Halloween Party

No trick or treating this time, that tradition is not commonly done here in Brunei. Fortunately, my new-found Filipina friends here has an annual Halloween potluck party, and we were invited to join.



Tinkerbell and Bumblebee




The finished pumpkins





sweet loot




Do we look good together?



Her very first pumpkin

We had a nice dinner, some parlor games, and  lots of sweets to give and share. Plus, each kid carved or got helped to carve his/her own pumpkin.

It was a fun night!

Sandflies

The kids and I went to Muara beach last Thursday. We had a nice time playing in the sand, chasing after small crabs, and playing at the playground, totally oblivious of these very small blood suckers.

Well, we learned about them the hard way. The small red bumps came out yesterday, but I was not bothered because they weren't any worse than mosquito bites, and we felt fine.

But today the bumps look angrier. Worse, they're really, really itchy. Poor kids!

I just found out that these bugs breed in swampy or estuarine conditions. It's just strange that I've been to numerous beaches in the Philippines, Korea, even Hawaii, but I've never experienced being bitten by these damn sandflies.

Note to self: Thou shall not forget thy Off lotion!

Anniversary Getaway

Last Thursday was our 8th year wedding anniversary so we decided to revisit The Marriott in Miri to make it a little more special. We could only stay for 1 night though since Mr. Big had to work today, but we still had a good time. We thought at first to leave the kids to our tried and trusted sitter/part-time amah, but changed our minds like we always do. I guess that's what parenting is. We wished to have some "alone" time with each other and yet we knew we wouldn't enjoy ourselves anyway thinking and missing and worrying about them.

The traffic was really good going there so we managed to arrive in the hotel in 2 hours. We went swimming as soon as we arrived. The hotel has a really nice pool area right near the beach----great for just relaxing and having fun with the kids. I forgot to recharge my camera's battery though (bummer!), the pics here were taken last June (sorry about the wrong dates on the pictures!).

Another great thing is that the hotel offers babysitting (for 30 MYR/hour) so at least we were able to have an anniversary dinner and have some drinks afterwards by ourselves.

8 years, eh? I guess we have successfully scratched the 7-year itch! Yay!

Happy Anniversary baby! Love yah!