Singapore Food Festival is back to The Airport Restaurant for the fifth time. The popular Singapore delicacies begin from 27 February and will last till 11 March 2012.

Come and meet Chef Skuter who has flown all the way from Singapore to present you the authentic Singapore specialities authentic Singapore cuisine including the popular Singapore Ponggol Chili Crab, Nyonya Popiah, Singapore Chicken Rice, Singapore Mee Rebus, Mee Siam A la Singapura, Ayam Pongteh, Itek Sioh, Daging Bakar Cincaluk, Rojak Geylang and many more choices.

In the previous Singapore food festivals, the most popular dishes included Ponggol Chilli Crab, Singapore Chicken Rice, Mee Rebus, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Mee Siam and Ayam Pongteh. The food festival was launched on 27 February 2012 by the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Yang Mulia Awang Haji Mohd Rozan bin Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yunos and witnessed by the High Commissioner of Singapore to Brunei Darussalam, Mr. Joseph Koh, Attending the launching ceremony were special guests, representatives from government sectors, Singapore High Commission, co-business and promotion partners and RBC.

RBC General Manager, Haji Omar Ali bin Haji Mohd Daud conveyed his gratitude to the High Commissioner of Singapore to Brunei Darussalam for their great support to this food festival. Special thanks to RBC promotion partners for this food promotion including Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore Airlines, Grand Hyatt Singapore, Baiduri Bank, Yamaha BM-Supply Motor Sdn Bhd, Sedap Corner and Fish & Co.

Tuan Hj Rozan sharing an account of his injured hand to His Excellency Joseph Koh before the launch of the Singapore Food Festival

Chef Skuter aka Bob appeared after the launch of the Singapore Food Festival. Present was also the RBC General Manager, Hj Omar Ali.

Exchanging of souvenirs between the Singapore High Commission and Royal Brunei Catering as Tuan Haji Rozan looked on

This will be the third I’ve bumped into him. You should pay a visit to his restaurant in Singapore if you happen to be there 😀

Wantan Mee with Char Siew Chicken

The Lucky Draw prizes are contributed by Grand Hyatt Singapore and Singapore Airlines. Our new business partner, Fish & Co provided sponsor vouchers for quizzes on Kristal FM. Baiduri Bank made great contribution to the promotion and extended Exclusive Discounts for Baiduri Cardholders. Singapore Tourism Board provided marketing collaterals and Yamaha BM-Supply Motor Sdn Bhd supported the display of scooters at The Airport Restaurant during the promotion.

During this promotional period, all dine-in guests are entitled for the Special Draw to win special prizes including Two Return Air Tickets to Singapore with complimentary accommodation of 3 days 2 nights at Grand Hyatt Singapore.

The Exclusive Discounts for Baiduri cardholders are 15% discounts for Infinite & Platinum with additional 10% discount upon presenting RBC Dining Privilege Card; 10% for RBA Amex Card and 5% for Gold, Classic and Debit Card.

Great News for Baiduri cardholders as Chef Skuter will be conducting cooking classes for invited cardholders.

His Excellency Joseph Koh said Singapore must be a food paradise of unexpected pleasures and “eating out” is part of Singapore’s culture, heritage and national identity. He also spoke of a website HungryGoWhere which is very useful when he wants to hunt for food. Apparently he also keep up to date with the Golden Legacy written by Tuan Hj Rozan in The Brunei Times.

Guess who was present there during the Singapore Food Festival? Celebrity Bront Palarae, the famous star from Ombak Rindu, though he moved to the coffee house since the buffet wasn’t officially opened yet and he had to catch a flight

The famous rojak was there too.. Yum yum!!!

Any of you a crab lover? I’m one but I stayed away since it will be a mess if I had one *lol*

This is beef chinchaluk

I managed have an photo opportunity with Ombak Rindu stars

The Daily promotion Buffet Lunch is at $19.90 per adult and $10.00 per child served from 12:00 noon to 2:00pm. The Buffet Dinner is at $29.90 per adult and $15.00 per child served from 7:00pm to 10:00pm. For reservations, please call 233 1853 / 233 9207.

