The colour of skies resets to this monochrome colour of baby blue. Waking up early in the morning to just enjoy this paranomic view of the canopy tree top and listen to the cacophony of the rainforest’s animal calls did reminded me of how I should
really take a step back from reality and retreat into this realm of nature.
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| Photo credit: Karen Ashley Ng |
We made our way back from the canopy walkway to our long boats by the river bank. More adventure awaits as we are heading back to the capital for more city tour and sea water activities.
Time check : 8.30 am. We are now rushing for time to get back to the capital as we have a full travel itinerary ahead of us to be covered.
Since we are rushing for time, we can’t have our breakfast at the resort itself so we had breakfast on the long boat.
The water village consists over 40 sub villages and has a bustling community of over 30,000 Bruneians.
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| Featuring Karen Ashley Ng frm Renzze |
Daily usual sightings at the water vilage.
A little pussy cat peering through the long cylindrical tubes.
Local Home Visit
I really wonder what’s their lifestyle on water like?
We entered a very spacious home with a huge open space to house 3 sets of living room furnishings! They had 3 full sets of sofas housed in the living room and that’s how BIG this place is.
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| Huff, puff, huff, puff. Tom was in a mad rush to get us out of Kampong Ayer so that we could complete the itinerary for the day. |
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| At the centre of the lobby, you will see this grand royal chariot which was used during His Majesty’s coronation. |
When will the knight with a shining bright armour appear?
I was flipping through the stack of brochures and magazines distributed by Brunei tourism when I came across an article which talks about an infamous quote from Audrey Hepburn, a legendary beauty who in one way or another inspired the way I live and think.
“Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book,and remembering – because you can’t take it in all at once.”
Snorkelling Trip at Poni Divers
I had no idea where we were after a short nap during the long car ride to this place which was quite a distance from the city centre. All of us emerged from the car feeling all groggy but when we are about to be brought out to the sea, I tried slapping ourselves wide awake so I could regain my senses before swimming in the water and subjecting myself as an easy target for the fish to nimble my flesh which they kind-of did it – Ouch!
While snorkelling, I suffered quite abit from “fishy” bites which started to itch after a while in the waters. I really dislike those fishes here which pricked our skin with their teeth.
How cute ! The five of us happen to swim in a row, side by side except one. Oh, was that me?
It was a great relief when our snorkelling guide beckoned us to go onboard. We were suppose to head over to another snorkelling site but some of us, including myself, wasn’t very enthusiastic about the aquatic wildlife here who were so mean to us. Oh well, maybe we had stepped into their territory or perhaps they were just purely hungry and they thought we humans were their food?
Anyway, the itch on my skin subsides when I smell curry puffs in my vicinity. They had this box of refreshments onboard for us which is enough to feed us for dinner. There were packets of rice, curry puffs and some other delicacies which I can’t really recall.
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| Malcolm’s hat flew into the seawater but thank goodness our snorkelling guide was able to retrieve it! |
Our jam-packed day of activities didn’t just end here. Right after our snorkelling trip, they drove us to a place which has lots of beautiful gold-plated embellishments… Going there was like a dream come true for those who which to live like a Prince or Princess. Be astound by the opulence of the Empire.
