Anyone for mini pavlovas?

Check out Jasmine's cupcakes and mini pavlovas that are now available for order. I personally love the mini pavlovas but the cupcakes are always a hit with the kids.

End of the holidays

mountains of Bali 

It's back to school tomorrow and Iman will be doing the well practised "I'm tired" routine. Even more of a challenge will be getting her to bed tonight. Donncha's gone already. He's on his way to Bangkok as I write and tonight he flies to Jordan. We'll all miss him as we've been together for the last 2 weeks but on the bright side he's back Wednesday.

Our Balinese Princess

One of the highlights of Iman's week in the kids club was dressing up in a Balinese costume and visiting the temple. While initially keen, she became less than impressed as time went by (as can be seen from the various faces on the photos. We think she made a beautiful Balinese Girl but there is an upside to her reaction - it's certainly going to be some time before she will consider wearing headgear like that again (Malay weddings require the girls to wear ornate headgear which is painful)

Easter Bunnies

It was a good thing that we actually missed our original flight as it meant spending Easter sunday in the hotel. Iman and Jack (& Donncha!) had fun at the egg hunt.

The Gecko Club

Any thoughts we ever had about trying out another hotel in Bali have been erased by Iman's discovery of The Gecko kids club. She spent five whole days there and aside from the usual painting and colouring other activities ranged from dressing up in Balinese costumes, face painting, swimming and cycling around the hotel grounds. Even lunch was served there - thanks to Elouise, Iman even started eating mini cheese burgers. No words can express our relief of not having to entertain the kids all day long and look forward to when Jack and Ayden are fully into it. Thumbs up to the Gecko club and the wonderful ladies there.

Nice to be home

There's nothing worse than being on holiday and catching a flight home at an unsociable hour. We left the hotel at six this morning to catch our 8 o'clock flight. It was a struggle especially as we were silly to stay up too late last night sampling Bali's finest with new friends that we met at the hotel (their daughter Elouise and Iman got on very well and hung out at the kids club together). The best thing about the flight was we were home before 11 and already things are back to normal. Donncha is back in his office, Iman is playing next door, Ayden probably wandering around and Jack just fell asleep in front of his greatly missed Playhouse Disney.

We had a fantastic week away. Unfortunately Ayden came down with a nasty cough and runny nose so he only had one day by the pool. That limited our time by the pool as well but I didn't really complain as it rained a couple of days and we were able to hit the shops! The kids had a ball. Iman only left the hotel once during the week and even that only after kids' club hours. And every morning she couldn't wait for the 9 o'clock opening. And Jack, he was just keen to make friends - "Hi guys...!"

I shall post pictures of the holiday soon.

Our Bali

Some pictures from our first couple of days in Bali. It's so nice to be back here especially with so many familiar faces welcoming us back.

St. Patrick's Day 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all our family and friends! 

And the good news is that we are on the flight to Bali tonight!!!! As Jack always says "We did it!".

Easter/St.Patricks Kids Hash

One good thing to come out from missing our Bali flight was being able to go to the kids' hash. Again we all had a great time so this is going to be a regular monthly outing for us. 

There was little stream running under the green bushes

Iman and Jack both very excited that they were in the jungle 

We're Still Here...

Double drats!!!! Slight glitch on our holiday plans. Late this afternoon Donncha noticed that Iman's passport is only 4 months to expiry. Not much we could do but hope that we would get away with it. But it was not too be and we were turned away from the check-in desk. So with very very disappointed children we waited to be picked up again. And as we loaded the kids into the car and drove away I could hear that voiceover on Airport saying ".... and on our next episode find out if the McCarthy Family get to Bali....".

Bali....here we come!!!

Its school holidays for us again and tomorrow night we are heading to Bali with the kids and Sitty. It's a familiar journey for us as we have been there on several holidays and our family has grown on each visit. The last time we went there Iman was not even 3 and was about to start nursery. Jack was only a baby at 4 months. And at that stage we thought Iman was very big girl but as you can see from the photo above she was still very little. This time we have Ayden in tow as well, so the ladies on the Palace Club will have their hands full entertaining the kids at breakfast. It will be the beach for the next 7 days. We will post pictures when we get bored of it!

