We just left Brunei…for good. (Sad face.) My work contract is over. Time went by so fast, the last year especially. I spent four years of my life on that island: I came as a bachelor, got married, and started a family with my first child in Brunei. Yes, we made some amazing friends, immersed ourselves in the intriguing culture, made a lot of mistakes, and learned more than a few lifelong lessons that we will never forget. Now, 5 days before her first birthday, Nadine accompanies us as we leave Brunei on our way back to the US.

But first…we’re going to Europe! The plan is to land in Paris in a few days and hit Spain and Italy as our main attractions. We may touch Southern France and Portugal along the way, all depending on logistics. That’s our high level plan – the details we leave up to our good friend, Serendipity.

Thanks to our world-famous, authentically-bearded Norwegian backpacking coach, David Gullhav, we have come to terms with what we’re going to call this experiment. I’ve been practicing my alibi in front of the mirror every day to make sure I get it right: “We’re going on a trip through Southern Europe for a few months until something stops us- money, health, or an opportunity.” I want to say backpacking, but a bit more refined with proper baby travel gear, etc. I will be interviewing for a job and taking care of some family business along the way. It’s a spiritual journey of sorts- something I’ve wanted to do all my life. I figured why rush to move back to the ‘burbs? Eventually we’ll settle down, accumulate nice worldly things and enter the rat race again in my beloved, industrious, insatiable land. Oh how I love and hate you, America. Looking back at it, living in Southeast Asia has changed me forever. Let’s see what Southern Europe has in store for us. I can’t wait. Got any travel tips for us? Let me hear them in the comments below.

Membership will cost you about 80 BND a month. Those ringgits give you access to the gym, this futuristic virtual golf thing, 2 fitness classes a month (kind of stingy) and more. It’s important to note there is more to this place then just the gym. It’s got an event hall and some other mysterious amenities in the works. But half of the place is under construction so I can’t comment now.

I’ve been waiting for a century for this place to open. My friend Bassam says his wife came here on the basis that the gym and cinema would open soon (that’s talk from 6 years ago). They say after the Sultan’s birthday, July 14, 2011…some big news should be hitting yall, including news on the grand opening of the 3D cinema. Access is currently restricted to SKS-Wood staff. Bummer. BSP staff is in the process of getting access. They told me we need to poke the BSP administration staff to accept the invitation they were apparently sent. Thereafter…the place will be open to the public. Sounds like some Google marketing tactics to stir some excitement. Clever.

Big ups to my swole friend Bol for the tour…he’s the guy in the video. He’s a gym instructor there. You heard me, ladies. I found out he runs a nice fitness blog and yes, he’s packing.

Also met up a real dope Hip Hop instructor…the one and only Fakhrul Islam. Really down-to-earth guy.

All these friendly people are staff at the place. Some of the nicest people I’ve met in Brunei!

The sexiness…

Super Bol…

Yes, you’ve driven past the place on your way to Kaizen Sushi…

Is this enough to convince you to get a membership or is Panaga and BSRC enough for you? Share your thoughts below. I’m still weighing my options…

klj

I had a quick “bow & arrow” session yesterday to give it a go and was very satisfied with the safety, performance, and professional quality of the place. I’ve posted some flyers on prices & packages below. I can already tell I’m going to get addicted to this.

Here’s what you need to know to get started:

• Time required: Takes about 30 minutes to try it out for the first time
• Price: For 30 arrows it will cost $12 per person; you can buy more
• What’s included? For the package above you get the bow, 30 arrows, safety gear, and a quick 5-minute tutorial

If you’re bored after work or in the area of Panda 5 in Kuala Belait, stop by and check out this place. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.

My overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars

It is really amazing how many different fruits there are here that I never found in America.

I will list some of my favorites here. Another reason to visit us!

