Late post. I miss Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Firstly thank you to Fitflop and Hua Ho for making my trip a reality to the city last month. It was definitely a fun experience and it has been 10 years since my last visit to Ho Chi Minh. Of course, I was worried about my trip because of my status or the-lack-of-citizenship status, holding a Certificate of Identity instead of an official passport document. Good thing that our travel document is still recognized but you will need to get an official letter from the Vietnam Embassy to verify that the COI is legit and valid as a travel document, then all is good.

Back to Fitflop, the purpose of my trip is to see the latest collection of the SS16 range from Fitflop. I had the privilege already to see last year’s collection back in Bohol, the Philippines. So this year, Ho Chi Minh City was the showcase city for the latest SS16 collection and I must say that it was a great choice indeed.

My first overseas assignment of the year. Thanks Fitflop and Hua Ho.

Yea… Brunei represent yooo…

My gears and souvenirs from Fitlfop. Thank you 😀

Emma Saunter is such a lovely person and she shared to us on what’s in store for the new collection

Thanks Melody for taking taking care of us

So what’s new with Fitflop? Aplenty. For the men’s, sorry. This will be more focused for the Women’s SS16.

SUPERJELLY™RUBBER FLIP FLOPS

Our flip flops eat other flip flopsfor breakfast. Want to know why? It’s because underneath their happy-go-lucky, all-rubber, beach-friendly, wade-in-the-water-wearable upper is our patent-pending Microwobbleboard™ midsole – an ergonomic, pressure-diffusing, layer of cush.

• on our original Microwobbleboard midsoles
• generous fit
• APMA* Seal of Acceptance, for footwear found to promote good foot health
• biomechanically engineered, comfortable sandals
• supple, moulded, waterproof jelly upper
• adjustable, enamel-covered, metal buckle
• biomechanically engineered, comfortable sandals
• seamless built-in arch contour
• slip-resistant rubber outsole
• LEOPARD, SNAKE and WEAVE print options also available, along with SUPERJELLY SLIDE and SUPERJELLY TWIST options

SUPERJELLY™ LEOPARD FLIP FLOPS

We expect roars of appreciation when you slip on our outrageous new animal print flip flops. Because these are no ordinary jellies. Ours have Microwobbleboard™ superpowers – so feet feel the love whether they’re paddling, chilling by the pool, or out shopping all day.
With built-in arch contour and our amazing Microwobbleboard midsoles
• on our original Microwobbleboard midsoles
• generous fit
• APMA* Seal of Acceptance, for footwear found to promote good foot health
• biomechanically engineered, supercomfortable flip flops
• rubber uppers
• seamless built-in arch contour
• lab-tested for slip resistance
• snake and weave print options also available, along with original SUPERJELLY, SUPERJELLY SLIDE and SUPERJELLY TWIST options

SUPERJELLY™ WEAVEFLIP FLOPS

Not only do OUR FLIP FLOPS EAT OTHER FLIP FLOPSFOR BREAKFAST but they do it looking like this. Adjustable straps, shiny jelly, weave pattern prints and our magic Microwobbleboard™ midsoles. Need beach shoes? It’s a no-brainer.

With built-in arch contour and our amazing Microwobbleboard midsoles
• on our original Microwobbleboard midsoles
• generous fit
• APMA* Seal of Acceptance, for footwear found to promote good foot health
• biomechanically engineered, supercomfortable sandals
• rubber uppers
• seamless built-in arch contour
• lab-tested for slip resistance
• leopard and snake print options also available, along with original SUPERJELLY, SUPERJELLY SLIDE and SUPERJELLY TWIST options

SUPERJELLY™SLIDE(PERF) FLIP FLOPS

Want to channel a little 70s glamour? Perforated-jelly slides flip flops are fresh, light and airy – plus you get all-day cush. Slip on these supersporty flip flops with their funky retro vibe…and watch the decades slide away.

With built-in arch contour and our amazing MicrowobbleboardTM midsoles
• on our original Microwobbleboard midsoles
• generous fit
• APMA* Seal of Acceptance, for footwear found to promote good foot health
• biomechanically engineered, supercomfortable flip flops
• rubber uppers
• seamless built-in arch contour
• lab-tested for slip resistance
SUPERJELLYtoe-thong and SUPERJELLY TWIST options also available

The Superjelly Slide

Click to enlarge

The Superjelly Print Weave

Click to enlarge

The popular Gladdie

Click to enlarge

So there you go.. Some of the collections for Fitflop to launch for the Summer Spring collection. 36 of us compromising of bloggers and copy writers from Southeast Asian region had the privilege also to interview Emma Saunter, Fitflop’s International Marketing.

