Touring Lombok

I got itchy feet by the pool and wanted to do a day-tour so I could say I've seen some of the island - no matter how gorgeous its eastern beaches are. A part from the beaches, Lombok offers quite a bit of interesting nature with its rainforests ample with monkey sightings and waterfalls, coffee and tobacco plantations, a variety of small islands around the main island known as gilis, and of course Mount Rinjani, island's active volcano raising to 3,700 m over sea level.

Chilling in Chandi

We chose to spend some time in Lombok's traditional tourist area, Senggigi beaches. Since the new airport was built to boost the south coast's economy, it's about 90 minutes from the airport but then again much closer to the Gili Islands, where we were heading next.

Lombok arrivals

Arriving into the soft and black Indonesian night was a delight at first, even a bit of a chilly experience: How refreshing getting out of the Bornean humidity. But I say at first since the chaos was inevitable and imminent.

Petronas Towers

Visiting this Kuala Lumpur's landmark, The Petronas Twin Towers, is an integral part of the city experience. At the time of our visit, the online booking system was down so we had to revert to the old fashioned queuing but luckily we managed to secure a space for the same afternoon. (They are now, however, available to be purchased in advance.) The towers are depicted as symbol of the whole country, with its outline drawing the letter 'M' for Malaysia onto the Kuala Lumpur skyline. At 452m it remains the world's tallest twin towers and an iconic sight in the KL skyline.

Long weekend in Kuala Lumpur - few toddler activities

Few weeks back we wanted to take advantage of the bank holiday Monday, and travelled to Kuala Lumpur for 4 days. We decided to fly with the Royal Brunei Airlines as they had a sale on, and for once it was quite nice to have everything included: 30kgs of luggage each, and meals and drinks. And their flight schedule is much better from Brunei than their counterpart Air Asia. Especially coming back you can still enjoy a full day in the city.

Gaya Island Resort - a small luxury hotel on Borneo

Our recent Gaya Island getaway made me want to be young and in love again. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed travelling with my toddler and in laws but the set up of the resort was made for couples with its secret nooks and crannies, secluded beaches, packaway picnics and secret beach dinners.

The ultimate prep

This time I had to get some extra prep via hospital to make it to our next holiday: I picked up a nasty stomach bug from somewhere (luckily just me) and by day 3 I was actually asking to go to the hospital. I had nothing left and our departure was looming! Day 2 of IV made me feel slightly better...

Cultural Heritage of George Town

Our last stop on our latest holiday was George Town on Penang. I hadn't really heard of the island, nor the town before moving to South East Asia but it rose as a potential holiday destination from a suggestion from our friends. Especially the old British colonial influence and the Chinese culture and architecture started really interesting me as there is very little of culture around in Brunei. I fancied a bit of that alongside our regular beach holiday destinations - and the fact that Penang is known as the food capital of Malaysia didn't bother me either!

Langkawi - sailing the Andaman sea

As part of our recent holidays we visited Langkawi, the Pearl of Kedah. We fancied a bit of beach time in between city and culture (Singapore and Georgetown). And there aren't many places as famous for its beaches as this island.

Time for another holiday

It's been too many months since our last holiday! This one was long time in planning as it involved my parents flying over from Finland. We planned a three-week roundtrip in Singapore and Malaysia to show them around, starting from Singapore as there is a great direct flight to there from Helsinki. As I've posted about Singapore before, I won't go into too many details but I must say that the whole city is a breath of fresh air straight from landing. And actually we were lucky to have a bit of cooler weather, which made exploring a bit more bearable (as we are not early risers!).

Happy International Women's Day

Being a woman means such different things around the globe. I was just reading some women's magazine where a known personality lamented how feminism has gone so far that "women even look like men". Or conversely, we can discuss the "women's pound", and agree that, after all, men and women aren't equal at least not in the work place. Even though Finland ranks as 2nd of all countries in the world closest to closing its gender gap, there is still a lot of work to do. (UK doesn't make the top 10.)

What year is it?

We live in a wonderfully multicultural society: The largest group of people are the Malay Bruneians who are predominantly Muslim whilst the Chinese Bruneian are Buddhist. There is a small population of indigenous people mostly still living in the Temburong rainforest. And then there is a group of foreign workers who are mostly Christian. This would give us a great variety of celebrations; stepping into 2015 under beautiful fireworks, following the Lion Dance into the new lunar year, and stepping into 1437 with our Muslim friends' open house celebrations. 

