Trip to Memory Lane

After Batavia, we continued with another hour drive to a place which was our home for over three years back in the late 1990's. It is actually a small town of about 50 thousands, quite a contrast to city of The Hague where we are living now.

Back then there was a close-knit community of about 10 Bruneian and Malaysian families here. There seemed to be a lot of things to do then, albeit the place is quite laid back, reminding me of back home.

Nowadays, the place is less busy, with only one Bruneian family living here and probably just a handful of Malaysians. We didn't want to check out the family as we were already quite late and only wanting to see to see how the town looks like.

Surprisingly we found the place seems exactly the same as ten years ago. It is as if places that are far away from the country's political or commercial centres, progress and resources on new developments are less felt and emphasised. The shops and looks of the streets are more or less the same. The place looks a bit neglected though. May be the overall economy in this place is not doing as well as before.

So walking along the street, we kept on reminding ourselves the shops and the places that we used to go or hang out. It was quite a nostalgic walk across the town. Back then the kids were small. Our eldest was only four when we arrived here then. Now she is 16.