09.17 Day two in Brunei has begun. On the TV the celebrations of the sultan carries on. People are standing in lines to kiss his hand. The sultan looks mildly pleased. On another channel is a soccer game between Luton-Liverpool. It isnít live but a cup match from last winter. I just got out of the shower. If you turn the showerhead the water pressure raises. It still is just a minor amount of water. Well it is time for me to get dry, dressed and down to the breakfast table.

10.16 Weíve returned after breakfast by the pool. The pool is not that big and neither was the breakfast. To drink we were offered a cup of coffee and a glass of juice each. To munch on two croissants and three slices of toast with butter and two kinds of marmalade, orange and pineapple. The marmalade was packed in small jars. Was it a small breakfast or are we simply spoiled with the buffet breakfasts?

12.10 Weíve come back out downtown and sit in front of the mosque. We are looking on another side this time. Weíve been at the post office with just one open counter. There we bought stamps and posted the not so nice postcards that we bought yesterday. We also tried to take pictures of Bruneiís flag. It is getting hot in the sun, time to move on.

Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan.

12.41 We are back outside the mall. We just went in there and looked around for a place to have lunch. There were some places to choose from, among them a place that had a large bee outside the restaurant. It seemed to be(e) a hamburger place, I wonder if they just serve kids meals as well? I also found a souvenir glass for my collection. In the same store we also found some really beautiful postcards. We just had to buy some more postcards. Hey this isnít right. Time to head for the city centre and a place that serves food.

12.59 Weíve played it safe. Weíve returned to the restaurant Hau Hua. At first I ordered noodles and duck, but the bird had flown so I chose ribs instead. Christer went for noodles Singapore style. The newly arrived Colas are so cold.

Our friend the sultan looks down on us from everywhere.

Another beautiful view of this stunning mosque.

13.45 Once more as usual excellent food. Now we are at Paul & Elizabeth Cyber cafÈ. Time for some internet surfing.

14.54 We surfed the internet and went to buy sodas and fruits. In the store we noticed the ever so familiar scent of durian. Now weíve sat down and we look out over Kampung Ayer, the water villages. Where we sit? well on a bench.

Kampung Ayer, the city on water, a part of the capital in Brunei.

15.16 The power of the heat was too much and we returned back home. It is a certain sport by the zebra crossings. It isnít sure that we get a green light as the cars get the red light. It takes some time and in most cases do the cars get green first. On our way home we heard some guys play the intro to îSmoke on the waterî.

17.20 Still remaining in the room. We think we both dozed of for a while. Truth or not well I donít know for sure. Now it is time for coffee and thoughts about dinner. Rice and noodles are ok but we want something extra for our stomachs.

Terrace Hotel

18.23 We are listening to the radio. It seems to be some kind of talk show. People can phone in and tell what they think about things. It seems to be transmitted from Malaysia.

19.24 We have returned to the water line to get ourselves some food. Today's place is Fratiniís Restaurant. Today's dish, a pizza each. Christer went for Hawaiiana and for me Don Pablito. The beverages just arrived. Here as at the other places in the country is it non-alcoholic. That is the law.

19.31 Out on the river outside fast motorboats travel around, so called water taxi. They have hardly any lights. One can see these lights stray around in the dark. How dare they do it? Do they know the river as the palm of their hand? Is it all just a well-directed show to amaze tourists like us?

20.51 Weíve got back to the room. On our way here we chose a new way or was it so that we got lost? Well I guess both things are right. Nevertheless we have bought extra breakfast for tomorrow and rainbow cake for tonight. It is a brown cake marbled with pink and light green areas. The name of the lady that sold the cake is Argentina Saavedra P. This information could be read on the receipt. The pizzas tonight had a 50% discount, special price to honour the birthday boy, the sultan that is.

22.23 Weíve tried the yellow watermelon. It is juicy and delicious. Now we are trying the rainbow cake. It isnít juicy and not delicious. It has no peculiar flavour but the colours are nice.

Rainbowcake, better to look on than eating.

Wednesday 19th of July

09.25 Weíve woken up and begun to prepare to go down for breakfast. Today I will make sure to eat all that is served. It might be so that we got the extra breakfast but still...

10.22 The only thing that differed in today's breakfast was the fact I got another cup of coffee. On the TV CNN keeps covering the crisis in the Middle East. Imagine, last year we were in Beirut. This year it is another situation. How are things in the parts we saw? what happened to the people we met?

12.04 Weíve walked out on the town and into the large mall. Here weíve gone up to the top floor and once again inside Paul & Elizabeth Cyber cafÈ. We are here to check about future homes and travels.

