Life in Brunei

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T21:48:00.005+08:00

It's been a busy Tuesday here in Brunei, with all the normal Tuesday stuff going on. Exercise, scrapping, school for some, work for some, errands, school run, hash etc. We haven't been together today much as a family unfortunately, to celebrate Valentine's Day. Mind you, it's not really a big thing here in Brunei, or for us, really.

Although... I did get a lovely gift from my darling husband - and both Lucas and Linnea received Valentine's Day cards at school, and I had a heart-shaped cake as dessert at lunch at Creative Crew... so, I guess our Valentine's Day wasn't too bad..! :)
Sharing some blog love with you, blog friends - Happy Valentine's Day!

Special delivery

2012-02-13T20:05:00.005+08:00

The other day one of the pilots who came back from London/Dubai had a special delivery for us, from our Danish friends the Dehlis: a birthday present to Lucas from Malthe (a cool football shirt!) and some yummy bread!! Mmm!

It tastes "Dubai" to us, since it's some of the bread we ate while we were there in December! So good, proper bread!
We've had open sandwiches morning, lunch and dinner so that we could enjoy this very special delivery. Yum! Thank you!

Family time

2012-02-10T11:13:00.002+08:00

As I have previously mentioned, Nathan missed the fabulous boat trip last weekend, since he went to Singapore instead to meet up with his brother-in-law.

Kieran (who's normally based in Aberdeen, Scotland) had been traveling around Asia on business for a few weeks. He ended up in Singapore for the last few days of his trip and luckily it was perfectly timed with Nathan's off days, so he could go and see him.

I've been told they had a great time, what a treat to be able to catch up with family only a few hours away, somewhere where you can get both beer and ribs..! :)

Bugs & Bubbles

2012-02-05T14:46:00.009+08:00

Saturday was my friend Anna's birthday and she had invited for a "Grown-up boozy lunch at Labuan"! Nathan unfortunately wasn't here (he was living it up with brother-in-law Kieran in Singapore!), but I really wanted to go because believe it or not, I hadn't yet been to Labuan so it was about time!

Labuan is a Malaysian island about 45 minutes away with boat away from Brunei (Muara):

It's actually a federal territory and best known for being an offshore support hub for deep-water oil and gas activities in the region. It's also a destination for people traveling through Sabah, scuba divers - and people from Brunei needing to stock up. The boys regularly take the boat over there for a day out, but as I said, so far I hadn't been.

We had smooth sailing on the way over, luckily. I tend to get sea sick if it rolls too much but there was no problems at all.

Arriving in Labuan:

The view from the restaurant:

The party crew:

We had such a fantastic lunch at this seafood place, yum, yum!
Food was amazing, fresh and tasty, and dirt cheap too! For the 10 of us, numerous beers included, it only came to 550 MYR (= 1200SEK, 140EUR, 225BDN)!!!

We had two whole, steamed fish...

... a huge plate of garlic kai lan, another huge plate of some other vegetable I didn't catch the name of, rice, a huge plate of "bugs" (some kind of small land lobster?)..:

... and also two plates of chili-garlic squid and a plate of chili-garlic chicken. Plus finally, and the best thing if you ask me, two huge plates of tiger prawns that them too were humungous! Mmm! They went so fast I didn't even get time to take a photo of them! :)

Anna and Pippa also enjoyed another... delicacy? They both ate a fish EYE! Why? I'm not quite sure...

After lunch, it was time to go shopping! What made me really happy in the shop was the selection of chocolates! It was huge!
I couldn't help but get some of the Marabou and Dumle chocolate they had, for the kids, of course... ;)

On the way back from Labuan, we anchored at the island of Koruman most of the afternoon, to do some swimming and enjoy some more "bubbles" - it was a birthday celebration after all!
What a hard life!

Choccie heaven

2012-02-05T14:15:00.003+08:00

If Swedish visitors normally bring Daim, Marabou and Ahlgrens Bilar - NZ visitors are always asked to bring us Whittaker Chocolate, particularly Peanut Slabs.
Now there's no more need for that because check out what they have in SupaSave now, almost the whole range of Whittaker choccies!!

Nathan is in heaven!

Move over Rocky!

2012-02-05T13:56:00.004+08:00

Yesterday it was time for a special Super Saturday Session. One of the girls had organized a friend of hers, an ex-boxer called Omar, to take us through two hours of boxercise training.

It was so much fun, really good exercise but man, my arms are hurting today!

I thoroughly enjoyed this session though, and I choose to believe I did extra well with the punching exercises because I had done it before... ha ha!

I really enjoy these Super Saturday Sessions! It's nice training together in a group, yesterday there was 10 of us. It's nice training outside early in the morning and believe it or not - it's nice getting up and getting going even on a "day off", starting my day with exercise makes me feel so good for the rest of the day.

The pizza king

2012-02-05T13:26:00.003+08:00

Our pizza nights are currently reaching new heights. As the pizza maker himself is flying tonight we decided to do pizza on Friday this week instead and all I can say is yum, yum, YUM!

Jeremy really rocks the pizza making, now having purchased all the necessary proper equipment to make the best pizzas (because it's all about the gear and the gadgets of course, even in a kitchen!) - and the pizzas came out perfection. Mmm!

A 1948 Memento

2012-02-02T22:45:00.004+08:00

We are getting closer and closer to the 2012 London Olympics, something that is causing a buzz even way out here in South-East Asia!

The other day both my boys had a near encounter with a very special memento from the last time London hosted the Olympic Games - a 1948 Olympic Torch!
The relay back then was called a "Relay of Peace" and started from Greece, and went through Italy, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Belgium on it's way to England - quite a wide scope through Europe.

This time around, the 2012 Olympic Torch will cover only the UK in a 70-day extravaganza, with over 8,000 torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame around the country.

I'm not sure how or why this important memorabilia was at JIS on Wednesday, I just got this photo sent to me by a friend (thank you Maria!):

I'm even less sure about why it also later that day came made an appearance at the Men's Hash..! By hey, quite cool that Nathan got to hold it too on the same day!

I found this interesting article though on the BBC webpage, where you can read more about the Olympic Torch and it's history.

Cultural school excursion

2012-02-02T19:26:00.007+08:00

Linnea and her class mates went on yet another school excursion this week. (Unfortunately they always seem to be scheduled on Mondays, so I can't come along since I take my Zumba class then.)
This time they went to the Chinese Temple in Bandar because of the Chinese New Year, and also to the "Big Mosque" - Jame´`Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque in Kiulap.

I heard from the accompanying parents and teachers it had been a really nice and educational visit; such a shame I missed it.
They had been treated to a Lion Dance at the temple, with fireworks and everything! They also got to do some Chinese drawings - and even received Ang Paos!
At the mosque they had gone on a guided tour to see the libraries, the book collections and the impressive prayer rooms.

Here's the newspaper clipping:

Scandinavian Care Package 101

2012-01-31T09:15:00.003+08:00

My friends came bearing gifts from home, jubi!
This - is what I call a perfect Care Package, yum!

Drive-by sightseeing

2012-01-30T22:52:00.003+08:00

A few weeks back I got a FB message from an old colleague telling me that he and a few other old colleagues of mine were planning a trip to Borneo - would I be home to meet up if they came through Brunei?
Well, it's not exactly like our schedule is fully booked with visitors here, of course I would be able to meet up!

So yesterday they came into Bandar with a bus from Miri, but due to the party we weren't able to meet up until quite late in the evening, only to make plans for today. Today we have spent most of the day together and it's been so nice to have friends here to show around!

I must say, in 48 hours they've managed to cover nearly all of the most important sights of Brunei though!
Yesterday they did the "monkey boat" trip into the mangroves and saw the Proboscis Monkeys, went into the city mosque, had dinner at the water village, walked around town and visited the Regalia Building - all in one day.

Today we went for sushi lunch:

After that we did some drive-by sightseeing. Yep, just driving around big parts of Brunei showing them around from the car window!
They also got to browse the big (...) Mall for a couple of hours while I was busy doing Zumbatomic at ISB, they came along to the "Monkey Supasave" (=the supermarket that has the monkeys in the car park), and we took them to Jerudong Park and around the Polo Club. Finally we saw the sunset from the Empire Hotel, very beautiful.

Tonight I took them home for a home cooked meal, which they seemed to enjoy after all their "traveling food". It was also nice to catch up on all the happenings back in the "Verdensfirmaet", my old airline, in Denmark.

Nice to see you guys, I hope you enjoyed your bullet-visit to Brunei!

A day in the Magic Kingdom

2012-01-30T14:27:00.000+08:00

Today we were so lucky to get to spend the afternoon at the Istana, at the little Princess' 4th birthday party.

It was a Disney Princess-themed party, and they had transformed the whole Royal Sports Complex into a magical fairground with life-sized exotic animals, huge butterflies, pretty balloons, bubbles and other glittery decorations. It looked so pretty!
There was a huge play area, a Beauty Tent, lots of games to play, a tent with an Exotic Pet Exhibition and also a big scene where they had several performances throughout the afternoon - all in the Disney Princess-theme.

We all left the party so happy, feeling like we had been to a magical wonderland, what a fabulous day!
Here are some of the photos I took:

Gong Xi Fai Chai!

2012-01-29T22:12:00.003+08:00

During the first 15 days of the new year, most Chinese will invite their family and friends home to their "Open House". We've had a few invites this year which is really nice, it's such a special thing to be invited to take part in all these different celebrations.
On Friday we went to the Open House of one of Lucas' class mates. It's pretty much the same as a Hari Raya Open House - you come, you eat, you go..!

