Sunday 4th May - First Impressions and Jet Lag

It took about 15 minutes to get to Steve's apartment. It's in a very nice looking block, on the 3rd floor. We had to be careful as we went in as Ninja, the kitten, was waiting for us!! She is absolutely gorgeous, but gets right under your feet - its a bit of a worry as she's so small, and you think you're going to squash her. The apartment is lovely and very spacious - I think I'm going to be very comfy here!!

After a quick drink, we headed out - I thought it would be better if I kept going, as I wanted to try to stay awake until that evening. We headed off to Maura, where Steve's yard is. My first impressions of Brunei, as we came in to land, had definitely not been wrong. It's very green with some beautiful houses - some absolutely huge. It's clean, and there's loads of room - none of the buildings seem to be crowded. Some of the buildings are very modern and most of them look good, fitting in well with the green surroundings.

We visited Muara and Merangang beaches, and also Serasa beach. The road leading up to Serasa beach was crowded with all sorts of stalls - mainly different types of food, and some 'Garage Sale' stalls. At this point, the jet lag really started to kick in - I felt a bit queasy and Steve said I'd gone deathly pale, so we headed back to the apartment so I could give in and have a couple of hours sleep.

I felt loads better after a kip, so we went back out to Merangang beach (also worryingly known as Crocodile Beach, although there have never been any crocodiles seen there - allegedly!) We went in for a swim - in the South China Sea, very exotic! It was like being in warm bath! It was great and I could have stayed in for ages, but it was a bit rough, and I'm a complete wimp in the sea!!

We went back to the apartment for the evening and I was OK until I hit the vodka, then it all hit me and I had to go to bed at 9 - for a fantastic nights sleep!!