I can’t believe my last entry was the 15th of November, life at home has been busy and the last three days had been spend for mass prayers performing fardhu and hajat prayers as the parents performed wukuf and other haj obligations where the last three days are the crucial ones. By performing these prayers, we hope that our prayers for them to implement their obligations to run smoothly would be answered.

And now, here I am typing away at the Media Centre for the Borneo Games III 2009.

Brunei Darussalam is currently hosting the biennial Borneo Games III 2009 with teams from Borneo comprising of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia (Sarawak, Sabah and Melaka), and Indonesia (Kalimantan Timur, Kalimatan Tengah).

Ayam Padi, this year's games' mascot

The official opening took place this afternoon at the National Indoor Stadium at Berakas and the first game to be played today is lawn bowling. The games will run from today to December 6, 2009. So if you are nearby or are interested in the games, please do drop by. There are no entrance charges imposed.

It’s been raining almost every afternoon now, just hoping that there will be no major floods like what happened last year and early this year. It’s been gloomy that I have not seen these shades of golden clouds in awhile.  Pic was taken right out side of my house.

Golden clouds

I have not been feeling well for the last few days, had a sore throat and slight temperature which the doctor gave me a one-day leave yesterday. Now the hubby is feeling under the weather too.

My parents have been away for 10 days now and today marks the day they would be off to Mecca. It is about 5 to 6 hours journey from Medinah and they should be arriving soon.

So another 20 days left before they are back. Meanwhile I just need to get my head straight and try to run the house as efficiently as possible

Colourful and tasty

It’s been awhile since I last cooked a proper dish, so there I was trying to cook a simple one.

Presenting Bean Curd with Minced Chicken.

Ingredients;

1. Shallot

2. Red Onion

3. Capsicum (Red and Green)

4. Chilli

5. Minced chicken

6. Tofu or Bean Curd

7. Oyster sauce

Methods;

1. Fry the Bean Curd. Slice it into thin pieces. Put aside.

Sauce

1. Saute the shallot and red onion until fragrant; followed by the capsicums

2. Next add in the minced chicken.

3. Add in chilli ( I used the really spicy one)

4. Add in 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce.

5. Add in the fried bean curd and mix well.

I didnt use any seasoning as the oyster sauce was enough to taste.

And you are set to go!

It is the Haj season again this time around. Unlike the recent years, this year has more significance to my family and I as my parents plus my uncle and aunts are joining the pilgrimage.

They are on the last flight from the four chartered flights to the holy city and should be landing in an hour plus. They took off at 6.20am this morning meaning we were already at the airport by 3.00am and it was like day time as many people turned up to send off their loved ones.

Huge crowd despite it being around 3am. Soon there werent any space left as it got really crowded.

It was a tearful farewell despite knowing they will be away for just a month. I’ve never really experienced this when I am an adult, last was my dad going for Haj when I was a little girl, so I never really knew how it felt. And this time around, my mum is going too with her elder brother (with wife) and youngest sister.

We were watching until they entered the door.

So here I am with the responsibility to take care after my brothers, my sister-in-law,  and the housemaid. To start with, I’m going groceries soon…

ps: Yes, I changed the template again. Got bored with the previous one. Maybe I should just open up my own domain… hmmm

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Big colourful sign welcoming us

This is a long overdue post. I’ve been so tied up with back-to-back trainings, courses and seminars, there are barely a number of hours spent in the office. I am so out of touch with what is happening back there, or probably it is a good thing that I am away. Haha!!

So this post is dedicated to the latest talk of the town, the Mangrove Paradise Resort. After the many news coverage, bloggers talking about it too, we decided to hop on the wagon and see what the huha was all about.

So off we went.

The resort is situated at Kampong Sungai Belukut. If you do not have the slightest idea where it is, you will have to pass Mentiri if you use the Muara/Serasa/Salambigar route or you will have to pass Kota Batu if you use the route from Bandar. You will definitely not miss it as there is a huge sign by the side of the road indicating the resort’s location. Above is a picture of the welcoming sign at the resort itself.

