Enjoy 30% today at Momo Restaurant using your BIBD Credit Cards. For reservation call, 261 1618 and 861 3329

 

PHOP introduced a new Ramadhan promo called the PHOP Gourmet Buffet

These are some of the dishes you can choose from as part of the main course for the PHOP Gourmet Buffet

What do you know? Paddington House of Pancakes are doing their special deals for the Sungkai promotion. Last year, they had one in the Berakas outlet and this year there will be two outlets, the other one being at Gadong. However, both outlets have different promotion in a way. Only the Berakas outlet has Ramadhan Buffet from 6pm to 9pm and the promotion is almost the same as previous years.

Now the only difference is that PHOP has added a new set menu called the PHOP Gourmet Buffet. This is ideal for those who wants a simple combination of starters, main course, dessert and a drink for a price of $25.

What’s interesting about PHOP is the types of dishes they serve. It has a western feel and it uses pancakes instead of the usual rice to serve the main courses. You will be surprised that it is pretty tasty as well.

Make sure you try the Porto Pannekek (Salmon, egg) and the Chipotle dishes. My favourite so far. And of course, to end it off with the treasure box for dessert. For reservations, you can call 233 1668 (Berakas) or 243 0086 (Gadong). You can also follow on their IG handle @paddingtonpancakesbn

They also have special discounts (10% to 20%) for pancake lovers especially for take aways

The Olden Galette

Garlic brussels waffles with grilled lamb and kurma reduction sauce

PHOP pineapple pancakes with spiced marinated grilled chicken and peanut sauce

Spaghetti with prawn katsu and shitake mushroom in creamy chipotle sauce

PHOP special nachos

My guests for that night – Nee and Wen

This one is pretty good I must say. Salmon with egg inside

The signature dessert – Treasure Box

These are some of the dishes you can try

This is pretty good too. The chipotle rice roll

Taco rice

The usual Sungkai promo but only available at Berakas outlet

The usual Sungkai promo but only available at Berakas outlet

 

Owner of Sugar and Spice Nash Salleh (L) and Chef Md Radwan (C) hand a free chicken shawarma to a customer. Image courtesy of Norliha Din of The Brunei Times.

Loyal customers of Sugar and Spice Arabic Food in Kiulap recently flocked to the restaurant to receive complimentary chicken shawarmas as part of the eatery’s way of welcoming the blessed month of Ramadhan.

The giveaway, which was from 3.30pm to 5.30pm, had patrons queuing up for the delectable Middle Eastern traditional grub.

In an interview with The Brunei Times, the owner of Sugar and Spice, Nash Salleh said the giveway was a regular activity during Ramadhan and Maulidur Rasul.
“I invited regular customers through a group chat and the words spread from there,” Nash said.

Meanwhile Chef Md Radwan Esbinati said more than 250 neatly packed shawarmas were freshly prepared for customers.

The Arabic cuisine is made of finely sliced grilled spiced chicken that is added with the chef’s special garlic sauce and wrapped in a warm pita bread.

Each customer can request as many shawarmas as they like, however, the numbers usually given away range from five to 10 shawarmas. “We hope to get the berkat (blessing) from the month of Ramadhan as they say the more you give, the more rezeki (sustenance) you will receive,” said Nash. Text courtesy of Norliha Din of The Brunei Times.

Chef Md Radwan, the man behind the great food at Sugar & Spice

Preparing the shawarmas for the walk-in patrons

 

For Sungkai lovers, CheezBox is back again with their Ramadhan promotion. I would highly to recommend you to do advance booking for CheezBox especially during Ramadhan because it’s just pretty popular. With a price tag of almost BND 30, you will know how much of a worth it is. It has one of the widest range of dishes available and they even cater for the 2nd batch comers (around 8pm if I’m not mistaken). I had the privilege to dine in last night with my buddies at CheezBoz Cafe. This year, they will have an interesting gimmick – for two adults and two kids, you will get a free Hello Kitty merchandise. Awesome!!

