Big girl swimming

Most of you know that since arriving to Brunei Sofia has really enjoyed swimming. Despite of her arm injury that put us on dry land for nearly 3 months last year, her abilities have really rocketed.

Not chicken and rice

Some of the great things about Borneo are the weather and the amount of various seafood available. Even better is combining the two - every day can be a BBQ day!

Salam

I witnessed two toddlers battling through an intercultural misunderstand today - shame I don't have a photo if this but I'll try to explain. We had lunch in a local restaurant and having eaten some sweet and sour fish with a great appetite, and even more cake, Sofia was getting bored. So she started chatting with the little boy at the next table.

Family fun for a tenner

This afternoon was our first cinema outing as a family, to watch Mr Peabody and Sherman. As there is precious little to do on a Friday afternoon, especially it being off for most local people, the theatre was packed with people and their food parcels. (I'll talk about makan another time but if always seem to feature heavily in whatever goes on in Brunei). This did not bother us, though, since we had had change from £10 buying three cinema tickets, so we decided to join them with a family combo.

The film was quite funny, and most of the modern cartoons it had something for everyone. Phil and I giggled at the great one-liners, and Sofia held my hand at the scary bits. The various references to the historical events should tickle the interests of various age groups.

There's really no reason not to go to the cinema at these prices - and you're not really ruining a sunny afternoon as they are all sunny. Besides, there's surely no real reason for the extortionate ticket prices in Finland and the UK alike? When has it become acceptable to pay £5 for a small bucket of popcorn? So one (more) thing to enjoy here! While it lasts, of course - watch this space after April...

From Russia with love

Nominated as the world's fastest sailing boat, the Russian frigate Pallada docked in Muara port for a 3-day visit as part of its tour around the world. This was obviously a big event in this sleepy country with shuttle bus loads of people ferried to marvel the beautiful ship. 

The yacht, built in 1989, has had the same captain since its maiden voyage. I'm sure he has an interesting story, or two, to tell. Some special visitors even got to share a glass of vodka with him, I hear. 

One of Pallafa's missions in this region is to inform and educate the locals of the employment opportunities around the maritime industry, and to provide current students from Singapore a hands-on learning experience as it sailed through the South China Sea. Ironic is that this Asia's biggest island will have its first intake of students for the brand new Brunei Maritime Academy next month to create new employment opportunities... They did not think of this before? 

And what was the best bit according to Sofia? The bus ride, of course...

Next stop: Busan. 

Byes and pancakes

Another "ordinary" day in the expat life: saying goodbyes. It's a privilege of this lifestyle to get to know so many great people, some whom you'd never cross paths with otherwise. But the downside of it is obvious - these fabulous people come and go.

Creature of habits

Why is it, that you always get used to one grocery store, and all the other places seem so disorganised. Shopping seems to take so much longer because you never know where anything is.

On a positive side you may find some gems, such as this

Apple cider - I don't think so! 

Or delights such as this 

Mmmm - a good cup of tea dust after a hard day, anyone?!

6 weeks in Brunei

We've had a crazy busy start to this year with both of my sisters visiting. We've had some brilliant holidays, but also good times here in Brunei. Here are some of the moments we've shared together.

The Yacht club and our boat has kept us busy on many occasions (other than just fixing it...), and the beach BBQs are great fun. I am yet to try waterskiing but I've climbed on board of the mighty jetski... The Empire is a small haven within Brunei, and Miri offers a nice break from it all on the Malaysian side. And the nature is beautifu - you missed out on photos of Susse and I jungle running. There is more to do than this, it's just a small sample of few fun times we had - come and see for yourselves!

A weekend in Miri

Miri is only 2 hours away from Bandar, significantly on the Malaysian side of the border, so many Bruneians and local expats head there for the weekend. This means a lot of swimming, sunbathing in a bikini without angering anyone, and perhaps some cheeky cocktails in the pool bar...