On the first day, we were treated to a mini photo competition where one winner will be given a one-year collection of the new Fitflop range. We had to use Ho Chi Minh’s landmarks such as the Saigon Opera House, the Independence Palace, the Post Office and the Notre Dame Church for the Instagram competition. Last year, I won the competition but this year, the line up was pretty tough.

The Fitflop team introduced the new collection during a presentation at Propaganda Saigon (a popular restaurant/cafe). The evening itself we were treated to dinner at Villa Song where Emma Saunter unveiled other collections, inspired from Miami Luxe.

Thank you once again for the opportunity and I’m sure the locals here can’t wait for the upcoming collection. Do check out Hua Ho Manggis in the next few months or so.

One of my entries for the IG competition. Taken at the Independence Palace. Interesting history of Vietnam then.

The post office. I send a postcard but don’t think it reached its destination :/

Loads of walking with the delegates but it was fun especially crossing the streets

The night event at Villa Song and unleashing the new batch of Fitflop

The Miami Luxe collection

The Miami Luxe collection

The Miami Luxe collection

The Miami Luxe collection

The older collection

Representatives of the distributors from the region

Love the hotel we are staying in because there is a cinema downstairs at Liberty Point Hotel

Catching up dinner with my roomie Azley at Seria restaurant at Ho Chi Minh City

There are many halal restaurants at Ho Chi Minh City

 

Listen to the podcast review of Zootopia. A must watch 😀

 

Soon Tiong, representative from Hua Ho Manggis sending Azli Azney of The Brunei Times and I at the Brunei International Airport last Tuesday as we departed for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Traveling on National Day, Royal Brunei Airlines served this on the plane. Awesome!! Well done on the viral image of RB’s women pilots recently. Apparently it has reached more than 2 million viewers, thanks to the power of social media.

It’s great to be back in Vietnam after 10 years. The last time I flew here was backpacking with a friend as we traveled to three cities – Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh and Siam Reap. I’m happy that I finally made it to Vietnam recently. I had this fear that I won’t be able to make it to the country as passport or should I say my Certificate of Identity may encounter problem at the immigration counter upon my arrival.

Yes, there have been cases where families have been sent back to Brunei as the immigration doesn’t recognize the brown book (our version of Brunei passport) and this is despite having a valid visa from the Vietnam Embassy in Brunei Darussalam. Then at one stage, Vietnam temporarily stopped from COI holders to enter Vietnam before opening the opportunity again to COI holders. So the back and forth saga didn’t really give much confidence to me and other COI holders.

This time, I had no choice but to take the risk as I accepted to do a coverage in Ho Chi Minh City for a FitFlop regional launch event. As you may have recalled that my previous FifFlop coverage was at Bohol, the Philippines. This time round, it’s in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The application fee is kinda pricey (BND 80). Malaysia is the cheapest I think (below BND 10) while Thailand visa costs BND 50. I’m also given an official letter, written in Vietnamese, from the Vietnam Embassy that the COI document is recognized by Vietnam and acts as my safety net should any problem arises.

I did manage to get my travel document chopped but it took the immigration officer a while to do so. He had to consult with his colleagues on my brown book and also the official letter. So I’m glad after a few minutes of internal discussion, the officer was convinced that my COI document is legit and it was a huge relief for me.

So to all the Certificate of Identity holders, don’t worry about traveling to Vietnam. Just make sure you get bring the official letter to state the legitimacy of the COI document. It really does help. And yes, Ho Chi Minh City is a great city to visit as it has developed in the past 10 years and affordable too.

I will posting a dedicated coverage on FitFlop tomorrow. So ladies, you can check out the latest design for FitFlop for the coming Spring Summer Collection of 2016. Thank you once again to Hua Ho Manggis and FitFlop for giving me this opportunity. I’ve been wearing them at home and FitFlop also gave me two new pairs to bring back home. One word – comfy 😀

How the visa looks like for those holding the Brunei’s Identity of Certificate. It costs BND 80.

The official letter from the Vietnam Embassy in Brunei Darussalam to state that the COI document is recognized and valid. Show this two-paged letter at the immigration upon arrival. It saves the hassle from being interrogated.

Yea, we have our own signboard from FitFlop and thank you, Huong, for taking care of the Brunei delegates

We bought the sim card at the arrival hall of the airport. I subscribed for the 3G bandwidth which ran out after two days (too much IG-ing and Snapchatting). Do get the Viettel line.

The bikes are aplenty but now the number of cars are rising compared to 10 years ago

Emma Saunter unveiling the Miami collection for the Spring Summer collection of FitFlop for 2016 at Villa Song Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City

I kinda like the cinema environment at Cinema Liberty Hotel. Very impressive.