Make sure you don’t end up like this before heading to the petrol station. It happened to me a few times *lol*

Fuel supply in the Sultanate is enough for domestic use, said the Brunei Shell Marketing Company Sendirian Berhad (BSM) in a press statement released yesterday. This followed rumours of that there will be no stock at some petrol stations across the country, particularly in the Brunei-Muara District.

BSM would also like to clarify that “there was a sudden hike in the demand for fuel since Monday which has resulted ‘stocked out’ situation in some petrol stations, particularly in the Brunei-Muara district”. It added that this “further congested the operations at the Muara Terminal which delayed the deliveries to the respective stations”.

In response to this situation, “BSM has extended its operations in Muara to 24 hours to ensure continuous delivery of fuel to the retail stations”.

For further information, please contact Brunei Shell Marketing directly at telephone numbers: 2229323, 2244739 or email at CSC-BSB@shell.com. BSM said it “assures the public that the nation’s stock of fuel is adequate”. Source from The Brunei Times

Actually, one of my friends who manages a petrol station said that the shortage of petrol in certain petrol stations are due to the miscalculation by the petrol managers on the “petrol stock” and they didn’t predict the sudden hike of demand during payday last Monday.

Fans who waited in the airport caught a glimpse of the famous celebrity Maher Zain who arrived Brunei Darussalam this morning. Maher Zain with his record label Awakening Records are in Brunei for his upcoming concert this Saturday at the Jerudong Amphitheatre.

More on Maher Zain tomorrow after the press conference later this afternoon.

Maher Zain and his manager at the arrival hall of Brunei International Airport

Maher Zain bumped into one of his fans from Brunei

Maher Zain with the local organisers NMHQR Studio Production

Fans trying to get his signature

They were pleased that they managed to get his signature

A bit of traffic congestion at Kiulap Roundabout last night because of the man with a katana. It could be a police exercise for all you know. Image courtesy of Anakbrunei

[8:00am] It was pretty rare sight to see a person walking around the Kiulap roundabout with a Katana (sword used by Samurais) which was sighted last night when 1/40 of the population was watching Brunei vs Vietnam match. One of my SocMed buddy happened to be there and saw the commotion which was mentioned earlier on.

From the comments on the photo, apparently a few of our peers also witnessed what was mentioned – a guy sporting a black attire walking around with a katana. And there was policeman chasing the person on the scene as well.

But to worry, peeps… Well, the local media has warned the public that there will be a police exercise known as “Security Control Basic Phase 1/2012” from 29th Feb to 1st March (today). It was mentioned that several areas including government buildings and places such as areas of Kota Batu Museum, Malay Technology Museum, Royal Regalia, Arts and Handicrafts Centre, Kampong Ayer Exhibition Gallery, Language and Literature Bureau in BSB, Jame’ ‘Asr Hassanil Bolkiah, Brunei International Airport, Marine Police, Royal Brunei Police Golf Course, Indoor Stadium, National Stadium, Yayasan Jetty, Bawang Jetty, Old Customs Jetty, Tasek Lama, Bukit Shahbandar, Jubilee Park, Tamu Kianggeh and the night market in Gadong.

Other buildings including Orchid Garden Hotel, The Mall shopping complex, Gadong areas, Yayasan Shopping Complex, Hua Ho Manggis Mall in Jalan Muara and Port View Yayasan Restaurant will also be involved in the exercise.

So guys…. Don’t be panicked when you see such commotion. Hmmmm… then again, what if the so called bad guys do their stuff today? *lol* I wonder what other scenario they will conduct during their exercise. I wouldn’t mind taking a few shots 🙂

[8:55am] Ok, according to my media friends who covered the commotion last night that the incident was not part of a police exercise. So I’m not pretty sure if this is true that last night’s incident was real. Hmmmm.. Let me do some further investigation on this matter.. 

[9:41am] Newsflash. After a few calls to Borneo Bulletin reporters, it was learned that the culprit with the samurai wasn’t part of the police exercise. *Holy Cow* What a coincidence and the Chinese guy took advantage of the situation. Apparently it started from town area and he walked all the way to Kiulap roundabout and he caused some commotion on the road as well. This was one reason why my Twitter and Facebook feeds were talking about this particular person.

