Borneo Rainforest Resort

Yesterday the boys and I headed over the border for a night away. Evan went to the Borneo Rainforest Resort with his class and was eager for us to see it. So off we went. Once over the border the resort is about an hours drive. I was a bit nervous at one point as we headed off the main road and started to climb our way through the logging type roads to the resort. I was glad Evan had been there before because it felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere. After about 20 minutes driving up the mountain we came upon the resort. It really was nestled in the middle of the rainforest. I was suprisingly impressed! The staff were amazing. They directed us as to where to go and even brought us a refreshing lime juice. The top picture is the chalet we stayed in. We were the one on the right. The whole resort is elevated and a series of boardwalks takes you where you need to go. I can't tell you how amazing the sounds of the forest were as we were falling asleep!

Resort Tour

Upon arriving at the resort we were just in time for the resort tour. The tour was about an hour and a half. It was great as it showed most parts of the 170 acres. So we boarded our chariot, which was really a tractor and trailor, and arrived at our first stop. The resort has it's own domestic farm. A lot of the food they serve is also grown at the resort. We wandered through and saw rabbits, goats, sheep, turtles and chickens.

After reboarding our tractor we headed up the mountain for a spectacular viewpoint. The bottom left picture is a palm farm where the only remaining local palm oil factory still operates. We drove through the resorts orchard where there were many local fruit trees growing. The bottom right pictures is a grove of Dragon Fruit trees. Next we left the tractor and boarded a boat for a river tour. The ride was short, but on the way we fed the fish that they farm. You can see some of them in the photo with Kieran. The final stop was at the waterfall. The resort borders the Lambir National Park where a lovely waterfall is one of the highlights. You can swim in the basin of the falls but we had other plans for the day.

Borneo Resort Cont...

The strangest thing about this resort is the waterpark. The resort itself is nestled in the rainforest and is so natural in its setting. So to see a waterpark up in the hills of the rainforest was a suprise. But what a great time we had playing in it. The speed slides were so fast that it left your bathing suit in crevices where it shouldn't be! The greatest memory I have is floating in the pool while heaven rained heavily on us. The boys thoroughly wore themselves out!

After a great sleep we had the morning to try some more of the activities available at the resort. The boys wanted to try the Flying Fox. There are many other things that you can try like mountain biking, absailing, rock climbing, archery, kayaking, and much more. We each had a couple of tries at the zipline. It was fun had by all. We had a quick lunch and then hit the road for the drive home. While on the drive home we spotted a turtle about the size of an adults head. He was trying to cross the highway, but nearly was smooshed by an oncoming car. So we pulled our car to the side of the road and started the rescue mission. We hurried him along the road to safety and had a closer look at him. The neat thing about this turtle was when it was scared it pulled his entire body into his shell into an enclosed case. I always thought that turtles pulled there heads slightly in when they were threatened. This turtle was like a football, totally enclosed. The boys were quite excited to hold a real turtle. We had a great fun filled night away!

Question One...

In my previous post I threw a challenge out there. My lovely friend Christy was the first to respond. Her question...

I am so curious if there is a language barrier? Or is there enough ex-pats around that life is pretty much normal without having to speak the language?

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In Brunei the local language is Malay. There is also a huge population from the Phillipines. However, most everyone speaks English to some degree. You need to keep your words simple. From time to time you do come across someone who doesn't speak English, but it is seldom. I do not know a word of Malay. Well that is not true... Selamat Datang means welcome or peace be with you! It amazes me that they adapt to my language so readily that I don't even attempt to learn theirs.

As for us ex-pats, I think I was told there are about 4000 of us living in this city. The only oil supplier is Shell. So if you are a Shell employee you live on what they call camp. But a camp it is not. It is a huge suburb that is nestled around the international school and the country club that we belong to. So the whole area where we spend most of our time is full of ex-pats. Life does feel somewhat normal here. It is filled with the same routines that we have at home. At the moment the boys have a 2 week break. So most ex-pats leave Brunei for travel somewhere. It is almost like a ghost town here. We mostly have the pool to ourselves. There are many things I do like about here. But like life anywhere one day flows into the next!

Whewww.. I've caught up...

Just a quick apology for my lack of blogging. I'm not sure where the time has gone, nor do I have a good excuse! I'm so glad you are still hear reading what flows from my mind! I appreciate all of you who read my blog and so appreciate your comments! One of my other friends, who also blogs asked a question from her followers. I thought the idea was great and thought I'd throw it your way.

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So here it is... What would you like to know about me? Any topics I can share with you? What would you like to know about my life here abroad? I like to think I am an open book. I think the struggles and strengths I have are meant to encourage someone somewhere in this world. So leave your comments and questions and I will do my best to respond from the heart!

