Click image to enter Royal Brunei Airlines website and you might win a ticket to the same destination when you book from 26th to 30th November

Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) has teamed up with Amadeus Altea Customer Management Solution to launch its new online booking system, with the aim to increase efficiency in handling customers.

The Altea suite will provide Royal Brunei Airlines with a “next generation technology”, to allow the airline to remain competitive, both regionally and globally, and will equip the airline with the tools needed to improve business efficiency and performance, including reducing waiting time at airports and improving customer service.

John Chapman, vice president of the Airline Group from Amadeus Asia-Pacific said that liability and security is of “major importance” to the company. He gave a presentation of an “airport of the future”, which showed how smoothly an airport should be run with the increasing number of travellers and crowds. “Airports are becoming increasingly crowded and there are more travellers everyday,” he said, adding that airlines movement can increase their efficiency and security while decreasing their costs. For more updates, please click here from Debbie Too of The Brunei Times.

One of the Royal Skies member receiving a token of appreciation from Dermot Nannion, Deputy Chairman of Royal Brunei Airlines. Image courtesy of Jan Shim.

As part of Royal Brunei Airlines appreciation to their top Royal Skies members, they were rewarded with a 16GB 3G iPad2 with their names laser engraved *wuuhuu*. Image courtesy of Jan Shim.

The top Royal Skies Members with Dermot Nannion. Image courtesy of Jan Shim.

Storm Troopers with Ahim Rani and Jan Shim. Image courtesy of Jan Shim.

This was a funny moment during the launching of the service. I just realised how strong the presence of iPads in Brunei compared to other tablets. Even Pehin Abdullah mentioned the word “iPad” as a generic word for tablets and not mentioning other brands.

DST-National Football League 2011/2012 will kicks off on the 3rd December 2011, Saturday, at the Berakas Sports Complex, 8.00 pm. DST Group of Companies is very supportive in sponsoring the leagues for season 2011/2012.

There will be 32 teams competing in group stages. The teams are divided into 4 groups namely Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D. Each group will consist of 8 teams. The teams will play in a one round robin competition in each group.

The Champion and Runner-Up in each group will automatically promoted into the DST-National Super League with another 2 teams will be selected from the best 3rd placing in the groups. The DST-National Super League will consist of 10 teams. The teams in the DST-National Super League will continue to compete for the National Super League Trophy for the inaugural league competition.

The rest of the teams will be in the group of National League 1, National League 2 and National League 3. So for season 2012-2013 there will be National Super League, National League 1, National League 2 and National League 3. The venues of the leagues will be Stadium Negara Hassanal Bolkiah, Berakas Sports Complex, Balapan and Padang Field. Other venues will also be used once approval is obtained.

Every team must enlist at least 1 player who is 23 years old and under in their starting line–up. The aim is for the selection process of potential players to undergo national football training and be selected to represent Brunei Darussalam in age-level football competitions organized by AFF, AFC and FIFA. The leagues are also to indentify and select players to be in the Brunei National Football Team.

Apart from the DST-National Football League and DST-National Super League, the DST-FA Cup will also be organized and the format will be a sudden death competition. There will be at least 64 teams competing in the FA Cup competition. NFABD also wish to express its gratitude and appreciation to DST as the Title Sponsor, the Department of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports, Radio Television Brunei, local news agencies etc.

There will be cash prizes for the champions, trophies, medals, Fair Play award, Best Player award, Top Scorer and Best Goalkeeper award.

So, we all invite all football supporters and lovers to come and cheer their teams and hope the teams will show great sportsmanship, high level of skills, teamwork and motivation. Text courtesy of NFABD

Mochi is a local brand and not a franchise. It’s now officially open to the public and it’s located on the ground floor of The Airport Mall. Lately there have been a lot of frozen yoghurt business popping here and there. It’s the in-thing now

Mochi is having a special opening discount until the end of December 2011. This is a good introductory price promotion to encourage shoppers to try out Mochi

Vanny and Carol are big fans of Frozen Yoghurt. Surprisingly I’m not a fan of yoghurt *lol*

You should try out the flavour of Blueberry Frozen Yoghurt and don’t forget the choices of toppings especially their home-made mochi

The other flavour is the original one and the pearl look-alike are pretty tasty too. They compliment well with the frozen yoghurt.

There’s a sitting area for customers too.

They had quite a strong crowd during the 1st day of the opening last Saturday. You can find them on facebook by simply searching “Mochi” and do Like their page :))

Johnny Leong Man Theng from Hair Cut City Salon and Yvonne Chai Yit Khuan from Kathy Chai Hair Studio were named winners at the final round of the Obsidian Hair Cut Competition in the male and female categories respectively, earning themselves the grand prize of a tour to Korea, along with trophies and cash prizes.

