{"id":1280,"date":"2010-12-04T15:26:12","date_gmt":"2010-12-04T15:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bumisepi.com\/?p=1280"},"modified":"2010-12-04T15:26:12","modified_gmt":"2010-12-04T15:26:12","slug":"seria-in-brunei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bumisepi.com\/?p=1280","title":{"rendered":"Seria in Brunei"},"content":{"rendered":"
November 2010:<\/strong><\/div>\n
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\u00a0<\/strong>Brunei, located\u00a0in the northern Borneo,\u00a0is one of the last remaining Sultanate\u00a0government in South East Asia. It is also one of the three governments in the world ruled by monarchies under a dynasty claiming descent from Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). <\/strong>Brunei, despite relatively small size comparing to its neighbouring Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, has more to offer to unhurried visitors, in term of natural landscapes — unspoiled forests, rivers\u00a0and beaches.<\/strong><\/div>\n
One of major towns in Brunei is Seria, known as a town built by oil industry. Shell is a major player being here more than 100 years. I had opportunity to stop by this oil town in November 2010 while enroute Bandar Seri Begawan from Miri, Sarawak. Read on below for another story of the road, this time Brunei. Pictures quality may not be that good as\u00a0 I was using camera phone\u00a0only, i.e. SE Xperia X10\u00a0with 8.1 megapixels camera, still running on Android 1.6 despite many failed attempts to upgrade to 2.1. <\/strong><\/div>\n
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\u00a0<\/strong>Shell (Brunei Shell) and Seria\u00a0are inseparable. Shell’s\u00a0influence in Seria town is very noticeble and everywhere from petrol station to crude oil terminals to huge refinery. The first oil discovery onshore was made in 1929 and in fact the whole Seria town sits on what is called Seria oil field. The old way of producing oil using mechanical “donkeys” to pump up the oil from underground is still in practise. You can still see these “donkeys” at work around Seria town nowadays.\u00a0White men probably expatiates working with Brunei Shell can be seen on town streets wandering around in search of\u00a0night entertainment, which is scarce in this deeply religious country. You could not be wrong if you say that the town exists\u00a0because of Shell. There is a main\u00a0road cutting across the town and leading to an oil refinery and oil terminals and other facilities at one end. The town streets are in grid formation and very easy to navigate, if you know where you are going to. The roads are well marked. The town center\u00a0is dotted with rows of shoplots where you can find banks, restaurants including Jollibee fast food outlet (Brunei’s version of\u00a0McDonalds or KFC) and many retail outlets selling Chinese junk stuff and hardwares. There is\u00a0one 3-storey shopping center\u00a0behind Jollibee. A small taxi and bus terminal is nearby, where buses going to BBS and Kuala Belait can be found.\u00a0BTW Seria is a town in the district of Kuala Belait. If you are interested in knowing more about how Shell discovered and developed oil reserve in Brunei, a visit to OGDC\u00a0is a must. Check visiting hours first.<\/div>\n
Places to visit in Seria:<\/strong><\/div>\n
1. Oil & Gas Discovery Center (OGDC)<\/div>\n
2. Oil & gas facilities (including oil refinery)<\/div>\n
3. Town center<\/div>\n
4. Masjid Pekan Seria<\/div>\n
5. “Donkeys”<\/div>\n
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