It was another enjoyable trip abroad with my favorite travel buddies Ivan, Macky & of course our financier, my Mom. We left last Dec. 2 at 7:00 am on board Royal Brunei Air. The 1 hour and a half flight gave us plenty of time to go around Gadong, Bendar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei Darussalam.

This independent sultanate is to put it mildly, a sleepy town. Not much can be seen or done here but it does hold a few surprises! You'll be amazed when you visit its museums, Jerudong Park and the Empire Hotel, reputed to be a 7 star hotel! It even has its own cineplex and bowling lane for its guests! Just the lobby itself would take your breath away!

For the duration of the 17th International Federation of Non-Government Organizations Conference which my mom & I attended, Macky & Ivan were mall rats! Good thing the hotel was annexed to The Mall so they had plenty of things to do (and buy) most of the time. The staff of the Philippine Embassy also made our trip memorable by taking us on a day tour of the City, which you could do in just under 3 hours! It's that small!

What would amaze you about Brunei though, is its richness which you will see everywhere you go. The benefits of a self-sustaining economy, with no apparent need for export and foreign aid, is so glaring and enviable. If only Palawan would be as rich as Brunei... (perhaps in time, thanks to our natural gas reserves).

We learned a lot about Brunei - its peoples, its workers, etc. - during the dinner hosted for us by Her Excellency Ambassador Virginia Benavidez who so graciously welcomed us at her beautiful home (they call it, Ang Bahay). Over a seven course dinner, she regaled us with stories about her many VIP guests and her experiences in foreign service. We all had a blast! Including Macky who had so many toys to play with courtesy of Amb. Benavidez' daughter, Bianca.

The conference, meanwhile, was another fruitful event as we had time to get close with the new Secretary-General of the Colombo Plan, who herself enjoys the rank of Ambassador. We saw old friends there, Naveed from Pakistan, Dato Zainuddin from Malaysia, Riva from Indonesia and so many more allies in drug prevention. It was nice to be with all of them.

We also took the time to sample Brunei's local fare... after all, no trip abroad is complete without the food-trip!!! And so we went around tasting Bruneian food, which would fit two categories: very spicy and very, very spicy. I especially loved the Nasi Katok (costs only 1 Brunei dollar or P28) - steamed basmati rice with spicy anchovy paste and chicken. Just writing about it whets my appetite! But boy, is it spicy! Ivan ordered the very, very spicy and whoa! His lips got so big it looked like it was injected with collagen! Ha ha! Most of the food we ate were spicy but the ones we bought at the mall were a bit milder. What was so funny was that because there were so many Pinoys working in Brunei (more than 22,000 according to the Phil. Embassy), there were Pinoy food being sold as well. Bulalo, sinigang, daing na bangus... You name it, they got it. And get this, there were more Jollibee outlets than McDonald's! Amazing! Seeing that ubiquitous bee would make a Pinoy think he never really left the Philippines.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience: traveling with my loved ones, being considered a member of the Panel of Experts (at such a young age) in a field dominated by older people :) and getting paid in $$$ just for being there.

Talk about having your cake and eating it too. Until our next trip, terimah kasih everyone!