McCarthy Suitcases make it to Riyadh

Greetings all from Riyadh where it's 44 Degrees even early in the morning. Hotel feels like a hotel in Brunei - nobody around and not busy in the restaurants. Staying in the Marriott which feels somewhat like the Green Zone with all the security. Leave tomorrow via Dubai again to Brunei

Another new city for the McCarthy Suitcases

Dubai - for 14 hours before heading down to Riyadh - only people I've met so far are either from India or the Philippines. Not going to explore, a run, lunch and then back to the airport.

Count Down Begins

As many of you will know, it's almost time for our two year trip back to Ireland. This year we bring Ayden for the first time along with Sitty who is coming along to help as three kids under five on a long haul journey is not exactly going to be fun! Aside from the usual family and friend get togethers, we do hope to get the chance to go west to Ballybunion (beach above) where I spent most summer vactions when we were young - one might say that was the extent of my travels then besides the regular trip to Tipperary to see my grandparents.

Meanwhile, I need to get to Riyadh, Sydney, potentially Mauritius and most definately Singapore before even considering traveling to Ireland. Still, everyone is now very excited but to be honest, I think Sitty takes the prize for being most excited.

Sultan's Birthday - Hanging Out

Hanging out with Zarah waiting for their grandparents to return from the Palace - Jack is starting to show signs of real growth and is putting on the pounds at last !!

Strike !!

Rumbling through the photo's taken while I was away recently, I came across this photo where it was clear that the person taking the photo had won the argument !!

Pink Playdough

Iman and I made playdough this afternoon and it was a success which was a big relief and I had one very happy Iman with her pink playdough. Mothers reading this will understand what I mean when the little ones are excited that Mummy is making playdough for them and it turns out being gooey mess. The recipe was given to me by a teacher in Iman's school in Bangkok *Thankyou Teacher May*. For those who need something to occupy the little ones on a rainy afternoon here's the recipe. I think it's foolproof, easy and will save you $.

Mix the following dry ingredients in a medium pot :
1 cup white flour
1/4 cup salt
2 tbs cream of tartar

Combine the following and add to dry ingredients:
1 cup water
1 tbs veg oil
2 tsp food colouring

- Cook over medium heat and stir. After about 3-5 mins it starts getting thicker and a ball will form in the centre of pot. Turn out the mixture and knead on a lightly floured surface. It should now firm up and feel like playdough. Store in airtight container or plastic bag.

Art Exhibition

JIS art was on show at the Empire last week and on display was one of Iman's paintings so we went to have a look. It was very exciting for Iman seeing her painting in a frame. And she was also excited to see her friends' work. From her kindy class there were 3 paintings chosen including hers. Jack just wanted the little label!

Zahra too had a painting exhibited - her big red fire engine though she maintains her flower painting should have been there instead.

End of Term

It was the end of term for the junior school yesterday and their celebration evening was held last night. All our kids performed beautifully. But my camera didn't. I did get a good picture of Fatin performing in the junior orchestra and one of Iman and Zahra below in the entrance of ICC.

Ayden is 8 months

Ayden is 8 months old today!

And on the subject of birthdays a very happy birthday for tomorrow to Grandad McCarthy. Lots of love from all of us xxx

Our own pirate

The topic was pirates in school last week and the class finished off the week with a pirate themed party. Luckily my niece Zar had a ready made pirate costume complete with props (though she is still unaware of her input to the event - thanks Zar!)

Paris Spotted leaving Brunei !

To Swiss Mama - Paris was spotted heading for the Swiss Hills ...... looking slightly confused re our bikini comments - maybe she hasn't been keeping up with the blog...... Brunei is a very small place.... apologies to everyone else who won't have a clue what this is about.....

Our love to MBK

Donncha is back in Bangkok this week on a conference and I am feeling a tad bit envious. I just came off the phone with him in the middle of the main dinner for the event .....sounded like he was having a terrible time.

