Happy Halloween!!!!

Scarry Hashers

It was a special hash run last night starting at 6pm just as it was about to get dark. I was looking forward to a decent run albeit in the dark but with slippery conditions I can't say I was disappointed when it was up one hill and down another bringing us back to the carpark.

So time for the shout-out of course with the halloween theme. I have never really been into fancy dress but always admire those that make the effort to do so. And some of the ladies really went to town!

DJ Jack

One of Ayden's many birthday presents was an electric organ complete with mock turntable. Yesterday everyone wanted a go as DJ and Jack really got into it and looked the part.

One very wet weekend

We are very accustomed to plenty of rain in the tropics but this week has been a exceptionally wet one. Not only did it rain almost every night this week but it was wet all day yesterday, last night and most of today. I think its the closest we'll get to Irish weather in Brunei!

Our baby turns 2

It was all excitement in the McCarthy household today with Ayden celebrating his 2nd birthday. He was a bit shy about the whole thing to begin with but warmed up especially when the presents came out. The kids and I spent the afternoon opening some presents and playing with Ayden's new toys and late afternoon we went to my parents for Ayden's little birthday party. Ayden's bapa is away for a long trip and was missed by his little boy.

All the kids were impressed with this small organ that we bought Ayden

Iman and Jack were held back and Ayden opened this present all by himself! 

He was so impressed with the new PJs he wanted them on straight away.

Smart birthday boy ready for the party

A yummy chocolate cake made by none other than Kitchen of Jasmine

With very proud Kaka and Abang

The whole gang

He did it!

Tucking into the cake

High School Musical 3

Neither myself nor Donncha are cinema fans. Now this is telling but the last time we went to the cinema together we watched "Bend It Like Beckham" at the Coronet in Notting Hill, London 7 years ago. We came out saying "That was good, we should this this again!". Since then I have only been in a cinema once - grudgingly with my nieces and nephews some years back. 

So you can all sense how I must have felt this morning when my sisters volunteered me to accompany the kids to watch HSM3. But I had little choice as they were both busy and Iman really wanted me there. But lo and behold (as Donncha probably guessed) Iman and I had fun together. It's a fun movie and she loved it. And my thought afterwards "...we should do this again!".

Jack's "Borrowed" Hot Wheels

Our little Ayden turns 2 tomorrow and last Sunday my parents took him out to choose a new set of wheels for his birthday present. Maybe they were a bit too adventurous with what they chose, because Jack was more than happy with the bicycle and rode away as soon as it arrived. As he says, he's only "borrowing" it until Ayden get's bigger! But I must also add that we're so proud he's cycling very well. As for Ayden, he's not too bothered and still happy with his little trike. 

Day out with the kids

I took all the kids out today on the same river safari that I did a few weeks back hoping to catch all the same animals again. The boat ride in itself is a great trip for the kids and they weren't disappointed either on the wildlife front. We saw several monitor lizards, a mangrove snake in a tree, two groups of proboscis monkeys and even 3 crocodiles including a big one though unfortunately all dashed into the water as soon as we spotted them. It was great to see the kids getting excited about spotting the wildlife especially the older ones.

Trying to spot a proboscis monkey further in the mangroves

Try and spot a monitor resting in the above picture and zoomed in below

We all had lunch at Fratinis afterwards. Pizza and pasta never goes down too well with the kids so they all hated it - NOT - I think if we let them they would have eaten all afternoon. As usual the younger ones had fun making their own pizzas.

Bring back Fatin!

Fatin took part in the "Cry of the Wild" dance concert last week. We thought her painted face for the show was excellent.

Though Ayden was not impressed when he saw her!

Une soiree gastronomique

There are some weeks when I get bogged down with a post and this has been one of them. To cut a long story short last Friday we attended a Chaine dinner at the Empire - the meal was by a visiting team from the Empire's sister hotel in Paris - Plaza Athenee led by head chef Philippe Marc. It was a fantastic meal in a great location and even better company. The highlight prior to the meal was the intrinisation into the Chaine for new members - Donncha was one of them. From now on he has to wear his chain everytime we go to a dinner. 

A Hat Parade

The Junior School in an effort to promote playing safely in the sun organised a hat parade. The kids were asked to bring in a hat that they have made or decorated. Well done to the Mum's who made some fantastic hats from scratch. We did have plans to make one but a combination of my non-artistic skills and our hectic week, it never happened and Iman settled for one of my mum's hats and decorated it with badges from my Dad's collection. Hariz had a similar hat and Zar's had one decorated with flowers. Thanks to my Mum for her last minute efforts. All the kids who wore hats to the parade got a house point each.

Some were obviously more into it than others!

Iman (with arms folded) with her year group

A bereavement

Apologies for not posting for a few days. Sadly my family had a bereavement on Tuesday. My mum's sister Freda or better known as Ben fell at one of Aunt's houses - she was epileptic and our guess was she had a fit, fell unconscious hitting the ground and bled. Very sadly nobody was around at the time of the accident and she was only discovered more than an hour later by which time efforts to resuscitate her at the hospital failed.

