Click image to enter website

 

The redevelopment of Supa Save Seria which started early February this year, will be bringing a whole new shopping experience with the convenience of a bank, cafe and other exciting retail outlets under one roof. With the help of local creative agency Mixmediaworx, this popular supermarket has also been working on a re-branding exercise that will be rolled out progressively, beginning with a logo refresh followed by some exciting campaigns lined up for the coming year.”

Did you know that I used to play the piano back in my high school years? Well, that was just to impress my close friend from Japan whom I had a crush on *lol* So I ended up taking grade classes until Grade 2 and even then I was still struggling to cope with music overall. I tell you it’s not easy being a musician unless you dedicated some time to it.

Anyway, I met up with Lily Chiam of Expression Music to enquire about the pianos at their establishments. For your info, Expression Music will be selling Steinway pianos which are a good quality pianos and I could tell the difference between Steinway ones and EM’s older pianos as Lily tried both of them. The music flow and arrangement were much more precise and quality of the tune was crisp.

Lily mentioned that there will be a special price for those who wants to order Steinway pianos and she has different versions of it – Essex and Boston. The Boston one is quite expensive and Lily finally brought one unit in EM which arrived this morning. I was amazed when she told me of the price of the Boston which is almost BND 30K *gulp* If you want a much more affordable line from Steinway, then Essex is a better choice. For price inquiry, you can call Michele/Matet at 223 2600 or 233 8081. The special price is only valid from today until 1st Jan 2013.

Lily Chiam playing her new Boston piano which just arrived this morning

Buying the Boston piano (designed by Steinway and sons) is like buying a new car 😀

Lily playing on the Essex piano

The Essex piano

The Essex piano is more affordable than the Boston ones

Since Expression Music won’t be using Yamaha pianos anymore, they are having a clearance sale for the remaining units. They almost sold 80% of their Yahama pianos and the deals are pretty good too. What is left are the Yahama U1 models and there are only a few units left for those interested. For price inquiry, you can call Michele/Matet at 223 2600 or 233 8081.

Lily playing on the Yamaha U1

Not much unit left for the Yamaha U1

 

I saw this model displayed at Scotts Road, Singapore two weeks ago

A first look on the new Mercedes-Benz CLS 350 Shooting Brake may create a puzzled thought amongst Mercedes aficionados and enthusiasts: is it a four-door coupe or an estate?

Unveiled ‘to the general public at the Jati Transport Gadong Showroom three weeks ago, the glistening CLS 350 can be categorised as a defining and eclectic synthesis that blends the pragmatic comfort with a high performance of both motoring genres.

Roomy for five normal-sized adults, the CLS Shooting Brake has an imposing stance of a large sports car, with its long bonnet and roof sloping towards the rear end of the vehicle, this is one high-end car you would love parked in your garage.

One must remember that this is a Mercedes, and the brand is synonymous with luxury and fine performance-the CLS Shooting Brake is no exception.

 

Woww.. I have been given the opportunity to do a special coverage on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy the 27th Golden Disk Awards in Kuala Lumpur in January 2013. Yes, the next edition will be hosted in Malaysia and for your info, Golden Disk is South Korea’s Top Music Awards. Let’s just say it’s equivalent to the Grammys Award but for South Koreans. I only started liking Korean music earlier this year where I had the privilege to cover CN Blue concert back in Thailand this year and I’ve also been listening to Beast, Big Bang, Girls Generation and of course, who would not have known PSY. So let’s hope my schedule is free to make way for this event.

Earlier this December, Mr Kwon Jae Hoon, Managing Director of Samsung Malaysia Electronics and Ms Kim Sora, Entertainment Editorial Director, Ilgan Sports today officiated the launch for the Samsung GALAXY The 27th Golden Disk Awards in Kuala Lumpur (GDA). Confirmed to be held this coming 15th and 16th January 2013 at Sepang International Circuit, the event will be hosted in Malaysia by Mediartncomm Co., Ltd., supported by the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) and presented by Samsung Malaysia Electronics as title sponsor.

So this is good news not only for Malaysians but neighbouring countries even Brunei because it’s only nearby and you will get to see over 20 of the Korean’s top artistes performing over two nights in Kuala Lumpur. Mr Kwon believes that the extension of Samsung’s philosophy will enrich the Malaysians and Samsung will continuously strive to inspire and enrich our consumers’ lives.

Super Junior in last year’s Golden Disk Award

BEAST in last year’s Golden Disk Award

Girl’s Generation in last year’s Golden Disk Award

Girl’s Generation

Who will win this year’s Golden Disk Award?

The event will see over 20 top K-POP artists performing and receiving their awards. Currently, the nominee list includes: PSY, BigBang, Super Junior, KARA, T-ara, CNBlue, FT Island, Infinite, B.A.P, EXO, Beast, 4 Minute, SISTAR, Secret, B1A4, Epik High, 2NE1, BUSKER BUSKER, Miss.A, Shinee, K-will, Ailee, MBlaq and Girl’s Generation – TTS. However, I’m still waiting confirmation on PSY’s performance at GDA.

