Dreamy Desserts!!

Every Wednesday Rob plays indoor soccer with some of the guys from work. Since he was gone the boys and I headed to our new favorite restaurant called the Wywy. You may have read about the Wywy and their 96 page menu. Within that menu is 10 pages of desserts that the boys have been drooling over. Evan ordered one called the chocolate mountain and Kieran had a plain old chocolate sundae. In Brunei you can order any fruit or veggie drink that is juiced from fresh veggies. My Auntie Lorill would love this as she could order her favorite carrot, celery, and apple juice pretty much in any restaurant. So I indulged in a watermelon juice. So yummy!

The Weekends Events

This past weekend the Club put on a Carry on Carnival for the kids. There were the usual events like the 3 legged race, egg and spoon race, face painting. But there were also a few we hadn't heard of before. In the above picture Evan was trying the Borneo Blow dart game, and Kieran was playing Bat the Rat. Some of the other games that were quite funny to watch were Carry the wife and Spit the Ice! That is a picture of Evan's teacher. The kids loved that they could throw a wet sponge at their teacher. It was a really hot day, so we wandered to the beach to try and cool off. On Sunday we went to the pool to hang out for a few hours. I think I have been so worried about getting sunburnt that I have overdone the sunscreen. I still look like I just arrived! For dinner we went to a restaurant called the Wywy ( it is pronounced just as it looks) The food is really good and really cheap, but their menu takes some getting used to. The entire menu contains 96 pages! Now for someone like me who has to see all her choices before making a decision it can be quite time consuming! In the end I had a yummy Beef and Broccoli dish and a fresh mango juice to drink. I'm not sure what our upcoming week looks like, but I'm sure I will have something to share with you!

The Local Fresh Market

Every Saturday and Sunday at the end of our road is the local fruit and vegetable market. I've heard many good things about it, but I've not visited it for myself until today. There was such a varied assortment of produce. The colors were enough in itself to take in. Many of the fruits we had no idea what they were or how to prepare it. We brought a few mystery veggies to try. In the end we came home with watermelon, squash, pineapple, papaya, guava, beans, corn on the cob, potatoes and onions. In total we spent about $15. We are well stocked for the week!

Evan's Rainforest Field Trip

Since Evan has started school at Panaga school he has been studying Rainforests. They focus all of their main subjects around a theme for about 6 weeks. Yesterday Evan and his class went to visit an area of the rainforest about half and hour from where we live. Here is the trip in Evan's own words...

We got off the bus. We went to eat a snack by a river that looked like a swamp. When we went to eat snack all of the seats were taken so me and my friend Ollie went to eat at a bench. By the river while we were eating we saw some little fish and a little bit bigger fish. Then all of a sudden we saw these fish jumping out of the water. They were about 3 feet long. Then Ollie was getting all excited and started to throw his breadcrumbs up in the air. The fish started to jump and caught the breadcrumbs. After snack was over we went up some steps. Then we heard a whole bunch of noises that were really loud. Then we saw some trees. The branches were moving. Then Ollie said, 'There can't be enough wind for the branches to be moving!' So we went up a bit closer and he saw these tail sticking out of the branches. I picked up a long stick, I touched the tail, it grabbed the stick out of my hand! Guess what it was?? It was monkeys swinging across the pathway. Then we left them alone. Then we walked more and took a water break. I saw these giant ants. They were about 2 inches long and half an inch high! Then we walked away. There was a curly log with poisonous mushrooms growing on it. The next thing we saw was an army of ants. Then we went to a forest museum that had all different types of animals. They had skeletons of animals in containers. This was the end of our field trip. We headed back to the bus and went back to school.

By Evan Dunn

Life on the Beach

Today after Kieran and I were finished school for the day we decided to head to the Club. We bought him a junior set of golf clubs that he was anxious to try out. So the plan was to go to the driving range prior to picking Evan up from school. However, the driving range was closed for lunch, so we strolled along the beach waiting for it to reopen.

As you can see from my photos the sand looks like it has millions of tiny balls on it. There are these tiny crabs who move so quick they look like a leaf blowing in the wind. These crabs spend their day and possibly night rolling these balls into the sand. I've yet to find out why, but it quite a sight to see.

