His Royal Highness Prince Abdul ‘Mateen ibni Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah (2nd from left) with the YAM Pg Anak Abdul Rashid. YAM Pg Anak Ghaffar, YAM Pg Anak Abdul Mui’z accompanying in the photoshop of the newly wed – Haji Abdul Azeez Pehin Orang Kaya Lela Pahlawan Major General (r) Dato Paduka Seri Hj Mohd Jaafar and Najidatun Nisaa Abdullah Suresh @ Bonita last Thursday

Informing His Royal Highness that the Nikah event was about to commence

Congratulations once again to my buddies – Abdul Azeez Pehin Dato Jaafar and Najidatun Nisaa Abdullah Suresh on their solemnisation last Thursday evening. I’m truly happy for both of you and it’s an amazing to know that both of you are officially married. Sorry, I didn’t take many pictures since I was busy Snapchatting and Periscoping 😀

I shall see you both again this Wednesday for the Berbedak ceremony. So ladies and gentlemen, if you want to see more of the “behind-the-scenes” of the Powder ceremony, catch me on Snapchat and Periscope at @ranoadidas and for related photos, do check out #nowANforever2015 on your instagram.

Enjoy the pictures below and more to come hopefully this week. A big thanks also to your family on the great hospitality and it always feels like home whenever I’m there 😀

Nisaa seated while waiting for the Nikah procedure

Ooops.. I spoiled this photo *lol*

Azeez the groom being ushered

Nazlee Jaafar was popular back in 2008 when he was the ring bearer for his brother Idris and Zari. Will he steal the storm once again despite being unavailable? :p

The room where the Nikah took place

The ladies

Nisaa smiling for the camera

As I mentioned Nazlee is not available :p

Photo with the ladies

To the left..

To the right…

Did you know I was the match-maker? I still remember our first trio movie.. Yes, I was the lightbulb then 😀

Arsyad, a future heartbreaker? I hope he turns into a Liverpool supporter

My Werewolf buddies though Yuniza (far right) doesn’t believe me anymore :p

Finally after 10 years, they are married.. My recommended hashtag was #finally1568 but #nowANforever2015 won

The newly wed being showered with love

It’s lantern time

The newly wed letting go of a sky lantern

One of the gifts (hantaran) and the gangsa is from @simplysayang

Some of the gifts

Nisaa being groomed by Andre and I’m impressed with his work

Mizan preparing the candle for the Nikah

Thanks guys for catching my updates of the Nikah on Snapchat (pictures and video feeds) and Periscope (live streaming) and my friend Syaz from Belgium benefited from my live stream especially behind the scenes. So download both the apps

Muhammad Radzuan bin Hj Madali, the chairman of the AFC U-14 Football Festival 2015 in Brunei Darussalam

It has to start somewhere.. Back to basics. Even in sports. It’s good to know that NFABD the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam is working its way up to improve the development of our popular sport in Brunei – football. Things have been definitely improving and it’s never easy as 1-2-3. It’s not just about the results and performance. It’s also about the development of the sport. So I’m quite happy to know that Brunei Darussalam has been given the opportunity to host the AFC U-14 football festival for this year and next year as well.

Yesterday was the first official announcement from NFABD chaired by Muhammad Radzuan bin Hj Madali, the organising chairman for the AFC U-14 football festival. The press conference took place at NFABD House yesterday for the members of the media.

For NFABD and Brunei Darussalam, this is considered a huge opportunity as Asian Football Confederation has entrusted Brunei to host such event. This is also the first time that Brunei host such a prestigious sporting event.

According to the chairman, there will be no competition or a trophy to play for despite being drawn into two groups. The objective of the football festival is to expose the young footballers to play against another regional country and gain more experience which can help the development of football for the future.

The chairman is thankful for the media for the coverage. Check out today’s newspapers too.

Fadhil Yunus asking a few questions to the organising chair

Holding the official match ball for the football festival

The official ball Lotto

The AFC U-14 Football Festival will take place from 18th August to 22nd August 2015 where it will have the opening and the closing ceremony. The participating countries apart from the host Brunei Darussalam will be Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor Leste.

The Chairman also pointed out how the other youth team has shown improvement recently as the score lines were very minimal despite all the loses. On previous years, the gap of the score lines were bigger. This time round the U-14 Brunei team will consist of 18 shortlisted players and in this football festival, every listed player will be given the chance on every game as part of the rules sanctioned by AFC.

