anakbrunei

... In the past, hadrah was only performed during weddings, but now it is performed in open events, to greet honoured guests and more significantly to signal the arrival of His Majesty in various events... ... Brunei youths nowadays have done well in preserving the heritage and have even enhanced it. Back then, competition involved only beating of drums and chanting. But now performances are choreographed to make it more attractive and interesting... ... hadrah could be further promoted in Brunei if there is a national association of hadrah set up. "We have a national team for silat and gasing (top spinning), but not for hadrah. We cannot just rely on mukim and schools to promote the activity, it has to be done at a national level... -- The Brunei Times

Congratulations Mr and Mrs T on the soft opening of your third Taurean outlet at The Arch, Gadong. The AB gang has a long history with them. Da missus has been supplying the Superlicious ® Home-Baked Brownie Cookies that comes with all hot beverages at Taurean since they opened nearly seven years ago and we're also all members of the Taurean gang since Mr & Mrs T, Da missus and I are all Taureans. Anyway, to Mr & Mrs T, congratulations once again! Impressive architecture Like a cosy living room eh? Ingredients for a good mocktail The smokers' room If you haven't done so, do check out the new Taurean Cafe today! They're open till 1am so perfect place to lepak while waiting for sahur :)

Empire Hotel's exquisite mooncake promo runs until 25th September. 7 different flavours to choose from. B$8 per piece with an option of beautiful gift box sets of 4 Mooncakes. Call 2418888 ext 7666 to order!

My sincere thanks goes to the folks at akadnikah.com for featuring me on their monthly focus column. Thank you indeed for the kind words and I aspire to become better and better at this passion of mine, primarily for myself, but if others derive a sense of satisfaction from my work, then that is a truly welcome bonus. This is the Bruneilicious philosophy. It is and shall continue to be my service philosophy for this budding new media and photography venture of mine :)

I never really did understand the thrill in whacking a small ball some distance with a club and going after it to whack it some more, and finally getting it into a hole in the middle of nowhere. I still don't get the game of golf , but I'm a tiny minority among the millions if not billions of golfers and golfing-fans out there. Anyway, if I did in fact take up the game, I don't think I'd be anywhere near winning the really handsome prize of US$300,000.00 for the Brunei Open which starts today. I don't really know much about golf and who the big contenders are, but here's wishing them all the best in the tournament and may the best whacker get the most balls in the holes with the least possible number of whacks!

Went walkabout yesterday at Kiulap while waiting for my students to turn up. Came across Sapphira Cake House which I'd been meaning to visit since it opened two weeks ago. The trays were empty when I got there, which means sales must be brisk. The lovely young lady at the counter informed me that a new batch of kueh would be ready in about an hour. She took me on a tour of the shop, and introduced me to Mdm Sapphira herself, who happens to be Mdm Tiff's sister, which means they're related to the Don Diegos . Small world. I loved the classic decor and ambience of the place, esp the funky looking office, with its black and red color scheme. I had to rush off as it was time for class, and when I returned 2 hours later, I was too late, cos the trays were empty again! I shall return again hopefully when the trays are full. Thanks to Suzie and her mum for showing me around. See ya soon!

Baiduri bank concluded a very successful expo over the last week with a lucky draw finale at the mall. The top prize was a huge plasma TV which was won by Pg Abd Rahman. I wouldn't mind hanging one of those on MY living room wall heheh. Anyway, I discovered the secret weapon which Jason uses to take all those awesome pictures which you see in the Borneo Bulletin. And it wasn't a Canon EOS5D like I thought... it was a NOKIA CAMERA PHONE! Spot the gangsta ... Spot the blogger ...

From The Brunei Times: Some 150 students under the three hospitality courses available at the college, namely tourism, catering and accommodation, attended the talk, which was facilitated by Mohd Jeffrey Hj Mohd Sunny Lai, tourism officer for marketing and promotion. The talk centred around educating the students on the potential of the tourism industry, employment opportunities in the industry and the concept of visiting places of interest and enjoying tourism activities in their own country. Tourism officer Pengiran Izudin Alias Pengiran Hj Ismail, spoke at liberty about the sultanate's diverse ecosystems with its pristine rainforests and accessible nature reserves, such as the Ulu Temburong National Park. Pengiran Izudin Abas also spoke about how the students can play a role in increasing the tourism industry in the sultanate. The next speaker was a graduate of the technical college, making him the college's success story. Mohd Iswandi Ma'aruf, director of operations at ...

KNK or "Kenali Negara Kitani" means "Get to know your own country". Catchy title and I like it. This campaign spearheaded by Tourism Brunei aims to create an awareness among all Bruneian residents that the tourism industry has great importance as an economic activity for Brunei, and that enjoying tourism activities in the country is a worthy and interesting proposition. Through KNK, Brunei Tourism hopes to see more locals taking time to explore and discover the local wonders, involving themselves in many sporting and leisure activities on offer, sampling regional delicacies and purchasing more local products and crafts. Brunei Tourism's drive in promoting the KNK domestic tourism concept will encourage the public to use the services of local professional service providers to enjoy extraordinary activities and to visit "off the beaten track" attractions.