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This is another regional blogging event that many are fighting seats for. It’s no easy task but hey, this is still worth a shot. Next month, Nuffnang will be hosting the Asia-Pacific Blog Awards 2011. It will be held at Putrajaya Marriot, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards is brought to you by Volkswagen Malaysia and Putrajaya Marriott

Two years ago, the award was held in Singapore and the ever-popular @xiaxue bagged three awards including Region’s Best Blog. So who will it be this year? The nominations are closed and it will only be listed on the website on 15th November 2011.

Today I’m aiming for that special seat and to be part of the prestigious event this December and hence I’m pointing out three good reasons why I should be part of the 500-guest list 😀

1) This could be the first chance for a Bruneian to be part of this prestigious event and furthermore, no Bruneian has been represented in such event (please care to correct me if I miss out). I do hope a few more Bruneians can be part of the regional event. It would be a shame for Brunei not be listed among the 500 attendees. Let’s put Brunei on the map.

A coverage of such event in my blog will generate more interest for my readers and they can also learn from the experience. I plan to do a live update through my blog and Twitter too. Apparently, someone has nominated my blog for the upcoming awards (Thanks to whoever you are).

2) To meet-and-greet other regional bloggers apart from Brunei. With the number of blogs slowly fading away after the emergence of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram etc), it would be a privilege to meet existing bloggers who have made a difference in different parts of the world. I do hope to bump into superstar bloggers such as @Xiaxue (Singapore) and funny man @KennySia (Kuching) whom have bagged awards in 2009 Asia-Pacific Nuffnang Blog Award. I’m also rooting for my friend @SuperAdrianMe (Singapore) get shortlisted as a nominee because I love what he does.

3) The concept of Nuffnang has proven to be a success and it has been ongoing for years. It’s quite interesting that a friend of mine also works in Nuffnang and it would be indeed a great honour to meet the actual guys behind Nuffnang and I would also take the opportunity to interview the founders of Nuffnang. Keep it up!!!!

So there you go, guys!!! Nuffnang, if you read this, you know who’s the best bet to represent Brunei and I do hope others will get selected too.

The past winners and finalists of The Asia-Pacific Nuffnang Blog Awards. Image taken from Passportchop

Ok, yesterday I witnessed and truly enjoyed the insightful presentations on innovation by the MBA students from UBD. Not only they are in tune with their innovative ideas but they surely showed some passion and love too. It was also great to meet up with Soon Loo (center) who travels back and forth to Brunei and inspire the students. More updates of the presentation this week.

After a few years, Zul Faden (formerly known as Zul F) finally debuted his solo album with the collaboration of Phuturephase Production and Music Expression. Formerly under the management of Origin Artistic Management, he gained creative control of his music and almost all his songs in the new album “Memori Cinta” are written by him.

Two weeks ago, Zul Faden performed a few songs to commemorate the launch of his debut solo album as well as the launch of his website www.zulfaden.com. The launch took place at Jerudong Park Mini Amphitheatre and he’s also the ambassador for the said venue.

There was also performance by our popular singer Maria and Lily Chiam. Too bad Hans Anuar wasn’t there to perform the song “Sepi” but they did improvise by having a music video of the single with Hans Anuar’s voice streaming out of the audio while Zul Faden sang live. Interesting..

It was also a surprise moment for Zul Faden as the organisers did a surprise advanced birthday for him. The cake was sponsored by Eric from Mr. Baker’s Bakeshop and ironically it was Eric’s actual birthday too.

Congratulations to Zul Faden on the success of his debut album and I do hope you soar high in your music career. It’s good to see our music local scene being recognised and I hope this momentum will spur more local singers.

Guest of honour receiving souvenir from Zul Faden

Zul Faden belting out of his songs

A duet with Maria

Maria, Lily Chiam, Zul Faden and DJ Izan

A surprise greeting song from Expression Music

Mr. Eric presenting birthday cake to the Zul Faden

Eric giving his testimonials on Zul Faden’s success and talent

VIPs and guest witnessing the launch of Zul Faden’s album

The famous hairstylist Moore won a voucher for answering a pop quiz

Another guest was brought on to stage for another pop quiz

Peaches and Dea posing for RA

Man, this is tough… Not to have my facial hair trimmed or shaved and it has only been 9 days and we are three weeks away from getting it trimmed or shaved *lol* So peeps, it’s #Movember month where it’s a campaign to highlight the awareness among men on prostate cancer in Brunei.

