Cockington Green Garden

Last Sunday we decided to go sightseeing. Since we can't travel far due to the missus being pregnant and close to her due date we thought we'd give this place a go since its about 45mins from our place.

Cockington Green Garden is one of those places with the landscaped gardens and comes with miniature buildings. Btw, I think it would have been better to visit during spring-summer 'cos after all, it is a garden. :)

The Entrance

What tour would be complete without posing with Mrs Kangaroo

"Err...sorry guys...but do you know the way to the Smurf village?"

"Nope...still lost"


Answer: Reading between the lines

An overview of the place


At first I was like "Cool...a crop circle...then hmmm...nope, it's a maze" :(

These were my favs...*LOL*

Then we visited the nearby souvenir village and their Reptile Centre.

The village reminded us of those English villages that you would see in the movies

Not exactly what I was expecting...'cos I was expecting a LOT of snakes and lizards of sorts. :(

Obviously there is too much pics to show so I've made a link here to view the album.

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Doa Selamat for Mawi

Let me hear you say it..."Mawi World!". :) This is a different Mawi. He's Karim's Son who just went through heart surgery about two weeks ago in Sydney. Brave young fella.

Btw...how do you find a Bruneian/Malay house in Aussie?

The gang is all here


The Missus(L) with Amy


From L to R: Ka Liza, Mjr Hasnah and Ka Hjh Hasmah








There's Mawi at the head of the table


The answer to the earlier question...(I know...I know...it's an old joke)

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Relax- a-text

Relax-a-text: Refers to a position most people opt for when texting on your mobile phones, lying down. It comes naturally to most of us. People say you reach textual nirvana in this position.

People here are taking this to the extreme. Just check this out....

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Capitol Cinema, Manuka

I went to the cinema today. Watched a movie alone, at 11.00 am. How sad is that? Then again, come to think of it, my movie day in Brunei was usually on Saturday morning...and yes I do go alone. I kinda like it 'cos its quiet and nobody bothers me.

Capitol Cinema, Manuka is about 10mins away from our place and so far has been the cheapest. $9 for adults compared to $16-$18 at the other cinemas. The place is decent and reminds me a bit of Bolkiah Cinema in B.S.B. :)

Capitol Cinema, Manuka

Any Day, Any Movie, All Session, All Tickets $9 - YESS!!!

Manuka Shops

I might as well comment on the movie I saw. I watched Hancock, not The Dark Knight like I wanted to('cos the other half wants to watch that with me). Here's the deal, Hancock, starring Will Smith. The movie has two sides, Good and Not So Good. The good part is the first half of the movie. The other half seemed a bit...I dunno...let's just say it seems the writer ran out of ideas. My fav bit is when he was in the slammer and shoved one of the inmates head up another's *you know*.

Hancock - Not your average super hero

Also, after the movie I stopped by the gas station(what? can't I throw in a random story *LOL*). We are so lucky in Brunei when it comes to buying petrol. I know buying petrol also sucks in U.K. I'm not so sure how it is in Laos and India though. Here, its like the stock market. The price goes up and down every freaking day.

Economist are estimating the price per litre could reach $2.00 by the end of this year.

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Choosing sides...

It sounds so dramatic...like a line from a Star Wars movie. "Do not choose the Dark Side young Padawan...". I got a mobile line a few weeks ago. Unlike in Brunei its a cinch 'cos theres nothing to it. DST or B-Mobile. Here you have Optus, Telstra, Vodafone, 3 and Virgin Mobile. Too many and too little time to go through all their cap plans and such.

Normally, I'd be ogling at the slightest opportunity to indulge myself in the world of I.T and gadgetry. But like I said, there's just too many to go through(in other words...I'm a lazy bum) so I narrowed it down to which mobile network provider could give me the most free talk time for international calls with little overheads monthly.

The winner was:

• I took the $29 cap/month for 2 years(might as well since I'm here for the next couple of years rite?)
• I got $150 worth of calls/sms/mms/video call
• Out of the $150, I get to use $100 on international call(mostly for calling Brunei :P)
• I get to surf for 4000mins on Facebook each month and 16mb worth of data transfer
  
• I get a Motorola V9(locked to 3 network of course...for now...hahaha) - I'm always a sucker for Moto, always have, always will be...go figure
  
• Messaging to Brunei is .35c compared to others which are slightly higher
  

Not the most high-tech phone in the market but I LOVE it

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Out and About

Yesterday we went out for our routine grocery shopping. We decided to go to Belconnen. It's about 30-40mins drive from our place. There are about 4-5 shopping malls in Canberra. I guess the Belconnen Shopping Mall could be one of the biggest malls here.

One thing doesn't change though. 22 counters...and only 4 of them open. WTFeck???

Even the wife got tired of waiting.


Something we saw on the way to Belconnen. Cool eh?

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Majlis Doa Kesyukuran

In conjunction with His Majesty's 62nd Birthday, the Brunei High Commission held a Majlis Makan and Doa Kesyukuran at the Multi-purpose hall, Brunei Embassy on 14th July '08. Isha prayer was led by Pg. Ismail, 1st Sec to the Brunei Embassy. Followed by dinner. It was attended by the staff and family members(not a lot I tell you) but this is as good as it gets.

Unfortunately most of the Bruneian students here are studying in Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne. Or else it would be more 'happening'. But we're thankful for what we have. The one thing about us Bruneian is that we love to have get-togethers. We are such a 'family-oriented' society. GOD Bless Brunei Darussalam and His Majesty.

Pg. Ismail..."Move a bit to my left please"


Some of the staff of the Brunei Embassy


My very pregnant wife posing with the food... :)


I said smile...not stick out your tongue...

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Where we are now...

We are in Canberra or Australian Capital Territory. The population is almost the same as the whole of Brunei. Life is quiet unlike it's neighboring state, Sydney. The people are polite(at times) and overall the city is very clean.

So aside from the temperate climate and the many rules on the roads, we have to admit its like Brunei in some aspect. Just look at their public transport...*LOL*. Driving is unfortunately...a MUST if you want to get to anywhere.

We're staying at a very nice suburb called Deakin. One thing tells you that you're not in Brunei anymore(besides the obvious) is the scene at night. One look down our street...nobody freaking switch on their lights!! It's like almost total darkness!! WTFeck?? We know they're trying to conserve energy(and lower their bills) but if it was in Brunei...

So this is our area

Newdegate street, Deakin.







Our house and the street we're on. Trust me...at night it's like a ghost town...But it's home for now. :)

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4

Australia, India, Laos and United Kingdom. These are currently our homes. It sucks to be away from Brunei. But hey, we try to make our stay as 'Brunei-ish' as we can.

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