The White Tie & Tiara Ball

Yesterday was the night of another greatly anticipated event here in Brunei - 'The White Tie and Tiara Ball'. It was organized by four ladies, as a charity ball where all the donations went to Cancer Research. All inspired by the famous celebrity 'W T&T Ball' held by Elton John every year.

It was a fab evening, with a champagne welcome to the live music from a string trio and a three-course meal accompanied by a one-man-band; a big prize raffle, an auction with many different lots and later in the evening a disco.

Here we are ready to go:





The dress code was white tie & tails for the gents, and tiara and ball gown for the ladies - but as far as we saw, Nathan was the only one actually wearing the proper attire! He looked totally dashing in his tails!
None of his suits actually fit him anymore (they're all too big!), and since we were going to have a new one made anyway we thought, tails and suit was sort of the same price, so why not go all in?

I had a new dress too, made in this gorgeous white french lace material (unfortunately the photos doesn't show just how sparkly it actually is!); and I had got new shoes. I had even got a little tiara and to make it really come to it's right, Nicole and I went to have our hair done in the afternoon.

I must say - I don't think I've felt this beautiful since the day I got married..! Maybe it was the white dress, or the tiara, I don't know - but I felt really pretty. Before we left Linnea told me:
-"Mummy... *big sigh*... oh, you look like a p-r-i-n-c-e-s-s!"
Best compliment ever!

I didn't get around to snap many photos for some reason, but here are some of the ladies:





And some of the gents:



On our table:









The auction in full swing:



The RBA Station Manager for Perth, Leanne, had come up for the night; and all in the name of Cancer Research, and to raise even more money, she had all her hair cut off! Brave lady!







Paula and me:

Sneak peak

Looking forward to tonight...

That 2...

It's been quite a while now we've been trying to get Linnea to sleep in her own bed, all night through. She keeps coming in to ours nearly every night in the middle of the night, and usually we just keep carry her back, over and over again...
Lately we've tried something new, we've told her that she is allowed to come and have a cuddle, but only after 5 o'clock. She has got her own clock in her room, and it's kind of been working ok.

The other night she came in, and it was only just 2 o'clock. We told her to come back at 5, and she said "But it is 5!". "No, it's 2, go to bed, come back later". So off she went only to return again half an hour later. I told Nathan "Poor thing, maybe she can't really make the difference between 2 and 5, they do look a bit alike, only mirrored?".
Well, turns out she can, because apparently she had grunted in his ear:

- "I hate that 2, it's SO annoying!"

Newest member

The boys have got a new addition to their 'Biking Fraternity' here in Brunei, Andrew has decided to join in the fun and got himself a bike. A 'Scott'-bike of course (as that is his last name, it was a must!), and all the accessories that go with it.



He came around earlier today for some tweaking on the bike and it was a very serious affair that involved three people, numerous tools, strong coffee and a level..!







I think they got there in the end though..!

Horrid hash

Anna and I were in charge of tonight's hash. We went in this afternoon to lay it, and we laid a pretty straight forward hash, not very long and with easy checks. Just when we came out of the jungle though, it started to rain... We went home to get changed and get the food we were putting on, and when we got back to site - it wasn't raining any more, it was POURING! :(

Not many people had shown up in the first place, and not many of the ones there had actually gone in... Also, the ones going in came out pretty quickly again, as they couldn't see anything in the jungle; with the total downpour it was black in there.
In the end, there was seven brave ones left, and Anna and I were getting ready to go in and lead them out - but fortunately, them too had decided to turn around when they couldn't find second check, phew!



It was rather sad because of course most people left straight away, they were wet and cold and didn't feel like staying - which was understandable.
Anna and I had cooked tomato soup for about 50 people though... so there was plenty to go around for the 10-12 hashers that stayed for the on-on! At least, they LOVED it! Tomato soup coming up:



Unfortunately where they had put the tent, it was just one big mud hole... I got just as dirty again afterward as I'd got laying the hash! Ha ha!





Well, the one positive thing with tonight is that we will be able to recycle this run again in the new year! No one went all the way around, and even the few hashers that did go in, will not recognize themselves in the light! We will lay it again, for sure!

