What? Another PC Fair? Cool!

There's been a lot said about the proliferation of PC Fairs and how they are getting boring etc etc.

Personally I think they're great! Kinda reminds me of Funan center but on a much smaller scale. Its great because you get to shop around for stuff in one location. And because all the booths are in close proximity, there's definitely a sense of competition among the sellers with the competition being only 3 feet away!

With the many new buildings and shophouses sprouting up like mushrooms, I wonder if anyone's thought of doing a mini Funan center or Imbi Plaza with all shops dedicated to ICT related products? If that happens, I know where I'll be spending my weekends shopping for my next tech fix heheh!

Have you gotten your ZOOBs yet?

Was at the Sheraton earlier today and there was a bazaar happening there. Bumped into a fellow Jing Chew patron who is now bringing in these really neat new toys for kids called ZOOBs. They remind me of LEGO but they're so much better!

The whole system is based on these 5 types of components that snap together in 20 different ways making for literally endless combinations of static and moving parts. Way cool! We bought a set for little Arief although I suspect I'll be having some fun with it later as well heheh!

More about ZOOBs here and if you'd like to grab some before they run out, call Wan Chin on 8728007!

No, not the eye-center, the I-Center!

anakbrunei.org is proud to support:

Are you a tech-wiz? Got a tech idea which you're just so sure will be the next killer-app? Well, the Brunei Economic Development Board welcomes you and your friends to a stimulating morning of discussions on "Turning Ideas into Business Opportunities" over teh tarik, at 8.30am on Friday, 4th May 2007, at the Songket Hall on Level 4 of the Rizqun International Hotel. This may be that break you've been looking for so:

MARK IT IN YOUR DIARY/CALENDAR/PDA/PSP!

To register for FREE, call lovely Samantha on 2230076 or 2230111 ext 201 or charming Hj Aziz on 2230111 ext 209

Twenty Dumb Mistakes Employers Make

Here are the twenty dumb mistakes organizations make to mess up their relationships with the people they employ:

• Add another level of hierarchy because people aren’t doing what you want them to do. (More watchers get results!)

• Appraise the performance of individuals and provide bonuses for the performance of individuals and complain that you cannot get your staff working as a team.

• Add inspectors and multiple audits because you don’t trust people’s work to meet standards.

• Fail to create standards and give people clear expectations so they know what they are supposed to do, and wonder why they fail.

• Create hierarchical, permission steps and other roadblocks that teach people quickly their ideas are subject to veto and wonder why no one has any suggestions for improvement. (Make people beg for money!)

Read the rest of this article here

Hello little one...

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and debts are high,
And you want to smile but have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Talented Youngsters... Part Two

... and bring the house down they did...

Fire-eater...

We the little ones...

PDS School Holds Sports Day For Preschoolers

Bandar Seri Begawan - PDS School held a "Family Fun Day" for its preschoolers at the multipurpose hall of Masin Secondary School, according to a press release.

PDS School principal Sophia Lim, in her speech, said, "As long as you have given and done your best, that is good enough. Preschool is the best time to start training our children to enjoy competition and participation."

On hand to officiate the event was PDS School managing director Dr Mary Lim. A flag hoisting of team colours and an oath of sportsmanship were led by Danny Lee Wei Lun of Kindergarten 21.

Meanwhile, selected kindergarten 2 students strutted their moves and swayed their pom-poms during a dancing and-cheering intermission.

Over 300 children took part in the sports festival, including parents and teachers.

Red Team was named the overall champion, while Green, Blue and Yellow teams were first, second and third runners-up.

A souvenir was presented by Dr Lim to Masin Secondary School principal Hjh Mariam bte Haji Ladi for allowing PDS School to use its facilities. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Wonderful Tonight...

"Yet another superb performance by the JIS Orchestra last night left everyone wanting more..."

Sustainable Development...

How do we make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone? - R Buckminster Fuller

Talented Youngsters...

These three youngsters are gonna bring the house down when they perform tomorrow night...

Big sigh of relief...

When da missus decided to give Yoga a try last week, I had to opportunity to sit in on (and photograph hehe) a beginners' Yoga session conducted by this wonderful woman.

It was different from the open air sessions as the acoustics in the studio meant you could hear her soothing voice very clearly. The woman has an uncanny ability to sooth and calm a restless mind and by the end of the session, even I felt somewhat relaxed!

Went for a colonoscopy for the first time in my life today. The procedure involves inserting a tube with a video camera on the tip, into one's nether regions, and having a look around to find any unusual growths or ulcers in the colon.

