EmmaGoodEgg

Forced Hiatus

Since early evening on Friday the Bijou Bungalow has had no speed. Whilst trying not to throw a tantrum due to withdrawal symptoms, I called TelBru to fix our speed woes early Saturday morning and my complaint was logged in by a nice boy called Eddie who said he has sent in our complain to someone at their tech side who will then call me soon. By Saturday afternoon still no call from the tech boys, I called 121 again to remind them that the GoodEggs are going slightly batty without the internet. Affable Eddie said he has logged in our complain as URGENT and we should be attended to soon enough.

Alas, it is not to be.

Braving the masses on a Sunday morning, we thought of hanging out at The Coffee Bean in Gadong but couldn't bear the thought of His and Her LapTops for the world to see, so we headed over to Kiulap to find a suitable WiFi cafe. We chose Gripps Cafe. A good call because it is quiet on this rainy Sunday morning plus the decor comfy and the menu extensive. We might be here a while.

Our food is here, so that's it from me for now. But I'll be heading to Singapore this evening where thankfully the speed is F.A.S.T.

Tag You're It!

Here are The GoodEgg's answers to some random questions. We will make this quick.

1) Are your parents married or divorced?

Emma: Happily divorced
Bobby: Happily married

2) Are you a vegetarian?

Emma: Nope
Bobby: No way Jose

3) Do you believe in Heaven?

Emma: Yes
Bobby: Yes

4) Have you ever come close to dying?

Emma: Yes. 1991, Tunku Beach, young dumb then almost drowned
Bobby: No

5) What jewellery do you wear 24/7?

Emma: Engagement ring, wedding band and a Tag my parents bought me for my 18th birthday
Bobby: Wedding band and a silver “jimat”

6) Favourite time of day?

Emma: When I get home from work.
Bobby: 7am, the start of a brand new day ← Weirdo, says Emma

7) Do you eat the stems of broccoli?

Emma: Yes
Bobby: Yes

8) Do you wear makeup?

Emma: Yes, but no foundation
Bobby: No

9) Ever have plastic surgery?

Emma: No
Bobby: No

10) Do you colour your hair?

Emma: Yes for a change
Bobby: No

11) What do you wear to bed?

Emma: A Slip
Bobby: Birthday Suit

12) Have you ever done anything illegal?

Emma: Break the speed limit everyday
Bobby: Who hasn’t really…

13) Can you roll your tongue?

Emma: Yes
Bobby: Yes

14) Do you tweeze your eyebrows?

Emma: Yes
Bobby: No

15) What kind of sneakers?

Emma: Nike, Timberlands
Bobby: Adidas, Prada

16) Do you believe in abortions?

Emma: No
Bobby: Pro-choice

17) What is your hair color?

Emma: Dark brown
Bobby: Salt & Pepper

18) Future child’s name?

Emma: Genghis
Bobby: Mimi

19) Do you snore?

Emma: Bobby says No
Bobby: Emma says Hell Yes

20) If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?

Emma: Antarctica to see the Emperor Penguins
Bobby: Kamchatka

21) Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?

Emma: Yes, with Bobby, after a large dinner
Bobby: *burp

22) If you won the lottery, what would you do first?

Emma: Pay off mine and everyone’s debts, and then go on a constant holiday
Bobby: Go back to work ← Weirdo, says Emma

23) Gold or Silver?

Emma: Silver
Bobby: Silver

24) Hamburger or hot dog?

Emma: Hamburger
Bobby: Hotdog

25) If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Emma: Chicken soup
Bobby: Ditto

26) City, beach or country?

Emma: Beach
Bobby: Beach

27) What was the last thing you touched?

Emma: My laptop
Bobby: My laptop

28) Where did you eat last?

Emma: At the in-laws
Bobby: My parent’s house

29) When’s the last time you cried?

Emma: I can weep at the drop of a hat
Bobby: I can’t remember

30) Do you read blogs?

Emma: Yes
Bobby: Only Emma’s

31) Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex?

Emma: Yes
Bobby: Yes

32) Ever been involved with the police?

Emma: Yes, grew up with them
Bobby: Yes

33) What’s your favourite shampoo conditioner and soap?

Emma: Dove, Dove and L’Occitane
Bobby: H&S and Body Shop

34) Do you talk in your sleep?

Emma: No
Bobby: Yes, and scare the 'bejesus outta Ems

35) Ocean or pool?

Emma: Pool
Bobby: Ocean

38) Window seat or aisle?

Emma: Aisle when traveling with Bobby
Bobby: Window seat

39) Ever met anyone famous?

Emma: Yes
Bobby: Yes

40) Do you feel that you’ve had a truly successful life?

Emma: Not too shabby
Bobby: We get by

41) Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?

Emma: Twirl haphazardly
Bobby: Twirl

42) Ricki Lake or Oprah Winfrey?

Emma: Oprah
Bobby: I didn’t like that world cup song very much

43) Basketball or Football?

Emma: Footie
Bobby: Soccer

44) How long do your showers last?

Emma: 10 minutes with shampoo
Bobby: 5 minutes

45) Automatic or do you drive a stick?

