Seriously, some people seem to think it’s great living in and out of hotels here and there.
Well it is, up until the end of the first week, maybe if it’s a nice hotel and a cool place, the end of the second week..
After that it really becomes boring, eating room service food everyday if there are no decent eateries near by, especially if the hotel has no Internet access…all you get to do is watch shitty cable TV.
Some hotels have Internet, some don’t.
This one has INCREDIBLY unstable Internet, one minute the ping is 300ms the next it’s 1500ms..even the non-technical amongst you must know that’s bad.
I can surf, download stuff, play DOTA and so on when it’s decent.
And I usually have cable TV, so I can watch endless crappy movies on HBO.
After 3 weeks in a hotel with no Internet access and no decent eateries near by it sucks..By the end of the 4th week you just REALLY want to get home, get some decent wholesome food (at a reasonable price..) and sleep in your OWN bed.
I didn’t spend so much on my appartment not to be there..paying Gym fees not to go, paying Insurance and Road Tax not to use my car..
Even with Internet in Brunei you are bored out of your skull after a week or so, it’s not really a happening place.
It’s a funny coincidence that I was in Brunei at exactly this time last year, a year ago today I wrote Shaving cuts, food and rain?!?[/url]
Pro’s of ‘Living’ in a hotel:
You don’t have to clean up your room, wash your sheets or do your own laundry it’s all done magically whilst you are out.
You get to eat fancy hotel food every day
You get a huge spread buffet breakfast every morning if you wake up
You get to see a new city/country and buy some cool stuff
You get a ‘per diem’ to ease your pain
You get to watch endless crappy cable movies (hmm maybe that should be a con..)
You don’t have to buy much while you are away, so you save almost your whole salary for the period you are away
Con’s of ‘Living’ in a hotel:
It’s very impersonal
You get bored of the limited menu
If there’s no Internet access you die of boredom
You crave your home comforts
You get to watch endless crappy cable movies
You miss your friends and loved ones (it’s very lonely)
You don’t have any transport, so if you are in a country with no public transport you are screwed
Really, it’s not so great, it’s good to be able to travel, but living in airports, on airplanes and in hotels isn’t the utopia many imagine it to be..Yes I’m an international jet setter. Living out of a suitcase isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
If you have colleagues friends in the place, it’s of course a lot better (well if you get along with the colleagues it helps, but still, it’s not the same as being at home).
To give you an idea in the last 12 months or so I’ve been stationed in:
Singapore (2 weeks twice)
Brunei (6 weeks last year[/url] and 7 weeks this currently)
Indonesia (4 days[/url])
Sri Lanka (4 weeks[/url])
Phillipines (4 days[/url])
If you recognise this post, it is a re-write of a post I wrote previously for the Blogathon, I just remembered it and found it pertinent as I’m living in a hotel again..
hear hear. i got to live out of hotels for weeks at a time too because of the nature of my job and i’ll tell you this… after a year of being on the road and hotel hopping, i am tired of hotel food. i’d swap buffet lines for mamak stalls any day.
I was a road warrior for many years. One of the reason I started my own business was so that I did not have to do it anymore. One of the thing that I started to do was insist on staying in service apartments with a kitchen, living room, extra bedrooms. On weekends, I would have dinner parties or fly my GF/family/buddies using my frequent flyer miles. Learn to cook and stock on liqour and good wines. It don’t have to be too expensive but you obviously can’t live on the cheap. The adventures with new friends and old ones can be intoxicating. I learned to dive under water and from the sky, rode with motorcycle enthusiast, learn Latin dancing, white water rafting, built homes for the poor, and many things more.
Know how u feel dude! I live out of a suitcase too 🙂
u’re in brunei? why don’t u try going to miri for a weekend when u’re free. it’s not as happening compared to kl. but still better than brunei
plane rides sucks …. hotels food sucks … being alone in your hotel room sucks, the trip back home = priceless
Working in hotel sucks too but there’s living to earn…
well, sadly thats brunei. even though i was born and bred there, penang is more like home now, and going to brunei is like visiting a rural settlement with a time warp – you just feel ‘wrong’. only thing i look forward to is family and friends, and cheap booze! =)
hey if you ever come to singapore look me up we’ll take a tour of the strangest country in the world
The boyfriend is in Brunei now and it’s his 2nd week there now and he’s already dying of boredom. So am I. Thank goodness he’s coming back to KL this coming weekend.
living in and out hotel is cool lah i tell you.
better than me imprison in offive for 9 hours then go home.
damn you one lucky guy.