#Movember has been around for a decade but this is pretty new in Brunei and thanks to the trio @mujahidjohar @zulfadly @thewheat who successfully launched the #Movember campaign in Brunei and you can follow them on Twitter @movemberbn and they also have the support of the National Cancer Center (NCC).br />
The campaign will end on 3rd December though I won’t be around and there will be activities on that day and perhaps a session for “public shaving” (for facial only of course *lol*). Venue is yet to be confirmed. For now, you can visit this website from The Wheat [here] and you can follow them on Facebook [here] or Twitter @MovemberBN. If you have any queries, you can email at MovemberBrunei(a)gmail.com

Want to be part of the campaign? Courtesy of The Wheat. Click image to enter

Guess who??? Click image to find out

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Suite Lola is a solution provider for online shoppers especially those who spend more of their $$$ online than shopping physically. I’m a regular online shopper when it comes to books (I source them from Amazon) and the delivery and the pricing have been great so far for me.

So how does Suite Lola accommodate or make your online shopping more enjoyable? Let’s put this way.. Have you ever experience a situation where you can’t access to the wide range of products especially from the US? Have you ever had problems of shipping your goods to Brunei because for a fact they don’t ship certain products to Brunei? This could be the fact that some retailers only accept US Credit Cards.

Or perhaps, you are very particular about shipping charges hence Suite Lola will provide you the best information to save on shipping costs. Just put this way — Choose any products you want to buy online (from US, UK, Canada or Singapore sites) and use Suite Lola to facilitate your shopping needs.

Winnie Sia browsing through Suite Lola and she signed up on the spot

But first thing is first, you need to register as a member of Suite Lola and they will need two requirements from you – 1) a photocopy of your IC 2) a photocopy of your utility bill such as your phone or electricity bill. Don’t worry as these requested items are treated as confidential. The purpose of these is to make sure that the registered person shopping through Suite Lola is legit and also for security purposes for tracking good delivered to your doorsteps.

Signing up is FREE and for regular users of Suite Lola, you will be eligible to be a premium member where your shopping becomes cheaper as well as shopping rates too.

Suite Lola has two types of services:

1) Self-service: Use your Credit Card to shop but you use Suite Lola for shipping
2) Concierge service: Where retailers don’t accept your CC so Suite Lola will buy and ship for you. A small fee is required for regular members but once you are a Premium member, the fee is waived.

Hmmm this might be a slightly confusing for starters but once you get the hang of it, it’s all good. You can click here for more about shippinbg. Not to worry as Suite Lola also has a FAQ section for any queries that you have. This, for me, is one of the best idea for Bruneians and residents who are spend a lot on online shopping.

For any queries, you can email suitelola(a)gmail.com. And yes, there’s a LiveHelp online chat on their main page of Suite Lola too. Do stay tune for updates next week on Suite Lola.

You can read Debbie Too’s update. Click [here]

Now I can shop at UK site such as Adidas (hmmm nice StarWars collection) and let Suite Lola facilitate my shopping needs. This is a screen shot taken from Adidas UK website.

The screen shot of Suite Lola website. If you don’t know where to shop, then enter Suite Lola as they have more than 400 online shops for you to browse thru. Click image to enter

New bags of Hello Kitty at Barely There, Tanjung Bunut. Call 824 8680. Click image to enter Barely There’s Fan Page

Guest of Honour Dato Paduka Ali Apong, Chairman of BEDB, urged the local businesses to be innocative and enterprising and not to depend on domestic market for future growth. He believes that Brunei can be a big player globally in terms of innovation and technology. Dato Paduka Ali Apong also spoke off building customer relationships, R&D innovation and the ease of doing business

It was great Local Brunei Development forum hosted by Asia Inc Forum. The keynote address was given by Dato Paduka Ali Apong, the Chairman of Brunei Economic Development Board, and he emphasized the importance of customer relationship, R&D innovation, enterpreneurship and intellectual property rights. He hoped that these can help to acheive the vision of “Wawasan Brunei 2035”.

I really enjoyed the line up of speakers that day and of course, the invited speaker of the day, Brenda Bence, who shared her advice of the importance of branding. I believe this is what is lacking in Brunei – branding and producting positioning.. Though it exist, not much emphasis has been given on branding and this is one of the reasons why businesses fail.

I hope to see more of this forum as it will aspire more businesses, corporate industries and even government sectors on the importantce of creating local business in the country. Thank you, Asia Inc Forum for the insightful forum. There will be more coverage this week on the rest of the sessions.

