Syafi Irfani, Safiya Imani, Safwan Rahmani & Syifa Hana Amani

Our grandparents' orchard

2012-01-11T14:22:00.005+10:00

11th January 2012

We have mentioned about the orchard a few times now. It's only fair that we publish it here to give our hard working grandparents some credit. We actually visited the place during the new year holiday recently and took lots of fruits back home. So what types of fruits do we have?

Firstly, pulasan or also known as maritam. Its similar to rambutans, except that its skin is thicker.

Secondly, buah tarap. According to nini laki, this fruit is quite fragile. It must be picked at the right time and it cannot fall on the ground (it'll break). When stored, it's best hung using a string rather than sitting on its own skin since the flesh may become ruined. The taste however is worth all that tender loving care!

We also have jackfruits...

... as well as rambutan. This is called "rambutan budak sekolah" or translated directly as "school kids rambutan". Nini bini says that its named that way because it doesn't take long to bear fruit after planting, and more importantly because the fruits grow close to the ground, making it easy for small kids to pluck them.

We also have durian trees ...

... and membangan too!

Local fruits "fever"

2012-01-10T13:43:00.001+10:00

10th January 2012

As we Bruneians must have already realised by now, local fruits are in abundance. Here are some more fruits that we enjoyed recently...

The first is of course "buah tarap". Luckily, our grandparents' orchard produce lots of these. As a result, we can happily say that we eat this fruit almost everyday!

Another fruit that is in abundance now are local durians, which comes in assorted colours and flavours!

In addition, we are also lucky to be able to taste "durian sukang" which is quite rare. Even according to some people, it's almost extinct. Coincidentally, a local newspaper had just published an [article] about this type of durian yesterday.

The fruit is small in size which can almost fit the palm of one's hand. Interestingly, this type of durian has to be cut in half because it's difficult to open unlike other types of durian, which means that it's almost impossible to plant since the seeds are already cut as well. However, mummy didn't know this and opened the fruit the usual way (and succeded!). Our family's mission now is to try plant the seeds and hopefully future generations can also taste the distinctively sweet and delicious flesh.

Which is who?

2011-12-26T11:06:00.001+10:00

26th December 2011

Look at the pictures below. Can you identify which picture is mine (Syafi) and which is Safwan's?

What a striking resemblance, right?

Relaxing at the beach

2011-12-11T21:23:00.000+10:00

11th December 2011

It's been a while since our last picnic at the beach. Finally in the morning today, our parents brought us to Muara Beach for some playtime fun. Unfortunately some of the roofed seating areas were under renovation, as such we chose a shady spot under a few trees and had our picnic.

We didn't go for a swim because of strong waves. Instead, we played with the sand using toys that we brought from home. We then searched for sea shells to put in our fish aquarium but luck was not on our side. What's important is that we had a great time!

It was baby Syifa's first time at the beach and she seemed to enjoy the sea breeze.

Safiya's belated birthday party

2011-12-03T23:45:00.000+10:00

3rd December 2011

As promised to Safiya, we finally organised her birthday party today. Mummy has fully gained her strength and our baby sister is also big enough to receive lots of visitors at the same time. Like last year, Safiya's party is held separately for her school friends and family members.

The afternoon session is for her school friends and we were all happy that everyone had a great time. The castle and pool bouncers prove to be a big hit and we were lucky that the weather was fine.

We also had a "fishing" game for different treats and presents.

For the afternoon session, we had crunchy chicken in pita breads, spaghetti with meatballs, fruits and milo tiramisu for dessert. Safiya's birthday cake was in the form of vanilla cupcakes with fresh cream icing created by our one and only mummy!

In the evening, we had Safiya's second birthday party especially for family members. We also had doa selamat for the arrival of our baby sister. Since it's dinner time, we had heavier meals. We had rice with grilled chicken, udang rebus (fresh prawn soup) and sayur rebung. Mummy made lots of the spaghetti from the afternoon and so we served it as well.

We had two birthday cakes, one for Safiya and another for mummy's brother, bungsu Hazim, who's turning 18 in two days time.

To our surprise, Ngangah presented another "cake" for daddy, mummy, Safiya and baby Syifa ~ a lamb shawarma in a gigantic burger bun.

Oh my! Safiya was the happiest at the end of the day because she received lots of birthday gifts this year. Just look at the picture below!

Milo tiramisu

2011-12-02T22:59:00.000+10:00

2nd December 2011

Originally, our family is not a huge fan of tiramisu. Of course another downside is because of its coffee content which makes it not suitable for kids our age. However, mummy now finds a way to make kids-friendly version using milo in place of the coffee. It's also easy to make since no baking is required.

As for the taste? Its yummy-licious! Everyone loves it!

Mummy turns 30

2011-11-29T10:52:00.000+10:00

29th November 2011

Happy birthday to our beloved mummy!

We are all proud of her for all her achievements and most importantly we are very glad that she is our mother. We love you very much, mummy and we hope that you will have a great year ahead and many more to come.

Syifa Hana's latest looks

2011-11-27T20:23:00.000+10:00

27th November 2011

Our new baby sister is one month old yesterday. We are happy to say that she has grown well. She can now smile when engaged in a conversation and can tell who are those familiar to her. When "strangers" carry her, she seems uneasy and may cry a bit, but she will soon be comforted when being carried by either mummy, daddy or the maid. Another achievement is her ability to support her head when she's enjoying some tummy time.

Durian polo

2011-11-17T10:00:00.000+10:00

17th November 2011

Just want to share a different species of durian which in Brunei we call as durian polo. It has a sweet smell (rather than the pungent smell normally associated with durian) and is less sticky. Good for beginners and the taste is delicious.

My study partner

2011-11-15T21:53:00.000+10:00

15th November 2011

As a student, one thing that I cannot avoid is homework. It can be tiring sometimes, but it really helps to have a partner beside me, especially when he is funny and adorable. A bit distracting at times, but I don't really mind. What's important is that my work is done. Who am I talking about? Look at these pictures!

Stuntboy Safwan

2011-11-11T21:08:00.001+10:00

11th November 2011

One quality that Safwan has is that he is adventurous. Recently, he decided that Safiya's bicycle is not too high for him to climb. At first mummy thought that our maid put Safwan on the bike, but apparently Safwan figured out the way to climb up and down without falling down. He even stands up on it and looked at his reflection on the oven glass door.

Nini Laki and Nini Bini who happened to be at our home during that time was excited although a bit worried. Nini Laki said that he's glad that one of his grandchildren will help him pick fruits from the orchard when he grows up, judging from the climbing skills that Safwan had shown!

Syifa's Aqiqah

2011-11-09T21:54:00.001+10:00

9th November 2011

Another obligation that we performed in welcoming the birth of our baby sister is Aqiqah, which refers to the slaughtering of an animal (a goat, in our case). According to a source, there are many benefits in the performance of Aqiqah. One is announcing the birth of the baby. Another purpose is inviting family members, neighbours and friends to celebrate the blessed occasion. The poor is also offered with food and cooked meat from the Aqiqah.

Aqiqah is commendable to be perfomed on the 7th day after birth, but since daddy was away last week, mummy decided to wait until daddy is around so that he doesn't miss out much. We need him here anyway to distribute the cooked meat to family members, friends and neighbours. After all, daddy will definitely feel proud to convey the news himself regarding the birth of our baby sister.

Dinosaur fossil

2011-11-07T19:32:00.000+10:00

7th November 2011

One of the souvenirs that daddy bought for me from his recent trip is an egg-shaped "rock" complete with tools, inside of which is a dinosaur "fossil". I was excited at pretending to be a paeleontologist but patience is unfortunately not my best quality. After a while, I became tired but thankfully mummy came to the rescue... hehehe...

This is the rock half way throughout the process.

And finally...

My very own T-rex fossil... thank you daddy (and mummy)!

Welcome home, daddy

2011-11-05T21:15:00.001+10:00

5th November 2011

Daddy is home! Hehehe... a week might be short but being apart from daddy for that period is definitely a long time for us! As a sign of celebration, Safiya and I made a banner with mummy's help. We also traced our hands, together with Safwan and baby Syifa.

Since we have yet to celebrate daddy's birthday, mummy made some moist chocolate cupcakes and blew some candles. Nini bini was the chef; she cooked chicken dhal stew with rice for the birthday celebrant.

Another excitement when having daddy back home is during unpacking time. What else... souvenirs, of course! Daddy bought lots of stuff for us. Thank you daddy!

Holding Syifa for the first time

2011-11-04T20:47:00.001+10:00

4th November 2011

Oh... it's a bit scary to have such a fragile person in our arms but today is a happy day for us because we held baby Syifa for the first time! Of course Safiya and I were sitting down the whole time but still it was a thrilling experience. It also reminds us of the time when Safwan came into the picture last year... sweet memories!

As for Safwan, he can never stop kissing his new sister. He doesn't show any sign of jealousy so far and doesn't complain when mummy had to attend to Syifa. He sometimes wants to be carried or held like a baby though, and also demands to rest in the baby carrier at times, but that's about it. No tantrums, anger or sadness... and we hope things remain the way they are. Good for you, Safwan!

Shaving on the 7th day after birth

2011-11-02T10:11:00.000+10:00

2nd November 2011

As taught by the Prophet PBUH, a newborn's head should be shaved on the 7th day after birth. It has been said that shaving the head removes harm from the baby, removes weak hair so that stronger and firmer hair replaces it and it is beneficial for the head. In addition, it comforts the newborn and opens the head's skin openings, and along with this is the strengthening of the baby's eye sight, sense of smell and hearing (Read more here).

