Miri,Taman Awam, Seria, Brunei and other places...

Things I have seen and done exploring Miri and surrounds over the past week...

1 - RUN  to Taman Awam
2 - BIKE to Seria, Brunei.
3 - EAT Steam boat at 883 BBQ Buffett
4 - SING Karaoke at "The Island"

Taman Awan in a public space in Miri close to town - on the way to the airport. Although I live close I had not visited before... and I was quite impressed. It has a SkatePark, kids playgrounds, pool, walking paths and a cool elevated walkway.

The park features a series of elevated walk ways.. pretty cool actually.!

This week's ride went a little further into Brunei to Seria. However I was not quite aware of the strict fasting laws during Ramadan. No food to be eaten at cafe's or anywhere outdoors during day time. I bought a take out coffee and some eggs and hid in a bush to eat them. The laws are enforced by special police who will fine locals and foreigners if you break them. In hindsight, the extremely large snake I encountered on the ride over may have been a good meal option if I knew the difficulties getting a bite in Brunei.

 

The road to / from Brunei is flat but usually low traffic and relatively safe. I have avoided riding at night so far in Borneo, 1) because there is reportedly a high incidences of drink driving here..but 2) because of these guys. My understanding (may be wrong) from my time working in the desert in NW Australia was that snakes often come to the roads at night to soak up some of the heat still in the road surface after the sun goes down. When the roads are poorly lit the chances of running over one of these speed bumps is possibly a bit higher after sunset. And ALL the road kill I see is first thing in the morning- which sort of supports that theory right.
Anyway - Truth be known,  I more afraid of the drunk drivers that I am of snakes.

Road Kill Borneo Style - This guy was about 2m long 

..And for my whacky story of the week..drawing a very long bow to anything to do with sport.. This has been one of my high participation activities of late.

The talent pool is quite shallow in these parts - Karaoke at 'the Island'