One wedding and some open houses...

Its back to work for me after a time out, to sleep. Still feeling that lack of sleep feeling. As predicted, the Open House Invitations continue to flow, I even went to one from the office. I think I consumed a roll of that addictive Tapak Kuda Roll all to myself. This blog should be titled the eating habits of a healthy me....

Oh, I received 1 wedding invitation for November. I am not a fan of Malay weddings because it usually happens at noon right where the sun is overhead and closest to the earth. For those of u not familiar with the Bruneian Malay weddings, the guest list can be up to more than 1000 plus. Apparently, we Bruneians are a small community hence everyone is related.

Can u imagine the cars? Apparently that time slot between 11 am - 1 pm during the wedding, all drivers are given permission to park like crazy; at road sides, on the curb, on the neighbors lawn, etc. All I can say is the Parking Idiots fans will have a field day..

However there are a few, who prefer to move their wedding functions to the hotels, ICC, etc..

Back to this wedding invitation. How I look forward to being stuck under the canvas roof camp, all 50 plus in one camp...

This one I cannot escape. Especially with this union, which I don agree and have yet to be proven wrong. Lets just say its like a pink elephant in the room and everyone is ignoring it...

I shut up now.

Damn it! Its gonna be hot!

Its Halloween tonite, so far I have been invited to 2 last weekend. Yes...Advanced Halloween? just an excuse to party............

Happy Halloween....

Have u seen mountains of pumpkins? Check out

Swiss Mama's blog..

Mementoes

Mementoes after a week of raya;

1. Forgiveness
2. Good Times
3. New Friends
4. Some Extra Kilo's gained

5. and ofcos the obvious, a Pot Belly
   and some more........

Paying the Zakat..

The Cucul

My Weakness...

Belated Birthday.....

Happy Belated Birthday Zam / Swiss Papa...

Sorry been on raya I couldnt get my fat ass to sit down and blog about your b'day.

From all of us and especially from Tata!

Its not over yet...

26 more days to go....

After the continuos gluttony for the past few days, its nice to go to an open house and see a sushi boat on the menu...

Healthy? Think again. Me and Paris nearly cleaned out the boat add to that the mee hoon and patchi on the side!

On the way home, one of Baby G's wheels got punctured by a metal scrap slowly hissing out the air so we had to intervene and stop in the NBT/Lexus area right infront of the traditional raya landmark.

No crowds in sight so after we're done with the tyres, we went up the hill...

For every festive season NBT put on an effort to erect a decorative 'landmark' marking the festivity on the hills outside their Lexus showroom.

Something different for raya, I splurged myself on a very expensive camera that I had been eyeing and ..... another ray bans aviator. *You can never have enough aviators to hide under the glare of the sun and people.

Expect some shots from my new eye soon......

First Day..

As Bruneians including myself, we are champions in the art of everything-last -minute, waking up to rummage looking for my full gear and ending up being late at the reporting post , my Grandmother's house. The nite before I was taking my time watching TV, eating the raya goodies, driving, watching bunga api etc etc... Why it didn't cross my mind to prepare everything earlier?

I spent half the day at the reporting post and the other half home under the covers. My excuse, its hot and very exhausting trying to stay awake and layaning after eating like a horse. In the evening, made the long trip to Lumut with Fen to visit Fads and from there we visited some friends in the KB( ..or aka other country) area. We took the red eye journey to bandar in the wee hours of Wednesday.....

P/S Will update some more..............

Part 3: Feeling Festive

As predicted after today's last sungkai, the atmosphere was broken by the concoction of sound from the thud, crackle and pop of the surrounding neighbourhood. Yes, Ramadhan is over and raya eve is here. Even now as I am writing this blog, the whistling sound followed by echoey thunder, crackling fire crackers and the popping sounds from the distant luminous fireworks that lit the nite sky, all part of the annual ritual of ushering in the new month of Syawal.......

Part 2: Feeling Festive..