The Panaga Club

Here in Brunei there is a beautiful place called the Panaga Club. It is a country club of sorts to most of the expats living here. Included in Rob's contract is a membership to this club. We have anxiously awaited for our passes to be processed. They are finally here! The Panaga Club is a place where you can enjoy the pool and meet others who are living a similar lifestyle. There are several things you can try out here. Some of them are tennis, golf, horseback riding, sailing, fitness classes, youth groups, arts and crafts, and many others.
We find ourselves there most days. The pool is wonderful as is the food. We find ourselves there most days. The boys have signed up for sports there. Kieran is trying out field hockey and Evan is in Australian Kickball. Kieran just got a Junior Golf Set yesterday. So he is eagerly waiting to start golf lessons.

Our Home in Brunei

Welcome to a tour of our home. Bear in mind that our shipping container hasn't arrived to give our house that homey feel. The house if far bigger than we are use to. At the moment it sounds a bit echoey (if that is a word??) We are slowly feeling more at home here. The streets are starting to look familiar. I am not getting lost as often as I use to. If you click on the above pictures you can zoom in to see the pictures up closer.

Schooling in Brunei

Now that life has settled for us our days are filled with schooling. I thought you'd like to see how and where the boys are going for their schooling.
Evan is attending Panaga International school. There are about 400 kids from all different countries around the world. The school is fabulous and I'm sure he will receive top notch schooling. He starts school at 7:30am until 2:00pm Monday to Friday. He does swimming lessons once a week and has signed up for the drama program that is held Thursdays afterschool. In the above picture is his teacher Miss Katherine and she is from Wales.
Kieran and I are homeschooling. I must say that we have had a few bumps along the way with internet problems and settling into this new program for both of us. I think we have ironed out the kinks and are getting our schedule underway. I have found an art teacher for him. Once we have our Panaga Club passes he will be signing up for several sports including golf, swimming, and field hockey.

Our Weekend in Malaysia

This past weekend was a long weekend due to the religious festival of Ramadan. So we took the opportunity to visit Malaysia. The border is about a 20 minute drive from Kuala Belait, which brought us to our hotel by 10am. Normally in Canada we could never afford to stay at a 5 star hotel, but over here it is quite affordable. And I must say that I was feeling quite pampered. After a quick bite to eat, the boys were anxious to get in the pool. They loved that they could go to the swim up bar and order milkshakes! After 7 hours in the pool we finally dragged them out to get ready for dinner. That night the hotel was putting on a beach BBQ followed by a sunset movie. The food was delicious and the sunset amazing! I slipped away early as I had booked a pedicure at the hotel spa. I love being pampered at the spa, but one of the things I love is all the smells and special touches that a spa offers. As my feet were getting pretty I sipped away at my new found drink. Non-alcoholic, but really yummy. I loved it so much she gave me the recipe. So here it is...

Ginger Iced Tea

Steep about 1 1/2 inches of sliced ginger in a pot of hot water

Add about 1/2 cup of sugar

Let that boil for about 45 minutes

Then add 2 regular tea bags Continue to boil for another 10 minutes

Remove tea bags when tea is strong enough for your liking

Then strain ginger and chill

So yummy!

Monsoon Season

I knew that our arrival into Brunei came during monsoon season. So far Mother Nature times the rain perfectly. It only seems to rain at night. The last few nights it has rained hard, but last night was extremely wet. When we woke in the morning the neighbourhood around our home was flooded. This is apparently normal. If you click on the above picture you can zoom in to the before and after shots around our house. Within a couple of hours most of the water had receeded. I'm not sure if it was the heat or the drains that cleared the water. Quite a different sight than we've experienced in Canada!

Our first days in Brunei

Sorry for my absence, but it has been quite hectic getting settled! We arrived in Brunei on Friday at around 7pm. I was immediately glad that our new home was quite different from Hong Kong. Hong Kong was amazing to visit, but I am a small town girl! After an hour drive from the airport to our new home we finally arrived safe and sound. After finding the sheets in our boxes we fell into our beds exhausted. We soon learned that we have a very noisy pair of roosters (that have their day and nights mixed up) living next door!