Sadly, this won't be the case in Brunei. Rather than celebrating the multiculturalism and each others' faith and customs, all other religions and cultures than Islam are suppressed, more so since the phasing in of Sharia laws since last year.

Some of you may have read my post about banning Christmas. Now this matter has become relevant again at the eve of the Chinese new year as the ban has been extended to other religions. Roughly 12 % of the population is Chinese and the upcoming new year is their biggest celebration that isn't even tied to the religion but is to celebrate the new calendar, the start of a new year. Lion dances have been restricted, or banned all together, and fireworks are generally banned in Brunei. 

As we are going to slip amidst the masses in Singapore's China town to enjoy the local festivities, I can only reflect on how different choices these two countries have made with such extremely opposite results...

Happy year of the goat! Gong xi fa cai!

Read about the bans for example here: http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/brunei-cracks-down-on-chinese-new-year/

At the doctor's

Sounds like an English text book but sadly is a reality in our lives. In the last two weeks we have visited the doctor for several ailments for three different people. In theory we are lucky as we get free healthcare in this country through Phil's work. Everyone in fact is entitled to free state healthcare but we get to use the local medical centre which is just 2 minutes drive away rather than going to the hospital, or any other government clinic.

Sunday, Monday, Post day...

We are lucky to have a UK address here, which makes on line shopping much easier - not many companies deliver to Brunei. And not just easier for us but friends too. Sending parcels is cheaper, if not quicker. But it does mean that we only get post once a week. Hence Tuesday is often the best day of the week!

Our January Sunday

Another mum blogger was calling for Sunday posts, and I decided to share ours. We actually do have a pretty much "standard Sunday" - lounging around the pool or taking the boat out for a picnic but this was neither.

Tennis mums

I am fully embracing the expat wives' life with children at school and signed up for tennis lessons. The course is actually organised by the school; they have got great facilities - especially if you get to play before 10 am - and the timing is perfect just after drop off.
Learning tennis is something that's always played on my mind but I haven't really ever picked up a racket except as a kid playing on the road, pretending. But who ever said old dog can't learn new tricks was onto something.... We've only had two lessons with two different strikes; last week was "easy", this week I was already all confused between the two. Front hand - back hand - where's the leg, how many hands to hold the racket.... Oh, that was the ball.... Better luck next time!

The group is quite a mixed ability one with only few beginners and occasionally it feels quite frustrating that all my balls are flying high. At least they are going over the net - yes, thanks for the encouragement! I'm not sure if 12 learners is the best group size as the lessons seem to go by demonstrate-practice line rather than getting 1-1 tuition and whilst I am aware what I am meant to do, it's not quite that simple in my brain. From low to high isn't as easy as it looks! I thought I was quite good at body and muscle control but this is clearly not my forte. But I am laughing and sweaty after an hour so I guess that's mission accomplished. I will never challenge the Williams sisters, though, and probably not many of my course mates either!

Busy biking

Unlike anywhere else I've lived, if it's a cloudy day we pull our boots on and head outdoors. If it's windy, even better as that keeps the nasty sandflies abay.

Education, education, education

I did not miss the 6 am alarm during the holidays... First term - and the Christmas break - is now well behind us, and it's a good time to look back on how starting school has gone for us.

Weather warning!

No snow for Christmas for us this year and I feel quite jealous looking at photos from Finland and - surprisingly - from the UK. We are just living in the midst of the rainy season, which means rain every day for about a month. We are lucky not to have typhoons sweeping through Brunei, and there were no tsunami victims on the island 10 years ago. But it does rain, and I mean rain.

What would you like for dinner?

- Sofia, what would you like to eat?

- Hmmm... I'd like some crab and noodles! 

Or sushi! I love soft shell crab. 

Or how about sweet and sour prawn with broccoli and carrots? 

- How about it, indeed?! 

Our 2014

It's been an eventful year. It's been a long one that paradoxically has gone quickly. It was our first full year in Brunei, and this new year marks the half way point. We are no longer the newbies but still a long way off from the lifers. The year has been marked with various visits to Ripas, and to the mechanics.... but also with several trips around the area on planes, boats and automobiles.

Bah humbug

Just before Christmas I mentioned that the representatives of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRa) had gone around restaurants telling them to strip off their Christmas decorations. The MoRa has been able to clarify their position further: