gone living

what are you to do when you're staying at a hotel / country club / resort that has one of the best golf courses in asia, a championship golf course sitting directly on the south china sea, custom-designed by jack nicklaus and you don't play golf? (aside from a little urban golfing or sand golf in coober pedy)

you learn.

so in my last two days (out of three) at the empire. i signed up for golf courses from the resident golf pro. first of all, the guy was a great teacher. i am one of the worst people when it comes to hand-eye coordination, let alone having any sort of attention span, yet this guy brought me up to speed enough in a few hours on the driving range to have a passable shot at playing on the course.

the second day there, i showed up at 8am in my golf shirt (freshly purchased from the pro shop minutes before), and we headed off on the golf cart for adventure and fun.

although i've barely been on any golf courses before now, i suspect that not all of them include monkeys hiding in the trees off the course (the rules for play on the course include this abbreviated one: "8. If a monkey steals your ball..."), or a komodo dragon living next to one of the holes.

sure, with only a few hours of practice i may have may not have been perfect, but i have to say that was one of the most unique and best experiences of my trip to date.

when you're in brunei next, drop by the empire for a few rounds of golf. if you don't know how to play already, learn! as for me, i'll have to give it a shot again when i make it to that golf course in malyasia's cameron highlands.