The competition’s preliminary round held earlier last week saw 23 professional hairdressers in the male category and 33 in the female category from salons nationwide competing for the final cut last Saturday night.

The finals, held at Times Square Shopping Mall in Berakas, saw the top 10 making it to the finals in the male and female categories. The competitors battled out their haircut techniques and skills in front of professional judges from the Obsidian team in Korea, Mr Yang Han Hong and Ms Kim Ji Myung. Judging criteria also covered aspects of creativity and design, general presentation and hair styling. On top of the judges’ marks, members of the public could also vote for their favourite hairstylist, adding an extra 10 per cent mark.

Walter Comania from Cutting Crew Salon and Peggie Kiew Suh Chi from Ago Go Too Beauty Salon came in as runners-up in the male and female categories respectively, also earning themselves a tour to Korea.

The competition was organised by Yun Ho Trading Company, which is the local distributor for Obsidian Professional Hair Products. Obsidian has been maintaining cooperation with LG Life Science ensuring innovation and efficiency of all product research and development procedures. Text by Hakim Hayat of Borneo Bulletin.

The finals took place at Times Square and it drew quite a crowd last Saturday

One of the finalists for the Male Category

Johnny Leong (left) of Haircut City Salon is the champion for the Obsidian Haircut Competition

The ladies category was next after the male category

Walter Comania of Cutting Crew came 2nd place among the 10 male finalists

Hairstylist Yvonne (champion) and model Lily watching the male category

Peggie Kiew Suh Chi of Ago Go Too Beauty Salon was one of the top 10 female finalists and she came 2nd place.

The ladies category was a crowd puller later that night

The 10% of the hairstylists overall score came from public votes

Ms. Kim Ji Myung was one of the invited judges from Obsidian team in Korea

Johnny Leong – Winner (2nd left) and Walter Comania (3rd from right) – runner up with the their models and the judges from Korea

Yvonne Chai – Winner (3rd left) and Peggie Kiew Suh Chi (right) – runner up with the their models and the judges from Korea

The group photo of all the finalists of Obsidian finals. Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enter website and start shopping

Having problems of buying things online? Have you ever come across a situation where items can be delivered to Brunei because of delivery restrictions? Don’t you worry as Suite Lola can help you ease your challenges to buying items online. If you are buying things from the US, the UK, Canada and Singapore, then I highly recommend you to try out Suite Lola.

The steps are pretty straight forward and once you get use to this service, I can assure you that you will be spending more time shopping online *lol* I normally buy my books online and other clothes too but now with Suite Lola, it has widen my scope of variety in terms of shopping online.

Below are quick steps on registering as a Suite Lola member.

1. Register as a Suite Lola Member for FREE. You will receive your own personal address in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Singapore. Oh yeah, you will need to bring photo your IC and also any utility bill to confirm of your delivery address for security reasons. You can drop by Home Suite Home at Regent Square to send your details.

2. Shop directly* on ANY U.S./U.K./Canada/Singapore website and then have the retailer ship your purchases to your personal U.S./U.K./Canada/Singapore address.

3. Email us your invoice and we will ship your purchases from your personal U.S./U.K./Canada/Singapore address to Brunei at competitive international shipping rates.

* If the U.S./U.K./Canada/Singapore site does not accept a Brunei-issued credit card, you can use our Concierge Service to buy the goods on your behalf.

For WWE fans, you can now get your merchandise at your doorstep. I know some of the items don’t deliver to Brunei as I tried before. Now with Suite Lola, this is now made possible 😀

Hmmmm perhaps I can also make use of Suite Lola to buy some Adidas stuff from the UK

…And depending on the delivery period, you can collect your goods at Suite Lola office or get it delivered to your home

For your info, Suite Lola will also be running a FREE tutorial session and you can take full advantage of their services and benefits offered by Suite Lola.

Topics to be covered?

(1) How do I initiate a Self Service or a Concierge Service order with Suite Lola?
(2) Where do I find discount vouchers or coupons for online retailers?
(3) How do I estimate shipping costs from the U.S./U.K./Singapore/Canada to Brunei?
(4) How do I save on shipping costs from the U.S./U.K./Singapore/Canada to Brunei?
(5) How do I redeem or send a Suite Lola Gift Certificate?

Each session will be approximately 15 to 20 minutes long and will be offered every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the month of December. This hands-on tutorial is designed for the novice online shopper who is seeking to expand his/her retail options. If you are interested in attending a tutorial session, please contact us to reserve a date and time in advance. You can email customerservice(a)suitelola.com if you are interested. Members have been notified via email of the sessions but for newbies, you are more than welcome to learn more about Suite Lola services.

