Family sungkai at Sri Patik Brasserie

Sungkai at Sri Patik Brasserie with my family. It was worth the money.

So we (Yenny, Yency & I) were waiting for pengumuman raya there. Much to our dissapointment, raya falls on Thursday. I bet alot of people were expecting it tomorrow.
We went around Gadong, which is unsurprisingly crowded. Banyak last minute shoppers! Hehe... Kadai kasut pun laku.

Yesterday, hubs & I purchased a wooden bench & a standing lamp from Tanda Mata Cinta. I'm pretty much satisfied with their stuffs. The standing lamp only costed me $65 (original price is $80, less 20% on DST privilege card holder).

Nikon D60

Today we purchased a new gadget, a Nikon D60 camera. I have yet to try and explore it.

Cleaning house is pretty challenging during the Ramadhan period. But we managed to get everything (the guest room, furniture, etc) ready for Raya with the help of two maids. So I'm grateful for them.

I still haven't got time to send my cars to the carwash. And bring Paris to the vet. Insya-Allah tomorrow. Oh...and I still am thinking of getting that rattan standing lamp from Tanda Mata Cinta. It would look good standing in the corner of the living room...*sigh*.

RV'78: *Sneeze*sneeze*....sniff, sniff...I don't feel so well for more than 3 days now.

Sungkai at Polo Club

Ooooh... I had the busiest day today. Been out & about all afternoon till evening. Just for the record, tadi tengah hari menurunkan tandatangan bagi surat pengakuan geran tanah di pejabat Mahkamah. (I had to practice my official signature since I'm so used to using initials at work. Fuhh!)

So here's what sungkai-ing at Polo looks like....

I had a wonderful time and experience, of costtt.... Sadly, there were not much choice on main course.
Be-queue punya queue, I ended up mengambil dua jenis lauk saja, hairan. Sayur chinese style & daging masak kurma. Sudah sampai d table, minta rah my mom ayam masak kari sepotong. However, I enjoyed breaking my thirst with kopi sajuk and teh tarik (both very kaw one!). As I finished my nasi, I sat around thinking what else to eat. So I went to look for kuih2 yang ada. Somehow... dlm banyak2 kuih atu, I only took 1 jenis saja + papaya & melon. Hairan... I expect to see western cakes & pies.


We did get a hilarious incident along the way...so that'll be memorable!


RV'78: "Make sure you don't break anything ah"... *PANG* "Eh make sure, make sure...eh, sh*t!" -- (Hahaha!!! Atu ia gigiran!)

P/s: It was sooo nice to bump into Mai at Nazmi Serusop. I missed her so much. It's been months since I last saw her.

Hari Raya countdown -- 4 days to go

Oh my... I'm counting the days to Raya.... 4 more days, insya-Allah...

So I'm posting this just in case I would be busy in the four remaining days to Raya. I think I'm starting to panic (a bit) coz there are so much to be done.
I pretty much suck on house-keeping. Hehehe... (Maybe too much honesty there!)
I don't have a maid this year. I depend too much on her, yeah. She did all the cleaning. I used to be the Queen of my own Kingdom!

This sucks big time!! Siapa ada amah ah... Pinjam seminggu sampai raya. Definitely no openhouse what so ever this year.
I feel like closing up the whole place, hang a note on the door saying "ON VACATION". Oh man, I'm sooo not psyched over Raya this year! What's wrong with me???



Anyway, it's probably wise to start Hari Raya greeting. So, I'm just gonna start with my husband, my friends & family.
My closest friends in my former workplace Salina & Laili... My old group of friends from UBD namely Satil, Maimunah, Enoi, Yus & Salmah wherever they are right now.

My family in Kg. Sungai Akar, my mom & dad and sisters.
And last but not least, my husband and my in-laws in Kg. Sungai Besar.
And not forgetting to Munirah who's now in UK celebrating Hari Raya away from home for the first time ever. (I'm glad I never had to do that, I can't stand being away from my family too long).