I paid my zakat fitrah today, the 3rd of the 5 Pillars of Islam (Rukun Islam)......

Zakāt (classical Arabic: زكوة; modern Arabic: زكاة; Turkish: Zekât; also transliterated zakaat or zakah; "to grow" (in goodness), "increase," "purifying," "making pure") is the Islamic concept of tithing and alms. It is the third of the Five Pillars of Islam and refers to spending a fixed portion of one's wealth for the poor or needy, including people whose hearts need to be reconciled, slaves, those in "debt," those in the way of God, and the travelers in the society.

The basis of zakat is given in the Qur'an: "Of their goods take alms, that so thou mightest purify and sanctify them; and pray on their behalf, verily thy prayers are a source of security for them." (9:103)

A Muslim may also donate an additional amount as an act of voluntary charity (sadaqah), in order to achieve additional divine reward.

News just in that Raya will fall on Tuesday..Yay!

An Apple a day...

My first encounter was at the Singapore airport, on display 4 years ago, all white with a centre click wheel, so minimalist and handsome...Only a year later did I finally purchased my own, a silver mini together with i-trip for listening in the car. The Apple Ipod will turn 5 on 23 Oct 2006.

Its the most successful invention ever made in the digital music field. Over the years, the click-wheel Ipod has gained cult status and has metamorphosis from a digital music player, digital picture album to the new Ipod video. My 4 Gb Mini can be considered an obsolete as compared with the current Ipod, what with rapid upgrades and development and bigger memory than it's younger sisters Ipod, with up to 80 Gb.

Technology is fast changing and new products are emerging in the market that its hard to keep up plus u need to have the cash, just look at the mobile phones. About 3 in 5 person I know change their phone every 6 months and less, Im not one of them.My phone is a nearly 2 yrs and have gone through some rocky roads with me but still intact except for the scratches and cracks, but still functional.

The New Ipod...To buy or not buy? It did cross my mind everytime I encountered the new ipods in magazines or in shops. Considering my Mini who has been my true driving companion without fail, providing me with endless playback of music from the soulful Maxwell to the funky Jamiroqui and other 80's and 90's collection, I will be loyal to it for some more good times to come, for now anyway...

Part 1: Feeling Festive......

Solitudinarian...

Pay Day officially starts today, a week earlier than actual so prepare for a mayhem of a traffic leading up to the commercial areas with the shoppers gone wild in these last week of Ramadhan...

I have been neglecting my blogging ritual as was simply caught up in the preparation for the Hari Raya, chores and some occasional spending. I have filled my fasting days in solitary confinement this year more than in previous years. Maybe AGE is catching up with me after all?

I have turned into a home junkie; watching Astro TV , eating the endless supply of homemade food and the accessible Online TV ( hello Grey's Anatomy..season 3!)

If its not the last week of the fasting month I would seriously have to consider myself for the HA or the Hermit Anonymous or turn into Mrs.Grape with amount of eating, ( ..from that movie What's eating Gilbert's Grape? ) like my friend Paris would say. Palees palees......

Moreover I am still discovering the millions of blogging infos/tools and slowly learning the HTML language one day at a time.

On recent news;

• The Haze is clearing up and PSI falling.
• The Parking Idiots blog has shut down simply because of some people taking matters into their own hands; Vandalism!
• Digital for Against Aids a digital competition open to everyone around the world. For entry forms is HERE. (courtesy of Swiss Mama.)
• US Military admits failure in Iraq... I and everyone knew that!

Oh, its time for sahur plus I have to continue finishing and licking my raya card to sent out by tomorrow...

The Fever..

2.30 pm: "Satu hari di Hari Raya....." by M. Nasir on the radio.

Right then, it only registered in my cerebrum that raya is just 5 days away...

9.00 pm: "The sound of thunder woke me up from my sleep... Wait a minute, false alarm. A loud BANG followed by an echo, I think that's the ban 'Thunder Clapper'.A distant away some colourful fireworks in the nite sky.

