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Special promo at Prosperity Burger

McDonald’s is proud to share with you the Special Double Prosperity Promotion at a very special price. The Double Prosperity Burger comes only in Large McValue Meal which include an Orange McFizz drink and French Fries at the affordable price of B$8.90 instead of B$11.20.

Nothing is better and hotter than biting into succulent beef dripping with lip – smacking black pepper sauce which is topped up with slivered onions in a sesame seed bun and you have got the original “hot stuff”.

For more enquiries or McDelivery, please contact them at 2449669 or dine in at their outlet which is located in Gadong.

 

The new extended area of Fitness Zone Kiulap in conjunction with their 10th year anniversary

Ten years is a milestone that was marked by Fitness Zone, Brunei's number one health club, yesterday with the opening of a new wing in its main branch in Kiulap.

Supporters of the health club made their way to Fitness Zone's biggest branch in Kiulap to celebrate the happy occasion. Present at the event as the guest of honour was Minister of Health, Yang BerhormatPehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato SeriSetia Hj Mohd Yusof. Also present at the event were Yang Berhormat Pehin Kapitan Lela Diraja DatoPaduka Goh King Chin; ambassadors and high commissioners to Brunei; senior officers from the Ministry of Health; and members, family and friends of Fitness Zone.

A buzz of excitement filled the air as the event began with drums and Wu Shu performances by students from Chung Hwa Middle School, BSB.

This was followed by a speech from Fitness Zone Managing Director, Wu Chun, popularly known as Chun, where he said, "Working in the fitness industry for such a long time isn't easy... In the past 10 years, I am confident to say that Fitness Zone has brought a major change to the fitness industry in Brunei."

He added that that being in the fitness industry, one of the challenges has been creating fun in the traditional exercise regime. "Nowadays, the equipment is better and we see innovations that make exercise more interesting and inspiring. Instead of being a chore, Fitness Zone introduced new ways of training and has become something that Bruneians love and then it becomes a part of their lives," added Chun.

Following his speech, Chun also presented the guest of honour with a token of appreciation which was a life time membership at Fitness Zone. This was then continued with a tour of the new wing where the guest of honour was guided around the new facilities at the health club.

On the first floor of the new wing, members can find two new group exercise studios, a comfortable lounge area for members to relax and unwind, boxing and martial arts training zone and more state-of-the-art cardio and fitness equipment. Chun acknowledged that apart from the normal exercise, people were also looking for other fun ways to keep fit, such as mixed martial arts, yoga and many more.

During the press conference, Minister of Health YB Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri SetiaHj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Haji Mohd Yusof congratulated Fitness Zone for its 10th anniversary. The Health Minister also said that the ministry has supported and will continue to support Fitness Zone in its efforts to create Brunei into a healthier nation. "Fitness Zone has systematic and professional instructors. We are looking forward to working with them more in the future," said the minister.

Fitness Zone started back in 2003 at The Mall in Gadong and since then it has a household name in Brunei. It currently has two branches located in Kiulap and in Serusop. Text by Zatty Joanda of The Brunei Times.

 

The winners of the National CHAMPS Challenge on 2013

KFC Brunei held their annual National CHAMPS Challenge on 15 April 2013 at the Airport Mall outlet.

This yearly event sees all 14 outlets select their best staff to create a team and challenges the other teams on a national level in terms of speed, hospitality, accuracy, etc.

The highlight of the competition finished with the top 5 teams going head to head with the CHAMPS Cheer performance which saw some creative costumes and colourful choreography. Many passersby who chanced upon Airport Mall that day stopped to witness the event as well.

After this competition the management will take the best 5 staff from the 14 outlets, let them undergo training and prepare them for the much anticipated Regional CHAMPS Challenge which will be held in one of the Asian countries in October this year.

 

I kinda love the 3rd trailer for Man of Steel. Click image to view trailer.

It's still early days but Iron Man 3 have a perfect score from 9 reviewers so far on Rottentomatoes and most of the reviews show promise. I foresee this movie to better the disappointing Iron Man 2.

Oblivion. This was another great outing for Tom Cruise. I kinda enjoyed Jack Reacher but his latest outing as Jack Harper in Oblivion was way better I thought and it also gave me a new hope for Joseph Kosinski the director behind Tron: Legacy was a big disappointment for me. This is a sci-fi movie where action only comes in patches but the pacing of the story was nicely done so I didn't feel that it was a draggy movie. My interest point never faded along the way. However, there are some flaws that might affect the overall scoring for me.