Emma: A stick
Bobby: Manual

46) Cake or ice cream?

Emma: Ice cream
Bobby: Ditto

47) Are you self-conscious?

Emma: Most times
Bobby: Yes

48) Have you ever drank so much you threw up?

Emma: Yes
Bobby: Yes

49) Have you ever given money to a beggar?

Emma: Yes
Bobby: Yes

50) Have you been in love?

Emma: Yes
Bobby: Yes

51) Where do you wish you were?

Emma: Bali
Bobby: Bali

52) Are you wearing socks?

Emma: No
Bobby: No

53) Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?

Emma: No
Bobby: No

54) Can you tango?

Emma: No, but thanks to The Aunties, I can line dance and do the cha-cha
Bobby: No

55) Last gift you received?

Emma: My laptop
Bobby: Running chip for the iPod

56) Last sport you played?

Emma: Snooker
Bobby: Soccer

57) Things you spend a lot of money on?

Emma: School fees
Bobby: Stuffing my face

58) Where do you live?

Emma: The Bijou Bungalow
Bobby: Ditto

59) Where were you born?

Emma: At my grandparent’s house in Kuala Belait, Brunei
Bobby: At the old hospital, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

60) Last wedding attended?

Emma: A Chinese wedding
Bobby: Mr. Lee’s son

63) Most hated food?

Emma: I go green at the sight of “ekor”
Bobby: Hate is such a strong word for basic human nourishment

64) What’s your least favourite food?

Emma: Old fish
Bobby: Cold fast food

65) Can you sing?

Emma: I can hold a tune
Bobby: Yes ← Tone deaf, Emma says

66) Last person you instant messaged?

Emma: Bobby
Bobby: Emma

67) Last place you went on holiday?

Emma: Bali
Bobby: Bali

68) Favourite regular drink?

Emma: Coca-cola
Bobby: Lime juice

69) Tag 3 friends:

1. Pablo
2. My3rdEye
3. Kantalensa

70) Current Song?

Emma: Superman
Bobby: Pianoman

Thank you dear Clyde, for the tag.

A Plug For The Class Of 1979

Now this is new and a damn good idea. A blog specifically set up for a class in a Brunei school in 1979. Tales of friendship and teachers only those former students are privy to, so would anyone else other than the Class of 1979 read this blog more than once? Maybe, maybe not, but surely its a wonderful way to reminisce your school days and the people who spent them with you. If I giggled at the post on Mr Param and the exploding test-tubes, and imagining a braless Mrs Powell, imagine the laughter it would bring to former students (and teachers) who were actually part of that history.

Good stuff.

Brunei Times Screenshots

**********

...in the fifth paragraph they missed the gist just a tad. I am quite sure that during the course of the telephone interview I said that Brunei has a small community, so we tend to know who the bloggers are. And that blogging about issues is better than posting anonymous comments.

Give Love & Respect A Chance

[Thank you to the manly men who provided valid comments on EmmaHardBoiledEgg's tirade on less than manly men. Being a GoodEgg, I had planned to show the 'other side of the coin' if you will, after reading the Daily Telegraph's article on From Trophy Wife To Toxic Wife]

My alterego went mental at the thought of mercenary men marrying for money, but let's not forget women were there first. Yes us women, the sweet yet scheming creatures we can be. Is it okay for a woman to marry for money? If you asked me, I would say no. Be it man OR woman, it is not okay to think of dollar signs when looking for a potential soul mate. I feel that in the end it just won't work. Marriage is difficult enough to start on such basis.

[Incidentally, if you asked my mother, a woman with a heart of gold, she'll say if she could marry again, she would do so for money. She says so not because she has become callous and cold-hearted. Simply because she married a poor man for love and then he was less than committed to her. My mother is lovely though, she never pushes any of us to be so callous about choosing mates, and she always tells us that at least he gave her her five children]

The Telegraph talks of rich men and their wives, those who keep their home and family perfect. These were given the moniker Trophy Wives and they throw the best dinner parties, ran perfect households, raised spotless chidren and kept her husband's life on track. Like an excellent PA, but at home.

But these days, we see the advent of lazy assed women who seek out rich men to marry. These are called Toxic Wives who marry then quit their jobs or don't bother finding work. They leave it to their army of maids to make their lives easy peasy, while they spend all day concentrating on 'Me, Me, Me'. The children are with the nannies all day, and the husband well, left miserably alone, working hard to fund her lifestyle.

However, I feel that there are more Trophy Wives than there are Toxic Wives in Brunei. This is perhaps in our country a majority of the women work, and even if they are Susie Homemaker, its rare to see a woman being selfish and doing nothing for her husband and family. She will make sure there is food on the table, see to the children's school and extra-curricular activities. She ensures that she is Hostest with the Mostest (and this means cooking lessons and other useful classes) and that there is nothing her husband is want of.

I agree that there are cultures in which women do wear the pants in the house. Like in Terengganu where there was traditonally a matriachal society and women headed the household. Interestingly, there is a popular image of effeminate Terengganu men. A further counterpoint to this is that Terengganu is now a PAS state.