Invited guests at the Local Business Development forum

Brenda Bence with moderator, Andrew Dy

Mohd Roger Ainsworth, General Manager of Megamas Training Company asking a question

Dato Paduka Timothy Ong, Ken Marnoch, Dato Paduka Ali Apong, Pierre Imhof and Stuart Kemp

So which brands represent you once you see this slide? I think you know which one will represent me 😀

Invited guests at the Local Business Development forum

Michelle Kho and Sophia Siu learned a few things on branding and customer service

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The Adventures of Tintin. We caught the sneaks yesterday at The Mall Cineplex and judging from Rottentomatoes, it had a pretty high rating (85%) and furthermore, it’s a Steven Speilberg + Peter Jackson movie. There have been tons of hypes with the popular comic Tintin and I grew up reading their graphic novels (Though I have to say I don’t remember the characters very well until the movie brought me flashbacks of the past).

So what are my views of the movie? According to Winnie, the director kinda changed the bits and pieces from the original script of the graphic novel. To me, it was well paced though I’m not concerned of the changes in the script. However, I felt a lack of chemistry and also the charisma from Tintin himself. The development of the story could have been tweaked and focused more on his character.

There are some scenes of violence (gun shots and sword fights) so this movie won’t be ideal for lil kids unless you’re not too concerned about it. Graphic wise, it’s the best I’ve seen for an animated movie. It’s good to Tintin turned into a movie. I was entertained but I won’t say that the movie was that absorbing. Verdict: 7/10 but lilmopiko gave it a 6.

Tower Heist. I’ve seen a lot of Ben Stiller movies but I was disappointed with Little Fockers (3rd installment of Meet the Parents). To see him team with Eddie Murphy, I thought it was a huge gamble as well and this is due to the fact that most of Eddie Murphy’s movies have been failures (Imagine That, Meet Dave) apart from the Shrek series. So I had low expectations on this movie but to my surprise, I kinda liked the movie.

The plot was slightly different and there was more humour element than the usual Ben Stiller slap-stick comedy so I thought that was kinda cool. Eddie Murphy didn’t get that much time screen and sometimes it’s better that way too since he can get a bit annoying on screen. This is another movie that I do recommend you guys to catch. An above average comedic social drama. Verdict: 7/10

Paranormal Activity 3. How can a movie of this magnitude can still bring frights to cinema goers? The formula for Paranormal Activity kinda of movies are usually based on the degree of suspense it can deliver to us. Just like how Blair Witch Project managed to persuade us to watch the movie for different elements of surprise. So to have a third installment for Paranormal Activity is a tall order and I was hoping that the producers haven’t exhaust themselves with same old ideas.

But guess what… The movie succeeded in giving me the spooks and more to my movie partner then Winnie Sia *lol* Thumbs up to the direction and the editing of PA3 and I’m still curious how the actual “ghost/spirit” looked like. I remember someone tweeting that Paranormal Activity Tokyo Night was entertaining which is the Japanese version. Do catch PA3 which is still showing in cinemas after 3 weeks which shows how popular this movie is in Brunei. Verdict: 7/10

RA One. How does he do it? Sharukh Khan doesn’t seem to age, does he? He just turned 46 last week and he doesn’t appear in his mid-40s. Anyway, his latest flick RA.One is the talk of the town and when that happens, even our SocMed group got sucked in to watch the flick last week. Did you know RA.One had the biggest opening week in India, raking in almost US 40 million?

Box office success aside, this doesn’t mean that the movie might be well received among critics but it did get a fresh tomato rating on Rottentomatoes surprisingly. My thoughts in a few words? Great dance/soundtrack, wonderful costumes and props, but suffered in a shaky, unrealistic plot. Well, this is the part where you leave your brain home. 60-70% of the action sequences were “over-the-top” but isn’t that your typical Bollywood action flick?

The humour was a saviour in some way and the chemistry between the characters were slightly messy. I was drawn by the presence of Kareena Kapoor on screen though. You can catch this movie at Seri Q-Lap Cinema but I was slightly put-off by the price-tag of the movie even on a week night ($10). This Bollywood film was entertaining but had lots of flaws. Verdict: 6/10

Captain Azwan Salleh of Brunei u-23 (left) holding on to George O’Callaghan during training match. This evening he led the Brunei team against Timor Leste. However, they lost their opening match 2-1 despite scoring earlier on. Ribeiro Almeida of Timor Leste scored a brace. It was a historic win for Timor Leste as it was their first victory in the SEA Games since their participation in 2009. Mohd Najib scored for Brunei Darussalam.