7 to 7 on 7

This is how it looks at the back of our house at the moment:



And like this:



They are doing some kind of road work on the gravel road that leads down to the houses behind us, or maybe they are just fixing the drains, or maybe both..? We're not quite sure.
All we know is that's it's been going on already for a couple of weeks and it's probably going to take quite a few more. The workers are here from 7 in the morning until 7 at night - 7 days a week, and it's NOISY!!!
Not only are they noisy themselves with their big machines, but the dogs go crazy at all these workers coming and going all the time; and with work going on 7 days a week, we never get a rest from the endless racket.

Hopefully they will make a nice new road and it'll all be worth it, although we never really use that part of it... *Sigh*

3D fun

Better late than never - movies in 3D have now become reality even in Brunei! In the end of last month they finally launched the first 3D cinema here, in the Mall.

While I was in the jungle yesterday with Anna doing our final rekkie for Tuesday's hash, Nathan and Will took the kids to see the new 'Megamind'-movie, in 3D!



It was great apparently! The kids came home all electric and told me all about it! We might actually have to go back and see it again, or maybe Toy Story 3 again - which is now in 3D. So cool!

The ugly bowl...

I got to take my gecko-bowl home the other day. I must say I only finished it off under protest, because I was made to (...) and I didn't do it with much love, since I was really, really not happy with how it turned out - and had made too many mistakes on it.
I'm really not fussed about it at all, so far it has only made it to the outside table, where I'm planning to use it as a tea light holder:



Actually, later in the evening when I got around to light the candles, it looked quite sparkly and nice (well, it was in the dark!)!

... and the pretty bowl

I have now also finished my second bowl, the fish-bowl. I'm much, much happier with this one - it turned out great. I love the "oily" tiles I've used on it, gives it a lot of dimension. Yay me!

One person's junk, another person's tresasure

I continually clear out at home, and put things aside in a special cupboard of mine. Clothes that the kids don't fit anymore, toys they don't play with, things I don't use etc. Every now and then there will be occasions where you can get rid of some of these things - today was such an occasion.
It was Football Funday at JIS, the biggest football tournament in Brunei. It's growing every year because during the 5-6 hours the kids are busy playing, the parents need something to do! So there was a lot of things going on at JIS today, and I took part in the car boot sale!

Anne and I loaded up Nathan's truck and off we went at 7 o'clock this morning (ouch, on a Sunday...). Set up next to Jane and Tash:



It was ok at first, but as soon as the sun got out from behind the clouds, it got baking hot! Anne fit right in:





We spend three hours there, and actually managed to sell most of our things. Obviously, Anne and Jane were a lot cheaper than me since they are both leaving the country and just wanted to get rid of their things; and I'd admit I had priced my things a bit high maybe. But still, as long as you have enough things to sell, you collect a bit of cash - even if you sell it cheap, because everything goes. I was more than happy with what I took home today, so it was a good morning.

The Busiest Day

Today felt like the never-ending day. It's been very long, but very fun - so busy... Unfortunately Nathan is in Perth, so he missed out on all of it.
First International Day this morning, then Christmas Fayre over lunch and finally Bonfire Night tonight. Big day.

International Day 2010

Today was the highlight of this very internationally themed week, and maybe the highlight of the year for many as it is a great day - International Day.

It was our 4th International Day so we've done it all before. I enjoy it immensely every year all the same.
The parade this morning (with 20 classes!) was amazing as always - and afterward I was one of the parents who helped out in the Kindy playground, putting on a display of Sweden (well, basically just the same things as I've displayed every year...) for the youngest children to come and "visit".
This year, it wasn't too many countries and the kids had a great time visiting France, India, England, Scotland, Spain, USA, Germany, Brunei, China, Australia and Sweden. Well, they just want the food..! (I had chocolate balls this year but was surprised they didn't go with any great speed, not like the Ahlgren's Bilar from last year!)
We received the Nursery, Kindy and Reception kids.