…. and I caught Deadpool for the second time. It’s not censored too.

The hotel room at Liberty Citypoint is pretty awesome too. Spacious and internet speed is pretty fast too. The going rate is BND 170-180 per night.

 

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, UBD Chancellor, braving the crowd and taking photos with the graduates and parents at the UBD 27th convocation last week

Taken from The Brunei Times youtube channel

A total of 1,125 students from Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s third batch of its GenNext programme received their certificates at the varsity’s 27th convocation last Wednesday.

This year’s graduates included 20 PhD students, surpassing last year’s record of 12, UBD said.

The total number of graduating students comprised 379 Masters holders, 664 Bachelor graduates and 62 Diploma recipients. These also include 73 international students at UBD.

During the morning session of the convocation held at UBD’s Chancellor Hall, His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, UBD Chancellor, presented certificates to PhD, Masters and Bachelor programme graduates.

The monarch also attended the afternoon session, where he presented certificates to graduates of Education Masters, Postgraduate Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Diploma programmes.

This year’s convocation also saw the first cohort of 15 graduates for the Master of Public Policy and Management (MPPM), consisting of graduates from East Asian Summit (EAS) participating countries – the Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Russia and Brunei.
The MPPM is a joint programme with leading public policy schools in the United States.

According to UBD, the unique interdisciplinary programme focuses on policy areas that are distinctive to Brunei, namely Islamic Governance, Energy Policy and Management and Environmental Policy and Management.

“It is hoped this interdisciplinary-based programme will be able to contribute to the development of future leaders of high calibre, apart from providing a network for them to interact and directly or indirectly raise the competitiveness of the sultanate internationally,’’ said UBD Vice-Chancellor Dato Paduka Dr Hj Zulkarnain Hj Hanafi. Text courtesy of Rachel Thien of The Brunei Times.

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah presented a certificate to my friend, Pranika Lama

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah presented a certificate to Alison

Hello Pranika 😀

Congratulations Gerald Goh

Maryam Rosli, Business Development & Marketing, Hj Mas Zuraime Hj Abdul Hamid, Head of BruCERT, Muhd Shahrul Fadillah Umar, IT Security Analyst. Shamsul Bahri, CEO of ITPSS and Caroline Ho, Business Development & Marketing during the briefing of the Cyber Battle: Capture The Flag recently

In the cyber sense, it’s a nicer way of saying penetrate the system or in our casual term, hacking.. I attended a press briefing on an upcoming Cyber Battle: Capture The Flag and it will be the first of its kind in Brunei. This is something very new and it will be interesting to see who participate in this competition. Of course, those who are showing interest would have prior knowledge of computing and programming as this is not those kind of console video games you will be playing.

The registration is already open and 10 tens will compete on the 11th October and their missions will be to exploit vulnerabilities on game servers, fix security holes, and defending their flags. The rules and regulations are already posted on their website and you can view them for any clarification.

So why this competition for the first time? Well, the main aim is to identify the winner from Brunei and represent for the ASEAN-Japan Cyber SEA Game which will be held in Jakarta this November. Only the top two teams will represent Brunei in Indonesia. This was announced by Shamsul Bahri, CEO of ITPSS.

The registration is open to Brunei citizens and also to permanent residents aged 30 years and below. You must enter as a team of 2 or 3 members. The closing date for the registration is 2nd October 2015. You can click here to register for the competition. You can also follow their IG for updates @brucert

The event is organised by IT Protective Security Services Sdn Bhd (ITPSS) in their role as Brunei Computer Emergency Response Team (BruCERT). This competition is also supported by Authority for Info-Communication Technology of Brunei (AITI).

Shamsul Bahri, CEO of ITPSS briefing the media on the competition

Caroline Ho revealed the prizes for the top 3 teams. Love the prizes too.

Check out the prizes for the top 3 teams

Muhd Shahrul Fadillah Umar explaining the flow of the competition

Representing Brunei – Lim Ao, Bridgette Ang, D-1 and What?!

They were happy to be on the international stage

They may have not won the finals but they stole the hearts of the audience. Last week, our local musicians belted it out at the ‘Be our Rock & Pop Soul’ Music Competition held at Ho Chin Minh City, Vietnam. Two representatives from Brunei made it to the finals – Lim Ao and What?! band. All in all, there were eleven musicians that flew off led by Lily Chiam and also accompanied by their music instructors.

This was the first time that Brunei participated in the competition and they managed to impressed the judges. Tyler Smith, the Senior Vice President of Trinity College in London, also had praised Bruneian performers. “They rocked the house right there,” he said, amid loud cheers from the audience. “The drums were in my face. I liked it.”

