Since this is afterall the Ramadhan season it is fitting that I start writing on the gastronomical scene where all the food outlets have good deals and irrestible promotions for Sungkai ( ..& Sahur).
What better way to start with my favorite place in bandar;
Manjaro Ramadhan Sungkai Specials, presents the Nasi Raja-Raja for only $6.00 and comes with soup and a complimentary drink of the day including the great atmosphere and free wifi. Come down to Manjaro now....
Its the crazy traffic season due to the Brunei Grand Sale and Payday and also the fasting month leading up to Hari Raya. I tend to avoid to go out at this time unless for the necessary necessities due to the obvious reasons......
I m also happy to introduce a very dear sister's blog aka mummy to Sophia who is residing in Switzerland. Check out her blog, Suisse Maman.
Have you ever had one those days when you are doing a do eg. an event or dinner party or the sort, suddenly people you haven't heard for a while rang up or sms-ed u like ' Hello, What's up...blah blah??' Some even drop by at your door step so coincidentally on the spot or shamelessly the one who confidently implied and just invited themselves, I know a handful of them.. No, don't get me wrong I like meeting new friends, its just that we prefer the company of some and not others.
Those that you not really close but always pops up in your life when something is on.. These are what we called,
'Toxic Friend'; the uninvited guest who invited themselves, 'friend' u cannot be around more than a few hours, not really into their company or you'll get intoxicated or noxious.
These people have super powers, I tell ya, they can sniff events or do's like days ahead and just pops up out of the blue....
I received my Uni alumni magazine today, which I received annually twice a year. Scanning thru the pages and the photos reminds me of the days....No blogs then, registering an email on hotmail was a new thing and mobile phone were huge and weighs a ton back then.
So Im supposed to update the alumni directory at the last section of the magazine..what should I say? I read all these people have high profile jobs CEO,Manager etc., .... How would I start? Im Ber, graduated in 19XX, blah blah... working blah blah....but thats so predictble and boring!
So its nearly 2 am, I m restless and sleepless. I just had my sahur at this popular place opposite the Berakas Police station in Serusop. To me sahur is a burger and 100 plus at home but I was drag to this one ( ,,with my hands and legs tied!). The food was tasty but the portion was quite small compared to the other places...On the way back, I didnt realised how much the haze situation is getting thicker by the hour even at night visibility is low. We need the rain to wash it down....
This sleeplessness, I think I ll watch myself my new box set of Little Britain, Series 3 a gift from Fen. Little Britain is so hilarious, so politically incorrect and so wrong but addresses real situations. My favorite character if I had to narrow it down would be Vicky Polard, Majorie and Dafydd......and Florence the cross-dresser. I would recommend it to anybody...just a warning its 18 rated for nudity and language.
Whats this about Big Foot in the bulletin (..I m so outdated) people are talking about? I can see it already, day trip at Big Foot park, something good to boost the tourism industry...
Its official the Haze is back with a vengeance...I wonder which part of Borneo or Indonesia is open burning during this holy month. Even at night u can see traces of haze under the street lights.
I started my running again, night runs that is, I usually do it around 7ish on a normal day but now that its puasa I had to do it after 9pm... to ensure that food settled down and digested fully to prevent cramps etc since Sungkai is a no-holds-barred excessive eating affair, in my house anyway!!! I was glad that I wasn't alone last nite, some other runners were there too. i know some of them are in training for the coming Brunei Marathon, Its also good cos its quite dark, the lights are not on especially along the red brick road towards the Sea Games arch..... pretty scary sometimes running alone.
I just need to point out that, the rule of safety for night running is to have those blinking lights clipped preferably at the side of your hip or bicep for easy visibility by drivers, since some drivers tends to be speeding at night...and yes, its not mata hantu di stadium as claimed by a supersticious friend.
Would the authority-in-charge of the Stadium leave the lights on pls, That would be great..thanks.
So the Pope Benedict is in the news again, for his recent sensitive remarks on Islam ...Did he apologise yet or meeting up with the Muslim countries representatives is his way of apologising? Could it have been avoided in first place? I m no expert in religion but personally I think the Pope just want to get on board the publicity bandwagon. In my opinion, Maybe the 'Devil wears Prada' afterall.............
