i was bored to death in Brunei.
maybe that's why i visited the gym so much and took one too many luxury showers during that entire period of 13 months. not because there was nothing much to do at work. but because other than work, there's really nothing INTERESTING to do. the line of work that i was doing there required me to just wait around for things to happen. not exactly very exciting when you've just come in fresh from the bustling shores of Singapore.

you say that there's the internet? oh..... don't get me strated. i prolly have come up with many metaphors about the internet speed in my workplace. so here's another one: it's so slow that 5 snails could race around the world and make it back in less than 80 days (and do it again, in less than 160). and what about the large amount of ridiculously cheap pirated DVDs? i bought so much that i don't feel like watching them anymore. ditto for PS2 games.

i guess one of the many reasons why i was bored stiff (a dirty joke if you look at it from a different angle) was because there was a big cultural emptiness that was missing during my time in Brunei. i think it's called art. not that Brunei is totally devoid of art. i've seen a lot of their tribal dances and what they do during the festivals and the King's Birthday to know that they are culturally-inclined. but it's sorely lacking in standards when you compare it to Singapore, where many critics say is already lacking in a lot. you can hardly find anything resembling an art gallery in Brunei. what more, my workplace where everything was very regimental and green?

ok lah, you could watch arty-fart flicks in the comfort of your room on your laptop. but nothing beat the full air-conditioned settings complete with Bose speakers or parquet flooring or plush red seats and royal red carpeting. throw in my colleagues who were not exactly very artistically-inclined either and you get a general malaise of boredom. most of them took art as an 'O' level subject. but after the exams, they dumped all their paintbrushes and batik wax into the storeroom, swearing to never touch them ever again unless they failed the O's.

it was thus, i attempted to introduce some art-awareness to my heterosexual colleagues at my Bruneian workplace. it had a somewhat profound effect on them though.

(colleague walks into room and happens to see my laoptop's desktop wallpaper)

C: art irritates life...

Me: yah.

C: cheem.

(leaves the room)


ugh. did i mention they were straight?

---