It's coming up to three months since we've left Bangkok and first and foremost I must say that we miss the Sriram family - our friends and neighbours from the apartment below. This evening as usual Jack was the last to go to sleep and he always goes through a list of people around him and I always answer that they are asleep to encourage him to do the same. After listing cousins, Aunties & staff (of course in no particular order) he mentioned "ahul" & "oohan" followed by "auntie" which though he has plenty aunties (and who doesn't?) I guessed meant Savita as he said it immediately after the boys. So a big hellooo to the Sriram family. Savita has a girls weekend away trip coming up - hope you have a fantastic time and do plenty of shopping!

Shopping....I do miss MBK.....my tshirt lady.....children's clothes lady...... or just endless walking around tourist souvenirs (but never to buy....go somewhere else for that). A morning walk around MBK was always followed by lunch usually at the food court. Contrary to what many Bruneians think Halal food is not difficult to come by in Bangkok as the city has a sizeable Muslim population. The main MBK foodcourt has 3 Muslim stalls and another 2 not serving pork. My favorites were the seafood noodles, vegetarian stalls and of course the somtam. And a meal there was always followed by a tall glass icecream in Swensens ... all guilt free when I was pregnant..... guess that's all what I'm trying to walk off today!

The Simple Life.....

Neither Donncha or I have green fingers so we are extremely lucky to have a gardener to prop up our mangoes as they get bigger and heavier. These are just outside our kitchen door but it took someone else to tell us that they were there!

Additional picture

I quite like this picture thus posting it myself!

A Royal Occasion

We had a Royal Wedding last weekend with the Sultan's daughter getting married. We went along to one of the events .... the ceromony follows traditional Malay customs along with Royal protocol which is always interesting to watch. The clothes you wear are specific and for women, the way you wear your cloth indicates your level in the royal court......... The 'Army' accompanies the princess into the hall .......

Man on a mission - right - I've queued and collected our presents so it's time to eat ...are you coming?

Despite being lowly in the pecking order, we did manage to hang around afterwards and caught a close up of the new Royal Couple returning from their tour of Bandar - it's always amazing to get close up - in this case, all the state dignaturies were waiting to greet the couple and the Royal Family after their state procession through town.....

Our Ballet Queen

Iman is realy starting to enjoy Ballet and has even taken to coaching Jack ...... he does try bless him but as Ayden starts to move about, the boys will start to pay more attention to playing ball!

Why do you want to live in Brunei?

It's the most common question we are asked when we meet people who hear that we live in Brunei - sometimes it's hard to answer as people are looking for the obvious benefits but here are some of the real benefits of living in our tropical paradise....This is the family version of sailing at the moment - as time goes on, we hope to advance a little

An Encounter with Bobby Chin

During a recent trip to Hanoi, a group of us managed to fit in a dinner at a restaurant owned and run by a celebrity chef, Bobby Chin, who you may know from Travel and Living - Cafe Asia. Well, he's as full of life and chatter as he comes across on his program but the restaurant itself is well worth a visit - don't ask me where in Hanoi it is as we were entertaining a potential client and were driven to and from the restaurant ....... excellent place to hang out.....
'What do you mean you don't have a bottle of the nice Australian Fruit Juice' we ordered - I'll do you a deal, we'll order a different 'Fruit Juice' if you have your photo taken with the group ! Deal done but not too sure about the software deal we were trying to win!

Morning out with Mama

My Mum and I went to a beauty shop yesterday morning and brought Jack along with us. He badly needed a haircut but is never too keen on one unless held down. The girl in the shop did bribe him with a sweet but then proceeded to take her time leaving Jack with only half a haircut before he had enough. I myself had my eyebrows and facial hair threaded *ouch*. It's a decent place that my Mum and I recently came across and it was very cheap. Together with a trim for my Mum it all came to B$20 (B$2 was for Jack - 1 euro)! I did leave a generous tip but think in Europe the total would be just the tip - we do love Brunei.

Back to School

I was just starting to enjoy my lie-ins - once we even managed to stay in bed till 7:30!! We got to school just in time today which was a great achievement considering I had to make Iman's lunch and tie up her hair and in between having breakfast with Jack on my lap.

Only 5 days before Donncha get's home!!