Students and the music instructors from Yippy Tune at the 24th KK Music and Dance Festival in the Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort last weekend

It was quite a memorable moment for the children and parents

A total of 52 students from Yippy Tune Music School participated in the 24th KK Music and Dance Festival in the Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort on the 1st & 2nd September in Kota Kinabalu. This year, the event saw a record participation of 1,600 musicians from Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia. The participants from Yippy Tune competed in the category of piano, vocal, violin and drums and pocketed a total of 90 medals, which consists of 26 Gold, 41 Silver and 23 Bronze.

Some of the students who attained outstanding results include Siena Hoon, 5 Medals (2 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze), Freda Ngu (2 Gold, 1 Silver), Ethan Officer and Jonathan Foo (2 Gold each).

This is the second year that Yippy Tune has sent students to compete in the KK Music Festival, following an initial win of 13 medals win during their first visit two years ago. “While the students came here after months of preparations and hard work, one of the main reasons for this participation was for the spirit of communion and exchange with other musicians. Deon Ong, Yippy Tune’s principal remarked, “Completing a performance is like winning a sport event! It helps to create awareness of live music performance and reflects the music school’s practice of providing a balanced and outgoing programs for students.” She added, “Coming to the event required tremendous commitment, time and effort not only from the students alone, but the undivided support from the teachers and parents whom we pay our utmost thanks and gratitude to.”

According to a parent, “The KK Music Festival created an incredibly inspiring and unique experience where my child can perform in front of an international crowd. It really humbles you to see so many talented individuals and at the same time lift everyone’s standard because of the friendly competition.” Said Delon Hon, whose daughter, Natalie received a Gold Medal in her Piano Performance.

Comparing to the previous years, the judges have elevated their expectations, tightened the number of medals they released, while assessing the contestants’ every strength and weaknesses in much greater details. “This is a welcoming change, because it lifts the standard for everyone and motivates the students to work harder in their preparation for the next year’s event. It also makes the award extra more precious for those who have won.” Said Teacher Marcel from Yippy Tune. “All our teachers are extremely proud of our students’ effort and result. Their tenacity and attitude towards music has really encouraged each of us.”

The music gathering this year was a much-anticipated event especially because the organisers stepped up the game by inviting world-class performers and judges to take part in the judging panel and conducted special group classes for the students. Renown participants included Pianist, Yen-Lin Goh whose work appeared in Vera Ivanova’s soundtrack, Wesley Johnson, a senior lecturer from UPSI, Dr. Tham Horng Kent, the recipients of Asia Yamaha Music Scholarship graduated from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Japanese pianist Misa Yamamoto. Press release and images courtesy of Yippy Tune.

One of the gold medal recipient from Yippy Tune

Aubrey Lee receiving a medal too

Siena Hoon was one of the biggest winners with 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze

Siena with her mother Deon Ong

Freda Ngu and Audrey Koh were also recipients during the event

Ethan Officer with his gold medal

Siena with the music instructors from Yippy Tune

Edmund Hoh, Product Manager, Acer Malaysia, Richard Soo, Miri & Brunei Branch Manager, Acer Malaysia, Jeffrey Lai, Product Manager, Acer Malaysia, Roseanne Ho, Assistant Manager, Marketing, Acer Malaysia, Jerry Soon, Director of Sales, Acer Malaysia and Perry Chong, Kota Kinabalu Branch Manager, Acer Malaysia during the launch of “Be Cool Everyday” campaign from Acer at Le Meridian Hotel last Tuesday

A big thank you to Acer Malaysia for inviting the media from Brunei to witness a launch of Acer products at Le Meridian Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah last Tuesday. I’ve been always impressed with Acer’s innovation and consistency in producing wide range of products especially in the computer segment. Acer is one of the leading brand in Brunei Darussalam and it has a strong support system from Concepts Computer that customers have high trust on.

Last Tuesday as mentioned, Acer Malaysia held a special launch under the theme “Be Cool Everyday”, with the introduction of a host of exciting devices. Among the products are a new gaming line-up for powerful to casual gaming, as well as a range of lifestyle devices that adds a touch of style to work on the go and to home entertainment besides offering efficient computing. As you can see, it’s not just about technology but adapting to the current trend and lifestyle to the growing needs of end consumers.