Yes, of course you are supposed to chat and catch up etc, but considering there are so many people coming through at the same time, you are not supposed to take up the space at the table for too long, nor hog the host too long either! :)

At this Open House they wanted to do a quick photo shoot with all the children. They had their own photo studio set up in their garage, very cool!
I managed to snap some "behind-the-scenes-shots"! I just love these - check out Lucas and the girls!

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

2012-01-26T18:39:00.001+08:00

Linnea & Luca:

Storytime

2012-01-25T13:17:00.002+08:00

Lucas sharing a story with Oliver the other day.
Oh how we are going to miss them when they leave (for good)... Only a few more weeks now until moving date, and we kind of just pretend still it's not happening. We'll wait and be sad once they are gone, for now we enjoy their company as much as we can.

Back to routine

2012-01-25T12:06:00.002+08:00

We've had a long four day weekend thanks to Chinese New Year. It's been lovely, especially after last weeks frantic birthday party planning.
Not only did Lucas have his birthday party on Friday, I also had a little Girls Night gathering on Saturday to celebrate me! I got so spoiled, my beautiful friends brought me all sorts of lovely gifts - and these amazing lilies!
(I must buy flowers more often - it really brightens up the house!)

So it was nice to get a couple of extra days to relax, catch up with things around the house, and breathe.
Now, back to routine. And I love it.

Shufflin'

2012-01-23T16:49:00.002+08:00

Here's Lucas, doing his best impression of the LFMAO Robot man!

The original:

(Picture borrowed from tumblr.com)

The Year of the Dragon

2012-01-23T10:00:00.004+08:00

Today we enter the Year of the Dragon. The Dragon is the biggest symbol of good fortune in Chinese astrology and according to tradition the Dragon brings in the four blessings of the East: wealth, virtue, harmony and longevity.

The Dragon is considered the most special of the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac, as it is a mystical being rather than an earthly animal. In this context that means we can expect grand things this year. Bigger than life is very much a Dragon thing.
How exciting!

Happy New Year!

Zumbaaa!

2012-01-22T12:16:00.001+08:00

Birthday family photo

2012-01-21T23:25:00.001+08:00

Here's the Lego family, ready for Lego party!
It's not my t-shirt since I don't have a Lego one unfortunately (Thomas...?!). I had to borrow one of Nathan's big ones.
It was Lucas' idea that the birthday people should wear the same one! :)

The Lego party

2012-01-21T22:32:00.001+08:00

I realized last year that sticking to a theme was an easy way of doing a birthday party! Then you know what you are looking for, and there are lots of ideas to pinch on the internet. The (lacking) access to party supplies here in Brunei proves a challenge, but I think we did a pretty good job with the birthday party this year too!

This is how the invite looked like:

We had chosen a Lego theme this year. About 20 kids were invited but only about 15 could make it.

Here's a few shots of the party room before the guests arrived, we had made a "Creation Station" with nearly all Lucas' Lego, all colour sorted, of course!

We also had a colour-in station set up, for those who didn't feel like building Lego:

There was a "Guess-how-many-Lego-bricks-in-the-jar" game set up. Four people guessed on the same number - 100, and since the right answer was 139 so we had to get them to guess a second time. (Lucas guessed 3000...)

We had all Lucas' little Lego men on display, it looked so cool!

I had also cut out 20 little yellow Lego men and hidden them in the room, but in the end we forgot to get the kids to find them! They were just so busy building..! :)

When the guests arrived, the building could begin! Even though we had all the Lego set instructions available, all the kids chose to be creative, and boy they built some cool things!

The girls both built and coloured-in:

After a while we went outside to do a Lego relay race. The kids got split into two teams and were supposed to move as many Lego pieces from one box to another as they could in a set time, with a Lego spoon! It was a close race, 32-30 in the end.

We also did a team-building game inside, where the kids again were in two teams. They then got a Lego plate each and we rolled a dice to tell each kid how many pieces it could add to the plate when it was his or hers turn. Both teams worked really well together, and built an underwater station and an helicopter landing "dock"!

Oliver did his own thing!

We also played Lego Bingo. The kids got all into it and it was great fun talking about all the different mini figures and how they looked like. Plus, it took quite a while..!

Finally, it was time for cake - a Lego cake of course!
Lucas didn't know how it looked like but he was really happy with his Kai Ninjago cake (the ladies at the Kitchen of Jasmine just love all my different missions I give them, ha ha!)

The cake was inspired by this dude:

Lucas and some of all his presents:

And here are the goodie bags, Lego ones of course! In each bag there was a Lego mini-figure and a Lego colouring-in book, plus some sweets.

School celebration

2012-01-21T20:24:00.000+08:00

It was just time after the busy morning at the sports field, to bring some cupcakes in to Lucas' class mates. It's a bit of a tradition for us. I think it's quite nice, since he doesn't get to invite the whole class anymore to his parties - this way everybody gets to celebrate a bit anyway.

He got sung to, but as we hadn't brought any candles he got to "blow out" a balloon instead!

Since the Yellow House had won at Athletics Day, we got Lucas' team mates to pick cupcakes first.

One of his best mates, George:

The boys comparing cupcakes!

Junior School Athletics Day

2012-01-21T17:10:00.007+08:00

Yesterday wasn't just a double birthday, it was also a busy day at school - Junior School Athletics Day.
This year was the first year Lucas took part in the Athletics Day out on the field. Whereas the younger year groups just perform different sports disciplines for fun, year 3-5 compete properly, with ribbons for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each discipline plus cups for the overall best performers of each year group.

I'm not quite sure how they decided, or got decided for them, which disciplines they were participating in, all I know is Lucas didn't do all of them.
Here he's running 400m, he's in a yellow shirt since he's in Yellow House:

He also did long jump:

And here he is on 100m. He didn't win any ribbons but at least he was smiling and seemed to enjoy himself! Yellow House did win the overall competition though - go Yellow House!

Linnea was inside the gymnasium. She did the "running around the post as fast as you can and back":

Time to go around for the next discipline:

Cheering on their friends:

Throwing animals into rings...

... and sacks through hoops:

That's it! Athletics Day done for another year!

Birthday morning

2012-01-21T17:03:00.000+08:00

Birthdays are a big thing in our family, well maybe mostly to me - and the kids of course, but they are kids and all kids like birthdays! I especially like our birthday mornings!
We always sing to each other, this birthday morning we woke up Lucas as usual with birthday song and presents:

Lucas got lots of great stuff, Ninjago Lego, books, Star Wars Tech Deck, a new bike helmet, a Lego Sorting Head, more Lego, a Halvan book, a Swedish DVD, Zumba clothes, an All Black wallet and much more.

I got sung to too! In Swedish even, lucky me!

I got Zumba clothes from the family in Scotland:

And a beautiful ring and two charms from Pandora from my darlings:

Birthday people!

Then we watched two video greetings from Aberdeen:

Time for breakfast at the birthday table, before heading to Athletics Day at school for the kids, and Zumba session for me!

Birthday dinner

2012-01-21T16:56:00.004+08:00

Since we were having Lucas' birthday party on his actual birthday this year, I didn't think I would be up for much later that evening. So instead we went out the night before my birthday for a bit of a celebration.

Misuzu and I:

Nicole and I:

We had so much yummy food, here's Nicole's chicken...

Misuzu's tenderloin...

Jeremy's two-way lamb...

And, here's the chef cutting up the rib-eye for two that Nathan and I ordered, yum yum!

Then I got to blow out a candle on my chocolate dessert!

It was a really good night, with a few too many bubbles..! But hey, if not on your birthday, then when?! :)

Kids CNY Hash

2012-01-21T14:43:00.011+08:00

Ok, so a lot has been going on this week - all good, but not much time for blogging. I'll try to bombard you now with a few big posts though! Brace yourselves!

First out the Kids Hash from last weekend. One of my favourites of the year, the Chinese New Year One (on Monday we enter the Year of the Dragon!).
This year we were promised Lion Dancing again, so I was very excited!

The hash itself wasn't very long, about 25 minutes, and the kids did really well. I took some photos in the jungle for a change:

Back at the tent, all the kids got t-shirts for the run, and then they attempted a group photo:

Then the lions came and there was an enormous amount of fire crackers set off at the same time as the drums started - so noisy!!

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After a bit of "dancing" and a lot of acrobatic moves, it was time for a "snack"...:

They eat the oranges for good luck, what the other part of the snack means... I'm not quite sure! ;)
Lastly, it was the kids' turn to touch the lions for good luck, and feed them the Ang Paos (the red envelopes with money):

Such a great afternoon!

Slice of heaven

2012-01-15T11:30:00.004+08:00

The Turners are on a little shopping trip in Singapore so yesterday we had Hannah & Ben for sleepover. The kids were so excited, they had all been at us all week about a playdate and they have so much fun together.
After an afternoon of playing, biking and running around they finally settled down with some popcorn in front of a NZ classic - "Footrot Flats".

I was in the office and could listen in and dig along to one of my favourite NZ songs, 'Slice of heaven' (often considered as an unofficial national anthem of NZ) with Dave Dobbyn, that was written for this movie:

My first SSS

2012-01-15T10:28:00.007+08:00

I've taken up a new challenge.