The process starts the day before with two doses of mild laxatives that have you parked on the loo for hours. This is necessary of course to ensure a clear picture when they go in. Before the procedure, a sedative is administered that puts you in the twilight zone.

You can still feel the tube going in and its not so bad... BUT as it reaches the transverse colon towards the descending colon, it feels like you just got punched in the gut! OOOOF!

Anyway, after the brief procedure, it was a big relief to learn that my colon is clear. I will sleep well tonight...

Three words for today...

NETWORK, FOCUS, OUTSOURCE

Read more here

Kurapak Teknologi...

How many of you HAVEN'T visited CNET Asia for the latest tech news and gadget reviews? If you haven't then I fully recommend it for the best reviews and priceguides which are relevant to us, since Singapore's just across the pond.

Anyway, CNET now has a new blog dispatch from Brunei Darussalam :)

Feel free to send me ideas and suggestions for posts on Kurapak Teknologi which are tech oriented and relevant to Brunei!

Vodka breathing Cayenne...

The above pic obviously not taken by yours truly :) More here.

This is a Cayenne purpose-built for the 2007 Transsiberia Rally which will run from August 2 - 17. The route starts in Moscow, crosses Siberia, and ends in Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, covering over 6,600 kilometers along the way. Sweeeet...

On a rather sad note, today, Mr BR, defacto Brunei blogosphere head-boy, decided to pack it in blogwise and focus his energies on his work and his writings. Thankfully, he will still maintain an online presence via his main site. I am sure many, including yours truly, have made BR one of their online favorites over their early morning coffee. Understandable as your reasons may be for packing it in, I am not alone when I say, "You shall be sorely missed old chap."

Five Hills, Five Challenges

More pics here, here, here, and here.

Five Hills Challenge

Date: Sunday, April 15th 2007
Time: 7am
Starting Venue: Tasek Lama
Other destinations include: Subok, Marakucing and Mentiri before heading to Bukit Shahbandar by either 1pm or 2pm

The SMARTER meaning to the five hills:

Five important challenges faced -

1. The challenge of our children growing up
2. To advocate support and understanding from government agencies
3. The challenge of academic issues
4. The challenge of future employment
5. The challenge of higher education

Other info:

Members of the public who wish to contribute and participate are welcome to join the charity event. SMARTER Brunei is targeting to raise enough funds to sustain them for six months

For more information, contact:
Hj Malai Abdullah at 8743777 or Major Talip at 8865646 or Hj Yusuf Thani at 8732046

Saturday morning workout

Joining in this morning's workout was an attempt at making up for yesterday's sinful submission to temptation at Dream Cones heheh. It was a fun workout for everyone, and for me, well, put me behind the lens at any place with lots of faces and I'm a happy camper!

And now its off the bed for the early morning start to tomorrow's SMARTER Five-Hill Challenge which kicks off at Tasek Lama at 7am. Oh, if you're not doing anything tomorrow morning, come on down and join us! All for a good cause! Nite nite...

Do us a cone mate...

Earlier today, I attended the opening ceremony of Dream Cones, a new gelato cafe located smack bang in the middle of Q-Lap (same row as CAM). Free samples of gelato served in miniature cones were handed out and I helped myself to quite a few of the available flavors.

I started with the ferrero rocher, an absolute treat of chocolate and hazelnut. Then came the Nutella flavored gelato. Who doesn't love nutella eh? Heheh!

To ease my conscience, I had a healthy green-tea gelato next. I found the green tea flavour slightly over-powering. They need to reduce the intensity.

Having eased my conscience, I then went for the tiramsu gelato. Yum yum. You can taste the coffee. Nice!

And finally I couldn't leave without trying the teh-tarik flavoured gelato. It was sheer heaven in a cone!! Just the right intensity of tea flavour surrounded by a milky base-flavour.

Thanks S for inviting me!

Jangan Pandang Langsung...

Pics are from yesterday's ceremony to announce the 5 candidates for the Princess Rashidah Young Nature Scientist Award 10 (PRYNSA 10) which took place at MIPR.

Took da missus to watch the much hyped Jangan Pandang Belakang last night... yawn... the highlight of the night was the siew mai we snacked on before the movie.

The movie somehow reminded me of old Indonesian horror flicks (like sundel bolong) where you have some bloke reading some verses from the holy book with heaps of echo added in for good measure. The plot was wafer thin, and the acting left a lot to be desired especially the female co-star who played Seri.

Perhaps I should have walked into the movie with different expectations but the fact that this film was rated "the scariest malaysian horror movie so far" did set a pretty high benchmark to start with.