Perry Chong, Kota Kinabalu Branch Manager, Acer Malaysia in his opening remarks

Jeffrey Lai, Product Manager, Acer Malaysia, gave an insights on the notebooks from Acer

Be Cool Everyday

Headlining the range of new products is the highly anticipated Predator Helios 300 which features Acer’s proprietary AeroBlade™ 3D fan, the latest iteration of the world’s thinnest metal blade fan for advanced aerodynamics and a whopping 35% increase in airflow performance, and Acer Nitro 5 with Acer Coolboost™ technology to deliver superior cooling ability. Both devices offer a thermal solution to manage heat and keep the system running optimally at a low temperature for awesome, smooth gameplay. The Predator 21 X, the world’s first laptop to offer a curved 21-inch IPS display is also on top of the list. This gaming laptop is taking Acer’s Predator brand position in gaming to a new level with its showcase of advanced technology and never-before seen innovation.

Acer Malaysia Kota Kinabalu Branch Manager, Perry Chong said, “Acer continuously offers products with meaningful innovations and superior performance, leading the industry with new technology and solutions that benefit customers. Our products are specially designed with users in mind; with improved usability to meet the real needs of our customers. We are extremely excited to introduce our gaming and lifestyle devices line-up with innovative features, including the all new 3rd generation of AeroBlade™ 3D fan, Acer Coolboost™ technology, Acer LiquidLoop™ fan-less cooling system and the world’s first curved screen laptop.”

I shall highlight three products that caught my eye during the launch.

Predator Helios 300 – A Highly Accessible Powerful Gaming Laptop

Predator Helios 300 – A Highly Accessible Powerful Gaming Laptop
The Predator Helios 300 is armed with a dual fan system that features the all new AeroBlade™ 3D Fan with the world’s thinnest metal fan blade at only 0.1 mm, to boost the thermal system and keeps the laptop running at optimal temperatures. With the preloaded PredatorSense application, gamers can monitor and control their gaming experience from one central interface. Featuring Windows 10, gaming is made better and more social than ever.

With an overclockable NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 GPU, 7th Gen Intel Core i7 (7700HQ) desktop processor and 8GB DDR4 at its core, Predator Helios 300 offers outstanding gaming and entertainment performance. This tastefully designed laptop comes with a fast 256 GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. The red metal chassis and iron red backlit keyboard provide a hardcore yet edgy look and feel to the Predator Helios 300.
Designed as a gaming device in mind, the Predator Helios 300 is ideally suited for first-person-shooter (fps) games. Its 15.6-inch FHD IPS display provides vibrant, vivid visuals, while Dolby Audio™ Premium and Acer TrueHarmony™ deliver immersive audio with crisp, rich surround sound quality. The Predator Helios 300 connects wirelessly through fast 2×2 802.11ac technology, and it includes a Gigabit Ethernet port for those preferring a hard-wired ultra-fast connection.

I would that The Predator Helios 300 is the next best thing for gamers and it’s quite affordable considering the specs given. It is priced at BND1,998.00 at Concepts Computer.

Acer H7850 Projector – Bring Cinematic Entertainment Home

Acer H7850 Projector – Bring Cinematic Entertainment Home
Featuring Ultra High-Definition (UHD) resolution, the Acer H7850 projects razor-sharp images on to screens of up to 120 inches (10 feet) and brings cinematic picture quality in to the home. With 8.3 megapixel on screen and TI XPR technology, the H7850 brings fine details of images to live.

The H7850 supports Acer’s proprietary AcuMotion technology that enhances picture clarity in fast-moving scenes and reduces motion-blur. Equipped with Acer’s ExtremeECO power-saving feature, power consumption can be reduced by up to 70% and lamp life extended by up to 15,000 hours.

The Acer H7850 is HDR-compatible (High Dynamic Range), reproducing a greater dynamic range of luminosity with expanded contrast and a wider range of brightness, producing true-to-life colours. The projector offers a DynamicBlack™ contrast ratio up to a whopping 1,000,000:1 thanks to its frame-by-frame analyzation and dynamic adjustments of lamp power for black-level optimization.

The H7850 also features a sleek, elegant design that was honoured with a Red Dot Award: Product Design 2017. Catering to a wider range of user preferences, the H7850 has a brightness advantage with a 3,000-lumens rating. It is also compatible with Rec. 2020 signals, the UHDTV standard for superior colour reproduction.

With a dimension of 398 mm X 297.5 mm X 127 mm and weighing 5.5 kg, the Acer H7850 is priced at BND2,998.00. This could be ideal for my entertainment room as I am huge movie fan.