In four weeks time I'm starting the TWELVE-WEEK-BODY-TRANSFORMATION challenge, run by the Australian "Biggest Loser" coach Michelle Bridges. (Well, actually, it kind of starts already tomorrow, with the four week long pre-season which apparently is just as important!)

Four of my friends did the last season of this 12WBT last year, and even though they got amazing results from it (they lost respectively around 10kg, 13kg, 14kg and 9kg (actually this girl have lost 24kg (!) in a year, that was just the last 9!!)) - I'm the first to admit I was not convinced about the program and how it is designed:
1. You are supposed to exercise six times a week, burn around 500 calories each time.
2. You are also supposed to make one of those sessions a super session where you burn double the normal amount of calories!
3. Also you are supposed to reduce your food intake to only 1200 calories (she sends you a shopping list and menu for each week) - and I just couldn't get that equation to add up. Eat 1200 and burn 1000..? Then there is no fuel in your body??

Anyway. The more I spoke with these girls I realized the program wasn't just about what you eat and how you exercise; they had found something in this program that I've been looking for for a long time - the will to be consistent.
I've lost big amounts of weight before and I've got into different exercise routines before. But, I've never been consistent and never managed to stay at one weight, it's gone up and down - it's me and Oprah, ha ha! :)
I realized I wanted to try this program to obtain those tools to get into the right mindset, for the rest of my life. It's not about motivation, it's about consistency, about doing.
I too want to get to that stage where I don't think about it but just do it. I too want to become consistent in my life, with the right habits.

So that's when I signed up.

Yesterday we did our first Super Saturday Session.
The Team Brunei have met all through the last season, every Saturday morning, and taken turns in designing workouts that would burn those 1000 cal.
Since last season Team Brunei has now grown, and we are about 16 ladies who have signed up for this season! Not everyone will come to every SSS, some work and some just prefer to do the program more on their own - but I know for me, I'll enjoy the diversity of the workouts. It'll be great getting to know new friends and having company and support, catching up with each other once a week and... I'll probably thrive on the slight competitive edge of it! ;)

This time it was a different kind of SSS though, since it was time for a Fitness Test. That's something she gets you to do every four weeks, to measure your fitness level. Whereas the scales will show us how much weight we are loosing, this test is to set a benchmark that will be used to see how much fitter and stronger we will become.
There was eight of us meeting up yesterday at 7am, to do this test. The first part was a cardio test, a 1km time trial around the track. Run, run as fast as you can!
Here is my fellow team mates after we were done:

The other parts were an upper-body strength test, how many push-ups in a minute; a lower-body strength test, how long you could do a wall sit; an abdominal/core test, the five level sit-up and finally a flexibility test where you stretch to reach your toes.
I didn't do too shabby, I already knew my flexibility is near to zero and that I suck at doing push-ups - I was a bit disappointed with my wall-sit but very happy with my 1km time trial and my abs. Although, of course, there is room for improvement!

So, there might be a few posts every now and then about this 12WBT journey of mine. Hopefully a journey that will turn into a steady, relentless, never ending journey!

Link Liebe

2012-01-13T20:12:00.003+08:00

I've received some "link love" from a blog friend in KL - in the form of an award:

Thank you!
I'm now supposed to forward this award to five blogs I like, but I can't chose just five so I send this award on to all the blogs in my link list and to all my readers of course! I'm sending some extra 'liebe' to the ones who leave lovely comments, I like comments! :)

On the radio - oh-a-ah-ah-ah!

2012-01-10T22:22:00.003+08:00

I - little me - got mentioned on national radio the other day!
Listen to this:

I happen to know this radio DJ (Izan, probably the closest we get to a celebrity here in Brunei!) from Zumbaing with her.
She's fun and fab, and when we were texting the other day I told her I had to drive down to do the groceries, and asked her to play me a happy song, cause I hate the drive.
So she did!

(I was at a red light when she came on so I could record this - but then had to stop since we had to drive again. Hence the abrupt finish of the song...)

Feeling good

2012-01-10T22:17:00.004+08:00

I have bought a few new cookbooks as inspiration to create some healthy eating habits in our family, that will stick in the long run.
Made me feel really good yesterday when I did this weeks grocery shopping, and realized that nearly my whole trolley had been filled with fruit and vegetables:

We're going to eat so well this week!

Down memory lane

2012-01-05T19:37:00.002+08:00

This afternoon Nathan and I took on the understairs storage cupboard in an attempt to find something we have been looking for for a while. (The understairs storage was the last place to look in, and yes, we found what we were looking for!)

We took the opportunity to rearrange all our empty boxes and other things under there, and the kids got hold of their "memory boxes" I have for them. Boxes filled with mementos, a little bit of everything from the scans from when they were in my tummy, to Kindy creations, special things they've made, special gifts to newspaper clippings with them and lots more.

They had such a great time looking through all their "old" things, took them most of the afternoon!

Blondes ahead

2012-01-05T17:46:00.005+08:00

This morning while driving down the coast road with Misuzu, we seemed to hit something with the car. It went "pop", but we couldn't see anything on the road behind us, so kept driving.
Then the car started pulling heavily to the left, which I then commented on to Misuzu, and she answered she had been thinking I was holding the steering wheel in a funny position...
Still, kept driving.
But when a car came up next to us and pointed heavily on our undercarriage, the coin finally dropped - we had a flat... *Duh*

Well, to my defense this was my first time having a flat tyre! I had no idea what sensation a flat tyre would give me, that's why I didn't stop straight away.

Anyway, we pulled over and rather conveniently there was a big lay-by where we could stop; and then we called Nathan, ha ha! Wasn't going to attempt changing a tyre all on our own... :)

A little while later our roadside assistant hero had fixed the car up again, yay!

A helping hand

2012-01-05T17:23:00.003+08:00

As long as Oliver is distracted, he will eat anything. So getting Lucas to help out with dinner proved to be a winning trick! He ate everything on his plate! It's good to have a simpang big brother!

Welcome 2012

2012-01-01T13:51:00.004+08:00

Well, New Years Eve of 2011 wont go down in history as our most exciting, that's for sure...
Nathan was flying and had just landed in Jakarta when the year turned here - and I was home alone with the kids, having pyjama party. I considered keeping them up until 12, but they crashed just before 11, so I was all on my own.

I couldn't find any local countdown on TV, and couldn't drink as I'm on antibiotics (sure, one glass of bubbly probably wouldn't have hurt, but drinking alone is sad at any time...) - so I amused myself by taking snapshots of the iPad during the countdown...

... then I admired the firework some of the neighbours set off, kissed the kids Happy New Year, sent some Happy New Year texts and went to bed.

Ah well, but now it's a brand new, fresh new year with all the opportunities in the world open to us! I'm sure it'll be another exciting year! Bring it on!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T15:41:00.002+08:00

Wherever you might be in the world - the Watsons would like to
wish you all a very Happy New Year!

We hope it'll be a year filled with love and laughter!
All the best for an exciting 2012!

Time travelling?

2011-12-30T19:31:00.002+08:00

I didn't know we traveled through time coming back from Dubai..?
This is what I had to choose from while reading in the Doctors waiting room this afternoon..:

(The Doctor said I have a throat infection by the way. No fun at all.)

One last Christmas day!

2011-12-30T17:49:00.006+08:00

When we came back home to Brunei this morning, we had to get into the Christmas spirit one last time for this year, as we had some more gifts waiting for us under the tree!

Lucky us!

Some Christmas clothes for Linnea's Build-a-Bear:

Nathan opening his present:

Lucas got another installment of the "Wimpy Kid"-books, and got really happy! He has really gotten into reading while away, he and Malthe read in bed every night before sleeping and again when they woke up in the morning:

Linnea got a telescope. Now we are waiting for it to go dark outside so we can try it out!

Now Christmas is over for this year. No more presents!
Normally I would pack away all the Christmas decorations now between Christmas and New Year, I like starting the new year fresh! But since we haven't really enjoyed them much, I'll probably leave them until the kids have gone back to school this time.

Dubai - Day 11 KidZania

2011-12-30T16:39:00.006+08:00

In the Dubai Mall there is this amazing Kids Edutainment Center we had promised the kids to go to one day, KidZania (be patient, this page takes a while to load!). That day happened to be our last day in Dubai, with the purpose of tiring them out thoroughly before the flight.

So we drove in there and dropped the four big kids off. They "check in" at Emirates counters, just like at a proper airport, and then get boarding cards and go through immigration and x-ray to get in! Very cool!

The queue was very long to enter, but it went fairly quickly. On the red text you can see some of the many professions the kids could try:

Checking in, getting their ID-bracelets and boarding cards and getting ready to go!

Through immigration:

On arrival, the kids got a 50 KidZo (special KidZania currency) cheque which they had to take to the bank to exchange for cash, or an ATM card to use in KidZania. They could then choose to spend money or earn money or both (or neither). When they ran out of money, they had to find a job - no wonder I got a bit confused when the kids came out with more KidZania money than when they went in!

It seemed like the kids had been a bit confused as to what to do in there too, they called us already (well...) after 3 hours and wanted to go home?! We think it was because they had been disagreeing a bit about what to do next and had trouble sticking together. I guess if we get to go to another KidZania (there are several KidZania around the region), we'll go with them next time. They all said afterward though they'd had a great time, so that's all that matters!