The current players are under the guidance of Takao Fujiwara who have been training the boys tirelessly for the past few months. They have been placed at the Games Village and undergoing intensive training. I’m very pleased to know how serious NFABD is in developing the young players especially at a very young age. Give it another few more years, we will definitely see results especially performance wise.

Brunei Darussalam will be grouped together will Malaysia, Timor Leste, the Philippines and Myanmar.

For your info, the matches will only be 30 minutes per half with a 15 minute break. The match field will be smaller than the usual standard.

Entrance will be free and it will be played at both at the Track and Field of Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex and the Berakas Sports Complex.

I’m quite excited and I can’t wait to see the boys show all the training put into the matches. Good luck.

The official solemnisation will be tonight. So for those who wants to catch updates, you can follow my instagram feed or my Snapchat stories and also behind the scenes on my Periscope. Download all these social media platforms and follow me live on @ranoadidas or you can also type in the hashtag #nowANforever2015

The winners of the band category, A-1, with the sponsors and judge last week

Bridgette Ang, winning the solo category

Wunderbar…. It’s an expression, meaning wonderful and the word is originated from Germany. This was the word that was introduced at UBD toastmasters meeting last Monday and last night I used it as well for Brunei Speakers Club meeting. Now today, I using Wunderbar to express how the performances were from the recent competition organised by the Trinity London College.

The event took place at Expression Music (Kiulap) and the competition was also sponsored by Royal Brunei Airlines where the winners will be flying to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, this September for the Regional Semi-finals of the Asean “Be Our Rock & Pop Soul” Music Competition.

I had the honour to witness 5 solo performers and only two will be chosen to represent Brunei. In the solo category, WCOPA 2014 medalist Bridgette Ang emerged as a winner, belting out an awesome rendition of Whitney Houston’s Greatest Love of All and the runner up solo performance went to Lim Ao who stole the show with his guitar performance on Iron Maiden’s Run to the Hills. They both received $500 and $250 cash prize and a trophy respectively.

I love both the bands though only two bands performed which means that regardless of the placing, both teams will also fly to Vietnam. So it’s only down to bragging rights to who was the better band. In the end, A-1, with some lady power, singing to our heart delights – “Crazy in love” by Beyoncê and they earned a first prize trophy and $1,000 cash prize. Second place went to band Waht? with their rendition of Bring me back to life by Evanensence. They went home with $500 and a trophy. Both will also fly to Ho Chi Minh City for the competition.

The prizes were presented by Azhani Abu Daniel, Head of Corporate Communications, Royal Brunei Airlines, and Lily Chiam, Music Director of Expression Music. The judges included Abdoh Damit, a Brunei jazz drummer and educator, James Boyle, a pianist and lecturer in Kuala Lumpur and U-Jin Lim, Regional Academic Consultant from Trinity College London.

The judges were full of praises for the performers and advised them to show more showmanship during their performance as this will help them to woo the audience. Only through showmanship that every single person will show their character which can be the deciding factor among the regional judges.

For your info, Trinity College London’s ground breaking Rock and Pop Music Syllabus has paved the way for young musicians to be able to perform popular music genres in local examinations where eligible contestant from six countries – Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and host country Vietnam – will compete in the regionals.

The contest’s four judges are Senior Vice-President of Trinity College, London, Asia Tyler Smith; CEO of record label BMBX Entertainment Kelly Chew; artist manager of Thai singer Tata Young – Myke Brown and Thanh Bui, a judge of Vietnam Idol 2015.

The winner of the music competition will receive prizes worth up to US$25,000 and other prizes from Trinity College and BMBX Entertainment. The final round will take place on September 7 at The Opera House in Ho Chi Minh.

I was totally impressed with the young performers last week. I hope that they will gain more exposure and experience to better themselves and up the game. Thank you, Lily, for the invitation. I truly enjoyed the occasion. Good luck to all the performers and it was such a Wunderbar experience.

The runner – Waht?

Lim Ao coming second in the solo category

Evan Chiam of Waht?

Lim Ao wooing the audience with his solo effort

A-1 were “Crazy in love” and earned the top prize

The audience last week

Eden Chiam with One Moment in Time

Lily Chiam thanking the sponsors and the judges and praised all those involved

Behind the scene

Stand a chance to win a Hyundai Accent Hatchback. How? Simple.. Just subscribe to a DST Prima Samsung Contract Plans. There are other prizes to be won as well – Samsung 65” Curve UHD TV or the Samsung 55” UHD TV.

The promotion is until the 31st August and you can choose either a Samsung Galaxy S6 or the S6 Edge. Do visit the three places – Samsung Experience Store (Gadong), Incomm at The Mall Branch or at Seria Branch.

Fourth Audi Cup, third title. FC Bayern München is a power throughout preseason tournament at the home Allianz Arena. In the final, the German record league champions beat Real Madrid 1:0 after Robert Lewandowski netted a late goal. In the third place playoff, English representative Tottenham Hotspur beat Italian traditional club AC Milan by 2:0.

Clubs from the top four European leagues in Germany, Spain, England and Italy went head-to-head for the first time in Audi Cup history. The high-caliber field fulfilled expectations: after four goal-laden and partly high quality fixtures, the winner’s trophy went as it did in 2009 and 2013 to FC Bayern München. “Thanks to FC Bayern München, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur for a fantastic tournament. Congratulations to the deserved winner,” says Chairman of the Board of Management, AUDI AG Rupert Stadler. “The real winners are the fans, who were able to enjoy top-level European football on two days. The 70,000 seats in the Allianz Arena were sold-out on both match days.”

FC Bayern winning the Audi Cup 2015

After Bayern Trainer Pep Guardiola had initially rested several first team regulars in the 3:0 semi-final victory against Milan, he changed his line-up for the final against Real Madrid. This had an impact. Bayern dominated possession in the first half and created several good chances. Thomas Müller and Mario Götze had the best opportunities to open the scoring. Real Madrid started without its two goal scorers in the 2:0 semi-final victory against Milan, James Rodríguez and Gareth Bale. In the early stages of the second half (61st minute), substitute Robert Lewandowski missed the best chance of the game in front of an open goal. Then, just before the final whistle (88th minute) he directed a pinpoint cross from new signing Douglas Costa into the net to seal a well-deserved 1:0 win. In the third place playoff, Tottenham beat Milan 2:0 with goals from Nacer Chadli and Thomas Carroll.

The Audi Player Index was another tournament winner. The brand new evaluation and ranking procedure records almost every activity of each player, for example sprints, shots at goal, crosses, tackles and ball possession, and in this way objectively determines the respective ‘Man of the Match’ after every match. In the third place playoff, Tottenham’s defender Kieran Trippier received the trophy. In the final, the Audi Player Index identified Bayern’s David Alaba.

For FC Bayern München, preparations for the 2015/2016 season are now concluded. The official fixtures start already this coming weekend with the first round of the DFB trophy. Last year’s finalist faces Oberliga club FC Nöttingen on August 9. The day before, Tottenham Hotspur plays Manchester United away from home on the first day of the Premier League season. Real Madrid (at Sporting Gijon) and AC Milan (at AC Florence) start their respective league fixtures two weeks later.

Group photo with the guys during Azeez Jaafar’s Bedak-Bedak Mandi. It’s one of the first ceremonies for Azeez Jaafar and Nisaa Suresh’s wedding. Their next event will be the Nikah night this coming Thursday

Yes, I can’t wait to catch Fantastic Four. It’s more of a reboot and they have plenty of shows on Wednesday evening before the actual release on Thursday at The Mall Cineplex. The next few evenings will be very tight and busy for me with weddings coming up with toastmasters in the mix. Speaking of toastmasters, I will be the host (like an emcee) for tonight’s session at the Brunei Speakers’ Club and all are welcome at SEAMEO Voctech starting 7:30pm.

Birthday shouts to my buddies – Aminul, Saifol, Ning and Syazwana – the birthday celebrants earlier this month. I haven’t been up to dates with my greetings but sometimes being late has its perks because they tend to reply to your greetings 😀

I managed to sell of my old lego sets (unboxed ones) because I just lost interest. Sometimes you never know you can lose interest in something in matter of months. I can’t even find some of the old zombie mini-figures that I collected two years ago. So there goes my old collections of Lego but I’m looking forward to @indie95’s collection of Lego 😀 And thanks for buying my old stock of Lego too. Right now, my favourite Lego mini figure is Ant-Man and I know my Rulkie is not impressed *lol* I still love both of them.

I just subscribed to WWE Network on Kristal Astro. So far I am impressed as they are showing the classic shows and also personal interviews with former wrestlers. You will get more insight of what’s going on during those times. The only thing I’m upset is that it doesn’t show RAW live as I thought WWE Network would in the States. But we do get privileges of live feeds of Raw pre show and even Stone Cold podcast. Then again, I’m hoping for a Raw live event which supposed to be aired at 9am Tuesday.

Before I sign off, congratulations to Abang aka Ashadi Nasir and Rafidah on your new born baby last night. I’ve known Abang for quite some time and he’s always a bubbly person. It’s amazing how he now is married and with a healthy baby. All the best to both of you and enjoy the journey of parenthood.

Have a fantastic week, peeps!!

My old time friend from the era of e-circles back in 1999. Yes, our friendship goes way back. Congratulations 😀 You can follow our updates on their ceremonies with the hashtag #nowANforever2015 

Group photo with the whole bunch and missing a few people. Taken after the Bedak-Bedak Mandi function.

You see it when you see it

Getting full attention to the max

So I’m trying different avenues of social media. If you want to get a live update of the Nikah event, it will be live on Periscope this coming Thursday evening. Just download Periscope app on your smartphone and follow @ranoadidas. You will be alerted once I do my broadcast.

A new born baby girl of Ashadi and Rafidah last night. Congratulations and I’m happy for you both 😀

The winner of last night’s table topics Naz who turned up as a guest and didn’t expect to be voted the best speaker.

My new toy paying attention during a toastmaster meeting last night at Inspiring Hall, UBD

He’s been following me around

The article has been read with different interpretation. What are your thoughts?

Too bad the match only last 34 seconds and she is still the champion with a 12-0 record

My iMac was being serviced as it needed my HDD to be replaced. Thankful to Apple Care to cover the expenses and I don’t even have to pay for service charge at AV Electronics.

My new pair making its way from Singapore.

My ray visits at Fauzi and Nana’s recently. Bumped into two retirees who were involved in the telco industry.

The CEO of Pondok Sari Wangi and CEO of Standard Chartered (Brunei) having a talk at my neighbour’s open house last weekend

Selfies at Darussalam Holdings open house at Royal Berkshire at Polo and Riding Club. Thanks for the invite.

My vain buddies at Mizan’s home

Sandwiched between two local celebrities 😀

Our inside joke. Let’s wait for the special edition, bro 😀

Deputy MCYS Minister Datin Paduka Hjh Adina, South Korean Ambassador Cho, General Manager of Times Square Amal, Director of Gallery DM Lim, Manager of Setia Motors Chin, and spouse of the South Korean envoy launched the Korean Food & Art Festival at Times Square by mixing the massive ‘bibimbap’

Have you checked out K-Food & Art Festival at Times Square Shopping Centre? It’s still ongoing until Wednesday 5th August. You can learn to do Korean traditional painting and also guess the Korean ingredient when you are blindfolded. This will normally begin in the evening times. On the finale itself (Wednesday), there will be a final eating competition and also guessing the ingredient followed by a closing performance of K-Pop dance performance by ITB Korean Culture Club.

The K-Food & Art Festival was kicked off last Saturday. The guest of honour was Datin Paduka Hjh Adina Othman, Deputy Minister of Ministry Culture, Youth and Sports. She was accompanied by Cho Won-Myung, South Korean Ambassador to Brunei, and his spouse, Grace Lim, Director of Gallery DM, Amal Majidah, General Manager of Times Square Shopping Centre and James Chin, Manager of Setia Motors Sdn Bhd.

The Korean Food and Art Festival will feature fun activities for the public including; Cooking Demonstration, Eating Competition, Learning Traditional Mask Painting, Face Painting by Korean Artist, Guess the ingredient, Learning Korean Fan Calligraphy, Learning Traditional Wrapping cloth (bojagi), Dress-Up & Photo Booth and activities by ITB KCC.

All customers of Times Square are welcome to vote any display artwork based on your choices. From this participation, you will get to join our lucky draw and win amazing prizes. You may come to our lucky draw counter to vote and get your lucky draw coupon.

Amal Majidah delivering her welcoming remarks

A gift to the guest of honour from an artist

A gift of appreciation to the guest of honour from the Korean Embassy

Grace Lim saying a few words

At the Korean art display

The eating competition

Guess the ingredient game

Hello Bomi Oh from Sarang Restaurant.

Busy behind the scene

Silla Restaurant have sitting area for the public

These are the halal food items imported from Korea

Some of the art display

You can dress up in Korean traditional clothes too

You will have a chance to try out Korean traditional painting in the evening time

The grand winner for the Baiduri Bank Multi-Tier Savings Account Promotion and she won herself BND 50,000… Awesome!!

Baiduri Bank has been very active lately during the Hari Raya season. Why? Because of the endless of prize presentation in the past few days. Hence there are many reasons to be a customer of Baiduri Bank.

