Goodbye, Sheraton-Utama Hotel!

Peter Feran, GM of Radisson & Shamsul, President of BAH.

Present & past presidents of BAH.

Roast Lamb...

Tiger prawns and fresh oysters; yummy!

Come 30th April 2010 at midnight, Sheraton-Utama Hotel will be re-branded as the "Radisson Hotel Brunei", ending 28 years of partnership with the Sheraton brand. A dinner reception was hosted last night by the Board of Directors of Hotel Associates Sdn Bhd (owners of the hotel) at the Mutiara Ballroom to commemorate 28 years' association with Starwood Hotels & Resorts and to bid farewell to its outgoing General Manager, Mr. Alex Riva. I had fond memories of the Sheraton-Utama Hotel as I had good relationships with many of its past and present "associates". I used to patronize the bar (alcoholic drinks were still legal then) during its early days when I was working next door at the Angs Hotel. In fact when I first arrived in Brunei in 1981, I went for an interview at the Sheraton-Utama Hotel and was interviewed by its first Director of Security & Personnel, the late Dato Calvalho (somehow I didn't get a job there!). Anyway, I wish Alex Riva every success in his future undertakings and a warm welcome to Mr. Peter Feran, the first General Manager of Radisson Hotel Brunei. 

BAH's 2nd Fruit & Vegetable Carving Competition 2010

Jack, Chairman of Sports & Social Club, delivering his opening remarks.

The winner from RBC.

The judges from MTSSR.

Yesterday afternoon, the Brunei Association of Hotels' Sports & Social Club organized a Fruit and Vegetable Carving Competition for members and industry partners at the Sutera Hall, Rizqun International Hotel. Eleven participants from the Empire Hotel & Country Club, Rizqun International Hotel, Orchid Garden Hotel, Royal Brunei Catering (RBC) and Maktab Teknik Sultan Saiful Rizal (MTSSR) competed in this competition. The President of BAH, Mr. Shamsul Ahmad was on hand to present the prizes to the eventual winners. Congratulations to all the winners and  a round of applause for Jack and his committee members (of the Sports & Social Club) for their initiative.  

Brunch @ Li Gong Restaurant

This afternoon, I had Brunch (or Lunch) at Li Gong Restaurant, The Empire Hotel and Country Club with three of my colleagues. I haven't been to Li Gong Restaurant for quite awhile and as I was in a generous mood, I invited my three colleagues to join me for Li Gong's promotion "Around China @ Li Gong" in which authentic Chinese cuisines from different parts of China were served starting from 16th March 2010 (with Guangzhou cuisine) and ending on 31st December 2010 (with Mongolian cuisine). Below is a schedule of the "Around China @ Li Gong" promotion (info correct at time of posting):-

16 – 31 March 15 – 30 April 15 – 30 May 15 – 30 June 15 – 31 July 15 – 31 August 15 – 30 September 15 – 31 October 16 – 30 November 15 – 30 December

Guangzhou Sichuan Beijing Shanghai ChongQing Dalian Hainan Fujian Shandong Mongolia

AirAsia, Truly an Airline Other Airlines Envy!

Last Thursday (15th April), I took a flight from Miri to Johor Bahru on AirAsia and came back on Saturday (17th April). I'm actually quite impressed by all the new technologies that AirAsia has implemented (to be honest, I haven't flown on AirAsia for a long time!). The first thing was the web check-in that I did before travelling to Miri; this saves me time as I would not have to rush to the airport but must still be there one hour before flight time. The menu has improved with quite a lot of selections and on my way back, I used the only check-in kiosk available at Senai Airport (or is it Sultan Ismail International Airport?) and as not many people were using it, the process takes less than ten seconds! There were a lot of passengers queueing (with baggages) even before the counters were opened! The check-in kiosk is a definite plus and it would be great if more are installed as we will definitely see more people using it in the future. And who said AirAsia is always not on time? On both trips they were spot on and in fact we arrived 20 minutes early on the flight to Johor Bahru! Keep it up, AirAsia!

April 2010 Promotions @ Rizqun International Hotel

Received this e-mail from my good buddy, Jacob Lee, the Sales and Marketing Manager of Rizqun International Hotel in Gadong so I'm helping him to spread the word around! Anyway, I don't think there's a conflict of interest here as both our properties cater to different market segments and at a rate of B$145.00 (I supposed it's nett) per night, you can stay for almost three nights at Traders Inn! For more info on these promotions, click here.