Ulu Temburong National Park Part 2

We had to wake up very early as there was a lot to be covered today. The breakfast consisted of noodles and scrambled eggs! Apparently this is what the locals have for breakfast every morning. It was delicious though and kept us going till lunch.

The first stop on our itinery was at a longhouse. The one we visited had about 25 rooms lined up with families living in each room. It looked tiny on the outside but each room had another room behind it so was quite spacious. All the families were related to each other. There was a nice community feel to it all.

After visiting the longhouse it was time to go to the National Park. I was soooo excited! It was a gorgeous day (like it is every day here!) and the thought of climbing up through the Borneo rainforest was too much excitement! The only way to get to the Park is by boats which have to be booked in advance through agents for the Park. You cannot visit the Park on your own- there has to be a tour guide. We all got onto a long boat and just enjoyed the ride through the river.

The Park was quite far away and the journey took about half an hour with the boat. This was the same river we were going to be rafting down later on!

On reaching the Park we had to climb a few steps to reach the actual canopy walk structure.

(Yusuf leading the way- he turned in Diego the Explorer on this trip!)

(The rainforest)

It was really nice and cool in the rainforest and there were all sorts of different insects. We came across these huge ants. They were everywhere! There were also lots of lizards but we didnt see anything else.

We were told orangutans used to come to this part of the rainforest regularly but have stopped doing so because of the tourism. It took a while to reach the strucutre and after a short break we started climbing it.

(This was not the full height of the structure. After climbing up this one there was a bridge which you had to cross and the same height again to climb! Then another bridge and another climb before you finally got to the top.)

(Zaheer leading the way!)

It wasn't too bad but Zaheer really s**t himself (fear of heights didnt help!) and didnt really enjoy the experience as much as he would've liked to. I loved every second of it! It really is a memory I will never ever forget. To see the Borneo rainforest from the very top of the tallest trees was spectacular. None of the photos do any justice that was the beauty up there. I did feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to go and see it. Just beautiful.

(It was jsut amazing- there was rainforest every where you looked and on a clear day you can also see Mount Kinabalu in Sabah.)

(Salome and me)

International Day at JIS 2009

This is one of the biggest events at JIS and is usually a very busy day with parades for the kids, food stalls, talks and speeches for the Middle and Upper Schools and a concert at the end.

(Yusufs is the fourth one in from the right- the yellow one!)

You are basically asked to wear something that represents your country. Since the UK doesn't really have a national dress, I wore my Shalwar Kameez. We miraculously managed to find a Sherwani for Yusuf but none for Zaheer who had to go in wearing a shirt and trousers!

(Me and Yusuf dressed the part)

(Zaheer being boring!)

The day begins with a parade for the kids. This is where the classes in the Junior School go up on to the stage and introduce all the different Nationalities. My favourite costume for the UK was a boy dressed up as Ozzy Osbourne. It was brilliant! He even had the guitar and hair! Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures of him but trust me it was one of the best costumes!

(Two of my favourite costumes are in this picture- the ninja (who must have been boiling in that suit) and the leprechaun! He really made me laugh!)

(Yusuf's turn to do the parade)

(Yusuf's class- Reception Fish)

(Yusuf looking gorgeous!)

After this the kids can go have a look at all the diffrent stalls that are set up and enjoy the events that are held throughout the day.

(China stall- all the kids got a spinning drum, it was brilliant!)

(Gurkha Martial Arts event- most impressive!)

It was a really fun day. I am trying to decide now what/who I should dress up as next year.........

Ulu Temburong National Park

This post has taken me absolute ages to put together because I took over 300 pictures and sorting through them all and picking some for the blog was hard work! So this post will be done in 3 or 4 smaller posts becasue there are a lot of pictures!

We booked a package holiday with a company based in Brunei called Intrepid Tours. The price covered absolutely everything- the water taxis, the nightime safari, visiting a long house, taking the long boat to the national park, entrance to the park, river rafting, accommodation and all the food. We only spent one night there yet covered everything. It was the best holiday ever!

(This is what we eventually climb up)

We went with a friend of ours called Salome. The tour company was based in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan which is only 20 minutes form Rimba (like most things!). From there we were taken to the water taxis which would take us direct to Temburong. This should have been a 40 minute boat ride but it broke down half way through the journey. It was ok for the first 10 minutes but then the heat just got unbearable. I really started feeling very claustrophobic as the boat was absolultey packed. Salome then had the nerve to say at this moment, "They call these boats floating coffins"! I could have killed her! We were stranded for about 30 minutes when the rescue boat arrived. I had never felt so relieved!

(Boat breaking down!)

(The view was something I suppose!)

Our tour guide was waitng for us in Temburong when we got off the boat and took us to our accommodation. As we arrived I saw a huge mansion of a building and thought that was it! Turned out it was the house of the owner of the tiny house next to it which was our accomodation! We hadn't paid much so it wasn't too much of a disappointment.

(The lounge! You can imagine what the rest of the guest house looked like!)

After refreshing up a bit we were on our way to the nightime safari. This was such a brilliant experience. It is always very hot and humid but the boat rides are just so refreshing and cooling. We went along the river for ages and spotted lots of monkeys. At dusk we decided to turn around and look for crocodiles! We had a few torches and were looking for the reflections of the crocodiles eyes as this is the only way to spot them. On the way we came across a huge barge carrying the tree trunks and nearly crashed right in to it as there was no room on the side we were on. The barge had swung right in and missed us by inches! The thought of falling into the river at night with crocodiles about really shook me up! I don't think I have ever panicked as much as I had done then! We did however spot a baby crocodile in the river and was told the mother will be around but is probably hiding. Is was soo cute! Its the only word to describe it! It was very shy so we only saw it for a short while. My camera had died at this point due to the humidity but I probably couldn't have taken a picture anyway.

(Our boat- the blue one)

(The humongous barge that nearly killed us!)

(Our tour guide- he was brilliant)

(The view along the river)

(I love this shot)

(Looking for crocodiles!)

(Getting soaked as it started raining really heavily when we were on the river. Very scary)

Anyway that was the first part of the trip! I will post the other part(s) soon!

Ladies Night

Since nothing ever happens in Brunei, this event was VERY popular! There were women from all different parts of Brunei, not just from the school. And it was sooooooooo much fun! The food was good, the music was brilliant and the friends were fantastic! They are thinking of making this a regular thing which I think will sell out every time. (The guys had a poker night held at the same time cus they were jealous!)

Halloween 2009

This was the first time the residents of Rimba (the area we live in) had organised a Halloween party for the kids and it was a massive success. About 80 children turned up with lots of food and lots of games and prizes. Trick or treating was done in groups of 10 and Yusuf got loads of sweets! He hasn't touched them though. There are just too many for him to eat. It was a really nice night for the kids but very tiring for the adults. It was an especially humid night too and I was really hot and sticky by the end of it. Yusuf loved it!

(The transformation)

(Yusuf decided he didn't like it because it was 'too scary'!)

(Pumpkin competition- we didn't have one)

(lots of games)

(trick or treating)

(This was the most impressive thing I have ever seen. There were lights in the mouth too! And the reason why I was sooooooooo impressed with this- the owner had MADE IT HIMSELF!!!)