I also learnt one or two messages from the story which is always a plus when it comes to my final verdict. And of course, the music score is another added bonus. I just downloaded some of the scores by M83 for Oblivion and it also made my movie experience a better one. It has the feel of Hans Zimmer (Inception, Dark Knight) though. I recommend you to catch Oblivion. It's a movie not for everyone as I heard some mixed reviews. Verdict: 7/10 lilmopiko 8/10 Rottentomatoes: 57%.

The Croods. This is long overdue review indeed. I watched this way back in March and I'm still surprised how well it's doing in our local cinemas. The same goes to GI Joe: Retaliation and Olympus Has Fallen. I have to say this is one of the animations that I enjoyed in a long time. I was pretty involved from beginning to the end and this is one solid entertaining movie that hardly disappoint. Surprisingly this is also one of Nicolas Cage's biggest hit in a long, long time. His past six movies combined couldn't reach USD 100 million in the box office. Though this doesn't much of him on-screen presence since it's only his voice as the one of the leads.

It is still showing in our local theatres and they still have a few screening times despite being around for four weeks. Amazing!! It has a great plot with a nice touch of humour (not overly done) and the messages were great too for the young and adult. There are quite a few family values you can learn from here too. I can guarantee that you won't feel slightness of boredom at all. A great animation before the much anticipated Despicable Me 2 this summer. Verdict: 8/10 lilmopiko 8/10 Winnie 10/10 Rottentomatoes: 68%

G.I Joe: Retaliation. One thing for sure, this latest flick is bound to surpass their first movie in terms of box office revenue worldwide. There are many who preferred the first movie to this and I would understood why. The plot may be short of class and it seemed pretty straight forward as it focused more on action stunts. I won't focus too much on the flaws and this is one movie that I would give a wild card to excuse the flaws because overall I really enjoyed it. Some of the stunts and actions had the classy execution and I'm always a sucker for that *lol*

One thing I expected from this flick is a stronger adversary which was lacking. The number of action sequences might not well executed in terms of pacing too. Ok, it seems I'm talking about some flaws here. Anyway, like I said, this is a wild card movie which I would simply leave my brains home and enjoy my popcorn for an action thrill ride. Verdict: 8/10 Marul 8.8/10 because of the hot chick *lol* Rottentomatoes 28%

Olympus Has Fallen. Ok, hands down to the best action movie I've seen this year. This could be surpassed by upcoming movies such as Man of Steel and even Iron Man. I totally enjoyed this from the start. Maybe a good lesson for Jon Chu who directed G.I. Joe on how to make action movies more exciting and absorbing. Gerald Butler pulled off another great outing as an action icon. I kinda miss his heroics in 300 and his past movies have been failures to say the least. So it's good to see him back in the limelight for the right reasons.

This is another movie that has been huge in Brunei. The screening times are still aplenty which tells a lot about the success of the movie. Positive word-of-mouth is also another factor and I posted my review on instagram fews ago. If you haven't catch this flick, this is highly recommended. Forget about the lack of originality of the movie and just sit back and enjoy. Verdict: 8/10. Rottentomatoes 48%

The Host

The Host. Oh my.... I don't know where to begin... You can tell where this review is heading, right? What an awful movie!!! The first quarter had me interested but it was mixed. Maybe the voice of the subconscious of the lead actor's mind was a turn-off for me and that set the tone throughout the movie. I won't really go depths about The Host. All I can say the second half of the movie just spoilt my ratings even further *lol* I was cringing and laughing on most of the scenes as it got ridiculous especially the threesome chemistry (or four for this case). It became a comedy of sorts for Mizah and I as we just kept laughing on the level of "cheesyness". Oh, the script and dialogue were simply stale. If you are planning for some cheap thrill laughs on its cheesyness, this hits the spot. Verdict: 4/10 Mizah 5/10. Rottentomatoes: 9% .... yes 9% guys *lol*

Saving General Yang

Saving General Yang. There were some crazy fans who watched 7 or 8 times of this flick. A star studded line up with the likes of Ekin Cheng, Raymond Lam Fung, Adam Cheng and a few more and of course, our own Brunei icon Wu Chun. The premise is pretty simple and straight forward - brothers teamed up to save their ailing father from war. Ronnie Yu directed this movie and you might be familiar with his work such as Freddy vs Jason and Bride of Chuck.

My thoughts: Great adrenalin during fight scenes but I was lacking that emotion from the characters portrayed in the movie. Ronnie might just failed in the character development area. Yes, there are many stars in the movie to begin with but there's no excuse not to firstly build that emotions and characters out of the cast. That could have made a huge difference. A good example is The Avengers where it assembles all the powerful A-list casts and even within that two hour movie, I was deeply connected to everyone of them.