Wanted to scream being woken up from my sleep but this is the norm at this time of the year..

11.00 pm: Watching CSI with the background of firecrackers and on top of that house smells like a bakery with mum's baking ...

More signs that raya is near....

The new moon will be sighted this Sunday, to determine a Monday or a Tuesday start of...I hope its the later.

Hari Raya or Eid Mubarak is the biggest Muslim festival. It is a time Bruneian get dressed up in their newest and sparkliest outfit, a day they open their homes to welcome visit from friends and relatives, a time to come together in unity for forgiveness, peace, love and brotherhood.

The first day is usually a family day, for me a day spent at the Gran's, where all the uncles, aunties and cousins will congregate and spent a day from lunch till the evening, eating, welcoming visiting relatives and friends, eating and more eating. The next few days that followed will be hectic with more visiting houses and being a small country with a small population community, everyone is somehow related or friends of another, you can just imagine the number of houses to visit.

We Bruneians tend to go overboard with Raya especially now with the Brunei Grand Sale coinciding with the festivities, its hard not to ignore the amount of money spent and the debt accumulating.( afterall according to statistics, the population is a 'credit-card/loan economy' and we are in debt in the Billions.)

Hari Raya celebration will continue for a month even during office hours where colleagues will take turn having open houses inviting the whole department, so a low productivity level during the month is a norm. With all these 1001 things leading up to the first day of Syawal, its hard not to feel the festive fever......

Alarmingly it is a season of accidents, Bruneian spent about 60 percent of their raya time traveling on the road hence greater risks and exposure. Let us not be one of the statistics, lets do our part Insya Allah... Drive Safely & Buckle Up! Selamat Hari Raya...

Test

Monday Moan

A peek into my day;

1. The sun came out today after a holiday with Pluto, apparently escaping the haze.
2. Started the day with an exercise not the sweaty one but an emergency exercise; refreshing/demanding/thinking outside the box-ish.
3. Updated the London-based Web.
4. Had to do some investigative work into an incident involving a minor mishap. I like to call it the-putting-on-my-CSI-cap; involves long hours of work, interogation, facts, evident and all that kinda stuff. To be continued tmrw again. Fortunately for me, all that hours infront of the tv watching CSI comes handy at this session.
5. Sleep/Sungkai..
6. Gym session, saw Mr Qlap playing a game of Basketball and his team won.Pfweeeeeeet!
7. Finally come to my senses to sell my other car, my black circa 1998...
8. I decided that new Beyonce's song 'Ring the alarm' is crap so what does that says about the album.? Funny how artist try to sell bad music with over the top video, hers was inspired by Basic Instinct complete with the scene where she was interogated by the police, white dress, crossed leg minus miss beaver. Sorry boys.
9. I want Kristal FM to ban that Irwanshah songs already. So annoyingly unbearable...
10. I want to take action against all these shops that actually muck up their price and claiming it's cheaper. Maybe I should create a You-Cheating- Prick.Com for them..
11. I cannot stand that caller who rang for the one or 2 missed call, an indication for us to ring them back. You wish.
12. I shut up now....

Watch your spot...

I first heard abt this website last Monday plugged by Kristal FM's DJ Hum. I was trying to search for it but only recently found it HERE. When all things fail, this is the way to go against all the parking offenders of Brunei; Public Shaming. Now I have a reason to lug my digital camera around and click, and especially at this time of the year....
PS. Sher, thank god you migrated, you definitely be one of them!

The Eating Out Dos & Don'ts

The fasting month is the time to take advantage of the many selections of the very affordable and popular sungkai/ sahur buffet in Brunei. Here are some of my tips on the do's and don'ts for eating out at this time of the year;

1. WEAR your most comfortable and loose fitting outfit nothing fitted or tight (.. unless ofcos you not planning to eat) I tell ya..Its worth it when you reached that bloated feeling and add inches back to your gut. Ofcos comfy not compromising your presentation Ladies & Gents, meaning no shorts, no tank top. Its Ramadhan for goodness sake, lets not put-off the other patrons!