Fruits of Borneo:

• Mangosteen – cherry-like banana flavor (favorite above all)
• Rambutan – grape-like flavor (once you start…)
• Snakefruit – tart, sweet taste
• Lychee – syrupy, sweet taste (try it in a drink)
• Durian – in my opinion…nasty. Banned in some hotels, airports, and public spaces due to stink

What fruits did I miss? Let me know if you have any you’d add to your list of favorites and least favorites.

The technologies I embed include real-time collaboration tools and cutting-edge software for better information sharing, analysis, and decision making. This all leads to cost savings and more oil production gains (more money).

So that’s what I do if you ever wondered. Brunei Shell Petroleum has been my client for 2.5 years now and growing. I’m a Digital Oilfield expert so feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about this growing industry trend of digital oilfield transformation.

Anyways, it’s a sit and home and watch movies culture here in Brunei – that kind of defines our nightlife here. During the day, you know there’s sports and all. At night, it’s sit at home and beat the kids…or watch a movie. I was joking about the kids part. Now that I think about it, I have watched so many movies here in Brunei, I feel like my life has become a movie. We watch about 1-2 movies a day. Wow, I don’t have a life and I’m loving it.

The Shawerma was so fricking awesome, I self-declared it a national holiday today in Brunei.

Noura has this bomb-ass recipe for Shawerma. I’ll let you in on the franchise secret. It’s all about…

• Greasing up the pita bread in chicken broth and margarine
• Making garlic spread secret sauce and using gherkins
• Adding the pomegranate molasses to the marinade

After a quick bite, we experienced the Empire Country Club‘s premiere cinema… and let me tell you it was a gorgeous venue to watch the movie 2012. The movie was horrible, but the cinema had the coolest electronic seat chooser ever!

We crashed at a horrible hotel, whose name I will spare. After a water pipe leak and no warm water in the showers (and non-noteworthy breakfast at the hotel), we hiked out and saved our morning by having a lovely traditional Malay breakfast with Roti.

We then made our way to Tutong Beach where we met about 50 zillion Serikandis which was, as always, a pleasant surprise. We ate some marvelous food and soaked in the generosity while having fun and talking about everything from “How to Make a Great Cappuccino” to moving to Bangkok and starting a new life…

So for the play-by-play, let’s go over what we did today at the beach:

• Ate a lot of food…grilled vegetables
• Skidded around in ATVs
• Played beach soccer…fun!
• Ate a lot of food…fried Jackfruit, yummy
• Prayed together
• Uppercut tall waves
• Ate a lot of food…sweet ayam
• Had fun & cracked jokes
• Ate a lot of food…top class lamb
• Snapped great photos…learned how to shoot manual

Speaking of which, Fadilah Ahmad Alhijazi (Señor Pablo) took some amazing pictures of us. It’s this man starting off the Youtube video here. Pablo is a philosopher, an artist, great baker, an adventurer, and a foreign diplomat. My wife and I agree he was the inspiration of the day. Take a hop over to Señor Pablo‘s blog. Can’t wait to meet again.

It was loads of fun. I have to go to bed now because I’m dead tired.

Actually, we had no choice. I’ll tell you the story. The landlord “found out” he was not authorized to rent us the place because it was government property and all of a sudden my agency gives us short notice to move. We didn’t want to get into issues with the government because we had absolutely no time for hassle so we just bit the bullet and did the unusual.

Now it turned out to be quite refreshing. It’s wonderful how things you at first oppose can be blessings in disguise. A fresh new beginning before the end of the year when we have to move again…

And they were parading right down the area where I’m working! That says a lot. BSP is at the center of the universe with regards to applied oil and gas information technology. After all, BSP received the Shell technology partner of the year award and it has proved to be a successful grounds for digital oilfield world 1sts due to the Sultan’s funding, technology uptake, and because of people’s willingness to take innovative risks to drive business improvement.

