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Swimming Gala

Wednesday November 14th saw Jordan and Liam compete in their first swimming gala.  It was held at the Royal Brunei Sports Club (of which we are members and attend regularly).  All children from Year 3 - Year 6 were encouraged to compete for the day.  Earlier in the school year Jordy became Yellow Team captain (house captain) so this gave him a role on the day of encouraging and supporting all Yellow Team members,  a role he undertook with vigour and determination.  Fortunately he hadn't entered into many swimming races so he had time to walk up and down with a sign he had made and dance to the fabulous music they had playing.  Liam competed well in freestyle, breathstroke and relay,  which his team won.  The Year 4 boys (Liam and his mates) were enjoying the music so much at one stage that they started a flash mob encouraged and joined by the Primary Principal, the swimming races had to stop because they couldn't hear the starter, much to the embarrasment of the Principal!!!   The Men of Primary (MOP) all the male primary teachers entertained the children (and parents) with their version of synchronised swimming.  A great laugh was had by all. Overall it was a very well organised day thoroughly enjoyed by both my boys and myself,  although we were all very tired that night from a long day out in the sun.

BJSL

With the start of another international school academic year also comes the start of the Brunei Junior Sports League.   It was held at JIS and the teacher from last year that I had words with about touch was very happy to see me there again this year!!  Yesterday was Liams first game, in the first term they play football and t-ball (much to Liams disgust). The Year 4 boys have a very strong football team and won their first game 5-3, against a team from Panaga (which is about 1.5 hours away).  The girls game kicked off first so the boys from both schools decided to play against each other before their game even started, none of them understood  that is was 34 degrees and they should sit in the shade before playing .  I gave up trying to explain this fact to them.  Then they played mixed t-ball, most of the boys would of rather played another game of football.  ISB managed to win 13-11, so a good day out for the first one.

ISB Choir Performance

Following on from his introduction to choir at Cotswold School, Liam decided to join the ISB Primary Choir.  They were given the chance to join in a performance by the Serunai Adult Choir at a local hotel last weekend.  With Aaron still recovering from his laser eye surgery and unable to drive at night or sit in a lighted venue this gave me the opportunity to attend both nights performances.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it and Liam thoroughly enjoyed both nights.  Friday night we only stayed to interval, Saturday we stayed all night.  During the performance an  eleven year old girl known as KC played the violin.  It was an unbelievable performance by somebody of her age, she is now leaving Brunei to pursue her musical career,  I'm sure we will here her name in the future.  I can only imagine the hours of practice that she has put into this.  It was truly amazing, particularly as the violin would not be my first choice of musical instrument to watch.  The ISB choir also performed extremely well and had lots of fun doing so.  Looking forward to their next performance.

Click on link to see song
http://youtu.be/UmQD-fm8hCw

Laser Surgery on My Eyes

The time had finally arrived for me to leave for KL (26/10/12) John was picking me up and I was to stay at his apartment. It was really good seeing him again as especially I was now in his new domain and not back in CHCH. Once he picked me up we dropped my bag off at his place and had a couple of beers. We went down to have a late lunch at Chinatown and a few more beers. I was able to buy a football strip for Liam and a Ferrai top for Jordy. Not enough time to buy something for me or Amanda!. We went back to his place and then went out to meet up with some of his mates. It was really good to go to a pub with live music, however quite smokey.
Saturday came around and we went out for breakfast before I was due to get my eye examination at optimax. Once finished I walked to optimax and John went home. I was at optimax at 10am and they were absolutely brilliant. I had a 2 hour exam and then waited for about 30 odd minutes before my laser surgery. I had lovely pink, yes pink surgical pants and top to put on as they seemed to be the largest and even they were a bit tight. It was not the most pleasant feeling a doctor playing with your eyes and at times it was very uncomfortable but not painful. Once finished I waited for an hour with my eyes really irritated and crying the whole time. The girls were amazing looking after me and they went and got me some lunch aswell. Once I got my check up John was outside waiting so we went back to the apartment were my eyes were slowy feeling better. Had a rest for about 30 minutes and my eyes were a whole lot better. We went out for tea before John went out for some drinks with his friends. I probably could have gone but I didn't want to risk anything. Next day I was even better and John drove me the airport for my flight back to Brunei.
I really enjoyed seeing John again and was good to catch up for a beer, he really went out of his way to help me for the weekend.

End of season- Cricket

Well it was the end of the season on the 20/10/12 and we were to take on another Indian team in 20/20 again. We were lucky as this time the field was dry, some weeks we have players playing in football boots while fielding as it is extremely wet and slippery. With our record standing at 100% (loss) we were hoping for some inspiration especially since we just lost by 8 runs in the previous game (against another Indian team). We did find it, but it came in the form of one of their opening batsman who use to play for the Pakistan under 19s. My god he smacked us around!. They ended up with 197 far too much for us to chase, but we gave it a good go. I was batting at 4 and had scored always in the high 20s so wanted to get a big score this time. Our openers went out in the first 2 overs and then I was in, a little earlier than I thought. It was warm probably about 38-40 in the middle but Amanda was fine in the shade under a tree. I ended up with 35, 2 sixes, 4 fours but I was running out of partners and went for 1 six too many. Oh well maybe next year we will win. We ended up with 126.
Amanda does not like our lilac tops but we do stand out in them. It was really good seeing Liam in the nets playing cricket with one of his friends as this is not a popular sport in Brunei so he never gets the chance to play apart from with me on the drive. Jordy enjoyed the morning playing with another Jordy.

I am wearing the grey hat, it is hard to tell as so far away!

International Day at ISB

ISB (International School of Brunei) celebrates international day every year for the Primary School children.  There was 49 nations represented with some very spectacular costumes from many nations.  The kiwi kids looked very traditional, all in their black t-shirts!!!  It is only then you realise how laid back our culture is. The day started with a parade of nations around the school (similar to the opening ceremony of the Olympics) followed by culture performances from some nations.  Jordan and Liam performed the Kapa Haka on stage for everybody.  There were dances and songs from Indonesia, India and France.  Still waiting for something from the Australians!!!  This was followed by food stalls from various nations, then traditional games and activities for the kids.  A great way to spend the last day before mid-term break.