Supper at the Sultan's Palace

This week we were fortunate to get an invitation to dinner at the Sultan's Palace (Istana Nurul Iman) in Bandar to celebrate his 67th birthday. Big Man had to wear his formal uniform and I had to wear white from head to toe, which is definitely not my usual sort of clothing! This event is one of the highlights of the social calendar in Brunei. Now the Sultan's birthday is actually in July, as I mentioned in my post on the 9th of that month but this year it coincided with Ramadan so the occasion was postponed until September.

Late afternoon on Tuesday we travelled up to the capital in the army charabanc, being careful not to transfer any smudges of camouflage cream remaining on the seats onto our white apparel and enjoying the relaxed, child-free outing.

On the drive into the palace grounds, there was decorative lighting for the occasion and many people making their way up the road.

We were shepherded through security where we had to scan our bags and into an extremely large venue where we were placed on a long table amongst six thousand other people! Here we are in our white outfits enjoying orange juice and mineral water.

Eventually a few words were spoken, the royal family and dignitaries were seated in their golden inner sanctum and the lid was removed from the silver tureen so we could tuck into the food, which was a selection of curries and rice. At this point we were so hungry we would have eaten a small horse. I had intended to have a snack before setting off but was deterred by the thought of soiling my clothes!

Some time after dinner, people began to stand at the other end of the hall, and we were shuffled around into a suitable formation. The Sultan moved along every table, shaking hands with each and every guest. This picture shows him in the white jacket in the next row to us. His entourage included his grown-up sons, one of whom is the Crown Prince, and his two younger children by his third wife (non-consecutive).

We weren't sure exactly what the protocol was so Big Man was taken by surprise to be spoken to but I have been told since that he often likes to engage with the British people.

Then it was home time and after a few entertaining requests for photos from local girl guides (who possibly had us mixed up with somebody important) we headed back to the bus for a little snooze. The exertion of consorting with royals in far flung countries was starting to get to us!

The dying art of sending Christmas cards

I have come to the conclusion, in this modern digital age, that the tradition of posting Christmas cards is dying out. As evidence let me offer to you our experience over the previous 12 months. Last year in early December I laboriously wrote out over 40 cards destined for friends and family in the UK as well as one or two other countries and took them to our post office to send them, requesting second class as usual. [For those who do not know, we only pay British postage rates and so do those who post to us as the military very kindly organise the delivery on the London-Brunei leg]. I was informed that the postage came to over £25. This was a staggering shock to me. "Twenty five pounds for second class, are you sure?!" I spluttered. The price was correct.

Over the next few weeks we exchanged a few more cards with neighbours around the estate, a single Nepali child in Woozles' class who had made the gesture and some of Big Man's very thoughtful colleagues, most of whom are not Christian or European. A handful of cards arrived from the UK, which was lovely. And we arranged them above our windows on the box pelmets we are so thoughtfully provided with, dutifully replacing them every time the fan whirled.

After the festive season was over, Epiphany was truly done and dusted and we were well into January, another batch of cards arrived. Once I had combined them with the others in order to make gift tags (an annual event I always relish), I found the tally of cards from the UK = a grand total of 11. Now I am not a mercenary person and I am happy to do good deeds without expecting something immediately in return but it left me feeling the whole business was a bit of a let-down. Now fair enough most of my friends and a fair few of my family are busy having babies/ working hard/ moving house (particularly the military contingent) at the moment, but I was slightly put out. I suspect we can blame the Royal Mail, or whoever they are these days, for putting up the price of stamps, and of course it can't be easy keeping tabs on where we live when we move, on average, just under once a year, however with the exception of a few elderly people who do not have a computer I am officially resigning from sending Christmas cards from now on. Maybe it'll even inspire one or two individuals to read the blog other than that weird guy in Russia.

'Autumn' term in the tropics

Back to reality in Brunei after our summer holidays and Woozles is settling into school reasonably well. The weather has started to turn a little breezier and wetter and we have even had two cool, cloudy days when I forgot to turn the air-con in the bedroom off and had a distinctly chilly bedtime! Soon it will be time to watch out for floods and all the beasties which emerge from their hidey holes when water levels rise. So even though there is not an autumn here, we have definitely reached the transitional season. We will still have plenty of sunshine though in case you were worried about the weather when visiting!

This weekend has involved us eating our way around the local district. Friday night we were lucky enough to be invited to a Nepalese curry night, complete with momos (a momo is a yummy dumpling which I may just turn into), samosas and rice. Then yesterday after lunch out, we went to a buffet function hosted by His Nibs' rugby sponsor and had another plate full of satay, curry, salad and the like. Late last night at the leaving do of a dear friend I gorged on mango chicken and a selection of home-made cakes! Needless to say the post-holiday detox only really lasted 2 weeks and waistlines are bulging again! Gym and pool beckon.

Big Brother Special: South East Asia

Apologies for the silence; we have had our first family visit since we moved to Brunei and I am pleased to say it went off really well. In summary, we had only one physical injury leading to scarring, one bodily entanglement with a snake, several million calories consumed and a super-size quantity of shekels spent but it was absolutely fantastic to have such good company in our own home and on a trip away.

Below are a few extracts from the travel diary. We collected our arrivals from the airport and brought them back to our house to experience life in a 'dry country'.

Day 1 with Big Brother in tow and we arrived safely back home to show them around. A few drinks were possibly enjoyed on the patio through the evening.

Day 3 with Big Brother in the house and chaos prevails. Number of power cuts 2, broken glasses 1, no. of hours of lost sleep 7, no. of alcohol units consumed way beyond measure, no. fruits and / or vegetables ingested by nephew 1. This comes to you sponsored by locally grown cucumber for feeding the children, detoxing the insides and putting on my beleaguered eye bags.

