Special tea

Brunei is, like I have written about before, a dry country. It doesn't only mean that the locals are not allowed to drink alcohol but there is no alcohol to be bought anywhere either, and in most places you are not allowed to consume any.

So how do you get alcohol?
Well, if you are lucky and have a pilot in the family, he will take care of that on all his trips. He can bring in 2 bottles of spirits and 12 cans of beer every time he goes away (if it was 48 hours since last importation). So we are rarely in any urgent need, we have a good stock at the moment.
If you don't have a profession that allows you to travel and import, you have to go and do the border runs, that I have written about here.
It goes without saying too, that every person that comes to visit HAS to bring in their quota of alcohol, that is an unwritten rule!

When it comes to consuming, having parties and going to peoples houses for "drinks" is a big part of the social life here.
Some restaurants allows you to bring your own beer and wine but prefers then to place you at their remote tables, out of view.

Yesterday, we went for sushi, and there you are not allowed to drink your BYO. Not a big problem though, you just pour it up in your tea cup, and noone will know - special tea! (Photo taken under the table).