Brunei Breakfast

Our love of roti is well-documented, but we have discovered that we can easily eat it at home too...  using packets of frozen roti!  These come uncooked, sandwiched between layers of plastic which you just peel off, and throw the roti into a hot frying pan (no oil needed).

Pretty soon it begins to puff up and crisp slightly, turning mottled brown as it does so. 

We've eaten these for supper, with curry and dhal, but this weekend we thought we'd have a breakfast treat...

Roti with sliced local bananas, and a generous drizzle of condensed milk.

Naughty, but ever so nice.

Temburong Trip

Brunei, as you can see from this map, is a country of two parts.  Two small sections nibbled out of the north coast of Borneo, and surrounded by Sarawak which is part of Malaysia.

We live on the coast, almost due north of the capital Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB).  Last month we decided to visit the other, smaller part of Brunei, more specifically Ulu Temburong National Park, to the south of Bangar.  This is a popular day-trip from BSB so 4 of us - Rob, me, Kerry and Simon - booked a trip with Haddy the tour guide who was recommended by some of my friends from school.

We set off early to catch the boat to Bangar from BSB.  This was a 45-minute ride at hair-raising speed on one of the boats known as a 'Flying Coffin'!  Once we got used to it it was amazing to be racing through the mangroves up the river then across the Bay of Brunei.  This photo isn't wonky, it's just the boat tilting dramatically as it sped round the bends in the river!

On arrival in Bangar we were met by Haddy and - first things first - went for breakfast!  It was our favourite - Roti.  However, we had never had roti served with this selection of dips - from left to right: sweet chili sauce, chicken and potato curry and... condensed milk!  All delicious.

I'm not entirely sure what the bowl of eggs was doing on the table though...?

We then drove south until we were into the jungle.  Here we exchanged the car for a longboat - the only way to enter Ulu Temburong National Park. 

This boat trip was equally exciting as we negotiated several sections of rapids on our way to the park boundary, again at quite some speed.  We stopped to sign in to the park and then headed further up-river in the boat where we stopped to climb a rather large hill...

Thankfully much of it was ascended using these wooden steps, but there were many very muddy areas where we found ourselves clambering over tree roots and picking our way through sticky mud!  Luckily there was plenty to look at on the way, and Haddy let us stop lots of times in order to tell us about the flora and fauna (while we got our breath back!).

These vast trees with their buttress-like roots were stunning.

As we reached the top of the hill we were faced with... more steps!

This is the 60 metre high canopy walkway for which Ulu Temburong is famous.  This vertigo-inducing walk is an amazing way of reaching the very top level of the rainforest otherwise only inhabited by birds, insects and monkeys!

Despite my terror of the height, the views were of course incredible.  It's at times like this when you realise just how little space in Brunei mankind actually inhabits - the rainforest covers vast areas here.

I was pleased to be heading down though, once we had climbed all of the towers!

As we descended, so did the rain...  My camera got put away fast at this point (into its case and then a well-sealed dry-bag) but luckily Simon and Kerry have a waterproof casing for their camera so were able to get some shots of the rest of the day.

Instead of getting back into the longboat we were each given an inner-tube and, ignoring the crocodile-rumours, we leapt into the not-particularly-enticing brown water!  Amazingly it was really quite cold - the first time we had felt chilled since our arrival in Brunei 6 weeks earlier.  Still, we soon warmed up as we kicked and paddled our way down the river - easy (and hilarious - cue much shrieking) when being swept down the rapids, but pretty difficult to fight against the current when trying to get to shore!

We stopped at one point and walked up a stream to a beautiful waterfall.  Soaked to the skin already we all walked straight in...  only to run straight out again as the pool was full of those weird fish that nibble the skin off your feet!  (No, not piranhas... the kind of fish you see in spas).  It's meant to be good for you, but I can tell you now, it's the strangest feeling, and not strange in a good way either!  I think the spa-fish are smaller though looking at the picture in that link, these were waaaaay bigger and perhaps therefore nibbled a little harder?!

We leapt back in the tubes and carried on down the river until we stopped for a very welcome hot lunch of rice, chicken, vegetables and eggs, cooked by Haddy's wife.

We also took the opportunity to change into some dry clothes as by now we were a little cold and uncomfortable.

By now it was only a short trip back in the longboat (having tubed down much of the river) and then a drive back to Bangar to catch the Flying Coffin back to BSB.  It says a lot that 2 of our party actually dozed off during the boat-trip back to BSB - just shows what an exhausting but exciting day it was!

Roti

Eating out here is great - cheap and easy - and there are some fantastic little restaurants nearby.  One of our favourites is this unassuming looking little place:

We must have been here about once a week since we arrived in Brunei!  Called the 'House of Curry' it serves Indian dishes, but also Thai and Malay food, but the main reason we eat here are the Roti.

I had never heard of Roti before, but it is very popular in Brunei.  It's described here as a Malaysian dish, but the Roti served in House of Curry comes with a bowl of curry (chicken, beef or dhal) - I suspect it's a bit of a cultural fusion.

The Roti itself is basically a kind of fried dough.  You can rip it apart with your fingers and dip it into the curry, or you could be more couth and use the cutlery provided!  Here's Rob on our first visit, demonstrating the hands-on method of eating:

Roti can be eaten simply with the bowl of curry, or with 'condiments'.  We decided to go for this on our second visit (guessing that the condiments in question might be something Indian, perhaps mango chutney or raita?)  Imagine our amusement when the condiments were served:  pickled vegetables, corned beef and sardines!

 The Roti menu is extensive and we are working our way through the various options.

Rob usually goes for the Roti Telur Bawang - Roti with a layer of egg and fried onions in the middle which is delicious.

I usually go for the Roti Kosong which is just plain, but have also sampled a couple of the more unusual variations...

Here I am at lunchtime today sampling the Roti Pisang - which had a layer of mashed banana in the middle!  It might sound revolting, but was actually lovely alongside the chicken curry.

The most bizarre of all has been the Roti Tissue.  I had been keen to try it ever since seeing it ordered at another table - this Roti is much thinner and presented in an impressive conical shape:

What I didn't realise is that this Roti holds its shape because it is covered in caramelised SUGAR!  I snapped off a piece and dipped it into the curry... and had quite a shock when I discovered this, er, unusual combination!  Again, this was a lot nicer than it sounds and I ended up enjoying it - although it really didn't feel very healthy.

The curry that Roti is served with is possibly not what many people would recognise as a particular curry - no choice of korma, madras, vindaloo, etc, here.  I imagine it's made from one of the generic 'curry powders' that are on sale here.  This one perhaps - bought entirely for the fact that I adore its label!

Generic or not, it does have a lovely flavour.

So there you go, another insight into our new culinary life in Brunei!