Yesterday, with the help of a close relative, we managed to fulfill this obligation. Quite unfortunate though that daddy is not around to witness it but mummy made sure she took video recording of it for daddy to watch later. The process was easy since baby Syifa was sound asleep throughout.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2011-11-01T13:29:00.000+10:00

1st November 2011

Daddy is 34 years old today!

Happy birthday to you!
Although you are now thousands of miles away,
Always remember that we love you very much
and we are proud to have you as our dad.

Hugs and kisses from
Syafi, Safiya, Safwan & Syifa

Signs of joy and happiness

2011-10-31T17:55:00.000+10:00

31st October 2011

At only a few days old, baby Syifa has already shown us that she will grow up to be healthy and happy, just like her brothers and sister. She can already smile when engaged in a conversation and also when she's asleep. Mummy managed to take a few shots of her smiling and she definitely looks pretty. She is also a heavy sleeper (as expected!) and is easy going.

Daddy off to Holland

2011-10-29T21:21:00.003+10:00

29th October 2011 (Part II)

In the evening today, daddy boarded a plane to Singapore in order to catch his connecting flight to the Netherlands. Daddy will spend the next few days in Rijswijk, Den Haag to attend a course and will be home again next Saturday. This is the reason why our parents decided to induce the delivery of our baby sister a few days ago, since mummy didn't want to go into labour without daddy by her side. See you in a week, daddy!

Our baby sister has a name

2011-10-29T16:34:00.000+10:00

29th October 2011 (Part I)

After much thought and discussion, today we have finally decided on the name of our new baby sister. From today onwards, we shall call her...

Syifa Hana Amani

It's Arabic, which translates to [cure/healing, happiness, wishes/aspirations]

The baby is finally here

2011-10-26T22:02:00.001+10:00

26th October 2011

With gratitude and happiness, it is our pleasure to inform all of you that mummy has safely given birth to the latest member of our family this morning at 6.37 am, with the birth weight of 3.36 kg. It's a girl!

Thank you to doctors, midwives, nurses and staff at Jerudong Park Medical Center (JPMC) for all the help and support in making the delivery and recovery easy and memorable.

Safiya turns five

2011-10-15T21:52:00.001+10:00

15th October 2011

Safiya is 5 years old today!

The party will have to wait though. It doesn't seem to be the best idea to invite family and friends with mummy possibly having her baby anytime since she is already full term and ready to deliver. As such, we decided to wait until the baby arrives and then hold a doa selamat both for Safiya as well as our new family member. Oh, can't wait to see the little one!

Anyway, at the last minute, daddy and mummy decided to buy a birthday cake for Safiya. We then headed to our grandparents home and had lunch there. Safiya chose her own cake, purely based on the decorations - a heart shape with two flowers in her favourite colour. We were a bit skeptical about the taste at first since the baker told us it's plain vanilla, but it turned out really nice. The cream in between was also lined with orange filling and the cake was spongy as well.

After tasting the wonderful cake, Safiya showed us her drawing. She definitely had the picture of her cake embedded in her mind since she remembered how it looked like, after only a short glimpse of it at the bakery. She also had some writings on it which took us a while to understand. Can you figure it out?

Okay, the trick is you have to read from the bottom up. It says:

"(This) ees mi kak (is my cake). I love my cake. Hape (happy) bfda (birthday) Iman"

Quite impressive for a 5 year old who had just started learning how to sound, read and write words!

Safiya then received her present from Nini Bini. Big smiles all the way home!

Local fruits are in season

2011-10-10T21:41:00.000+10:00

10th October 2011

Local fruits lovers are definitely looking forward to this. It looks like the supply of local fruits will be in abundance soon. Rambutans, tarap, kembayau, membangan and others will soon fill up the fruit markets, we're sure of that.

The first fruit that we taste this year from our grandparents' orchard is the durian which is also dubbed as the king of fruits. We know that some people cannot stand the smell (and taste probably), but this is definitely among our favourites. There are lots of varieties of durian, and the one that we ate was of the Monthong family, originally brought in from Thailand.

And wait until you see Borneo's unique kinds... our durian come in different colours as well. The flesh come in yellow, orange and even reddish in colour. For those who dislike the strong smell of durian, you probably will like "durian polo" which is also yellow in colour and tastes sweet but minus the smell. We'll post pictures of the different kinds of durian next time if we have the chance.

Sleepy bowling

2011-10-01T22:37:00.001+10:00

1st October 2011

Question:

Do you know what happens when a toddler plays while feeling sleepy? This!

We really thought it was funny when Safwan was busy testing out his bowling skills and suddenly went to bed all by himself... still with the ball in his hand. Cute, right?

Chicken pox "on the loose"

2011-09-16T20:00:00.000+10:00

16th September 2011

During this festive season, visiting family and friends is definitely one of the main activities. Unfortunately for us, that had to be limited. The reason - chicken pox. Safiya got infected about a week ago and is now almost completely healed. Unfortunately, it's Safwan's turn at the moment. Thankfully, both my siblings did not have any fever and only complain about the itching and a bit of pain when the lesions burst. One good thing coming out from this - my parents won't have to worry about any of us having chicken pox anymore!

Openhouse for Malaysian visitors

2011-09-03T22:49:00.000+10:00

3rd September 2011

This year, our first few days of Hari Raya were a bit busier than usual. Our grandparents had catering reservations to attend to, and at the same time Nini Laki was welcoming a group of visitors from Malaysia who were here to experience celebrating Hari Raya in Brunei. Their main aim definitely was to visit the Sultan's palace (Istana Nurul Iman) since it is open for three days to the public. Who wouldn't want the chance to roam the palace grounds, and meet the monarch and the royal family up close, right?

In support of their intention of experiencing the warmth of Bruneians, mummy had agreed to Nini Laki's suggestion to invite the visitors to our home last night. Nini Bini cooked a lot of Brunei traditional dishes. Unfortunately though, due to limited time, daddy's plan to serve ambuyat had to be cancelled. It would have been a great experience for our guests.

Before the night ended, they performed a zikir or marhaban and kindly presented some gifts to show their appreciation. We surely hope that they bring back home fond memories of the Abode of Peace.

Wishing all Muslims Eid Mubarak

2011-08-31T23:43:00.001+10:00

31st August 2011

To all Muslims in Brunei Darussalam and all over the world

We wish you Eid Mubarak

"Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin"

These pictures were taken this morning during our short visit to a local photographic studio for our annual family picture, together with our cousin, Kaka Eyah

Hair cut for Hari Raya

2011-08-30T17:37:00.000+10:00

30th August 2011

It's moon sighting day today to determine whether tomorrow will be the first day of Eid or Hari Raya. Everyone seem to be busy doing last minute preparations in case the moon is sighted, and we were no exception. All barber shops are full of customers, but we were lucky to locate one which looks like was just recently open, as such we did not have to queue up.

It was fun teaming up with my baby brother. He finished first of course, having lesser hair than me! Hehehe...

NBT Eid display 2011

2011-08-28T22:37:00.000+10:00

28th August 2011

Every year, one of Brunei's famous car agents, NBT, prepares amazing displays in celebration of various events, including the upcoming Hari Raya festivities. This year, the display is beautiful as always, and we did take some pictures on our way home in the afternoon today.

Cousin Nazrah's birthday party

2011-07-31T10:28:00.000+10:00

31st August 2011

Our cousin, Nazrah, actually celebrates her birthday on August 11th every year. However, since we are welcoming the fasting month very soon, Ngangah decided to have the party in advance for her beloved daughter. The event was held last night at Sugar Bun Manggis.

Here are some pictures taken last night:

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all Muslims

Ramadhan Mubarak!

May this holy month bring forgiveness, happiness and all the great things Allah has to offer. Happy fasting everyone.

Our night out in Bandar Seri Begawan

2011-07-27T20:14:00.000+10:00

27th July 2011

As is the tradition every year, during the celebration of His Majesty's birthday, stalls are put up in the heart of Bandar Seri Begawan offering various things on sale. In Brunei, we always refer to this as "perayaan".

We had dinner at one of the open-air restaurants, and then took a short walk around and went home. Hehehe... we couldn't spend a long time on our feet since mummy is pregnant. The night was short and sweet, nonetheless.

Ballerina Safiya

2011-07-25T21:21:00.003+10:00

25th July 2011

We did mention in the previous post that Safiya had performed at the private birthday dinner for His Majesty The Sultan. Safiya actually performed two routine together with her dance group (one of whom is Her Royal Highness Princess Ameerah), i.e. ballet and hip-hop.

As a sign of respect to the hosts, we decide not to publish pictures taken during the event. However, here are some pictures of Safiya taken at home as soon as mummy finished doing her hair, and backstage when Safiya was getting ready to perform her ballet dance.

Safiya was definitely happy becoming a ballerina for a night!

Too good to be true

2011-07-24T09:01:00.000+10:00

24th July 2011

In conjunction with His Majesty The Sultan's birthday celebration this year, Safiya was among the lucky few chosen to perform at His Majesty's private dinner presented by the royal family last night.

When attending a full rehearsal the day before, mummy brought me along so that I could have a glimpse at the performances (since seats were limited only for Safiya and my parents at the actual event). I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a familiar face on stage... it's Maher Zain! Our family have been admiring the famous singer for quite sometime. His Islamic-themed songs capture our hearts everytime we hear them.

I immediately said to mummy, "I can't believe a real singer is in front of me!". Nevertheless, mummy didn't get me at first since she was busy helping Safiya change into her dancing costumes. I think it was only when I repeated my words the third time that mummy realised who I was talking about.

It took me a while to finally get the courage to come up to my favourite singer and asked to take pictures with him. Oh, I was sooooo excited!