Every KidZania is themed as a child-sized replica of a real city, including buildings, shops and theaters, as well as vehicles and pedestrians moving along its streets. In this city the kids get to work and earn KidZos currency while performing the tasks. The money is kept in the KidZania bank for children to spend at the gift shop and on non-free KidZania activities.

Facilities include an airport (Kidzania International Airport), ambulances, bank, cars, central town square, fashion catwalk, fire engines, fire station, hospital, offices, pizza restaurant, race track, radio station, service station, supermarket, theater, university etc.

Children are supposed to choose from up to 80 different roles to play, and get to dress up as their chosen occupation.
Jobs and professions include airline stewardess, artist, chef, construction worker, fashion model, firefighter, photographer, actor, jewelry designer, mechanic, nurse, hamburger chef, engineer, dentist, barber, pilot, police officer, race car driver, radio presenter, surgeon, TV cameraman and many many more.
There is the Dubai Customs - where children can learn how to catch tourists trying to smuggle in contraband; Emirates Driving School operates a training institute for children to obtain KidZania driving licences, after which they can rent a car in KidZania, and drive race cars on the KidZania track.

The big bank HSBC is providing simulated bank activities and jobs and the KidZania University is part of the concept where children can obtain a KidZania degree which enables them to earn more money.

What a cool idea, huh!

Dubai - Day 11 Goodbye

2011-12-30T01:30:00.000+08:00

Time to go home. It'll be sad to say goodbye but we've all had a fantastic time here in Dubai; and hopefully it won't be too long until we meet up again somewhere.

As Nathan is working on New Years Eve I did contemplate for a little while to actually hang back here for another few days. But then again, I think a few days of rest, peace and quiet before school starts again will actually do us all good..!

A big thank you to the Dehli Family for your great hospitality, for opening your home to us and for looking after us so well. We have had the best time, and really enjoyed exploring Dubai together with you!
Above all, thank you for your friendship, which we value very high.

Nu tar vi den!!

Dubai - Day 10 Around Dubai Creek

2011-12-29T01:47:00.002+08:00

This afternoon we took a drive into the area of town that surrounds the Dubai Creek. Dehlis hadn't been there either before, so it was a bit of an adventure for all of us! We only had Daniel and Linnea with us though, Ida was sleeping and the big boys really just wanted to stay home and relax, so we let them.

We parked on the north side, the Deira side, and started by walking though the Spice Souk. It was a maze of narrow alleyways lined with small shops and holes-in-the-wall where the spices were piled high. Such a sensory walk!
Then we walked back to the creek and the 'abra' station, to catch one of the flat-bottomed and open-sided water taxis. A cheap ($1/trip) and breezy trip across the creek, with great views.
We went across to the south side, Bur Dubai. The 'abras' were continually going back and forth in big numbers, so no waiting time.
We went to this restaurant for an early dinner, housed in the Bait Al Wakeel building which used to be the Dubai office of the British India Company:
Again, we had misjudged the weather and ended up really freezing since it was really breezy and windy, and we had to wait 40 mins for our food. A popular place apparently!
But it was well worth the wait (even though Anne had to go and buy a pashmina for Daniel since he was so cold...); the food was really nice.
We had traditional Arabic food, tabbouleh, hummus, shish tavouk, shish kebab, falafel etc. Mmm, some of my favourites!
Then we walked up into another souk, which was an old renovated one, the Bur Dubai Souk. It really contains old and new, everything from textiles, pashminas and glittery Arabian slippers to money changers, curios and bargain clothes.
We did buy a few more pashminas, since we were cold you know - plus they were so pretty and cheap!
Then back to the 'abra' station and over the creek we went again. The sun was setting so the light was really beautiful.
It was a really, really nice afternoon. I wish we would have had even more time to wander around, it was such a beautiful, atmospheric and vibrant place.
Even though I thoroughly enjoy the lush shopping, stunning modern architecture, sophisticated dining etc here, it was lovely to get a taste of the Arab culture and more traditional parts of Dubai as well.

Now I feel like we've finally covered most sides of this multi-faceted city - the souks and bazaars, the shopping malls, the desert, audacious buildings and other projects, the nightlife and the culture.
Now we can go home. (But we will be back!)

Dubai - Day 9 Irish Village

2011-12-28T17:52:00.002+08:00

While we have made sure that the kids have had a good holiday with lots of excursions and things happening - we have also had the opportunity to have some grown-up time, just us adults.

Before Christmas we had a fab dinner out at the Shangri-La and last night we
went to the Irish Village for a late night bite and some drinks.
We were sitting outside and I must admit it was pretty cold! Mind you, I had stupidly put on a short summer dress... I should've worn long trousers, a cardigan and a scarf.
But their Christmas tree was beautiful, the beer and wine was tasty and their entertainer was a Kiwi, who had a pretty good voice so it was still a good night, even though we were freezing!

The girls:
The boys:

Dubai - Happy Birthday!

2011-12-28T12:04:00.005+08:00

During one of the shopping trips earlier this week, Nathan decided to get Lucas a new bike!
We had planned to get him one for his birthday (which is another three weeks away still) since he has outgrown his old one already since quite a while; and trying to find a good kids bike in Brunei is really mission impossible. His last one we got brought in from NZ but since there are no direct flights from AKL anymore, that wouldn't work this time.

So bringing this one from here is really not that a silly idea.

A bit silly though that Lucas insisted it got mounted here too, so he could ride with Malthe for just the few days we've got left... But hey, lucky Daddy can do that in his sleep!
One very happy boy, on a very big bike..!

Dubai - Day 9 Aquaventure at Atlantis

2011-12-28T00:13:00.002+08:00

Today has been an amazing day! We went to the water park Aquaventure, at Atlantis, which is situated at the top of "The Palm" and we've had such a good time!
The drive there was spectacular too. The whole of Dubai really is spectacular and visually pleasing with all the shiny, fabulous skyscrapers and all the cool architecture.
Here's Jumeira Beach and the Burj Al Arab, commonly known as "The Sail" - the building that was all that and brand new 10 years ago when I used to come here.

Here we are driving out on The Palm itself, you can see the amazing Atlantis in the distance.

Waiting for the Dads getting the tickets, whole watching a movie of all the thrilling rides we are going to try!
Changed and ready to go!
We started with this ride, which was actually my favourite: 'Shark Attack', where you went on/in rubber rings through a tunnel IN the shark tank! Very, very cool! Tons of fish swimming around under and over you, and you could also see other park guests snorkeling in the tank.
Nathan and Linnea:
Frederik and Daniel:
Lucas and I:
Malthe and Lucas:
Anne and Daniel:
Frozen yoghurt break after a few rides.
All of these channels were connected in the park, with lots of rapids, torrents and falls to pass through. That's actually me there bobbing along in the rubber ring!
Nathan and the kids getting out of theirs at the main beach:
Nathan went up to try this ride, the 'Leap of Faith', 27,5m up.
And we waited and waited to try and spot him...
And waited... The queue must have been very long...
There he was! Lucky he had a coloured rash vest on so that he was easy to distinguish from all the other riders.
Then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the Splash Park, the kids area:
Kids enjoyed the big bucket of water that kept spilling over on them.
Anne and I also met up with an old friend from Brunei also here on holiday, such a lovely surprise to be able to meet up here!
We just caught the sunset whilst driving home.
Some of the Dubai skyline.

Such a great day..! *Sighing happily*.

Dubai - Day 9 Indulgence

2011-12-27T23:15:00.002+08:00

Ha ha, one thing is for sure, this is not happening this year..!
Why not?

Well... Let's just say champagne, frozen youghurt, meatballs, cooked ham, wine, æbleflæsk, rödkål, snaps, marzipan, pepparkakor, chocolates, fresh croissants, pâté, cheeses, Baileys, cinnamon lattes, nougat, caramelized potatoes, chokladflarn, beer, chocolate chip cookies, Subway sandwiches... And other Christmas goodies... Om-nom, nom, nom!

Dubai - Day 8 Reflections

2011-12-26T21:43:00.003+08:00

Having spent about a week here in Dubai, all I can say is that I'm hooked. This place is crazy, glitzy, glam and materialistic beyond anyone’s wildest dreams; but also such a fascinating melting pot of people from all over!
Located where Europe, Asia and Africa meet and with such a mix of nationalities and people from different cultures, it can only turn into an exciting and exhilarating place!

Every visitor here gets treated like a VIP. That's not just us and not just because it's Christmas time, but always. And I have a feeling ALL visitors respond to that treatment by spending like VIPs too! With a myriad shopping malls, a dizzying array of dining options and hip clubs and bars, it’s all just too easy!

These last few days I do hope I will get the chance to surpass the somewhat ostentatious nature of Dubai though and get under the surface to see the other Dubai.
I would like to get down by the Dubai Creek and watch the dhow (= traditional wooden boat) traffic and walk the streets of the Bastakia area, visit the Heritage Village and learn a bit more about the Emiratis and this epic place.

Dubai - Christmas Day

2011-12-26T03:08:00.002+08:00

Our Christmas Day has been spent just like it should be spent - not doing much.
The kids have been busy all day playing with their presents, building Lego, having Nerf battles etc.

Ida's best gift so far was the pink dressing table she got. She has been sitting by it most of the day, pretending to make herself pretty, or getting the help of Linnea or even Daniel, pretending to be hairdressers.

Daniel too scored lots of great presents. This safe for example, a great hit.

A part from playing, we've been watching even more Disney movies and just been chilling out.

And - Nathan's big gift came to great use!! :) Looks quite nice, no?