The crowd that we had the honor of watching the movie with made me feel like we forgot to bring costumes and umbrellas for the rocky horror show. There was THAT much participation! Annoying yet fun at the same time.

Overall, I think the M'sian film-makers will fare better with love-stories and comedies instead of horror flicks. For those who are planning to watch it, wait for the VCD... unless of course you're seriously into that participatory audience thing which the mall cinema is famous for :)

Check out my other reviews:

Showering Visit? - Series II

See also Showering Visit? - Series I

Cucur udang and sos tahai....

Had a small group of friends over last night, a "mixed" group as J put it. Some interesting conversations on various topics ranging from wentworth to white meat to marriage. We were all keeping abreast of current developments.

It was the first time I'd cooked a proper meal in some time and it was great to get that feeling again... you know, that feeling you get when you see a smile on someone's face as they bite into your cooking :)

More here.

Pick up, Save up, and Use up...

335 Man Years...

Last night, I covered the OPM Emblem Night 2006 and what a fantastic event it was! Very well organized right from the start, the food was fantastic, the entertainment superb, and the people, well what a sporting and fun-loving lot! You could feel the team atmosphere and camaraderie right from the top all the way down.

Adil, Laila, Bahagia...

The new Legisco building on Jalan Kebangsaan is an impressive architectural structure. I took a drive around the building early this morning and it looks magnificent from every angle. The entrance however fascinated me with the romanesque pillars, huge carved door and ornate archway above it. Truly a sight to behold...

Chop Jing Chew est. 1946

Chop Jing Chew is an institution among Bruneians particularly those raised in or living in the Brunei/Muara district. It kinda reminds me of the tv-series Cheers except it isn't a pub. But the atmosphere's the same...

You see familiar faces every week...

The waiters however busy, will always find time to chit chat with you. Maybe this is because they're fascinated with the camera gear that we always bring with us...

So that we can exchange information and learn new tricks and techniques in photography...

But at the end of the morning, everyone has their fill of roti kuning kawin, teh tarik, zima kway teow, and those hot buns straight out of the oven heheh!

On the mat...

Today's post proudly brought to you by Google TiSP (BETA),
Google's new FREE in-home wireless broadband service.

Does my head look big in this?

This evening, da missus and I were invited by the Australian high commissioner to dine with outstanding Australian writer, Randa Abdel-Fattah. There were quite a few others at the dinner and my need for a shutter "fix" meant I did not get to introduce myself and speak to Randa. Fortunately, she got up to say a few words and that gave me a sense of who she is. Randa is an inspirational woman.

A lawyer, a home-maker, and a published writer of two books with another in the works. An advocate of inter-faith understanding (very few of those here unfortunately), she is very active in promoting understanding between people of different race, religion, and culture, particularly between the jewish and muslim community.

Her view of religion as a matter of personal choice and one that was empowering as opposed to oppressing was one which I share. At the end of the day, religion is about one's deepest personal beliefs and the choices one makes on how to live one's life...

Turn the lights down low...

My absolute favorite shot from a sunset shoot at the beach over the weekend. Taken knee deep in water with just a hint of the final rays of the sunset in the background...

Here's an interesting snippet I came across here:

"The official website of the Brunei government currently claims the country is hoping to attract one million visitors, doubling the previous year's arrivals. The problem is that the announcement is dated 2000.

That's not the only sign that Brunei isn't really in top gear despite the rhetoric. An e-mail to the tourist bureau seeking an interview with a spokesperson was bounced because the mailbox hadn't been emptied. A visit to the office during advertised opening hours found the place shut.

All this sounds negative, but in fact it's a plus for those who want a relaxed crowd-free holiday. Make the most of the quiet because the tiny Sultanate at the top of the island of Borneo and hemmed in by the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, has much to offer that's easily accessible..."

Kinda makes one wonder about that double-edged comment... I like it but at the same time it makes me cringe. The author goes on to describe Brunei from the perspective of an aging "omputih" academic with the wrong expectations from the onset (see comparison of night tour with a Soho or Kings Cross pub crawl)

He ends with a rather interesting assessment: "Not bad for a cashed-up eco-minded couple's mid-life honeymoon if all they want is to be left alone." I'm sure these people should be one of our target segments, but many others will enjoy Brunei too. Just take a look at this travel doco on Brunei Darussalam and you'll see why I think so.

Big Brother is Watching...

Stumbled across this site which I'm sure many of you will find very useful. It's a system which makes use of the global GSM network and new satellite GPS technology to enable tracking of any mobile user's location with up to 25m accuracy. Now that's amazing. This is stuff you only see on 24 being deployed in real life. Coolness!