According to Borneo Bulletin, the Chinese man was apprehended at one of the convenient store behind Taurean The Arch, Kiulap. The incident is still under investigation and it’s not known what the motive is yet.

So today’s headline mentioned “Two hours of chaos in capital”. The irony here is the commotion lasted two hours. But the most important thing is no one was reported hurt or injured during the 2-hour ordeal.

[12:10pm] Latest update. It has been confirmed by Royal Brunei Police Fore, PR Unit, Pg Hj Abdul Salam that last night’s incident was not part of the “Security Control Basic Phase 1/2012”. My friends were involved in the chase and one of them was chasing the “samurai dude” from Tamu Selera until the Kiulap Roundabout. At one stage, the armed (and dangerous) dude tried to stop my friend’s car on the road whilst being chased.

According to my friend, more than 10 police officers were involved in the chase too, some on foot, some on bike patrol, some on wheels. Though the man was apprehended, my friend said it was the weirdest coverage he ever did. He summed it up by saying, “A leap day drama”.  

The guy with the katana was seen, interrupting the traffic flow near Kiulap Roundabout

TigerLim denied it was him and he said he ain’t that slim. Image by Bahyiah Bakir of Borneo Bulletin.

The aftermath taken at the convenient store where the samurai guy was apprehended at last

Guess who will be making a special appearance during the Nissan launch —> Nora Danish, a Malaysian celebrity

The promotional poster for Maher Zain

Maher Zain is one of the most popular artistes in the international Islamic music industry and finally he will be performing live this coming 3rd March 2012 at the Jerudong Amphitheartre. He is due to arrive Brunei on 1st March 2012 which is actually tomorrow. This will be his first concert in Brunei after his short appearance two years back at Plaza Athirah.

Also performing during the concert will be Irfan Makki (who has a vocal similar to that of the legendary Michael Jackson) and there will be performances by our local artistes Fakhrul Razi and The Seeds.

YAM Pengiran Anak Qayyum, the event manager of the concert said that it’s a privilege to bring Maher Zain to Brunei again and his songs are very inspirational and Islamic and this also promotes the MIB culture in Brunei.

Tickets are sold at $120, $90, $70 and $40 from KFC Mall outlet, KFC Plaza Athirah outlet, KFC Belait outlet, KFC Lumut SPARK outlet, Deejay Home Video outlets and NMHQR Studio Productions (on the sixth floor of Plaza Athirah building) and part of the ticket sales will be donated to Pusat Ehsan and SMARTER Brunei.

You can contact 224 1777 or 815 1118.

Sheikh Jamaluddin of Brunei Tourism, YAM Pengiran Anak Muhd Haffiz, co-event Manager of NMHQR Studio Productions and YAM Pengiran Anak Qayyum, co-event Manager of NMHQR Studio Productions.

Don’t forget to buy your tickets. I will be heading there too 🙂

You can buy your tickets at KFC Mall Outlet

The Body Shop Brunei National Day promotion was started last Feb 23 and is extended until March 4. The mechanic of the promotion, entitled, “Show Your Patriotism”, is to bring a Brunei Flag to show their patriotism for the country in all the Body Shop stores and they can get 28% off in any one of the product of their choice. It can be a physical flag itself, in their cellphone wallpaper, a key chain, a shirts with Bruneian flag or anything as long as the flag is visible and clearly recognize.

Not Brunei Investment Agency but Brunei International Airport and the passengers pick-up point will be shifted to the airport’s P2 car-park area. Please refer image below for details.

The arrival hall will also be affected as the renovation works will be conducted. Yes, BIA will be going through a major facelift to give a more modern, vibrant international feel.

Now the tricky part is routing the cars to P2 car park area which will take some time for the public to get used to. But I’m pretty sure there will be signboards to lead drivers to the correct parking area.

However, the departure drop-off routes remain virtually unchanged.