Murilo Ribeiro (left) scored twice for Timor Leste yesterday. Image by Heru Haryono/okezone

Brunei’s Ak Mohammad Fakharrazi (yellow) fighting for a ball with Timor Leste’s Wellington Rocha Dos Santos during their SEA Games Group B qualifying match in Jakarta yesterday. Picture: AFP

The standing so far and Brunei will take on Laos tomorrow (Monday) 5pm

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It was an entertaining event at The Empire Hotel & Country Club. Abacus Brunei hosted their 21st Abacus Appreciation Dinner for all their partners and travel agents (the 200 movers and shakers of Brunei’s flourishhing travel industry).

The dinner was to highlight and appreciate the continuous efforts of their travel agency partners in Brunei for the past 21 years. For your info, Abacus is Asia’s leading provider of travel solutions and services. If there’s no Abacus, then it will be difficult to do your bookings for your flights. So this is where Abacus come in and do that support.

Irene Soon, General Manager of Abacus Brunei, said that Abacus will continue to introduce innovative technology solutions and services to help travel agents improve and enhance their services. She also thanked Abacus International Pte Ltd, Royal Brunei Airlines, Baiduri Bank, Cityneon Displays and Constructions, Royal Brunei Catering, Tourism Malaysia, Tokio Marine Insurance and TTCO Enterprise for sponsoring the lucky draw prizes for this evening’s event.

Irene soon, General Manager of Abacus Brunei, giving a few words before dinner

Century Travel bagged all the Top 3 rewards for Travel Consultant. Prizes presented by guest of honour, Aji bin Hj Puteh, Acting Deputing Chief Operating Officer of Royal Brunei Airlines and Director of Abacus Brunei

Century Travel (Bandar) came 2nd in Top Travel Agent Performing Award

8th place Mas Sugara Travel Services receiving award from Guest of Honour

Freme Travel (KB) came 4th in Top Travel Agent Performing Award

Group photo with the Top 10 Travel Agents in Brunei

Darussalam Holding is ranked in the Top 10 for Top Travel Agents in Brunei

Top Travel Agent at Abacus Holiday Travel Fair

Top Travel Agent – Freme Travel Services
1st Runner up – Pan Bright Travel Service
2nd Runner up – Southern Cross Travel Agencies

Travel Consultant Reward

Top Travel Consultant – Miss Lim Yah Hui from Century Travel Centre
1st Runner up – Mr. Luk Boon Hwa from Century Travel Centre
2nd Runner up – Miss Yee Leng Kam from Century Travel Centre

Top Travel Agent Performing Award 2010/2011

1) Freme Travel Service (Bandar)
2) Century Travel Centre (Bandar)
3) Pan Bright Travel Service (Kuala Belait)
4) Freme Travel Services (Kuala Belait)
5) Anthony Tours & Travel Agency
6) Pan Bright Travel Service (Bandar)
7) Century Travel Centre (Manggis)
8) Mas Sugara Travel Services
9) Darussalam Holdings
10) Southern Cross Travel Agencies (Seria)

Some of the entertainment during the 21st Abacus Appreciation Night

Some of them had to do the “Zumba” action

Urban Vibes surely entertaiend the guests last night. Awesome dance sets!!!

Spin the Wheel was quite popular and lots of fantastic prizes

Plenty of food to go around as well

3 years and still counting.. Congratulations!!

Denise Chai of Deseo (2nd from right) with her friends from overseas and Thanis Lim

Denise Chai with her friends after the event

Denise Chai with Deseo’s staff who have helped the business sustained this far

Edgar with his daughter Natalie also attended the celebration

It’s happening today and extended till Sunday. This is the week to commemorate “Farmers’ and Fishermen’s Day and this is the 2nd time Brunei celebrated this event since His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam declared that the event should be celebrated every 1st November.

Around 200 booths participated in the jam packed event and it’s located at Recreational Park at Kg. Parit (along Jalan Mualat/Limau-Manis) and I tell you that it was so congested yesterday when I dropped by for a quick coverage. The car queue was pretty long and I’m pretty sure Sunday (tomorrow) will be worse.

Exhibitions and trade fairs are opened for the public for five days from November 1 to 5 with a number of additional activities including a colouring contest, scene drawing competitions, identifying fruits, vegetables, fish and agrifood competition, digital photography competition and fish tank fishing competition.

What’s a great about the event is that I noticed a lot of families bring their kids and this is a great platform for kids to be educated on agriculture and fishery in Brunei. One set back though – the toilets. They had no water supply then but I’m not pretty sure if it’s only temporary. So my advise is to clear your bladder before you visit the carnival 😉

Well done to the organisers.. Though it wasn’t heavily advertised but wow… the crowd just kept on flowing and flowing.. and further more, this is not located at a prime area like ICC or BRIDEX. So thumbs up to the organisers.