Followed by a couple of keynote speeches televised by Radio Television Brunei, the sultan graced the halls as his hands landed on the lips of thousands of employees greeting him with utmost humility. I shook the hand of royalty and that was a nice moment for me. The sultan’s physique reflects peak fitness for a man in his sixties. It was striking in beauty to see a successful empire built on the principles of Islam, led by Muslims from the very top to the working class. I’m really glad to be a part of such a movement.

There was a big buffet of course, then we prayed Maghrib, we continued talking, then we prayed Isha. There were enough people to pray Taraweeh because of the sheer number of people we filled the dedicated room they set up as a masjid next to the dinner hall. We then cooled down to this surprisingly extra delightful chai that was mediocre enough to be fantastic with a nice nutty flavor twist.

You know, I came to this restaurant before and the funny thing is there was nobody eating there. Absolutely not a soul haunting this graveyard. I wondered how does this place make enough money to pay the rent and get way?

My reasoning was all wrong and out of locale. First of all, people don’t rent here, they own. And when they own, they own 100% and there are no extraordinary “holding fees” such as insurance, property tax, etc. like America. Second of all, when you have family…you don’t need outside business. Since the family gets along, they can afford to probably split the expenses and provide all the customers in return, so it’s a full circle of supply and demand.

This is the beauty of family in Islam, most beautifully demonstrated this evening. I am proud to be part Bruneian by geography. Islam is so right here. Simple and balanced in proportion. It fits so natural like eating grapes or drinking water. It’s nice to live in an Islamic state that does things right. This may be the old true Islamic empire left in the world. I’m glad to see the Prophet’s legacy duly appreciated and applied on this remote island. The truth will set you free!

With hope I write you and with a sigh of relief. When she tossed her head back in comical relief and laughed at the airport procedures, I felt a drainage pipe break through. It came gushing forth, all coming back to me. The whys and hows all came together like a symphony. Alhamdulillah, Allah has not forsaken me. I am whole again in love.

Not enough web cred/exposure has been given to this little piece of earth so I’m going to spoil it for you. Actually, when I was moving to Brunei I searched Google, Facebook, Flickr, Youtube, and people’s blogs to get the scoop. I got noth. Nothing more than a miser few images of the big golden masjid.

The only thing the world knows about Brunei is from some over-popularized documentary by National Geographic on the sultan’s riches and opulent taste in gold and oil. Zero intel on the web other than that. What a great way to keep people away, ministry of tourism. They have however done a good job keeping people wildly enthused by the myth that the Sultan is the richest man in the world and that everyone here is filthy rich. Well, it’s all relatively true but not exactly.

Where I live, on the quiet Western side of the microscopic country in the District of Belait, you can spend frankly a year here like I did and never hear anything about Obama, the Middle East, or MTV. Completely removed. Suspended in motion. One hundred percent peace and the closest ever conservative social utopia. Politically, geographically, religiously, militarily, socially, and economically amputated from the rest of the world. For all intensive purposes, Brunei is like a small neighborhood within greater Malaysia on the Borneo Island, which is the third largest island in the world.

Brunei is rich, yes, but that’s purely relative to its economic scale and its local GDP. Brunei has a population of a handful 380,000 and the wealth can be spread thickly across this small nation. The infrastructure is simple and easier to manage and the people enjoy luxuries that neighboring countries like Malaysia and Philippines do not, such as maids and grants from the government. Can you believe, once a married couple spend eight years together they are given a house by the Sultan? I asked and the equivalent is about a 3 bedroom house worth roughly $150,000USD. Not bad, American economy.

Altogether the cost of living is a small hike more expensive than Malaysia and the cost of groceries and clothes takes the biggest bites. Singapore is still a lot more pristine and expensive. This economic gap in a small area combined with an expat community creates an economic bubble very strong for price-fixing/gouging where renting a house can easily cost you near $2,000 a month. Ouch! That’s what you get for not getting married and bringing your 3 kids here.

