Taylors in Brunei Yr 2: January 2013

With Amanda deciding we would go back to NZ for Xmas we decided she would gone down to MIri with the boys and another family so they could swim and relax before myself and Trish drove down after school. It worked out pretty well and we ending up meeting with other sfor tea at Mings Cafe. A great night had by all.
Next day we flew from Miri to Singapore and had about 8hrs before we caught our next flight to Sydney then onto CHCH. We decided to go into Chinatown for a couple of hours so we could walk around and stretch the legs before our journey back to NZ. It wa sa little disappointing as really expensive and not many bargains around. We ended up going back to the airport and had some more food and chilled out in the departure lounge. For reference the kids were brilliant on all our flights.
We arrived in NZ and the boys were really excited to see their grandparents. We stayed at Jeans as MAggies house was being repaired by EQC. OUr first week was pretty quiet where we caught up with friends and I organised my study for 2013. It was great catching up with Pete and Pete down at the pub. It was very similar to groundhog day.
We went to Hanmer Springs for Liams Bday for 3 nights where we took Liam and Jordan jetboating. Truly well worth it and the boys loved it. The pools were as good as ever and it was nice to relax and watch the world go by. Alot of shopping was done as it is very hard to get quality goods in Brunei. I was abit over it but we knew we needed to stock up. Xmas day was great for the boys of course as they wanted to be witht he grandparents. I ended up cooking breakfast at Jeans then we had lunch there. Off to Maggies for tea. We didn't get to the horse racing which we wanted to do but the meeting that we wanted to go to was the day we left for Singapore (29/12). We left the airport knowing we wouldn't be back for a minimum of 2 years so a few tears shed. Jordy was upset which was ironic as he was fine the previous year as I think he was so excited to be going to a new place.
We stayed in Singapore for 2 nights which was good as the boys chilled abit and caught up on some sleep. Went down Orchard Rd which just seems to get busier and bigger. We enjoyed Little India as found a fantastic Indian Restaurant (biryani and a large kingfisher for $8.00). Our accomodationwas fine Frangrance Hotel Emerald, it was in Geylong in the redlight district but was away from the sight of it. Although there were plenty of girls when we went down Geylong Rd. We flew back to Miri and then drove home.
Before our trip a group of us weighed ourselves as someone said it is normal to put a kilogram of weight back on for each week you are back in NZ. As we were there for 4 weeks exactly that meant 4 kg I broke that rule as I gained 8.4 kgs Amanda only 2kgs.