Dark skies behind Peter.

12.28 We are preliminary booked at Hotel de Mercedes in Cebu, Philippines. Weíve sent a request to them. Weíve also checked when the speedboat departs tomorrow. Finally we looked at different pages and followed the Swedish views on the crisis in Lebanon. The comments are like this, if you are stupid enough to visit ìsuchî countries you have to make it on your own without any help from the foreign department. We also read that the Muslim womenís head cloth is a symbol for oppression. We cant help to wonder if all the women we¥ve seen here are victims? It is a huge difference between the Swedish suspiciousness and hostility towards foreign cultures with the Asian kindness and politeness towards strangers. Here we are always greeted with îSirî. An example of this is the man that stood outside his barbershop. He smiled at me and wondered, îCut Sir¥î? He made a gesture with his fingers symbolising a pair of scissors. I didn't feel the need for a haircut and politely said no. The thoughts from some people in Sweden makes me think about Shu Mingís metaphor about the cocoa that refuses to leave the nut, many Europeans fear and hostility towards the things that differ from their own way of thinking.

13.36 We just had lunch at Ayamku Restaurant. We chose an Ayamku special each. That is, rice, salad and a large deep fried filet of chicken. To this we had soda. Price 3.50, under $3. There are a lot of food chains here that serve deep fried chicken.

14.37 We just got back to the room. Soon we will get out for some swimming. Unfortunelly it is cloudy outside. We have to think things over while we have some coffee and watch TV. They are showing some swimming.

14.48 It has been raining since we decided to go swimming. It taps on the roof above us and splashes to the street below us, it is a downpour! A familiar feeling strikes us; will it be like in Varna 2002 (19-20 July)?

Tropical rain in Brunei

15.48 Just a while ago there was a wall of water outside the window and just local channels on the TV. Now the foreign channels are back and we can detect some sunshine and other kinds of clouds then rain clouds.

16.45 This is it. Weíve decided to go down to the pool. The weather could have been better but since there is a pool one just have to get into it.

17.49 Weíve just returned from a fresh pool. A pool with lots of chlorine that we just washed away. Down at a poolside was a man who removed leaves and other things from the surface. I wonder if he was a poolice?

18.51 The dusk is here. It is time to get out to get something to eat.

19.26 Before we could get out we just had to look at some fascinating sports at the channel ESPN. Log cutting with a chainsaw, log climbing and our huge favourite, agility for large dogs. It doesnít take much to get amused. All was shown at "Outdoor games" in the USA. Now we have located the bus station and gone back to restaurant Hau Hua. Here we decided to have orange chicken and beef with ginger.

Third time at Hau Hua. Christer is eating chicken with orange.

20.07 I know this has been said before but the food is just outstanding. Freshly shredded ginger is ever so tasty on wok food. Things have happened since we had our dinner. I ordered some coffee and soon a waitress came up to me with some black liquid in a plastic bag. She walked by me and soon another waitress brought me my coffee. I had a sip and began to wonder if I was seeing things. Out from the kitchen came a man with two aprons, rubber knee boots, thick glasses and a wristwatch that hanged from a string around his neck. I wasnít seeing things. Christer saw him as well. We think it was the chef.

20.29 We were offered free tea before we payed for the dinner. Hau Hua is a great place that is highly recommended the next time you are in Bandar Seri Begawan. Now we are back in our internet cafÈ.

20.42 Weíve got a room at Hotel de Mercedes in Cebu. The Reference number is PH-136640-658. This news waited for us in my mailbox.

21.51 It was Ok to pay for the room tonight. That is good. We must leave the hotel earlier then early tomorrow. It is great if we can leave without any problems. We are trying to get away with an early bus to the ferry terminal.

Thursday 20th of July

06.13 Weíve just heard a distant sound. It was the alarm from my cell phone. The time has come to get out of bed and into the shower. Another travel day is here. What will happen today?

06.53 We are ready to travel on. Most things are packed, just some belongings left. It doesnít feel great to travel on, too tired.

07.19 Weíve got to the bus station and boarded the purple bus towards the ferry terminal. Now we began to roll, the journey out of Brunei is here.

08.14 We reached the terminal in Muara. Weíve bought tickets for 15 Brunei-dollar to Labuan in Malaysia. We are going with the company Suria. It is the same name as the resort in Cherating.

On the boat taking us from Brunei.