And that’s your secret to happiness here because this safe and green-laden rainforest land is made for families, or so I hear. Ok, let’s talk about the social elements of life here. It seems there is zero western influence here so no bars, no clubs, no chain fast food stores, and no malls save a few multi-story bazaar shops. You open a travel guidebook and it suggests you check out the wet market. So now you get my point. Really not much to do except visit the world-acclaimed 7-star resort in Bandar (The Empire) or trek the jungles and rainforests with consist of 75% of the country’s real estate.

I live on the beach of the South China Sea. It’s beautiful for sunsets but nothing more as its trodden with Jellyfish, crabs, sand-flies, oil tankers, and it altogether possesses some eerie qualities not too appealing to swim in. But hey it’s a beach and just sitting at the peace watching the sky do amazing colors at sunset and hearing the crashing waves still does it for me. Now for me working here I have come to enjoy the expat lifestyle going to the social/recreation club and taking up sports I never tried more than casually before, including soccer and boxing.

For entrepreneurs, the virgin economy is ripe for business venture in even simple service markets. And you can make a killing here if you set up shop.

Brunei is not a good place to visit for tourists at all. Don’t come by choice. But living here can be quite pleasing if you have a position here at an oil company. Actually, the lack of social structure here can be very peaceful for certain personality types and can harness some great creativity for maybe an author writing a book, a freedom seeker looking for asylum, or a thief looking for sanctuary where people wouldn’t bother looking for you or envy you for anything at all. Though infinitely boring, in Brunei I have found true peace and a people void of misconduct and bad intentions. Much like Oman, Brunei is in a world of its own.

Not so cute: 15 minutes into training I am always out of air. Punching takes the life out of you. Every day it is a challenge to get through the hour with an empty windsack. Boxing really teaches you to ignore the coldness of your aching shoulders, the soreness of your overstretched arms, and the piercing pain shot from the arc of your feet to the circle of your hips as you stretch to get that extra inch.

You’re tired? Ding, there goes the bell after 30 seconds of rest. Now get up and kick some ass. Thrilling sensation.

This is the official Southeast Asia Tour. We have some crazy things planned so stay wired for pictures to come. I’m going to be updating this blog now more often to keep my family and friends updated.

I have been doing a good job wasting my time away getting up to speed. Here are the movies I watched this month and enjoyed…

• Father of the Bride, Part I
• Cheaper by the Dozen
• Bowfinger
• Lion of the Desert
• The Mexican
• Mooseport
• Reservoir Dogs
• The Perez Family
• Anger Management
• Shakespeare in Love
• There Will Be Blood
• The Mexican
• West Side Story
• Rush Hour, Part III
• Bowling for Columbine
• Good Will Hunting
• The Godfather, Part I
• The Godfather, Part II
• The Lord of the Rings, Part I
• The Lord of the Rings, Part II
• The Lord of the Rings, Part III
• Ocean’s 11
• Ocean’s 12
• ET
• A Walk to Remember
• The Full Monty
• The Wedding Date
• Trainspotting

The following is only my opinion and I’m usually right

Movies that suck: Things I bought, started watching, and ejected early:

• Police Academy, Part I
• Father of the Bride, Part II
• Beauty Shop
• Balls of Fury
• Sideways

Movies I plan to watch next: I have these and I am waiting to get home from work so I can frickin’ relax and watch these:

• Dirty Pretty Things
• The Godfather, Part III
• The Departed
• Hotel Rwanda
• Glory
• Irreversible
• Dirty Dancing
• Notting Hill
• 8 Millimeter
• Your suggestions?

Movies I need to find: Here are movies I am looking for and can’t find. Let me know if you have them I’ll borrow them from you and never give them back, I promise.

• Irreversible
• Mississippi Burning
• Confidence
• The Lion King
• Star Wars complete series
• Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
• Reqiuem for a Dream
• The Message
• Bye Bye (French)
• A Hope (French)
• Battle of Algiers (Old)
• Indecent Proposal