Instead of spending time researching about weight loss pills that work, andrea has committed to taking zumba lessons. Together with arlene, they go zumba-dancing on Tuesdays and Friday afternoons, usually leaving before 6 and then returning a few minutes before 8. I, on the other hand, become in charge of the kids and the house while they work out.

So far, it has been great. I get to spend some alone time with anika and mateo, while andrea and arlene get to spend some sisterly time together. There were a few challenging moments, yes, especially when anika would demand getting lulled to sleep for almost the whole 2 hours, but otherwise, it has been awesome. The girls seemed to be enjoying the workout (so much so that andrea has been persuading me to go with her lately) while the kids and I do a lot of catching up/bonding (during playtime).

Perhaps, when mateo and anika are old enough, we can all try zumba together. But until then, I’m okay with staying home. hehehe!

To get to  our place, you have to pass through 2 forks, an intersection, a blind curve, and a steep bending incline (and that’s just from the main road). As if these are not daunting enough, the road too is a bit narrow that at certain points, only a single car can pass at a time. No wonder a lot of people get lost trying to find our place. But what can we do?

At the moment, our location is very convenient. We’re just 15 minutes away from our place of work, a local store, 10-minute-ride away from the closest mall, and just a few houses away from the nearest Filipino community. I told andrea it might help a little to put some address plaques at the main road but she told me that people here are used to such setups. Even our service driver is content with getting just the road numbers when trying to find a place. He said that’s really all you need to find any location here in Brunei. No fuss, no hard-to-pronounce or remember names, no confusions. What else can I say to that?

December is not exactly the most festive month here in Brunei. This is especially true if you grew up in a predominantly catholic country like the Philippines where people consider the last month to be synonymous to the greatest celebration of the year – Christmas. And you know what makes it even lonelier? – not being able to go anywhere else, that’s what.

Andrea and I were thinking that the Christmas break would be a lot more bearable if we could at least go to the mall, or the park, or anywhere else besides home just to break the monotony. The problem is our family (with anika and mateo) makes it quite inconvenient to take public transportation. And with our regular service drivers going back to the Philippines for the vacation, even special transport services are not an option. This is the reason why we’re seriously pursuing the alternative of getting our own car by December.

I know it would probably set us back a few hundreds, but getting one seems to be the practical choice. It’s not like we can assemble our own ATVs even if there’s a surplus of polaris sportsman parts here in the country. And even if we can construct one, we’d probably be covered in cakes of dust and smoke before we reach the closest supermarket riding the thing.

Anyway, there are still a lot of things to consider – budget, requirements, models, and so many more – before we can decide if we really can get one. Hopefully, if all the considerations permit, we’ll have our own ride as we celebrate Christmas.

Moving things around is taking a toll on my body. First, there are the books. With more than a hundred books to carry home and then back to school, my back now hurts regularly. Second, there are the accessories – visual aids, speakers, laptop, and whatever else is needed. Good thing I’m now taking the service otherwise I would have to joggle everything while figuring out how to cross over the fence on the way to school.

Still, I’m thinking of having a few of my accessories permanently stay in the workplace not only to ease the moving back and forth but also to prolong the life of my electronic gadgets. (Moving around causes a lot of wear and tear because of the constant shaking and banging when being transported) Currently, I’m looking for an Energy subwoofer speaker dealer to purchase a set of sounds from. My old speakers I’m willing to leave in school while the new ones I plan on setting up at home. (Since we don’t have any TV yet, the laptop doubles as an entertainment system so we really need the speakers.)

Hopefully, I lessen enough load to keep my back ache-free for a long time.

It’s a good thing roadside assistance in the Philippines is always present. It’s either just a phone call away or just a few minutes apart (roving wreckers I mean). The likelihood of an accident in China, involving a child being run over twice by vehicles and  being ignored by passersby, happening in the Philippines is fortunately quite small. At least that’s one good thing about having a lot of nosy people around – there is always someone that would mind what’s going on.

It’s just extremely heart wrenching watching the surveillance video of the incident and seeing so many people ignoring what should have been a very basic, almost instinct-driven reaction to a person – more so to a child in such a predicament. Heck, never mind about being prosecuted for helping incorrectly. Any help would probably have made a big difference in this case. Aaarrrgghhh! Damn those who saw and didn’t do anything. Damn them all.

Health is a serious issue wherever you are. And now that we’re here in foreign soil, it just gets a little bit more cumbersome. Differences in medical procedures, treatment, and doctor-patient relationships can give pause to anyone who seeks medical attention in an unfamiliar place.

This is why andrea and I are trying are best to keep everyone in the family in top shape. We teach the kids to regularly wash their hands, bathe daily, and to recognize when they needed cleaning. Andrea and Arlene attend dance fitness lessons every week. I, however, just try my best to relax and keep my blood pressure leveled. As much as possible, I don’t want to end up on medication or as another Crestor lawsuit so I veer away from medication first. I employ more traditional, and less invasive methods such as reading a book, walking, and sleeping.