The dishes are recycled everyday and you will enjoy a different experience on your next visit. They have also the pizza station, popular among children, where you can make your own pizza. There’s also the pastry section for bread lovers.

CheezBox Cafe has been around since 2008 and it’s one of the best cafes in town. It has such a strategic location as well, smack down in the middle of Gadong. So you won’t definitely miss this spot whenever you are in Gadong. Again, I would recommend you to do advance booking as it was a packed house last night.

A great spread of appetizers

Some of the main dishes – mixed vegetables, mee hoon, garlic mussels and butter prawn

This is pretty tasty too. The salmon

Spare ribs as part of the main course buffet

Nyonya Laksa fillings

My first dish of the night – the nyonya laksa *yumm*

More dishes on the lower floor

Woohoo.. The best dish of the night. Available every night

Japanese cuisine

Jenny, my friend from Vietnam, who missed her flight join us for Sungkai and made her own pizza

Jenny’s pizza creation

The pastry section

The sauces for the spaghetti

The ultimate plate

The fruit and dessert section

The pudding

Now this is a good gimmick. For bookings with 2 adults and 2 kids, you will get a free Hello Kitty merchandise from CheezBox Cafe

Seng Yee (center) with her couch surfer buddies, Jenny from Vietnam and Lyn from the US.

The hardworking staff from CheezBox, ready to serve you 😀

 

The best car of 2015. The C-Class.

 

During one of the sessions of Borneo Global Issues Conference

The International School Brunei Borneo Global Issues Conference (ISB BGIC) recently concluded its 11th annual student-led conference on a high note yesterday with over 200 students representing the member countries of the United Nations.

These students, who came from 23 local schools, including the host school, International School Brunei, have participated as Delegates to research a country other than their own, study the culture, history political situation and its position on UN Agenda items, and prepare presentation speeches outlining their position. They have debated global issues from economic and socio-political issues to human rights, security councils and the environment.

The theme for ISB BGIC this year is ‘Combatting World Diseases’. Some issues include questions of the safety and security of humanitarian or medical aid workers and volunteers in commission in nations outside their respective nationalities, reassessing and evaluating the precautionary measures undertaken by nations against the outbreak of Ebola and appropriate response(s) to disease outbreak contrary to natural disasters.

Last Monday passed resolutions were debated in the General Assembly. All the Delegates had profusely researched the countries and topics they had been. The Secretaries General, Parliamentarians and Committee Chairs administered and controlled the conference and debate, demonstrated a mastery of parliamentary procedure, and provided strong leadership.

James Gilmour, ISB BGIC XI coordinator, in his closing remarks mentioned that he was a bit worried on the first day as the delegates were very quiet. But within a few days, he was extremely glad that the students were able to engage with each other, discuss and debate among each other in finalising the meeting’s resolutions, and he thought that the students did a fantastic job.

The ISB BGIC concluded with a certificate presentation and students’ performances. School representatives, Floor Secretaries, Volunteers, as well as teaching staffs and admins who have helped in the preparation of ISB BGIC, were also recognised for their efforts during this closing ceremony.

For the students who took part in the International School Brunei Borneo Global Issues Conference, this is a defining moment in their development and will play a role in their future career choices, university admission and personal commitment to making this world a better place. Press release by International School of Brunei.

 

Salman Ashraf Khan, BIBD Treasure, receiving the Islamic Bank of the Year

James Chua, Co-Deputy Treasurer of BIBD, receiving the Qatar Deal of the Year

One of the leading banks in Brunei, BIBD hit another milestone as they emerged Islamic Bank of the Year Brunei and Qatar Deal of the Year in two categories of the Islamic Finance News (IFN) Awards 2015.

The event took place at Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur and representatives from BIBD were Salman Ashraf Khan and, BIBD Treasurer and James Chua, Co-Deputy Treasurer of BIBD. This has shown that BIBD has been making a great presence in the international Islamic Finance arena.