I thought Brunei is full of interesting places, the local disneyland is free and you get a lot of free stuff.
That should be great, right?
If it’s a 4-star or 5-star then you wont be worrying. Use limo service, bring you around, then charge it on the company’s expenses. Cool aye?
What are you doing in your room??? Hit the bar/pub/lounge!
Unless they only serve non-alcoholic beverages – in which case, you’re screwed.
One of the things I trully enjoy about hotels are the bathtubs. I haven’t got one at home, so it’s nice to be able to soak yourself silly.
Anyway, what the heck you doing in Brunei for 7 weeks?
Dude there is no bar/pub/lounge..
It’s Brunei, alchohol is illegal, seems like fun is illegal too.
But yeah, bathtub is nice!!!
7 weeks of training some people on some stuff I don’t really enjoy, but that’s what we get paid for isn’t it
What are you doing in your room??? Hit the bar/pub/lounge!
Unless they only serve non-alcoholic beverages – in which case, you’re screwed.
One of the things I trully enjoy about hotels are the bathtubs. I haven’t got one at home, so it’s nice to be able to soak yourself silly.
Anyway, what the heck you doing in Brunei for 7 weeks?
No limo here..
And well it’s Brunei, where would it take me anyway..
It hasn’t been free for a few YEARS 😛
And interesting places? PLEASE let me know where they are!
“Dude there is no bar/pub/lounge..”
Well that pretty much sucks. How about Vanilla Coke? ^_^
Not really at 6pm you get to leave the office and go home, go party, go see your friends, go pak toh.
Try being imprison in your office 24/7 that’s effectively what I am…
Yeah I stocked up on that!
But I forgot to bring some vodka or bacardi…so zzz.
How do I get there from here?
Any ideas?
No buses/taxis here…
oops. left a blank message! sorry! anyway, you can actually take a bus from the town bus station right up to the border (kuala lurah or limbang) to get a vodka or bacardi for RM30-40, as long as ure back before 5pm as the buses stop around that time. that should make a decent mix. jes remember to fill the orange declaration forms. there is a way of taking a bus to miri, which many backpackers do, but i’d advise u to look out for some funseeking local friends and catch a ride with them to miri instead.
If you’re in Bandar, it’s a long way to Miri lah. But then again Bruneians go there almost every week. Maybe you can ask around and someone may bring you along… 🙂
Good luck!
u can always rent a car. but there are cab driver who are willing to drive u to miri for a certain price.. try asking around.. the hotel should have information regarding it
actually.. there are places where u can drink in brunei. it’s all underground places. they don’t really serve it legally. but nobody gives a damn.
but i still suggest u coming down to miri. the beers here are ridiculously cheap. there is a are here we nickname it little bangsar. cos all the clubs and bar is at that area. and the price for a mug of beer is only RM5 at the bars. at coffeeshop.. u can get 3 cans of tiger beer for RM 10. some even offer 4 cans for RM 10. alcohol in miri is cheap. it’s a sin not to drink here. haha..
hai come over to Miri and drink!! Miri got alot Pub/cafe/disco but off course not as happening as KL but better then brunei. However u can stop over at Miri duty free shop and buy liquor and bring back to Brunei. One person allow 12 can beer and two btl of liquor. Location of Miri Duty Free Shop, nearby Miri Asean Bridge. Ask Mirian, i believe thier know where isit.
there is taxis going to Miri. Or maybe u can hired a driver when u rent a car.
why dont you try kota kinabalu.good nightlifeand great babes.
What? RM10 for 3-4 cans?
That’s it. I’m swimming over now.
yup. i’m not kidding. u can get 3-4 cans for RM10 in coffeshop. but in bars, the price range from RM5-RM8. still cheap actually. swim over..beer’s on me.. haha
Jeez.. mind tellin us how much is your per diem? Hehe.. not bad la i guess..
Try taking a 1 hr boat ride from Muara to Labuan where you can booze till you drop! The boat service is quite regular and there are at least 4 to 5 trips to Labuan and from Labuan too! You can bring some back with you (6 or 12 cans, 1 litre of liqour).
Of course you can always go down to Miri. It’s only 2.5hrs car ride and there are lots of private taxis from Miri. Just ask the hotel staff or any locals.
If you ask around, you can actually get some liqour in BSB! These spots are tucked away in some obscure places!
Cheers and have fun!