Kuala Lurah

Hi Everyone


School is OK. I'm just starting to settle into a routine. The kids seem very well behaved at the moment....but this is the honeymoon period.


I've taken my first trip over the boarder to a place called Kuala Lurah which is in Sarawak (Malaysia). It's really near to our house. It's basically a shanty town, but it has lots of bars that sell very cheap Tiger Beer. We had a few beers and some Satay which was nice. We also brought some Tiger Beer to take back over the border - it was only $1 a bottle which is 29p.


So far I'm enjoying living here. The weather is pretty predictable (always hot) apart from the occasional rain storm. Of course when it rains, it rains shit loads. We were in Gadong night market the other day, when it started to piss it down. We were under cover, so it was ok at first. Unfortunately the rain got worse and the thunder and lightening started. The winds really picked-up and the rain was literally flying horizontally in a thick mist everywhere. Then the lights went out and trees started falling over and breaking. We of course got completely soaked and luckily managed to get back to the car.

Anyway gotta go, take care

Julia

School Stress

Hi everyone

Well I've finished my first week of school and it was pretty stressful. Information overload!!!!! I'm also teaching a course that no one has taught before. The course material is pretty crap and useless, so I've no idea how I'm going to get these kids to pass the course. The lesson plans were obviously made my an illiterate failed teacher.

Hopefully I'll be moving into my new house tomorrow and I'll have my new car. Thankfully I've got Monday off school because it is a bankholiday, which is wicked. The kids come in on Tuesday and thats when the real stress starts.


I've just downloaded some photo's of my trip to fishguard. So I thought I'd post some on my blogg.

















It's now started to tip it down outside, so hopefully it will be a little cooler today. Got another meeting in a moment....so better go.

Julia xx

Starting School

Well, at the moment I'm living with a lady called Christine who is the Drama Teacher at the school. She is really nice and comes from Canada. Her house is great and really close to the school.

Neil dropped me at the school today and the staff and I went to a really nice restaurant where we had a fantastic Chinese lunch......I am soooo stuffed.

Last weekend Neil and I went to a really nice riverside cafe in KB. It is right beside the river and on the other side of the river is just endless jungle.....it was a fantastic view. The food was cheap as well. It cost 12 dollars for our meal which is about 4 pounds.

We also went to Jeurdong theme park which was a bit of disappointment because all the rides were closed because they are being sold to Thailand. It's been closed for two years because there doesn't seem to be much demand for a theme park in Brunei. However, we still had a go on the bumper cars, shooting gallery and sega rally. It was fun! There is a karting track there as well.....amazingly it was open BUT there was only 1 car in operation. Neil went for a ride around the track....surprisingly he won the race!

I'm really looking forward to teaching at the school because it appears that Malaysian children are far better behaved than their English counterparts.

Anyway, gotta go

Julia xx

First week in South East Asia

We left last Wednesday and arrived in Singapore on Thursday. Singapore is really nice. It is incredibly clean and modern. The hotel we stayed in was really nice, just by the waterfront.

We went to Clarke Quay and Boat Quay where we drank pitchers of Tiger beer in happy hour. We also went for a boat trip up the river which was cool......worst driver in the world. It was quite funny because the driver kept pointing out historical buildings in Singapore and then would say.........'we are knocking it down and building a casino'. Everything in Singapore is like that......as soon as it looks shabby they knock it down and build something new in its place.

In the evening we went to the Newton Hawker stalls where they serve all kinds of fantastic food at market stalls. I had prawns the size of my head....it was amazing. I also had a coconut drink which basically is a coconut (but still inside it's green outer shell), with the top cut off and straw put inside. It was really nice.

On the Friday we went to Singapore Zoo which is a fantastic zoo. There are no bars or cages in the zoo, all the animals are separated from the public by moats. We also went into an area where you could get up close to the animals. There were butterflies flying around everywhere and lemars walking beside you.....we got some excellent pictures which I will post as soon as I can.

On Saturday we arrived in Brunei. I met a lady from work at the airport and she whisked me off to have blood tests and x-rays so that I can get my visa. I also went to see the school which is really nice. I've met a few of the teachers and they all seem really friendly.

I am currently staying in a guest house in KB which is at the other end of the country to my school. I am going to live with a teacher for the first week in Bandar Seri Begawan (the capital). Then me and Neil will move into a house in Jerudong (which is near Bandar) and Neil will commute to work everyday.

We've seen a nice house which we think we might take. I've also seen a nice car which I think I might buy. It's a Subaru Impreza, 1.6.

Brunei is nice. It's much less developed then Singapore.... in fact around 80% is jungle. The food is excellent.....I've had some very nice meals. The only thing I don't like is the bugs. My legs have already been bitten to shreds. We also saw this GIANT bug which is about 10 times the size of a large UK fly. It makes a horrible buzzing noise as well...yuk.

The weather is hot, but not as hot as you think. In fact in the mornings and evenings it is extremely pleasant weather. It has rained quite a bit. One minute it's sun shining and the next minute the wind picks up and the rain hammers down....and then it stops.

Anyway, feel free to post comments on my blog.

Take care

Julia

Hi,

Ths is beginning of my Malaysian Adventure!!!!!!!!!!!


Julia xx