So its here, Puasa. I spent half the day in bed(.. goodbye insomnia) after staying up late at nite MSN'ing with friends all over the globe and relearning my photoshop skills. Why need a phone when u can video call on MSN for free.
Like tradition, Sungkai is another over eating session. Isn't Puasa a month of control..according to Wikipedia
..'Eating, drinking and smoking are not allowed between dawn (fajr), and sunset (maghrib). During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam by refraining from sexual intercourse (during fasting), violence, anger, envy, greed, lust, angry and sarcastic retorts, and gossip. People are meant to try to get along with each other better than they normally might. All obscene and irreligious sights and sounds are to be avoided. Purity of both thought and action is important. The fast is an exacting act of deep personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to God. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm....'
I went for a drive around to Bandar and back, I could see some traces of haze under the street lights.
Some facts about Brunei drivers;
I watched some bits of CNN today, report on the Thai activities and something about the 'war in Iraq is the no. 1 cause of terrorism around the world'...I think I have to agree.
So today is Friday, the day for the sighting of the moon, the day we will know when the1st day of Ramadhan will fall and its also the Hottest Day of the year so far. It feels really hot and humid all day until abt 3pm when the much needed downpour started... I did some running today evening while the rest of Brunei were glued to their TVs awaiting the anak bulan announcement..
Another significant event this week is Thailand's Coup Event 19th Sept led by the Thai Chief Army Commander while Thaksin was away attending the UN. ( rumor has it that the PM himself predicted this before he left..he is now in London!) Apparently all activities are back to normal even the night life and this according to a friend living in Bangkok. The only difference is the army are much more visible now in Sky Trains, Shopping malls and much more concentrated with tanks and all around the Parliament and Victory Monument..
So far no travel advisory has been issued and RBA flights to Bangkok is still ON, so it is safe to travel to Bangkok???Watch this space...
For Latest photos on the coup check out HERE or latest blogs on it HERE.
Its official the 1st day of Ramadhan will fall on Sunday....atleast I have one more day to prepare myself spiritually for puasa.
Happy Teacher's day to all the teachers in Brunei,to all my teachers and all my friends...I remember back in school (which is not too long ago!!!)I did not learn to appreciate my teachers until towards my college years. I was kind-of-average student in class, 50-50 good and bad,more of the bad I think. Lemme see..Skiving schools aka'Eskep', smoking behind the canteen, wearing DM shoes ala Bros ( it was cool back then!!), one I can vividly recalled is being punished, lined-up in the sun , the whole class for exchanging some videos in school( ....hehe!!) and the list goes on.
Happy Teachers Day..
'Teachers are artist that creates the Nation.'
Sunset... and that is other people's catch ( not ours)..
AM:
Breakfast or was it Brunch? at Jing Chiew, somehow the waiters were a bit slow today eventho they weren't as many people in the shops..the waiters must have been up to no good last nite.
PM:
Slept from Lunch onwards till late afternoon. We decided to go for fishing to Serasa,It was a perfectly fine day, sun was shining...However somehow today Serasa was jammed with cars, so slowy..all these cars, small and boxy, all modified. Whoever started the 'potong spring' craze must have a good reason to start this or that person can be just stupid. It is ever so annoying to be behind one of these cars, moving slowly and swerving sideways whenever driving over speed humps. Not only the body, the sound system, my God, sound system and sub woofer installed with volume enough to shake the cars around...and the driver..Deaf anyone?
Back to the fishing...we found a good spot near the rocks at the end of Serasa. We waited and waited and ate and ate some more.....still no fish. I'm determined to catch at least one, especially on our left side a family was catching at least 4 fish for the last hour. By the time we devoured all our food, the sky was getting darker and strong wind moving towards Serasa we decided to pack up? Where have all the fish gone...? It wasnt exactly an empty catch, while waiting for the fish we managed to watch the sunset ....so picturesque like one of those calendar!!