Lucas also got a lesson in how to pull a beer properly from this keg the guys had got. Kiwi kid 101.

We had a huge Christmas lunch with all the goodies. It feels like we haven't done much more than just eat the last three days! Again, It was so, so good and I ate fare too much, but hey - isn't that what Christmas is about?

After dinner the energy levels picked up and we had a bit of a disco in the living room! Cranked up the Michael Jackson and it was all go, go, go!

A lovely, relaxed, peaceful Christmas Day. Now we are all charged up for some more fun, Dubai style! Tomorrow we've promised the kids to attack a water park! Not sure who is more excited, the kids or I!

Dubai - The biggest present

2011-12-26T01:54:00.003+08:00

I bought Nathan a Christmas present the other day during one of our shopping trips. I got it wrapped up in the store, in this huge box. Since then it's been standing in our room, teasing everybody, especially Nathan who couldn't understand what on earth he would like from Pottery Barn? Ha ha!

Well, when the rest of us opened our presents last night after the kids were in bed, Nathan wanted to save the big one until the kids could take part in opening it, this morning.

You could almost touch the suspense in the air!

Everybody took part in the unpacking. What could be in this big box??

Nearly there...

And it was... a... bowl..?

Well, not just any bowl but a cooler, for wine, or champagne - or beer, as you will see in a later post! Actually kind of useful, even for Nathan!

Dubai - Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T20:05:00.002+08:00

Finally, the moment had come, Frederik was on his way from the airport and we knew from safe sources that Santa had cleared customs too!

The one with the biggest smile would get the biggest present!
While the kids were out the front looking for Santa, Santa actually snuck in the back way and put all the presents under the tree. This is the front...
... and this is the back..!
Then the opening-presents-carnage begun! We tried to do it slowly and controlled but with five super excited kids we had no chance!
I didn't manage to take any photos of our yummy Danish Christmas dinner, but here's one of the kids eating dessert, searching for the hidden almond!

Dubai - Glöggmys

2011-12-25T18:37:00.002+08:00

Christmas Eve continued with an afternoon of waiting for Santa... and Frederik! He had been called out on his stand by in the morning, but luckily "just" to Cairo, so he was scheduled to be back by dinner time.

We had a little photo shoot in the garden after everyone had got changed into their nice Christmas clothes.
Linnea and Ida had the same dress on!
Anne and I felt festive too!
Then we had some 'glöggmys', with Danish æbleskiver, pebbernøder, brunkager and Swedish pepparkakor and homemade glögg! Mmm!
Anne taught the kids how to eat the 'æbleskiver' properly, dipping them first in icing sugar and then in strawberry jam. 'Æbleskiver' tastes like a mix between pancakes and donuts.
Ida knew what to do.
And then, some Disney on TV to pass time even more.
Even Sally the dog got a red ribbon around her neck and was looking very pretty!

Dubai - White Christmas!

2011-12-24T20:52:00.003+08:00

To do something special on Christmas Eve, which is our Christmas, we decided to go and explore the Snow Park at Ski Dubai. This is a one of a kind attraction, with over 3000 m2 of snow, indoors!
Before we could go in, we had to get snow suits, socks and snow boots fitted. All included in the price. You could tell our kids are little jungle kids, they all made the rookie mistake of putting their boots on before the snow suits, and then had to do it all again...
But here we are, all matching and ready to go!
We just needed helmets for the kids.
We realized later on it was impossible to keep track of your own kids because they all looked the same! (We also realized later that bringing hats and mittens would have been a good idea...)
It was freezing inside the snow park (*duh*...) but it was very, very beautiful and well laid out.

The boys started by going on a small sleigh.
Lucas in front of the ski lifts:Then they went down the toboggan, both the small one, and the big one.

Again, the ski lifts.
Linnea and Daniel going in the double toboggan down the big hill.

Lucas tried to taste the snow, but apparently it wasn't very nice!
Lucas and Malthe upgraded to go in the big snow Zorb! Very brave!
This was invented in NZ, but there they roll down the hills obviously.

Here's Lucas climbing in to the Zorb:
Going down the hill.

Just before we left, we met this cuddly polar bear!
Oh, it was such a great morning! Especially on Christmas Eve! Who would've thought we would get a white Christmas..!

Dubai - Day 5 Uppesittarkväll

2011-12-24T18:48:00.001+08:00

Friday night it was 'Dan-före-dan' (= the day before the day), and we had a 'Uppesittarkväll' (= staying up evening).
We had Swedish Christmas food, cooked Christmas ham, meatballs, mini sausages, Janssons Frestelse, gravlax and rye bread. Yummy!

All the kids ate like the hadn't been fed all day! It was so great to see how they enjoyed the food!

Later on the evening when all the kids had crashed into bed, we lit a whole bunch of candles, put on the Christmas music and put our feet up with some nice wine.
All but Anne who was busy for hours wrapping all their presents - it was like a proper Santa Workshop!

From all of us to all of you...

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000+08:00

Dubai - Day 5

2011-12-24T01:56:00.002+08:00

This afternoon we went for drive out into the desert to the 'Birds of Prey Show' they have here from October to March. Today was their last show before Christmas.

They had a lot of different birds on display:

The show started with some smaller birds which they made fly over us, and move from head to head. This one came to sit both on Nathan, me and Malthe.

This was Jon, the American Bald Eagle. Pretty impressive wing span!

They made him fly and catch catch fish, he was pretty fast. He got the fish both from the water, and the "flying fish" they threw up in the air.

This little fellow had such beautiful eyes:

Then they brought out the big vultures.

Malthe got to pull a pretend rabbit along to show how fast the vulture would run to catch it!

Then we all got to pat this soft owl:

This birds name was Shorty! :)

Finally we got to do some training with some of the new birds, and both Lucas and Linnea pulled on the protective glove and got this young bird to fly to them!

It was a pretty good bird show with some really passionate people. Both the kids and us had a really good time and we learned a lot of new things about these birds of prey.

Dubai - Day 4 Night out

2011-12-23T19:53:00.001+08:00

Last night we decided to go out for dinner. Us girls took the opportunity to pull out all the stops - I wore my new, totally gorgeous, black peeptoe shoes (yes, something I had to regret later in the evening...) and Anne inaugurated her fantastic Louise Amstrup designer dress.

We went to the Shangri-La hotel to enjoy their big buffet promo. It was really nicely decorated and we really got into the Christmas spirit.

Afterward we took the party to the bar on the roof, iKandy. Surrounded by lots of beautiful people, smooth club music and bubbling water pipes we enjoyed a few colourful drinks before going back home.

Dubai - Guess where?

2011-12-23T19:41:00.001+08:00

Dubai - Day 4

2011-12-22T21:55:00.005+08:00

Another day, another spot of shopping..! :)
Well, it is Christmas very soon and we have all been busy finishing up the last secret purchases.
Today I got to see two new malls, first the Mirdif Mall which is Anne's favourite mall and also the one closest to where they live. Anne was still in bed (she's been sick the last few days unfortunately) but the Dads, the kids and I went.
We let the kids have 1 1/2h in a fab play land called 'Cité des enfants', a sort of discovery play where they had a fantastic time.
The Dads went off to do some of their shopping and I managed to find a fab gift for Nathan, jubi!

Then I got dropped off at Festival City where I made a most important stop - at IKEA! I had more success here than in Singapore, very happy.

Finally this afternoon I went grocery shopping with Anne who finally had perked up a bit. Even that is a great pleasure, when you come from Brunei and SupaSave..!
Shop, shop, shoppeti-shop!

Dubai - Day 3

2011-12-22T13:26:00.001+08:00

It sure brought back some memories yesterday when we were driving down Sheikh Zayed Road - passing by the old crew hotel where I've spent so many stop-overs and driving along all the familiar buildings.
The Dubai skyline is pretty impressive. Especially since they built this one, the Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world.
We have planned to go up in it on Saturday as a special Christmas excursion!

Yesterday we did another landmark, the Dubai Mall - one of the biggest shopping malls in the world.
We went there to visit their famous aquarium and underwater zoo.

Frederik and Linnea discussing who is going to try and pat the crocodiles...

After the Aquarium and some lunch, we saw the musical fountain show outside in front of the Burj Khalifa.

Then the Dads took the kids home and I got let loose in the Mall, all by myself, aaaahhhh..!

Most of the Malls here are open until midnight, and you can seriously get anything and everything here.
I only managed four hours walking around and around on all the different levels in this Mall and I was defeated... Ha ha! And I had to buy a pair of Fit Flops in the middle of it all since my feet started to complain.
But I must say, this must be the best shopping I've experienced ever, by far. Dubai rocks!

Dubai - Day 2 Afternoon

2011-12-21T02:51:00.001+08:00

After a quick lunch and after Anne came back from work, we had decided to take the kids to the Wafi Mall to meet Santa.

They had a huge Nutcracker themed display were you had to queue up to get into Santa's Grotto. We spent well over an hour in the queue... But an hour apparently wasn't too bad, one of the elves told us that on the weekend the queue was near to 3 hours!!
The kids amused themselves best they could:

It didn't help that Santa needed to go for a little break in the middle of it all either!

The big boys amused themselves best they could too..:

Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the grotto, which was one of the better grottos I've ever seen - but the kids promised Santa to go to bed early on Xmas Eve, and stay in bed..!
They all got to have a long chat with Santa, received a stuffed toy soldier from him and a frame photo. Plus (for the DHS55 per child it cost us) they also got a free pass to the indoor play land in the Mall, and a free meal at a pizzeria! Not too bad!