THERE is just two weeks left before the start of the semi-finals of the Who’s Got Talent Competition (WGT) organised by B-Mobile and managed by Relentless Entertainment. A press conference was held recently at the B-Mobile headquarters where the top 20 contestants were announced.

A number of 16 contestants were announced, thanks to the SMS votes by members of the public as well as another four contestant who were called out and got through thanks to the votes of the judges of the competition which finalised the top 20 contestants of the semi-finals of WGT.

The lucky four who were voted back were dance group “Persistence Crew”, singer Ak Khairul Ikhwan Pg Irwan , Dancer Felicia Luah and Magician Achmed Nadzri.

Speaking to the press, Relentless Entertainment’s Amy Chung said, “This was the surprise that was hinted over the past two weeks. We thought of informing people early but then the element of surprise was a good twist in order to bring more excitement to the competition this time around.”

“Every year, auditions are done differently so this time the semi-finals and finals performances will also be (different),” she added.

For the semi-finals and finals contestants are not given the free choice of performing what music or song they want but instead will base their performance from the shortlisted range which have been selected by the organiser.

The Top 16 that was listed in the finals but now there is an additional four contestants – “Persistence Crew”, singer Ak Khairul Ikhwan Pg Irwan , Dancer Felicia Luah and Magician Achmed Nadzri

Dancer Felicia Luah was voted back by the judges

Magician Achmed Nadzri was voted back by the judges

During the press conference, all 20 contestants were briefed on what has been planned for them leading up to the competition. Participants will have special session on tips for stage performances which will be led by Adi Rani of Project Tunes, a beauty and hairstyle talk conducted by Tony Moly, an interview session with local radio Djs.

The Senior Manager of Public Relations B-Mobile Nurul Haniah Hj Jaafar announced that the competition will be held at the Airport Mall on December 10 and December 11, 2011 in conjunction with B-Mobile’s mini road show. The top 20 cheered as the prizes of the top four winners were announced during the day.

Winner of the first prize will walk away with $3,600, a winning trophy and a hotel satay at Ming Garden Residence, vouchers from Mr Baker worth $100 and a B-Mobile phone package.

The second place prize includes $2,000, a trophy, a Tony Moly Beauty Hamper, a Mr Baker voucher worth $100 and also a B-Mobile phone package. The Third prize winner will walk home with $1,500, a winning trophy, a Tony Moly hamper, a voucher from Mr Baker and also a B-Mobile phone package. Fourth prize winner will receive $600, a trophy, a hamper and also vouchers and goody bags courtesy of B-Mobile. Text courtesy of Adib Noor of The Brunei Times.

Mentorship by Adi Rani of Projectunes, Juju and Dayat for the finalis of Who’s Got Talent. Image courtesy of Relentless Entertaiment

Group NQB being mentored by the local artist. Image courtesy of Relentless Entertaiment

Maizurah getting some tips from the mentors. Image courtesy of Relentless Entertaiment

Faizal Irrawandy is one of the finalists for Who’s Got Talent 3. Image courtesy of Relentless Entertaiment

Shameera is one of the finalists. Image courtesy of Relentless Entertaiment

Will Cheenyca Ong be the champion for WGT 3? Image courtesy of Relentless Entertaiment

BRUNEI Shell Marketing (BSM) recently held a Customer Day at Jerudong Park and Riding Club and this was the first of its kind as normally BSM would send out survey forms to their clients for feedback. This time, BSM wanted a more engaging dialogue with their clients to appreciate their support and dedication as a client and also BSM’s role as the provider.

Managing Director of BSM, Mohd Sufri Sulaiman, made a welcoming speech and addressed the clients on certain issues that was brought up during the feedback. There were some concerns with regards to the delivery of petrol to the retail stations. Though the matter is not an overnight solution, BSM understood the clients problems and they will do their best within their jurisdiction to make the situation less of a hassle.

The guests were also given some goodies for answering pop quizzes on BSM.

In this exclusive interview, Mohd Sufri explains why he couldn’t give an immediate answer and what BSM will be doing to alleviate the problems that the clients are facing. For more of the exclusive interview by Debbie Too of The Brunei Times, click here.

Mohd Sufri Sulaiman, the Managing Director of Brunei Shell Marketing, opened the session with his welcoming remarks

The Q&A began between the clients and BSM

The invited guests during BSM Customer Day

Representatives from BSM who ran their presentations on their respective department

The pop quiz lighten up the mood halfway through the discussion

There was an overview model of BSM’s role to the community

Group photo with clients of BSM. Click to enlarge