Another pointer is that the movie execution seemed rushed. Before I could learnt the characters of the brothers, there was already a crying scene or a sad emotional moment within the family. I wasn't emotionally invested then. So these are some flaws that I take very highly of. Apart from that, it has an awesome cinematography and Wu Chun shared how difficult it was to act in the desert and he also had to take up horse riding lessons. Ronnie could have explored more with the characters and the emotional experience from the audience would have paid off. A great effort still and you can only catch this at Times Cineplex. Verdict: 6/10 Rottentomatoes: 50% though only two reviews.

Broken City. Hmmmmm... I saw the trailer and it looked interesting. However, I was fooled *lol* Ok, that's not the right word. Maybe my expectations didn't equate to my interest of the trailer. The premise was interesting and it had some minor twist which was a nice touch. I was just a bit thrown back by the pacing of the movie. There were moments of restlessness and there were also tense moments. Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg had great outings with Les Miserables and Ted respectively but Broken City didn't deliver to my expectations. It was a pity that I kinda like the premise. Something is just amiss. Maybe the script/dialogue was forgettable to begin with. Well, at least Del Goh enjoyed it. Verdict: 6/10 Cheelin 6/10 Rottentomatoes 30%

 

  Let Your Body Drive


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Manchester United are champions of the Premier League after Robin van Persie scored his hat-trick win over Aston Villa. This will be Manchester United's 20th title. This title was also to avenge the nail-biting finish last season where Manchester City won last season with the final kick of the season.

 

Guys, are you aware tomorrow is one of the big events in Brunei Darussalam? Tomorrow is the beginning of the ASEAN Summit 2013 and once again Brunei will be chairing the meeting among the ASEAN leaders. Topics such as Southeast Asian territorial disputes, tensions in the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015 will be high on the agenda list. This year's theme will be "Our People, Our Future Together".

Anyway, I believe most locals and residents are aware that major event due to road closure. So it seems the publicity has not been that great. The social network hasn't been gathering its pace to further spread the importance of such event. So far only RTB, Radio stations and the local print media have been spreading information about the ASEAN Summit but the reach hasn't been that great either. Perhaps it's not an event of their interest as it involves politics but then again, it's also important for the community to know where we stand as a country and also as a member of ASEAN. Brunei as a host is an important milestone and testament to the country's commitment to help the ongoing issues with other ASEAN members and also see good opportunities and also stabilise the harmony among ASEAN members.

Great illustration of the map for road closure on 24th and 25th April. I wonder how did The Empire Hotel ended up located at Berakas area.

For your information, the roads will be closed for two days on certain hours. The road closures on April 24 will start from 6.15pm, while on April 25, the closures will start from 7.15am. On both days, the roads will be closed for two hours.

In relation to this, the Motor Transport Licensing Authority (MTLA) has also issued temporary road closure instructions for the prohibition on heavy vehicles during the ASEAN Summit.

Drivers of these vehicles are reminded not to use the main roads from 6pm to 9pm on April 24 and the same period the following day.They are to use alternate routes as well as to follow orders given by road traffic personnel, read a statement by the MTLA.

Throughout the whole ASEAN Summit, over 200 personnel from the JSKLL will be working to facilitate the road closures, with assistance of the Brunei District Police Station (Daerah Balai Polis Brunei),Berakas Police Station, and the Sengkurong Police Station.

The RBPF through the JSKLL, would like to remind the public, especially road users to plan their journeys so it does not go through the closed main roads such as leaving earlier than usual, using alternative roads, and not to make unplanned journeys towards the closed roads.

They are also advised to comply with the directives of the JSKLL personnel on duty and to be mindful of other road users during the road congestion during the closures. The RBPF will not hesitate to take action against those who do not obey their orders. Source: Nabilah Haris of The Brunei Times.

 

It's happening end of June...

Introducing Brunei's first Boat and Holiday Expo to be held at Royal Wharf (originally known as Waterfront), BSB this coming June on 28-30. With event highlights such as Yamaha Superjet Jetski stunt show by Medly Menad from Dubai (a world champion jet ski racer and Hollywood stuntman), Extreme Parasailing show by Poni Divers, Race Boats and Yacht display, Brunei River Tour, ATV and Kiddie Train rides, O3 fun fair games and many other exciting activities, this event brings forward something truly different.