The kids in the bigger classes, Y1-Y5 did a different thing this year. They traveled around the world in their classrooms, where each classroom had been transformed to a different country for the day; and they spent half an hour in each room (four each) with a bit more of information and some activities.
Lucas had been to Germany, Australia and Morocco when I caught up with him in the NZ room that Tash was hosting. He was busy making a kiwi and it seemed like he had had a great time!

Here are this year's pictures:

Christmas Fayre (or 'The Busiest Day, part 2')

The "Travel Around the World" was finished just before lunch time at school and as soon as we had packed up Tash and I zoomed off out to Kota Batu, where there was a Christmas Fayre held today with 20 plus stalls, selling all sorts of things.
Anna was there of course, with her tunics:



Since Nathan is going to NZ and I'm off to Sweden before Christmas, I didn't really feel the need to shop for anything today. But they also had a free lunch on for members, and as free is always good - we made sure we had time to enjoy that! (Then straight back to school again to pick up the kids.)

Bonfire Night (or 'The Busiest Day, part 3')

Finally, there was a fireworks display tonight at the Yacht Club, to celebrate Bonfire Night (or Guy Fawkes). We've been celebrating this special day a few times before previous years here in Brunei, once on the beach and once with the Loan Service Team. It's a nice tradition - and I love fireworks!

We were all pretty tired after an exciting day but still I thought we could need a relaxing end to the day so off to the YC we went. Kids with their swimmers, and Mummy with her coolbag..!
It was indeed a lovely end to a busy day - there was a lovely BBQ buffet put on, the kids had a ball with their friends, big and small, on the beach, and half of Brunei seemed to be there, it was rather busy! Nice to have a nice meal and a bit of a chat with good friends.



We all 'ooohed' and 'aaaahed' at the fireworks that was set off at the end of the jetty. It's quite an odd feeling though for a Swede only used to experience fireworks on New Years Eve (in the freezing cold usually!), to watch fireworks amongst the palm trees while sweating!

A Swedish Kiwi

Comforting

Well... that's good, as long as I fit into that 'most'-category!

Roll on the meatballs!

Today it was Linnea and her friends' turn to put in practice the food-topic they've been studying the past weeks. They had 'International Food Tasting' on the program for today. I brought in some... yes, Swedish Meatballs, again! Always a hit! (I make them halal though, of course, in case someone was wondering - so they're not 100% "proper" but hey, good enough!)

Us parents didn't stay for this, but I got a few shots of the table with all the International goodies and their world map, before leaving (it's Linnea at the back in casual clothes):





The teachers told us at pickup that they'd had a wonderful tasting session, and ALL the food had gone! Good job!

Preparations

In a couple of weeks time we are going to a big charity event here in Brunei, a 'White Tie & Tiara Ball'. It's very exciting since it's been a while since we dressed up - without it having to be dress-up, ha ha!
I'm really looking forward to glamming up!

I got some lovely material last week and it's currently at the tailors getting made into a (hopefully) stunning dress. I've got the tiara and the other accessorizes sorted and the other day we went to sort out Nathan's outfit.
Since he's lost so much weight because of his biking, none of his suits fit him nicely anymore. So we decided to go all-in! Here we are at the tailors picking out material for his getup:



It's the first time he's having something made out here so it'll be very exciting to see how it turns out. I'm sure he's going to be really handsome.

Melbourne Cup 2010

Today I had my first experience with horse racing. Unfortunately not live, but on TV. One of our friends had invited us around to her house to watch the Melbourne Cup this morning. Nibbles, drinks and cheering on - for the 3-4 minutes the race took (...), then it was just nibbles and drinks!

Melbourne Cup is the biggest thing for Australians. It's Australia's major thoroughbred horse race, billed as 'The race that stops a nation'. The race is over a distance of 3,200 meters. It is the richest and most prestigious "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races in the world. It's been held since 1858, on the first Tuesday in November every year.

People come from near and far to take part in the festivities surrounding Melbourne Cup, to me it reminded me of Ascot - with well-dressed guests and women with big hats!
The guests at our party were of course dressed to their nines as well!







Boys corner:



Then it was all happening - for about 3 1/2 minutes!! :) Very exciting!