Pehin Yahya handing over mock cheque to Lau How Teck (R), the recipient of the “Successful Farmers’ Award”. Taken on 1st November. Image courtesy of Saifulizam of The Brunei Times

Kids love to fish apparently

I’m not fond of durians but I’m sure most of you are

There’s also a quiz section on the photography section

You can grow some fruits one day

Ok, I’m not a big fan of this game though

Yes, the long queue just for the event

BRUNEI’s premier destination, The Airport Mall has signed on local creative firm, Mixmediaworx for their expertise in branding, marketing and consultation. The Airport Mall, is looking distinguish itself from what other Bruneian malls have to offer, which has prompted the partnership with Mixmediaworx, to develop a brand which will be synonymous with Bruneians.

Dk Hjh Asiah Pg Hj Damit, a representative from The Airport Mall, said: “We are pleased to announce our partnership with Mixmediaworx, Brunei’s leading and preferred creative agency, for the branding of our mall.”

She added that with proper branding and consultation from Mixmediaworx, The Airport Mall would be able set itself apart from other shopping destinations in the country. With Mixmediaworx on board, The Airport Mall will have a new and fresh exterior, a re-thought interior, a logo and consistent branding to match.

Mixmediaworx’s Creative Director Hamdi “NJ” Matussin said that it isn’t often that shopping centers in Brunei have strong and recognizable branding. “The idea is not to rely heavily on major tenants to pull the crowd or shoppers in, but to stand out as a one-of-a-kind shopping mall that represents all its tenants as distinctly as possible,” he said.

With Mixmediaworx’s involvement, it will help with the positioning of The Airport Mall towards the local market.

“We will identify strengths, weakness and opportunity in line with creating The Airport Mall’s identity development,” NJ said, adding that the exercise will take about 6 to 12 months to complete.

The huge atrium at The Airport Mall put to good use.. Taken during the Abacus Holiday Travel Fair back in October 2011

The logo, which will be unveiled on November 11, took around a month to be confirmed. NJ added: “Our association with The Airport Mall will see a whole new brand concept for the mall, inside and out.”

With most malls in Brunei having with cinemas or hotels to pull crowds, The Airport Mall is looking to go a different direction. Mixmediaworx believes that although challenging, they will be able to propose and suggest the right approach to make The Airport Mall Brunei’s preferred destination.

Dk Hjh Asiah said that with their property, one of the biggest advantages is the huge atrium which will be able to host a wide array of events or roadshows. “Currently, Alhamdulillah… we are more than 80 per cent full in terms of confirmed tenancy. With the appointment of a creative agency, this is our serious next step. We believe that they can market and brand our product, The Airport Mall, to be a success,” she said. Text courtesy of Mixmediaworx.

Fifteen schools will be taking part in a programme that will teach entrepreneurship through mentoring and coaching, in hopes of inspiring and equipping Brunei’s younger generation to learn and succeed through enterprise.

Hj Abdul Rahman Hj Nawi, acting director of the Curriculum Development Department, Ministry of Education, said that the Brunei Entrepreneurship Education Scheme (BEES) which is in partnership with Brunei Shell Petroleum, would be available in January in selected government secondary schools, technical schools, Arab school, and a private secondary school.

“The ministry hopes that within three years time, all government secondary schools and technical/vocational schools will have BEES programme runnning in their schools. To ensure sustainability plan for the continuation of BEES programme, the Ministry of Education will take ownership and operation of the BEES programme in 2015,” he said.

Also in attendance was Ken Marnoch, Managing Director of Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) and he believed that the program builds on efforts in building a dynamic and sustainable economy for Brunei. This is very ideal platform to encourage the local to be more entrepreneurial and hence contributing to the nation’s long-term economic development.

Marnoch hopes one day we can find the next Tony Fernandes or Steve Jobs from Brunei. This concept of entrepreneurship programme such as BEES have been proven in other countries.

A big thumbs up on this matter as I’m a firm believer of entrepreneurship. Text by Deno Goh of The Brunei Times and images courtesy of BSP. Click [here] for more coverage.

Hj Abdul Rahman, Acting Director of the Curriculum Development Department, MOE, hopes that BEES programme will be implemented in all government secondary schools in the next few years

Ken Marnoch, Managing Director of BSP, said that 10 volunteers from BSP and Brunei LNG would parter with advisors from UBD and other school teachers in the BEES programme

Group photo with the volunteers

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Last year, he helped created awareness for the Pakistan flood victims

He’s very involved with Beach Bunch activities and a good ambassador too

And yesterday, he experienced another magical moment. His newly born daughter Eva Lim. Congratulations, dude

It’s happening tomorrow and Deseo will turn 3 years tomorrow and all are invited to Deseo’s anniversary celebration. It will feature their latest collection, special discounts and there will be tons of activities where you can win attractive prizes.