While siting outside having our pizza we also could enjoy the Wafi Light & Sound show, quite good timing! And the kids didn't take any rocking coming back home!

Dubai - Day 2 Morning

2011-12-21T02:39:00.003+08:00

When I was a cabin crew and used to come out here to Dubai, we occasionally went on excursions and explored a bit (in between all the partying and sun lounging).
Once we did this amazing 4WD trip out into the sand dunes and went sand skiing and drove around in the desert. It was a bit scary, but it sure was a memorable day, and I really wanted the kids to experience the desert too.
So today we had booked a trip to the desert, and got picked up early this morning and got taken out into the desert to get set up for some "dune bashing".

We drove around in the dunes, spotted a few camels and were amazed at how much rubbish that was flying around out there.

The kids were not quite as taken as I was back in the day though. Actually they weren't impressed at all.
Especially not after the driver went full speed up a dune just to discover there was no more sand on the other side and we did a 90 degrees drop right on the front of the car..!
Quite a few tears, a big bang, a few red marks after the seat belts and a promise to drive a lot more gently later - we chugged back to camp, very slowly.

We then had to bribe the kids to make them happy again, Linnea chose to go on a camel ride...

... and the boys chose to do some quad biking.

Even though everybody were a lot happier, none of the kids are ever going back to the desert never again... :/

Dubai - Day 1

2011-12-20T17:21:00.001+08:00

We arrived in Dubai in the middle of the night between Sunday and Monday and luckily we actually all managed to go back to sleep once we reached the Dehli residence. For a bit at least.
It was quite a long day yesterday and we didn't really do much more than unpack, get groceries and just relax and take it easy.

The kids found each other right away. The pre-teens:

And the little ones:

Linnea got to try rollerblading for the first time:

They live in Silicone Oasis, a big, no HUGE, kind of compound where all the houses lie semidetached along a myriad of streets. Quite quiet though so you can let the kids out to play in the street, no one drives fast around here.

Zumba Xmas Party

2011-12-20T12:57:00.001+08:00

On Saturday I went to a big Christmas party that was organized by the people at the Studio where I Zumba. I guess the closest thing to a "company dinner" I've had in many years!
It was a great night, yummy food and nice company; a huge lucky draw, some fun party games and we also did a secret Santa exchange!

Here is a group photo of all the ZINs (Zumba Fitness Instructors) participating that night:

It was a nice change to see everyone so dressed up and looking lovely, when you are used to seeing each other in sweaty exercise clothes!
Susan, our Zumba mentor, held a lovely speech and got to cut the Zumba cake!

Misuzu and I:

I'm really happy I've found Zumba, I truly love it and it's given me all these new amazing friends. I'm looking forward to another year Zumbaing away!

Santa's on his way!

2011-12-18T18:23:00.003+08:00

Oaw, we are really bringing a whole lot of luggage on this trip - four suitcases, I don't think we've ever needed that before.
But, since it's Christmas, and since we can, we are actually lugging most of our Christmas presents with us to Dubai, so that we can open them on the proper day for it!

Santa's on his way! Ho ho ho!

Everybody's shuffling - The Movie

2011-12-17T16:11:00.002+08:00

Xmas Mousketeers

2011-12-17T16:01:00.003+08:00

The other day when we did some Xmas baking (saffron buns with white chocolate, uuuhhmmm!) I had the help of Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

Festive celebrations at the Empire

2011-12-15T21:26:00.005+08:00

Tonight we went down to the Empire Hotel & Country Club to check out this years Winter Village. We were there last year too, with Grandma and Granddad; and I must say - not much was different this year.

They had a beautiful display of decorations hanging from the roof in the big atrium, and of course a big Christmas tree.

I actually preferred last years tree (which was made out of proboscis monkey soft toys) to this years. They had made this one out of butterflies..? Not very Christmassy..?

The Winter Village itself was at the bottom of the Atrium, just like last year, and pretty much the same set-up this year too.

The kids had a great time, admiring the different decorations, icing gingerbread men, eating ice cream and dancing in the "snow" - but personally I thought they could do so much more.

They could have more activities on offer for the children, craft stations of different kinds; they could have more food and Christmassy snacks for sale; more happenings - just more. It seems a bit flat for a hotel of this standard.

I tried their gingerbread ice cream. Quite nice!

"Go Rudolf, go!"

Crazy kids:

Everybody's shuffling

2011-12-15T21:07:00.004+08:00

Yesterday was the last day of school for this very long first term.
Aaaahhh, we're on holidays, lovely!

Nathan and I went to the final Assembly because Linnea was going to perform with her Hip Hop crew. Here she is with her 'homies':

This term they did a dance to a mash-up of the LFMAO hit "Party Rock Anthem" and the Smurf theme song. It worked surprisingly well!

Group photo after their performance:

Cool poses:

And of course, silly faces!

(Video coming tomorrow hopefully!)

As good as it gets

2011-12-13T20:05:00.004+08:00

Before bedtime tonight and instead of a story, I asked the kids if they wanted to watch the Swedish TV Lucia Concert with me. They were keen, and actually sat through the whole hour, which made my Swedish heart very happy!
I was so pleased it was a traditional Lucia Concert this year, and of course I shed a few emotional tears. Lucia is one of my favourite traditions when it comes to Christmas and I thought back at last year when we saw a Lucia Concert live in the Skara Cathedral.

This however, was as good as it got this year...
Then again when you think about it, technology is fantastic - we can sit on the other side of the earth and watch something that aired on TV in Sweden only a few hours earlier!

Tasek Lama excursion

2011-12-13T12:22:00.000+08:00

Last week Linnea had a school excursion to the Tasek Lama Recreation Park, to finish off their IPC subject for this term about "Flowers and Insects".
Nathan tagged along and was in charge of a little group of Ben, Megan and Linnea.

They walked around the park looking for different insects and plants, and they took their mission very seriously - they even ticked off they saw a crocodile!

They were also quite adventurous, and decided to climb this big "mountain"!

Yup, the others were all the way down there, you can see the little white dots on the second photo, that's their class mates...

It was a bit of an overcast day, so it was a fabulous day to have an excursion. A great morning!

Some favourite photos

2011-12-13T10:05:00.005+08:00

Nathan bought the "official" photos this year from his race, and I found a few favourites in amongst them all.
Here's the boys during the race, just look at how beautiful the scenery is where they ride... Awesome!

Here they are, riding towards the finish line, happy days!

And this, this is my favourite photo all categories, one to frame for sure! Look at that light, look at the colours - look at that cyclist..!

A Christmas Adventure

2011-12-11T22:53:00.003+08:00

After four Christmases in Brunei we are ready for an adventure this year!
We are going to celebrate Christmas in one of the fastest growing cities in the world - Dubai.

It's going to be so exciting! It's been over 10 years since I've last been (I used to spend a lot of time there as a charter princess back in the day...) and I'm sure it'll have changed immensely.
I'm looking forward to seeing our friends and spending the holiday with them, but also to explore all the amazing sights together with the kids. Dubai is a pretty impressive and ambitious place, with all it's skyscrapers, the tallest building in the world, the biggest mall, the largest aquarium etc etc.

It's going to be so much fun! I can't wait!

Cosy

2011-12-11T22:30:00.002+08:00

"När tredje ljuset brinner
är snart lucia här.
Hon bjuder oss på kaffe
och bud om julen bär."

A total eclipse

2011-12-11T14:07:00.008+08:00

We were at a dinner party last night, pool side at one of the venues in town. Not only did we have a fab night but we also got treated to a full lunar eclipse!
It was absolutely amazing!

(Picture borrowed from http://msnbcmedia.msn.com)

Only us here in East Asia, people in Australia, and in some areas of Alaska could get the full visibility. Apparently people in the European countries only could see a partial eclipse. Also out here, the eclipse was totally clear as we have no air pollution.
It was quite a special event, as the cosmic lineup needed for a total lunar eclipse won't occur again until the 14th of April 2014.
Oaw.

First dance achievement!

2011-12-11T14:01:00.002+08:00

So, yesterday morning Linnea had her big dance exam, the one she practised for last weekend. Bright and early we were in place at the Studio, and all the Mums and Dads had to wait upstairs while the little dancers went downstairs and did their thing.

They all did very well, they all passed, they all got a ribbon and their first medal!

Well done Linnea!

Junior House Football

2011-12-08T17:24:00.003+08:00

This afternoon Year 3-5 played a Junior House Football Tournament. We came to watch, and Lucas did pretty well, he scored two goals!

When all the games were played, the overall winners were... Yellow House!!! Yay!

Stress in Singapore

2011-12-08T09:50:00.004+08:00

Since RBA have flights to Singapore both in the morning and evening daily, Anna and I have several times now gone over to Singapore just for the day, to do some shopping. We plan in detail where to go in advance and have the itinerary set way in advance, well, to be honest we nearly always follow the same route - certain stops along Orchard Road (luckily we like the same shops!), lunch with wine (because we can!) and then a taxi out to the east to do IKEA before going to the airport!
We bring empty suitcases that we leave at Changi to be filled with all the shopping when we return in the evening!

It's always nice coming over to Singapore, and especially in Christmas time. It's a lot more decorated and festive over there!

