Good News!

We had to give our Shell rental car back on Friday. We had to have something to drive and quick because the care we are buying is not ready yet. I found a car for rent for 450 Brunei dollars (BND) for a month! It is almost exactly like the Shell rental we had. This is a private owner, renting their extra car. The car is in good mechanical condition. My neck and shoulder muscles continue to give me some pain. I started physical therapy on Monday, but with the Panaga clinic only having on therapist, she was booked the the rest of the week. I have 3 appointments with her this coming week, then she will be away for 2 weeks. I am also seeing a orthopedist in Jerodong, which is about 1-1/2 hours away. They took some MRIs this week, and I will return to see the Spine Specialist on December 27th. Hopefully, I will make it back to Germany to see Dr. Zeegers (surgeon) and Dr. Baumbach (neurologist) after the 1st of the new year. We received some good new this week; we received release papers from immigrations on Thursday for the cats to be release to home quarantine when we have a temporary house. We submitted the paperwork to Shell Housing. Hopefully, they will move us soon into our temporary house. Here are some photos of the kitties on some of my visits from this past week enjoying some time on the patio.

We also found out that our shipment will be here sometime this coming week! We will see how long it will take for them to release it to us. Finally, today we received our new car, a Mazda CX5. We'll take some photos tomorrow. Here are some funny (different?) things about Brunei that I have discovered so far: - You can't use your index finger to point, you have to use your thumb. They claim the reason for this is that some people (ie, muslims) could find this offensive! - Everyone drives on the left side of the road. - You have to look RIGHT when crossing the street. - Monkeys are everywhere! They love to dig through your trash to see what they can find that is delicious. - During the weekend, which is Friday, Saturday & Sunday, you have to bring your own shopping bags. All other days of the week, you are given many plastic bags. - One of the main landmarks in Kuala Belait is called the Teapot Roundabout. I call it the Tacky Teapot R/A. Here is a photo.....

A few years ago when we were here, they would turn the water on once a week, but now they don't do that anymore. Probably because the pumps need maintenance. - There is a van that is made by Toyota called a KIJang. This is only place in the world I have ever seen this vehicle. They have very popular amoung people that own a small business, but in maintenance. They have very small engines, and there seems to be thousands of them on the road. They usually putt along on the highways below the speed limit, not in a hurry to go anywhere. Not like they COULD go anywhere very fast. I have seen these in almost every color imaginable! When I see them on the road I always announce KIII Jang! The locals like to paint them in odd colors, put stickers on them, etc. It's definitely become a running joke between Jim and I. Here is one that I saw the other day:

Notice the BMW Mini sticker on the hood!

More photos of KII Jangs to come.....