KK Swimming - Penampang 2012

Last weekend we were all back in KK again for the 4th Penampang Club swimming competition. This is the same competition that the kids went to in December last year without me. This time with all three taking part, it was an eventful two days in the heat. Jack and Ayden were swimming in the same group which made it even more interesting. Neither of them won individual medals and I've been told they need to eat more to build up muscles! (We also found out after the event that there was confusion as to who was the older brother - there is certainly healthy competition between them). They were both part of the JSC relay team for their age group and won two silvers in their races so we had two happy boys. 

This year the competition has nearly doubled in size making it much busier in the small confined space of the club and overall making competition much tougher. Iman who previously has won silvers and bronzes even in the KK meets learned this the hard way when her competitors proved to be much faster and stronger leaving her to settle for 4th and 5th places for most of her races. These are the same girls she has raced against in the last two years and it is simply down to the number of hours these girls put in which is apparently every day training and in some cases twice a day. Somehow Iman understands that and did not seem to be bothered with her performance and was happy with her relay medals. This year JSC brought a bigger teams bringing almost three times the number of swimmers to last year and from being the winner or runner-up last year, JSC came 5th this time. But the kids all head a good time taking part and spending time together and in Ayden's case, chatting to the volunteers! And despite working within a small space the competition was very well organised - hopefully we will be back here again next year.

Ayden's First Sailing Lesson

We had one happy boy this morning. Ayden has been asking to join the lessons for several months now and though he is very keen, he was too young to start. The instructor kept telling him only when he turns 6. Well he's only about 6 weeks away and the instructor could no longer turn down his enthusiasm! He had a great first session and was just as keen to de-rigg as he was to rigg up the oppy. I say he must be looking forward to next Saturday already but he will have to wait for a couple of weeks!

Miri Getaway Aug 2012

It's back to school next week so we thought we out to make good use of the last remaining lazy days. However Iman didn't want to get "bored" by the pool and chose to stay home instead. But hey.... getting bored by the pool was all we wanted to do!

Hari Raya 2012

Hari Raya is all about family and friends. A time to renew family bonds and friendships and also a wonderful opportunity to create new ones.

Getting reacquainted with the Tanjung Aru

As part of our trip to KK (Kota Kinabalu), we decided to treat ourselves and check into the Shangri La Tanjung Aru for 3 nights. There was a time when the rooms here were as cheap as chips but these days, you do think twice before booking as the rates are very high - almost double when you would pay in KL for the Shangri La there. 

The hotel has gone through many changes over the last 10 years but it was amazing to see how the place was really set up for kids. Three major water slides meant that we really didn't see the kids during the day aside from the occasional visit to say hello. We also discovered the secret as to how the hotel can maintain their high rates - fully occupied with 80% being mainland Chinese paying full rates. If you think the Germans have a bad reputation for hogging sun loungers, you ain't seen anything like these guys - to quote a classic Father Ted episode, 'You would want to be up really early to catch them !'

Our new found friends from the Le Meridien joined up in our hotel move, so we also have continuity with the games when it came time to chill out !

Times have changed at the Sunset Bar which in the past was somewhat low key but excellent for viewing one of the best sunsets available on a good day. These days, no children are allowed so when Maria wanted to take comparison photo's with Iman, we had to make do with the walkway - as you can see, Iman is beginning to look somewhat like Maria.

We also took some comparison photos of Donncha playing pitch and putt with Iman. This time of course, we had more company with Jack and Ayden really enjoying the Pitch and Putt

Jack and the Olympic Torch

Before its too late I had better put up this picture of Jack and the 1948 Olympic Torch that did a tour of Brunei several months back!