It’s good to see that Bruneians are able to perform on the international stage at a very young age. Keep the great work and also credit to the mentors. Images courtesy of Arthur John.

D-1 wooing the crowd with their rendition of “Crazy in love”

The grand winner from Thailand

Evan Chiam rocking the stage

Lim Ao electrifying the crowd with his solo performance

Click image to enter website

 

Download SnapFeed app on your smartphones and check out the latest deals in Brunei and also get rewarded from respective merchants such as BurgerKing, KFC and Sushi Tei to name a few and also check out the new movie listings as well.

 

Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Amal Jefriah (left) recently attended Laksamana College of Business (LCB) graduation ceremony for her son’s (Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak Muhammad Abdul Razaaq bin Pengiran Sura Negara Pengiran Anak Haji Muhammad Bey Muntassir) graduation from the University Foundation Course programme. Image courtesy of Dean Kassim.

Laksamana College of Business (LCB) held a graduation ceremony for 620 students who successfully completed their courses in business, hospitality and computing last Friday.

The ceremony was held at the Songket Ballroom, The Rizqun International Hotel.
In his welcome speech, the Minister of Education, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, highlighted the importance of equipping oneself with necessary skills for a bright future and to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.

“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 in his titah during last year’s Teacher’s Day and 100 Years of Formal Education celebration, has mentioned Brunei Darussalam’s capacity nowadays as a human capital provider rather than a financial donor, through the provision of local English teachers to neighbouring countries, for example.

YAM Pengiran Anak Muhammad Abdul Razaaq receiving his certificate from Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, Minister of Education

The Minister with his welcoming remarks

David Campbell, British High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam, giving a few words

Siti Kamaliah binti Haji Awang Damit receiving her certificate

Some of the courses fro next year’s intake

“We have been dependent on the oil and gas industry since 1929. Alhamdulillah, it has provided us with much prosperity and opportunity since then. However, it is time to grow and expand the economy; strengthen the current niche industries, and build new sustainable ones to last for more centuries to come and to ensure our economic sustainability. Therefore, the higher education sector’s support is vital to develop talents to reinforce and build up these industries,” the minister said.

Also present during the graduation ceremony were Pehin Orang Kaya Ratna Setia Dato Setia Haji Awang Abdul Hapidz bin Pehin Orang Kaya Laksamana Haji Abdul Razak and Haji Suhaimei bin Awang Haji Besar, Directors of LCB; Ian Pirie, Principal and Director of LCB/Kensington College; David Campbell, British High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam; Dr Chris Haslam, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Chester, UK; Dr David Balsamo, Dean of Social Science University of Chester and Garfield Southall, Associate Dean, Faculty of Science and Engineering.

The graduation ceremony began with a recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah by Awang Haji Azis @ Abdul Aziz bin Haji Mohd Yassin, a Mosque Affairs Officer from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, followed by other welcoming speeches by Ian Pirie and Dr Chris Haslam.

The graduated students were then presented with certificates and a few selected students gave speeches on their experiences at LCB.

Established in Brunei as a business course provider, LCB is a subsidiary of Kensington College of Business (KCB) in London. Text courtesy of Fizah HAB of Borneo Bulletin and images courtesy of Dean Kassim of Borneo Bulletin.

You can check out their comprehensive website here for the courses and also follow them on their Facebook Page.

Good luck all of you. Do us proud 😀

They are currently in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – the band of Waht?! and D-1 with soloists Lim Ao (guitarist) and Brigette Ang (vocalist) who recently won in the competition hosted by Expression Music Brunei in association with Trinity London College. They are accompanied by Lily Chiam, founder and music director of Expression Music Brunei and the music instructors from Expression Music and also Chiam Su Lee, Trinity College London’s Brunei Representative.

All the young musicians will compete in the Regional Semi-Finals of the Asean “Be our Rock & Pop Soul” Music Competition which begins tonight (6th September). They departed to Vietnam last Friday.

It’s good to see our youngsters competing in the regional level as they will give more exposure and confidence on our local talents. Let’s hope for the best to all the performers. I have seen them performed a few weeks’ ago and I was totally impressed. On another note, I had to forgo the Vietnam trip with them as I have other commitments. Perhaps next year 😀

Lily Chiam, founder and music director of Expression Music Brunei, with all the musicians and singers who will represent Brunei in the Regional Semi-Finals of the Asean “Be our Rock & Pop Soul” Music Competition at Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. The event begins tonight (Sunday).