Oil & Gas Discovery Center

Right now the boys are on a two week break from school. I guess if we were in Canada this would be Spring Break. Here it is called half term. Yesterday we decided to check out the Oil & Gas Discovery center. I must say I was somewhat impressed. Being in Brunei my expectations were somewhat low, but I was pleasantly suprised. The Center was similar to Science World, but on a much smaller scale. There were many hands on experiments that the boys could try. Some of the highlights was a capsule you could enter and get a visual of what a tornado looks like. The photo with Kieran wearing a headband was really neat. The boys wore those headbands and sat opposite of each other. There is a ball in the middle that is stimulated by brain waves. The boys had a great time concentrating on the ball and seeing whose brain waves were stronger. It was a good way to spend an afternoon!

Inspired...

This past week there was a concert at the church we have been attending. 41 youths from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia came to bless us with there musical talent. They put on an awesome concert including some great rock worship songs and a theatre presentation. The most amazing thing for me was their hearts which shone through. These 41 youths not only paid for their own way to Brunei, but raised money as a group that was outstanding. Each month these youths pay for the rent and utilities for their church. In addition, every 6 months they send $20 000 overseas to support missions across the globe. Sometimes we all feel so insignificant to make a difference in our world. It just shows how as a group we can all make a difference. I'm not sure where my niche may be. At times, making a difference in my own family seems too far of a reach. However, I am inspired and hope the small things I do make an impact, if even in just one life!

:: Sunsets ::

One of the things that I do love about Brunei is the sunsets. The sun goes down here relatively early, around 6ish. As the sun is setting I can be driving down the main strip on the way to our house and physically watch as the sun dips behind the horizon. The drive is only a matter of 10 minutes. On this particular night we were up a the club and had a quick wander to the beach. The boys love it when we take these "action" shots. It is nights like these that leaves me in awe at how beautiful the world is in which we live.

Brunei Bike Show

It has been quite awhile since my last post. After taking some more recent pictures I realized I hadn't yet blogged about some of the pictures still left on the camera. So here is our outing from a couple of weeks ago. There was a bike show in Bandar and with my family being a bunch of rednecks off we went. I was trying to be a good wife and mom and went along for the ride even though I could think of far better ways to spend an afternoon. So off we went on a super hot day looking at a bunch of bikes. I know I sound less than enthused, but there was a plus side... the boys had a great time, and there was cotton candy and fresh pineapple for only $1! Also in the pictures is Evan`s good friend Johnathan. Their family moved here recently from Canada and the boys are joined at the hip.

::Save our Planet::

For the last two evenings Evan has been performing in his school play called, "Save our Planet" There were auditions for the parts, and he was quite excited to get the part of a narrator. The play is about some aliens called Zarconian's whose planet is in peril. One of the aliens flies his spaceship to earth where he learns about recycling and other green ideas and takes what he has learned and saves his planet. The kids did really well and had a lot of fun. It was quite entertaining!

Evan's Rainforest Trip

Evan recently went on a field trip with three of the P5 classes. It was his first overnight trip and also the first time he has been in an0ther country without us. He had a great time and had lots to tell us about his trip. Here is his story in his own words!

At 7:30 I went to school. The bus left at 8:10 for Miri. It took about 20 minutes to cross the border. Once we passed the border we drove for about 2 hours to Miri Rainforest Resort. We started to walk around to find our dorms. Everyone was racing to find a top bunk. When everyone got their beds we went to play soccer, basketball, and volleyball. Then we went to the obstacle course where the key was teamwork. One time we had to do the army crawl, then if you touched the wires you had to restart. Finally we finished. Then we had to do the football style, running through the tires. Next we went through the echoey tunnels. This next part took a lot of teamwork because you had to climb a 10 foot climbing frame. Next we went to the rock climbing wall that was 8 storeys high. Next we went down to the fish pond. We put on a harness, helmet, and lifejacket. Then we walked into the forest to get attached to the flying fox, also know as a zipline in Canada. The first time I went off the flying fox I was on my stomach racing over the fish pond. The second time I was on my back facing backwards. After we all had a turn we headed to the low ropes course. It was hard but fun. At the very end we got to do the Tarzan swing. The first time I landed on my face, and the second time my foot got stuck because of all the holes in it. By now it was dark. We headed to our room, took a shower, and then went to dinner (tea) For dinner, Jonathan and I had whipped cream, sausages, and beef burgers. My friend Max, who is Dutch had a cucumber burger. After dinner we went for a night walk. On the walk we saw two black widow Tarantulas and two scorpions. We went back to our dorm, and lights were suppose to be out at 9:15, but we decided to get our flashlights out and do a disco on the ceiling. Then we would jump from bed to bed. All the teachers came and told us to go to bed, but we didn't. Finally we fell asleep. In the morning we got up and started to run around. After breakfast we got on a tractor that took us far into the forest. Then we stopped and saw this mini farm. Then we went on a boat ride down the river. After the boat ride we rode back to our dorms on the tractor. We packed all of our stuff up. Next we went on a nature walk through the jungle. We did lots of running in the jungle. Next we went back to our dorms, grabbed our stuff, and headed onto the bus. When we were coming out we stopped to take a picture of our class. Then we hit the road. Once we were over the border we ate our lunch on the bus. When we were near our school we started a countdown of our arrival back to school. When we got back to our school everybody was there waving. We arrived at 2:30.

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By Evan Dunn