The flight case for Predator 21 X – World’s First Curved Screen Laptop

Playing with the Predator 21 X and it’s estimated price is around BND 13,000 #gulp

Predator 21 X – World’s First Curved Screen Laptop
With an overclockable 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 processor, dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 graphic cards in SLI (Scalable Link Interface) and 64GB of DDR4-2400 memory, the Predator 21 X takes the AAA gaming experience to new heights. Offering an ultra-wide 21:9 aspect ratio, the laptop’s curved screen features NVIDIA® G-SYNC™ technology to ensure smooth and sharp gameplay.

The laptop also integrates Tobii eye-tracking technology which allows gamers to identify enemies, aim, and take cover simply by gazing at objects on the screen.

Featuring an advanced cooling architecture with five system fans, of which three are ultra-thin AeroBlade™ metal fans, the Predator 21 X is capable of keeping all its features running at optimal temperatures for super-smooth performance during intense gaming sessions.

A Taiwan Excellence Gold award winner, the Predator 21 X comes with a full-sized mechanical keyboard featuring Cherry® MX Brown switches for super-responsive tactile feedback and pure precision for fast and accurate gaming experiences. Its numeric keypad also touts a unique design that allows it to be flipped over and turned into a Precision Touchpad.

Tom of United Daily won a bag from Acer as part of the lucky draw

A big thanks to Richard Soo and Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer, for hosting the media in Kota Kinabalu

Dining at Welcome Seafood while in KK. Highly recommended and affordable too.

My recent trip to Kota Kinabalu and the dinner theme was colourful cultural

The Brunei contingent was very united as usual

Another short hiatus from me as I was away from Brunei. If you have been following me on social media, I was away in Kota Kinabalu to support my friends who were competing in speech contest in English and in Mandarin. Even though I brought my notebook with me, it wasn’t easy for me to update my blog. The schedules were packed but I had still a great and fruitful time nonetheless.

Last weekend was one of the highlights of the year. Almost 30 from Brunei toastmasters (Area K6) left for Kota Kinabalu to support our representatives from Brunei – Allen Ang, Pooja Shivanand, Sandy Tan and Theressa Chong and featuring our humour master Jidun Dollah. Though we only brought one trophy back, it was still a surreal feeling to witness the closeness and the family nature of the Brunei contingent whenever we travel as a pack. Nothing can top how we are in the district. Now I’m back in Brunei and nursing a runny nose (I wonder who gave it to me mmmm) and a tummy bug where I frequented the toilet. It’s time for me to get into second gear and soon it will be the fasting month.

I have been missing a few events also during the weekend in Brunei and it could just be the final weekend before Ramadhan kicks in. I was contemplating back then if I want to continue and do food reviews and collaborate with Filterworks once again for Sungkai promotion but I finally come to a decision that I will take a break for this time round. Nonetheless, I will still help to promote eateries her and there but not in depth. I still have my existing clients so there will be some coverage on their sungkai buffets. You can follow @bruneifoodies @kurapak @thanislim @marul69 who will be quite active during Ramadhan promotion.

Before my trip to KK, I had the privilege to attend a few car launches and test drives. Awesome, awesome!! This is definitely the best time to try out new cars in time for the Hari Raya season – the Audi Q2, the Mini Country Man and the Mazda CX-5 to name a few and Jati Transport also had their Hari Raya Special Event where they will be giving BND 1,000 gift certificate to new buyers for the ex-stock vehicles and the offer is valid until 30th June. There are also pre-owned Mercedes-Benz models such as the S 350L, E 300, E 200 and CLA 200 on offer.

I’ve been out of the movie scene because normally I catch a movie at least once a week. A few movies to be caught this week – Pirates of the Caribbean (not expecting much) and maybe, just maybe the Tagalog movie but definitely giving The Circle a miss and also Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Looks like Baywatch will be showing soon in Brunei and it will be showing next week along with Wonder Woman. Something to look forward to.

Of course, another to look forward to is Ramadhan. The fasting season is just around the corner and it could fall this Saturday or Sunday depending on the moon sighting. Nonetheless, it’s one of the better months in 2017.

I will posting some late news by tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be in better shape (thanks runny) by this week or before Ramadhan.

Test driving the Mini Countryman. Reviews soon.

I also had a test drive of the Audi Q2. Reviews soon.

During the roadshow of the Mazda CX-5 at The Mall last week. I can’t wait to test drive the MX-5 soon.