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I boarded the plane at JFK on a Thursday night. I arrived in Singapore at dawn on Saturday. I was back in the army for training on Monday for two weeks and right after that I was on a plane to visit my parents in Brunei. From a Brooklyn apartment to an army bunk with 20 other guys to an absolutely palatial house. The house in Brunei was huge; there were even three, yes three kitchens. Although I didn’t cook at all because the house chef, a proud woman from Miramar didn’t take too kindly to my intrusion into her domain. But I wasn’t complaining. The food was good and it felt great to have everything done for me. I didn’t have to walk down Jefferson Street in the dead of winter to do my laundry, all I had to do was toss it into a hamper and it would reappear the next day clean, ironed and folded. I slept in as late as I wanted to, I didn’t have to wake up just before five to get ready for the day’s training.  I didn’t have to worry about work at the office. 

I enjoyed my time in Brunei, it was restful, a little unreal with all the luxury and pampering but not much else, there is almost absolutely nothing to do in Brunei. I missed my friends and life in New York and would trade all of this to be back. But that was a closed chapter of my life and as I sat in the comfort of my new but temporary room, the best accommodation I’ve had in years, I was excited to be writing a new one.

Home from the back

The “living room” is bigger than my NY apartment

The main kitchen

Halal kitchen adjacent to the main kitchen

Catering kitchen on the lower floor next to the “official” dining room

Catering kitchen

You know you are living it up when you have a few of these scattered around

Good eating, when you have a chef in the house: Passionfruit cucumber and calamari cups

Dressed wonton and tofu with wasabi

  Prawn, jellyfish and dragon fruit

Radish Cake

Starfruit salad

Baked crab with cheese

Stuffed Fish

Passionfruit custard