Thankfully our culture is not like that. Call me a useless feminist if you want but I appreciate the traditional roles of the sexes. Although greater power in the work place means greater power at home there is nothing to gain by gender conflict. If we are careful, we can evolve traditional roles nicely to ensure we look after each other as well as we can.

And I feel that that the only way we get this if as men and women we treat our better halves with the utmost love and respect.

The UnManly Man

[I thought I'd let the alterego to my alterego, EmmaHardBoiledEgg, respond to Mr. Suparman for his article in last weekend's Borneo Bulletin titled For Love Or Money]

It was with disbelief I read through Suparman's (or should I say Suparwuzz) For Love Or Money article. Not for its first few paragraphs that made my flesh crawl at the thought of less committed men in our midst, but for these rather mercenary bon mots:

For example, guys like me don't mind being with a fresh graduates or government working servants with wealthy family background.

I know it does sound very choosy, but who is to complain about a lifetime supply of cash in the ATM machine and a limo to drive to work in, not to mention a nice modern house to go home to, complete with swimming pools and game rooms, like those famous stars on TV.

Slick. Real slick. But where the hell is your manhood?

What kind of man is he advocating here? Men who depend on women (or worse, their future IN-LAWS) for the niceties in life? I think I'm going to be sick.

Don't any of you dare let your sons, nephews, brothers, cousins grow up with this kind of mentality. A man should always provide for his family. We're not even talking about providing limos or swimming pools or buying 10 Chloe/LV/CD handbags in a year but just doing the very best you can for your girl. If you happen to marry an heiress, good for you. But to actively seek one whose wealthy background is to make YOUR life comfortable, then you owe an apology to all the rich girls out there, and to your mama, damn it.

The day we allow this new-age kinda "man" run rampant in our society, is the day we see our sons, nephews, brothers, cousins unable to identify their noses from their knees without the help of their women.

It has been said that if you marry for love OR money you can be happy either way. Perhaps. But Dude, if you married for money, I'd say that would make you a happy wimp.

And I would also say "Dude, where's your balls?"

Teenage Brainwash

My siblings and Beloved Son have been playing Guitar Hero for years, and they are all damn good at it, especially Inny-Pooh. I've always wanted to try but never seem to make the time. Also, using a Playstation controller seemed like a naff way to play a riff. So I think it may be the sight of a miniature Gibson guitar (belonging to a friend of Beloved Son, who brought it along to the party), and perhaps I was brainwashed by the throng of teens at the weekend, that led an old bird like me to try my hand at Guns N Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine on Guitar Hero II. Damn, that song is addictive.

Bobby gave it a shot, but I think he would prefer playing to Leonard Cohen's songs.

Mini Gibson SG Controller, oh you shall be mine.

Sasau Saturday

I love our Bijou Bungalow. There is nary a day when I wish we were living in a humungous mansion. Until yesterday of course, when we had over 30 teenagers over for Beloved Son & Amirah aka Kelly's joint do and bijou felt terribly bijou. Last year we organised a "Teen Olympiad" for the same bunch of kids and we had cute and disciplined games. But my goodness have they all grown in a year! This year Beloved Son turned 15 so we thought a Bouncer Pool Slide would suffice for general merriment. We were TOO right. We had swimming and bouncing and sliding and raucous behaviour from 2pm until 10pm. By that time Bobby and I were ready to move into the Empire for the night.

I had a mini heart attack everytime someone went Wheeeeeeeeee! Even the Genie looked nervous.

The Blue Verandah was an oasis of wet towels and clothes.

Next year we're all going BOWLING.

Happy Birthday My Sweets!!

We bought Beloved Son a set of drums for his birthday (I am regretting this as I type). Of course it added to the level of sasau-ness (that's rowdiness in my lingo). Saturday was also Ilham-Bear's 2nd Birthday and just like his daddy, he did so enjoy the drums!

Happy Birthday Ilham-Bear The Little Drummer Boy

We had 9 teenage boys sleep over...on Sunday, I woke up way too early to sounds of the Bouncer Pool Slide starting up again @@ <-- And from my bed I did an eye-roll to the Heaven's above.

What A Difference Seven Days Make...

Just last week the Bijou Bungalow played host to these folks:

Maurina as Bonnie

My3rdEye & Zippy

Danura Fixing Bunny Ears

Eleanor, BlackDiamonds & Bulimic Meet

Winning Eleven In Between Shots

Mamalobengs & Vixennova

Izati & Ghasidah

LSM & Maurina & Bobby's Briefcase

Yus & Affy

Reeda & Hazel

Getting Petey's Shot

Looking Sharp, Shooters

EmmaGoodBird (Fab Mask Courtesy Of Nas The BirdMan)

Monkeyfruit, Nas & Iz doing the Japanese Algorithm Dance

Seven days ago today, things are just as lively but not quite the same. Pictures plus video tomorrow and not tonight darlings, I have a headache. Too many teenagers in the house can do that to you I'm afraid...

One Birthday After The Other

Azim & Kelly - Happy Birthdays For Today And Tomorrow