With a coastline of 161KM and an abundance of deep blue sea, Brunei Darussalam is the perfect location to be hosting a Boat show. This boat show will be covering boat exhibits, boat related equipment, sea &water activities. Other than that, we know everyone longs for a holiday every now and then so a holiday expo is incorporated into this event, making it a one stop for everyone to plan and book their next holiday.

The organisers are now inviting retailers for boats, boat accessories, food and drinks, travel agencies and car dealers to take part in this prestigious event.

For bookings, please contact Adison Marketing Services at 2663828 or email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Details on the event can also be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/bruneiboatandholidayexpo

The layout for the event in June

Something to look forward to in June

 

 

Last year, Khairul Kamis the winner of the Green Jacket of the Baiduri Masters 2012. Who will win the jacket in 2013?

The 2013 Baiduri Masters Golf Tournament is set to kick off over two weekends, from 31st May to 2nd June and from 7th to 9th June 2013 at the RBA Golf Club. This will be Baiduri Bank Group’s 18th annual fundraising golf tournament. Sadly enough I won't be in Brunei during these said dates but I hope to have my guys cover any updates or events (I will be away on holiday woohoo). Anyway, for your info, this tournament started way back in 1995 and now it has become a household name as golfers and the community look forward to this event.

  Thanks to the support of strategic partner – the QAF Group of Companies, the much awaited hole-in-one prizes for Baiduri Masters 2013 was confirmed this morning at the Partnership Signing Ceremony. The signing ceremony event took place at QAF Centre yesterday morning.

So what are the prizes for the hole-in-one this time round?

The prize for hole no. 5 is the Porsche Panamera. Unlike the traditional executive saloons, The Panamera is a four-door, sports car that offers comfort and everyday practicality without compromising its high performance.  Contrary to the company’s signature offerings, The Panamera is considered a full-size luxury car with its engine mounted in the front, a sumptuous interior loaded with modern technological amenities and expensive leather upholstery.

The prize for hole no. 5 is the Mini Cooper S Countryman (Why not the Paceman? haha). The Mini Cooper S Countryman is a compact crossover SUV, and is the first such car to be launched under the Mini brand by BMW. The prize for hole no. 5 is the BMW 520. he most beautiful form of dynamics with the twin-stroke turbo, this BMW 5-series is the second best-selling model after the 3-series. All in all, all these three luxury cars are worth BND 400,000. The other consolation prizes for the other hole-in-one are BND 20,000 cash prize.

The signing ceremony involved Baiduri Bank Group, the main organiser of Baiduri Masters 2013, Brunei Press as the main exclusive print media partners, QAF Group of Companies as the strategic partner who will sponsor the hole-in-one prizes and RBA Golf Club Sdn Bhd as the event partner of the Baiduri Masters 2013.

Pierre Imhof, CEO of Baiduri Bank Group, spoke to the partners and media, about the vision and objectives of the Baiduri Masters and thanked the strategic partners for their contritbution

Andrew Young, Deputy GM, Operations Management Division of Baiduri Bank Group who is also the President of Baudiri Masters 2013 Organizing Committee with Pierre Imhof representing Baiduri Bank Group. The other signatories are representatives from RBA Golf Club, Pg Mohammad Joanda, General Manager and Major (R) Pg Said, Assistant General Manager.

Michelle and Ghah witnessing the signing ceremony

Representing Brunei Press are Mr. Reggie See, General Manager and Ms Hazizah Osman, Deputy General Manager

Melanie the well known in-house emcee for Baiduri Masters

The final signatory representing QAF Group of Companies, Mr. Albert Lau, CEO

The upcoming golf tournament is divided into four divisions: Men’s, Ladies’, Junior’s and Professionals – the latest category to be introduced in the tournament. The Men’s division will be further divided into Men’s Open and Senior Golfers categories. The Junior Golfers category is open to golfers aged 13 to 18 years old.

Registration fee for the Baiduri Masters 2013 will be BND120 for adults and BND60 for juniors. The registration fee is inclusive of green fee, buggy, buffet breakfast and lunch. All players will also be invited to the prize presentation dinner held after the charity golf tournament has concluded.

Players may play more than once to improve their chances of winning. Adult players will enjoy a 10% discount on the registration fee on their second and subsequent rounds. The best score of any round played will be taken.

Registration deadline for the first weekend’s tournament is 29 May 2013 while for the second weekend’s tournament is 05 June 2013. All registration will be carried out at the RBA Gold Club, Berakas. The public can also log onto www.baiduri.com for full details, where they can download the registration form.

Group photo with the organisers and partners

Michelle posing with the Porsche Panamera

One of the prizes for the Hole-in-One

I present to you the trophy and the prizes

It's never too late to win a championship or in my case, to take up golf...

