Now this is something that I would love to join next year. I covered the 2nd edition two years back and it looked pretty fun. This year, The Men’s Health Urbanathlon 2013 had nine obstacles across 14km distance which started from the Nicoll Highway MRT station where you go through iconic landmarks and venues such as Marina Bay Sands and Fort Canning Hill to name a few.

This year there was quite a number of participants from Brunei in this year’s event. Most notably the group from Getfit Crossfit was the biggest representatives from Brunei. Below are some pictures from Stephanie Liew, Shamsul and Ak Herman. Thanks guys for sharing.

It was Stephanie Liew’s first Urbanathlon and as soon as she heard that the women’s category was available, she jumped and took the opportunity. She’s a crossfit enthuasiast and she’s active under the flagship of Getfit Crossfit group. She went last year with the team to support only. All in all, she had a wonderful experience and she won’t mind joining this event next year if given the chance.

“I’ve never run more than 12 km in my life. I trained by doing crossfit. I joined to challenge myself and I completed it in 2 hours. For me, the toughest obstacle was lateral move obstacle, ” shared Stephanie Liew.

With the Getfit Crossfit team from Brunei at Men’s Health Urbanathlon 2013

It’s good to see Bruneians taking part in this event

Well done Steve Lai and Stephanie Liew

Picture opportunity with Mini dudes and babes

The happy faces from #getfitcrossfit

This is the first time they opened the Urbanathlon category for the ladies.. Awesome!!

Image taken from Running Shots

Steve Lai in one of the obstacles. Image taken from Running Shots.

Stephanie (right) also attempted this obstacle. Image taken from Running Shots.

Thanks Herman (right) for the pictures

They are proud of the finisher’s medals

If you are dirty, not to worry as these ladies will wash you down clean

The celebrities also joined the event – Colette Wong, Steve Lai and Kelly Latimer

Herman with the mini babes

Shamsul also participated and he had fun too

Shamsul had his wife Maizan to support him during the event

Shamsul crossed the finishing line

Shamsul had his wife Maizan to support him during the event

Sorry peeps.. No soap/foam party

Click image to enter Radisson Facebook page for updates!!

 

Click image to enter website

Twice daily to Kuala Lumpur starting May 22nd

Click image to enter website

It’s always a dream for me to own a home one day. This for me is more important than perhaps getting a new car though my friends kept insisting I invest in a new car *lol* Anyway, it’s good to see another project from Rumaku Real Estate who will be launching a new upcoming unique residential development known as Impian.

Some of the pictures below are from several locations such as Kilanas, Subok, Jln Muara and Serasa. There’s an option as well if you want a complete kitchen which comes with a warranty period. In actual fact, all Impian home owners will receive a 2 year warranty period from the day the occupational permit is granted.

With such warranty, this will the first of its kind for private residential developments. This shows the high quality of the respective homes under the Impian project.

You might be discouraged by the overall price tag of residential homes in general but Rumahku will provide a better pricing structure (do contact them for more details 8722 249 or 875 3330) and the price range starts from BND 257,000. They will also be providing after sales service during the construction period right through to the end of the warranty period. Awesome!!

For your info, the Impian project will be launched on the 9th and 10th March at The Empire Hotel & Country Club from 9am to 6pm. Do check out their website www.impianbrunei.com for further details.

A model home along Jln Muara

A sample view of the family area

A sample view of the dining area

Yusuf Flynn, Sales Director of Rumahku, had his welcoming remarks to officiate the Impian which have garnered a lot of interest from the public and www.impianbrunei.com website had more than 40,000 hits in the space of two weeks which shows that the locals are interested in looking for new homes.

Yusuf believes that the next generation homes will be received from the general public. The demographics showed that their team is able to cater to the demands of the public and he highlighted a reason why this will be successful because “we are the demographic” (that will appreciate the newly designed homes). Their role will also be facilitating their clients from Day 1 and even after they have purchased and start living in their new homes. So it’s more about delivering extra service and even making them feel like home.

He shared how customers face problems whenever they settled at their homes. So this is where Rumahku guys will come in and assist their customers in any problems they encounter. He believes that every home you live in, it’s important to have a peace of mind and that’s Rumahku’s core service.

So for more information, do visit their Impian roadshow at The Conference Room, The Empire Hotel for today (Saturday) and tomorrow from 9am to 6pm. They also have designs of the new homes so you can visualised how your new homes will look like.

Yusuf Flynn, Sales Director of Rumahku, delivering his speech on the launch of Impian

Amirol of Rumahku

Representatives from the banking sector were invited

Hitesh of YMRM Developer

Some of the designs on display

Yusuf and Shaun having a chat after the launch

 

IA Salon is having a special package promotion until 30th April 2013. There will be a hair perming + cut + treatment all for only $120 (for all lengths). For colour and treatment, it’s $90 above. For Wash & Blow + Scalp treatment (L’Oreal product) – $30 for Men, $35 for Women.

So do come and make your appointment at IA Salon. Call 242 3232 or 8738232 and the business hours are from 10am to 8:30pm daily. IA Salon is located at the ground floor, The Mall.

