Back home safely but not feeling too well

Well.. its been a busy, tiring and cold holiday.  We were in London and Paris for the past 10 days and its taken a toll on me.  I was sick and coughing all along!  I didnt feel too well already when we left and it did get better for a few days but my coughing persists.  I am still coughing until now and I feel so tired and sick.  But the holiday was great.  I can never believe we were really there and saw all the beauitful scenaries.  London was beautiful, very cold but we didnt get to see any snow.  It was busy too, with lots of tourists and shoppers around.  Good bargains were held on some of the shops.  Hubby introduced me to places like Harrods and Selfridges. 

And I couldnt say more about Paris.  It was the most beautiful place in the whole world.  The buildings were unique, pretty and so full of characters.  No wonder people says its the most romantic city in the world.  We saw it first hand when we went for river cruise along the Seine River.  That place was insane.  I would like to go there again some day.  And I must!

Well.. for more pictures, its gonna have to be at our holiday blog. I try to upload as much pictures as possible and I hope the computer wont act up again.

Us at the Buckingham Palace London

Off to our dream holiday

Leaving Brunei tomorrow to embark on our dream holiday.  Off to London and Paris for the next 10 days.  Will try to update and post more once we reach destination.

More later.

Empire Getaway in pictures

Very frustrating if the computer didnt cooperate!  I wish to upload more photos but the computer is acting up so cannot do much.  So these are the few pictures that can be posted during our last weekend outing to the Empire.

Caution!  Rusty nails at the swimming pool.  Another dangerous feature and it showed how low the maintenance is at the Empire!

At 6am in the morning, beautiful moon after the eclipse.

Eclipse of the Moon

This is so exciting.  While we were at the Empire, the weather was perfect.  From the time we checked in, at night and the next day, there was no cloud in the sky.  Not a drop of rain.  And the fact it coincide with the eclipse of the moon, made the whole experience worthwhile. 

When the eclipse started we were already looking up the sky.  It didnt started until around 7.30pm and dragged on  until 10.15pm when we witnessed the full eclipse.  It was surreal.  It reminded me the greatness of our creator, Allah SWT.  It was so beautiful when the moon slowing turning red.  And this was also the first time I witnessed such a phenomenon.  There were a number of eclipse over the years, and I tried to witness them but it was always the weather forbid me from doing so.  But last night, I did witness it with my naked eyes.  Alhamdulilah.

Happy Birthday Fawwaz

Here is our youngest member of the family.  He is one year old today 11th December.  Such a happy and bouncy little boy.  Happy birthday Fawwaz!

Weekend at the Empire

We took advantage of  cheaper room promotions at the Empire over the weekend.  It only cost B$190++ per night, with a choice of activities either kayaking, futsal, bowling and tennis. 2 goodie bags for the kids and breakfast for 2.  My brother came with us with his kids and both families stayed at the Lagoon North Building.  Our first time here though, we stayed at the Seaside building the last time we were here last January.

We enjoyed the stay although there were lots of people checking in, I guess since its school holidays and everyone is taking all the kids over.  Long queue at the reception, I guess they need to be more efficient and work faster. 

The only downside of the stay was the room and the rundown nature of the whole building.  I wonder why when it comes to maintenance, Brunei is really bad at that.   We found the curtain didnt work.  So we slept at night with the curtain not fully close and we could see the night sky!  

Another thing, its about time the management of Empire change the TV to flatscreens.  I am sure they should have the money to do that!  Almost all hotels have flatscreen tv these days.  The tv at the Empire are old and the channels are limited and the broadcast was very poor. 

The floor need to be polished more.  It lacked spark, some cushions missing the buttons.  And the most important of all is cleanliness.  Nobody tidying up the place the next day.  Rubbish were thrown over all the place the night before and nobody swept them off the next day. 

I guess, they only took care the main buildings but not the other buildings huh.  Nevertheless it was a good stay and we were ok with the rest.  Afterall we were supporting the local economy here and I hope to see some improvements soon.  Anyway, some pictures below, taken from my Galaxy tab.  I will post more interesting and clearer pictures soon, once hubby managed to fix his Macbook Pro....

