Halloween Tropical Style

Halloween is not officially a Brunei holiday, but there are so many expats living here that they bring Halloween to life here. Last night Evan and I went trick or treating around the Panaga homes. Kieran thought he was a bit too old to participate this year. Normally in Canada we would be planning the boys costumes to include room for winter jackets and long johns. It was quite strange to be trick or treating in flip flops and shorts. Not all the homes participated in the event, but the ones that did went all out with their decorations. Although the candy haul was small compared to Canada, it was neat to experience it Brunei style.

::Time for a Facelift::

With a bit of time on my hands today I thought it was time to give the blog a facelift. There is still some tweaking to do, but for now I hope you like it!! It almost gives you the same satisfaction as rearranging the living room!

A Good Day...

Today started bright and early for the usual school day. Evan starts school at 7:30 so we are usually out of the house by 7:10. Kieran also had is day with his teacher. So after dropping him off at her house at 8:00, I headed to the beach. I had packed my breakfast so I sat taking in the view while eating my papaya and museli bar. Life here has had it's ups and downs, so taking time for myself without any interruptions was just what I needed. I don't know what you do to find balance in life, but for me I always like to get out in nature. My favorite place to gather my thoughts is at the top of a mountain. Looking over life from above seems to put life in perspective.

I picked Kieran up from his class at noon. We headed home to have some leftover lasagne for lunch. Then I went to the Panaga Club to start my first quilt lesson. My sister is getting married in May and for her gift I wanted to make her a quilt. Don't worry, it is not a secret. She did have some input into the colors, but I'm hoping she will still be surprised at the final result.

So today was a good day... I was able to have some space for myself, time to be creative, and now I sit in an empty house with a dinner made that I didn't have to cook!

All Moved in...

This past Wednesday felt like Christmas. The long awaited arrival of our container finally made it over the seas from Canada. In all the chaos of the move from Canada I had forgotten what we had packed for shipping and what was being stored. So it was exciting to open all the packages and see what was inside. The movers had the truck emptied in less than an hour and they had unloaded all the boxes shortly after lunch. There was no damage to our things except one glass was broken. No a bad move in my books!! The boys are happy to have their hockey nets and sticks, but especially excited to have their trampoline all set up. I even have two spare bedrooms if anyone wants to drop by!! Now our house is finally feeling like a home!

::Kieran's 12th Birthday::

(Click on any of the pictures to enlarge)

This past weekend my "Little Boy" celebrated his 12th birthday. We decided to surprise him and took him away to a fancy hotel for the night. The Empire is a 5 star hotel that we had heard great things about. It has 9 swimming pools, a bowling alley, movie theater, and a beautiful beach. I must say I was blown away at how elaborate the hotel was.
After arriving and settling into our room the birthday boy was allowed to choose one activity that he wanted to try. I had thought he would try parasailing, but my red neck boys who obviously have missed their dirtbikes chose to ride quads on the beach.
They had a great time and I enjoyed watching them do donuts in the sand.
Next we headed to the pool as the day was incredibly hot. The boys tried kayaking in the pool. We spent most of the afternoon taking in the beautiful sights from the pool. After we headed to Bandar to get some dinner. Along the way we stopped and toured the Mosque. I had envisioned a yummy dinner, but Kieran's birthday request was KFC. After we bought dessert to enjoy in the room we headed back to the hotel. We booked a lane at the bowling alley to finish off Kieran's day. What a fabulous way to spend a birthday!!

Art Class

For the past couple of weeks Kieran and I have been taking an art class at the Panaga Club. The class was called Painting on Silk. Because this was our first attempt we both decided to do the beginner project. Basically, you start with an empty piece of silk that is attached to a wooden frame. From there you trace out your design using a carbon pencil. Next you apply a material called Gutta which is basically clear glue to the pencil lines you traced. This stops the paints from bleeding into each other. Finally once you've chosen your colours you wet the area of silk where you are painting then apply the paint. The silk does all the work for you. It blends in such a way that makes you look skilled, which I am not! The texture on the trees is done by adding salt while the paint is still wet. I'm not sure Kieran loved the class, but it fullfilled an art requirement for homeschooling, and I had fun doing it! By the way Kieran's painting is on the left and mine is on the right.

The Perks of Homeschooling

Today Kieran and I took our science homework to the beach. We have been studying Ecosystems in our science class. We had to visit an ecosystem and find biotic (living) elements and abiotic (non living) elements. It was a beautiful day and quite hot I might add, so class on the beach was great. With all the struggles homeschooling has been, the beach was a nice perk. Another update about our homeschooling is that I've found a teacher to help me. She is fabulous. She is from Ireland, and has just arrived in Brunei after teaching in Hong Kong for the past 7 years. She will be taking over the math and language arts curriculum for me. Kieran goes to her house two morning a week for four hours per day. Not only is she helping me immensely, Kieran has taken to her and is benefiting from a one on one teacher. Hooray!!