Yesterday Lee San San, Project Manager of Brunei International Airport modernisation project, briefed on the three year project which should be in completion in November 2014. This will include a new terminal, new car park, a more efficient baggage handling system, a new check-in facility, a new arrival corridor and flight transfer area.

This project is a collaboration with Brunei Economic Development Board and Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) of Ministry of Communications and last October 2011, it was given the royal consent by His Majesty The Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam to initiative the BIA Terminal modernization project.

For more details of the BIA’s development, you can click here.

The new parking area at Brunei International Airport

Brunei International Airport Aerial View (Taken from BEDB’s website)

Brunei International Airport’s departure/arrival hall (Taken from BEDB’s website)

Brunei International Airport’s departure lounge (Taken from BEDB’s website)

Brunei International Airport’s baggage claim area (Taken from BEDB’s website)

The Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) organised an ‘Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) Competition 2012’ at the Sungai Basong Recreational Park, in the Tutong District. Two local amateur radio clubs, the ‘Brunei Darussalam Amateur Radio Association (BDARA)’ and ’Persatuan Gemilang Daerah Tutong’ jointly support this event.

The ARDF competition allows participants to compete and show their skills in amateur radio direction finding. It requires the skills of orienteering and navigating of radio direction finding in locating hidden transmitters called ’beacons’ or ‘foxes’ within an area using the bearings of the transmitted signal in pedestrian mode.

Ten (10) teams participated in the ARDF and every team consists of three (3) members with at least one person in the team holding a valid amateur radio station licence. The ARDF competition started at 7:45am and lasted for two (2) hours. During the competition, each team also displayed their capabilities in the design of their home-made directional antennas.

Winners of ARDF will be announced during the seminar on “Awareness on Amateur Radio Usage” which will be held at the Indera Samudra Grand Hall, The Empire Hotel & Country Club, Jerudong, on Sunday 4th March 2012. Images courtesy of AITI.

Through the ARDF Competition, AITI hopes to achieve the following objectives:
• To create public awareness on amateur radio licence, its rules and regulation , and its ethical use.
• To promote the use of amateur radio service in Brunei Darussalam.
• To create harmonies and network among radio enthusiasts.

During the fox hunting competition

Group photo after the competition. Click image to enlarge

A team developing an innovative financial learning application emerged as this year’s champion at ThinkBig Ignite 2011.BruInnovEdu, helmed by Shavon Hon and Vincent Wong, returned home with the biggest prize money from the competition worth $20,000 under the competition’s ICT Open Business Plan Category, putting them among the ranks of the competition’s past winners such as Crescent’s Online Education, Infindo Technology, LoveFoodHateWaste and GoHalal, among others.

The team also won the Outstanding Rookie Award and the AITI (Info-communications Technology Industry) Multimedia Award in the competition.

The awards were presented to the winners yesterday by Minister of Finance II Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Abdul Rahman.

ThinkBig Ignite is an initiative of the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) to encourage entrepreneurs to develop business ideas in the field of Information and Communications Technology and bring these products or services into the market. [Source: Al-Haadi Abu Bakar of The Brunei Times].

Outstanding Rookie Award – BruInnovEdu

AITI Multimedia Award – BruInnovEdu

DST Mobile Application Award – Socialdeal

Islamic category Award – no awards

Open Category Award
1st place – BruInnovEdu
2nd place – Socialdeal
3rd place – Nollybook

College and University Category Award
1st place – Bright Beginners Day Care Centre
2nd place – ETakaful
3rd place – Nur Qaseh Salon and Boutique

Guest of honour of THINKBiG Ignite 2011 Awards giving his welcoming remarks

Nollybook receiving third place in Open Category

Nur Qaseh Salon and Boutique came 3rd in College and University Category

The big winners of the day – BruInnovEdu, winning the Open Category, Outstanding Rookie Award and AITI Multimedia Award. Sharon Von and Vincent Wong holding their trophies

He was super excited after knowing that his team came first in College and University Category

… and 20 minutes later, he’s holding the big prize

Consolation prizes for the international participants from Malaysia

One of the rising technopreneurs, Socialdeal, who bagged 2nd place in Open Category

Group photo with the winners of THINKBiG Ignite 2011