Of course, being a fan himself, daddy caught up with Maher Zain backstage during the main event and snapped a photo as well.

We love you, Maher Zain!

Safwan at the tailor shop

2011-07-17T19:33:00.001+10:00

17th July 2011

Hehehe... Just want to share pictures of our brother at the tailor shop, in preparation for Hari Raya next September. Being happy as always, he even made the tailor smile.

Nini Laki turns 60

2011-07-16T22:00:00.001+10:00

16th July 2011

Today our grandfather turns 60. We surprised him with a birthday cake when we showed up at Pengkalan Batu in the morning. Mummy also made some wet noodles as a special breakfast on this special day.

Happy Birthday Nini Laki!

Happy Birthday Your Majesty

2011-07-15T08:00:00.000+10:00

15th July 2011

Abis Hamba Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik menyembahkan
ucapan tahniah sempena sambutan Ulang Tahun Hari Keputeraan
Yang Ke-65

Dirgahayu Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik

3rd BRID EX 2011

2011-07-09T18:29:00.000+10:00

9th July 2011

In the morning today, we spent quite some time under the hot sun. Daddy brought Safiya and I to visit the 3rd Brunei Darussalam International Defence Exhibition (BRID EX) in Jerudong. Mummy didn't come along since it's a Saturday.

Since the exhibition started a couple of days ago, we have been surprised by the sounds of jets from home. We could also see them from the balcony of our home ~ perhaps the benefit of living close to Jerudong. As such, when daddy told us that we were going to the exhibition itself, we were extremely happy and excited. It was definitely a great experience for us having a close view of defence gadgets ranging from helicopters, jets, tanks, weapons and lots more.

Congratulations to the organisers of this year's exhibition and we will definitely wait for more amazing displays and shows next time around!

A long school holiday

2011-07-07T22:52:00.001+10:00

7th July 2011

Today was our last day of school before our long "summer holiday" and we'll be spending lots of time at home until school reopens a week after Hari Raya. We wonder what we'll be doing these two long months?

P/S: A birthday shout out to Machar who turns 34 today. Happy birthday!

Mummy off to Kuala Lumpur

2011-06-30T21:01:00.000+10:00

30th June 2011

We sadly bid farewell to mummy in the afternoon today as she flew away to attend a one-day convention in Kuala Lumpur together with 4 of her office mates. She'll be back this Saturday and we look forward to welcoming her back into our arms. Take good care of yourself mummy, as well as the baby in your tummy!

I am 7 years old today!

2011-06-26T22:40:00.000+10:00

26th June 2011

The day that I have been waiting for all year is finally here. As of today, I am officially 7 years old. It was lucky for me that my birthday this year falls on a Sunday, as such my birthday celebration could be held exactly today.

My parents fulfilled my wishes this year - a superhero-themed cake and bouncer slides for some outdoor fun! Initially I wanted a strawberry ice-cream cake but since I chose a 3-D cake, it had to be changed but the crunchy chocolate sponge cake was not bad as well. As a bonus, I have got three superhero figures to keep for myself.

As is the tradition, we also celebrated Nini Bini's birthday together with mine ~ our lovely grandmother turned 60 three days ago. Nini Bini was surprised when mummy took out her durian mousse cake but she was definitely happy and thrilled.

After enjoying hi-tea, all children (and some adults) changed into swimmers and spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside. Thankfully it was a bit cloudy and was not really hot which makes playing time even more fun and exciting.

At first, our baby brother was a bit intimidated and cried when daddy put him in the pool. His swimmers were taken off, thinking that he didn't want to play. Then, our parents tried again putting him on the slide and he got excited with all the other kids playing with the water! He eventually joined in the fun and had a blast.

Thank you to family and friends for making another birthday a successful event and a huge appreciation as well for all the lovely birthday gifts.

Our second cousin in 2011

2011-06-25T22:31:00.000+10:00

25th June 2011

It's a happy day for us today. Daddy's half-sister, Wawa Nani, finally became a mother after more than a decade of marriage with the birth of a son via c-section this morning. We had a slight scare a few months back when Wawa, being aged over 40, was diagnosed with high-blood pressure and a premature delivery was almost performed. Thankfully, her blood pressure could be controlled and the doctor agreed to let her wait until 37 weeks before her scheduled delivery.

Alhamdulillah, the day finally came and the baby is perfectly healthy. He's got fair complexion and takes a lot after the mother. Wawa also thanked mummy for suggesting names for our newborn cousin, and the chosen name is Muhammad Ashraf Rahimi.

Congratulations Wawa Nani & Wawa Radin

Sweet Safwan

2011-06-11T20:02:00.000+10:00

11th June 2011

Just want to share with you a picture of our baby brother smiling at the camera. He is a happy toddler and not a fussy one most of the time. Easy going, friendly and talkative too.

Coconut milk rice with Indian style fried chicken

2011-06-10T21:45:00.000+10:00

10th June 2011

Daddy had a craving today for "nasi lemak" or coconut milk rice with anchovies sambal. It was mummy's first attempt at making the dish but it was a great sucess. To accompany the rice, mummy tried out a new recipe; fried chicken - Indian style, with yoghurt and curry powder as some of the extra ingredients. Yummy!

Jerudong Park afternoon stroll

2011-06-05T22:38:00.001+10:00

5th June 2011

One thing that we always love about living in our new home is the location. Lots of places are short drives away, including a place where we like to enjoy our afternoon stroll, together with each other. In the afternoon today, we decided to bring our bicycles along.

It was a bit tricky bringing them into the park since we must cross the road but thankfully with the zebra crossing available, it was almost a perfect afternoon except for the moment when one driver didn't stop at the crossing. Luckily daddy was fast to pull me back out of harm's way.

Indian style breakfast

2011-06-03T17:33:00.001+10:00

3rd June 2011

We are still enjoying our short mid-term break since last Saturday. Our grandparents decided to take us out for breakfast at a North Indian restaurant in Bandar Seri Begawan. The food was definitely interesting to look at... and to eat too.

A birthday fit for a royal prince

2011-06-02T21:07:00.000+10:00

2nd June 2011

We were among the lucky group today who were invited to Istana Nurul Iman to attend the royal birthday celebration of His Royal Highness Prince Abdul Wakeel in the afternoon. Since it's Thursday, daddy took the day off from work while mummy came later right after office hours is over.

At one point of time, I was out of sight and daddy searched for me amongst the invited guests. Daddy then spotted me talking to His Majesty The Sultan together with other children. When he got the chance to talk to me, he immediately asked me what was I talking about. Hehehe... I'm sure he's worried that I spoke inappropriately to our beloved monarch!

You know what I said? I asked His Majesty two questions. Firstly, when was the ceremony going to start? Secondly, I asked why was he talking in English and not Malay? Hehehe!

The main event of course was the cake-cutting ceremony, and we were amazed to see two gigantic birthday cakes! It was also a great honour for us being in the presence of Their Majesties.

There were definitely lots of food around but it seemed that the adults are the only ones interested to eat. That's because all the kids could not resist the temptation of enjoying the carnival. There were lots of games and prizes to be won. Safiya and I also enjoyed climbing into the bouncer castle to play with the birthday prince as well as his baby sister, Her Royal Highness Princess Ameerah who happens to be Safiya's classmate at school.

Today was definitely a memory that we will cherish forever.

Happy Birthday Prince Abdul Wakeel

Health and fitness mode

2011-05-29T23:33:00.001+10:00

29th May 2011

We started off our Sunday morning today by visiting Bukit Shahbandar for an early morning exercise with daddy. It was quite a challenge for us hiking up the hill but we were proud of ourselves once we reached the top. We also had some playtime at the play area.

Then, in the afternoon we attended cousin Lizam's 3rd birthday party at the Royal Brunei Recreation Club. We were very excited not only because we get to enjoy the party, but also because of swimming activities afterwards at the RBRC swimming pools!

After a satisfying meal, Safiya and I showed off our swimming skills. Our parents are very proud of us... it shows that all those weekly swimming lessons at school prove to be a great help for us. Safwan also took a dip for a very short while but decided he was not up for it. Perhaps the cold water was too much for the little guy.

What a great day!

Safwan's 2nd visit to the barber shop

2011-05-28T21:30:00.000+10:00

28th May 2011

Our baby brother's hair is getting longer, and so our parents decided it was time for him to get a hair cut. Safwan was very cooperative and patient. He didn't move a lot and shed no tears at all. The barber was impressed too.

Special Needs Fund Raising Week

2011-05-26T18:06:00.003+10:00

26th May 2011

This whole week, JIS has been hosting a fund raising week and all students and staff work hard together to collect funds to be donated to children with special needs here in Brunei. Last Tuesday, Year 2 had a bake sale and mummy helped me by donating some banana cupcakes. When mummy came during lunch to see the sale, she discovered that the bake sale was so successful that all baked goodies were sold out during the morning break. Safiya was a bit frustrated as well as she didn't get to buy anything from the sale.

As for her class, Safiya and her friends undertake to do some house chores for two days. A certificate is then made with the help of parents showing which chores were done. In return, parents donate $2 towards the fund. Here is Safiya's finished certificate:

It's very good that we are exposed to fund raising activities at our early age. Our parents hope that this provides a strong message for us to carry into our future because there are people out there who need our care, love and support no matter where they are.

Baby Safwan's new trick

2011-05-14T11:57:00.001+10:00

14th May 2011

It's a Saturday and mummy is not feeling well. She is having early signs of a cold or flu infection and the doctor gave her the day off from work. Not wanting to disturb her rest, we all went downstairs early in the morning and had breakfast with daddy.