So its Saturday nite and pretty happenings all over Bandar, 3 parties altogether ( ...thats the known ones.). People are rushing to party in the last Saturday ( ...so Brunai kiasu!!) before the coming Puasa. Things will be slower in Ramadhan as it is an important religious month for most in this MIB country and also turn out for events or parties will be less than usual.. .. However most shops will be close till late as its the 'Brunei Grand Sale' coinciding with Puasa for the run up to the Hari Raya Festivies.
I was invited to 2 out of the 3, one officially the other one thru friends of friends, the Military House Party and an unknown Portview respectively. To Go or not go? I end up not going to either opting to sit down and chat over our notebk with my good friend till the wee hours of morning. There is also the cool Pajama Party going on in Qlap where everyone was wearing their PJs ( including some ladies in their lingerie!!) and door gifts were condoms and face mask. How creative!!!
I did manage to drive around Bandar on my way home...SO rare to feel Bandar buzzing with people and cars at 2 ish am....
I started the day at Jing Chiew ( a place of gathering for retired civilians and all the Taukeh, located in the old Gadong Area close to the river & the bridge) having breakfast of Zhamie Kuew Teow and the famous roti Goreng kahwin and looking at the pages of the September Grab It! magazine which I managed to pick up at the kedai kaling amongst the blinding magazines covers of that kampung girl, Siti's wedding..if not with the help of my RayBan's aviators.( she's all over profiting her so-called big wedding bash..enough already,,why don cha!)
I was interested by one of the article on 'Residential Property Hotspots in Brunei', which says that the Top Property Residential from year 2000 onwards is
I do not know how they conduct their survey but it prompt me to do my own survey of my own on the above. It also showed that for the 90's, Gadong is still a high preference residential area. I can only imagined gadong as one of the top due to the vicinity of commercial centres and also living quarters for the foreign workers.
The survey also include the top 3 places for safeness, traffic ease, property prices as;
What do u think?
I know this a long time but I just needed to share this with everyone....
This defect only affects people who are born between 1st - 20th September.
Colour blindness is common for all men born on these dates and the most common defect is the deficiency in red & green or even higher. I know these because all of the people I know and friends (6 and counting) who are fellow Virgos or September babies. It doesn't affect the person's vision ( except that its a No-No if u want to be a pilot or chemist!!), in fact another thing I noticed about colour blindness is I can see in the dark ( not by means of super powers but I can see in dark!).Yes for those of you who thinks that we do not differentiate colors its not like that all. Its when the shades of two colors like red & green come close together that the confusion or blurry vision starts...
Help me collect infos on this, If you fit the above..let me know..
For those of u who knows me knows that Im a Cat person. I think cats are wonderful creatures and is a friend for life. This is one of my many many cats, Lili my mixed breed who is in heat at the moment. I bought her this year from a pet shop with bad living condition. Now she s very very healthy...SHe has an OVERPROTECTIVE bf called Nasdak(pics of him coming soon!)
I was at a party Saturday nite, one of those proper mostly adults do's. I was sitting down amusing myself watching a SPG in action ( all the usual tactic/pattern!!)What is an SPG? It basically stands for Sarung Party Girl according to the late Sporean model Bonnie Hicks autobiography ages ago, meaning people who only go out for and has a thing for expatriot ie. orang puteh, something to do with colonialism???? We have them lot here, locals who are serial SPG's..
Common Nature of attack as follows;
A friend told me that he expect to see my paintings on my blog as thats what he remembers most about me...so here goes.
This is my art from 2004, Entitled: We Suffer & Random Chaos, respectively
Its official water is here to stay! After the 3 days of No water and the false alarm on Satruday. Its here again...clean running water, no more washing and bathing from plastic bottle.........
I am watching wrestling Cameroon style on Globetrekker while waiting for my water to heat up.....Yes, finally water is here again. It shows how much water is very very precious to us. Im determined to bath my self like crazy this morning..
My french friend, Walt commented that I should put some colors into this blogas he thought the dark background is not happy...really..I like it!
Day 2 of no water. This morning I had to endure the shower from the bottle which is only enough for the essential washing routine... if u know what I mean. My bathroom floor is sticky and dirty...Whats going on with this water and Why??????????
Its been a super busy day, involving driving up and down but a good day.....
When I came back home, still no water at home.... and even now as I came back from a nite out with friends at MJ. This No water is really making things worst and I can assumed for the rest of the people in the area....