The awards will fall into the two classifications of ‘Album’ and ‘Song’ awards and the award categories include the Grand Prize in Disk Album, Disk Album of The Year, Grand Prize in Song of The Year, Song of The Year, The Most Popular K-POP Star, MSN Southeast Asia Award, MSN International Award, New Rising K-POP Star Award, Best HIP HOP Award, Single Album of The Year.

There will also be a Popularity Voting for fans to support their favourite artistes available through MSN Popularity Vote which commences 17th December 2012 to 7th January 2013.

Click image to buy ticket online via ticketpro.com.my

So where can you purchase the tickets? You can actually buy the tickets online.. Yes, they may look slightly pricey but hey, you are talking about 2 nights of entertainment of over 20 K-pop artistes and that’s a pretty good deal I have to say. To purchase the tickets online, you go to this and get your tickets there.

By the way, for you K-pop fans out there.. Guess what?? I’m giving out a few pair of Rockpit tickets worth BND 600 (for two) and of course, you have to arrange your own accommodation and flight arrangements. This is still a good catch, right? 😀 So want to win some? Just follow me on Twitter and Instagram @ranoadidas and I shall be uploading the competition pretty soon (hopefully by today).

 

Our own female Brunei driver Zira (with Melissa) finished 13th position holding the Brunei flag with Mr. Wong. Image courtesy of Nazirul Hakeem of Borneo Bulletin.

It was a tough race and a much improved performance from the ladies Red Bull Rookies Team compared to previous years. They finished a commendable 13th place overall in the Sepang 1,000 km endurance race. They lost the “Battle of the Sexes” as their male counterpart in the Red Bull Rookies team came 11th. The female representatives were our local driver Siti Zirwatul Iradah Adinin aka Zira and Melissa Huang of Singapore.

The race was three weeks ago back in Sepang and according to Zira, she said it was a very tiring race considering that there were only two drivers to take turns instead of the usual four. The night time was perhaps challenging due to the light conditions but she had an amazing experience on the track. She hope her experience will help more female drivers to step up. For the record, she kinda knew the Red Bull rookies application from my site *awwwww…* Good job to Zira and Melissa.

Taken before the race. Apparently most of the cars were using Hankook tyre

Melissa and Zira represented the ladies for Red Bull Rookies team

Interesting concept

The male representatives for Red Bull Rookies

And they bagged the RM10,000 for winning the Battle of the Sexex

 

Now this is something interesting. There seem to be a lot of interest for the audition judging from the comments on facebook. The upcoming audition will be taking place this Saturday 29th December 2pm onwards at CANDAS Creative Company, located at Serusop. Do refer to the poster above for the complete address.

Sadly there’s an age limit and they are looking for those 30 years and below. What to bring? Well, just your CV and a Shakespeare Sonnet or a memorised monologue.

The production will be directed by Abdul Khabir Zainidi and he made history for Brunei when he entered the 65th Cannes Film Festival with a short film he wrote, directed and produced called “Bread Dream”. In a nutshell, “Bread Dream” is Brunei’s version of Alice in Wonderland as mentioned by the director in The Brunei Times’ interview back in June 2012. The story is about a boy who dreamt so hard that it became his downfall because it was dreaming with no effort.

So what are you waiting for when such opportunities arise? Grab it while it is out there and make a difference to the youth… Hmmm how I wish I was a few years younger.. *lol*

Bruneian Abdul Khabir Zainidi (L) with Norman Abdul Halim, Executive President of KRU Studios. Image courtesy of Abdul Khabir Zainidi

 

The winner of the best costume for KFC Brunei’s 20th Anniversary

The winner of the iPhone 5

The winner of the Mini iPad

 

Finally I managed to try this out and my cousin Amalina keeps talking how great the BBQ stuff is and she already went there a few times ever since her first visit. Last night I had the opportunity to try out Yugo BBQ located at Gadong Central. Ok, I really have to say that Gadong Central has strategised itself to be an eatery scene because of the number of restaurants located at that specific area itself.

I have to admit that this is the 3rd shabu-shabu dinner I had in a space of 5 days *lol* Well, I’m a fan of Shabu-Shabu actually but I think I better stay away from it for at least a week. The prices for Yugo BBQ is pretty reasonable and the great thing is they also offer BBQ stuff. Yugo BBQ is open from 11am to 10pm daily except for Friday which is from 4:30pm to 10pm and the size is just right (1 unit) and it was a full house last night too. Good thing we did our reservations prior to dinner and thanks Winnie and Devon for the company.

You can follow Yugo BBQ on Facebook as well as instagram @yugobbq for updates. Congratulations Jacky on the opening of Yugo BBQ and I recommend you guys to try it out. I kinda like it overall. Do call 878 5398 or 242 7790 for reservations.

Devon browsing through the menu

It’s ordering time

The economy set which is quite a handful already

You can choose from here

My order last night

Preparing for the BBQ

Interesting that they use actual charcoal for this

All the meat being bbqed 😀

Quite a selection of spices to choose from

It can get smoky yooo

The ambience at Yugo BBQ