I wish you all a great Hari Raya 2008. We're gonna get together again soon on first Raya, insya-Allah. (That's what we normally do each year.)
Mohon maaf zahir dan batin atas semua salah dan silap sepanjang kitani bersama-sama. Semoga kitani dipanjangkan umur & dimurahkan rezeki agar dapat meraikan lagi suasana Hari Raya di tahun-tahun yang akan datang. Amiin...

A minor sore throat yet to heal...

I've been having a minor sore throat that just won't go away just yet. I hope it will heal by next week for I sure don't want it to ruin my Raya.
What do I need to do for raya preparation??
Clean house, arrange the furniture, take out all the fancy table clothes etc, bring the cars to the carwash.
So much to do in so little time. Oh! I also need to bring my lil' Paris to the vet soon. Probably on Monday.

Currently I'm in Tungku -- a family gathering of my hubby's aunt. I'm sooo full after sungkai-ing here. It's a gathering to bid farewell to another family member for further study.
That's all for now. Toodles!

News that attracts my attention today.

As I was surfing the net today, a few things attracted my attention.

SMALLEST MAN MEETS WOMAN WITH LONGEST LEGS

He Pingping from Inner Mongolia, China's autonomous region, the world's smallest man sits on the lap of Svetlana Pankratova from Russia, the Queen of Longest Legs, as they pose at Trafalgar Square in London, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. Pingping, born with primordial dwarfism, holds the Guinness World Record for the smallest man at 74.61 cms (2 feet and 5.37 inches) and Pankratova holds the Guinness World Record for the longest leg of any woman at 132 cms (4 feet 4 inches) in length.

AIRPORT WORKERS GET THE PUSH

It took them nearly two hours to push the CRJ7 plane, with 69 passengers and seven-strong crew on board, less than half a mile to a side lane.
"Thank God, it was only a 20 tonne medium-sized airplane. If it had been a big plane, it would have knocked us out," said one man, who said he had never experience anything like it in ten years working at the airport.
Airport officials explained that plane's front hydraulic system was faulty and meant it could not be attached to a tow truck.
It happened at Zhengzhou airport where the flight from Guilin had a rocky landing because of the mechanical failure.

RV'78: That's an unusual sight, don't u think so. Normally we would see people pushing a broke-down car!

The so-called Egg (Taloooor)

I just don't get it! Really... Why do people bother so much over the so-called Egg that's been going around, especially in Ranoadidas' webbie.

Sampai ada yang menyelidik daily & put it up in her blog. All I see (in the pics that she's taken) is wooden wall, mcm kadai buat renovation... So, what is The Egg, really??? I don't know. Nobody knows yet.

Personally, I don't really care. If it is some sort of kadai baru kah, restoran baru kah... SO BE IT. I don't really bother kan menunggu tiap minggu just so that I can see perkembangan terbaru over it. Macam nada keraja lain... Moreover, ada tia yang membuat andaian sendiri...

Here's what they've been chatting about lately...(boring!)

>>chocco: I heard they going to have sort of easter egg shape chocolate for HR. Thats probably the place where it's opening. Supposedly very nice localized designs..

>>hell-o: apakan the egg ane? phenomenon? yaka?

>>nano: What is 'THE EGG' phenomemon? I'm nt in Brunei currently.. pls do update..tq

RV'78: Kesian...ada jua urg jauh yg ingin kan tau...

Would you return a lost phone....

Today, my hubby absentmindedly left his Nokia 6680 in the HEP office at UBD. He tried to call it from our home but nobody answered (as it was set to silent mode).

So, I'm kinda thinking... If you (as an honest person) found a mobile phone lying around and intend to return it to the owner, what would you do??

Do you wait for the owner to come by and directly return it? Or what if it took more than 12-hours for the owner to find out that his/her phone was gone??

A good attempt is to check for the owner's recent outgoing/incoming call list. You can easily tell if the owner has a girlfriend or spouse for that matter, don't you think?