Okay..here's the deal. Its rainy season in Brunei, meaning wet roads and wet everything else...and ironically we don have water at home? When I turn the tap at home this evening after my run, no water just the sound of 'croaking frogs'from back pressure meaning water is none, nada, nil!!! Apparently water disruption everywhere and if in need of water, the authorities have made water available by locating blue plastics tanks at strategic places around all affected areas.
I showered from a bottled tonite, wash my face, brush my teeth , all from this one full bottle...and by the time Im done its left with less than one thrid for my morning wash. I just hope by morning the water will be fixed....
I woke up this morning feeling like a zombie because of my bright idea of taking this parakol pill for severe headache and unsleepiness last nite....
Nevertheless a good day, a start to my new project..Project Fit.
Task 1: Run for 10 miles & Trek-up-Hill 5X weekly( God, give me the strength!)..
Task 2: Gym and then Run 3X Weekly
Task 3: Gym and Cycle to KB
and so on...... Final Task: Brunei Marathon..
Running is like my meditation, a ritual place of solace, its like my way to unwind, a good way to get my stress sweats out after a day of being around people at work, of which some of them don make sense at all and some even downright stupid..Yes stupid! Running is also a good way to people watch.. familiar faces, men with shorts down to ankles so as to 'tutup aurat', ladies with tight tight outfit so as to point of spilling out, the boy in white cap with ipod, 'big' girl with baju kurung n sneakers, the man who runs like an engine and the list goes on.. even some eye candy too... all these faces part of my photographic memory, part of running for years at the Berakas Stadium.
So here I am with the gangs in Manjaro, catching up on things they been up to in the weekend and enjoying my pesto pasta and iced kasturi with less sugar. No rain today but hoping it rain tonite so I can snug under my duvet n just sleep....
Its Tuesday and its raining like cats & dogs, the traffic was a bit slow too... Bandar was slightly chilly, covered in a shroud of mist and visibility was quite low from the tallest bldg...All in all my morning session was productive, a good start for the day..
Almost everyone were talking about Crocodile Hunter's death including the TV except ofcos my spaced out colleague who s reaction is 'Buaya?' I even had a half hour session by a nerdy friend explaining about the life and sciences of stingray ...He s such a nerd.
My introduction to Steve was when he was chased by a nesting croc after invading into the croc's underground lair looking for eggs...My first thought was 'thats Crazy'. Steve Irwin died in a freak incident after he was stung in the heart by a stingray while diving in North Australia....He will always be remembered for his very up close and personal approach shows with reptiles and other wild and deadly creatures. Goodbye Crocodile Hunter...
A night at the Empire for some R & R; all day Sunday in a big bed, the cosy feather down pillow, ordering room service, with the one u love...Perfect! 
Our room at the furthest end of the East bldg. away from the people and tourists, away from the sounds of the Sunday splashers, away from it all, on top of that the beautiful serene view of Tunku beach, a much needed escape..
Why the need to go out of Brunei or across the border when u can escape at the Empire. my only complain was NO WIRELESS! The rest of Brunei are swept by the hot spots from the cafes to restaurants to hotels..Empire need to get their wireless system up & running..not just the E Club but all the rooms!
Saturday was spent at Sophia's Bday party...lotsa fun, finger food, ice-cream and to enjoy the day out with kids from the community centre.. Happy Birthday Sophia!
Let the pics do the talking... 
this boy is one of the kids from the centre.
Its 830am and Im in the Greek Islands taking in the sun, clear water, people, the sand, the scenery ...according to Channel 11's Globe Trekker anyway. I woke up earlier this morning after a rainy nite, heavy downpour that makes the roads looks like rivers. I plunk into my bed last nite from exhaustion skipping to brush my teeth and washing...
Saturday morning, so many things to do, some painting projects still need to re-start, some vets appoinments, gym....
Last nite, my nephew went into the operating theatre at JPMC from an incident while playing that resulted in deep cut on his chin..It looks painful! It s just explained that boys will be boys.... its part of growing up. It happened to everyone, even me and even worse..lets not go there.
Something to share...
..Since September 2006.