On Saturday we were invited to a BBQ at a friend of Rob's from his work. It was great to meet the other wives and hear their survival strategies. The boys met a few friends and a good time was had by all.

On Sunday, we met up again with our new friends and headed to the Panaga Club. It is a country club that we get a membership to. It seems to be a meeting place for all the expats living here. The pool was beautiful. We enjoyed breakfast by the pool as we overlooked the beach. Feels like I'm on vacation!!

Monday was a day at the house. There was a hustle and bustle of work men, water deliveries, phone and internet installation etc...

Today Evan had an assessment at his new school. He should be starting by next week. On the way home from dropping him off, I was almost in an accident. I can assure you that even though I am not use to driving on the left hand side of the road I was not at fault! It was a narrow miss, but it rattled me enough that got lost and couldn't find my house! Thank goodness Kieran has a better sense of direction than mine!

This weekend is a huge religious holiday for Muslims. It is called Ramadan (not sure of the spelling) So we are taking advantage of the long weekend and are heading to Miri in Malaysia for the night. There are two other couples and their kids who are joining us. Miri is about an hour drive from us. The hotel is right on the beach and is meant to be beautiful. I'll be sure to post some pictures when we get back.

Hong Kong cont...

We had a short rest at the hotel before we headed downtown to take in the sights. The busyness of Hong Kong is so different that what we are use to in Canada. There isn't a clear space to be seen anywhere. We headed to a local market and it was great watching the boys see the cultural differences. Evan wasn't intimidated at all. In fact, he approached a vendor to check out her watches. Kieran on the other hand couldn't stomach the smells. After a little over an hour both of the boys wanted to head to the hotel.
At around 5pm we took a taxi to Rob's friend's house to meet for dinner. With our tour guides in tow, we headed to a local restaurant and had a fabulous dinner. Afterwards we went back to their house. They have a fabulous view from their balcony as you can see in the nighttime shot. We had planned on walking along Victoria Harbour, but Evan was exhausted and had fallen asleep on their couch. It was good that we gave the walk a miss, because as we left monsoon rains started falling. We all fell into bed and had a great sleep!
As we speak we are sitting in Hong Kong airport awaiting our flight to Brunei. I'm excited to see what life will look like for us once we are settled!

Arrival into Hong Kong

After a 13 hour flight we finally arrived in Hong Kong at around 7am local time. As I said in my last post, I was lucky enough to have been able to fly first class. I must say that once my eyes have been open to this experience it will be hard to fly economy again. The food was fantastic. I had smoked salmon on fennel, cajan halibut, spring mixed salad, banana pancakes and many more delicious foods that I was too stuffed to try. The chairs were so comfy and reclined into an actual bed! I was able to get about 6-8 hours of sleep!
The boys managed to rest on the way there. They watched a couple of movies and were awesome travellers. We arrived at our hotel at a little after 9am. Our room wasn't quite ready, so we decided to try and get some breakfast. There was a huge mall that was attached to our hotel so we headed there. We thought we would try some local cuisine, but the boys were not keen in trying some of the food that they were displaying. So we headed to McDonald's! I'm embarrassed to say that this was the first restaurant that we went to, but it was familiar!
After breakfast our room was ready. We had a swim and got showered ready to explore the streets. More on that to come...

The trip begins...

Today after many tears and long goodbyes, our family started the first stage of new adventure. We flew out of Nanaimo at 2:30pm. We had a 12 hour layover in Vancouver. So instead of sleeping on the airport seats my husband booked us in the Fairmont to get some R&R prior to our flight. I'm not hard to please when it comes to staying at a hotel, but I felt very spoiled! The boys had a swim and wore off some of their energy. After an early dinner we had the boys sleeping by 8pm. But midnight came far too quickly. As we speak, it is 1am and we are enjoying the comforts of the Air Canada lounge. My husband lovingly gave up his last first class ticket. So I am going to enjoy the next 13 hours in First Class! I can now tick that off my bucket list!! So long for now... I will keep you posted of events still to come!