The musicians being interviewed by The Brunei Times

Free style posing for the camera

Loving their logos to represent the band

Group photo with the music instructors

The night that the Lim Ao wooed the judges with his solo guitar performance. He was also industrious in finding sponsors for the team. Awesome lad!!

Representing the D-1 band

Waht?! band will also represent Brunei in the semi-finals

Taken during the previous competition where D-1 won in the band category

D-1 had their sound check and practice session at Saigon Opera House, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Waht?! band also their practice session. Good luck to all of you.

Our podcast review of Yasmine the movie with my special guest Seng Yee. Find out what is my best scene of the movie.

 

Acer Liquid Smartphones

Sales at Icon Design Store

Click image to enter Peugeot Brunei’s website

Click image to enter Citroën Brunei 

  

Click image to learn more about SCB Facebook Scanvenger Hunt 2014

Hey guys, it’s the moment to reveal what I teased you about! Standard Chartered Bank Brunei are launching their first Facebook Scavenger Hunt! It’s a chance for you to take on a virtual adventure and win Apple products and other fun prizes! All you have to do is click on the link and it will direct you to all the information you would need to find out how to win! Good luck hunters!

 

Catch Brunei tonight against Malaysia and it looks like Brunei must win by 2 goals to go through to the semi-finals

It’s a tall order but I believe Brunei can do it. Adi Said and Hendra will be so important for this match against Malaysia tonight in the group stage of the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy 2014. It’s the final game of the group stage and Brunei need at least to win by two goals to guarantee themselves in the semi-finals.

Adi Said and Hendra are both familiar with Malaysia as most of them represent Harimau Muda in the S•League and they know what it is like to face the Malaysia U-21 team. Brunei recently drew with Vietnam 2-2 last Friday and it could have been worst for Brunei if they didn’t earn any points at all against Vietnam. The hero that game was Adi Said who clawed Brunei back twice with two excellent goals.

It seems that Brunei will have to work their game play around Adi who is the game changer. It will be tough if Adi won’t be playing for Brunei and the head coach will have to come up with Plan B to gain maximum points against Malaysia tonight.

It’s a free entrance match with no tickets involved. So do come early to get the best seats in town. I’m pretty sure it will be a packed house because we want as many supporters as possible to give that needed much support for Brunei to beat Malaysia. To beat Malaysia is a tall order because they are undefeated and not only Brunei has to beat them but with a 2 goal cushion.

Brunei needs you – the 12th man

Want to catch another Mexican wave?

A familiar face among the fans during Brunei vs Vietnam match

A sea of yellow 😀

Merchandise from Arin’s Enterprise

HBT merchandise from Aewon

HBT merchandise from Armtrix Enterprise

 

Brunei toastmasters representatives from Brunei Speakers Club, Oil Town Talkers and Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club recently at a Toastmasters Leadership training at Kota Kinabalu. Image courtesy of Brunei Speakers Club.

Organised for Toastmasters clubs of District 87 which consists of Brunei Darussalam, East Malaysia, and Indonesia, the Bruneian delegates, comprising members from Brunei Speakers’ Club, Oil Town Talkers, and the Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club along with their Malaysian and Indonesian counterparts gained knowledge in leadership skills, and in identifying and achieving goals.

Toastmasters clubs are non-profit, educational organisations that provide opportunities for members to learn, develop, and enhance leadership and public speaking skills in encouraging and supportive environment.

Every club wants to offer the best quality environment for their members, so that everyone can learn and thrive. Through this session, members learned how to implement effective key performance indicators to enhance an organization’s performance. In addition, executive member from each club also shared experiences and perspectives on their organisation success plan.

Allen Ang, president of Oil Town Talkers said in the session, “We do not focus on membership growth in terms of numbers, we are more concerned with helping individual member grow and achieve their personal goals. That is why we cater tour individual members’ needs.”

He included nurturing successful individuals through productive mentor and mentee relationships are characteristics of a successful leader. Successful Toastmasters know that mentoring is a crucial element in developing skills through the Toastmasters program. In Brunei, different clubs work together to help each other to grow.

Last year, Stuart Lee from the Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club made history when he won the Toastmasters humorous speech contest in District 87. This year, Chris Woo from Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club, after winning the International Speech category in the division and district level, will also be the first to represent Brunei and District 87 to compete against the best speakers in the world at Toastmasters International Convention which will take place in August in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Today, members of the public can continue to learn and develop leadership and public speaking skills in Brunei Darussalam’s Toastmasters clubs. Further information can be found at www.bruneispeakersclub.com

Allen Ang, the President of Oil Town Talkers (Otters), at the Leadership Training

The faces of our own toastmasters from Brunei

 

Get your Logitech peripherals at Concepts Computer. Call 223 3551/2/3