New school year...Grade 3

Having breakfast

Me and my dad

Check out my new Brent school sweatshirt

and my new Brent school bag

I'm ready to go!

Tom has had 9 weeks of holidays,  summer break, and is now ready to go back to school.  The first 3 days of school were cancelled as a typhoon had closed the school and created a lot of devastation in Manila.  Finally on Friday 10 August we were ready...school was open, and Tom had woken early to get started.



Each day starts with a healthy breakfast of toast with peanut butter and lots of water...then bag packed and our driver takes Tom to the bus stop where he catches the bus to school.  It is about a 30 minutes journey down the motorway to Brent International.

Tom then gets dropped off at home everyday, right at the gate to our house!  He misses the bus track work from his old school up to the car everyday with his buddy Wilson...so does Mum!

It is definitely a different lifestyle here in Manila...we don't walk much or scooter or bike...but we play lots of tennis, golf and swim heaps! We eat lots of healthy meals at home that Mum cooks, as it is too far to drive to get any takeaways and the roads are full of crazy drivers...Mum drives around our village to our friends houses, and Dad drives outside the village to the malls that are close by...but if we want to go into the city or anywhere else we have to get our driver to drive us...it is very different to our life in New Plymouth.  We are adapting and loving all the new challenges and options available to us here in a different country.

Tom has made some new friends at his new school...from Korea, Scotland, Holland, America and Philippines...he still talks about his friends back in New Plymouth and when we come back for a holiday wants to come and see them at school one day.  He is very proud he is in Grade 3 which he keeps telling us is actually Year 4 at home!

Manila April 1-9th

Views over the local city from the top of apartment building.  This is temporary accommodation for us until we can find our home for the next four years.  Lots of looking and hoping we might find one this week.

Tom is loving school and really looking forward to getting back after a weeks holiday for Holy Week and easter break.  Driver picking us up at 7.15am so mum needs to be awake, showered and fed before then!!! Eek!

Sunset over Muntinlupa City

Tom enjoying an iced tea - tricking mum into thinking it was beer!

My new book! 

Rollercoaster ride after lunch



They have a roller coaster and big amusement arcade at the local shopping mall across the road from where our apartment is!

Pics from home

Just some pics to make us feel great! They are courtesy of my friends camera's...

More pics

Just a couple more pics of all of us, and Tom in his new school uniform! Gorgeous!  He is so excited as he has a man teacher for rest of the grade 2.

Some recent pics

Hey allWe have finally found our way to Manila and have been very busy over the past few days since we arrived settling in and finding our way around.  We have really close friends here and have been spending loads of time up at their house and being shown the ropes of places to go and things to do within our immediate area.
Have spent one and half days house hunting but still nothing yet, being fussy but we will have to live in it and be happy for the next four years!  We may have found something but need to get it within our budget and btw it is still being built, apparently only a month away from being finished but let's wait and see.
Here are a couple of pics of Tom and Steve - Steve's first day at work, and Tom enjoying yet another swim at Jackie and Neil's place.  A cool way of transportation for locals and the adventurous type, not us yet!

We also (Tom, Jackie and I) went off to Brent International School for Tom's testing and interview day.  He went through with flying colours (or should that be colors) that they asked him to come to their school, and welcomed him with open arms.  So he starts school on Thursday morning and at school for two days before they have all of next week off, being Holy Week (Easter) and then back to school April 10th.  We have new school uniform and pe uniform and he looks so gorgeous and grown up...bought a tear, acutally lots to my eyes.  Last 2 pics are Tom chilling out with Whiskey the cat and tuckered out after big school testing and interviews!

MUM AND DAD ARE SO PROUD OF YOU TOM!!!

Getting ready to leave

NEXT week we are going to an apartment!  It'll be by dads work.

I don't want to leave NZ.  I'll miss all my friends.

I really wanted to climb to the top of Mt Egmont, but maybe I can do it when I'm 12.  I'll climb MT PINATUBO instead!!!!!

We are leaving soon!

In 3 weeks time we are leaving New Zealand - destination Manila in the Philippines.  We are going to live there for 4 years.
I am sad because I am leaving all my friends and relatives, but I am excited because I really want to explore Mt Pinatubo and other exciting places.
I am looking forward to having a swimming pool at our house, going to a big international school, making new friends and going on the school bus everyday.