8 days begin

Juffrydin with his family enjoying dinner at Wayback Burgers last night

It was pretty busy behind the counter in preparation for the huge crowd in the coming weeks or so

Wayback Burgers, an international franchise is now in Brunei with their grand opening scheduled to take place on 21st May 2016. Days prior to the official opening, members of the media and social media influencers such as @bruneifoodies were treated to a Wayback’s Snack-Review-Sneak-Preview session at their Setia Kenangan II outlet.

They were introduced to a brief introduction of Wayback Burgers by U.S. Wayback Burgers representative Mark Biccum, Director Of Training, Jake Wayback Burgers LLC and Brunei Wayback Burgers representative, John Burgos, Managing Director, JonRidge(B) Sdn Bhd, followed by a treat to some of Wayback’s signature products prepared for the occasion.


Wayback Burgers is a U.S. franchise serving burgers to Americans for more than twenty years, operating in 26 states with more than 100 locations nationally and internationally in Argentina. Wayback Burgers, through its executed master franchise agreements, plans to open in 33 countries which include the Middle East, Northern Africa, Argentina, Pakistan, Canada, India and Brunei.

The good news is that Brunei is the first in ASEAN to have the franchise in the region. Awesome, huh? Furthermore, the Brunei franchise is hoping to expand its market outside Brunei. The second outlet has already been announced at Giant Rimba while the third one will be known to the public soon. I also liked the idea that Wayback Burgers Brunei has a training centre where staff and the newer ones can undergo training. The training centre is still undergoing renovation but I like the idea of the partners where they are already thinking ahead.

I met the man behind JonRidge (B) Sdn Bhd, the chairman of the company. A very humble local guy who wants to help to give back to the economy by creating employment and also bring more revenue to the economy by expanding locally and internationally. He also owns other companies and this is the first time experience in handling F&B franchise. I truly admire his vision as an entrepreneur and thank you, Juffrydin, for your hospitality last night.

I also would like to thank Jon Burgos for sponsoring some vouchers for the winners of my Snapchat competition last night. I was amazed by the responses I had on Snapchat through the quiz I had. It looks like Snapchat could be the next in-thing for future quizzes apart from the already routined Instagram. Congratulations to @aimananas and @ayeshah on Snapchat for guessing the right answer – 9 layers of patties on the Triple Triple 😀

Prior to Wayback Burger’s official opening this coming Saturday, the restaurant has already received birthday dinner reservations. The business is already in operation so you can head now to their first outlet.

For more information on Wayback Burgers, interested parties can follow them on their instagram; @WaybackburgersBrunei and their hashtag #waybackburgersBrunei

The star of the night – BURGERSSSSS….

The buns have a distinctive colour and texture as compared to others and the patties are something to look forward to

For hot dog lovers, what are you waiting for. Do you also realise the newspaper type they use in their food presentation. Not to worry, it’s not the usual newspaper texture you feel everyday. It feels like a plastic wrapper but more unique.

Mark Biccum, Director Of Training, U.S. Wayback Burgers representative, is in town for intensive training for the local associates. He also shared the different types of burgers that were being displayed for the media.

I had more than 20 entries on Snapchat and one of the first winner was @aimananas who happened to be around the area when he answered the quiz.

Definitely the highlight of the night – The Triple Triple – 9 patties with 9 slices of American Cheese, Lettuce and Tomato. Don’t worry, Sandy. You’re also the highlight :p Btw, no one has accepted the challenge yet to finish off a triple triple solo.

 

Photo opportunity with props for the public at the Belait Fair 2016

The Belait Fair 2016 has been ongoing for the few weeks and it continues until the 5th June (before fasting month kicks off). It is in collaboration with the grassroots community, with 68 groups of vendors taking part, two of them from the Village Consultative Councils (MPKs) of Kg Mumong and Kg Lorong 3 in aim to promote local products especially this under the One Village, One Product (OVOP) initiative.

Besides food products, the vendors are also selling goods ranging from electrical appliances to fashion products. Another section of booths is dedicated to exhibiting cats, reptiles and rare birds.

So far they had a bicycle expedition during the opening two weeks ago and also the Tamiya racing, a four-wheel drive car show, cooking contest, speedboat race and car show organised by NBT (Brunei) Sdn Bhd scheduled during the Belait Fair 2016.

Some 152 vendor spots have been allocated at three areas connected centrally at the roundabout where Jalan Panglima, Jalan Tengah and Jalan Sungai meet in Kuala Belait.

The event was also in collaboration with RYS Entertainment and Mizswan Company. You can check more updates on IG with the hashtag #belaitfair2016 Images are courtesy of RYS Entertainment unless stated.

Third time was the charm for Wina, a two-year-old domestic short hair (DSH), that won the Best of the Best title during a cat show at Belait Fair recently. Image courtesy of Ikhwan Salleh of The Brunei Times.

Hello Seng Yee 😀

 

Billy Lim Soon Sin, President of Malaysian Hair Association, (5th from left) with Cecilia Lee, IA Salon Artistic Directress (4th from left) with IA Salon stylists

Billy guiding the stylist on Vivi’s hair

Billy Lim Soon Sin was in town for a few days to conduct a special training/workshop for IA Salon. He is quite popular in the hair industry, being known as the Malaysia’s Top Hair Director and also a consultant in terms of advising businesses for the hair salons in the region. He has been in the hair styling industry for three decades and Cecilia Lee, IA Salon Artistic Directress, was so overwhelmed in having his presence in the Sultanate because it’s never easy to catch him for appointments due to his busy schedules.

For Billy, his passion is also to help others in the hair industry to grow collectively. He strongly believe that everyone have to work hard not to only improve oneself but moreover, to emphasize professionalism on and off work. Billy shared that he is still in the learning stage.

During his short visit, the trained 11 hair stylists of IA Salon and they are all now MHA certified under Billy’s guidance. MHA stands for Malaysia Hair Association. He provided consultation and techniques on haircut hair colouring, scalp and hair treatment.

He was recently on the national radio to promote the awareness and the responses have been positive. Meeting him in person was an honour and you are such a down to earth person, Billy. All the best in your vision and I hope many salons will benefit with your vision. Keep it up!!!

One of the transformation done on the young model

Did you know that you can use foil just to get this effect? Cool

Ikhwan likes the outcome of his hair after the service