people asked me how did i sync myself with brunei so fast. yeah i know it wasn't easy since we were just tied the knot and suddenly mr hubs promoted to brunei . alhamdulillah rezeki kahwen. then i followed him here and of course being left alone while he was off to work. unfortunately, my car was still on its way to brunei and it was so hard for me to move without any. owh there's no cab or bus in kuala belait. luckily there is a something called Schlumberger Spouses Association (SSA). this association is actually a global, voluntary, social organisation for all local and international spouses and partners of Schlumberger employees. it was created to assist the schlumbergers' spouses and maintain a welcoming and supportive environment for all members and their families. at least it makes you feel that you are welcomed here and not all alone by yourself. and once you are a member, u can have your own SSA email and can use it as your personal email. SSA-brunei is not as big as other chapters because brunei is only a small country, but i can say it is well-coordinated.
on my first arrival, they came over and greeted me well. they gave me a welcoming gift which consisted of
1. SSA passport: this is for quality,health,security and environment record. like your medical track since u'll be in and out of countries, your commentary driving test in foreign country, and etc.
2. Brunei Darussalam Street Directory : in case i get lost. there is a foldable map inside too
3. Borneo Insider's Guide : local magazine
4. copycat : local tech lifestyle magazine
5. brochures and pamphlets on local restaurants,salons, supermarkets and schools
6. SSA Brunei tshirt
7. a souvenir from Brunei
8. chocolates and cookies
and all of these are put in one beautiful basket. i like it. and even felt welcomed. :P and then they shared their first experience stepped their foot on brunei. and i feel blessed that at least i just came from the neighboring country which we might eat the same food, wear the same dress, and even speak the same language. poor those people coming from the US or UK or UAE, because this place is totally different from their home country. but amazingly, they survived here like 8 years already and loving it very much. then they shared information on where to buy my groceries, to get either the local or english raw food, emergencies numbers, petrol stations, recreation clubs and much more. they have been very helpful on every information they have in hand. at least they made me feel like home. :P
welcoming gift from SSA Brunei
i can say SSA brunei is quite active, because all of the members are not working. maybe there one or two members are working, but the rest are full time housewife enjoying their free time actively attached to the activities. most of them are 35yrs old and above. actually its hard for us to get employed here because we hold the dependent pass since our husband is working here. so dependent pass holder normally can't work here. unless u can find a company willing to sponsor you as their employee. (because u need to have the work permit issued by your employer. and i tell you, the ratio is 1000:1).so an SSA member once told me not to waste my time thinking about it since i can enjoy myself being an expat wife here.its heaven. LOL. well, they have weekly scheduled on activity that will be carried out. they organized tennis class, badminton class, yoga,pilates, handicrafts and embroidery, cooking and baking, and of course all sort of parties. xmas party, hari raya party, deepavali party, bday party, mothers day party, farewell party..u name it...and the best part is, they even go for oversea trips. hahahhaa. i can't imagine going on a trips with a lot of "mothers".
Last week, they organized a badminton day. since i have nothing to do, i decided to participate in the activity. no its not a tournament. its just a get-together day playing badminton at Panaga Club. Panaga Club is a recreation club owned by the Shell company in brunei. to enjoy the facilities, u have to get the membership first. since i am new here, so i came in as a guest. (normally this title valid for once only). the membership will cost you $1000 deposits a year and the fee will be charged based on what facilities u'll be using monthly. there are golf courses, gymnasium, swimming pools, tennis court, badminton hall, dance studio, yoga n pilates studio, handicrafts and embroidery rooms, playgrounds, and much more. after playing badminton for 3 hours, i feel healthy. after i came home, i suffered muscle aches. thank you for no warming ups in the morning.
after that, they organized a breakfast called "Greek Coffee Morning". it was held at sophie's crib. she cooked all tasty and delicious greece food for us. and the doorgift was awesome. it was a traditional natural pure Greek olive soap with various of scents. she bought all of these straight from Greece. very nice.
the Greek olive oil soap. very great smell. i'm thinking of hanging it in my closet. :)
then yesterday, they organized a farewell party for aziyya. actually more to farewell lunch. she's moving back home to algeria. it was held at zakia restaurant- an authentic north indian cuisine restaurant.
standing from left:ana-sabah, sophie-australia, jo-thailand, cecillia-peru, maria jose-argentina, rini- indonesia, me
sitting from left: anne-vietnam, aziyya-algeria, piam-thailand.
not in the picture: sally- britain, thelma-philipines, chitra-chennai, virginie- french, tui-vietnamese
my life is not as boring as you thought. hahahhaaa. i think, now i am enjoying my life with older friends with amazing life experience , both of an expatriate's life and a married life. sometimes they are just like mothers to me. and i can say that i am growing up little by little.its life. there are so much to learn, so much to dwell, and so much to experience. :)
me with maria jose. yeah listen to her accent, you probably feel like watching mistress hermanas right in front of your eyes. :P
well people, life is always depends on how you look at it. you may feel bad on what u having right now, but other ppl may see it in different ways. so don't worry too much. its too short!!
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