More moving mayhem

It's that time again folks; boxes, boxes and bubble wrap. Though not so much of the latter as we are trying to save space in order to bring back 'one or two items' acquired locally ... so we are wrapping with clothes, stuffing with teddies and using every available inch! We were quoted £525 for every cubic metre exceeding our entitlement so space is money!

This will be Woozles' fifth house in five years so it is fair to say we are used to moving, however that doesn't mean that I enjoy it any the more. There are lots of perks to being an army spouse, but frequent moves is not one of them. This blog notes some of the lighter aspects of being a military spouse Ten signs you are married to the military.

Selamat Hari Raya

So this month Bruneians have been observing Ramadhan, and as mentioned in one of my previous posts, Syriah law has been tightened up here* so this year no eating in public during daylight hours was allowed by any citizen and all restaurants could only serve takeaway food. This has had quite an impact on our activities as you can imagine I am not much for staying up late at the moment! Apparently nursing mothers and children are exempt but I still panicked when I momentarily forgot and was scoffing chocolate peanuts outside the Naafi (got to eat when you can with a growing baby boy who dislikes being put down). The end of Ramadhan is marked by a public holiday known as Hari Raya, when we were invited to an open house. The custom is to turn up and eat lots of confectionery - Woozles was even provided with a tupperware box of goodies on departure (cakeaway!) and another red envelope similar to Chinese New Year.

Passports are now returned from the UK so we can have our last trip away next month before all our possessions are shipped once more around the world (and for the last time?!). As part of Woozles school holiday and our staycation we have enjoyed a few outings and had a day in Miri last week buying souvenirs and seeing the sights.

We have also been introducing Fly South Jr to the water and he seems to enjoy it!

* I did mention in an earlier post that there were likely to be changes to the dress code. So far no specific guidance has been issued other than to show the customary respect at mosques so we have not had to change our typical attire as yet.

Second baby: in summary

This blog post is a neat summary of what happens when you have your second child.

The most poignant part for me is this ~

'The first child: I wanted to hold her all the time, she was my first.

The next one: I want to hold her all the time, she is my last. '

Two kids, two cats and only two hands

Well it seemed like a good idea at the time! Only kidding, Fly South Jr is now seven weeks old and we are starting to settle into our happy new and busier life with 'one of each', both human and feline. Cat jealousy and vet treatment aside, things are going reasonably well. The heat of the tropics is a real boon for settling baby into his naps and the slow pace of life means I haven't had to rush around when I should be resting.

Here is the little monkey in his jungle chair at 5 weeks old

We were told our fate this week: we return to the UK in October after almost 4 years overseas. While this is a very welcome new posting and we will be supremely happy to be amongst family and friends again, I for one will be a little sad to leave our warm and comfortable life here; the small community with safe outdoor play spaces between the houses, minimal crime, blue skies, tropical fruits and abundant travel opportunities not to mention the excellent school and frequent swimming sessions for Woozles.

Time to enjoy the last few months of our peaceful life before we head back to the rat race. Whether we get any more holidays before we go is in the hands of the UK Passport Agency, as although we sent off Junior's form (and photo!) as soon as we could after birth, the recent news of colossal backlogs is not very heartening!

Three years in exile and things are hotting up

Here we are in April 2014 having spent over three full years living away from home, friends and family. And we feel that soon; not immediately (although perhaps hopefully before Christmas), we will get the chance to move back to the UK and start a new life closer to our nearest and dearest. That is of course not to deny having had some wonderful travel experiences and very interesting exposure to other cultures, and on the whole having had a fantastic time. No news from the powers-that-be as yet so watch this space as potentially we will find out something before too long.