This year their theme was "Christmas in Bloom" and the whole of the City Center was covered in these blue flowers:

Lately though, they've re-timed the morning flight so it doesn't get in until just after 11.00, which means that by the time we arrive in City it's already nearly lunch time.
I must admit yesterday turned into a pretty stressful day that went past in a whoosch! We had so many things on our lists there was NO time to deviate from the plan, no time to browse or improvise or actually enjoy lunch or coffee. It all just happened in a bit of a blur in between shop visits. And unfortunately, we couldn't find many of the things we were looking for. :(

One good thing was that I finally got to see the new H&M store, which I had looked forward to. H&M was sort of the only shop missing to make Singapore the perfect shopping paradise. But, it was actually a disappointment. Not very big, not a lot of stock, I only bought a few hair things, that was all. Boo.
Finally, another shop I always go to was closed for a special event only for their card members..! Aaarrrghh!

And, the biggest let-down of them all - IKEA! The main reason for our trip this time, getting supplies for Christmas. But, they were all sold out!
No Christmas porcelain or glass, no Christmas wrapping paper or Christmas tree decorations and most importantly - NO Christmas food!! No ham, no ginger bread, no ginger bread houses, no lussebullar in the cafeteria!

The only thing they had was this very odd (and not very Swedish at ALL!) 'Christmas Plate', with chicken cheese sausage, broccoli turkey breast, turkey ham - and french fries! Que?

No, IKEA - you can do better!

And even though we both came back with pretty much full suitcases, we have decided that next time we are doing a Singapore shopping trip, it'll be a two-day event for sure! :)

Red & Green

2011-12-08T09:31:00.003+08:00

Yesterday they had another colour themed day at school, just like the "Yellow Day" a couple of months ago. This time it was to celebrate Christmas, so all Junior School children were invited to come to school wearing red, green, white or Christmas clothes.

Simpang photo shoot:

The Big Christmas Cookie Exchange

2011-12-06T20:35:00.010+08:00

A few months ago one of the girls in our 'Creative Crew' came up with this idea to do a "Cookie Exchange" sometime before Christmas. The rest of us hadn't really heard of this phenomenon, but agreed to take part and got ample instructions on how it was going to be done. We had to make 8 lots of 6 biscuits/cookies/slices etc, and package it nicely.
Weeks of secret planning followed, and today was the day we all revealed our cookies to each other and did the big exchange!
And all I can say is - OAW!!!

Look at all these cookies:

Here's Rachel's Shortbread:

Kim's Peanutbutter Balls in lovely decorated peanut butter jars:

Courtney's Cranberry/Orange Christmas Cookies, in pretty handmade bags:

Misuzu's Cinnamon Stars, wrapped up Japanese style with little origami Santas as decoration!

Pauline's Christmassy Shortbread:

And, I think the one we all were mostly impressed by, Beenal's Mini Gingerbread House (we actually got 5 each, but she displayed one each for us like this) - designed to be perched at the edge of your coffee cup! How cute??

Here's the Crew, with all of our creations:

My contribution to the exchange was some yellow Saffron Biscotti, yum, yum!

Here's my total loot, we all got one each of all the cookies of course.
But this wasn't just for us, all of us had also made an extra packet of each, to be given to the people at the Pusat Ehsan Charity who we met at the Zumba Masterclass a couple of months ago. We hope they like their super international cookie buffet!

Significant people

2011-12-06T08:51:00.004+08:00

The last few weeks Lucas and his class mates have been talking about "significant people" at school. Each week they've had to choose a task off a list of different assignments, and complete that about a significant person of their choice.

For some reason Lucas wanted to start off with Tiger Woods. So the first week he made a Lego figurine looking like Tiger Woods:

The second week he wanted to do his assignment on someone who was a bit closer to home, Lance Armstrong.
He chose to dress up like his significant person this time, and wrote "In 2004, the year that I was born, Lance Armstrong won his 6th Tour de France in a row. This was an amazing achievement as he was a cancer survivor. I think Lance Armstrong is the best bike rider in the world."

This homework has also spurred on some interesting discussions around our dinner table, about significant vs famous people. The other day we somehow managed to go from Nelson Mandela, via Florence Nightingale and Gandhi to - Stevie Wonder?

Are you kidding me??

2011-12-05T22:32:00.002+08:00

This was Lucas comment earlier when I asked if he was happy now. "Are you kidding me??" I guess that's a yes!

No, Christmas hasn't come early...
We started with allowances this term, every Saturday. Lucas very early eyed up and set his target on this Ninjago Lego box, and he has been saving and saving and saving his $5/week very dutifully.
On Saturday he finally met his target of $109, and I had promised we'll go to Toys R'Us. But, Nathan go stuck in Manila most of the weekend because of a technical issue with the airplane, and we didn't want to go without him.

So today, after dinner, we had to make a special trip! All to spend their well saved allowance money. Lucas got his longed for Ninjago box, and Linnea a Strawberry Shortcake house.
What you don't do for your kids, huh!

Mango mania

2011-12-05T08:23:00.000+08:00

One of the things I love about Brunei is eating exotic fruits every day.
I also love being able to stop at the side of the road, and buy the absolutely best tasting mangoes I've ever had. They are cheap too, only $10 for 7 big mangoes, yum, yum, yum!
Here Matt is getting Misuzu and me a bunch each on the way home from sushi lunch. Perfect for dessert, yummiest mangoes in Brunei!

Robot Dance - the Movie

2011-12-04T21:44:00.004+08:00

(This is filmed through the glass from outside the dancing room, and the voices you hear are the other mums and girls waiting their turn.)

Mighty Mock exam

2011-12-04T21:30:00.005+08:00

The term is nearly over, not just in school but also at dancing. To finish it off Linnea is having her first Jazz Dance Exam next weekend, with an official examiner flown in from all the way from Australia.
It's all very serious business and Linnea and her friends have been practising and perfecting their dance for weeks and weeks. Not just the dance I might add, but what they are going to say when they enter the room and where and how they are going to stand etc.
It's very important you do everything exactly by the book; and I certainly wasn't aware of all this "dancing protocol"!

For a rookie dance mum like me, this is all a bit overwhelming. Luckily I have Nicole just next door who's got ample experience in this, and today she helped me with Linnea's hair. It has to be slicked back and in a perfect bun, and as Linnea doesn't have very thick hair this proved quite a challenge for me.
Nicole put it up using a special "hair bun", and I must say, it turned out perfect!

Today they had a 'mock exam', where they put on the whole outfit and went through the whole procedure. I took a few photos and I'll also try and put up the movie that I filmed later - because next week during the real thing, us parents are not allowed to be even outside the room and watch! It will be sealed off with curtains!
Here's Linnea with a few of her little dancing friends:

They all looked very cute in their yellow leotards and tutus and they all did a great job in their mock exam too! Hopefully it'll go just as well next week!

A 2011 Santa addition

2011-12-04T09:50:00.005+08:00

I'm very traditional when it comes to Christmas decorations. It would never strike my mind to change colour scheme from year to year, to me Christmas is red, green and gold. I also like lots of lights and lots of Santas; and as I wrote in a previous post, most of my decorations have their dedicated spots in my house.

Ever since I was little, I have collected Santas, and get a new one every year from my Mum, and I used to get some from my Mormor (= maternal Grandma) too, all my Santas are marked underneath with their year.
Nowadays I usually also buy myself a Santa or two every year, plus I'm continuing this tradition with Lucas & Linnea.

The other day I bought this beautiful Santa in a shop here in Brunei. I was really happy to find him as (nice) Christmas decorations usually are really hard to come by here.
He reminds me of my Mormor, because she always picked out the Santas with the kindest faces...

Teddybears Picnic

2011-12-02T14:05:00.002+08:00

Linnea was taking part in the Teddybears Picnic this morning at school. It was only for Nursery to Year 2, so this year Lucas was too big (!), but the younger kids all had had a lovely time looking for clues to find the secret picnic spot.

Here's a quick photo I snapped this morning when dropping off at school. Linnea and a few of her friends:

Ali Baba, the Musical

2011-12-01T15:31:00.008+08:00

Last night we went back to school and the new Arts Center to watch yet another big show, the Junior School Production of 'Ali Baba, the Musical'.
Lucas signed up to take part and started rehearsing already all last term of last year, so it's been a long time coming! We were all very excited!

Lucas was one of the 40 thieves, you can see him on the second photo in the middle, in a red head scarf:

Kate played Mrs Ali Baba.

Ali Baba delivers pizzas and stumbles across a garage where Mustafa Shower (the dirtiest crook in Bagdad) has stashed his stolen goodies.

Then follows a tale of suspicion, punishment, surprise and a cunning plan to save the day! Of course, there is also a love story in all this between the son of Ali Baba, Hamid, and Sandy the slave girl:

The thieves were on lots of times, singing and dancing:

There was also a very cool camel, my favourite character!

The cunning plan included serving a magic pizza to the thieves..:

... that first made them all fall into a deep slumber, and then very conveniently turned bad guys into good guys!

Before the show finished, the thieves had to return some of the items they had "stolen". Linnea thought it was hilarious they had got Mummy's wallet:

We got a happy ending of course, with a big wedding and the whole cast dancing the night away to 'Desert Boogie Rock'!

Lucas doing the curtain call:

All in all it was a fantastic show! The kids looked so good in their costumes and they were absolute stars on stage - such a great performance!

1 December 2011

2011-12-01T13:26:00.003+08:00

The countdown has started!