Deseo is located at Regent Square on 1st Floor at Kiulap. The event starts tomorrow at 2pm. Maira, Deseo’s talent search winner, will be there as well.

Maira, Deseo’s Talent Search winner, will be at Deseo tomorrow too

Wuuuuuu… the spinning wheel at Deseo 🙂

This is sometimes the hardest part for any entrepreneur especially in Brunei. Yes, we have heard of grants provided by governments and semi-government bodies. However, raising funds from venture capitalists ain’t easy. This morning, Keeran Janin’s company MeSixty Sdn Bhd gets a major boost from a venture capitalist from Singapore, Accel-X Pte Ltd.

MeSixty, only founded this year, will use the new inject funds for the development of a range of innovative applications built around its technology which indexes and analyze geo-social media (social-media created with mobile devices and tagged to location). This is a great move the company as we all know how mobile devices (even tablets) are fast becoming the primary way of accessing social-networks: presenting big opportunity for companies such as MeSixty.

The funds will allow them to accelerate further in their development stage in order to enter the arena with a unique product and solid value-proposition. With the funds, do expect them to expand in human resources and so far they have four developers and 3 creative professionals working on the prototype.

Today was the signing ceremony between Keeran Janin, co-founder of MeSixty and Edmund Yong of Accel-X Ptd Ltd and it was witnessed by Vincent Cheong, CEO of Brunei Economic Development Board.

Keeran Janin, co-founder of MeSixty, was very excited about the project and he hopes the injected capital can further accelerate his project. MeSixty is at in infant stage and it’s similar to Flipboard (iPad apps) but with the integrations of social-media features. Keeran also shared that this is the biggest milestone he has achieved as a technopreneur. He hinted that the iPhone/iPad apps will be launched in the a month or two. So far, there are a hundred beta users where the developers are fine tuning the apps.

Guests who attended the signing ceremony at the iCentre

Keeran Janin shaking hands with Edmund Yong of Accel-X Pte Ltd as Vincent Cheong, CEO of BEDB looks on

Liam Janin, Social Cartographer of MeSixty, Keeran Janin, Co-founder of MeSixty and Shafique Hussain, Creative Marketing Dynamist of MeSixty

Are you fan of CNBlue? or for this case, any Korean band? I watched some of their music videos and they are pretty good. Now you guys get a chance to watchCNBlue at Bangkok in mid-November and the catch is you have to purchase Holika Holika’s Garden Recipe Set and fill in the form for the lucky draw.

Did you know that the Brunei partner Braun On of Holika Holika will be bringing 30 WINNERS…. Yes, 30 winners to Bangkok to catch CNBlue… Now that’s a big sum and it’s a good chance for shoppers to stand a chance to fly to Bangkok.

The entry forms are available at any Holika Holika branch at Times Square, Hua Ho Yayasan, Hua Ho Kiulap and The Mall and the last day of entry is Sunday, 6th November 2011. The draw itself will take place on 8th November 2011.

The 30 winners will be awarded to a three-day two-night trip to Bangkok, along with hotel accommodation, concert tickets, spending money, and a chance to meet the band in person. Now that’s what I call an awesome promotion.

Will both Denise and Sim Yuan win a chance to fly to Bangkok?

Some of the products at Holika Holika

Denise sending her form for the lucky draw

The lucky draw box will be drawn on 8th November

Carol also tried her luck to catch the Korean band

So do shop at Holika Holika at The Mall, Times Square, Hua Ho Yayasan and Hua Ho Kiulap

DO YOU have a taste for Indian cuisine? If you just can’t get enough of good Indian cuisine, head down to Orchid Garden Hotel in Anggerek Desa where Chef Kamal and Chef Shukur whet your appetite with mouthwatering and delectable treats and flavours from Northern India for everyone to enjoy.

The Indian Food Promotion has started and will be ongoing until November 12 at the Goldiana Cafe and Lounge. For adults the price per person is $20.80 and just $12.80 for children below 12 years old. Among the number of delicacies available at the cafe are the Prata Corner where Dosai and Chapatti is cooked and served with your choice of dhall and curry.

Let’s start off with main dishes where you will be treated to various staples such as steamed fragrant rice, Indian fried noodles, Croquette ‘masala’, crispy squid ‘chilli and pepper’ and the fish curry ‘Lanka style’.For those who are up for a spicy adventure, there is the roasted lamb leg with spices and yoghurt, the Indian omelette and the ever popular Briyani rice among others.