The recognition for Islamic Bank of the Year Brunei continues BIBD’s string of “Best Bank in Brunei” awards, a distinction that the bank notes with pride and which reinforces its commitment to better serving its customers and community. The bank received the award for Qatar Deal of the Year due to its participation as one of the main Arrangers for Ezdan Holding’s USD 500 million international Ijarah syndication. The 100% Islamic deal adhered strictly to the very highest Ijarah and Loan Market Association standards, and was the first of its kind for a Qatari corporation and the Qatari real estate industry. The deal was also able to attract conservative accounts like ADIB and Qatar First Bank.

To be recognized in the IFN is no easy feat. IFN is categorically recognised as the Islamic Finance industry’s leading publication. With a world-wide readership in excess of 21,000 industry practitioners and regulators, the IFN Awards offer its winners a truly global audience and a phenomenal vehicle in which to reach one’s clients, potential clients and peers.

Established in 2006, the IFN Awards honours the best in the Islamic financial industry. It is one of the most prestigious awards and highly recognised by the global Islamic capital markets. Selection of category winners is based on an elimination process where a panel of experts from non-competing organisations sieve through all submissions until just one transaction in each category remains. This year, over 300 nominations in over 25 categories were received, resulting in the most competitive deal of the year competition since its inception.

 

Thank you, Denise, for the invitation during the opening of the second outlet of Paddington House of Pancake at Gadong (next to McDonald’s)

I’m glad that PHOP or better known as Paddington House of Pancake has opened its second outlet and it’s located at Gadong. This will be convenient for many and it’s strategically placed in the heart of Gadong. For those who are not aware of what PHOP, let me simply describe as a savoury of western dishes with a unique way of serving them with pancakes, well not all of them but you will get the gist.

My favourite has always been their burgers because of the home made patties. The ambience is similar to the first outlet though it’s a little more intimate due to the allowance of space.

The menus are not finalized just yet but the dishes are different from the Berakas outlet. You will notice maybe one or two regular dishes in the new menu. So plenty of reasons to try out the dishes.

One thing to look for is the berry ice cube drinks. The fruits such as watermelon or oranges will be sliced and frozen into ice cube shapes and then you simply pour the ice tea drinks to blend with the fruited ice cubes. Amazing combo!!

You can read more on Thanis’ entry of Paddington House of Pancakes and he has ton more pictures to show. Congratulations Denise and your family for the second outlet. I am a happy man 😀

My favourite pasta so far. This is new – The Chipotle creamy pasta.

This used to my favourite *lol* but still packs the power – Egg Carbonara Pasta

Chicken Waffle Sandwich

 

How it looks when night falls. Image courtesy of Dino Expo Brunei Facebook

I don’t know why there is so much craze on Dinosaurs. Last December and January, D’Sunlit had their dinosaur displays for the public. This time round, this is supposedly the biggest.. well, as it was marketed, ASEAN’s Largest Dino Expo and it will end on 12th April 2015. Maybe because with the popular upcoming summer movie Jurassic World. Honestly, dinosaurs are not my cup of tea personally. If it was a land full of walking zombies, you can count me in 😀

As reported, they are expecting thousands of visitors to visit the Dino Expo at BRIDEX. I had a sneak preview before it was actually completed but I had an overall feel of the expo. The only thing that caught my interest was the Electric Car Amusement Ride since like I said, I’m not a big fan of dinosaurs. That thing is pretty cool indeed.

I had my quick rounds with Michelle from The Brunei Times. For more information and inquiries about the Dino Park Exhibition, please contact 8728178 or 2260498. Tickets are selling at $30 for adults and $15 for children. You can click here on their Facebook for more info.

Michelle trying out the Dino Ride

Students visiting the Dino Park. Image courtesy of Dino Expo Brunei Facebook.

There’s a panda section

The 5D simulator. Image courtesy of Dino Expo Brunei Facebook

Tickets selling. Image courtesy of The Brunei Times.

This is the one that caught my eye. Not sure if this is operating now.