Then you can acknowledge them of the owner's lost phone or ask for the owner's name for assurance.

Happy Teacher's Day to all the Tutors & Educators

It is 23rd September today and I received an early bird text message from a friend in Temburong greeting me "Selamat Hari Guru - Teruskan perjuangan dalam mendidik anak bangsa menuju kecemerlangan". And I was thinking, it's Teacher's Day already??? I totally forgot all about it.

And so I heard from the radio that the official ceremony of Teacher's Day will be held on 18th October. Looking forward to that.

So, in conjunction of today, I think it would be appropriate to put up some pictures and a few Teacher's Day quotes that I've personally picked out from the net. Enjoy reading....

**Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well. --Aristotle




**Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher." --Japanese proverb




** "Teachers, I believe, are the most responsible and important members of society because their professional efforts affect the fate of the earth." --Helen Caldicott, author and peace activist




**Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions. --Author Unknown



**The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. --Author Unknown



** "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." --Henry Brooks Adams




**In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years. --Jacques Barzun




**A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image. --Author Unknown


**What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. --Karl Menningervv




**Teaching is leaving a vestige of one self in the development of another. And surely the student is a bank where you can deposit your most precious treasures. --Eugene P. Bertin


**The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. --William Arthur Ward




**A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others. --Author Unknown


**Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition. -Jacques Barzun









TEACHER'S APPRECIATION IDEAS....

Below are some basic ideas. Besides having the traditional Teacher's Day celebration that we usually do in school, I particularly like....

Flower Shower: Make a student stand at the entry gate before the teacher's arrival. Shower the teachers with flowers when they enter the school.Say Thank You Differently:Prepare a group of twenty students. Write the phrase "THANKS FOR A GREAT YEAR!", with each letter on a separate piece of paper. Now attach one letter on the front side of one student. Arrange the students in a horizontal line at the entry gate to form the complete phrase. Make sure all this is done before the teachers start coming.

Organize Breakfast: Order patties, pastries, coffee and other breakfast items one day before Teacher's Day. Arrive in the school early. Receive the foodstuff yourself in the morning and set up the whole breakfast before your teacher's arrival.Prepare Souvenirs:Print your teacher's names on coffee mugs, T-shirts, schoolbags, etc or to commemorate the efforts put in by your teachers.

Dress Up: On Teacher Appreciation Day, dress up as your favorite teacher. Ask him/her to take sometime off and take the class that he/she was supposed to take. But, don't forget to take prior permission from your principal for this.

RV'78 says: Having the 'Dress Up' would be an absolutely cute idea (in class) for the smaller kids. Especially if you have a few bright/smart kids in class. They could really immitate you, you know.

Sounds weird to me

"Kenapa Singgah Kalau Tak Masuk"

Okay, this is one of the weirdest songs that I've ever listened to.
I dunno about you readers, but I simply dun like the song title.

And there's one part of the lyric that goes "Semenjak dua menjak"... Gramatically, it is soooo wrong, man!
While the song goes to the chorus part... it sounds like lagu raya... I mean, is it just me... what do you think? Hmmmm.....

Jay Chou - before he got famous...

I came across this picture of Jay Chou - before he got famous, I guess.

He looked ridiculous with that hair. HAHA! And those glasses...ooohhh... Kill me now!

But the transformation did him good.

Of costtt....

Research topic goin' south...

My mind is going slow. I’m trying to come up with a certain topic to start doing a research. It’s actually a proposal research that i’m trying to focus on. Yeah, u guessed it rite, i’m planning on getting a master degree. Whao... dat sounds weird, just mentioning ‘master degree’. So, i’ve been asking around about it from friends.
Sadly, i visited the UBD website, and there aren’t any Masters Degree programmes stated under SHBIE department. Luckily I’ve a lecturer-friend there, so she sent me the 5 programmes offered.

