So I’m thinking of opening up a new segment for my blog and it’s called What Did I Find Out segment. Well, I still think it’s a little lame to my liking but then again, that’s what I usually do when people start sharing information and lately, I’ve been flooded with information related to my readers and friends even though I’m still stuck here in Bali. I found out that Royal Brunei Airlines had two flights that departed from Bali, one at 7am and the other an hour later to cater for the stranded passengers. Awesome stuff!!

I shall post more on my findings with pictures and illustrations. Have a great weekend and I’m beginning to enjoy my final day here in Bali. Just some alone time 😀

I found out that Seth Rollins will have to vacate his title which he won in April during Wrestlemania. Is this bad for business? Yes, unless someone like Brock Lesnar and maybe, the super face, John Cena holds the title. The roster has been looking pretty mediocre in WWE.

I found out that there’s a special promotion at Chatime Citis Square in conjunction with their grand opening this weekend. So grab that opportunity 😀

I found out that there’s another BurgerKing outlet in Seria

I found out that not only I enjoy the services of Uber but even Mika *lol* Guys, if you haven’t tried Uber especially in Bali, try it. You will save a lot of money on transport. A lot.. Trust me. My average spending is around $3-4 per trip or even lesser.

I found out that JPMC having another car boot sale after a successful one last year.

I found that there will be another company running a similar concept of an escape room and tonight my team will be checking it out.

I found that the beach in Bali is soothing and welcoming as compared to the other beaches I visited. I do want to try out that beach tennis one day. Looks fun and you don’t have to bounce the ball on the beach. Then again, balls won’t bounce on sand :p

I found out there’s an eatery in Bali run by a Bruneian. I shall give it a try if I have the time. Thanks Yaya for the heads up 😀

I found out how Zheng ran the most popular marathon in the world which is the New York marathon. There were about 50,000 runners and he is the only Bruneian to participate. Furthermore, the entry of the event is done through ballots and by luck, his name was drawn. Amazing!!! He also clocked his personal best of 3 hrs 40 secs in the full marathon event. It was nice to see the Brunei flag being hoisted despite only having one Bruneians in the list. Zheng shared that this is best marathon to date.

I found out that finally Brunei International Airport has wifi connection for the public. I’m not sure if it’s only available inside area for flying passengers or the whole of BIA. Thanks, Adiman for the heads up.

Have you caught Spectre yet? Last evening, they had two special treats, one at Times Cineplex of Sentral Shopping Centre (KBSentral) and Empire Cinema. I couldn’t make it to either since I’m still enjoying my extension stay in Bali for now.

Customers of BIBD Perdana Privilege Banking and Indera Motors were treated to a special occasion at Empire Cinema whereas British Army Brunei Garrison organised one at Times Cineplex.

It was nice to see the British Army Brunei Garrison dressing up for the occasion and they had the opportunity to walk on the red carpet with cool decorations to blend with with the James Bond theme.

So what do you think of the latest James Bond movie Spectre? Reviews have been mixed and it’s not high on Rottentomatoes (only below 63% for now). I will be catching it tonight on the comfort of a premier style concept at Beachwalk Bali cineplex. I still feel that Skyfall is the best bond movie for me.

British High Commissioner David Campbell (in black) on the red carpet with members of the British Army Brunei Garrison during the premiere of the James Bond movie ‘Spectre’ at KBSentral’s Times Cineplex last night. Image courtesy of Hafiizah Maideen of The Brunei Times.

Some of the attendees last night. Image courtesy of Hafiizah Maideen of The Brunei Times.

The Jaguar F-Type convertible on showcase at the movie premiere. Image courtesy of Azli Azney of The Brunei Times.

Ben Boddy, Deputy High British Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam (left) as the guest of honour. Image courtesy of Azli Azney of The Brunei Times.

I’ve used Seagate hard drives before and they are pretty stable and reliable. Now I’m very picky when it comes to hard drive because I would need a Thunderbolt socket for transferring purposes (at high speed). Thunderbolt is only for Apple computers for your info.