08.40 Immigration cards are filled in. Our boat has left the harbour and we are gaining speed. Behind us is Muara and further on Brunei. It has been a pleasant stay. I donít think I ever have seen to many flags and celebrations in the same place.

MALAYSIA

09.16 We are travelling over an open sea while we feast on our travel food. Land can be seen on the horizon.

10.06 The boat has docked and we have gone ashore and past the passport control. Next we will wait. I am waiting on the terminal while Christer withdraws money. We are back in Malaysia, to be more specific the island and tax-free zone Labuan.

Waiting at the ferry terminal in Labuan.

Labuan

11.31 Weíve just been effective. Tickets to Kota Kinabalu are bought, backpacks are handed in at a small room and weíve sat down at table 20 at the Indian "Choice Restaurant" here in Labuan. Now we just got the orange juice. How will it taste and how does their noodles and chicken taste?

11.51 It was fresh, fresh squized and hardly bottled juice. Hot food, that filled us up and was delicious. We might have to add some coffee to it. My lower lip is feeling the heat. Christer feel it in the roof of his mouth and tip of the tongue.

12.39 On a boat again. We just sat down in seats D1 and D3 on Labuan Express 5. It is really soft and comfortable seats.

13.12 Really comfortable for sure, I fell asleep. We are nevertheless on our way again. Next a boat ride to KK, or Kota Kinabalu, capital in the region Sabah.

14.25 We are riding against the waves and water splashes up on the windows to the left.

15.30 Weíve got water to the right, water to the left. Hopefully water in front and under us.

16.53 We are in Kota Kinabalu. We went ashore and into a taxi. After a short ride we got out, paid and watched the taxi disappear. We were by "Borneo Backpackers". It is probably a nice place but not the hostel we had booked and told the taxi driver about. We went for a little walk and asked another taxi driver about the place we booked. He knew what it was and where it was. He pointed in the direction of the place. Suddenly he asked if we wanted him to take us there. That was just what we wanted and so he did it. We were welcomed at Borneo Global Backpackers with open arms. They had missed us and also asked about us out on the airport. They would have heard about us if it hadnít been for the fact that we got here by boat. Now we are checked in and informed, thoroughly, about the place and what it got to offer. Our host Charles has told all about the hostel and the different tours we can go on. We are staying in room G4.

18.11 We both had a shower. What we thought was a large bath towel might rather be some kind of blanket. It, whatever it is has a terry cloth like surface. I think I will use my own towel to get dry.

19.11 Weíve walked down to more central parts of the town. It took some walking but here we are. Weíve sat down at Super Faezah Cafeteria. It is in the bottom floor of a mall, Centre Point. Weíve placed our orders and just wait.

Dinner at Centre Point Mall, Kota Kinabalu.

20.51 Spicy crustaceous with noodles for me. Deep fried chicken and lemon rice for Christer. After that we bought some sodas at the Supermarket. Before we returned back home we also bought some bread from a bakery shop. We slowly strolled back home and now we relax. It is a cracking sound from my bed. It is a crack in one of the boards. I hope the bed will stay in one piece.

22.11 There are probably new guests here. It sounds like they are getting the same kind of information that we got. I am getting sleepy, I wonder why?

23.38 Christer has set the alarm on his cell phone. Its music is more suitable for late mornings. My signals are more of the kind, GET UP NOW!! Now it is time to slide under the blanket or is it a towel?

Friday 21st of July

08.20 It has happened again. My bed has collapsed. Last time was in Poland 2002 (30th of June). Now as then the best thing to do is to move down on the floor. I will look into it later. It seems like the board on the long side is broken.

10.16 The bed is still broken. I couldnít care less. It is still in room G4. We gathered our stuff and moved to the new room. We moved from G4 to G7, it almost sounds like a chess move. Now we are laying up plans for the day. We are trying out what kind of breakfast the place has to offer. Something is wrong with the instant coffee. It doesnít seem to want to disintegrate. Loads of coffee grounds in the coffee.

Christer in the room at Borneo Global Backpackers.

10.52 Time to add some mosquito repellent on the body before we walk downtown. We just have to check with the reception if they got a map to offer. We hear someone cough, is it from the air conditioner? It seems like that.

11.42 We walked to the post office. Here we have bought stamps. Earlier it costed 50 sen to send a postcard. Now the cost is 1.50 ringgit. Is it a dramatic raise in the cost, change of state or too low cost earlier? I vote for number two.

Kota Kinabalu

Atkinson¥s Clock Tower, the only building remaining from the days when Kota Kinabalu was Jesselton.