No Hash Pictures

No good views on the hash last night - it was a purely physical one going up and down far too many hills. Cath wasn't there and I followed Margaret's lead. Margaret has seen more of Brunei than most Bruneians ever would and knows the jungle routes very well. Knowing that it was going to be a while before we got out she made me run the last 15 minutes. She's a fantastic motivator and I was out of breath but feeling very good. A great workout. 

A story from the hash - I was chatting to one of the ladies, Nellie from Zambia and she is related to Samantha Mumba the Irish singer! How mad is that?!

This morning was our usual Bukit Shahbandar walk and I took pictures of these pitcher plants. We don't normally stop to look at anything but this morning we were with two keen nature lovers and they pointed out these beautiful plants. 

Happy Birthday Cath

Birthday greetings today to our good friend Cath. I know you have a hectic day today but I hope you manage to enjoy it too. I will miss you at the hash this evening and thanks again Saturday night for a highly entertaining evening with excellent company,  fab food and two sinfully delicious cakes!

Budding Artists

Bored of painting on paper, Iman and Jack stared on the back wall and then invited the rest of the cousins to participate. A great way to brighten up the back of the house.

 

Iman's Milestone

Today represented a big day for Iman as it was her first assembly in front of the Junior School. Her extended class performed a number of songs in front of their peers and their parents. We both managed to make it to the performance despite a journey from South Africa and very heavy rain storms. Iman surprised us by taking a big role in the performance, something she hadn't told us in advance. We knew she was to stand at the end to thank everyone but she was also one of two in the class responsible for holding up the numbers as the class counted through from 1 to 10 and have associated stories with each number.

What impressed both of us was that Iman appeared to take great pride in seeing her friends performing and doing well. Hopefully this is something that she will maintain as she grows.

Another traffic offense!

I pride myself as being a very careful and considerate driver. I rarely go above the speed limit (whatever it is in Brunei) and I never ever break a red light. But everybody else gets away with it and yesterday I was confident I would too when I took the small left turn  just as the light went red. 

But it just wasn't my day cos the police were waiting for us offenders round the corner and I was pulled aside. I admitted to my mistake and tried the "But....I don't usually do this....." line. He was nice and polite and told me to wait while he went off to write my golden ticket. An image of a 50 dollar note with wings appeared in my mind. Thankfully we do not have a points system (yet) and nobody will check up that I got another ticket 6 months ago - I sound like a broken record now but honestly I really am a good driver!

Dad and his Fans

Brunei's Legislative Council is in session this week. If anyone is interested in the history and the workings of the council please read on here. 

Being a member of the council my Dad was in his ceremonial attire for the opening ceremony. The boys were impressed with their Empah all kitted up.

It was wet and muddy but what a view!

Last night's hash was at a new site for me. It had rained all day so it was very very muddy. At one stage just below my knees - I jumped out of that bog pretty quickly. We walked along this very picturesque river for a bit then after that we just seemed to climb and climb - not easy being wet and slippery. I am much more comfortable with the jungle now and even did half of the walk by myself following the trusted paper trail. Though I disliked the bog area with the really tall grass - reminded me too much of big snakes scenes on National Geographic.

After what seemed like eternal climbing out of the jungle we suddenly came onto a ridge with the view below. Somehow we were in the middle of town. What a fantastic walk. 

There was a bus waiting for us at the end to take us back to where we started. It was probably my dirtiest hash yet and I was ever so relieved to get out of the bus for some fresh air!

Our Usual Sunday

As we do every sunday, yesterday was spent on the beach at the Yacht Club. If it's any consolation to those of you currently enjoying winter weather, I am today covered in sandfly bites. Thankfully they only ever seem to bite me and not the kids which is a relief as they are quite painful and I am now plastered in calamine lotion. We did though have a lovely Sunday lunch by the sea.

Jack jazzed up our drinks with tomato slices from his chicken & rice 

Guess Who's Coming For Dinner?

My parents were all set to entertain this evening. Not a regular event and not one we were invited to! The table setting reflects my parents attention to detail and no doubt went though a thorough inspection before approval. We hope all invited had a lovely evening.

A Regular Visitor?

This lone monkey has been round almost everyday this week, coming back for the abundance of mangoes currently on the trees and the occasional banana left out by the kids. Yesterday he spotted me at the window soon after taking this photograph and legged it without his loot but this afternoon I spotted him back again to finish his meal.