Recently Concepts Computer has collaborated with Seagate and bringing the reliable, high-performance hard disk spaces to Brunei Darussalam. Hence if you want to store your data and documents, I do recommend you Seagate hard disks.

Now for the technical aspects of Seagate hard portable hard drives.

First on offer is the Seagate Expansion portable drive, available in 500GB ($89) and 1TB ($109) storage sizes. The Seagate Expansion portable drive is the ideal companion for anyone with lots of videos, photos, music and files that they want to protect and take everywhere with them. It offers useful storage capacities in a small enclosure for great mobility, very fast transfer rates with USB 3.0 connectivity and very secure physical digital storage. Sounds good to you? Well, it does for me 😀

Seagate Expansion portable drive

Now let’s look at the other batches – the Seagate BackUp Plus Slim, available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB storage sizes. The Seagate BackUp Plus Slim will be one of the ultimate solutions to storage on-the-go. With an ultra-sleek design, made for ultra portability and with the ability for one click backup solutions through the Seagate Mobile BackUp app. The Seagate BackUp Plus Slim combines all the best features of what a portable storage device solution should be.

Now here’s the interesting thing if you actually need it – With the inclusion of the Seagate Mobile BackUp app, all your photos, movies and video scan be backed-up Seagate Dashboard, including the ones you’ve shared on Facebook, Flickr and Youtube; easily enabling you to save your favourite on popular social media sites to be viewed anywhere.

Another interesting fact is if you buy the Seagate BackUp Plus Slim from Concepts Computer, they will provide free access to Microsoft OneDrive. Every purchase of the Seagate BackUp Plus Slim, will provide its users with a 2 years, 200GB access to Microsoft OneDrive worth over BND$130. It will be available from Concepts Computers for $100 for the 500GB capacity, $110 for 1TB capacity and $162 for the 2TB capacity. Now that’ is value for money.

Seagate BackUp Plus Slim

Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer with the management of Concepts Computer and resellers at the Brilliance Hall at Concepts Computer

Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer said, “This launch is the beginning of a great expansion for Concepts Computer on storage solutions, Concepts have noticed that storage solutions have become an important issue with our customers so we will work hard to provide a much larger range of great digital storage solutions at the best prices for the consumers of Brunei Darussalam.”

Zul Abdul Rahman, Marketing Executive of Concepts Computer added, ”We know how valuable digital data is to the modern world and this is our first step in providing exciting solutions for the local IT-market. And with the release of these Seagate external storage solutions, customers do not have to choose between reliability, high performance and affordability, it is all available from Seagate and Concepts Computer. ”

And for more information on the wide-selection and full-range of storage solutions available at Concepts Computer, please visit your nearest Concepts Computer showroom or call 2233551/2233552.

Concepts is also promoting their Acer projector

 

Launched on 19 October 2015, Baiduri Bank’s “Take Me Traveling” Promotion offers their Baiduri UnionPay Debit cardholders a 5% rebate on all transactions, including overseas ATM withdrawal fees and purchasing transactions at selected countries in Southeast Asia.

Baiduri Bank was the first bank to introduce the first UnionPay brand card in Brunei Darussalam back in April 2011. The Baiduri UnionPay Debit Card is also the first PIN-based international debit card in the country.

Unlike conventional signature-based payment cards, payments made with the Baiduri UnionPay Debit Card requires a personalized identification number (PIN) to be keyed in before payment is approved, giving cardholders an additional level of protection from fraud or misuse of the card.

Besides using the card for payment, the Baiduri UnionPay Debit Card can also be used as an ATM card for cash withdrawal. Vastly accepted in more than 150 countries around the world, Baiduri UnionPay Debit cardholders will have access to over 2,000 local retailers, over 26 million retailers and over 1.9 million ATMs globally.

Baiduri UnionPay Debit Card can also be used as an ATM card for cash withdrawal apart from payment

With such wide acceptance, it is no wonder that the Baiduri UnionPay Debit Card is an excellent choice for customers to bring along when traveling outside of Brunei. And with the exclusive “Take Me Travelling” promotion, Baiduri UnionPay Debit cardholders can enjoy more savings whilst on holiday in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia.

In addition to the 5% rebate, Baiduri UnionPay Debit cardholders are also entitled to the ongoing benefits at overseas destinations including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. To name a few, UnionPay cardholders can enjoy offers and discounts at popular shopping destinations as well as hotel offers.

Benefits in Thailand include offers at Siam Paragon and Siam Centre Duration, Gourmet Market, Home Fresh Mart and Villa market, Ratchaprasong Shopping District, Central World and Thavorn Palm Beach Resort & Spa Phuket.

You can earn enjoy discounts in countries such as Singapore. For instance, earning discounts at TANGS. Image courtesy of TimeOut.

Or you can get benefits in Thailand such as at Siam Paragon. Image courtesy of The Continent Hotel.

In Singapore, UnionPay cardholders can enjoy discounts and exclusive offers at bebe, Greg Norman, Sentosa Harbourfront, High Society Café, Lacoste boutiques, TANGS and several hotel offers. Offers in Malaysia include discounts and deals at Pavilion, Parkson, Grand Lexis Port Dickson and Suria KLCC Shopping Centre. And in Indonesia, UnionPay cardholders can shop at Kuta Beachwalk Shopping Centre to enjoy exclusive offers.

Terms and conditions of the promotion can be viewed on Baiduri Bank website at www.baiduri.com or Baiduri Bank mobile app – Baiduri Deals promotions section.

To be in the know of Baiduri Bank current promotions and events, the public can also follow Baiduri Bank Group on Facebook or @baiduribank on Instagram and Twitter.

 

Representatives from Jerudong International School

FOBISIA is the Federation of British and International Schools in Asia. Jerudong International School is proud and honoured to be selected to host the FOBISIA Tennis Tournament. The visiting teams include the Bangkok Patana School, Marlborough College (Malaysia), Harrow International School (Bangkok), United World College of South East Asia, United World College of South East Asia-Dover Campus, The International School @ ParkCity, ACS Jakarta, St. Andrews, International School Bangkok, British School Manila, International School Brunei (ISB), Garden International School Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and British School Jakarta.

As well as the competitors and their coaches, many of the visiting teams are accompanied by an entourage of very supportive parents. Mr Barnaby Sandow, JIS Principal said “It is wonderful to be able to have the opportunity to welcome our overseas guests to Brunei Darussalam and JIS – to be able to show them what a special place this is and what a fantastic school JIS is. “

I attended the afternoon session yesterday and I was quite impressed with the young talents and I know they can teach me a lesson or two on the court despite their small figures. I do hope one day that Brunei will have a youth academy system in place to groom the tennis enthusiasts at a very young age. I believe we have the talent but it has to start from an early age to unlock the potential.

Five BIBD customers had a shopping spree worth BND 500 yesterday as part of BIBD’s Swipe for Rewards campaign. The event took place at Giant Rimba yesterday.

Pg Suhardy bin Pg Hj Nordin, BIBD’s Head of Branches presented shopping voucher to a lucky winner

Five lucky BIBD customers were all smiles as they received Giant shopping vouchers worth BND500 each from BIBD’s final monthly “Swipe for Rewards” campaign.

Pg Suhardy bin Pg Hj Nordin, BIBD’s Head of Branches, presented the shopping vouchers to the winners, who took the opportunity to use their vouchers to fill several  trolleys with groceries from Giant Supermarket.

The BIBD Swipe for Rewards campaign was open to any customers who spend a minimum of BND30 in a single receipt using either the BIBD Debit or Credit Cards at selected retailers, with the opportunity to win shopping vouchers worth BND500.00.

BIBD is also currently running its sixth Barakah campaign until the 30th of November, 2015. The campaign allows BIBD customers a chance to win a grand prize of a Honda Odyssey along with consolation prizes of Apple iPhones and iPads on top of its monthly prizes of electrical appliances. Registration is automatic and simple as all they need to do to join is sign up for any BIBD financing product or assign their salary to BIBD.

Another lucky recipient

It’s shopping time!!