Day 6: Big Brother in Bandar. Only a few seriously hair raising moments during another busy day. Meeting a menacing troop of monkeys enacting their own Olympic diving competition by hurling themselves bodily out of a tree into a stream to cool down at midday. Sis-out-law surviving a set to with a snake after almost stepping on it. Big Brother lacerating his leg climbing into boat. Our river cruise revealing tail of crocodile sliding into water near our very small boat rendering us very vulnerable. Quite a trip.

Day 8: Big Brother (BB) in the Jungle. Could have massively done without being told about missing man + his pack of dogs i.e. worrying about cannibals and other horrible things before setting off on an interior adventure to waterfall past tribal longhouse up very long road. Expect the garlic I put in my rucksack kept it all at bay. The only dramas we had were a snake crossing road (and refusing to budge even after tooting the horn), leeches (BB seemed more than averagely attractive to the little suckers) and a petrol deficit, which in an oil-producing country did seem a smidgen ironic.

Day 10: Big Brother in Singapore. Relatively smooth plane journey over the South China Sea followed by fractious foray on MRT to hotel in back of beyond. Only accommodation available due to weekend not only being Hari Raya (end of Ramadan) but also National day.

After a sociable 'Sling' or two in Raffles, it was decided, perhaps unwisely, that I would chaperone the nippers in a trishaw to the next block to satisfy their urges. A trishaw, for the uninitiated, is basically a pushbike with a sidecar. So off we went along a five-lane highway, pedalled by a geriatric, me clutching my two precious charges for dear life. Upon being deposited somewhere, anywhere, we then passed a trying forty minutes seeking the rest of the party, what with all pedestrians wearing red, throbbing towards marina, and presence of numerous barricades between all open areas hindering our flow.

After a testy reunion we enjoyed the day with ice cream, fireworks and aerial display viewed from gardens on the bay and a gut full of delicious chow at Newton circus.

Day 14: Big Brother at the beach - Pulau Tioman in Malaysia. After a very protracted and tedious journey on a bumpy bus and ancient boat we arrived on a beautiful beautiful tropical island. A little bit of sunburn and the usual additional hidden costs aside, it has been a lovely stay. Beautiful sea for bathing, plentiful food and drink, great pool, even a massage and massive monitor lizard, not related. And no biting insects, which was maybe the most fabulous thing of all.

This is the two young cousins exploring the steps at the entrance to Batu Caves and enjoying an ice cream. The guided tour of the Dark Cave was a big hit.

Day 17: Big Brother The Final Episode. Had a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur to round off the adventure. Has been, in the words of my nephew, 'epic'. We have traversed beaches, pools, rivers, jungles, cities, caves and swamps on foot, by boat and by plane, train and automobile. Seen monkeys, snakes, bats, insects and more. Eaten Malay, Indian, Chinese and Western cuisine, devoured more satay sticks than could possibly be counted.

Now it is time to prepare for school term and start to organise the next instalments of the adventure!

Holidays are here

Today is the last day of term for Woozles and is also the first day of Ramadan. Coupled with the birthday of His Highness and the Sultan next week, it is definitely holiday season here in Brunei!

It has been a strange week; staying up til 1 a.m. to witness the Murray win at Wimbledon; various social engagements including the leaving do of a dear friend; finding our hamster had passed away and subsequently acquiring a new cat (cat acquisition and hamster mortality not related!). We now have a black and white female cat, name of Tic Tac and a young ginger male (subject to vet visit next week) as yet unnamed. With the warm climate they are more often to be found outdoors, in fact they are pretty low maintenance and fortunately quite tolerant as a certain young girl has a lot of affection for furry creatures!

Last night we had a briefing for Woozles forthcoming school start when we met her new teacher and ordered some uniform. Our big girl is growing up!

Rain has arrived!

Having our second downpour since yesterday, most welcome after three dry weeks, although accompanied by the loudest clap of thunder I have ever heard.

More lurgies bringing down family members this week; hot, sore throats, coughs and sneezes. Seems like Brunei is a veritable sink of germs, although we get less head colds than UK and Falklands. Swings and roundabouts. Not helped by Woozles having the last of her immunisations needed for the tropics and before she starts school full-time in August.

Sewing machine has been out and busy lately, turned Big Man's Mess DRESS into a skirt for me, made clothes for all the dolls around the place, cushion covers for our patio furniture and still got a couple more things on the list.

Managed to scrump a couple of mangoes this week from around the estate, not sure whether they are in season or just finishing as only saw one or two but nicely (very) ripe and enough to complement a fruit selection for breakfast. Yummy.

Now busy planning future trips around the region including hopefully long-lost relies in Australia so lots of good things to look forward to. Watch this space for travel snippets and photos...

What a week!

Week 3 of being back in Brunei after our trip back home and what with the jet-lag and all the leaving dos we have not known which way is up.

The summer ball - entitled 'Garrisonbury' (the idea for the name was all mine!) on the 8th June was a fantastic night out. It offered the full festival experience, with brilliant bands, fast food trailers, t-shirts and a tent pitched on the grass. Then His Nibs got promoted last Friday, which meant more celebrations.

This week he also had his first glimpse of the Sultan, who came to the garrison for the first time in a few years. Etiquette is as follows: no wearing yellow, shoulders and knees must be covered, no hand shake unless proffered, no overly zealous grips for hand shaking, good eye contact to be maintained at all times. Spouses were allowed to visit but as Woozles was off school with possible hand, foot and mouth virus and it meant waiting in the sun without shade for 2 hours I decided to bypass this one. Click here to see the BruDirect website write-up

Now it is the end of the week and we seem to be smogged in from the forest fires in Indonesia. It has meant no fresh air, lots of marauding mozzies and a slight smell of burning. Hoping for some wind, fresh air and rain!