2. TURN UP more than half an hour earlier atleast to make sure your table is in an ideally strategic location (.. one which is a close distance as possible to the buffet counter!) in the restaurant or incase you want to change etc.


3. SURVEY the buffet and PLAN ahead of what to eat..It saves time.


4. START early by taking your entree earlier so you'll be able to settle nicely and break fast sitting down at your table to avoid the long queue rush and to avoid to break fast while queueing at the buffet..


5. ALTERNATIVELY avoid the mile long queue upon your arrival, start your entree from the appetiser/fruit/dessert bar instead as the queue is usually at the mains. Sweet threats are good practised to break fast its also 'sunah'..


6. PACE YOURSELF and avoid rushing between each serving or trip to the buffet. Like myself, this is the most challenging as we tend to lose focus and over eat when faced with such incredible food choices, but do try to pace yourself. Avoid the speed-eating-silent syndrome. Conversation people conversation is good!


7. KNOW your limit, do not be kiasu and take more than you can eat on your plate only to leave it uneaten in the end..'Thou shall not waste.'


8. Be COURTEOUS with the other patrons meaning no cutting queues, no loud burping, no farting and yes the classic, do pick the food with the utensils provided not with your bare hands ( ..shocking, but true) etc etc...
   

**AVOID that bloated feeling and not being able to stand up & walk back to your car from the overeating, by drinking warm water or tea at the end of your meal...It helps to wash it down and settled the food.

Friday Over, Weekend Starts..

Friday 13th is over.

I went to the Chinese Temple again this evening to watch the opera show. A good turn out, despite the smokey haze still visible. This is the last week of the performances for the lantern/ mooncake festival.

Google acquired You Tube for lotsa money.( ..still figuring out how to post You Tube on this blog..more learnings to do..*sigh) The Google founders are bloody rich now, $1.6 Billion to be exact. Yes, I know...Wishing it was one of us. The GOOGLE story , it all started at the garage of one of the founders and now they're billionaires. Pretty inspiring story...Congratulation fellas.

This is for my super talented friend, Baby G who did a show recently of Tata Young's El-Nino song complete with the sexy move *Wink...Applause, Applause. This is for u Baby G. Click Here

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th, a bad start.

Boss: Can u write a short brief on A?
Me: Ok, I can but can u give me access to the folder?
Boss: The folder is strictly confidential.
Me: Ok then I won't be able to update. ( ... since I mostly do the work for u!)

*Boss goes out and hand a printout copy of A.
Boss: Can u write up on this copy then I will input in the folder?
Me: Aaaaaaaaaaaargh..( ..wouldn't it easier if u give me softcopy or access to folder?)

Excuse me for being so far in future, I didnt know its 1985....Hello. Whatever happen to thinking outside the box?
Not only do I have to put up with your bad jokes, yes... that pause, a cue for my fake laugh to come into play. I strained my neck yesterday just to save you face in the board room with my fake chuckle...

Thank God its Friday....... I look forward to a good R&R in the weekend.

World Mental Health Day

I found out yesterday, 10th October was World Mental Health Day. Yes..Happy Mental Health Day to u too. This is the first time I heard about this and this yearthe focus is on 'Building Awareness -- Reducing Risk: Mental Illness and Suicide'. You can read more Here.
Yesterday, 10th October is also a public holiday as the Nation observed 17th Ramadhan of the Muslim Calendar, the Nuzul Al-Quran; the date to commemorate the first verse of the revelation of the Quran. Oh and the announcement of the increase in pension, about 25% I think..Yay, I don't even know why Im excited but everyone seems to be in a good mood.

I was thinking that I should do a

When in BRUNEI...

post, the 1001 things of what to do in Brunei.

When in BRUNEI...