12.03 We are resting on a green iron bench with red legs and elbow rests. We are close to where we got off the first time yesterday. We are looking for a place to eat. Most places offer self-service from cantinas or fried chicken. We¥ve also seen a Pizza Hut restaurant and a place called Euro cafÈ.

12.19 We went for Pizza Hut and their lunch special. Now we wait for soup, bread, chicken & pineapple-pizza and Pepsi.

13.14 There wasnít much to eat but I guess it will last for a while. Now we are seated on a wall in a park. We are waiting for a bus that can take us to the beach. The time has come to use one of the refreshing towels that Shu Ming advised us to buy in Singapore.

13.50 The beach is getting closer. Our journey with bus 16A takes us closer by the minute. We have been driving around for a while but now we are here. We are in Tanjung Aru just south of the city.

14.00 Before we wet our bodies it is time for coffee. As I paid for my cup a coin from Brunei joined up with the Malaysian money. The lady behind the counter pointed this out to me, polite as always here.

Peter making notes on Tanjung Aru beach.

14.52 Weíve moved away from the central parts of the beach and found some stairs made out of stone. It is time for a bath. Next to us is a little pond where small fishes are swimming around. I think they got caught there as the tide shifted.

15.43 A man once said that you canít get into the same river twice. I say that we have gone down into the same ocean several times. To my left aeroplanes depart and arrive on the nearby airport. To my right are crickets playing. In front of me the waves are breaking on the shore and between the sea and me is a man in green shorts.

This beach is one of the best in the country, at least that¥s what our host Charles told us.

16.57 After that we have swimmed, seen more aeroplanes and watched some women trying to catch some animals from the sea, the time has come to ride the bus that will get us back home. I wonder where we are supposed to get off?

17.31 We are back in our room with solid beds. We are making up plans for a trip tomorrow. There are some islands to choose from in the national park Tunku Abdul Rahman just next to here.

19.55 After a ride with the hostel¥s mini bus downtown we are now on the Thai restaurant, Tam Nak Thai. It seems that I will order Ped Ohd Yod Oak or as you also can say, sweet and sour duck. The restaurant is one of many in the huge Api-Api-centre next to the mall where we dined yesterday. The reason for the free ride is because the sports bar here has the same owner as the hostel. Guests are transported between beer and beds.

21.46 Nothing wrong at all with the duck. There was something familiar about the taste but I donít know what. After dinner we went to the mall for beverages and bread. Now we are relaxing on the room. It has after all been a busy day.

Borneo Global Backpackers (http://www.bgbackpackers.com)

The happy orang utan outside of our room.

23.47 It is time to put out the lights. I hope and pray for a night without bed problems.

Saturday 22nd of July

07.24 My bed is in one piece. I am currently having my breakfast. Today I am having coffee without coffee grounds. It all runs smoother if you place the coffee in strainer and pour hot water over it. Today we will explore an island.

08.26 We paid for a trip to an island. The question now is, what is included in the price of 60 ringgit? Transport, stay and journey home without any problems would be great.

09.00 We are sitting in the sofas at the hostel and wait for the vehicle that will take us to the harbour. The regular driver is missing. A taxi just got here it seems like that is our car.

09.11 We are riding a taxi to the harbour. There someone is supposed to guide us further on. Will the taxi cost anything?

09.27 Weíve reached the ferry terminal. We havenít met that "someone" who is supposed to guide us. The taxi was free.

09.49 Weíve called the hostel. It turned out that we had been driven to the wrong harbour. "Someone" is in another harbour waiting for us. The taxi will come back and take us there. How did it look like? I guess the best thing to do is to get into the right taxi. It wasnít easy to call on the cell phone while they were drilling it the pavement by the terminal.

10.03 We are back in the taxi. A new journey just started. Is "someone" still there?

10.17 In a new harbour, Sutera harbour this time. ìSomeone" is still missing. But we have spoken to Emily working for Seaquest. She has arranged so that we can go out to the island of Manukan at 10.30. But we thought she said 09.30.

On our way to Manukan Island.

10.31 We are onboard the small boat that will take us to Manukan. We also put on some life vests. Manukan is one of the islands in the national park called Tunku Abdul Rahman just outside Kota Kinabalu.

10.58 The trip just went well. As we got ashore we had to pay 10 ringgit ($3) entrance fee to get inside the national park. By the counter stood a young man and saluted Christer with his name, Christerís name that is. Might this have been ìsomeoneî? He informed us that the last boat home leaves at 17.00. Now we are standing on the beach overlooking the sea. In the distance we can see the 4095 metres high mountain Kinabalu.

