An Update (from the “About” Section) – Written June 2014 (reposted Jan 2015)

This website/blog outlines some simple ideas for places to go to entertain young ones.

As an expat family, we have enjoyed our time in Brunei. We are leaving this wonderful country in a few months’ time, so this site serves as a little “project” for us to document for friends, family and anyone else who is interested the things we do in Brunei to pass the time.

We’ll be adding to this site over the next few months as we visit various venues. Hopefully this is informative and helpful.

<strong>EDIT:</strong> We left Brunei in July 2014 so this site will not be actively updated. Apologies if any information is incorrect or now out of date.

Please feel free to contact me (via the comments section(s)) if any vital information is missing or incorrect to the point of it becoming misleading or causing major inconvenience.

Have fun enjoying and embracing all Brunei offers!

Piasau Boat Club (In Miri, 2+ hours drive from Brunei)

Venue Type: Restaurant overlooking the sea with a huge naturally shaded playground, access to a beach and small indoor play area.

Description: Another venue to visit when in Miri.Kids love the playground that features swing, a flying fox, suspension bridges and numerous climbing frames. The sea breezes and tall trees make the area usable almost any time of day. The beach is clean and fairly calm for swimming.

This place is brilliant for adults as it serves a variety of local and western “pub” foods. It also has lager, stout and cider on tap (Yes!). The perfect afternoon can be spent on the balcony overlooking the ocean, one eye on the kids, while having adult conversation over a pint and fries (this is our favourite place to “eat out” while in Miri).

Location: http://goo.gl/maps/xyvB5
(a little tricky…turn left on to Jalan Peninsula from Jalan Piasau, take the second right (there’s a boat club sign at the turning), and then follow the signs.

Admission fee: Free – but you must be a member of Brunei Yacht Club (show your RBYC membership card for entry).

Serves Food?: Lots. Reasonably priced

Nearby Facilities: This is another venue that makes Miri a viable drive-holiday for Brunei families. Between the Miri Marriott, Miri Crocodile Farm, Taman Awam and the local shopping centres, a week’s holiday can be easily done in Miri with kids.

Taman Rekreasi Jubli (Seria)

Venue Type: Outdoor playground (and running/walking track around a lake).

Description: In Seria (50 minutes from Bandar), this is a simple park with BBQ facilities, a playground and a nice view overlooking Anduki Lake. Toilet facilities are well-maintained. Local monkeys cruise through, but generally keep their distance. There is a walking/jogging track (suitable for prams/pushchairs) around Anduki Lake that features an arch bridge to get you across part of the water.

Location: Jalan Tengah, http://goo.gl/maps/Sw39Y

Serves Food?: No

Entry Fee: N/A

The Panaga Club

Venue Type: Recreational Club

Description: Has a shaded pool, a kids’ pool with waterslide, beach access, a massive outdoor playground, a shaded toddler area, a library, an indoor Italian restaurant and an outdoor poolside restaurant.

Located in Seria, this club is an hour’s drive from Bandar (see below about how to make the drive worthwhile) on the way to the Miri border. It feels like a resort and has an incredibly family-friendly vibe.

This place is the ex-pat centre of Seria and runs various recreational/sporting/coaching programs for kids and adults (aerobics, zumba, rugby, tennis,  football, swimming, gym etc.)

Location: Simpang 464, Panaga http://goo.gl/maps/c7CXl

Cost: Membership for a family is $100 per month (a Yacht Club membership will get you entry for free though, 4 times per year).

Serves Food?: The two restaurants between them serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Other info: A good way for Bandar residents to utilise this place is:
a) Plan a full day in Seria. E.g. Spend the morning at Liang Lumut Recreational Club for a morning swim, go to the Oil and Gas Education Centre during the middle of the day to avoid the heat, then go to The Panaga club for an afternoon swim. Also, not too far away is the NAAFI store that is open to the public – get your fill of UK foods that you can’t get elsewhere in Brunei (Revels, Pepperamis, Walker’s Crisps…that kind of thing). NAAFI located here: http://goo.gl/maps/mNo4k

b) If driving to Miri for a holiday, use The Panaga Club as an approximate halfway stopping point for a meal, play/swim to break up the car journey.

c) Lots of Bandar residents simply get membership because they drive to Seria exclusively for The Panaga Club (it is just THAT worth it for some people!)

Oil and Gas Discovery Centre

Venue Type: Science Education Centre.

Description: A brilliant venue with interactive displays, kinaesthetic activities and all-round educational stimulation. This place kept our four year old and 2 year old enthralled for an hour and a half…
Kids can swing off geological bilge pumps, throw golf balls down portals to demonsrate the physics of a black hole and pull levers to compare the viscosity of different fluids…all good stuff!

From April 2014 (until ???) there is a fantastic exhibit called “Playing with Light”. Our kids didn’t want to leave; They could build telescopes, “paint” in projected colour, run through a laser obstacle course, use a photosensitive wall, “mix” light displays…etc…all amazing things for little people.