First things first however and there is a baby to be born. Measuring a typically hearty size and happily positioned head-down, Fly South Jr is only a few weeks away from making his appearance! Nesting is underway and all the usual items have been assembled and cleaned. This weekend I finished sewing a new cover for the nursing cushion and made some reusable wipes from my old towel, thrifty as ever. Not particularly relishing the heat as it does make for strenuous waddling but I do occasionally find relief in the swimming pool. And interestingly, since the first trimester when I was a beacon for all mosquitos, recently I have been bitten less and less, which could be because now we have entered the hot and dry season, or that I was recently anaemic and they didn't like my blood or perhaps something else hormonal, but either way a very positive change.

Speaking of change, things in Brunei mostly tend to plod along without much excitement, except now we are currently waiting to hear what will be the outcome for the British community following an extensive review of Syariah law, which has been recently tightened across several aspects of the Muslim faith (see here for a summary). The element that would impact most greatly on us is that relating to dress code as it is rumoured that by the end of the month we will need to wear long sleeves and covered shoes in public (at the moment I tend to cover shoulders and knees for supermarkets and town visits but wear lighter clothes around our estate. As for shoes, the suggested change is a little surprising given that flip-flops are pretty much standard wear for lots of cultures across the whole of South East Asia!). No information has been issued to us yet, particularly relating to private areas of our patch, but if it is as strict as it sounds, things could be getting very hot for pregnant ladies indeed.

Year of the snake!

It is now about halfway between New Year as we know it and Chinese New Year which is celebrated fairly massively here (and soon will thankfully begin the Year of the Horse). It is the rainy season for sure and we have had rain most days, some days all day. Now rain in the tropics is typically not like the drizzle you get in Blighty, it often speedily delivers massive raindrops that make such a huge racket you have to stop what you are doing and raise your eyebrows in awe at Mother Nature. So far we haven't been flooded inside the house but we did have sandbags out as a precaution. Upon moving theirs one neighbour found a frog, 2 snakes and a centipede underneath. The wet weather raises the water table across the whole of the coastal plain and when combined with high tides, this means the water can't drain away - hence wildlife becomes stranded. On a beach walk the other day we saw two banded kraits and a cobra! As some of you may know, I am not the biggest fan of snakes. So to give you some perspective regarding my trepidation: a banded krait is about as venomous as you would ever want a snake to be. This link lists all the nasties found in the venom in case you want to know how it has rendered you unconscious, paralysed or most likely just plain old dead. In fairness if the thick black and yellow stripes hadn't given you an indication that it is not a cuddly beast then you weren't really paying attention to the warning signs were you?!

Merry Christmas from the tropics!

My apologies for the long gap between posts, this may have been owing to the fact that I changed the password some months ago and embarrassingly couldn't regain access. All information has now been re-set and systems are go!

We recently returned from a glorious trip to Australia where we visited relatives, cuddled marsupials, enjoyed western food and happily relied on finding clean public conveniences! It was a great opportunity to make the trip while we are only a mere seven hours away.

Since then we have been having a deeply personal time with the passing of a very close family member. Although as is often the case in the grand circle of life, we are pleased to announce that there will be a new arrival to the Fly South clan, expected middle of May 2014! So emotions have been running high and in fact I have been quite savagely homesick, finding for the first time that the heat is a burden rather than a pleasure, eschewing al fresco situations and the consequent mosquito bites due to a local outbreak of Japanese encephalitis for which I have not been vaccinated. So overall we feel more strongly that soon it will be time to return to our native country and be reunited with our family (and our warm clothes!). No idea yet when this might happen but possibly before Fly South Jr is crawling, making packing boxes even harder!

Now we are facing a quiet (and with Big Man covering work over the 25th - largely alcohol-free!) Bruneian Christmas in our house. Having scoured the usual suppliers for bacon and found them wanting, we were forced to use a long-distance delivery service to ensure that the pigs-in-blankets are not missing from the main feast and I can now happily reassure you that bacon is now safely secured in our freezer (power supply willing). Some seasonal customs cannot be forsaken!

As my previous post of 10th September explained, cards have not been sent to everyone this year; blame hormones, rising postage costs and grumpy over-heated souls, so this is our opportunity to say 'Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year' to all!