Two Months in – Finally getting things sorted

Two Months in – Finally getting things sorted

Selamat Datang! (Warm Greetings)

After patiently waiting for just about everything we are finally ticking things off the ‘to do’ list. Firstly we have purchased 2 cars from an expat couple who are upgrading to new cars. My car is a little blue bubble Kia Picanto and Jason’s a 7 seater people mover Kia Carens (diesel). Car buying here is a risky business with such a hot and humid weather climate, cars have tendencies to over heat, couple that with the fact locals do not service their vehicles and there is no “Warrant of Fitness” requirement, it seems buying second hand is a recipe for disaster. There is general consensus that if you buy from an expat you may have more luck as they are more likely to have maintained the vehicle. Fingers crossed. Both our vehicles are manuals, which locals generally can not drive so we can only hope that they have a good history of expat ownership. The previous owners have added us to their insurance on the vehicles so that we can legally drive them while we wait for work permit, identity cards and drivers licences to be processed. We continue to wait patiently for those. Petrol is cheap at 51c a litre and diesel for Jason’s car 38c a litre. It costs me $16 to fill the tank and Jason $13.

The next thing we have crossed off the list is finding a house. After looking at around 30 houses we found a place that I liked. Yes that ‘I’ liked. Jason had a different favourite. I won. Although it didn’t look like the building and completion would happen in time for us to move in, somehow the landlords and property manager managed to coax contractors into pulling finger and completing everything within a week, ready for us to move in by the 20^th. Otherwise we would have had to spend another month in Tungku (first apartment), which would have been painful.

It is a brand new semi-detached house which as been kitted out with most of our wish list furniture requirements, the boys are particularly happy with the 42inch 3D television. Funnily enough we now live in Mata Mata, a suburb just outside of city centre. It is convenient for Jason getting the boys to school 8km down the motorway and my school is 17km away, which isn’t too bad as my school is 11km up a coastal highway which only has two ends. My school is basically 20kms from anywhere in Bandar so my 17km commute is pretty good.

I am currently on a two week break from school and we are heading to Labuan on Tuesday 21^st August for 3 nights. It’s a small Malaysian duty free island so bound to be relaxing and probably good for an ale or two. We will take the car on the ferry to the island so we can drive around and explore while we are there. 

This morning we celebrated moving in with bacon and eggs for breakfast. Muslims do not eat pork and will not touch/handle anything containing pork or pork products so at the super market there is a non-halal sealed section behind a sliding glass door where you can buy bacon, pork, sausages, gelatine, ham and pineapple pizza. The people who work in the sealed section are non-muslim so it is okay for them to touch/serve the food. This way the checkout operator at the main door does not have to touch anything non-halal.

We have become accustomed to life in Brunei and I think we are doing a pretty good job of adapting to the culture and differences. We watched the Chiefs game with friends from 4 different countries, which was pretty neat. The boys have made friends with every kid they have met and have given up worrying about the amount of head rubs they receive everyone thinks these blonde ‘twins’ are so cute and need there heads patted.

The boys have enjoyed summer camp during the school break. They went quad biking as one of their activities. This pick of Ethan shows what happens when a tree branch helps you do a back flip off a quad bike. Pretty superficial but a great conversation starter. The boys with finally start school on the 27th after a GIANT break.

On another booze run to Malaysia we came across every house and shack adorned with flags in celebration of Hari Raya (big celebration to end Ramadan-fastin).

 The Toyato car dealership also goes 'all out' when it comes to decorating for Hari Raya.

 Brunei is full of the unexpected, many weird and wonderful things to encounter. These porcupine were out the back of a furniture store which sold regal style chinese lounge suites and flashy expensive things. They had a 4 month old porcupine with a collar and leash in the shop eating melon! As well as a squirrel in a cage?!