I just got back from Brunei, where I spent a week running an AI-focused entrepreneurship program. This was my first time in Southeast Asia, so I was going in blind. What I got was a week of wonderfully spicy food, genuinely warm people, and a country full of surprises. If I get the chance to return (and I’m lining up projects to make this happen), I’d go back in heartbeat.
If you want a formal recap of the program I ran, check out the write-up on the Actionworks site. The newsletter, as usual, will be more personal.Here are some snapshots.
The Food
Traditional Bruneian food includes something called ambuyat, which has the consistency of thick glue. Like, you could use it for bricklaying. I can’t say I loved it. But everything else I ate was incredible. The food is spicy and full of flavor. Noodles here were top notch.Brunei’s juice and coffee game is quite strong; I think the drinks are so good because the country is dry, so their non-alcoholic beverage options are excellent.
Breakfast
I love Asia and asian food. But breakfast is the one meal I’ve never quite adjusted to over there. It’s basically lunch food served four hours early. Who wants rice for breakfast? Apparently, an entire continent.
Sharia Law, in Practice
I didn’t know what to expect going to a country that operates under Sharia law, which weighed on me before the trip. But what I found was one of the most relaxed places I’ve ever visited. The sense I got is that the strict legal framework is more of a signal to the rest of the world about how seriously Brunei commits to Islam. But on the ground? Plenty of people drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes, which are both forbidden under those laws. Apparently, Malaysia is a two-hour drive away for those who want what’s not for sale locally.
The Dart Incident
They don’t have Uber in Brunei, but they have a local rideshare app called Dart. Somehow, when I booked a ride, I selected the cash option, even though I’d uploaded my credit card days earlier. So when the driver dropped me off, he looked at me and said, “Hey man, you still didn’t pay me.” I was confused. He said it with such kindness and understanding. I didn’t have any Bruneian currency, and he accepted my US dollars, which is apparently not a normal thing down there.
The Beaches
They have beaches that are oddly unused. In the U.S., these same stretches of beach would be overloaded with condo buildings or tourist trap restaurants. But no one went to the beach. Brunei is not a beach culture. The government owns the entirety of the coastline, and I could never forget why they didn’t develop it.
The Language
Everybody speaks English in Brunei, and speaks it well. I do a lot of work in countries where that isn’t the case, and it was so refreshing to be somewhere I could just talk to people without a language barrier.
The Women Get Stuff Done
One pattern I picked up quickly: the women are the go-getters. Men run the government, but the women really feel like they’re the ones making things happen. I asked a couple of women about this directly, and they confirmed it without hesitation.
Not a Hustle Culture
Brunei is a laid-back place. Healthcare is free. Education is free. There’s a kind of baseline calm that comes with that, which the US could stand to learn from. Some countries I visit are frenetic, with hungry founders and scarce resources and that particular buzz of people scrapping for what they want.
Brunei has its own rhythm. There’s a trade-off in both directions, and you can feel it. The universal I noticed is the one I notice everywhere: entrepreneurial loneliness is real, and people appreciated meeting others who are driven to start something of their own.
Friday Shutdown
The biggest, most impressive buildings in Brunei are the mosques. And every Friday from noon to 3, it’s prayer time; all the stores shut down.
Awesome Place, Amazing People
I left Brunei feeling really connected to the people and the ecosystem. I hope I get the chance to return.
More photos:
