Ruby Viryanthara

Brunei is a very small country with not more than 400,000 inhabitants. The capital is Bandar Seri Begawan, which is very quiet. Not so many tourist attractions here. You can visit some luxurious mosques and palaces as well as a very elegant hotel called Empire Hotel.

The cost of living is relatively high, compared to its neighboring countries. Singaporean Dollar is also accepted, apart from Bruneian Dollar.

Public transport is not very good. It’s recommended that you have a car. Every family here at least owns two cars. That’s why they don’t need a sophisticated public transport.

I found the people here are so relax and are very into cars. No wonder since they got everything. Their people tend to go overseas (Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.) for vacation rather than exploring their own country. Once I visited Kuala Belait in West Brunei and found out that some people in Bandar Seri Begawan never came to that place.

I was there for six months for an Oracle implementation project back in 2002. It’s a very nice experience to stay in Brunei but sorry to say that I’m really glad to finish my job on time and could go back to a more living city.

Indonesia has a very various cultures (around 300 ethnic groups) and abundant natural resources. It comprises of more than 17,000 islands to make it the largest archipelagic state in the world. Its population as of 2007 is more than 234 million.

The five largest islands are Java (the world’s most populous island), Sumatera, Kalimantan (Borneo), Sulawesi (Celebes) and Papua.

Puncak Jaya in Papua is Indonesia’s highest peak, at 5,030 meters. Lake Toba in North Sumatra is its largest lake, with an area of 1,145 square kilometers. Indonesia has at least 150 active volcanoes, including Krakatau.

The most popular tourist destination in Indonesia nowadays is Bali. Komodo dragon, a large lizard native to Indonesia, and Borobudur, a very huge ninth century Budhist temple, are only few of many other tourist attractions in this country.

I’m originally from Bandung, the fourth biggest city in the country. Its elevation is 768 metres above sea level. Geological data shows that the Bandung Basin is located on an ancient volcano, known as Mount Sunda.

The official language is Indonesian, which is adopted from Malay long time ago. Every ethnic group usually has at least one local language. Very few people speak English and Dutch.