Saturday, January 28, 2012

On my 39th Birthday...

Predictably it was an early start with kids jumping into bed wishing me a happy birthday. I was officially given my iPhone and was surprised by a Cath Kidston purse to match my handbag and this Pandora bracelet. Especially loved the charms, a "D", an aeroplane, a suitcase and moneybag especially for the CNY season.


To celebrate with the family we had lunch at the Korean and enjoyed everything kimchi thrown with plenty of chaos and a fantastic chocolate cake to finish! 






Thank you all for your kind birthday wishes!!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Moshi Invasion

We are eating, sleeping, breathing Moshi Monsters in the house. We get a break from it on week days but during weekends its pretty much a Moshi party from the moment they wake up! 


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Ong Kiat Family Gathering

Last Sunday we together with about 600 descendants of the Ong Kiat clan gathered for the first time to see the launch of our genealogy book researched and collated by an Uncle and cousin Abdul Khalid Mahmood. We recognized many that were there but there were a lot more that we had never met before  and it was interesting to meet so many "relatives" for the first time. We were all dressed in assigned colours, Dayang Nyachi wore blue, Dayang Tangah yellow, Awang Besar red and the largest group Awang Damit green (Dayang Bungsu did not have any biological children). What a great afternoon and we all learnt so much about the past and about each other.


Ong Kiat was born Ong Yuen Rei in Zhejiang district North China around 1840. In 1867 he had a son, Ong Fei Liang. The following year Ong Kiat had a disagreement with his father and together with several male cousins decided to leave their village and seek their fortunes elsewhere. They headed towards Kowloon, Hong Kong but only stayed briefly. A few cousins moved on and settled in Thailand and what is West Malaysia today. A handful including Ong Kiat headed to Borneo. One cousin evetually settled in Kudat, Sabah, one settled in Keningau, leaving Ong Kiat to settle in Labuan.

Ong Kiat set up a business and worked hard. His hard work was paid off and his businesses included a shop, and pepper & timber trading. By this time he had also set up home with a Malay woman by the name Hamidah and they had 5 children, three daughters - Dayang Nyachi, Dayang Tangah, Dayang Bungsu -  and two sons - Awang Besar and Awang Damit. He had also become a leader in the community and was appointed to the Legislative Council of Labuan (or North Borneo) and subsequently awarded an MBE.  News of his success did not please the cousins that had travelled with him from China. In July 1885 Ong Kiat was found dead, supposedly poisoned. His eldest daughter Dayang Nyachi was 10 years old and the youngest Awang Damit was merely 40 days old. (Ong Kiat was buried at Kampong Sungei Keling, Labuan on a property he owned. The grave is visited by his ancestors today).

News of Ong Kiat's death reached China and his infant son Ong Fei Liang then 17 years old travelled to Labuan to claim part of his fathers inheritance. Tragically on arrival to Labuan, he too was brutally murdered. 



All five siblings lived healthily into old age. My Great Grandfather Awang Besar saw his 100th birthday. He passed away 8 months later from a fall (apparently he had a daily habit of winding his clock and one day lost his balance). Awang Besar too was appointed a member of the North Borneo Legislative Council and awarded an MBE. One of the main streets in the Labuan town centre is named after him.


Who we all are and how we are related to each other

My Dad going over faces with his cousins

Our own little clan minus Amin


A play depicting the life of Ong Kiat


Launching of the book by Grand Aunt Hajah Durah binti Awang Damit Ong Kiat, the oldest of the clan and last remaining offspring from the five siblings.


The afternoon finished off with a show. Above a dance from the Dayang Nyachi family. Our own kids did a dance representing Awang Besar family.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Junior Sports Day 2012

Our kids just love Sports Day. They're always very proud to put on their blue tshirts (including bandana this year) and talk about the competition all the way to school. 

As usual the little ones were indoors with their mini races with lots of shouting and fun. If Ayden didn't run so fast I could have got better pictures of him!




And Jack, always happy to be amongst his mates and doing his best.


In the meantime, outside Iman was very busy running, throwing and jumping.


And what a good morning she had. Iman came 1st place in her girls year group for the t-ball throw, 2nd for long jump and third for both 400m and 100m races, coming behind the Downey girls in both runs. And the blue house girls relay team also came first in the 4x100 event. One very happy girl especially as she missed the day last year.






Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Our Iman is 9


Big day for Iman today, its the big 9. I love birthdays as they always bounce our of bed eager to open presents! And Iman was pleased with her G Shock and Adidas gear followed by a big pancake breakfast made with lots of love.


Friday, January 13, 2012

Nearly 9

Iman had a dozen girl friends over this afternoon to celebrate her upcoming birthday and we had the first of many cakes. The chosen theme this year is Moshi Monsters with Iggy being the centrepiece - I'm new to all this so it was ?! to me. The girls swam, played and ran riot. Luckily Fatin was at hand to help entertain and calm everyone down with some nail polishing!





Thursday, January 12, 2012

Ayden's other new "skill"





Thanks to Aunty Mairead and Uncle Eoin, the pool table is now being put to good use and Ayden is our resident pool shark. And what a good skill to have too!

Ayden's Reading!


He was very proud to bring home his first reader last Friday and did his very best to show us he can read!

Monday, January 02, 2012

Kuching Food

After our Kuching trip I am hooked on Sarawak Laksa. Most states in Malaysian have their own laksa and my favourite has always been the Penang laksa with its hot sour and tangy flavours. That was until I discovered the laksa in Kuching, which is not only sour but spicy with a hint of curry - perfect for breakfast! So good was this cafe that we came here twice for breakfast. Donncha and I tucked into steaming bowls of laksa (I could have had seconds) and the kids had nasi lemak.






The cafe next door was Chinese serving mostly the famed Sarawak kolo mee, which is one of our favourite lunch staples here in Brunei. Unfortunately we never got to try the Sarawak version :( 



Another dish we had which blew our minds (literally) was the Sarawak Umai fish salad, which is a spicy salad made with raw thin slices of fish, lime juice and plenty of chilli. A dish traditional to the Melanau tribe, the lime juice marinate "cooks" the fish. Delicious but should come with a warning!