Unlike funerals in the West which take place up to a week after death, in the muslim world and especially the tropics, it is custom that burials take place immediately. And unlike the West where undertakers and funeral homes arrange burials, here it is the responsibility of the family (with the help of mosque officials) to make sure that the loved one's remains are prepared for burial following Islamic customs which are strictly adhered to.

By that evening we buried my Aunt wrapped in the customary seven yards of white cloth and covered with the overpowering smell of camphor - coffins do not feature in muslim funerals either. The body is then technically planted into the ground, facing Mecca.

It all happens very quickly. Families often are not able to grieve until after the funeral. For us we mourn an aunt who though a bit quirky and unconventional will be missed by her sisters, nieces and nephews. Following tradition prayers are held every evening for the first 3 nights following the death and subsequently at 7th day, 40th day and 100th day. Al Fatihah. 

Fireworks Display

For Haziq's birthday last night we lit one of the big boxes and the display was pretty impressive. Enjoy!

Ayden's OK

Our poor Ayden had a bit of a rough ride this week. He came down with vomiting and diarrhea on Thursday which also brought on a fever. In the evening he went down early but by 8:30 woke up and vomitted all over the bed. BIG PANIC and Jack who was still awake handed me the phone to get Sitty back to help clean up. As I cleaned him up and changed him I noticed he was getting a bit warm and warmer and HOT so I gave him paracetamol thinking that would bring down the temprature. But poor Ayden just got hotter and went into CONVULSIONS. Body limp, eyes up to the ceiling and lips slowly going purple. FRANTIC...we called Jasmine and Hanna who both rushed over quickly and helped calm Ayden - convulsions went on for 2-3 minutes before he came round. 

Hanna and I then went to JPMC, a medical facility 5 minutes away from us. (I left poor Jack with Jasmine who was worried that Ayden couldn't breathe). It was only at the hospital that I called Donncha - he and I would only have panicked more had I called earlier and being in Mauritius he could hardly take the next flight home. So poor Ayden was given an intravenous drip and given several injections to combat the fever and tummy bug. He couldn't keep anything down.

We ended up staying two nights after which I had to check us out as we were both getting cabin fever. Ayden still had mild diarrhea but was refusing to drink properly so he was being hooked up to a drip and was loosing it. As soon as I took him home he drank two cups of water and ate a full lunch. Three days on from the start of all this he is doing well, back to his normal self and eating like a horse! Even better his Bapa came home on the day we left hospital which really made his day.

Thanks to all family and friends who sent messages and well wishes!

We're being tested!

It's started and in our opinion way too soon. Iman has been getting spelling homework for the last few weeks and this week they will have a TEST! Iman is 5 years old and in Year 1. In most European countries kids her age haven't even started school. As a parent who wants he best for her child, I was a bit unsure how to approach the issue. The Asian in me wanted to sit her down and make her rote learn until she can spell the words backwards! But hey it's me and you all know I'm more chilled out than that so we are taking the carefree approach - though I did write then words out on cards for us to look at together. Wish us luck!

This is My Brunei

It's my first week back on the Monday Morning Walk except this morning's wasn't a walk but a river trip to spot the Proboscis monkey. The monkeys can usually be found 10 mins  boat ride out of town. I have only been there once with Donncha and the kids on Manaia and we did not see anything apart from a family of macaques - and really in Brunei we usually spot those outside one of the supermarkets. So today with our young but experienced boatman on a calm beautiful morning with the tide receding we were all anticipating a morning full of wildlife. 

And we were not disappointed. Just outside of town we came across our first family of proboscis but unfortunately they were on the move so no pictures. That was followed by sighting a lone otter, followed by a family of baby otters and our first monitor lizard of the day - but it was small. We then proceeded to a section where most of the wildlife was spotted. 

Eddy, our eagle hawked guide spotted this huge monitor who was resting obviously after a feed. He must have been pretty full as he didn't move while we took pictures from only a short distance away.

Within minutes Eddy then spotted two mangrove snakes curled and sleeping on branches. Glad they were sleeping as these snakes are very poisonous. 

Just as we stopped to watch a proboscis family from a distance we spotted this monitor lizard just below the boat.

Though we saw plenty of other wildlife we did not manage to see too many proboscis and only spotted a handful. I was lucky to take this picture before this guy moved up higher but sadly missed his nose!

Our main highlight of the day was spotting this 5 foot crocodile basking in the sun with mouth wide open. He was good to sit for an least a couple of minutes before he made a dash for the water. It's now not uncommon to sight these large crocodiles especially at low tide but it's not guaranteed to sight them all the time. This was actually the second crocodile we saw having sighted a much smaller guy who did not hang about further up river.

Spot the weird scales above the croc's leg, it looks like a face!

And the icing on the cake was spotting a family of otters on our way back to town.

We finished the trip with a visit to the boatman's water village house and we were kindly served with tea and cakes. Eddy actually works for his uncle who now has four boats serving tourists and locals like ourselves. Something I have not mentioned was the state of the river where we spotted most of the wildlife including the big croc. The river was filthy, there was rubbish everywhere. The strip is still full of wildlife and what we experienced today is the closest to being on a boat safari - it's a gem and should be a cleaned up and be a protected area. Afterall a huge percentage of the tourists that come to Brunei go there and for Eddy, his family and many boatmen like themselves the area is their breadline. All the more reason to clean up!