I hope none of us gets sick or would require medical attention anytime soon. We have very little support at the moment nor the means to seek medical aid at home.

Living in the Philippines for almost 30 years, I’ve grown accustomed to hour-long traffic jams, tension-filled commutes, and more than ample supply of public transportation – a fact that I now find strange and unreasonable here in Brunei.

With very few numbered buses to provide public transportation, traffic here in Brunei is a dream compared to the one I grew up with. However, the very reason that makes it so comfortable is also the same reason why commuting here is quite inconvenient.

Aside from the fact that buses are sometimes more than 30 minutes apart from each other, they are also operational only until 7 in the evening. This makes things difficult and at the same time expensive because the only way to travel at night, or in cases where haste is required, is to find service transports.

Each service trip is thrice as expensive as the bus commute. Because of this, we are seriously considering pushing for a car when expenses become more bearable. Question is, when exactly would that happen… hehehe!

The school draws to a close. By October, lessons stop and the latter part of the month shall be devoted to examinations. I am, however, still buried in thoughts as to how to adjust to the grueling pace of teaching here.

Mountains of books to mark, children refusing to do their part, and exam results that fall short of parents’ expectations – the answer to such things riddles still elude me. And without fangs to bear, the absence of absolute authority, the refusal of some parents to cooperate, the riddles are wrapped in even more mysterious puzzles.

But, what to do lah?!

For the past how many months, andrea and I have been looking around for a school for our little boy. However, there are a couple of considerations that make the search even more difficult that is supposed to.

First, since mateo had to stop schooling for over a year, we’re suspecting some difficulty in readjusting himself back to a routine. He’s been quite active lately and has started becoming more and more insistent especially when it comes play. I fear that school, especially the wrong one, might end up ruining the love of studies for my child. Even now, as he hungers for story books and drawing blocks, I’m worried that unstructured play and learning will make it even harder for him to adjust to the structured system of a classroom.

Second, since only a few schools here  are courageous enough to embrace the progressive approach, the chances of getting my son into one that will not choke his interest is admittedly slim. Perhaps, when he’s old enough I wouldn’t be so worried. Heck, he could choose to enter a cosmetology school if he so desires it, and I wouldn’t give him a second’s pause. But until that time, he should be well placed and his potentials nourished in an institution that will best recognize his strengths.

I only pray we find the right one quickly. School starts on January.

This blog post was based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com or contact Regency Beauty Institute – 3583 Alpine Avenue NW – Walker, MI 49544

Although I’m not a snake enthusiast, I’ve always appreciated snakes. No, I don’t feel drawn to them. I just simply admire the patterns and the behavior that they exhibit. So, imagine my surprise when a commotion at the rear side entrance of the school gave me a close encounter with a real wild specimen.

It happened about two days ago. My supposedly quiet (boring) but rainy afternoon was interrupted by one of the cleaners barging into the kitchen. Christopher, the said cleaner, was asking for help on how to deal with snakes. I asked why. He said he needed to take care of one ASAP. So I reluctantly went with him to the rear area of the school. Then there it was, a green, scaly viper, complete with the characteristic spear shaped head and a tongue flicking in and out of its closed mouth. It was on on the concrete floor just a few feet away from the grassy flanks of the walkway. It wasn’t scurrying away from us despite the 4 people around it. Instead it was almost motionless (well except for the forked tongue), but poised and ready for an attack (the neck was coiled in a striking pose).

I told Christopher not to do anything because I’m almost a hundred percent sure that it was poisonous. It had a slender body decorated with a captivating light green stripes alternating with thin white or yellow bands. Since I know that slender bodies are usually for snakes built for speed (and not for constriction), I was very hesitant about moving closer than 4 to 5 feet from the reptile. But my fascination kept me from running away from it too. I kept on thinking of a way to capture the marvelous serpent.

Christopher distracted me with a question. Will it die from getting smashed, he said. I answered him with a yes, but depending on what you hit it with. Before I knew he took a long pole from one of the rooms and then whipped the pole straight into the unsuspecting snake. And with a single hit, it was dead.

I made my disappointment known after I saw the creature wriggle and slowed down to a permanent halt. I told the cleaner how very uncommon it was to see a wild snake, especially something so magnificently decorated, this close and not in captivity. However, their concerns seem to be more practical in nature than mine. The snake was dangerous, it was blocking the walkway, and the kids might get bitten by it, so the quickest and most effective way to dispose of the problem was to eliminate the snake there and then. How could I argue with that? I didn’t exactly have an alternative to present.

So, my brief encounter ended sadly. It was quite memorable and exhilarating but it was also tragic. My only consolation was that the snake I saw was not of an endangered species, and they are pretty common in the jungles of Borneo. You don’t have to own a gps handheld garmin to tread the green backyards of the school in order to see another one. I was told that a lot of teachers have seen similar snakes so maybe I might just get another glimpse. Who knows.