Out of the blue, Safwan expressed his intention of trying to feed himself. As such, daddy prepared the table and gave each of us small bowls of rice porridge. Then it happened... Safwan played tricks on us. He seems to be busy eating his own food, but as soon as Safiya looked elsewhere, Safwan took the chance to take her big sister's food instead. He then pretends as if nothing happened and continued on with his own bowl.

It's amazing what a 14 months old baby can already do! Hehehe...

Small Mother's Day celebration

2011-05-09T20:50:00.000+10:00

9th May 2011

We had a special dinner last night. Our grandparents, Machar & family and Bungsu Hazim gathered at our house in celebration of this year's special day for mums. We had seafood steamboat with the choices of seafood and tom yam soup. The buffet table was full of various items -- prawns, fresh fish cubes, mussels, Brunei's own kupang (clams), fish balls, fish cakes, squids, noodles as well as vegetables.

We also witnessed our three celebrated mothers cut an ice-cream cake.

~ Another memory to remember the good times ~

Early Mother's Day presents

2011-05-06T17:40:00.001+10:00

6th May 2011

Mother's Day is coming this weekend but lucky mummy received her presents in advance... today! I made mummy a card with a self-made bouquet.

As for Safiya, she made cut-out cards that spell MUM and delicious chocolate treats as her present this year. Safiya was really good at keeping her gift a secret and apparently she has been busy making them this whole week at school with the help of her teachers. From mummy's conversation with one of the other mums, a friend of Safiya had actually leaked out the secret and told his mom what the present was going to be. Lucky mummy, Safiya is good at making surprises!

To our beloved mummy... Happy advanced Mother's Day!
Lots of love from Syafi, Safiya & Safwan

Chinese yam fritters

2011-04-24T22:30:00.001+10:00

24th April 2011

Being half-Chinese, daddy loves Chinese dishes. One of which is yam fritters that's usually served in Dim Sum restaurants. In the afternoon today, daddy had his first try at making them. The filling was stir-fried prawns with mushrooms and of course, the outer batter (a dough, rather) consists of steamed and mashed yam mixed with wheat starch and some other ingredients. Since it was our first try, we shaped the fritters into flattened balls instead of the usual triangular shapes served in the restaurants.

Our first attempt at frying them was not that successful whereby most of the fillings came out. With mummy's magic hands in "repairing" the dough, voila! We successfully created yummy-licious crispy yam fritters, just the way daddy likes it!

Hehehe.... Mummy told Wawa Jay about it and she already requests that we make them next time we have our family gathering!

Our first cousin of 2011

2011-04-13T10:48:00.000+10:00

13th April 2011

Alhamdulillah, a new cousin is born. Syahmi is now officially a big brother, and he will soon have a friend to play with at home. The baby boy was born weighing 2.9kg and has distinctive Chinese-look features all over... just like the lucky mummy! Congratulations to Bungsu Diana and hubby, Bungsu Hj Raihan on the birth of your adorable bundle of joy.

Welcome to the world, Syamim Ar-Rasyid

Cute, isn't he?

Playing with mummy's iPhone

2011-04-10T21:34:00.000+10:00

10th April 2011

Mummy took some pictures of us playing with her new smartphone. It's true what people say, the phone is user-friendly and is easy to use, even for children like us.

Nevertheless, we are definitely not at liberty to play with it all the time. We only have limited usage during schooldays - only when we are in the car with mummy on our way to and from school. School nights are dedicated for reading and a short time for tv. We also have little time to play with it on Saturdays since mummy brings it to work. As such, we only have the weekend night and Sundays to have the phone to ourselves. Then, when we are attending gatherings, mummy would ask us to stop when prayers are read and it was time to eat. The biggest rule of all - we must ask her permission before anything else.

Sounds boring right? But we guess that mummy doesn't want us to be too involved with playing so much that we will slowly start to ignore people around us. It's a common sight nowadays that kids do not mingle around, especially with the elders, since they are too busy with the gadgets. If mummy and daddy believe its for the best, then we believe that too.

Lunch with our grandparents

2011-03-30T16:28:00.000+10:00

30th March 2011

Most of the other kids have already started school this week, but JIS will only open next Monday. With a few days remaining in our school holiday, and mummy being on leave as well, nini laki and nini bini took us out to have lunch. We actually did the same routine yesterday as well but mummy forgot to take pictures.

Today, we went to try out a newly opened restaurant not far away from our home. I ordered beef skewers with butter rice while Safiya enjoyed her fish & chips.

Anniversary celebration

2011-03-29T11:12:00.001+10:00

29th March 2011

We had a small celebration last night during dinner to celebrate our parents' 8th wedding anniversary. Mummy was not feeling well and as such her idea of fixing a special menu had to be set aside. However, mummy still managed to prepare some of daddy's favourite menu; steamed fish and bubur ubi manis.

In addition to that, mummy found the strength to do a last minute purchase at a nearby bakery and bought an ice-cream cake. Yam ice-cream is mummy's favourite and so is the colour - purple is her favourite too. Safwan was the happiest to blow out the candle, not to mention his big brother and sister as well! Hehehe...

As soon as we were full, we sat down to rest and reflect on the great 8 years it has been. We are really proud of our parents; they had achieved a lot in less than a decade of marriage. Two of the biggest achievements of course is owning their own house (built from scratch!) and having three lovely children... with another one on the way, insyaAllah!

Then, when mummy went out of the dining room for a while, we saw daddy busy fixing something and putting it on the table. When mummy came in, she couldn't believe her eyes. Daddy gave mummy a present this year; it's an iPhone 4!

To mummy and daddy... happy anniversary!

8 years and still going strong

2011-03-28T14:04:00.002+10:00

28th March 2011

A special message for beloved mummy and daddy...

Happy 8th wedding anniversary
May our family be blessed with lots of love, joy and happiness

We love you both very much!

~ Syafi, Safiya & Safwan ~

Latest SSS trio picture

2011-03-27T22:56:00.001+10:00

27th March 2011

Mummy took a great picture of us today...

Our road trip to Kota Kinabalu

2011-03-26T13:28:00.001+10:00

26th March 2011

We are currently enjoying our Term 2 school holiday which started on 19th March and will end on 3rd April (a week later than the government schools). As promised, mummy took her leave from work the whole time we are at home after we complained of how bored we were last December when both our parents were working while we stay home with nothing much to do.

As one of our activities, mummy has been planning for quite some time with Nini Laki and Nini Bini for a short holiday in Kota Kinabalu. Although flights are available, we decided to go on a road trip instead using two cars.

Our journey began on Monday the 21st just before 6 am. Safwan seemed to know that we were going somewhere; he woke up early, had an early breakfast and took a warm bath. Safiya and I on the other hand, were still asleep and we didn't realise when our parents lifted us up from the bed and we continued sleeping in the car. Yup, we were still in our PJs! Hehehe.....! We did change afterwards, of course! Halfway through the journey, we slept some more...

There wasn't too much traffic but defeinitely lots of Brunei registered cars were on the same route that we were taking. We arrived in KK around noon and we straight away rested at our pre-booked apartment at Marina Court, right at the heart of the city. We had lunch at the apartment since Nini Bini and mummy brought already cooked meals from home.

Too tired from the journey, our drivers (Nini Laki and daddy) felt asleep the whole afternoon. It was only at night when Nini Laki and bungsu Hazim went out searching for our dinner.

We practically had only two days to spend in KK, excluding Monday and Thursday which we spent on the road. Unfortunately, Safwan had a mild fever during the last two days, and the weather didn't allow us much time outdoors. It was raining every afternoon. As such, we did not go visit any interesting places but spent time shopping instead. Perhaps we'll do that next time, but we definitely need at least a week for that purpose.

Here are some pictures of us enjoying the delicious foods and having some leisure time swimming on our last day before heading home.

Our last stop was the markets where we buy our supplies of dried shrimps, anchovies and fish. We took the opportunity to take a few pictures in front of the South China Sea.

Overall, it was a great and fun adventure!

NiniGal's 50th birthday celebration

2011-03-20T20:02:00.000+10:00

20th March 2011

~ our first update using a brand new memory card ~

Since a while ago, Warya family has informed us about the plan to hold a surprise birthday celebration for NiniGal. We were given a list of menu that was to be pre-booked and since the event was to be held at Charcoal grill cafe in BSB, we were excited.

The day finally came today and amazingly, the plan was successful! Despite a concern that our secret might have leaked, it didn't! Hehehe... We can still remember the expression on NiniGal's face when we all yelled 'Surprise!' as she walked inside the event room.

We took pictures of the food that we enjoyed. Yummy!

Happy 50th birthday NiniGal... stay young and gorgeous! Hehehe!

Reason behind the silence

2011-03-18T12:37:00.001+10:00

18th March 2011

Okay, we admit. It's been a long time since this blog was updated. Apart from our parents being extremely busy lately and mummy's health being not at the very best, the main reason is because of a problem that we are facing with our camera's memory card.

Somehow, it got infected with a computer virus which then make it unreadable by any computer. The pictures are still inside, thankfully, but we are still out of luck in the attempt of transferring them out.

It's so frustrating that we're still not in the mood to update this blog... it wouldn't be fun without pictures, right? Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Hopefully we can find the solution to this problem soon. If any of you have any useful tips or perhaps have experienced this problem before and know how to fix it, please let us know. Your help will be very appreciated.

Until next time! Remember we are still here, just in silence.

Love you lots

Safwan Rahmani is 1 year old today!

2011-03-15T06:00:00.000+10:00

15th March 2010

Happy birthday to our adorable baby brother who turns 1 today.

His greatest achievement so far ~ he can already walk! Mummy says that Safwan is so far the fastest one to walk because both Safiya and I only started walking after we reach one year old. Apart from that, he is a happy baby who loves to smile and laugh, extremely talkative and loves to dance. Simpy put, we think that Safwan is a genius! Hehehe...

