August 19, 2010
Overweight children are always making the news.
What we seldom hear about is skinny kids. The kind of kids that mothers with chubby kids long to feed and one look from the doctor or nurses almost always mean a prescription for vitamins.
Mothers of skinny kids love to trade dramatic stories of how poor our kids’ appetites are - from one who eats only vegetables to another who takes only fish - to one who tops it all, a child who refuses everything except rice and soup….!
What we would do to make them improve their appetite and we have tried a lot. But we are resigned to the fact that as long as they are healthy, which they are, we shall blame it on genetic that will hopefully outgrow itself.
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August 16, 2010
Driving in Brunei is stress-free as compared to driving in nearby cities like Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) or Miri (Sarawak).
With good timing and route, you can travel smoothly and quickly - you’ll even have the mood to wave thank you to the traffic police as they let your line through.
It is not only the higher volume of cars. It is also the presences of motorcycles coming up from behind up or cyclists trying to cross the road, which can be unnerving.
Even having to deal with fast moving trucks on narrow roads such as the ones between Tutong and Lumut (Brunei) is nowhere as difficult as to trying to overtake fully-loaded timber trucks on the narrow, winding and uphill road from Penampang to Tambunan (Sabah).
We should also be glad that we do not have to worry about another extra long vehicles. The motorhomes. Not that they are sold here or maybe even Malaysia - although there would surely be market for the smaller and cheaper range (with equally cheap motorhome insurance) as these would be perfect for long distance driving.
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August 15, 2010
On congested roads, having a small compact car is really the best solution.
Remember how you sometimes wish you drive a Smart car when finding parking is a nightmare (even though you probably hate the way it looks on the road)?
But if you have more than 1 child, the size of the interior will be an issue. Even in most relatively spacious 2-row cars, kids can be annoyed having little personal space - and when they are annoyed, nitpicking will start and tempers will fly.
So the ideal situation is to have a 3-row (so you can seat the kids separately). But for long distance driving, the best solution would be one of those trailers or 5th wheel as the kids can have all the space they want.
But since these kind of vehicles are not available here (although you can read about 5th wheel warranty here), we’ll just have to make do with the next best thing.
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August 13, 2010
One of the highlight of my eldest child’s kindergarten in Seria was her school trip to the Anduki Airport, which service mainly flights to offshore oil and gas facilities, last year.
Her classmates and her had the opportunity of climbing up the control tower and visiting the industrial equipment-filled hangar and sitting on real helicopter seats put out for them.
Besides the Anduki Airport, the best school trip she had was the one to the fire station - especially the ride on the fire truck, something which my other daughter who had yet to go to school then, had to listen to her sister’s tale with envy.
So far, the school which my children now go to has yet to organized any school trips for either of their classes - which perhaps due to their larger size of student population, is a bit trickier to manage.
Still, I hope there will be some school visits on the plan - since places that I know will delight my kids such as museums and the national airport are all within short drive away.
*Picture : Anduki Airport, Belait District
Posted in Brunei Life, Education, My Daughters No Comments »
August 12, 2010
Today was the first day of Ramadan here in Brunei.
Not only was it a scorching hot day - the kind of heat you could broil in - it was also so humid that sweat practically dripped down freely. It won’t surprise me if one of the common daydream today is being in some cold countries, removing the hot tub covers for some hydrotherapy.
But seriously, this is the kind of day which must have really tested the patience and faith of the fasting population. It is on days like this that I am doubly impressed with the perseverance they must have in order to fulfill the requirements of the practice.
Here’s wishing all Muslim friends a blessed Ramadan.
*Picture : Mosque of Sultan Omar Ali, Bandar Seri Begawan.
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