........................take a ride on the water taxi.

Moving Monday

Today is one of those days that just passes thru with a couple of blinks of the eye. It feels like only a few seconds ago I was dragging myself out of bed in morning and now its already nearly 12 am. Everything else in between seems to go up in air like puffs of smoke..

Talking about smoke the country is still feeling smokey from the haze and it's here to stay even after heavy downpour...

Absolute Nothing Sunday...

A weekend of absolutely nothing, peering aimlessly in economy shops and catching up on some sleep. During Puasa, everything is so calm and laid back except for the shopping areas, where housewives go on a rampage spending spree at this time of year. Nazmi apparently is doing another crazy sale this week, after last week commotion where the police had to be called on scene to control the 2000 plus crowds. I can already imagined the traffic and housewives fighting off fabrics from one another…..Yikes!

Its 1 am and Im watching the Amazing Race ( which I have not been following yet!)on Astro, where the asian duo won this lag of the race in Vietnam. Yay

I was trying to get rid off some unwanted files on my hard drive and came across these pics of a party earlier during the year. I remember it was my dearest Pris's bday party with a Bohemian/Gypsy-Inspired theme, like always everyone turned up in their colourful outfit.. Notice the Spanish 'Lady' who overshadowed everyone including the hostess!!

Gerai Stadium; the skinny...

Hungry all day waiting till time to break the fast at sunset put our imagination into overdrive replaying visions of ice cold glasses of air bandung, nasi goreng, cendol, bubur kacang and every other mouthwatering foods imaginable...

Every year there is always a type of local delicacy that I find tastier during the fasting month, this year was the pandan pulut panggang. I visited the stadium gerai for the 3rd time just to get the addictive glutonious rice wrapped in leaves and filled with rich prawn paste....Yummy. To find the right stall ( ..no name but is in middel row next to the murtabak stall!) and food that taste this good is a gem on its own as most of the food sold tend to be bland and tasteless i.e. the vendors are fasting; no tasting and tend to wrongly estimate ingredients for eg. the revolting kueh malaya. Every year the vendors came up with new recipes and delicacies to attract the hungry customers, this year I saw the durian pancake (..yuck!) and the strawberry flavored cendol!

Going down to the gerai, u need to have some strategy on what to or what not. With so many food on display, delectable smell and an empty stomach, it is easy to succumb to buy unnecessary amount of food. Now, getting good food is trial and error process on its own but a good trick is to look for the stalls where the crowds tend to gather eg. the crispy cucur udang stall, (..king prawn in batter and yes, deep fried in gallons of oil!!) a guaranteed deliciousness.

Next post will be how to trick your tummy from saying no during sungkai....*sigh.

A new day....

This is baby Tamara ( ..meaning dates or a significant fruit in ramadhan for Muslims!) who was born this morning at 0920 HRS local time weighing 3.4 Kg to a dear friend, Am. Congratulations to the new Mother...

Bandar & the Moon....

Tonite is the Mooncake Festival, the 2nd biggest Chinese celebration after the new year, like a busy bee I decided to go down to the Chinese Temple, right next to the tallest building in Bandar, the PGGMB Building.

What is the Moon festival? Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie." Children are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface.

Of course, the most famous legend surrounding the Moon festival concerns its possible role in Chinese history. Overrun by the Mongols in the thirteenth century, the Chinese threw off their oppressors in 1368 AD. It is said that mooncakes - which the Mongols did not eat - were the perfect vehicle for hiding and passing along plans for the rebellion. Families were instructed not to eat the mooncakes until the day of the moon festival, which is when the rebellion took place. (In another version plans were passed along in mooncakes over several years of Mid-Autumn festivals, but the basic idea is the same)...

