The best of both worlds

Thanks to minilebahsibuk for the photo!

One of the reason we left China for good for Borneo is that Borneo is still one of the greenest place in the world. With the amount of the tropical rain forest and big rivers. With the driving distance both to the beach and the mountain. That is the place we want to raised our children . To give them as much as outdoor experience as possible, let them run free and see many other nature places instead of just visiting malls and shopping centers and playing video games or just watching TV at home.

I was a bit nervous about this at the first place, like I said being used to malls, big cities, shopping and all.

My husband , as an outdoor person he is, always try to plan his one day off with us and he plan to do something different each week if weather and time and our energy permits.

I was born and raised in a big city, my parents house is in the middle of busiest place in Jakarta ( Chinatown). There is no backyard , no place to run around freely. But , that did not make my parents keep us indoor all the time. My dad, like my dh, is NOT a fan of malls and shopping. He, again like my dh, always planned our Sunday activities, and we always went to outside of the city, to botanical garden, museums, visiting lakes, zoo, safari, historical places, beaches, mountains. With the small car and 5 chidren, it needs a lots patience, guts and will to bring us all on a long trip EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY! ( yes every single Sunday!). And me and my siblings are still taking about it until today. Our parents did a GREAT job to filled our childhood with unforgettable memories. And we will never thank them enough for that!

I was a little bit more to city person, didn't like outdoor so much, and will freak out with ants, mosquitos, and sand or dirt. But, I always been eager to learn something and learn to loosen up a bit. So my husband did teach me to appreciate outdoor more, be more relax and not to freak out of small things. He said if a person be able to loosen up a bit , he/she will enjoy more in this life. No need to freak out or always want to be in control of every single things.

And I know he is right. And we also agreed on how to raise our children. We want them to have a great childhood ( not in material wise) but adventure and experience wise. But we feel , after being to live here for 3 years, we haven't take the full advantages of this place as much as we could. We still haven't been to Sarawak, haven't go to some other places here, one of it is the famous Kota Belud's tamu. We don't want to regret later , if we move, and then we couldn't access the beach or mountain easily. Or if people asked how long do you live in KK? ever been to Kundasang? not yet.. Go to island? Have you ever visit the Kota Belud Tamu? not yet?.... It would be sad isn't?

So , we will try to go to the beach as often as possible, let's say once or twice a month? or go to mountain, or go to the waterfall somewhere here . We will see and try our best, for the sake of the children. But again, we also want them to enjoy the modern world of today. Like the post title The best of both worlds.

So last week we went to the beach, just a near by beach , Tanjung Aru 2nd beach ( heard it from Maya's pediatrician ) . Not bad at all. The kids can play with the sand , but it was hot but my girls are ok, as long as I put sunblock on them.

When we go to the beach , we really get down and dirty!!! If we don't allow them to touch the sand or water , then for us , there is no point to bring them to the beach. After that we just clean our self with bottle water ( mainly for our feet) then we go to eat. I know for some of us, that sound disgusting, sticky, but as long as we wash hand and get rid of the sand, for us is ok. After eat we go home and then take a proper shower. A bit of delay wont make any harm. So that is what I've learn from my husband. Take it easy and relax !!!

The other time, we went to Pantai Dalit and normally we packed roasted chicken and have picnic by the beach. Or go to the taman something ( forget the name, I know the name but not sure, since it is a heroic name I don't want to simply type it here as it can be misinterpret as disrespect) near the Bukit Padang and we pack our lunch and picnic at the park.It was fun!!
And sure the kids will enjoy it more than just going to the mall and eating at fast food restaurant and collect the kids meal 's toys!

Our simple picnic at Pantai Dalit ( Dec 08)

can u find my husband?

@ Tanjung Aru 2nd beach, it is near and are ok for sand playing

Last Sunday, we went to the Crocodile Farm again. I know for some of you, this sound boring . For us, it was our 4-5th times here. I know almost all about it there ! Hahaha.. If we had family member came to visit us here, for sure the itinerary would be : Crocodile farm, kundasang, kudat, island. So I need to find other alternative for the future! :-D

One of the best thing being expatriate is that we always try to enjoy our moment in this place at this moment. Go and see as much as we can when we still have the chance, because we will never know until when we will be here. But again... It is not just apply for the expat family, we all will never know until when we will have the chance!

Maya : is that a bird?BIG BIRD!!

Maya thought that the deer were DOGS! hahaha...
And we have the Crocs eggs too! T-B : Crocodile egg, Normal egg and kampong egg.

Experience is the BEST teacher, wouldn't you agree? No matter how much we read and know about the theory, there is nothing like it when you see it with your own eyes or feel it with your own hands! (No I don't mean that you need to hold a python...It is just me! )

What the kids ( specially Maya)learned from this trip ( some of it)
That Crocodiles eat meat!
They lay Eggs!
Male deer have horn , Female doesn't.
Ostrich are BIG! They prefer to eat nuts and corn rather than leaves ( they rejected the leaves)
Mommy can carry a big snake!

Have a nice week !