We all pray that Safwan will grow up well, healthy and happy

Safwan 11 months old today

2011-02-15T18:12:00.001+10:00

15th February 2011

Safwan is 11 months old today. He has now started to baby-talk more frequently, and can already differentiate the names of different people: daddy, mama, baba (for abang - brother in Malay), tata (for kaka - big sister in Brunei Malay), nini (grandparents) and auntie, referring to his nanny. He likes to play with remotes and puts phones straight away to his ear.

As always, he smiles and laughs a lot. He has also started to take baby steps and soon he'll be walking around. His favourite game is peek-a-boo and he's also fond of being chased.

One dilemma though, we still can't figure out whether he resembles mummy or daddy. As he grows, he looks more distinctive and different from both Safiya and myself when we were babies.

Now below are pictures of mummy during her early days. A quality that we're sure of that Safwan (all three of us actually) inherits from mummy is his wide forehead. Elders say that it's a sign of intelligence, and we certainly hope so!

Of course what's important is that our baby brother is growing up well, healthy and happy. A month to go before baby Safwan's birthday! Yipppeee!

Magic in our home

2011-02-13T14:52:00.002+10:00

13th February 2011

Last night, lots of people gather at our home for the sole purpose of celebrating cousin Syahmi's 2nd birthday. Mummy and daddy were only in charge of providing the venue, whilst Syahmi's parents take care of everything else (of course with the help of other family members as well).

After the night was over, only then mummy realised that she didn't take lots of pictures of the event... not even the birthday cake! Hehehe... perhaps she was a bit tired after a whole day at work. Thankfully, food and drinks was provided by our infamous caterer - our grandparents - through their expanding [catering] business.

The highlight of the celebration last night was a magic show. It was entertaining for kids and adults alike, although some adults might not be that impressed, especially after seeing magicians' secrets being revealed on tv! Hehehe... Even in the pictures below, you can see some peeking over the magician's shoulder! Having said that, it was impressive for an aged man to have successfully pulled off his tricks in front of a live audience.

Happy birthday Syahmi, and the most special present for you is yet to come in April. We know that you will enjoy every minute being a big brother.

P/S: We heard that another cousin is coming in October. Congrats!

Kaka Eyah's birthday party

2011-02-03T13:23:00.001+10:00

3rd February 2011

Last Sunday, our beloved cousin, Basyeerah or as we call her, Kaka Eyah, celebrated her 5th birthday at her home in Kg Agau Pengkalan Batu. Kaka Eyah looked pretty and sweet in her purple dress with her long hair let down with just a touch of some hairclips to show her cute face.

Her cake was no less impressive. It was purple and blue - her favourite colour - with a mermaid "sitting" nicely on top.

Kaka Eyah received lots of presents. Actually, she had celebrated her birthday the day before at her school, but she was patient and didn't unwrap the gifts from her friends until the next day.

Happy 5th birthday Kaka Eyah, we wish you a wonderful year filled with love and happiness from all of us around you!

Syafi and Safiya in wonderland

2011-01-29T22:39:00.000+10:00

29th January 2011

We spent our Saturday with daddy today. The RTB Media Carnival 2011 is being held at the International Convention Centre and we heard that they have interesting displays there. The original plan was for us to go there with mummy during her lunch break but mummy had only a little time. This is due to mummy's new commitment as a part-time lecturer and her class starts at 1.30 pm every Saturday.

Anyway, we then went to the carnival with daddy alone and it was no less fun getting to spend quality time with him. Frankly, he's busy on weekdays and spending the weekend with him more or less makes up for the lost time when he's not around.

Coming back to the carnival, we are very amazed with what was in store for us. I think lots of visitors agree that the "Once upon a time" displays were enchanting! We had the chance to experience being Alice in Wonderland, right here in Brunei!

Congratulations to RTB for hosting a successful event. As for our fellow blog readers, enjoy these pictures:

Cupcakes, anyone?

2011-01-28T13:24:00.003+10:00

28th January 2011

Here is an easy recipe for great-tasting fluffy cupcakes:
(Courtesy of Azli Razali)

Ingredients:
250gm butter
240 gm caster sugar
240gm self-raising flour
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

Directions:
Beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Put in a few drops of imitation vanilla essence (not too much as it leaves a bitter aftertaste) and mix well. Put in eggs alternately with flour. Bake in a preheated 180 deg C oven until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre.

This recipe is actually for a cake but mummy bake them in cups instead and added some raisins as requested by daddy. Delicious and easy to make!

"Makan lagi!"

2011-01-23T21:13:00.001+10:00

23rd January 2011

Hehehe... Food again! Our cousins Adam and Sasya and their parents (we call them wawa) was away on vacation to London since last week and arrived back today. Understanding that the travellers must be tired and hungry, we invited them over for lunch, together with Ngangah who was in charge of their pick up from the airport.

Daddy was the chef today and he prepared two dishes; lau si fun and yong tau foo.

Cousin Nazrah didn't want to smile for the camera. Her exact words were "Ani mulutku panuh ah"

P/S: Thank you wawa for the souvenirs and hope you enjoyed the lunch...

Unplanned but successful

2011-01-22T23:32:00.003+10:00

22nd January 2011

We had a special dinner just a few hours ago although it was unplanned. Daddy went to the fish market in the afternoon and as a coincidence, nini laki, nini bini and bungsu Hazim came by to drop our maid who had been helping them out to entertain a [catering] reservation yesterday. Nini bini brought some dishes as well for us that she had already cooked beforehand.

In addition to that, nini bini was also excited to pick some lamiding leaves - a fern-like plant that grows wild at the edge of our land - and wanted to cook them as well. As such, the dinner table was set and we had lots of varieties of food to enjoy.

On top of that, we had ambuyat too. We are proud to say that our parents have now mastered the skill of making ambuyat and their teamwork usually ends up in "deliciousness". Hehe!

Our dishes ~ from the top; fried "geronggong", salted fish in coconut milk (gulai lemak ikan masin), sayur pakis, sayur batang pisang and last but not least, the freshly-picked lamiding. Not in the pictures are udang galah rebus, ikan rebus, sayur bayam and Malaysian-style sayur lodeh.

Superheroes on a mission

2011-01-21T21:16:00.001+10:00

21st January 2011

It was an interesting school day today. JIS Junior School hosted a "Superhero Week" in celebration of welcoming [Alan Gibbons], an award winning children's books author who came all the way from the UK for our Bookweek, 2011.

The climax of the week was today when all children were allowed to come to school dressed in superhero costumes. We were also invited to create our own superhero costumes ~ which we didn't manage to do. Nevertheless, we still had lots of fun! Just look at these pictures!

Safiya created her own superhero cape, mask and belt in class yesterday with the help of her lovely teachers.

I had lots of choice but finally declined the temptations to become Superman or Ben 10 and became Batman instead (Hahaha... I know, since when did Batman wear grey, right?) Safiya was adamant to wear her "Supergirl" costume with the addition of her self-made belt and mask.

Painting

2011-01-09T12:09:00.002+10:00

9th January 2011

We have been nagging mummy for the past few weeks that she buy painting utensils for us. At last, our wish was granted on one condition; that we only paint when either mummy or daddy is around to monitor us. Hehehe... if we were left all alone, we might finish all the water colours in one go!

Thank you mummy!

Bruneians start the new year with the welcoming of a new princess

2011-01-07T10:25:00.009+10:00

7th January 2011

~ Photo courtesy of [infofoto] ~

As was reported all over the news, we would humbly present our congratulatory message to His Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Muda Mahkota Pengiran Muda Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah (the Crown Prince) and Her Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Sarah on the birth of a princess

Her Royal Highness Pengiran Anak Muneerah Madhul Bolkiah
born on Sunday, 2nd January 2011.

We would also like to express sincere congratulations to the family of nini Pg Hj Salleh Ab Rahaman on this occasion.

A family celebration night in Lumut

2011-01-02T13:06:00.006+10:00

2nd January 2011

Last night, we had a great time with daddy's side of our family. It was our first family gathering this year and it was held at a cafe in Lumut, close to NiniBoy and NiniGal's home. The information given to us was that it was for a doa selamat or thanksgiving in celebration of Mama Usu being conferred a Masters Degree recently. As it turned out, it was also a celebration of Babu Liza & Mama Usu's belated birthdays and a 4th wedding anniversary of the Warya Family couple.

After reciting our prayers and a cake-cutting session, we had a barbeque dinner. In between, we also had some fun playing and dancing to some music. The night also saw the usual singers in our family singing their hearts out, including bungsu Diana who seldom sings (in front of us, that is... hehehe...).

Before heading home, there was a photo session time for us, the 9 cousins. Unfortunately, Syahmi was not really in the mood for smiles.

To our delight, we were all given souvenirs from Mama Usu, NiniBoy & NiniGal from their recent trip to the UK to attend Mama Usu's graduation ceremony in Keele. There was a present for everyone; a tie for daddy, a handbag for mummy and clothes for us three.

In addition to that, Safiya also received her belated birthday present from NiniBoy & NiniGal since they were not able to attend Safiya's birthday party last month.

Thank you NiniBoy, NiniGal, Warya Family and Mama Usu for the lovely night. To Babu Liza & Mama Usu, happy belated birthday for the both of you. Not to forget, happy wedding anniversary to Babu Liza & Uncle Zam. And especially for Mama Usu, congratulations on your graduation and we hope that your career will kick off soon.

Let's all hope that 2011 will bring us more happiness, and we are also looking forward to welcoming a new cousin in April and hopefully another one in July. Who knows, there might be another cousin by the end of this year? Hehehe...!

