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!