Spoiled Boys

The week before last Rob took me to this little place for a foot massage for our date night. I'd forgotten my camera, so I was unable to capture the moment. Today I decided to bring the boys there so they could experience it for themselves. Kieran has had a lot of neck trouble so he had an hour long massage. Evan, who has always loved his Grandpa's footrubs decided to have the hour long foot massage. He sat there sipping his green tea with a huge grin on his face the whole time. The massage they give is a reflexology massage. They start by soaking your feet, then massage your feet and calf. In the final 10 minutes you get a shoulder, neck, and head massage. An hour massage costs around $18! A weekly treat at least for me I think!!

The Sand Bubbler Crab

On a previous post I showed you the balls of sand that the crabs in Brunei make. At that time, I was very intrigued with the patterns that these crabs create, but I was unaware of why they do this. Yesterday I had some time without the kids, so I headed to the beach to take in the views and do a little reading. As I was sitting there I noticed all these red leaves blowing in the beach. What I didn't realize until I came closer is that the leaves were crabs. As I came closer to them to take a photo, immediately all the crabs retreated to their burrows. Once I sat still for awhile they all came out and carried on forming the sand into balls. I use to think that the balls were formed while the crab made it's home, excavating the sand from out of a hole. I was completely wrong. These sand patterns across the beach are a result of the Sand Bubbler eating it's meal. It eats tiny edible particles found on the sand grains. As it filters the sand, the residue that comes out forms the balls of sand. It is quite a sight to see as the entire beach is filled with these small bubbles.

Shopping in Bandar

This past weekend we headed to Bandar. Bandar is the capitol city of Brunei. We flew into Bandar when we arrived, but didn't get a chance to see much of it then. Bandar is a little over an hour from where we live, and even seasoned expats say that when visiting Bandar plan to get lost. We did get lost, but stumbled upon the mall that we were looking for. This coming weekend is Kieran's birthday. Since the shopping in KB is pretty limited we wanted to do some shopping for Kieran's birthday in Bandar. The mall was fun to look in, but the selection is still quite limited. While driving through Bandar we came upon a beautiful mosque. We plan to visit Bandar again and tour the floating river village and also get a riverboat tour. Just a side note, the birds that you see in the top right corner are called Hornbills. They are quite rare and are native to this area. You will only see them in the Borneo jungle. We however, see them quite a lot and at night they make this

Today...

Well today was a somewhat uneventful day. Kieran and I had a sucessful day of homeschooling which made a change from yesterday. Since we accomplished so much work I decided to take him for lunch. We headed to downtown KB (Kuala Belait) to a restaurant called Marilyn's. Afterwards we wandered around a few of the shops and then headed to the Panaga Club. I had heard from a friend that there is a teacher who recently moved here from Ireland. She is looking for part time work. I met with her and was immediately thrilled to have met her. I'm hoping that she will take over two days of the homeschooling for me. After picking Evan up from school we went for a little tour looking for the family of monkeys in the area. We finally found them and thought we'd share a few photos of the wildlife here. The monkeys are almost as common here as squirrels are in Canada. We finally ended our day at the Panaga club. Kieran had joined a soccer team here and they were playing a quick game. It was good to see him having fun with friends his own age. Homeschooling has limited his social network. We ended up having dinner by the pool while the boys swam. All in all, a good day had by all!

Exploring...

(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

This past weekend we thought we would do a little exploring. Some friends of ours had told us of a spot where you could get a good view of some crocodiles (from afar I had hoped!) We drove down quite an isolated road. I only got nervous when I realized we had no spare tire. As you can see from the above picture the road was full of pot holes and the warning signs consisted of a stick holding a beer box. We drove about 40 minutes down this road until it came to a dead end. We took in the sights as well as a few photos and were just about to head home. Shortly after Rob took the picture of the boys and I next to the water we noticed a wet patch of dirt right where we were standing. As we looked in the water sure enough there were some bubbles floating to the top. I can't be sure, but I'm thinking the bubbles belonged to a crocodile who thankfully decided against showing himself to us near the water's edge!

Cooking Class with Liza

First I'd like to introduce you to Liza. In Brunei she is referred to as an Amah, but to us she has been such a blessing and we are very thankful to have her. As foreign as it has been for me to have a house keeper, I must say it is wonderful. Liza is from the Phillipines and has been in Brunei for the past five years. This past week she brought us some spring rolls that she had made. They were delicious. I asked her to teach me how to make them. I was suprised at how simple they are to make. I think we will be having a weekly cooking class. I can't wait to see what we cook this week!