The complex also has an outdoor playground, restaurant, skate park, fish-feeding pond, miniature village, pedal car race track and more…

Location: Spg 22, Seria http://goo.gl/maps/HyVMl

Entry Fee: Adults – $5, Children – $2, Children under 5 y/o – no charge.

Taman Peranginan Pantai Lumut

Venue type: Outdoor playground and park.

Description: Nice park near Seria next to Pantai (Beach) Lumut. With a playground, BBQ facilities and well-maintained toilets, this is a useful little place to take kids. It is literally a 2 minute drive from Liang Lumut Recreation Centre (the small water park), so it’s worth popping in to if you’re nearby.

The park is very clean because it is looked after by keen workers who always seem to be attending to some aspect of the place. Our kids love climbing over the stone “witches cave”.

Location: http://goo.gl/maps/wZUi8

Admission: N/a

Serves food?: No.

Liang Lumut Recreation Club (Small Waterpark).

Venue type: Small outdoor water park.

Description: About 45 minutes from Bandar, this is a fun and safe water park. Slides, shallow pools and jetstreams of water ensure that kids are entertained. Beautifully set across from a beach overlooking the Seria Port, this is a nice place to go for a day out.

Location: Jalan Pantai Perkelahan, Mukim Liang http://goo.gl/maps/t3GLQ

Admission fee: $2 per child, $3 per adult. $8 for a family of four (2 adults, 2 children)

Serves Food: A small restaurant serves meals priced $7-$10.

Nearby facilities: Oil and Gas Discovery Centre, Taman Peranginan Pantai Lumut , Panaga Club, Taman Rekreasi Jubli

Other info: The park closes “if there is rain” (precaution against lightning strikes)…so check the weather.

If you’re heading from Bandar along the freeway, you’ll have to do a u-turn on the freeway to get on Jalan Kecil Lumut. The Park is well signed from the turnoff.

Website: http://llrcfamilyhub.blogspot.com/?m=1

Miri Marriott (2 + hours drive from Brunei)

Venue Type: Hotel with pool and (soon to be constructed) “Kids’ Club”.

Description: A lot of families living in Brunei choose to drive to neighbouring Malaysia for holidays (as opposed to flying to other locations) and stay at the Miri Marriott (There are other nice hotels in Miri, but this seems to be the most popular option). This is a way for families to enjoy a resort holiday while experiencing a “road trip” in Borneo.

The rooms are luxurious, the pool is huge and has a fun little kids pool with a slide. One small section of the pool is partially shaded. On weekends in the afternoons (sometimes), a “floating bouncy castle/obstacle course” is set up in the main pool. The buffet breakfast overlooking the pool is lush.

Combining a visit to Miri Crocodile Farm, Piasau Boat Club and Taman Awam makes for a great holiday. Overall, the Miri Marriott is a great way to spend of few days if you want to “live in luxury”.

Location: Jalan Temenggong Datuk Oyong Lawai, 98000 Miri, Malaysia http://goo.gl/maps/xBtXm

Website: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/myymc-miri-marriott-resort-and-spa/

Other info: It is well worth it to become a Marriott member (When you check in, you’ll be asked). Free nights’ accommodation and discounts in the restaurants are offered to members.

Taman Awam – In Miri Malaysia (2 + hours drive from Brunei)

Venue Type: Public gardens, swimming pool and suspension bridge.

Description: One of the attractions in the city of Miri (Malaysia) for parents with kids. If spending a few days over the border in Malaysia (See Miri Marriott post), this is a convenient place to visit to break up the day. About a 10 minute drive away from the Miri Marriott, Taman Awam is a lovely venue set on a hilltop amongst fairly well-kept gardens. The trails through the gardens are nice to explore with little stone carvings and sculptures placed in the wilderness. Avoid the middle of the day due to the heat.

Location: http://goo.gl/maps/DJYBy

Entry Fee: Free

Serves Food: No.

Nearby locations: Miri Marriott, Miri Crocodile Farm, Piasau Boat Club

Kampung Meritam’s Mud Volcanoes (just over the border in Malaysia)

Venue Type: National Park…with “mud volcanoes”.

Description: Have a family mud bath in these naturally occuring “mud springs”. Caused by some fissure between plates…blah subduction…blah blah tectonic…fault lines, these cool mud pools are great fun to visit. Only about 20 minutes into Malaysia (about an hour’s total drive from Bandar) it makes quite a nice morning to splash about in the mud, wash off and drive back via Kulah Lurah border post (where you can pick up some supplies to take back into Brunei) and have a bite to eat.

The shower facilities are great and admission is free!

Location: http://goo.gl/maps/TDQ0b
(Once you’ve gone through the Kuala Lurah border post, look for the signs to Kampung Meritam on the left hand side as you drive along Jalan Kualah Lurah…if you get to the T-Junction, you’ve missed it!)

Admission fee: Free

Serves Food?: A small local shack serves meals, snacks and water.

Nearby Facilities: Kualah Lurah border post.