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T00:01:00.002+10:00

1st January 2011
(1.1.11)

Especially to family, friends and blog followers / readers
Let's all make this year better than the years before, filled with love, warmth and care towards each other. Together, we can make this world a better place!

An interactive experience at OGDC

2010-12-24T21:49:00.000+10:00

24th December 2010

Our baby brother has an appointment for vaccination today at Panaga Health Centre in Seria at around 1 pm. Our parents decided not to waste the 50 minutes drive merely for that purpose. Hence, we all left home earlier and visited the Oil and Gas Discovery Centre (OGDC) before the Friday prayers. We arrived at OGDC at around 10.30 and it was perfect ~ they close at 11.30 on Fridays.

The first display that caught our attention was some information about a group of Bruneians who successfully conquered Mount Everest earlier this year. From what we understand, a second expedition is currently planned, and daddy was actually offered a spot in the second attempt to stand on the highest peak on earth. Daddy however had to decline the tempting offer after much thought ~ and due to the lack of support by family and friends. Mummy especially thought the high risk is not worth leaving us behind; the children. Hehehe... perhaps daddy will have better luck in convincing mummy next time!

We then walked through the exhibitions and had a great time. Lots of the displays were interactive and we got the chance to experiment some science facts for real. I must say that all the displays were interesting, and my most treasured experiment was lying down on a bed of nails. When I see such reality tricks on tv later on, I can proudly say "Hey, I did that!"

Enjoy these pictures!

One particular display was a bit intimidating. Daddy was the only one brave enough to experience becoming a human gyroscope. Here is a picture and a video that mummy took.

After all that fun, we had lunch at Ideal Restaurant which is located at the OGDC building itself.

Then, daddy and I went to the mosque for the Friday prayers while "the ladies" went to Panaga Health Centre for baby Safwan's pnemucoccal injection. Afterwards, we headed home.

A walk through history

2010-12-23T22:14:00.000+10:00

23rd December 2010

Finally, one of our parents is on leave. It has been a while since our school holiday started and we only stayed home most of the time since our parents are working. However, starting yesterday, daddy will be spending time with us at home and his leave goes on until the new year. Unfortunately, mummy was not allowed to take any day off until the end of January.

Nevertheless, quality time spending with daddy is no less entertaining for us. Today, daddy brought us to visit two museums in Kota Batu, namely the Brunei Museum and the Malay Technology Museum. Since it was still quite early in the morning, there were not many visitors around and we got to have the museums all to ourselves.

First, we went to the Brunei Museum;

And here are pictures taken at the Malay Technology Museum:

We also found some more coverage about the Malay Technology Museum in another blog. You might want to [check it out].

Nini Laki in our local newspaper

2010-12-21T20:46:00.002+10:00

21st December 2010

It was quite a day for Nini Laki yesterday. In the afternoon, he boarded a flight to Kuala Lumpur, not on vacation but on duty. He was sent by the Halal Food Control Division (BKMH) to oversee a company in that region complying with Halal regulations before exporting its products to Brunei.

Anyway, this blog post is about something that has happened before Nini Laki's flight. Earlier in the morning, Nini Laki gave a briefing about a newly established organisation in Brunei, namely the Ex-Religious Officers Organisation (Persatukan Bekas Guru Agama) or PERGA for short.

Here is the full story (in Malay) as extracted from the [Media Permata]:

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Isnin - Satu lagi sejarah bermakna berlaku di Negara Brunei Darussalam tahun ini apabila para bekas guru agama dan bekas pegawai pernah bertugas mengajar di mana-mana institusi pendidikan agama kerajaan di negara ini kini memiliki persatuannya sendiri yang dinamakan Persatuan Bekas Guru Agama (PERGA).

Salah satu daripada tujuan penubuhannya ialah untuk memberikan sumbangan dalam meninggikan syiar Islam, menyemarakkan kegiatan dakwah dan memantapkan pendidikan agama di negara ini.

Ke arah memastikan keaktifan PERGA dan mencapai tujuan penubuhannya, PERGA akan mengadakan Mesyuarat Agung Pertamanya dalam sedikit masa lagi dengan salah satu daripada agenda utamanya ialah mengundi bagi memilih Jawatankuasa Tadbir, yang akan mentadbir persatuan berkenaan.

Sehubungan itu, Majlis Taklimat PERGA telah diadakan hari ini di Teater Mini, Kolej Universiti Perguruan Ugama Seri Begawan (KUPU SB) bertujuan bagi memperkenalkan PERGA secara lebih terperinci lagi kepada para ahlinya.

PERGA diluluskan pendaftarannya di bawah Perintah Pertubuhan 2005 Bahagian Pendaftaran Pertubuhan pada 20 Mei 2010.

Dalam taklimatnya, Pengerusi Bersama Majlis, Haji Abdul Rahman Haji Matarsat menyatakan Jawatankuasa Tadbir yang dilantik itu nanti terdiri daripada Yang Dipertua, Timbalan Yang Dipertua, Pengerusi Tetap, Timbalan Pengerusi Tetap, Setiausaha Agung, Penolong Setiausaha Agung, Bendahari Agung, Penolong Bendahari Agung dan Pengerusi Jawatankuasa-Jawatankuasa Badan.

Beliau menjelaskan lanjut, Jawatankuasa Badan itu terdiri daripada Badan Sosial dan Kebajikan, Badan Akademik, Dakwah, Penerangan dan Penerbitan, Badan Ekonomi dan Perusahaan, dan Badan Wanita.

Menyentuh tiga lagi tujuan PERGA ditubuhkan, beliau menyatakan ia juga bagi menyatupadukan bekas guru agama dan pegawai yang menjadi ahli persatuan.

Selain bagi membantu mengekalkan kecerdasan dan keaktifan ahli melalui projek, kegiatan dan aktiviti persatuan, dan untuk meninggikan taraf hidup para ahlinya melalui projek ekonomi dan perusahaan yang sesuai dan termampu, ujarnya.

Menurutnya, keahlian adalah dibukakan kepada bekas guru-guru agama dan bekas pegawai-pegawai yang pernah bertugas mengajar di mana-mana institusi pendidikan agama kerajaan di negara ini.

Syarat menjadi ahli ialah tempoh perkhidmatan tidak kurang daripada lima tahun, walau bagaimanapun yang kurang daripada lima tahun akan dirujuk kepada Jawatankuasa Tertinggi Persatuan.

Pemohon hendaklah warganegara Brunei Darussalam, tidak pernah dijatuhi hukuman oleh mana-mana mahkamah disebabkan melakukan kesalahan jenayah dan tamat perkhidmatan dengan kerajaan bukan disebabkan dibuang kerja, jelasnya lanjut di majlis yang turut mendengarkan ucapan alu-aluan daripada Pengerusi Bersama Majlis, Haji Musa Mantok berkenaan.

Sebarang maklumat lanjut mengenai PERGA, mereka yang memenuhi syarat bolehlah menghubungi talian telefon 8832397 ataupun 8723193.

NOTE: Nini Laki's phone number has been printed wrongly ~ it should have been 8723192

Safiya's birthday celebration - Part II

2010-12-10T14:53:00.003+10:00

10th December 2010

As mentioned before, last Tuesday, we had two separate birthday celebrations for Safiya. The second phase was held at 3 p.m. and this time, our guests were around 70 people including adults and children.

After recitation of prayers, Safiya was presented with her exclusive birthday cake. Surely she was happy to see a princess birthday cake in her favourite colours; pink and yellow. She was a bit shy when we sang her the birthday song, but was delighted to blow her candles.

Then, it was time for the feast! On the menu was Soto Brunei and rice with ayam masak merah, soy sauce beef, ampap ikan, fried fish, kangkung and sayur rebung. Another special menu that we had was ambuyat, and we were lucky to have lots of "ambuyat expert" on the scene to cater for the high demands... hehehe...

After a satisfying meal, we had a surprise for bungsu Hazim. He recently turned 17 (on 5th December) as such nini laki and nini bini bought a yam ice-cream cake for him.

All the hustle and bustle toned down just before dusk when our guests headed home. Safiya then changed into her other dress especially for unwrapping her presents. The two dresses that she wore that day were bought in Australia during our recent trip ~ on request by nini bini that Safiya buys her own birthday presents there. Perhaps that was why Safiya wanted to wear them both on her birthday celebration day ~ and she thought about that all on her own!

Here are Safiya's presents this year...

Thank you everybody! Note on your diaries... next birthday celebration will be in March when our baby brother, Safwan, turns 1, InsyaAllah...

Safiya's birthday celebration - Part I

2010-12-08T22:16:00.000+10:00

8th December 2010

It was a big day for Safiya yesterday. Coincidentally, yesterday was a public holiday in conjunction with Hijrah New Year and as such our parents took the opportunity to organise Safiya's belated birthday party.

This year, Safiya made a request that her school friends are invited as well. After much thought, our parents decided to agree ~ as a compensation for the long delay since Safiya's birthday was actually in October.

In order to fully entertain Safiya's friends and their family, a separate small party was held yesterday morning from 11 until 1.30 p.m. Safiya was ecstatic to see her friends come; namely Amelie (with her two elder brothers), Alexandra, Siena, Theen (with her brother, Kesn), Melanie, Svanik (with her sister, Simran) and Melodie ~ and their parents too, of course!

When our guests first came, we let the children play on our small bouncer with a special appearance by Elmo. Safiya's friends were excited to see Elmo talking and telling stories.

Then, all guests were invited to our kitchen to make their own pizza for lunch. Daddy was responsible at the "pizza counter" while mummy minds the oven. Quite interesting for 3-4 year olds, definitely.

