What to do and see in Tutong District, Tutong District: The Best Nature & Parks

Reviewed By 679JohnT679

I am going to be out front and say that this review of my recent stay at Eco Ponies Garden - (20th to 21st August 2020) with my wife and daughter – is going to be a rave review with maximum stars rating and I will lay out my reasons. For the record, this is my first homestay holiday in Brunei and we only consider the place because of the COVID situations. Firstly, the accommodation and facilities, they are clean but basic. There would be no air conditioned room with soft mattress and fluffy pillows. Instead what you got was a queen-size bed with metal frame and double layers of thin mattress with mosquito netting (which was occupied by me) and a 2-person camp set up on the second floor decking with roof over it and likewise the thin mattress (occupied by my wife and daughter). The bed sheets were clean and had gone through many cycles of washing and so were no longer smooth to the touch. Yet I gave it maximum rating as the homestay was trying to give you the experiences of rural folks in days gone by. Not some hybrid experiences like present days comforts in a rural wooden house setting. Secondly, the food was “Michelin Stars” rating for they were delicious and fresh. It was like our mama cooking. The ingredients were all grown locally in the area and especially the vegetables which were tender and full of flavors (not like the vegetables that we bought from the supermarkets). And the chefs were not trained in some culinary schools but their kitchens at home and trainings from their mums. Maybe the reason for my rave reviews was that I had had experienced such homely comfort during my childhood before moving to the city. The two days stays here brought back fond memories of childhood and the simple life. Things like having a shower in order to cool down as there is no air conditioning. Seeing the mosquito coils and remembering my childhood whereby my siblings and I would rush to light the coils and placed them on strategic locations around the house in the evenings to rid the house of mosquitos (it was the only time when my parents would allow us to use the matches). And, you could hear the sounds of insects at night instead of the soft humming of the air condition blower and compressor. Added bonus here at Eco Ponies Garden was that I could smell the sweet smell of durians (as our accommodation was next to a durian tree which was bearing fruits now) before drifting off to sleep and waking up in the morning. Regarding the meals that we were served (we had dinner with breakfast and lunch the next day) they were delicious home cook and each and every dishes had multiple layers of tastes. As mentioned, the vegetables and ingredients were fresh and they were full of flavors and you could see the ingredients when you spoon them and tasted each and every flavor of the ingredients. Not like most dishes served in restaurants whereby you do not see the ingredients as they were all in the sauce. Example, the pakku cooked with mushroom and onions cut in rings whereby the flavors were layered as when you took a spoonful, it was the taste of the pakku followed by the mushrooms and onions as we chewed onto them. The minced chicken wrapped around a lemon grass was another delight with layers of taste from the seasoned chicken to the final taste of lemon grass. Same thing goes to the drinks that they served. Tea or Butterfly Pea Flowers or Roselle infused with lemon grass and pandan, you get the main taste of the drink of either Tea or Butterfly Pea Flowers or Roselle followed by lemon grass and pandan. These were the reasons why I am giving Eco Ponies Garden maximum stars rating because I have a reference point to draw on and in my opinion they did conveyed to me what they intended and I was glad that I was able to go down my memory lane. Finally, Eco Ponies Garden is priced reasonably within what they offered in term of accommodations and facilities and the experiences they gladly gave for free.