Like in any other Asian countries, the festival is celebrated with dances, feasting and moon gazing (hence the 15th of the month is a full moon, tonite is no exception!) and ofcos mooncake lots of them. While I was at the Chinese Temple earlier tonite; absorbing the sights and sounds, the Chinese Opera, watching the performances, the lavish costume, the white cake make-up, the colourful lanterns, the whole atmosphere, I was transported back to my childhood when we were living in Bandar watching the opera with my siblings. Back then it was celebrated extravagantly by the Brunei people of all ages not just the Chinese and I remember the stalls that lined up outside the temple then. I loved the stalls as I liked to buy the colourful hard boiled eggs.......

Plus size are more fun....

Apparently Spain fashion week ban skinny models, thin frail-looking models with BMI less than normal. Finally, I saw it on CNN , the report that the Spanish Govt.'s has ban skinny models participating in the fashion week and prefer healthier sizes which are more acceptable and real. The pic from the recent JPG Spring 2007 show in Paris says it all, my oh my, that is what I called real mode and weighing at 132 kg...

When the bulletin ran an article about how we are a nation of obese last month, I couldn't agree more. I did a visual survey while shopping for my weekly rations today, out of 3 in every 5 people are obese, not just obese but obese. It is our culture, our food, our lives...

Does this mean we are a nation of models? Hmmmmmmm...? To all aspiring stick-thin models (..and wannabes) stopped hunger and start feeding.....

Chili Crab Dinner.....

Sungkai dinner party with a different twist hosted by Manjaro; chili crab and prawn, served on banana leave, no fork & spoon allowed, in the company of friends, a winning combination.... Click here for up-close pics at Wuei's blog ( ..& to see Suffian eating. hehe)

Qlap Blues....

I want to refraint from talking about the haze situation which has been played like a broken record, but I feel I have the right to play it out loud, after some allergy pills and a sore throat, so here goes, getting worse by the day with highs of above 60 PSI meaning low visbility with smoke and dust particles in air can lead to respiratory problems and irritaion.. Anyway I took this shot from my phone..

On a more global news, Thailand ( ..my 2nd favorite destination!) has elected a new 24th Prime Minister. Click here.
Miss World 2006 was won by Czech Republic. I don know about u but I swear that she looks like a child of Donatella Versace?

Also Checkout this new website KiulapBlues from the makers of Manjaro...be warned if your fasting, very very tasty dishes!!!

Never say never...

Today a friend asked me the question; Why Blog?

Its funny come to think of it, 10 years ago the only internet access in Brunei is through the one and only Cybercafe. I remember back in the days, coffee and internet access are priced individually. Fast forward 2006, access to the net in Brunei is as easy as walking in a café with your notebook, order your coffee, switch on your notebook and presto you are online and on top of that its free (…except for your coffee ofcos). Wireless internet access or Blink Zone are here to stay, in many food outlets and establishment in Brunei. It is also being used as a competitive marketing tool amongst the owners of these establishments, a guaranteed magnet for attracting the internet savvy customers like ants is to honey. A big percentage of these customers are made up of the yuppies, the young and trendy set pack who constantly access the web for business or pleasures and a handful who just wanna be seen out and about in public with their shiny as a pin notebook. Now its everywhere and anywhere, even right down the road in my kampung next to the indian barber shop where one would never imagined......

With the many recent complaints on the espeed and its connectivity, frankly my internet has been fine but then again I am one of those who orders coffee and access the web in public… Thanks Prissy.

Back to his question, I have to confess before I got on the blog fever, I was not a blog person, I don know what purpose blogs are to me. I started blogging just for the fun of it, as a reactions ( ..and backlash) to other blogs, I wanted to blog about the things around me, things in Brunei, the culture here, thru the eyes of me, hence Bandar360 was born. By my 5th post I find blogging like a journal, of the things around me, my friends and the people, anything I wanted to say even if it is utter rubbish to others it is my rubbish afterall, a healthy means of communicating and sharing my views, my art, my photos..... Try it. Never say never...

Hello Glutton.....

Been up on an eating marathon from Sungkai till 3 am Sunday morning. Feeling like this all day Sunday; Google Video.