Apart from pizzas, we also prepared mini burgers, smiley potato chips and popcorn chicken for the kids and salad as well as sandwiches for the adults.

After that, daddy brought Safiya's birthday cupcakes ~ homemade by mummy. Everybody at the party said that the cream cheese cupcakes with chocolate ganache icing were finger-licking good! Hehehe...

Then, it was play and splashing time. Mummy's decision to buy the inflatable slide pool while in Australia was a good one, indeed.

After all that fun, it was time for our guests to leave. To everybody who came to the party, thank you for making Safiya's party lots of fun and we'll cherish the memory forever. And here are pictures of Safiya's birthday gifts from her good friends:

Thanks everyone!

P/S: We had another birthday celebration for our family members next. We'll post the pictures soon.

The celebration continues

2010-12-02T20:43:00.002+10:00

2nd December 2010

Last night, we received some visitors. Ngangah and her family came to have dinner with us. Her actual purpose is to give Safiya her belated birthday present ~ Ngangah couldn't wait until Safiya's birthday party, she said. Our parents got their birthday present as well.

After dinner, Ngangah hung out with us for a while, and we played ring-a-ring-a-roses with Nazrah.

And what do you know? Just as Ngangah was leaving our home, Nini Laki, Nini Bini and bungsu Hazim came. They didn't tell us why they came but we had a very good instinct that it has something to do with mummy's birthday a few days ago.

We were right. We ended up having a yam ice-cream cake for dessert last night. Hehehe... Funny thing though, the chef wrongly wrote "mama" as "mam" and "babah" as "papa". Oh well, it's the thought that counts!

By the way, mummy would like to thank Nini Bini for the very special birthday present.

Isn't it nice to have families who care about you? Hehehe...

Happy Birthday Mummy!

2010-11-29T22:26:00.001+10:00

29th November 2010

It's a very special day today... because it's our mummy's birthday!

After work in the afternoon today, she picked me up from Ugama school and we went straight back home. When we saw daddy's car, we sort of expected that he must be planning something very special for beloved mummy.

And he did! Safiya ran towards the car (after mummy safely parked the car, of course) and asked mummy to close her eyes while Safiya and I directed her towards the dining room. Last time on daddy's birthday, we had steamboat. This time, we had pizza as well as rice with daddy's delicious sweet and sour fish. We also had prawn fritters for appetiser.

Daddy put candles on one of the pizzas and we sang the birthday song together.

Daddy made a special birthday card with all of our help. Those are really traces of our hands, truly!

Hehehe... mummy might be satisfied with the pizza as her birthday cake, but apparently it was just daddy's trick! He had bought mummy's favourite cake; mango cheesecake. Wow, that was good news for Safiya and I too, because we got to help mummy blow the candles twice!

Happy Birthday Mummy! We love you very much!

Birthday celebration at the Rizqun

2010-11-28T20:18:00.000+10:00

28th November 2010

In the afternoon today, we went to the Rizqun International Hotel as invited guests to our cousins' birthday party. Of course as with other birthday parties, we had a great time. However, the exclusive place makes it even more special. On top of that, we got to chance to meet Barney!

Hehehe... Safiya was intimidated at first and refused to come near Barney. Mummy didn't give up and slowly walked up to Barney and when they were close, mummy slowly asked Safiya to touch the purple fluffy skin. Fear free, at last.

Despite the loud music, Safwan decided that he was too tired and took a doze off.

Tickly flowers

2010-11-20T20:16:00.000+10:00

20th November 2010

Hehehe... Just want to post some pictures that mummy took when we were out and about in our small garden. Safwan likes to play with the flowers, but he felt ticklish when the flowers touch his face. So cute and adorable!

Blessed to be Bruneian

2010-11-18T19:55:00.000+10:00

18th November 2010

During the recent Hari Raya Aidil Adha a couple of days back, Nini Bini had a small open house. One of the visitors was mummy's cousin who's baby was also one of the lucky ones receiving kurnia from Her Majesty. He then asked mummy whether she had collected the custom made cover for Safwan's bank passbook.

Apparently, our parents were not aware of it but immediately took note of the information. In the morning today, daddy went to the bank and he was delighted to see what was handed over to him.

"Blessed to be Bruneian" ~ that's what's written on top of the recipient's picture... which is exactly true! Again, menjunjung kasih ke hadapan Majlis KDYMM Baginda Raja Isteri.

A friend's birthday party

2010-11-13T22:27:00.000+10:00

13th November 2010

Today, Safiya was invited to attend her classmate's birthday party at her residence. Amelie's mother was kind enough to let me join the party as well. We had 2 hours of fun and games with delicious lunch from McD.

Happy birthday, Amelie and thanks for the great party!

Safwan visits Istana Nurul Iman

2010-11-07T21:01:00.001+10:00

7th November 2010

Wow! Double luck!

As many Bruneians must already know by now, close to 7000 babies were chosen by Her Majesty to receive special gifts or kurnia just for being born between 7th October 2009 to 7th October 2010. We are very grateful that our baby brother is one of the lucky recipients.

Another good news is that Safwan was invited to the Sultan's palace this morning, together with our parents, to receive the kurnia. He is really lucky, it's not everyday that one gets to visit Istana Nurul Iman (let alone be invited) but Safwan does this at only 7 months old. Even Safiya and I have never stepped foot on the palace grounds, seriously! Hehehe...

Since coaches waited before 7 a.m. at several designated places, Safwan was already up at 5.30. He had an early breakfast, took a bath and wore his baju melayu. Parents were given the option of not bringing their babies but our parents decided that Safwan will not create a hassle being a good and happy baby himself.

According to mummy, despite the thousands of people flooding the palace, Safwan maintains his happy attitude. Even when lots of babies around him were screaming and crying, he is still as cool as can be. Thankfully! Hehehe...

The treatment at the palace was first class, said mummy. They were served with heaps of food for breakfast, and nappy change and breastfeeding areas were available (complete with free nappies and wipes). Hot and cold water is available all around the palace as well.

We would like to express our heartfelt menjunjung kasih to Her Majesty Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha for the kindness that Her Majesty has shown to all lucky recipients today.
"Semoga Allah melanjutkan usia Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik"

JIS International Day 2010

2010-11-05T22:30:00.001+10:00

5th November 2010

International Day is a yearly event at JIS when all students are urged to wear international costumes, either traditional to a country or dress up as someone famous from a particular country. Last year, Brunei was well represented by my friend, Yadi, who dressed up as Awang Budiman, the mascot for Sea Games quite a while ago.

This year's event was not less interesting; it was really great to see different costumes from different countries. And what better way to see them all than in a parade. Parents were welcome to see the parade and daddy took the day off today especially for this since Friday is usually his working day too.

Safiya wore her baju kurung, while I decided to relive the glory of becoming a Brunei "prince".

Safwan was also present during the event ~ he didn't mind waking up early in the morning, thankfully.

In addition to the parade, this year our school organised another activity called "Around the world in 2 hours". After the parade, we were amazed to see that our classrooms have been transformed. Mine in particular became China and I learned how to make moon cakes, write Chinese calligraphy and so on. I also enjoyed the opportunity to visit other "countries" and gained a lot of information.

More pics from our Brisbane trip

2010-11-04T20:43:00.001+10:00

4th November 2010

We have got lots more pictures taken during our last trip to Brisbane. Hope you enjoy seeing these photos...

The ones below were taken on Friday, the second day that we rented a car. After breakfast, we went to IKEA in Logan, just outside the city. It's as HUGE as we remember it, and still offers lots of bargains too.

Then, we went to Direct Factory Outlets (DFO) near Brisbane Airport. Yes, we did lots of shopping... it was really worth it to go there.

With a few more hours to spend before returning the car , daddy drove us back to the hotel. After freshening up for about 20 minutes, we headed for St. Lucia. We revisited our old memories... took pictures in front of our used-to-be home, our usual Asian supermarket and Nando's restaurant where we usually enjoy meals when nini bini and mummy were not in the mood for cooking.

We were also amazed at seeing a new apartment building that has been erected; the construction had only just begun when we were about to leave Australia for good back then.

Frankly I was a bit sad about leaving the old place. To cheer me up, our parents brought us to one place where we always felt happy - Guyatt Park. The difference this time, nini laki was not the one pushing us in the stroller... hehehe...

Baby Safwan was enjoying the ambience as well. He didn't mind sitting on the grass at all. We also took the opportunity taking pictures with mummy's favourite jacaranda trees (all because of the purple flowers).

Then, we went back to the city to return the car. Thankfully, business hours in the city is extended every Friday, and we took the opportunity to do some last minute shopping. We then took some photos of Brisbane city and Southbank at night.

These ones were taken on our last day in Brisbane. We enjoyed fresh strawberries for our last breakfast at the hotel. We checked out at around 9 am to catch our 12.50 flight. The flight was not that full and we very lucky that the front row seats had been blocked for passengers with babies. Since there were only two babies on board, there were 2 empty seats next to mummy. Safwan was happy sitting on his own seat during the flight ~ watching tv! Hehehe...! And oh, I snapped a picture with the pilot, lucky me!

We landed safely in Brunei at 5.50 in the afternoon. However, we got off the plane differently that time; we walked down the stairs and boarded a coach to reach the terminal building.

Overall, it was a fun vacation. Where will we go next? Hmmm...

Thank goodness they built JP

2010-11-03T22:17:00.001+10:00

3rd November 2010

Since a couple of days back, Safiya has been nagging about wanting to play at Guyatt Park - the one in Brisbane. She would cry in the morning and refuses to go to school and instead wanted to board a plane to fly away to the OZ! It got mummy a bit worried; Safiya can be very adamant in getting what she wants and will not stop until her wish is fulfilled. Our parents offered to bring her to Jerudong Park (JP) but Safiya insisted that it will not be the same.