First up was the Sungkai with Baiduri promotion, secondly is the Multi Tier Savings Promotion where one winner will walk away with BND 50,000 (wowweee) and finally the winners of another Sungkai with Baiduri in collaboration with Starbucks.

It doesn’t end there. There is still an ongoing promotion where you can stand a chance to win a Mini Cooper. Simply shop at Mabohai Shopping Complex and pay using your Baiduri credit or debit cards. Simple, right? And you even enjoy exclusive deals too. The promotion period ends on 30 November 2015.

For more updates, you can check out Baiduri Bank Facebook Page or follow their instagram @baiduribank

Another consolation prize for the Baiduri Multi-Tier Savings Promotion

Consolation winners of the Baiduri Multi-Tier Savings Promotion

Another winner for a flight to Singapore

She’s flying to Singapore

The winners of the Sungkai with Baiduri promotion

One of the winners of the joint promotion with Baiduri Bank and Starbucks

The winners of the joint promotion with Baiduri Bank and Starbucks

Wanna win a Mini Cooper?? Shop at Mabohai and swipe with your Baiduri cards

 

The Brunei athletes representing in the Special Olympics Summer World Games 2015 in Los Angeles, USA

Special indeed. So far great coverage on the Special Olympics especially for our Brunei representatives who are currently at Los Angeles for the Special Olympics Summer World Games 2015 (25th July to 2nd August). So 11 special athletes from the Special Olympics Brunei Darussalam (SOBD) flew off on the 3rd day of Hari Raya to Los Angeles and the team was led by Hj Mahrub Hj Murni, SOBD’s President.

And guess what? They have done tremendously well in the Special Olympics Summer World Games 2015. Even better than our athletes in the recent SEA Games and previous Olympics. This is in relations to the medals they have won Gold medals to begin with. Awesome!!!

Nurul Mimi Silawati won gold in Long Jump and she also came 2nd in 100M run. Another gold medalist is Muhammad Aminnur Rafie in the 100M walk and he also won Silver for the Softball Throw. So that’s really good to know that we have talents even for the special needs.

There were other medalist as well. Mohammad Nadihie Hj Abas won Silver in 100M run; Mickellyhelmie won two bronze medals for 200M run and 100M run and finally Siti Hazirah Zolkipli won Bronze fro Softball Throw. Mohammad Samri Mahli earned Silver for BC Bocce Doubles and the same goes to Siti Nursyazwani Hj Shamsudin in her BC Bocce Doubles.

Other notable mentions are Ahmad Zharfan Ahmadiah who came fourth in the Golf-Level 5 Stroke with a 317 score. He just missed out on the medal spot.

This shows that Brunei could have won more medals if more athletes participated but due to budget constraint, SOBD could only send 11 athletes and since it is held at Los Angeles, USA, it will be a high cost for the parents to fly over as well. Good job to the President in taking care of the athletes and also the coaches, trainers and a doctor. It’s not easy being away from home especially during the festive season.

It’s just a little sad that none of the senior officials from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports were present during the events just like how they attended the recent SEA Games in Singapore. Maybe it could be down to budget constraint. Even in the photo session (during the sending off at the Brunei International Airport), there weren’t any high senior officials apart from Hj Mahrub who came in the the capacity as the President of SOBD.

There should be a double standard for every Brunei athletes that represent the country in prestigious events such as SEA Games, Asian Games, Olympics and even Special Olympics. They all deserved a proper send off and further more, this is a Special Olympics (same level as the Olympics). This is just my positive criticism two cents.

I congratulate the athletes for their courage to accept the challenge to represent Brunei and you all definitely had a wonderful experience in Los Angeles. A big mention also to Hj Mahrub for leading and motivating the athletes and the other delegates for taking care of the athletes. They are due to be back soon to Brunei and I can feel that they can’t wait to be home again. Images below taken from SOBD Facebook Page and their instagram @specialolympics_brunei

Muhammad Aminnurr Rafie winning Gold in 100M Walk and also getting Silver in Softball Throw

Nurul Mimi Silawati winning Gold in Long Jump and also grabbing Silver in 100M Run

Nurul Mimi Silawati posing for the camera

Mohammad Nadihie Hj Abas, a Silver medalist for 100m run

Siti Hazirah Zolkipli won Bronze in Softball Throw

Mickellyhelmie is a double Bronze winner for 200M run and 100M run

The Brunei delegates with Hj Mahrub Hj Murni at the Brunei International Aiport

The Brunei delegates arriving the States two weeks ago

The sponsors from Wong Chain and Armtrix Enterprise as they sponsored equipment and apparels respectively for the athletes.