New ministers and deputy ministers sworn in. Video by The Brunei Times.

Brunei’s new Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers were sworn in for a five-year term at Istana Nurul Iman this morning, October 26, 2015.

The swearing-in ceremony was held three days after His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalamm, announced the Cabinet reshuffle on state television.

A total of 21 office-bearers took their oaths before the Sultan during the hour-long ceremony, including His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister ‘s Office.

His Majesty retains the posts of prime minister, defence minister, finance minister and took over the foreign affairs and trade portfolio from His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah.

Five new faces are also included in the Cabinet line-up. Source: The Brunei Times.

So what flavour are you?

It was great to see Richard To (in Superman tee) and his mother at Chatime last weekend. I do miss my Power Ranger days *lol*

The well known bubble tea franchise is here in the city. The first one was opened in Kuala Belait. Now the Taiwanese tea franchise, Chatime, opened its second branch in Citis Square. I only noticed of Chatime when I was traveling to Kuala Lumpur and apparently, it’s quite big in KL and to my surprise, a few of my friends kinda know of Chatime and they prefer the drinks from Chatime. The soft opening was last Saturday and the responses were great to begin with.

Grace Chen, the master franchise of Chatime for Brunei market, was happy that the second outlet was ready to serve the customers. The grand opening is slated soon and it will tie with some promotion as well. So what flavours are the popular ones? Do try the QQ Passion Fruit, the Maccha Red Bean or the Chocolate Milk Tea or the usual Pearl Milk Tea. My personal favourite is the blend mix of maccha and red bean.

Chatime can also cater to your sugar level and even ice level and you can enjoy a selection of 8 toppings.

Chatime in Citis Square is located not far from Burger King. Enjoy!!! You can follow on their IG @chatime_brunei

Sin Yi and Ming Rui enjoying their Chatime. However, Ming Rui is craving for the taro flavour which is not available just yet

The interior of Chatime at Citis Square outlet

It’s gonna be a busy month at Chatime

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar, the Minister of Home Affairs was the guest of honour during the BIBD CE ALAF’s prize presentation last Sunday.

BIBD CE ALAF became another hit among the locals. Thousands showed up last Sunday for another edition of BIBD CE ALAF programme. It stands for Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam Charity Expedition for Advocating Life-Long Learning for an Aspiring Future. The event took place at the usual Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium.

The guest of honour was the Minister of Home Affairs, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong presented prizes to the winners.

It was also nice to see former Minister of MIPR at the cycling category. Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar cycled during the expedition accompanied by Javed Ahmad, BIBD’s Managing Director and both of them are cycling enthusiasts.

Javed was quick to point out the volunteers for their great contribution to the community. Did you know they have roughly 900 volunteers in helping out the BIBD event to be a success? Amazing feat.

Great job to the BIBD team especially to Hajah Nurul Akmar binti Haji Mohd Ja’afar , Head of BIBD’s Corporate Social Responsibility, in leading the team to greater heights and also making the event another success.

Below are the winners of the respective categories.

Stephen Mungathia Nikubitu 1st place, Charles Munya Njaki 2nd place and Bernard Muthoni 3rd place in the Men Open 21km

Sefli Ahar 1st place, Abdul Malik bin Hidup 2nd place and Mohammad Samsul Zamri bin Muhammad Samsul Zam 3rd place in the Brunei Male 21 KM category

Tarus Gladus Jep Kechei 1st, Cheptoeck Careen 2nd and Esther Wambui Karimi 3rd in the Open Female 21KM category

Jenny Tan Feng Ling 1st place, Marnie Ahmad 2nd place and Jalquirey Cheng Nee 3rd place in Brunei Women 21 KM

James Cikunga Karanja 1st , Charles Kipkorir Kipsang 2nd and Titus Kipngetich 3rd in the Male Open 10Km category

Mastani Yussof 1st, Razali Sabli 2nd and Mohd Shah Azahar bin Abdullah 3rd in the Brunei Male 10Km category

Isabelan Kigen 1st, Valentine Jepkemoi Serem 2nd and Sarah Powdrill 3rd in the Female Open 10Km category

Nice t-shirt

Nurul Amirah Kariml 1st, Nurizyenny Muslim 2nd and Liza Hamid 3rd in the Brunei Female 10K category

Nikmatul Fatinah Haji Ismail 1st, Shazana Hamiroldzam 2nd and Dawn Lovell 3rd in the Female 5Km category

Kamau Kamau 1st (amazing feat of almost 16 minutes in the 5km run), Muhd Qamarul Ariffin Hifn 2nd and Lim Wei Kuang 3rd in the Male 5Km category

The winners of the Brunei Travel Fair feted two weeks ago

Irene Soon, General Manager of Abacus Brunei thanked all the stakeholders involved in the Brunei Travel Fair and also their customers

Late post: Well done to all the 13 winners of the recent Brunei Travel Fair as they won from the lucky draws organised by Acabus (B) Sdn Bhd which was held at Royal Brunei Recreation Club. The prizes were sponsored by Abacus Brunei, Royal Brunei Airlines (RB), Nautilus Diving Bali, Holiday Inn Express, Pathumwan Princess and Tourism Authority of Thailand and the official bank, Baiduri Bank.

The biggest winner was Nor Liyana Naqibah Bahren as she won one return air ticket to London and it was an anti-climax moment when new born Siti Nurzafirah Abd Azim won two air tickets to Melbourne. Maggie Sim won four return economy air tickets to Ho Chi Minh City and the fourth prize went to Kok Ngean with three return tickets to Bali. All the prizes were sponsored by Royal Brunei Airlines.

Holiday Inn Express (Thailand) sponsored prizes as well. Both Mohammad Hajatul Nazri Roslan and Mastura Kalong won a two night stay at Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Sathorn and Siam while Morsidi Haji Damit won a three-day-two-night free accommodation at Pathumwan Princess Hotel.

My friend @marul69 had one in five chances to win the GoPro Hero 4 but the Abacus grand prize went to Tan Meng Gueh, who purchased a ticket from Freme Travel Services. Instead Marul and the other consolation winners won a handy power bank. This category prizes were sponsored by Abacus Brunei.

Abacus Brunei also awarded prizes to the top travel agencies who registered the highest incremental bookings during the Brunei Travel Fair. It was no surprise that Pan Bright Travel won first place (as they have a good marketing gimmick) and this was followed by Darussalam Holdings Sdn Bhd and Freme Travel Services Sdn Bhd.

Present during the prize presentation were the representatives from the organisers and partners. Handing the prizes were Joan Lim, Head of RB’s Commercial Service; Pengiran Azaleen bin Pengiran Dato Haji Mustapha, Head of Baiduri Bank Retail Banking and Branch Network; Irene Soon, General Manager of Abacus Brunei and Abd Halim Haji Abd Rahman, Senior Manager (Sales and Marketing) of Abacus Brunei.

According to Abacus Brunei, they have an increase of bookings compared to last year. This shows that the travel industry is a lucrative market because we love to go on holidays. I managed to buy tickets to Kota Kinabalu and Bali but unlucky not be shortlisted in the lucky draw. Maybe next time 😀

The winners of the flight to London, Melbourne, Ho Chi Minh City and Bali

The winners of the hotel accommodation in Thailand

Tan Meng Gueh won a GoPro Hero 4

The winners of the Abacus Brunei lucky draw

It was a packed occasion during the Brunei Travel Fair

The top three travel agents during the travel fair – Pan Bright Travel, Darussalam Holdings and Freme Travel