On our way to the Lagoon Building

Our room.

Me chilling at the balcony

The swimming pool at the lagoon building, so many kids!

The empire chocolate we bought, this was locally made at the Empire and they were quite nice. We also bought some Macarons, although I didnt like them as much, very sweet.

Kimchi!

Lately we have been trying a lot of firsts in the food department.  And last night another first, hubby took us to eat Korean food at one of the Korean Restaurant in Bandar, called Kimchi Restaurant.  I had no idea what Kimchi is.  Never tried it before but hubby went there the other day with his colleagues and wanted me to give it a go and see how I feel.  He assured me I wont be dissapointed so off we go then.

I was impressed with the restaurant, really posh and the minute we entered, the waitresses greeted us and asked whether we would go for Ala Cart or BBQ.  I had no idea what to choose so hubby said BBQ then we were ushered to the 1st floor.  I guess the ground floor was for the normal ala Cart menu and the 1st floor was for BBQ menu.  Once we were seated, my guess was right.  Every table on the 1st floor was equipped with a bbq stove powered by electricity.

Once seated, we were given the menu and I let hubby to choose since I was not very familiar with the whole thing.  We didnt choose alot since this was our first time and we were not really a big eater, you know, although we tend to eat outside alot hehe. 

My verdict?  Not too bad.  I like it although in terms of prices, its on the high side.  Kimchi is really good and I wont hesitate to try it again in the future.

Kimchi Restaurant in Kiulap

The sign outside the restaurant.

Nice cultery, I like the metal chopsticks

Hubby studying the menu

Us waiting for the bbq stove to heat up.  The Korean dish usually comes with side dish, and in Kimchi there were 8 side dishes.

The stove at close range.

We requested the waitress to do the bbqing for us.

Chadol Baegi cost B$16.95

Chicken Teriyaki (my favourite) cost B$13.95

Bibimbap B$8.95

Sugogi Udon B$5.45

This is how to eat the Kimchi, hubby wrapped it around the salad leave.

 

Kimchi - its quite nice.

Before wrapping the Kimchi.

Yummy...

I am enjoying it hahaha..

December = Holiday!

I just love December!  Its the last month of the year, which means schools are off, students finish their exam and the roads are free from traffic jams!  Yeay..!!!

And the best thing that will come about in a few weeks is our holiday.  Cant wait, I even started packing. 

So looking forward to being away from office.  Its been a long time since my last holiday.  And whats even bizzare for me (sound strange I know, but that didnt happen very often, only in this new office lol), is since I started here early this year, I havent been away for more than 3 days.  I didnt even take any leave during Hari Raya!  So when the holiday period come, I will be subdued and lay very low for about 2 weeks.

Cant wait to spend some good quality time with my beloved!

Poor birdy

Another surprise find but this time it was sad news, we found a dead bird in our front  porch :(  These birds were flying everywhere, especially in our neighbourhood.  But we didnt know why one day we found this bird hiding in the exhaust pipe of our car!  I think this bird is called swallow bird. These birds love to hide and build their nests in caves or corner of houses.  And maybe for this particular one, it didnt realise it was a dangerous place to be, when hubby started the engine and it was caught inside.  Poor poor birdy.

Happy Birthday!

Special greetings to my youngest brother on the ocassion of his birthday on 25th November 2011.  May Allah bless you and may all your dreams come true.  Stay well and healthy.

My brother with wife.

Our surprise find

At our backyard.

Life is so full of surprises and unexpected encounter.  No matter how small or big, its always a welcoming thing.  Look what we found at the back side of our house.  A fully grown chilli plant.  Ok I know  its nothing special about it but let me explain.  Our back yard is made up of concrete, nothing grows there.  We seldom venture out there, its like the least favourite place in the whole house.  But one day we were surprise to see the plant and its grown in the drain!  Its really fertile and bears red and plump chillis.  So funny. 

It must came from the chilli seeds I threw while cooking and ended up in the drain.  And with the moisture and the sunlight made it thrive.  Its really a welcoming sight.