The official poster of the event

 

The bakery chef famously known as Kak Ros and she is also behind the famous green Kek Batik

Batik Cake (Kek Batik) lovers can now enjoy the different flavours of Kek Batik that has been newly introduced by Royal Brunei Catering (RBC) created with passion by RBC’s very own Celebrity Bakery Chef, Rosihan Masri, who has many years of experience in this field

Popularly known as Kak Ros, Chef Rosihan has explored the traditional Kek Batik Sarawak before she made an improvisation and came up with her own variation.

Some of her tempting creations that will appeal to all tastes include Kek Batik Kak Rose, Kek Batik Nestum, Kek Batik Kacang, Kek Batik Coffee Oreo Ice Cream, Kek Batik Strawberry Lemon Banana and Kek Lapis Seri Brunei. My personal favourite is definitely the Kek Lapis Seri Brunei. It's just niceeeee!!! Did you know that Kak Ros' famous Kek Batik that is a hot seller at The Empire Hotel is her creation?? She shared that her inspiration from Kek Batik (Green one) came from her mom.

All of her creations are made with high quality ingredients and are for sale at reasonable prices. All 1.6 kg cakes are priced at $32.00 except for Kek Batik Strawberry Lemon Banana which is priced at $35.00.

For those who want to purchase a smaller portion of RBC’s Kek Batik, 200 gm portions are priced at $4.50 except for Kek Batik Strawberry Lemon Banana will be $5.00. And as for the 120 gm, each of the Kek Batik is priced at $2.50 except for Kek Batik Strawberry Lemon Banana will be $3.00.

All these cakes will be ready for order at Fish & Co and the Airport Restaurant. Early birds are welcomed to place their advance orders for Ramadhan and Hari Raya bookings where Kak Ros will introduce more flavours by then.

The six flavours that were launched last week. Now available at Fish & Co and The Airport Restaurant.

Remember this famous Kek Batik? Nom nom nom!!

This is my personal favourite among the lot - Kek Lapis Seri Brunei

What are you waiting for?? Buy them cakes now!!!

 

It's happening next Sunday, 5th May 2013. This is a follow up to the success of the first Comedy Night which took place early April. The Comedy Night compromised a group of UBD Students organised by 1stopbrunei.com and it's always good to see the passion and pride of the students in carrying out their project.

So what can you expect from Comedy Night II? Well, it's gonna have a similar format as the first where there will be bits of music and of course comedy sketches to entertain the crowd. You can check out the pictures below taken from the previous Comedy Night. The tickets are selling at $7 each and the proceeds will go to the Wildlife Club. You can purchase the tickets at Lazeeza cafe at Hj Daud Complex at Gadong, near CA Mohd. or contact Shavez of 1stopbrunei.com at 878 5714 or Hidayat of UBD FM at 899 9234. For more details, you can email at 1stopbrunei(a)gmail.com

The event will be held at The Core, UBD and it will feature local singers too such as Hill Zaini, Erny and Mus. The event is brought to you by 1stopbrunei.com with the support of KNK (Brunei Tourism), Entrepreneurship @ Campus (EAC) and Ranoadidas.com

 

The event is just days away. The LANEIGE Broadway Musical Charity Competition is back once more and it's brought to you by LANEIGE and Department of Schools, Ministry of Education. What I love about this event is that the students are able to showcase their talents but it's also not about their showmanship but also it brings out other values in them such as leadership, confidence, appreciation, creative and many more.

For your info, there will 250 secondary students participating in this year's competition with 10 schools involved. The theme for the musical broadway competition is "Bruneian Life".

One major objective is to raise awareness on those who are less fortunate. This year the ticket sales will be donated to YASKA Children Cancer Fund and BELTA. The other objectives of this competition is to encourage the youth in Brunei to contribute to the youth development via charity events and also to expose their talents through understanding the Brunei culture and enhancing the English language.

LANEIGE Broadway Musical Charity Competition 2013 to be held at the Hua Ho Manggis Hall on Sunday, 28 April 2013 at 9am until 4:30pm.  Tickets are now available on sales at all LANEIGE branches (The Mall 2428222, Kiulap 2232282, K.B. 3347217, Hua Ho Yayasan 2231122) and also CFBT. For you rinfo, there are only 700+ seats to be sold during the event. 100% of ticket sales would be donated to YASKA Children Cancer Fund and BELTA (Brunei English Language Teachers Association). To enjoy a meaningful afternoon of Broadway musical with good cause, get your tickets now for a wonderful afternoon with family and friends.