2009

Well after my travels I thought that it was be a novel idea to write a letter (5 pages) to the “Burtons/Arcadia Group” to tell them about travels and my “Burtons” branded trousers which I had worn through my entire trip… Unfortunately in true “English Style” they failed to comment and we give them “0 out or 5″ for a response! thumbs down to the “burtons/arcadia group” for turning down my request but mainly for not even responding!!

Letter shown below…

Dear Burtons Staff,

I’d like to tell you a small story…

It was a sad day on the 16^th September 2009, this was the day I said goodbye to my Burtons “Factory Dispatched” “Engineered apparel” trousers or as they say in the USA “Pants”!

The tear in the bottom, the holes in the knee caps, the marks and blemishes all over, the hand sewn blue stitching and the remnants of gaffer tape used to patch up the large tear, they were all part of my “Burtons trousers” but alas, although this gave them great character, it also meant they were un-wearable in both public & to protect me from the elements…

You see these trousers were brought into my life after a trip to my local “Burtons” store on the 16th May 2009 before I departed to Borneo with “Raleigh International” as the expedition Photographer in June. Not realising it at the time, I had only packed 1 x Trousers, 1 x Shorts (Burton shorts in fact!).

As time went on, I thought to myself do I really need a second pair of trousers?? Will these Burtons trousers do me proud and last the entire 13 weeks that I was in Borneo??

Well I can tell you… YES they did! Although at times I wondered to myself, if any normal person would only have had “1” yes “1” pair of trousers for an entire 13weeks!

The answer is “NO” they wouldn’t… (as I asked others) but they weren’t wearing trousers from “BURTONS!” they seemed to get me through thick and thin, they saw sun, rain, thunder, day, night, kampongs, villages, towns, cities, mud, dirt, remote untouched primary jungle/rainforest & the inside of a washing machine! (A lot in fact!)

Although I had thoughts in my mind about purchasing a second set of trousers I began to think at this stage “do I really need another pair??” No! Burtons “Factory Dispatched” “Engineered apparel” trousers.

Alas… While trekking in Long Pasia (a remote part of Borneo) they suffered an injury, I slid down an embankment and the behind was torn open, limited by time and equipment, they were mended with “gaffer tape” a life saver in the trouser world! My trousers fought on! and lasted another 4weeks, travelling  thousands of miles and seeing the building of a kindergarten, an enclosure for endangered Sunbears, a gravity water feed system for a remote village, and a suspension bridge in the heart of the jungle! People joked and laughed about my “gaffer tape”, but I didn’t care, my trousers were still with me! But finally the day had come, their journey was over and so was mine. I returned back to England.

With thoughts of my trousers the memories they had shared the leaches that had crawled across them and the wounds they had faced, I look back and think about my Burtons trousers, the extreme quality, the punishment they had taken and their will not to give up! they just went on!

I’d like to thank Burtons staff for producing such a remarkable set of trousers! One’s that will inspire all other trouser manufacturers over the world to set their standards to!

Now seeking some new “Burtons trousers” to see me thought my days in England, I know they will never replace my “Factory Dispatched” but I’m sure they will attempt to do me proud like their predecessor if they carry a “Burtons” logo as I know from experience that they are one of the best!

I just ask you Burtons staff, will you find it in your heart to sponsor me… sponsor me the £15 I paid for my trousers! For I know that £15 spent on Burtons trousers will give a lifetime of adventure for another pair of Burtons trousers and display a worthy lifespan of advertising also putting my mind at rest over the late “Burtons” “Factory Dispatched” “Engineered apparel” trousers, that were once with us.

Just think, this simple gesture could go along way and especially if put towards some Burtons trousers!

Yours Sincerely

Dominic Edwards (www.wheresdom.com)

A customer, traveller and a respecter of all Burtons trousers!

R.I.P. “Burtons” “Factory Dispatched” “Engineered apparel” trousers.

Stuck in the mud in Pinapak: (My Burtons trousers getting muddy!)

Trekking in the remote region of Long Pasia: (My Burtons trousers getting hot!)

The top of Mount Kinabalu (4092.2m): (My Burtons trousers getting up high!)