1- MA in Educational Management
2- MA in Mathematics
3- MA in Science
4- MA in Language Education
5- MA in Special Education


I was joking around with my hubby the other day. We happened to watch this new Mercedez model passed by. And I said, “Oh! That’s the new model that I told you about. I soooo love the front view of it, & the back looks good too”. So, hubby was saying, “Are u sure? I thought u said u don't like it before. So, now you’re thinking of getting one my dear?” I replied, “If i got my Master Degree, yes, why not. I may afford one by then!”
I mean, i would have extra finance to it, rite. Not dat i can’t afford one now. Just that, we already have 3 cars parked downstairs.

So, now i’m kinda thinking, maybe, just maybe I might have a master degree. But i still have to come up with a sharp idea of a research topic under Educational Management.

By the way, I’m gonna take Master Degree in Educational Management. Insya-Allah...

Milo... I screammmm....

Milo ice cream... yummy!
While eating them in the living room, my mind kinda' floated away to the days when I was little.
We used to live in Temburong. We grew up in the loneliest district of Brunei. We lived in a small town. There weren't any supermarket, just un-airconditioned c

onvenient shops. (That was before...today, I'm amazed with all the super changes).

So whenever my daddy went to the 'city' (BSB), he would buy us a container of ice cream to share within ourselves.
Love my daddy...

Once in a while, I do think about the old days...What my daddy used to do in his past time.

Bercuti dalam cuti...

Kepada semua muslimin dan muslimat di seluruh Negara Brunei Darussalam, saya ucapkan selamat menjalani ibadah puasa di bulan Ramadhan dan selamat bercuti sempena Nuzul Al-Quran hari ini. Terutama sekali kepada mereka yang tidak bercuti pada penggal persekolahan ini.

Sungkai at Sri Patik Brasserie

Yesterday, my husband & I tried the sungkai buffet at Sri Patik Brasserie. It's located in Berakas at the Jaya Setia Square building (close to the airport roundabout).

I must say that I had a quite relaxing time just enjoying my food. The room is spacious, so it didn't seem crowded. Besides, inda jua berabut-rabut and most of all, inda jua payah lalu-lalu in between the chairs & tables.

Last week I had sungkai at i-Lotus & I remembered eating too fast on everything. Probably because the crowded surroundings and the noise.

But yesterday, I enjoyed it. Plus, terasa kanyang sampai tengah malam. Usually, I would feel hungry by the time it struck midnite!

The food sure worth the money ($15). Delicious!

My taste of music

I’ve been listening to some Chinese (Mandarin) songs lately. I guess I got tired of listening to English and Malay or Indonesian songs these past few years. So I started to keep up with some songs from Jay Chou and Lee Hom. Obviously, betagar sudah utakku kan membaca & becakap mandarin. So, I thought to myself, I should be learning Mandarin again. I mean, sayang jua ilmu yg pernah ku belajar dulu atu, sekarang inda lagi bepakai.

I particularly like a slow number by Jay Chou - 'Wo Bu Pei' (I'm Not Worthy). Love the vid on youtube. Jay's such a hottie!

Here's the link to the vid shown via youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPYnLPBKyB0

Mind you, I still prefer Mandarin songs than Cantonese. Don't ask me why. And I very much love the slow, mellow songs...

Exam G.O. & F.R.

Terlambat... Aku terlambat mengisi borang untuk exam GO & FR.
You see, my friend & I supposed to sit for this exam this December. Somehow, my friend filled out her form last minute. I mean, rite on the closing date, but somehow got an excuse from education officers who happened to visit their school.

So, I guess we're not gonna be sitting for the exam together. I'd probably sit for it next year, insya-Allah.

So, what have I been doing today? I had a catnap in the afternoon, sent my big car to the car wash & break-fast with my mom & dad at Sg. Akar.

Oh...& for the first time, I went to look for kebabs, alone at the stadium.
How boring... & guess who I saw there...Princess Majeedah & her husband Khairul Khalil.
I mean, wow...who wud've guessed them to be standing in the crowd. I wonder what they were looking for.
They look cute as a couple. *winks*