16 Feb - Today we arrived in Brunei to stay with Ben's Uncle and Aunty. We went for Dim Sum where we tried chicken's feet and pigs stomach! Was actually really nice! It's so nice to be staying with family and in a home where we can relax for a while. Ben's Uncle even has a maid who looked after us and did our washing which was nice! We wished we could take her with us! In the evening we went for a Japanese meal and ate sushi, seaweed, baby octopus and jellyfish so all in all had an adventurous day with food!

The next day we got shown around where Ben's family used to live. Brunei's main income is from oil and gas production so we visited the shell learning centre. It was actually really fun inside with lots of hands on activities and an earthquake simulator! In the evening we had a huge family meal which Ben's Aunty prepared for Chinese New Year's Eve. Each dish symbolised something, e.g the fish meant that everything in the next year will come to you easily. The house was beautifully decorated for Chinese New Year with lanterns and lots of red everywhere. At midnight we had fireworks and firecrackers as did the whole town so the sky was alight with them.

On Chinese New Year Ben's Uncle had an open house where friends and family come to visit and eat lots! Today we ate traditional Malay food. The Lion Dance which symbolises good luck came to the house to perform and there were more firecrackers.

The following day we visited 3 different houses (it is tradition at new year to visit friends and family). We saw another Lion Dance and ate loads more food!

20 Feb was my birthday! We visited Bandar the capital of Brunei. We stopped on the way in Seria for their noodles which are a local speciality and I ate a chicken drumstick and noodles which is a chinese tradition to eat on your birthday. In Bandar we visited a museum where lots of the Sultan's possessions are kept. Then we went to a shopping mall and Ben's Uncle and Aunty bought me a gem stone bracelet in a chinese shop where they blessed it for good luck. Afterwards we went on a boat trip around the water village where 30 thousand people still live despite being given land, they preferred to stay where they had lived for generations. We saw the Sultan's palace from a distance and then went to a 6 star hotel for dinner. The hotel was beautiful and was right on a private beach. After dinner we went home for birthday cake!

We felt so lucky to have seen chinese new year through the eyes of a family and to learn what all the traditions mean. We were also lucky to have been so well looked after by Ben's family it was a real treat, especially all the delicious meals!