I have done the Package Advent Calendar a little bit different this year, since we have decided to celebrate Christmas overseas and will have to bring along the last few gifts. So I didn't want them to be attached to the calendar itself, like normal (Well, "normal", every year there is always a little twist to it, last year they came in a basked since we were in Sweden. Anything goes!).
I just numbered them and put them under the little Christmas trees the kids have in their rooms this year:

I thought it was an ok alternative! It sure looks nice!

Day 333

2011-11-29T21:36:00.002+08:00

It's the 333rd day of this year.

It's all quiet and calm, I have the house all to myself.
The TV is off, the Christmas music is playing and the Christmas tree and all my candles are lit.
I'm curled up on the sofa and have just enjoyed a small slice of the fantastic "Saffranskladdkaka" I baked earlier today.
It's pure bliss.

Bliss.

Happy inside

2011-11-29T20:19:00.002+08:00

Lucas:
"Mummy, when we talk about Christmas, it makes me feel all happy feelings inside!"

Naawww...

Oh Tannenbaum!

2011-11-28T22:29:00.005+08:00

As much as I would like the kids to have the same memories of Christmas as I do (cold, snow, darkness, Advent lights in every window etc) - theirs will be different.

I have since long accepted that, and I'm also really proud that we as a family have been able to create our own traditions as the multi-national and multi-cultural little unit we are.
This is our 5th Christmas here in the jungle, and the kids now know what it's all about, and anticipate what's coming next and are super excited about all the different steps in the preparations for Christmas.

Today we put the Christmas tree up, and it was a lovely time! Lucas and Linnea just loved looking at all the ornaments, and helping me put them on the tree. Once it was done, they both sighed and said how beautiful everything looks now!

I love our house, and I love how all my ornaments and little Santas have their own place. Most of them go back to the same spots year after year, just like at my parents house. I do have new additions every year, but I rarely switch things around too much, it's part of the tradition to me.

And even though it's hot outside, at least it goes dark at about 6pm, so I can light all my candles, turn on my 'Adventsstakar' and 'Adventsstjärnor' and pretend it's cold and snowy..!

Saint ... where?!?

2011-11-28T14:59:00.005+08:00

Picked up a letter at the post office today. Today is the 28th of November.

This letter had been sent from the US to ... St Kitts by mistake. St Kitts?!? I had to google to find out where that even is! (West Indies).

On the 3rd of October, it had passed through there. October.

How can it take two months for a letter to make it's way to Asia from the West Indies - did it take eight extra laps around the globe or something..?

I'm also wondering - in what world does BRUNEI look like ST KITTS? (We often have letters missent to Bahrain, Dubai, Singapore (well I guess it's close) and even Dar es Salaam in Tanzania..., but at least that sounds or looks a bit the same!)

Jeez. I guess I should be happy it made it here at all!

Christmas feelings

2011-11-27T22:17:00.002+08:00

"It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air"!

We have decorated our house (and the blog!) today since it's the first of Advent. The countdown has started, love it!

Sparse Taupo reports

2011-11-26T14:59:00.006+08:00

Last year we got lots and lots of reports from the gang down in Taupo from the whole week leading up to the race, and the race itself of course.
This year the reports have been a lot more... sporadic...

Actually, all we've got has been short texts about the cold (?) weather, the rain, the achy knees, the saddle sore etc...
The group of riders was a bit decimated this year too, since the other boys here from Brunei couldn't get down because of the suspended AKL route; Mike had a bad bike accident last week that left him with a few fractures on his wrist and eye socket and finally Granddad hasn't been able to train because of changing jobs.
So it was down to only Will and Nathan.

Anyway - today was Race Day! Here are some of Granddads pictures:

Time this year: 5h14. A great effort considering the gusting wind and tough conditions. Well done boys!

Second hand surprises

2011-11-26T11:20:00.005+08:00

Back in March, I organized a 'Bring&Buy' event - sort of a "clothes swop thing" where lots of people could sell their unwanted clothes to lots of other people who got new wardrobes for cheap!

It was such a success, especially for the "customers" who were happy to be able to shop for near-to-new clothes from well-known brands. We don't have much opportunity to shop here in Brunei you see, and the few clothes shops there are here often don't cater for bigger sizes f.e.
Of course, it was also a bonus for the sellers to make a few dollars, but the main thing that people seemed to like with it was that it was great with something happening, an event that could offer something for everybody.

So, Misuzu and I decided to do it again!
This week my house transformed once again into a little shop. We had learned a few things from last time, so it was new and improved!
We changed the labeling system for example, to individual numbers for each item; we used my iPad and a Numbers sheet to keep track of each seller's sales and finally we remembered the advantage of attaching the labels to the clothes rather than the hangers...

Once again it was a great couple of days! Lots of happy "customers" got some new clothes, shoes and bags and all the sellers made some profit.
We have now finally packed everything away again, and my house is back to normal.

Some of the sellers then donated all or some of their remaining items to charity, so it was really a win-win-win event this time!

And so it is Christmas...

2011-11-25T21:22:00.007+08:00

Another year, another Christmas Party at the Yacht Club, and once again I had to "enjoy" it all on my own...

I'm not a big fan really of these big events at the Yacht Club. They are nice and well organized yes, but I participate for the kids' sake only, they love it! It's too many people and too chaotic for me...
But, at least, it is becoming easier and easier, now that they are big enough to look after themselves. I don't have to worry they will drown or walk off the premises or anything, plus they will find me when they need something, I can sit back and relax!

Just like last year there was lots of games. Our kids preferred to just watch this time though:

The obligatory face painting:

Christmas pinata:

Doing some colouring-in while waiting for Santa:

It was a bit of a wait, but finally someone spotted something red on a boat out by the Spit:

Yup - it was Santa alright!

Then some more waiting, and year group by year group they got to go into the library and meet Santa, and get their present.

"What do you think Elf, do we have enough gifts for all the children?!"

And before going home we enjoyed one of the JIS choirs who sang us Christmas carols; and even though it was in 28 degrees, on a beach - it definitely ignited the warm and fuzzy Christmas feeling inside!

Watch out!

2011-11-24T12:28:00.002+08:00

Do you guys remember this post..?
Well, Nathan better watch out:

Let it snow, let it snow

2011-11-21T13:34:00.003+08:00

While the blogs back home are telling about a cold Sweden, but with no snow so far, I'm dreaming a bit about snowy and chilly and could do with just a little bit of winter right about now in time for Advent. Just a week or two though...

We did have a taste of it the other day though going out for dinner to our favourite Japanese restaurant, where apparently they thought it was about time to bring out the Christmas CD... Our whole meal was accompanied by cheerful tunes like "Let it snow", "Deck the halls", "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" etc; and the air conditioning was on high so it was really cold in the restaurant.

A bit surreal I must say, to have Christmas songs humming in your head when you step out to the same old +32-33C afterwards...

In the meantime...

2011-11-21T10:53:00.005+08:00

While we have been busy swimming at the Yacht Club and running hash in the jungle over the weekend, Nathan went for his first NZ training ride (for the Around the Lake race) back home in Taupo on Sunday.

Looks like nice weather but apparently it's rather windy, and therefor rather chilly! Ha ha, I guess anything would be when you are used to +30C and more!

Kids Christmas Hash

2011-11-20T17:50:00.003+08:00

Today was Kids Hash, one of the more popular ones of the year - the Christmas Run. A decorated tent, red santa hats everywhere and Christmas music on full blow; we do what we can to create atmosphere here in the jungle!
The kids got their Christmas presents from the Hash, this year a little red flashlight with the JH3 logo on it. I'm sure that will come in handy during our power cuts!
They also got some JH3 fake tattoos:

The run today was nearly as muddy as the Xmas run last year. We also had to do two fairly high log crossings, a little bit nerve wracking, but the kids did great.

The queue to see Santa wasn't that long this year, or maybe it was because we got out quite late, or because everything was happening at once instead of one thing at a time..? Anyhow...

We got to see Santa! He was really chatty, and he gave the kids some nice biscuits. Everybody happy.

So, that kicked off the Christmas celebrations for this year. On Friday it's the yearly Christmas Party at the Yacht Club - and only five more weeks until Christmas!

A picture paints a thousand words

2011-11-20T00:12:00.008+08:00

We went straight from International Week at school to Book Week last week, busy, busy! The theme for this year was "A picture paints a thousand words", and Book Week this year concentrated on visual literacy and visual techniques to enhance the students' understanding on literature. The school had invited two authors to come, Sonia Leong (a manga illustrator) for the older children, and Liz Million - for the Junior School.

It was lovely to have an author this time, that was actually age appropriate for our kids! Well, turned out she charmed the whole of Junior School - she did a special assembly on Wednesday morning, and after that the kids were in awe and could talk of nothing but Ms Million for the rest of the week!
Us parents were lucky enough to get invited along to the session she had with the Year 1s on Thursday morning. It was great fun, we all loved it both children and adults. Not only is she a very talented lady, but also very entertaining!

We got to listen to how a book is made, how the ideas start about the illustrations and about the whole work process.

She taught us how to draw a naughty lion:

She also told us about her book "The not-so-silly sausage", that we now have to buy, of course! The kids couldn't stop giggling when she read it out in the Spanish version!

We did buy the only book she had for sale, "Digger", for both kids... Well, she signed them, and it's nice for them to have their own book by each author that visits JIS. They will have a lovely collection in a few years time!

Here's Linnea with Liz Million: