Filterworks experiencing Sungkai at Excapade

Many starters to choose from

My favourite area because of the salmon sashimi

Excapade does it again! It is my annual trend to break my fast on the first day of Ramadhan at Excapade. And it has never failed to wow me with its selection of Japanese cuisines. Priced at $33.80 for adults and $17 for children, the Sungkai Buffet at their branch in Regent Square Kiulap is a definite must-go.

I was there at around 6 and I could already see tables reserved for social media persons as well as the print media. Some of them had begun to take pictures already. As always, the sushi and sashimi section took the cake. The crab legs begged to be eaten too. The wooden signboard labels of the dishes added to the Japanese feel of Excapade.

I am a light eater but I’m a sucker for salmon sashimi. As always, there was a section full of assorted sashimis and my plate was filled with them. I was there with my friend, Pranika, and she was hovering around all the three sections of the buffet. I could see items ranging from sushis to tempuras to edamame to meshi on her plate. She said she was so happy that the queuing didn’t take long, the food was yummy and the staff attended to tables very quickly. I agree with that. The dessert section also had multiple choices. Even the icecream had 3 flavours to choose from along with 4 different toppings and I couldn’t help but take a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Excapade has always been a huge hit among sungkai lovers. It was no different this year. Amazing quality in terms of food, hygiene and service. The place was quite packed on the first day itself so I recommend making bookings before going there. Their 1st booking can be done between 6:30 – 8:00pm while the 2nd booking between 8:00 – 10:00pm. For bookings, call 223 4011 / 875 9866.

Some more good news! If you’ve been to Giant recently, you must have noticed that Excapade is starting a branch there. This Rimba branch will be opened hopefully this month. So sushi-lovers – follow their IG @excapade or FB page for updates.

Kiulap Regent Square

Adult $33.80
Children $17 (6 – 12 years old)

Tel: 223 4011
Tel: 875 9866

1st booking 6:30pm to 8:00pm
2nd booking 8:00pm to 10:00pm

The popular garlic rice is always being served 😀

The greens of the Excapade menu

Sushi, sushi, sushi…

and more sushi… Let’s see how much your tummy can handle

Salmon aplenty

Prawns are aplenty too

Salmon asparagus

The healthy corner

My sungkai partner in crime

The cold appetizers. Nicely presented.

I forgot to get some servings of Edamame

Scallop with cheese… Nice combo

Chicken bites which I would recommend

The Excapade crew

Gindara Teriyaki

Have you tried the skewers?

Lamb Misoyaki

The drinks and refreshment section

Pudding galore

Condiments for ice-cream

A’aqiil on the job last night

Kiulap Regent Square

Adult $33.80
Children $17 (6 – 12 years old)

Tel: 223 4011
Tel: 875 9866

1st booking 6:30pm to 8:00pm
2nd booking 8:00pm to 10:00pm

 

The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) yesterday announced the introduction of new corruption laws to address abuse of power and misconduct in public office.

The new laws will allow legal action to be taken against civil servants who fail to carry out their duties to a “high ethical standard”, said the AGC in a statement issued yesterday.

Following extensive discussions between the AGC and the Anti-Corruption Bureau, several amendments have been made to the Prevention of Corruption Act.

New offences have been included in the legislation, criminalising the use of public funds for private purposes; giving undue preferential treatment; misuse of information acquired during the course of duty; and allowing private interests to come into conflict with public duties.

The legislation also states that any public officer who seeks to interfere or influence the “appointment, promotion, suspension, demotion or dismissal” of any other public official, can be prosecuted under the new laws.

Similarly, any civil servant who demonstrates “willful misconduct or neglect of duty” to a degree which amounts to abuse of public trust, is considered guilty of an offence.

The punishment for all the new corruption offences is seven years’ jail and a $30,000 fine.

The AGC added that offences can be committed without the receipt of gratification or monetary benefit.

The legal definition of “public body” has also been changed in the legislation, to include government-linked companies and statutory bodies, such as the Brunei Economic Development Board, Brunei Shell Joint Ventures, Royal Brunei airlines, among others.

The new laws came after His Majesty, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, lambasted police for corrupt practices last March.

“The main purpose of the amendment is to address the concern of His Majesty… during a working visit (paid to the) Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) Headquarters… in respect of corruption in the form of abuse of powers for personal interest,” said the AGC.
During the visit, His Majesty cited several cases of police corruption, including the case of a high-ranking police officer accused of accepting a luxury car from a convicted criminal in exchange for helping him cross the border illegally.

In a fiery address to police officers, the monarch accused RBPF personnel of “elements of lawlessness” such as involvement in gambling, drinking and smuggling banned goods, as well taking bribes to “look the other way”. Text courtesy of Quratul-Ain Bandial of The Brunei Times.

 

Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar with senior management of Brunei Shell Joint Venture and the 42 feted BSJV scholars

Late post: Three weeks ago, the Brunei Shell Joint Venture (BSJV) Companies officially awarded scholarships to 42 students, marking the occasion with a signing ceremony at the Royal Brunei Polo and Riding Club.

The guest of honour was the Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office, Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar. Also present was the Managing Director of Brunei Shell Petroleum Co Sdn Bhd (BSP), Andrew Faulkner.

The 42 scholarship students will be embarking on their undergraduate courses, with disciplines ranging from engineering to science. In addition, two BSJV scholars will be continuing their studies and undertaking post graduate programmers in their respective vocations.

Some of the students will be enrolling at Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB), while the rest will be enrolling in courses in Australia and the United Kingdom.

As a BSJV statement reads, “The students have undergone a rigorous assessment process to ensure they meet the company’s criteria and subsequently identified as best in class amongst their peers.”

The event also saw recognition given to 10 BSJV scholars who successfully completed their degree programme with First Class Honours.

In a speech yesterday, the Deputy Managing Director of Brunei Shell Petroleum Co Sdn Bhd, Haji Kamaludin bin Haji Bungsu said the BSJV scholarship programme started decades ago, highlighting that the programme is an important and big investment for the company.

“By investing in youths, we hope to answer the call of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to bolster the economy and give locals the opportunity to become workers and leaders,” he said.

Good luck to all the scholars and I believe they all have started their journey as BSP scholars by now. Text courtesy of Danial Norjidi of Borneo Bulletin.

 

The Peugeot 2008 with the sales team from Peugeot Brunei and members of the press

Recently we had a sneak preview of the latest edition of Peugeot that will enter the Brunei market pretty soon. It was a concept car back in 2009 in one of the the motor show and now it has become a reality. The media was able to get a sneak peak of the Peugeot’s new urban 2008 crossover at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at Gadong.

What I love about the Peugeot 2008 is the exterior design and it has both a characteristic of a hatchback and an SUV. The interior is pretty impressive as well. I won’t spare much details as yet but you will be able to ask more information at Peugeot office at Kiarong. I believe this car will be a hit. I’m not quite sure of the price just yet as they are pretty tight lipped about it but I won’t be surprised if it will be affordable.

I will update once the Peugeot 2008 crossover will be available in Brunei market. You can follow their Facebook Page for updates too.

We caught a few videos on what the Peugeot 2008 is capable of and the Peugeot 2008 DKR won a one-two finish at the China Silk Road Rally

The beautifully crafted Peugeot 2008

The interior of the 2008

 

Recently we had the chance to taste Markus Dybwad’s cooking on Snofood products (food items that are supplied to Excapade). For your info, Markus Dybwad is a popular culinary consultant and he is Norwegian. So he prepared some great dishes for the invited guests and a big thank you to the Snofood management for the invitation. I was quite impressed with the food presented. Just to let you know that the food you dine at Excapade is mostly from Snofood.

Michael Chong, owner of Snofood (2nd from left) with his invited guests at the standing cocktail session hosted by Snofood management

Markus Dybwad from Norway show his cooking skills and tasted pretty good too

 

I don’t know why but this is the fourth year running that I broke my fast at Excapade Sushi at Regent Square. The number one local sushi franchise has never fail to disappoint in the variety of dishes it served. This is also one of the restaurants that will need advanced bookings especially for Sungkai. It was full house on the first night as usual and it’s no surprise.

I’m a big fan of sashimi and I am impressed how the quality is still consistent. Excapade Sushi, being the largest Japanese restaurant outlet in Brunei, meant that they will have to stock up many food items to cate to the demand among the patrons. I’ve paid a visit to their supply store and wow, I didn’t realize how big their storage for food was. They have dedicated chillers for certain products and I’m pretty sure this is where most of the raw stuff especially the sashimi are being chilled. The management highly put quality as their priority to maintain the customers and gaining new ones. So if you are big fan of sashimi, you won’t be heading to the wrong place indeed. Even my friends from Miri and Sarawak frequent Excapade Sushi and ranked it higher than the Japanese restaurants at their home town. So thumbs up to Excapade Sushi for that.

There are simply tons of dishes to choose from.. Apart from the sashimi, there are also different choices of sushis and tempura. Even from crab lovers, they serve Hokkaido Snow Crabs (the claw and the leg part). Another impressive dish is the mussels. Yummy!! For me, my personal favourites are the Unagi sushi and Salmon sashimi. Every year, buffet doesn’t do me justice because I’m a light eater. I even missed out on the Edamame because there were simply too many choices at stake.

This year’s presentation has improved and they was even coverage by RTB which is the first of its kind for a sungkai outing. I was being interviewed too but I’m not sure when it will be aired.

So to my readers, I give this restaurant two thumbs up for maintaining the standard and the variety. For the price of $31 for adult, that’s a great steal indeed. Of course, more advantage if you happened to be a privilege member of Excapade Sushi $27.90. Check out the poster for mored details.

What I picked here is the Unagi 😀

You will be spoilt for choices at the sashimi section

Awesome stuff this. I had a few of this alone too.

More sushi :O

Sometimes being served in small portion helps

The buffet line and they have a few dishes served too

Gindara 😀

The dessert section. I had the blueberry one 😀

The thirst quencher

Don’t forget the sushi train

Ah, I’m posting another angle of the unagi. Me loves.

A packed crowd on the first night

Yummmm.. Winnie had two servings of this Green Tea ice cream with red beans

Lots of photographers on that night too.

The social media gang

Being interviewed by RTB

Fhey holding two certificates of Excapade Sushi Regent Square. It’s never easy to get a Grade A for a restaurant. Keep up the great work 😀

This photo was taken last year during the Sungkai promotion and both Hui Chiet and I thought the beautiful Fhey looked like the star of Yasmine *lol*