There are also stalls that prepare specialised dishes such as the Fritters stall where you can find pakoras, wade, samosa, muruku and puri. In stall number two, you can have the Kortu with condiments such as onion, egg, green chilli or curry sauce. Don’t miss out on the rice cakes at stall three and also try out their assorted peanut ‘Indian style’ such as the fried green bean, fried channa bean, cashew nut, peanut, mix muruku, kidney bean masala, green bean masala or the chickpeas masala at stall four.

Have a Chendol with ice cream with ingredients such as red bean, kidney bean, glutinous rice ball and many others.For soup lovers, you might want to try the Mulligatowny soup, Spiced Mutton soup or Fiery rasam soup.

If you’re looking to finish off with some dessert, why not check out the three types of assorted cakes served at the cafe such as the pandan kaya cake, pineapple upside down or the ever popular carrot cake. There are also the vermicelli pudding, mini fruit tartlet pie and creme brulee available. Text by Anwar Rosly from The Brunei Times.

The promotional poster for OGH Indian Food

The Chicken Vindaloo

I highly recommend this dish – Kortu

Dosai anyone?

Anwar enjoying his meal at Goldian Cafe and Lounge

Something for dessert 🙂

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AITI has been running a raffle quiz for people who visited AITIs’ Pavilion during the TechXpo 11 at the International Convention Centre.The pavilion consists of a gallery whereby the public can get an insight of the functional groups of AITI which are responsible for AITI programmes and initiatives. Among the successful initiatives profiled are AITI’s Grant Scheme, ICT Competency Programme and the recently concluded Brunei ICT Award 2011 competition.

The public can also learn about Radio Frequency Spectrum Management in Brunei Darussalam, licenses issue by AITI, type approval for radio and telecommunication equipments, consumer information such as International Mobile Roaming Rates when travelling overseas and others. A live demonstration on how unauthorized radio and telecommunication equipment can affect normal TV broadcast was also showcased.

Another section of AITI pavilion hosts the products and services from AITI Grant Scheme and Market Creation Scheme recipients. These companies are Mars Enterprise, John Harith Technology Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Indah Sejahtera Development Services Sdn Bhd, Crescent Sdn Bhd and MEXT-G communication services.

In order to join the quiz, visitors only needed to enjoy the tour of AITIs’ pavilion which will be presented by representatives of AITIs’ different groups. They will explain what are the roles of AITI and also the many projects that AITI is currently working on and also past projects that has contributed to the nation ICT and Telecommunications industry.

By the end of the tour, the public will be asked to answer only one random question out of all the presentation done by the staffs of AITI. The prizes are, Top prize is an iPAD2, 2nd Prize is 1TB hard disk and the 3rd prize is a 500GB hard disk. . Correct entries of the quiz were channeled to the Grand Draw which was held on 30th October 2011, Sunday at 5pm at the AITI pavilion.

On hand to present the prizes were Haji Yahkup Bin Haji Menudin, Chief Executive for AITI. The top prize went to Muhd Erwan Fadlullah Abdullah Ramble, while 2nd Prize and 3rd Prize went to Rano Iskandar and Ahmad Aiman Syafi Hj Ghazali respectively.

Last minute entries before the closing time for AITI raffle quiz draw

Lots of people gathered around the AITI pavilion

Haji Yahkup Bin Haji Menudin, Chief Executive for AITI, picked the draw

I was one of the fortunate finalists but missed out the iPad2 

Muhd Erwan Fadlullah (center) won the iPad 2

This is happening next week at it only costs $10

The 750 seater Arts Centre Auditorium will be used for the International Week Concert

Great lightings and superb surround with the acoustic feel at the new auditorium

On 7th December(Wednesday), another event organised Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, The Japan Foundation and Embassy of Japan in Brunei Darussalam. The musicians from Hanamas (above) are from Japan.

So do come on 7th December or the performance by Hanamas and they will perform also at the JIS Arts Centre Auditorium and it’s FREE

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Cooltones held a prize presentation for winners of the Pelangi Radio Quiz for the 3nd week of October (17-23 Oct) today (28th October 2011). The Pelangi Radio Quiz for this whole month of October is held in conjunction with the Win A Car promo. Prizes for the radio quiz are Mee Sedaap sponsored by Malar Setia Sdn Bhd.

There is also a Lucky Winner chosen by Pelangi from among the winners of that week. The Lucky Winner gets a B-mobile Top-up & and Secret recipe Voucher in addition to the Mee Sedaap.

The winners receiving their prizes were Hjh Saniah Hj Md Said and Fatin Noor Nadirah Omarali and the Weekly Winner: Hjh Saniah Hj Md Said

Presenting the prizes to the winners is assistant manager of Modasys Technology/Cooltones, Pg Khalid. The prize presentation this time around was held at the Airport Mall. For more info on the Win A Car promo, you can visit Cool Tones official website at www.3g.com.bn or via mobile browser at wap.3g.com.bn. or call office number 8112727.

Pg Khalid presenting prizes to the winner

Pg Khalid presenting prizes to the winner

Not shaving for a month? Well, I have done that before but I kinda felt uneasy with all the facial hair around. However, this is for a good cause to raise awareness for #Movember which is to raise health awareness among men in Brunei especially prostate cancer.

#Movember has been around for a decade but this is pretty new in Brunei and thanks to the trio @mujahidjohar @zulfadly @thewheat who successfully launched the #Movember campaign in Brunei and you can follow them on Twitter @movemberbn and they also have the support of the National Cancer Center (NCC).

The registration started last Monday where the @movemberbn group had a small area for the public to register with a minimal fee which will be used for on event in December.

You can still register online by clicking here. You also can join them on Facebook at facebook.com/movemberBN for updates. So they have reached 100 likes and they are pretty up to date too.

So guys, don’t be shy to share this news about prostate cancer awareness and thumbs up to the young lads for making this campaign happening in Brunei.

The guys behind #Movember campaign. Keep it up, guys!!!

They have rubber models to play around with.. you know what I mean 🙂

The SocMed gang came to show support for the cause

This is good to know so don’t be scared 🙂

I’m sporting a fake moustache for now… So can you 🙂

Thumbs up for @PizzaHutBrunei to support the campaign

This is a cool design by Cold Soma

The editorial column in @TheBruneiTImes sees the benefits of social media. Click image to read more

There has been great news! Starting tomorrow (2nd November 2011), the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine will be made available at the vaccination centre in Ong Sum Ping. Earlier then expected! More great news! It has been decided that it will be made available for free, for all women, citizens and PR. Brunei Darussalam may be the first country in the world to do this! [This note was taken from Health Promotion Centre Facebook at 9pm 1st November]

This is definitely great news for Brunei and thank you to His Majesty and his Government for making this possible in Brunei. You can also follow updates through Twitter @hpcbrunei and the news of the vaccination is spreading like viral on Twitter as we speak :))

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LOL… Ain’t this true sometimes??

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Click poster to enter Facebook page to find out more

Today marks a milestone for the world.. It was declared that the world population hit the 7 billion mark. I never really take notice of the world’s population and the last count I recalled was 5+ billion people a few years ago. I’m not sure the population of Brunei Darussalam right now but it’s safe to say that it’s in the 400,000 region perhaps? That would only make it 0.0005% of the world’s population.. Holy cow.. That’s a small percentage..

Have you checked what number are you? They have a calculator to see which number you are among the 7 billion. I doubt that it’s accurate but a good estimation.. Click here to find out. Apparently, I’m the 4,113,717,555th person alive on Earth *LOL*

Amazing that the world has reached the 7 billion mark. Image taken from e-fah’s blog

Despite the increasing population, this is still a problem worldwide. Click image to learn more

HRH Princess Hjh Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah at Huawei/Sipadu/TelBru pavilion

HRH Princess Hjh Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah touring around b.mobile booth at TechXpo 11

HRH Princess Hjh Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah visited Kristal FM mini studio at TechXpo 11

HRH Princess Hjh Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah at Incomm booth, hosting Angry Birds competition:

HRH Princess Hjh Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah at Alcatel Lucent booth

HRH Princess Hjh Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah with DST and IFB

HRH Princess Hjh Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah at EGNC booth

Both ladies on the job for Social Deal at TechXpo

The complimentary stress balls from ITPSS

Well, you need to fill in the survey to get the stress balls and t-shirts as well. Cool giveaways form ITPSS

The STEP area had lots of students with a lot of interest in robotics

There were a lot of demos during the weekend

They also conducted small workshops on how to create a robot

The long queue at the mirror maze

It’s not what it seems it is :p

It was good to see RA Rockettes coach and his son last weekend “)

One of the winners of the b.mobile competition

Online game competition organised by DST last weekend

I want the Angry Birds tag, please? 😀

It was such a crowd at DST booth

The Angry Birds mascot must have drank Red Bull to entertain the crowd the whole day

Hmmmm this is a cool floating device

EGNC giving away xBox Kinect as their grand prize