It took a good 2 days consoling and finally with the power of a mother's sweet voice, Safiya gave in and she agreed to settle for JP. As such we all went there in the afternoon today after our parents arrive home from work. We had lots of fun.

In the end, even Safiya agrees that JP is a match for (perhaps even better than) Guyatt Park and we will always visit there again during our spare time.

A surprise for daddy

2010-11-02T21:28:00.000+10:00

2nd November 2010

Yesterday evening, we anxiously waited for daddy to come home from work. Mummy had actually been planning since the day before but did not mention anything to us. Hehehe... perhaps if she did, we would have leaked out some information and spoil the plan!

Anyway, since it was a weeknight and we have school the next day, mummy postpone any celebration with other family members and decided to have a special family dinner, just the 5 of us. Once daddy arrived home, Safiya and I asked him to close his eyes as we dragged him towards the dining room. Daddy was smiling happily when we said "Surprise!"

On mummy's menu was steamboat. While waiting for the food to be ready, we urged daddy to unwrap his birthday present. This year, daddy receives a wallet from us. Daddy had been using his old one for almost 10 years and there has definitely been wear and tear all over. Hehehe...

And to top it all off, we did some birthday cake cutting especially for a special man in our lives... love you lots, daddy!

Daddy is 33 today!

2010-11-01T06:00:00.000+10:00

01st November 2010

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We are proud to have you as our father!
Love always from Syafi, Safiya & Safwan
(and of course mummy too)

A visit to the Australia Zoo

2010-10-29T17:23:00.005+10:00

21st October 2010 (backdated update)

Who doesn't know Steve Irwin? It's such a huge loss that he passed away not so long ago. Thankfully, his passion for animals is still around and his legacy is continued by his wife, children and followers.

Because we missed visiting the zoo back in 2008, this time mummy was adamant that we visit the place. For this reason, we rented a car and drove almost an hour from the city. The zoo is located at Steve Irwin Way, Beerwah which is close to Sunshine Coast, Queensland. We spent the whole day there and it was surely worth the trip!

Here are some pictures that we took with animals at the zoo...

A must for tourists in Australia... taking pictures with kangaroos. Baby Safwan was happy too that he was smiling the whole time. Poor kangaroo though, it almost jumped when Safwan tiny hands grabbed his fur too hard... sorry kangaroo!

Thank goodness we were small enough to ride the cute little ponies. Some kids were frustrated since they exceeded the height limit.

A huge area of the zoo was dedicated for South East Asian animals, mainly elephants and tigers

In front of Tiger Temple

We caught some tigers in action ~ those were huge cats!

Wetlands - an area dedicated to some of Australia's beautiful birds that live near the waters

A pat at the sheep's thick fluffy body was phenomenal

Eye-to-eye with an eagle for the first time

We also watched a show at the zoo's crocoseum where we learn more (live) about elephants, snakes, birds and of course, crocodiles.

Hehehe... Nope, that's not a real turtle!

But this one is! We were lucky to come across a Tasmanian Devil ~ awake during the day although these animals are nocturnal

And here are some more of the animals that we saw... clockwise from the top: comodo dragon, cheetah, Australia's own echidna and cassowary, a huge snake and giant turtles.

Microwave magic

2010-10-29T16:53:00.000+10:00

20th October 2010 (backdated update)

On our initial to-do list while in Brisbane was to have dinner at baby Rania's parents home in Kelvin Grove. We were to do some grocery shopping and then cook there. Unfortunately, uncle Sateria was caught up with work and had to postpone his trip to Brisbane.

To make up for the failed plan, our parents decided to do some cooking using the only equipment in our hotel room ~ a microwave! On our menu was chicken rice, mussels soup and vegetables. In order to get halal chicken, in the afternoon, we went to China Town (Valley). We walked to the city and then boarded a bus that goes straight to our destination.

It was nice to be able to revisit the area once again, as we used to frequent the shops there in order to get our halal meat and seafood supply. Back then, we either hopped on a bus or boarded a train.

Chinatown had a slightly new look since the open area has been upgraded with partial roofs and some new statues. Other than that, everything was practically the same as before.

After our shopping, we went back to the city and straight away walked back to the hotel. On the way, daddy decided to stop by the Wheel of Brisbane. I have been begging him to board it and finally my wish came true. The ride took about 20 minutes with 4 revolutions. I was excited, but Safiya was a bit intimidated by the altitude.

Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel. One of the decorations that we find unique and mesmerising was a long canopy of Bougainvillea flowers (bunga kertas) that must have taken a long time to shape it as such.

Back at the hotel, mummy worked her magic and prepared our dinner. We also invited daddy's officemates and we had a satisfying meal.

It's amazing when a microwave is put together with a creative cook like mummy!

A happy reunion

2010-10-27T22:28:00.000+10:00

19th October 2010*
(*another backdated update)

It's a bit sunny today and the temperature has gone up a few degrees. Thankfully it was just nice, a bit warm but not too hot and is a perfect day for going out.

In the afternoon, daddy had some time off from his conference and we decided to go to St. Lucia; the suburb that we spent most of our time back in 2008. That was where we lived for almost a year and it's the place where mummy went to university and I went to kindergarten!

After a few days of shutting down due to murky waters, Brisbane's famous City Cat (water taxi) opens again today. It was really convenient for us since the City Cat jetty was close to our hotel and it goes direct to the university.

Once we arrived, our first stop was of course my old kindy! At first we planned to make a surprise visit but then our parents thought that asking the school first would be better just in case it was a term break holiday. Although we informed them that we would be coming, but we didn't specify any date, as such it was a surprise for my teacher after all.

From far, we can already hear a familiar friendly voice. Daddy and I ran up the stairs and went inside the school in search for my lovely teacher ~ Miss B... and there she was looking all pretty in red! Mummy, Safiya and baby Safwan waited anxiously on the school ground until Miss B came out and greeted them with her big smile. Hehehe... Miss B said that our parents "got busy" and she couldn't stop admiring our cute baby brother.

I was happy but a bit nervous when Miss B started making conversations with me. Thanks to my good English (ahem!), it went well. I even recited 2 poems that I had learnt at school for lovely Miss B. When asked about my favourite subject at school, I said it's adding and subtracting. Hehehe... mummy was surprised with my answer ~ she didn't know that Math is my favourite. We also gave two souvenirs from Brunei, one for Miss B and another for Miss Miller who unfortunately was not at school at that time.

It was such an unforgettable experience going back to my old school. We never thought that we would be able to go there again due to the costly air tickets but hey, we did! Lucky us!

After saying good-bye to Miss B, we took a walk around mummy's university and took some pictures before boarding a bus to go to Hawken Drive; the place where we always buy groceries with NiniLaki on foot. It was still the same except that Coles supermarket has been replaced by another supermarket.

After that, we walked back to the university and hopped on a bus to go to Toowong Village. This was our favourite shopping place, especially for mummy and Nini Bini. Amazingly, it still is our favourite and we bought lots of clothes and some kitchenware. We also revisited the fruits market and bought some white flesh nectarines and avocados.

Then, we waited for a taxi at the basement and went back to the hotel.

Wow! I just cannot believe that we could relive the experience once again!

Our first day in Brisbane, Australia

2010-10-24T20:22:00.000+10:00

16th October 2010*
(*a backdated update)

We arrived in Brisbane, Australia at about 5 am in the morning, Brisbane time (3 am Brunei time). Being overly confident about the warm weather since it's almost summer, daddy decided that light jackets are enough. Apparently not! On board the plane while we were approaching land, the pilot informed the passengers that it's about 16 degrees outside! Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long for a taxi and we were at the hotel within half an hour after landing.

For our whole trip, we will be staying at the Rydges Hotel in Southbank which is across the Brisbane river from the city centre. Funny enough, throughout our one year stay in Brisbane back in 2008, we had never explored Southbank although it's really close to our home at that time. Perhaps having two small children somehow limits mummy's adventure mode and decided that staying home was the best thing to do.

Anyway, we were given a double bedroom at Rydges, i.e. we had a large room with two queen beds. We also have a small kitchen area with a microwave and a sink and the room has a balcony too.

After taking a short nap and freshening up, daddy and I explored the area at the vicinity of the hotel in search for a supermarket nearby. It was a fun, cold and windy walk and we did manage to locate the place and did some grocery shopping.

Afterwards, we all went to explore Southbank on foot. Hehehe... now I realise that not all countries are the same. If we were in Brunei, we'd definitely be going around in our car but here, walking is the way to go. I felt a bit tired and occassionally complain about my aching legs whilst Safiya was relaxed as she sat on the pram most of the time. Hehehe...

Amazingly, Southbank is the centre of culture in Brisbane. Firstly, we visited a man-made beach about 5 minutes walk from the hotel. It was too cold to have a dip as such we continued strolling along the riverbank.

We took some pictures along the way...

Brisbane city across the river

In front of a Pagoda replica

The famous Wheel Of Brisbane

Walking along one of the bridges that connect Southbank to the city. In Brunei, this could be a bridge connecting Bandar Seri Begawan to areas like Sungai Kebun / Lumapas (that would be nice!)

After a short visit to the city, we walked back to Southbank and visited the museum. I was extremely excited because there are lots of animal displays, and my favourite was of course the dinosaur! We also learned about other animals, experiment what it would feel if we were to have wings and see how big a dinosaur egg must have been.

After all the excitement, we decided to call it a day and spent the rest of the evening resting. What an enjoyable first day in Brisbane!