It's 15 years since we've been here. Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) was part of our first real Borneo experience, and we liked it a lot, although it wasn't perhaps the best place to celebrate New Year's.

This time round, Al-Afiah Hotel has proved a really good place to base ourselves. It's a little out from the centre, in a pleasant residential neighbourhood with lots of little shops and cafes:



Given that Brunei is an oil state, and therefore very car-oriented, its capital is surprisingly walkable. OK, if you walk from our hotel into town, you have an initial stretch that goes by the dual carriageway. But that's not nearly as bad as it sounds. There are lots of trees, there are broad pavements with no obstacles or things to fall over, and there are no industrial complexes intruding into your path. And after about 20 minutes of that, you're by the river, which is equipped with wide and pleasant paths.

Increasingly, I think, I rate cities not by their famous sights but by their walkability...



Last time we were here, we took buses to places that were a bit further out of town, but the bus situation seems to have become even more opaque in the intervening period. What we knew as the bus station is now deserted. We passed a bus stop on our way back the other day, and even saw a bus, but there's no information on the bus stop to indicate which bus might stop there, or when.

But Dart, the local ride-hailing service, is also a good bet for getting round (although the maps on the app are not the most accurate, which can be confusing at times).

Definitely the best way of getting from Al-Afiah into town is via the hotel's launch:





You zip down the river very pleasantly, and soon you're in the -- always surprisingly calm and relaxed -- centre of the capital.









You can walk out, via the moon bridge, to one of the (many) water villages, by means of a bridge and a series of walkways. This is a very atmospheric place to be when the call to prayer is sounding on all sides:




It's Southeast Asia, so -- of course -- there's a food story. The hotel breakfast continues to be the awesomest thing ever. Over the three mornings to date, we've had little crispy flatbreads that you dip in curry; roti jala; a succession of differently tasty chicken dishes; an ever-changing array of kuih -- and always that great salad.

But there's lots of other stuff:







After Monday's prolonged wait by the nasi katok stall in Limbang, and after discovering that nasi katok is actually a Bruneian thing, we had to have some... The Brunei tourist folks have come up with a handy trail, and once we were in town, our nearest was this one:


It's a pick-it-up-and-take-it-away thing, so we collected our portions, and headed back to the waterfront to eat them:


Unfortunately, we forgot to ask for spoons... So there we are on the waterfront, very inexpertly eating with our fingers. I know I'm useless at this. People have tried to teach me, but I have failed to learn... And there was that particularly embarrassing chilli-in-the-eye incident in Cote d'Ivoire where I completely blew any cool I might have aspired to... But we managed to engulf our nasi katok, and enjoyed it. (These days you always have to hope there were no Youtubers documenting it all. You can imagine it, can't you: "You won't believe how messy these white people get trying to eat with their fingers... Watch right to the end!!")

We've not done any of the museums here, or been over to Temburong, as we covered all that last time. Instead, we've just enjoyed trotting round, taking photos, and chilling. And wild-life spotting -- but that needs a post to itself.