Always love how they choose what they want

It’s always good to survey the supermarket the day before the shopping spree

Lt Col (rtd) Dato Hj Samid Hj Abd Aziz and his son, Hj Mohd Aminuddin receiving their first prize from Mr. Teng Chee Khiong, organising committee chairman of 6th Brunei edition of the Audi quattro Cup

The donation of BND 26,800 was handed to Pusat Ehsan

The rainy morning (last Sunday) didn’t dampen the spirits of the golfers during the 6th Brunei edition of the Audi quattro Cup amateur gold tournament at the Royal Brunei Golf Club in Jerudong. The tournament also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Audi quattro cup worldwide.

Present at the event was Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Paduka Awang Haji Hazair bin Haji Abdullah, who presented the trophies to the winning teams.

Over 130 teams took part this year with many sign-ups taking place on the day, marking the biggest turn-out to date. The enthusiasm for the event meant that BND 26,800.00 was collected from all the golfers entry fees, which benefited Pusat Ehsan Al-Ameerah Al-Hajjah Maryam. A mock check was presented during the prize presentation ceremony by Organizing Committee Chairman, Mr. Teng Chee Khiong to Hj Ahmad Bin Abd Rahman, the Policy & Planning Trustee for Pusat Ehsan.

Lt Col (rtd) Dato Hj Samid Hj Abd Aziz and his son, Hj Mohd Aminuddin won the tournament, carded a 45 on count back (ocb) and booked their place at the World’s Final at the Cabo del Sol Ocean Course in Mexico. Hj Osman Salleh and Hj Raya Dollah finished second after posting a 45, meanwhile Ang Kian Han and Simon Newn carded a 44 to settle for a third place.

From November 29th until December 3rd the winners of all national Audi quattro Cup qualifications will meet on the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol to compete for the final victory and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Audi quattro Cup golf tournament series. 55 countries, 750 tournaments, 100.000 players – after another exciting season around the globe the Audi quattro Cup will come to its crowning finish at the World Final in Los Cabos with 58 teams participating. Good luck to our Brunei representatives.

No one won the hole-in-one prize

Congratulations to the 3 winners of BIBD’s Agoda promotion who each won 100,000 Hadiah Points

Datin Paduka Hjh Adina with Pehin Onn Siew Siong and the management of The Escape Experience last Sunday

The Escape Experience, Brunei’s first fully fledged “escape the room” game, was officially opened during a small opening ceremony on last Sunday.

The guest of honour was Datin Paduka Hjh Adina Othman, the former Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, who participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony to officiate the opening with Pehin Onn Siew Siong, the President of the Kuala Belait Chinese Chamber of Commerce. After the ceremony, Datin Paduka Hjh Adina and her family had the opportunity to experience some of the rooms, led by one of the partners from The Escape Experience, On Hung Zheng.

The whole concept of the The Escape Experience” is unique adventure based games where players are locked into a room with objects, having to search for clues and solve puzzles against the clock.
There are five uniquely themed rooms at the Escape Experience, such as the Doraemon and Super Mario rooms, which is fun for adults and children while The Prison Break room is said to be thrilling with an intense atmosphere. The Escape Experience hopes to add more themes in the future with a rotating schedule to keep things fresh and keep players on their toes.

Each room can accommodate up to 6 players, but teams of 4-5 are recommended for each room, and children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. The experience is not just for families and friends, but can also be tailored for corporate events and team building activities.

They are open 7 days a week, with the first game slot at 1pm, except on Fridays, and are open until late. Booking for time slots is recommended, but walk-ins are welcomed. Prices start at $17 at off-peak times, with a $1 discount for customers who like their Facebook Page.

The Escape Experience is located at Unit F3 of the Setia Kenangan Two building behind Regent Square in Kampung Kiulap. Customers can WhatsApp +6738287778 to book slots or make enquiries.

Two weeks ago, we attempted the Prison Break and it took us more than an hour :p

Sisters Winnie and Elva needed to be rescued

How did we go in Prison Break? It could have been better.

Next up was Mario. We had a good run with team mates – Winnie, Alex and Rachel

The clues are pretty tricky. You will need to think outside the box but rewarding once you unlocked the clues.

We did better in Mario than Prison Break *lol*