Things to Know About Brunei

1. You wouldn’t see any tall buildings in Brunei. They’re not allowed to build skyscrapers that would exceed the height of their mosque. It’s a rule that the mosque be the tallest structure in the country.

2. In Brunei, it is considered rude to use your index finger. If you want to point something out, use your thumb instead.

3. All Bruneians are rich. Almost the entire population owns a car that’s why you could barely see taxis or buses in the city.

4. The entire Brunei population is roughly 380,000. That’s even barely 1% of the Philippines population! And if you’re going to add the other nationalities living in Brunei, it’ll be around 500,000…still barely 1% of our population.

5. As Muslims, Bruneians are allowed to be polygamous. They can have as much as 4 legal wives. (*Note: Despite this fact, they have a small population. Hmnn..) The sultan, Prince Bolkiah currently has 3 wives. According to tradition, it is imperative that for his first wife, he should marry someone from the family. His first wife is actually his first cousin.

6. The current Brunei monarchy is the longest ruling monarch in the world. Ever since it started, it has not been overthrown. I guess Bruneians are peaceful loving people. Unlike say China’s colorful history of its emperors and dynasties, no one has really bothered to revolt against the royal family. So imagine the first ever Brunei royalty also comes from Prince Bolkiah’s great great great great ancestors.

7. The royal palace opens to the public only at a specific time of the year. The public are allowed to personally meet the sultan and his princess. But only the women are allowed in greeting the princess. Same goes for the sultan, only the men are allowed to meet his royal highness. Other than this time of the year, photo ops near the royal palace entrance are not even allowed. You have to be several meters away from the gate. In our case, we had to literally stay across the other road opposite the palace.

10 Things I LOVE About the Holidays

1. Big family reunions. Get togethers with my cousins, aunties, and uncles from all sides are always fun. I also get to see my other long lost relatives whom I don’t really see if it weren’t for the Christmas parties that we have.

2. My nieces and nephews. I get to see and play with my pamangkins only on special occasions such as this one. I like talking to them a lot. Joshua has never ending questions. (Why are there rocks in the aquarium? Why is the diver’s suit in the aquarium yellow? Why is it not black?) Erin is so aliw (“I’m five years old.” then puts up her four fingers then changes it to five to make sure that I understand her that she’s not four na but five.) Enrico is going to be a heartthrob someday I swear. Tippi, Chloe, and Erika will also be prom queens. They’re all so cute. I so so love them.

3. Receiving lots of gifts. Compared to the previous Christmases, I have received a lot of nicer gifts this year, things that I could actually get to use. Hehe Nothing still beats the iPod nano that my mom gave me though.

4. Giving gifts. I like shopping for presents and giving them away. There are some people who are fun to shop for. It’s like almost every thing you see reminds you of the person and you think, “This will fit (insert person's name here) well. Bagay!” This year I enjoyed shopping in the kids section. It’s fun to shop for baby’s clothes. Lahat nalang cute. Hehe I think I need to have kids of my own. Hahaha Kidding!

5. Dressing up and looking nice. It’s cool to see people bring out their ties, suits, and dresses. Everyone just looks so nice and formal. The holidays give me a reason to be girly where I can wear my dress and be pretty. Hehe

6. Messages from friends. Even a simple Merry Christmas or a Happy New Year greeting from a friend (especially those whom I’ve lost contact with) already means a lot to me. The holidays give us a chance to reconnect with friends and for some, it could also serve as a “reason” to tell someone that we like or care for them.

7. Trips out of the country with the clan. I’ve always look forward to our yearly Christmas trips. Whether it be in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, or China, I really don’t mind. Even if the destination sucks, I’d still go just as long as the tradition is not broken. This year we’re all going to Brunei. Prince Bolkiah, here we come! Haha

8. Festive holiday spirit. Seeing all the houses adorned with bright Christmas lights, hearing Christmas songs play everywhere you go, and seeing Santa Claus in every nook and cranny always gives me this great nostalgic feeling. It always reminds me of the Christmases I had when I was a kid. I think kids enjoy Christmas more than adults do. Oh no, does this mean I'm getting old already? The festive mood never fails to give a positive vibe in everyone’s day.

9. Stress-free long breaks. The holidays give us a brief respite from life’s daily grind. We forget about work, our problems and worries for a minute. We celebrate and enjoy the season with our loved ones…happy :).

10. Indulging. The holidays gives us a reason to indulge whether it be on food or on the latest gadgets or cellphone. We give ourselves a special treat and justify it with a "Christmas naman eh!" then we make bawi nalang after. We work double hard on the treadmill or save up on our next month's pay and next next month's pay. Hehe

"If time were not an obstacle, I would.."

I attended a 5-day class last week and one of the topics discussed was time management. We were asked to do an exercise wherein we would complete the sentence, “If time were not an obstacle, I would…”

I would like to share with you my answers. If time was not an obstacle, some day I would…

• travel around the world
  
• spend more quality time with family and friends
  
• go to the driving range and practice more often until I can beat Tiger Woods
  
• learn a new skill – study graphic design, painting, or cooking
  
• bake cakes and cookies to give to family and friends
  
• keep in touch with friends I lost contact with
  
• go to the gym more often and exercise until I become as sexy as Tyra Banks
  
• visit my Amma Adams and keep her company
  

I was surprised that I came up with a long list.  I could have gone on and listed more things to do if it weren't for the limited space that the paper alloted. There were a lot of things that I wanted to do. I haven’t given much thought about it not until I was actually asked to sit down and really think about it. I just realized that most of my days are spent on what I need to do. I kinda have forgotten that I also want to do a lot of things. Emphasis on the WANT. Hehe But then even if I do have the extra time, I think I might just spend it on the non-developmental or not so “enriching” activities instead such as bumming around where I could finish watching all the tv shows (Prison Break anyone? Hehe) that are fast piling up in my laptop. That’s just one example. I could think of more but I don’t want to indulge myself too much. I don’t think I’ll ever have enough time and resources, not until I turn 90 years old anyway.

On Giving Up

When do you give up on something (or someone)? Is it some automatic switch programmed into us that signals us to start raising the white flag? Just like how we sometimes get these instant light bulb ideas, it is not planned. You just wake up one day and realize you’re going to stop trying. No reasons to justify the whys. You just feel that it’s the best right thing to do.

People have different thresholds as to how far they can go. As one friend would like to put it, we have our own saturation points. It is where you’ve tried (and tried) until you’ve reached a point where you frankly don’t care anymore with the outcome. You’re just too tired to think about it, even for just a second. And all you want to do is to detach yourself on that something (or someone, or situation-whichever) and give up.

Does it make one an official loser for giving up? Does one deserve a big “L” slapped on his/her forehead for not trying hard enough? How about if the person does not give up and keeps on trying until he/she dies, do we congratulate him/her for being a martyr (or a hero)? It’s a tough question to answer. It’ll probably spark up long debates and bring out more unanswered questions.

In my humble opinion, a person who gave up (but tried his/her very damn best) deserves credit too. I would definitely give an ‘A’ for effort. Situations and people are hard to change. While we can have a hand in influencing the outcome, it is still something that is not entirely within our control. There will always be limitations as to how far we can go. We can put our two cents worth of effort in it but if hanggang dun nalang, then so be it. If you think about it, those who have tried and gave up are actually heroes in their own right. At least they’re brave enough to give up, admit that they can't do it, and come into terms with reality (yes, even if the truth hurts). They accept things for what they are and get on with their lives. Sometimes giving up can actually make life so much easier, don't you think so?