Cecilia Lee of IA Salon, a very passionate hairstylist and make-up artist, always learning new trends

The guys behind IA Salon and also some staff from Fun Bee Park and also invited guests from Malaysia

You can get your scalp check which reminds me I better get mine re-checked again

Hair and make-up done by IA Salon

 

Guess what? BANK Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) Berhad emerged as big winners at the recent Islamic Finance News (IFN) Awards 2013 held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

BIBD was presented with four awards, the “Structured Finance Deal of the Year 2012” for the Brunei Gas Carriers (BGC) Sdn Bhd US$170 million Islamic Financing Facility, “Turkey Deal of the Year 2012” for the Republic of Turkey’s US$1.5 billion sovereign Sukuk, the “Tawarruq Deal of the Year 2012” for Al-Baraka Turk US$ 450 million Syndicated Financing and the “Best Islamic Bank 2012” in Brunei Darussalam. Now that’s a pretty good accolades for BIBD.

Hj Muhd Sabirin Hj Othman commented, “This is a momentous milestone for BIBD, and Insya-Allah, there will be more awards in the years to come”.

He continued, “These accolades commemorate all the strides BIBD has been pursuing at the international level, making a mark in the international Islamic finance arena”.

BIBD Head of Public Sector and Government Linked Companies (PSGLC) Relations Hj Muhd Sabirin (3rd R), with other winners at the recent Islamic Finance News (IFN) Awards 2013 in Kuala Lumpur. Click image to enlarge.

The BGC transaction, which BIBD had won the “Structured Finance Deal of the Year 2012” award for, was the largest financing transaction in Brunei Darussalam in 2012. This also attracted participation from two leading Japanese banks. It involved the refinancing of a previously owned vessel, along with the financing of a new vessel. This innovative Shariah compliant facility has a sound financing structure with a comprehensive security package reflecting the importance of the project-driven nature of the financing.

The transaction adds on to the capabilities of BGC, adding to their fleet of vessels, which plays a fundamental part in supporting the LNG supply chain from Brunei to Japan and Korea. This, in turn, is paramount to the long-term economic future of Brunei Darussalam.

The new BGC vessel, Hull No 2606, is an integral component of BLNG’s fleet renewal plan, taking the lead over older tankers that have been delivering BLNG supplies to Japan and Korea for the last 40 years. The modernised design will provide BLNG with the capacity to continue shipping LNG supplies over the longer term to its gas utility customers in Japan and Korea, and underscores its commitment as a long-term LNG supplier.

IFN is recognised as the Islamic Finance industry’s leading publication. With a world-wide readership of over 21,000 industry practitioners and regulators, the IFN Awards offer its winners a truly global audience and a phenomenal vehicle to reach one’s clients, potential clients and peers.

The IFN Awards, which was organised by REDmoney Group, 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.

Established in 2006, the IFN awards and Deals of the Year recognises those who have participated in the industry’s most ground-breaking transactions each year. A panel of experts from non-competing organisations then sieve through all submissions and selects the best in each category. This year, over 300 nominations in over 25 categories were received, resulting in the most competitive Deal of the year competition since its inception. Press release and image courtesy of BIBD.

 

The Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) Sports and Social Activities Committee recently held a movie outing for its employees and their immediate family members.

Awang Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Yusof, Acting Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Communications and also in his capacity as a member of authority ,Chief Executive, Hj Yahkup bin Hj Menudin, senior management members and staff of AITI were  present at the event.

To celebrate AITI’s 10th year anniversary, the event was organized as an appreciation to its employees and to show support for Brunei’s  first full-length movie to be shown in cinemas, “Ada Apa Dengan Rina”.

The ASSA Committee organises activities to promote work-life balance for AITI’s employees in order to enrich and foster closer ties amongst staff and ensure their general wellbeing.

ASSA holds weekly Friday sport activities which takes place after working hour and recently   organised a badminton tournament to encourage healthy challenge amongst the different houses ie; Booster, Spectrum, White Noise and Spoofer.

AITI associates with casts from Apa Ada Dengan Rina at Times Cineplex

Apa Ada Dengan Rina. This is the first full-length Brunei movie produced by Regalblue Production and I’m here to do my review finally. I have missed two of their invitations (sneak preview and the premier) and I apologise to Harlif for my absence. Nevertheless I still managed to catch the movie a few days ago and I’m quite impressed by the outcome. For a locally made movie, this is a great effort though I believe there is still room for improvement.

The humour was spot on and Bruneians can relate to them. Despite the laughs, the plot I believe could have been stronger and to give the characters a more challenging scenario so the emotions could be felt more. I left the movie without any recall of the highlight moments (of humour) and mind you the movie is hilarious from start to finish. If it had one or two talking most funny moments (just like how American Pie or Hangover series did theirs), this flick would have a good “after-movie-conversation” instead of saying “it’s a funny movie” (and ends there) and hence creating more buzz than it already has.

I have to admit that I hardly watch Malay movies with the last being Ombak Rindu (7/10) and to enjoy a Malay movie is tough especially Malaysian produced ones. However, Ada Apa Dengan Rina gave me some hope that I can still enjoy one. I highly recommend friends and families to catch this movie and for your info, there are no subtitles. Seng Yee had a bit of problem watching it but she managed to understand most of the Bruneian jokes *lol*

Benny of Times Cineplex said that this movie have been a huge hit for them surprisingly and this is a good sign that Bruneians are appreciating locally produced movies. This is already a great start and I hope there will be more movies coming from Brunei. Ada Apa Dengan Rina is only showing at Times Cineplex, Times Square. Verdict: 7/10.

The movie was launched during the National Day two weeks ago and it’s still a big seller

One of the scenes that I took with my phone *hoho*

One of the leading roles of Ada Apa Dengan Rina. Image taken from their Facebook Fan Page.