New gadget, new user

26th April 2012

Daddy recently bought the new Samsung Galaxy Tab. Apart from himself, we were also excited to use a new gadget and explore its functions. Amazingly, our 2 year old brother is also an "expert" in using it, and from the pictures below, there seems to be another little person wanting to play as well.

Firstly, smile at the camera...

Then, observe my brother...

 

"Hey, i think i get the idea!"

 

Finally Safiya says, "Okay abang, it's my turn now!" Hehehe...!

Trip to Labuan

2nd April 2012

It's been quite a long time since our last family vacation. We had our school holiday last week and at the same time mummy also took two weeks off from work (the thought of putting all four of us under our grandparents' care was unacceptable to her).

As a last minute plan, our parents decided to go to the Malaysian island of Labuan. Mummy remembered that the last time she went there was with my grandparents approximately 23 years ago. Wow... such a long time! Another driving factor for us is that now we can go to Labuan by car on board the Shuttle Hope ferry.

The initial plan was to go on a day trip, but nini laki suggested that we spend a night there so that we will not be rushing to catch up the ferry back home on the same day. We found a nice accommodation online and managed to book a 3-room apartment, right above a shopping complex. It's not a walking distance from the ferry terminal but since we had a car, that was not a problem for us.

Once we arrived at Labuan, we checked into our place of stay and rested for a little bit. We then went shopping whilst our grandparents stay a bit longer. Apparently nini bini got a bit sea sick because she was mistakenly led to believe that it was better to travel by sea on an empty stomach to avoid throwing up. Lesson well learned; never do that! Make sure you eat before travelling - in moderation of course.

In the afternoon, we ventured around Labuan to locate our long-lost relative. Helped only by GPS, we managed to find their house and had our afternoon tea there. Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures! Oh well, perhaps next time.

Then, we made a stop at Tanjung Aru to have our dinner. Acting on his friend's advice, daddy made a reservation a day before via phone call. Never have we tasted such fresh crabs before, and it was definitely worth the trip! We had chilli crab, buttermilk crab as well as the signature barbeque chicken famous to Tanjung Aru. We also took some pictures just before sunset.

 

 

 

The next day, we did some more shopping and then went back home to Brunei on board the 4pm ferry. That time, nini bini was feeling okay throughout the journey.

Safwan's 2nd birthday celebration

 

25th March 2012

Safwan turned 2 on March 15th. However, our parents decided to postpone his party until the school holidays. Usually, we host gatherings and parties at home, but since we are still "maidless", mummy thought we make an exception this time and have the party elsewhere. After much deliberation and making choices, we finally settled for the Poolside Cafe at the Jerudong Polo & Riding Club.

Since the venue hosts its afternoon tea every Sunday afternoon, we requested that our party be held in the morning instead. It proved to be a wise choice since we ended up having the pool all to ourselves! The only downside is the heat since it's outdoors, but the organiser helped by providing extra fans to ensure our comfort.

After prayer recitation, it was birthday cake time. Safwan was excited to see the cake in the form of his favourite cartoon character, Lightning McQueen. He was a bit shy becoming the center of attention that day, but he was definitely happy!

To all our immediate family and friends, thank you for making the event a successful one. We also hope that all of you had a great time dipping in the pool! Till the next one!

Back in action

12 March 2012

Oh gosh! It has been a while since we updated this blog. Frankly we are not even sure if there are still anyone out there who still remember reading blogs! Everyone seem to be busy updating their status on facebook instead. Hehehe

Anyway, for the few remaining followers, we appreciate your time reading this blog. Life for us has been wonderful as always, a bit hectic though especially for mummy and daddy since our maids have gone back to their home country. Still, we do enjoy family time together; we recently visited Yayasan Complex in Bandar and took some pictures in front of the SOAS mosque.

Our grandparents' orchard

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"

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?

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

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

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

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!