Farewell to Cynthia, Alex & Jeffrey

Conrad, SL, Cynthia & Yen.

Members from Sports & Social Club.

Shamsul, Cynthia, Pg Dato Jaluddin & Desmond.

Jeffrey & Cynthia.

The evening's set-up.

Deputy President presenting a small gift to Cynthia.

Last night, the Brunei Association of Hotels held a farewell dinner for Cynthia Bong (President), Alex Riva (Ex-com Member) and Jeffrey Tan (Ex-com Member) at the Pantai Restaurant, Empire Hotel & Country Club. Cynthia has retired from her present job at Brunei Hotel (and shall be doing her own business) while Alex and Jeffrey are moving on to "greener pastures". About 18 members consisting of Ex-com Members and Sports & Social Club Members attended the function. "Gong Xi Fa Cai" to everyone as I will be going on leave tomorrow. I shall be back in Brunei on 25th February 2010 and hopefully I'll update this blog from time to time from Malaysia (keep my fingers crossed!).

Happy Birthday! Dr. Wang

Peter, Jing-Jing & Li Kui.

Michael, Ann & Roger.

It was Dr. Wang's birthday last night and I'm not disclosing his age (men also got "pantang" and have their own little secret!) and a few close friends were invited to dinner at "Happy Union" Restaurant in Gadong. Dr. Wang and his wife both hailed from Fujian, China and they are both Chinese physicians. They will be starting their very own acupuncture clinic in Brunei and are still waiting for the relevant authorities to approve the business license and labour quotas. Hopefully, everything will be settled after Chinese New Year. I will blog about that when the new shop opens!

Little Blackie (小黑)

JingJing with Little Blackie (小黑).

Little Blackie (小黑).

Remember my post on "My Puppies" last October? Well, a few months after that post, we gave up one of the puppies (the male one) to a friend as there were concerns that "in-breeding" between the brother and sister will affect the breed. Last night, the new owner brought the puppy (it's not considered a puppy anymore but due to its small size, we would still call it a puppy) for a visit after more than two months and what a handsome puppy it turned out to be! It now sports short fur and is sooo... cute. The female puppy (小花) is still having its long fur and looks so different from its "brother" as you can see from the top picture. After seeing how much the new owner loves his puppy, we are happy for him (noticed I used the term "him" because he's still part of the family!). We are considering giving 小花 a trim (by professional groomers at a pet shop) as well after Chinese New Year. By the way, the new owner has given "Little Blackie" a new name; it's "Bobo" now. Whatever name he has now, we miss him so much!

Beware! Scammers at Work!

This morning as soon as I switched on my mobile phone, I received an sms informing me that I've won a million pounds! The following text is the contents of the sms "www.freelotto10.mobi >next paragraph< Your Ticket No: 501120 have won £1,000,000 GDP in the freelotto ATM MOBILE PROMO for claims email your TICKET NO. to freeukpr@live.co.uk". This sms was sent from a number in the UK (+447553906622) and upon checking the website mentioned, I couldn't understand what was the contents as it was in a foreign language. I clicked on the "Members Area" and a list of "past winners" was posted on this page. I even found a "Fraud Alert" on this website claiming that someone is sending e-mails using their name and advised the public not to send any money or personal information to anyone in the effort to collect the promised "winnings". Of course, if it sounds too good to be true, it is obviously not true! LOL.

5th National Skills Competition

Cik'gu Rokiah

Cik'gu Farhana

"Darne Salmon"

"Cream of Mushroom"

"Ice Cream"

Dishes prepared by students from the cooking competition.

Tour of kitchen.

The 5th National Skills Competition is currently being held at Maktab Teknik Sultan Saiful Rijal (MTSSR) from 2nd to 4th February 2010 and I was invited for lunch this afternoon to sample the "restaurant service" of the students. The students were judged based on how they greet the "customers" (that's us) upon arrival, taking orders, serving the customers and finally, the presentation of the bills. We were divided into four tables of four (2 guests and 2 teachers) at each table and there were several "judges" or "examiners" taking notes on the performances of each student assigned to attend to his/her individual table. I chose "Cream of Mushroom" for starter, the "Darne Salmon" for main course and "Ice Cream" for dessert and I must admit that the food was delicious and comparable to some "fine dining" restaurants in Brunei! After lunch, we were invited to tour the kitchen, an impressive facility which is well equipped and spotless! I'm happy to note that quite a number of locals are actually taking up courses in the "Hospitality" industry, particularly in the "Food & Beverage" department which is very encouraging. Keep it up!

Eric Lim & Suki's Wedding Dinner @ Manggis Mall

Another artiste from Malaysia.

The lamb shank, yummy!

Brocolli with abalone, sea cucumber & mushroom.

Malaysian artiste, Jacqueline Teo.

CD of Jacqueline Teo.

This time it's on Frankie Lim's invitation that we attended his son's (Eric Lim) wedding dinner held at the Manggis Mall last night. The catering was done by Royal Brunei Catering (RBC) and the dishes were fantastic except for the Shark Fin Soup which I did not consume and I noticed that my friend, Alex Lo didn't touch his either (at last I have found a fellow crusader against "shark finning"). The evening's programmes were entertaining with three Malaysian artistes performing for the guests. I was given a CD (Hokkien numbers) of Jacqueline Teo (one of the artistes) but unfortunately, it wasn't autographed!

Eric Lim & Suki's Wedding Dinner @ Centrepoint

I attended Eric Lim and Suki's wedding dinner held at the Centrepoint Hotel's ballroom on Thursday, 28th January 2010 on behalf of one of my Directors. This invitation is from the bride's side. The dishes at the Centrepoint is good except for the Shark Fin soup which I do not consume anymore due to conservation issues (I supposed it's good too). Upon arrival, I realised that I was also invited to attend their wedding dinner on Saturday, 30th January 2010 at The Manggis Mall as well. The second dinner is on the invitation of Eric's father, Frankie Lim, the owner of Chong Hock Video. I do not know the couple personally (only their dads!) but congratulations anyway!

Pusat Ehsan's Appreciation Night

Janet, my ex-colleague at DaVinci Collection.

Performers from Indonesia. Sorry for poor picture quality.

It was Pusat Ehsan's 10th Anniversary and it was also its Patron's birthday last night. The event was held at the Jerudong Park Polo Club. Pusat Ehsan has come a long way since its modest begining in 2000 with just 15 special kids to its present day's 120. It also has a centre in Kuala Belait. There are also expansions in the pipeline as announced by Dato Alimin during his opening speech. A video presentation was shown, courtesy of Syabas Technology. There were performances by live bands, singers and dancers as well as a couple of Indonesian performers who filled up the evening's programmes not to mention the lucky draws! This event was organized for the supporters of Pusat Ehsan but most importantly, it is for all the volunteers and staff of Pusat Ehsan. Keep up the fantastic work!