Kuala Belait: My Home Town


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Written by Delwin Keasberry Saturday, 27 August 2011 20:51

I am a proud 'KB boy' - always have been, always will be.

I grew up in the Belait district. Specifically, my family had a house along Jalan Sungai Pandan which is about a two minute drive / a seven minute bicycle ride / a 15 minute walk from the Kuala Belait or 'KB' town centre. The Internet only came around (to me) in the '90s and so there was no Facebook, no blogs, no Twitter, no emails, no Farmville, no Wikipedia. What I did have however were pen-pals, a tree house to climb, tadpoles to catch, Super Soakers to fill, the New Kids On The Block to listen to and KB town to call my own.

The primary layout of the town centre is like this: a long stretch of shops on one side and another stretch on the other. If you walked it, it would probably take 15 minutes; it is not a large town. The thing about growing up in a small town though...is that you do not realise it is a small town. To me, compared to the size of the neighbourhood compound, KB town was an entirely different galaxy! I visited KB town (after a long time) the other day and took a few photographs with my smartphone. Let me walk you through.

Pheonix Hair Design: I used to get my hair 'designed' here

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I had my hair 'designed' here too

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For those after a real treat, there is always SPHJ Salon

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The general town centre layout

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Zebra crossings which extend into little shopping alleys pepper the length of the town

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An alley way shop

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The bus / taxi depot which also serves as a gerai spot for local food vendors

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The standard shopping lane view

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Hing Nam Foong: a well known eatery / hangout joint for town 'tau-kehs'

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Jee Juan Coffee Cafe: another great eatery / hangout joint

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This shop looks the same as it did from years ago

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This one too

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A closer look at their display cabinet

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The Body Shop: I remember buying a few gifts for my school time sweetheart(s) from here

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KFC: Was and still is a popular date spot for young couples I am sure

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One of the 'newer' shops selling pirated dvds and cds

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Sei Kai Book Shop: My dad used to buy his newspapers from here

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What about you? Do you live in Kuala Belait? Have you ever been to Kuala Belait? What are your KB memories?

Comments

0 #7 DKeasberry 2011-10-13 11:46

Dear JPozan. Are you still based in Brunei? Heheh, I think I know what you mean!

Dear Shavon Hon, thanks for the support! Ping me when you are next back in town.

0 #6 Shavon Hon 2011-09-21 18:57

So proud that you have taken the time to write about KB. Love Projek Brunei, this site has a lot of very useful info about Brunei n Bruneians. I used to live in Jalan Pretty, but the tailor shop house hah been burned down in a huge fire many years ago.

Have left Brunei in the 90s and since worked in Aust, S'pore and now HK. Its good to see there's such passion to promote Brunei and connect the Bruneians together.

Great job! I plan to move back to Brunei in the next few months, will keep checking your site to keep myself up to date> :>

0 #5 JPozan 2011-09-19 16:47

I was there in KB from 1955 till 1972. No change there except most of BSP houses demolished. The KBRC padang is still there.

0 #4 DKeasberry 2011-08-30 21:18

@Ali Yes, same here!
@Outside I went to school in Seria so for me, Seria needs a whole post to itself. Watch out for it. =)
@Manisha Yea, I know right? I always make it a point to do a walk about when I am there.

+1 #3 Ali 2011-08-30 14:53

Don't know you're from kb as well. For me, my life is divided into thirds. First third in Seria, second third in kb and now I'm in bandar. I always had that heartwarming feeling every time I'm back home. Especially when I listen to bfbs radio, it brings back memories. :)

+1 #2 Outsider 2011-08-28 20:15

No posting for Seria?

+1 #1 Manisha 2011-08-28 16:01

Aww! This is such a heartwarming post. I grew up amongst these lanes too (dad's shop is just next to Joo Foh!). I was always a shophouse girl and learnt to ride my bicycle in those very lanes. Memories!

Thanks for this post. KB rocks!

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Editor: The guy behind @BruneiTweet

Having spent time away from home outside of Brunei Darussalam, Delwin Keasberry has learnt that, to know a country is to know her people. Delwin launched Projek Brunei in June 2010 and the site (currently) welcomes over 95,000 page views each month. ProjekBrunei.com is known as the go-to place to rediscover Brunei Darussalam through the stories, music, photography and art of Bruneian locals and of people who have lived or worked there before. Delwin has worked as a consultant for a publicly-listed Australian company, has a Masters of Business with a keen interest in Marketing. Find Delwin on Twitter and join him on his journey: @BruneiTweet

About Projek Brunei

Since Projek Brunei's launch in June 2010, it has grown from strength to strength. The site broke the 1,000,000 hits mark after three months, and currently, Projek Brunei now welcomes over 95,000 page views monthly. To date, readers (top 10, in order of highest percentage) have come from Brunei Darussalam, the United States of America, Australia, England, Malaysia, Canada, Singapore, Norway, Germany and Japan. The site has been featured on CNN iReport Blog, Global Voices Online and Borneo Colours. If you are interested in advertising or have an article you would like featured on Projek Brunei, reach me here.