The Day I said goodbye my gaffer taped trousers, they had come a long way!
(Mamutik Island in the background @ Kota Kinabalu)

This is the PDF version of the Raleigh 09E magazine produced. It’s pretty big (24meg) but extra good quality

  Raleigh-Expedition-Magazine-Borneo09EH (24.3 MiB, 84 hits)

So after all the travels I successfully arrived back at London Heathrow @ 06:30 on 30th September greeted by the cool English weather and grey rainy sky! Along with the hordes of commuters on the tubes. The trees were brown and the touch of winter was inbound…

LHR landing @ 06:39

The reality of england – commuters

Victoria on route home.

Arrival home…

Winter on route…

After 7.3hours sleep in the renta-room, there was no other way to kill 12hours in Brunei, other than going on a tour bus, a little overpriced @ £27 for a 4hour tour bus around the city. There was no other way I was going to pack so much into this short amount of time and I am collected another stamp on my passport Brunei is a pretty impressive country, there is no tax, education & the health service is completely free and fuel only costs £0.22, cheaper than water! The only downfall with Brunei is that it lacked character, it seemed to be just another big city, with big buildings and mosques but with few people. I have experienced it in other countries, where everything seems to be built for the hordes of people, when there just aren’t that many people there. After the 4hour tour I came out with good photos and a better understanding of the country…

Brunei Dollor 2.229 to £1

The country is ruled by one man, the 29th Sultan of Brunei “Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah” when he became the sultan, he was carried about in this through the streets of Brunei.

Some other artwork at the Sultan Museum.

Short Boat trip into the water village “Kampong Ayer”, one of the largest water villages in the world with over 39,000 people living there.

“Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque” – The mosque stands at 52m (171ft) high and can be seen from virtually anywhere in Bandar Seri Begawan. FACT!!

The Royal Place (where the Sultan & his family live) they stop the traffic in the road when one of them enters.

Our tour guide, I’m sure he kills vampires by night time with ninja stars and a sword!

“Jame’Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque” another one of Brunei’s mosques. There is a strong reference to “29″ there are 29 of everything (steps, towers, domes, fountains) to symbolise the 29th Sultan of Brunei.

It was back to the airport 2hours before departing for England. Stamped in and stamped out…

It was touch down at KL airport on Saturday 26th September 2009 @ 18:00, I had two days left before jetting back home to the lovely winter days of England. KL was a typical city & fairly expensive in some areas. Chinatown seemed to do me alright though and you could get pretty cheap food, drinks, clothes, sunglasses etc from the markets. It seemed to rain the entire time there so was a little hard to keep myself motivated to go out and get drenched, but as they always say “skins waterproof” though people don’t account for the fact your clothes aren’t and when wet they stay wet until they dry.
The most impressive site of KL is the Petronas Twin Towers, it’s a pretty epic site when you actually consider man’s creations in this world and how they achieve it! A feet of excellence! Other site seeing took me to the “Menara Tower” a small reptile zoo next door and the “Aquaria” though these didn’t seem to be so impressive & the fact the tower and aquaria were £7each made it even more disappointing.

Touchdown @ KL airport

This is where I stayed, it was a new hostel and some of the points on the flyer weren’t really valid! but it was chilled out so can’t knock it too much.

First up-close view of the Petronas Twin Towers

First up-close view of the Petronas Twin Towers & the RAIN!

Inside Suria food court – My £1 Chocolate Brownie and Ice Cream.

China Town markets (cheap).

Random shop name, not sure if he did much business??

Menara Tower – No photos from up inside the tower of the city unfortunately it was night time they didn’t come out too well.

Reptile zoo & F1 gaming, part of the Menara Tower ticket.

Don’t know the name of this, but like most people I will refer to it by colour… Yellow Snake

Some form of monkey?

Lizard?

Petronas Twin Towers @ Night

Chinatown @ Night

Day 2 @ KL – Flight @ 22:00

“Aquaria” – bit like the sealife centre, but not really as good.

Bit of a mad rush to the airport, ended up missing the bus by 2min to the international terminal airport so had to get a bus to the internal terminal and getting another bus from there, the timings were a bit tight but I made it in the end… All good, fortunately I was also just under my weight allowance, so didn’t need to be getting a sweat on.

19KG! just under the 20KG allowance

Just after 01:00am I touched down in Brunei Airport. Strangely I had to fly to Brunei (back in Borneo), even though it was further away from England than KL. All pretty backwards I managed to get a bed in one of the dayrooms at the airport, 8h for £12 and worth ever ££ for some good Gonk! It was a goodnights sleep before a sightseeing tour around Brunei and then a 16h flight home.

Dayroom Bed @ Brunei Airport 01:30am