The jetty or the hallway which will branch out into three main areas

So how was it? I have to say when we stepped out of our car, it didn’t feel like we were in Brunei. There were ponds for fishing with a number of huts provided for the guest’s convenience. They also provide fishing rods for rent or you can bring your own.

Stepping inside, the hallway will branch out into three main areas; the resort, the restaurant and the jetty.

We only went to the restaurant though. So my reviews will only be based on our experience there.

On our way to the restaurant

Our experience was, I’m afraid not the one we want to remember as its service was rather slow. It demanded a lot of patience from us and the food itself weren’t that great either.

But fair to say, it was only their first month operating so there are more rooms for improvement which I hope they will or they risk losing their customers.

Many many many tables...

A patron two tables away from us couldn’t take it as their food was also served rather late, so the whole family left.

On the good side, pushing aside the bad service, the view was actually nice. Although it was night, we could see it would be a beautiful picture during day time as the resort overlooks the river. We were given one of the private huts so we ate next to the river.

From the restaurant we could see the chalets but one has to pass through the reception to enter the chalet so we didn’t enter. But we could see there are swimming pools too which is good for the kids. And there is a jetty that maybe provides transportation which I am not sure where too.

So yeah.. overall, it was a 5 out of 10 just because the service was not that great. I hope they will rectify it a.s.a.p!!

It is a month full of trainings for myself including my staff this time around. In total there are four different trainings I must undergo with each different from one another. It is a coincident as it falls right after one another.

The first short seminar was on the importance and guidelines of updating an official government website. As part of my job is also to update the department’s website, I alongwith my other staff including our public relations officers and those related with IT matters in our department attended this held at the Civil Service Institute.

The seminar itself was alright but I was hoping that the organisers would give more emphasise on cooperation between IT and PR people in updating a website. I mean let’s face it, it is the PR people who has most of the information and the IT people with their technical aspects. The matter was discussed but only on its surface. The guidelines given were good and I hope to get the full version once it is endorsed. Matters on security were discussed but I was also hoping that they’d give recommendations on what types of anti-virus that ought to be used to avoid being a victim of malicious activities.

The panel of presenters. Picture taken from Pelita Brunei (picture taken by Hernie Suliana)

Overall, it was a good step by the relevant authorities and hopefully they’d improve the content for the next batch.

The other course I attended was on CS4 Adobe Flash… now that was a very knowledgeble and beneficial learning session. It was a three-day course held at Micronet, and fully sponsored by our office. It is very useful and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And at the moment, I am attending a five-day course on web journalism. A program organised by our official tv statio, Radio Televisyen Brunei with AIBD/IBU. Today is the third day of the course and so far we’ve learned quite a number of new interesting things. I’ve used Google before but never to such an extend and that’s because I didn’t know there are such features; discovering new search engines; RSS and many more. I am also enjoying this… thank you RTB for remembering us although we are from a different department. I hope we’d get more invitations from RTB in the near future

And the last course for this month, which will take place at the end of the month will be a course on Dreamweaver. I’ve never used this program before so I am looking forward to this course too.

So there you go.. my schedule for this month.

On a personal note, my parents will be leaving for haj in November, so a doa selamat will be held somewhere end of this month. I’m not sure how it will be as the last time my dad left for haj was back in the 90’s and this will be the first time for my mum. I pray to Allah, safejourney and that their haj will be a meaningful and blessed one. Amin…

My late grandparents and even my parents taught me that it is mid of the Islamic month when it is full moon. And true enough, it is always accurate.

So whenever I looked up at the sky and there’s a full moon, I would know it is mid month.

Today, it is the 19th of Syawal, hence the moon is no longer full as you would be able to see from the pics below. But regardless, it was a beautiful night.

Saw this on my way back from my cousin’s place.

Picture taken by the side of my house. Somehow it looked like a scene from a thriller movie

Had to use a table to replace my tripod

Almost hidden by the clouds

Pretty

Went to Tungku Beach last Sunday with a purpose to take loads of pictures. My graphic designer needed more pictures for our publications, hence the need for more photos. The hubby was very sweet to accompany me

 

Big waves hitting the stone walls and someone is fishing at the edge

Almost sunset

From where I was, my view was also facing The Empire Hotel & Country Club

Bright blue sky before sunset

The moment