Manukan Island

First time we pay an entrance fee for an island.

A monitor lizard without his tail taking a walk on the beach.

11.25 Weíve walked along the beach and met a cool, tail-less lizard of the bigger kind. We also took pictures of bombs, memories of world war two. Now we are sitting down at restaurant Prahu and wait for our lunch. After that we will head out for a walk in the rain forest. Seems the right thing to do in a national park.

11.56 At least we got something to drink. In glasses filled with ice although we asked for no ice. We poured out the ice next to the table. The table is set outside so we can do it, canít we? We are outside under the shades of the trees and music from the crickets.

Bombs from the second world war to look at.

A view of Mount Kinabalu (4095 m)

12.19 The food just got here, served in a metal bowl with an inside covered with banana leaf. The food was tasty but the lunch got disturb by some smart-ass middle-age Americans with young Asian girlfriends. The Americans kept nagging to the staff about how they should cook the food properly.

12.42 Sun blocker and bug repellent are put on. Jungle here we come.

13.21 We slowly strolled the 1500 metres in the stone paved jogging track. On our way we saw three lizards, butterflies and humans. Now we have reached the lookout point Sun Set Point. We thought the track was circular or at least got back close to there we started. We were ever so wrong. We just have to walk back again, 1500 metres to go. Before we head back we will make the best out of the scenery and nature.

Peter in the rainforest.

Sunset Point, a beautiful place

Mr Lizard on his afternoon walk.

14.16 We are back by the sand and beach. In the waters outside there is a snorkelling course. No snorkelling for us, just swimming and sunbathing. We met more people and lizards on our way back. An old, huge lizard walked the road ahead of us. These huge lizards are the smaller cousins of the Komodo dragon, the monitor lizard.

15.44 Plenty of species in the water and plenty of stones on the bottom. Many kinds of fishes and some small jellyfish. After we had bathed and tanned we went to have a shower. Now we are seated on a bench and are letting the wind and sun dry our bodies. We will go back within an hour. Some of the creatures in the water looked like rice noodles and they gave us a stinging feeling. Were they also jellyfish or something completely different?

View of the nearby island Sulug.

Colourful fish, but so hard to take good pictures of.

16.37 We have after watching fish in different sizes reached the end of a long bridge out in the water. We are waiting for the boat that will take us back to Kota Kinabalu. In the water below plenty of colourful fish are swimming around. As boats passes they do make the water boil as they try to escape. On the bridge is an information board about the fish species here. None of the fish we have seen can be seen on the board. We just had some ice-cold soft drinks. Just what we needed.

17.11 Boats are coming and boats are leaving but none of them are for us. The boat from Seaquest that just left wasnít meant for us all according to the guy that let people onboard. The number of other passengers has decreased a lot. Be here no later then 17.00 someone said as I recall it.

17.19 New deal. Either were we supposed to go with the boat that left or our boat is just late.

17.43 Whatever was right, they sent an extra boat just for us. Something had went wrong according to our friend that might be "Mr Someone"? As we landed a personal transport awaited us to take us back to the hostel. Next up is a shower and machine wash of clothes.

Travelling with our own boat back to Kota Kinabalu.

18.22 We are seated down in the couches outside our room. Behind me a washing machine is running. We paid 5 ringgit and placed our dirt clothes in a green basket. They were taken care of by one of the girls in the staff. We will soon take a walk downtown for some food, dinner.

19.51 We sat down in a Korean restaurant in the Api Api-centre. On the upper half of the wall are Korean signs. On the lower parts guests have written different things with pens of different colours. The glasses that got here were filled with ice. It seems hard to serve ice-free glasses today. On the TV behind me is a Swedish flag.

Korean dinner, interesting but expensive.

21.28 The main dish was noodles with vegetables. Side dishes, soup with green leaves, bean sprouts something in a strong sauce and something else in another sauce. Afterwards cold soup/beverage that tasted like cinnamon. To cut it short a vegetarian evening. About the Swedish flag, well it was a gift from a guy from South Korea who was adopted by Swedish parents. Parents who knew the lady that owned the restaurant. We have once again met our charming host Charles. He seems to care a lot about most things. Does he know everything about today's events? Our island trip was all but well organized, the taxi drove to the wrong place and we were almost stranded on the islands along with the lizards as some modern kind of Robinson.

22.19 Christer has left to surf the internet. Me myself is laying in my bed and think of all that happened today, all that has happened since we got to Borneo and all that has happened since our trip began. I also think of all the things that will happen before I am back home again.