Tasek Lama and Berakas Beach

We finally made it to Tasek Lama as a family last weekend.  Another place we have been meaning to visit since Liams class trip there.  It was yet another public holiday weekend in Brunei, which is great for Aaron but the boys are already on school holidays so no advantage to them.  The walk was extremely hot and Aaron soon realised his lack of fitness, he was using Jordan as an excuse to stay back but really it was him that was tired.  The view from the top of Tasek Lama is well worth the walk as you can see all over Brunei.  After making everybody trek 5 kms through the heat, Jordan and Aaron opted to wait at the playground for Liam and I as we did an extra circuit.  About 2 minutes into it I wished I had stopped as well as we had to climb another steep set of stairs.  Soon after so did Liam, a monkey run in front him only about 5 cms away, he got a big fright,  it seamed to take me forever to make the 10metres he was in front of me, (not sure what I was going to do when I got to him)  there were several more monkeys in the trees above us hissing at us.  I was very pleased to see a group of Taiwanese men approaching with a large stick,  Liam and I made a hasty retreat to the playground.  It was great for the fitness and I am planning on doing it more regularly when the boys are back at school.

Jordan and Aaron found this along the way

The monkeys that think they own the place, this one walked right in front of Aaron



Yet another long weekend in Brunei so headed to a new beach that we heard about from new kiwi arrivals.  Finally a beach that is reasonably clean, well to Brunei standards.  Once again the boys had a fantastic time building sandcastles and Liam playing touch rugby on the beach.  This part of the beach had waves and we have since learnt a rip that has cost many people that can't swim their lives.  It also has shaded picnic areas (a rearity for a hot country) and a playground so we are planning several more trips back.

Jerudong Park and Beach

We have been promising to take Liam to Jerudong Park since he went to a birthday party there and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The park used to be an amusement park in Brunei but as per everything else was not upkept and now there is limited rides but an amazing underutilized space.  The park opens at 4pm which is a good time due to the heat.  We arrived at the park and had been playing touch rugby for about 10 minutes when a security guard came over to tell us the park was in fact shut today as it was the Sultans Birthday but it would be open tomorrow.  Liam was obviously disappointed by this news so we packed up and went to the beach, where we played touch, dug sandcastles and had tea at one of the only Fish and Chip restaurants in Brunei, great view but disappointing fish and chips!!  (Will have to wait for NZ to have real ones again).  The next day was a public holiday in Brunei for the Sultans Birthday so we headed back to the park to play the promised games of sport for Liam.

Here Snakey!

Another we surprise for us outside this morning, our 2nd snake on our property. Not as big as the first but I thought just as scary. It was only approx 45cm and very skinny (probably a grass snake) but as we didn't know if it was poisonous we treated it with care.Liam found it as it was climbing up our grill as he was about to go outside. I tried to guide it into a 1.5l bottle but it wanted none of that and decided to rest near our window. After hoping for some divine intervention and this not happening I grabbed a stick to move it. Needless to say it wasnt happy and stuck its head up and scared me ........less! Jordan at the same time of running away as he to saw it rise up was laughing about my language. I managed to move it out onto the road and with a rock I managed to kill it.

Not only now am I a hunter of food from our banana trees but also the 'snake man'

Sultan's Birthday

Once again our school was asked to participate in a Bruneian celebration (Sultan's Bday). Up at 5.40 to get organised and to school to ensure I am able to catch the bus to the city. Many schools are asked to participate and have their students line up along the path to flag wave as the Sultan drives past. It was good to chat to our staff in a different environment and the fried pisang (bananas) were nice as we waited. One thing I can't understand is that we stand on one side of the road as the Sultan drives past and when he comes back from watching different activities in the stadium we walk to the other side to flag wave as he drives past again. I know it seems strange but it is the way it works here instead of having people on both sides of the road. Home at 10.30 for a coffee.

Tungku Beach

With the international school having 8 weeks holiday and the government schools only having 2 weeks (Aaron works for a Government school) the boys and I have 6 weeks together!!  The last 2 weeks we are all off to Cambodia, which we can't wait.  I decided to take advantage of the climate (unlike the current Chch school holidays) and try the beach again.  Slowly we are getting used to the rubbish everywhere you go which is unfortunate but a fact of life in Brunei.  The boys had a great time building sandcastles, crab hunting, and swimming in the extremely warm water, (even I swam in it this time).