It was the last week for my Senior Friends to spend time together before they're off to their separate ways with their On-Job Training system from our school. So this time, it was a dream come true for Albert. To have a day spent in Brunei Darussalam. With a gang of Albert, Lim Kwang, Ah Ngu, Mr. Sing, Elain, "Kong Ghee", Ah Kitt and myself, we set off a journey with two cars. My PeroHatsu SirVee and Lim Kwang's dear's Corolla.
Having our tank filled up, we embarked.
Due to strict rules of not allowing any photographs to be taken in the border zone, we chose not to do it. Hard lesson learnt by Albert.
We arrived at Kuala Belait, the nearest town in Brunei from Miri.
Small town or not, it never fails to amaze me that you can spot many many eye-candy cars. A Nissan GTR is something to start off the day.
and it's my first time seeing it in red.
We arrived at our first stop. Elaine's house. A car to spot : The Ford Fiesta Mk. IV
We discussed on our plans...
..and it seems that there are many things in mind..
...on trying to compact the time as we spend the day at Brunei.
As I dwell around, I spotted this Ford Focus Sedan MKI
Then the gang have settled on their plans in order.
Leading to our next stop nearby, The Excapade Japanese Restaurant.
Having no surprise that we have to wait, it's also luckily for that our friend Elaine had booked us a table.
It's also not very often that I had sat in a VIP table before.
As the gang sat down...
...and finally settled down...
We started to order Food
Discussing on what to eat with limited funds is serious as they also need the money for later use.
But all things just went fine.
Albert just brought up his camera and it's something special with his lens
It's been a long time since I last seen a Fisheye-effect photo. It's cool and stylish.
With friends settling down for photos...
...the food arrived. Oh, this is for us, not only for me.
I ordered one of my favorite, cold Soba noodle with...
...a specialty. Ginger, a slice of tomato and a raw-ish egg.
Lim Kwang decides to go for it.
It's not something you eat everyday
But then he said, "Like a normal cooked egg only". So it was A-Okay.
As usual, guys usually want more.
And believe me, asking them to pose for this is like asking a hungry bear not to eat first.
It was enjoyable.
It's not something that they do every time, so they cherished every single moment they can save into their memories.
Unsurprisingly, the food bill was expensive.
But this was just the start of our memory-filled journey.
Next stop, Elaine's father's workshop. The striking Red Audi S2 greeted me. That's the Quattro S1's young brother.
There were a few other cars that struck my attention.
Such as this Supercharged Volkswagen Corrado G60
,this very tempting Volkswagen Golf MkIII.
and how about an Alfa Romeo?
But my attention never cease with the Audi S2. It's an icon!
Most people would be not attracted at it but to me it attracts. It's beautiful. It's different. The potential. The rule breaker. It's the history. It's Audi. The heritage is all there.
Not dwelling anymore on the S2, I moved on. A very hardworking man doing his daily job. But it's also the background that's pretty interesting.
A red Mercedes SL350.
Wonder what's this mechanic working on?
Yet another Audi.
Not wasting anymore time, we had our cars refilled and continued to a long trip to...
Empire Hotel. A hotel with a throne on the toilet. Not kidding.
It's a gigantic hotel. With Gold-plated theme surrounding the main hall, we descend to the back of the hotel.
Walking to the coast.
Also, there is this AMG-powered Mercedes E55
It surprises me that there is a man waiting in the car at the driver's seat. But that didn't stop me to capture a photo.
Walking deeper...
...and deeper to the coastal line...
...we stopped and relaxed.
The warm evening-tone was an extra bonus added to the atmosphere.
Have I said that the main hall building was huge?
Even Lim Kwang wants one.
At the same time, there were a group of young graduates and a few photographers doing their photoshoot.
It's nice to have an awesome hotel with awesome views as their backdrop theme.
It's nice to see how other photographers work. Makes you think on what's to improve on yours.
There were a lot of hotel guests enjoying their lovely time.
But that does not stop us from doing silly things.
Having time together...
...and generally having a better time alone.
Here's another view on the hotel
and this time Ah Ngu's joins in the photo.
Oh, taking 'street' photos is easier here compared to Malaysia.
I just can't stop looking at the amazing structure.
But whatever it is....
....it never fail to make us go around having a jolly good time.
Here's a photo taken by Albert. I was posing with my camera pointing at him. Having an added realism of me actually clicking the button....
....the outcome was actually pretty awesome.
The fun never ends and
memories having treasured.
As we left the hotel to our cars, there is this attractive Veloster with pink details on it.
We stopped by in The Mall and had a very special stop at this Ice-Cream store DQ.
All of us ordered the specialty.
The Ice Crem that
never drop.
Planning is always good. There was an accident back then, causing the Jam to clog up the whole highway, we decided to stay overnight at Elaine's house.
But then they always find a way to pose in front of the camera.
Dropping by in the local arcade center, I tried a video game I have never played before
and things started to get childish
but it's good to become 7-year olds again.
This is me, wearing my sunglasses in the mall for no reason.
Then we left for Albert's sister's apartment. Like I said, the fun never stops.
We arrived at the apartment and let our car cool down.
This is where we
Trying to spend the night, we stopped by to have a very delicious yet ultra-cheap Nasi Katok.
We then planned to walk around the streets of the town.
Yet, spotting another car : The ER32 Skyline
It's just so interesting to see cars you've never seen before in flesh.
We took photos at the waterfront.
Finding ways to create different photos.
Colorful background is always striking.
Yet another memory-filled moment.
Oh, we also dropped by at The Istana Nurul Iman. The Sultan's Palace in other words. This is the home of more than a thousand cars collected in his private garage ranged from classics to modern. From Mercedes to Bugatti.
Coincidentally, it was also a special day. That day was the day before the Prince's marriage. So that means on that day, there were a few celebration and perhaps a rehearsal going on.
Unsurprisingly, there were goody goody cars coming out of the palace.
I never seen an Estate version of a Mercedes
Even a Z4 appeared
It's just uncanny to see this whole lot. It's gigantic, big, luxurious, elegant and attractive. But I really do respect at the fact that the Sultan is also a petrol-head.
After spending the whole night, we drove all the way back to Elaine's house. Since the border was closed at night, we had to sleep overnight.
With bed
and a laptop connected to an internet, it was fine.
The next day arrives, and the door was locked. Elaine's parents were sleeping. So we waited.
Being sleepy was not surprising as we waited
Till "Kong Ghee" thought of an idea.
Sometimes, it's best for the pictures to do the story-telling.
No-attraction
and then,
He attempts to open the door
with several techniques.
But then he failed, so they even thought of escaping through the window.
Apparently, Elaine's dad woke up to save the morning and we got access to the outside.
We enroute back to Miri
and ended our journey by having breakfast near Curtin University.
Good Meal saves the day eh?
and there you go. A long post filled with rich details of our journey. It's sad to see them all go to their separate ways to do their on-job training. It's nice to have photography to capture the memory-filled moments of what we spend. I had a fun time with you guys. Good Luck with your on-job training. See y'all next year!!
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