National Art Gallery

Trafalgar Square

The Lions of the Empire

I wonder how many times this area has been photographed

Especially these lions

Admiralty Arch

Hello ladies

Victoria Station

Stay tuned for part 3!

Day/Date: Saturday, 13 February 2010

Time: 8.00 am to 4.00 pm

Venue: Institut Teknologi Brunei (ITB)

Institut Teknologi Brunei will be organizing an ITB Information Day (InfoDay@ITB) on Saturday, 13th February 2010 at the University’s Campus in Kg Tungku. InfoDay@ITB is open to the public and prospective students from 8.30 am to 4 pm. Its aim is to provide information on the range of degree and HND programmes that the university will be offering in August 2010. Prospective students therefore will be able to make the right choice in accordance to their qualifications and interests. Among the activities during that day are:

• Personal consultation with ITB academics on the range of HND programmes and 4-year degree programmes available at ITB with explanation on ITB definition of ‘Discovery Year’.
• Exhibition on ITB students’ hands-on final year projects physical displays
• Laboratories tour where the labs are equipped with engineering and technological equipments available for teaching and students’ learning HECAS online registration tables and facilities. 

For prospective students and those students who have previously registered to make further enquiries

Pics from a day trip to London yesterday.

Waiting for the 8:57 to London St Pancras

Ahhh keretapi dah tiba…

Kecik nya tangaaaan

Chinatown all dressed up for CNY

Breakfast time

Closest thing to teh tarik… Yin-yang Tea

Tofu with dried shrimp and pickled veg. Interesting…

Coke so early in the day? Hmmm…

Self portrait time

No relation to Tai Ka Luk in Delima heheh

At the entrance to Chinatown

Stay tuned for part two!

USED cars have steadily become a force in the domestic automobile market with some dealerships of brand-new vehicles acknowledging their growth over the past year.

An executive of NBT (B) Sdn Bhd, sole distributor of Toyota and Lexus vehicles sees the domestic automobile market becoming more competitive because of the anticipated entry of more used cars.

“As long as there are used cars in the market, there will be competition, and other distributors will also offer some sort of competition,” said Ninan Chacko, NBT managing director. “But the new player in market are the used cars.” Asked how fierce the competition would be with used cars for the upcoming year, Chacko said: “I think that they are quite strong, especially with the yen as high as it is, the used cars provide an alternative for people who want to buy cars.

[…]

At the beginning of the year, sales of used cars surged mainly due to the recent increase in the prices of brand-new Japanese cars. A salesperson at a used car dealership said, “Usually we sell an average of five cars or fewer, but last month we sold about 20 cars and my boss has brought in more stock from Singapore because we see that we will continue (to see) this trend for this year.”

On my last trip home, I noticed the number of used car dealers was growing and car yards, a common sight here in UK, were mushrooming. The range of vehicles available was also growing with some of the more exotic cars being made available alongside the everyday commuters.

I spoke to a photog buddy of mine who recently got into the used car business with Bruneiusedcar.com and he confirmed the upward trend in used car sales last year and continuing this year. I asked him what type of cars were currently in demand and he said there were basically 3 types which were most in demand, the MPV, the budget saloon car, and the sporty two door coupes. All pics courtesy of Bruneiusedcar.com.

Toyota Picnic

Leather seat some more!

The MPV or 7-seater people carrier. I personally like these cars because of the convenience and room they offer, and I’m guessing so do most Bruneians with families! MPV’s come in all shapes and sizes and a fine example is the Toyota Picnic. Nothing too fancy but solid and reliable. At B$27,300.00, the price is definitely a lot cheaper than buying a new car! Plus its a Toyota I’d definitely take a look at this one to replace the aging Mazda…

Toyota Altis

Also leather seat leh! Got wood some more!

The budget saloon car need not be a no frills affair as this fine looking Toyota Altis shows. I wouldn’t mind getting around in this as an everyday commuter, would you? And at B$22,500.00 its certainly very affordable!

Mini Cooper

Wah, very sporty ah?

There are lots of sporty used two door coupes on the market to satisfy every boy racer’s whims and fancies, but I thought the Mini Cooper was a nice one because it also looks good on a girl racer heheh! This Mini looks like its quite high spec too, and for B$38,800.00 its quite reasonably had. Not quite The Guvnor, but it’ll do

Oh, before I go, now that assignments are done and theres a little break before classes start next week, I’m ready to do another lip-synch video. Which song do you reckon?

ALL the universities participating in the ‘Study in UK Exhibition’ at the Empire Hotel’s Grand Hall on February 2 this year have a very broad and strong portfolio of postgraduate programmes – both research and taught, according to HRD Services.

Interest in postgraduate studies among Bruneian students continues to rise – spurred on by returning graduates wanting to upgrade their qualifications, or for in-service personnel wanting to enhance their skills to meet the manpower requirements of their department or ministry.

British universities have an excellent reputation for its postgraduate programmes. UK universities pride themselves in undertaking groundbreaking researches, and students are therefore taught by leading authorities in their respective fields.

UK Masters programmes are usually of a one-year duration. Other strengths of a UK Masters programme include tight controls on quality of education, direct relevance of the programme to business and industry, as well as international recognition and respect.

There are two types of ‘taught’ courses: programmes that are designed to deepen the student’s knowledge, and conversion programmes that introduce the student to a new subject (for example, an engineer needing to pick up management skills). The awards are MSc, MA, MBA, LLM, MRes. The MA and MSc programmes will include some training in research methods and, for certain areas, students can choose to collect their data and research materials from Brunei.

Entry requirements vary from course to course – for certain courses, the students need to have a degree that is directly relevant to the programme they wish to pursue, whereas for conversion courses, students need to have a different background. For example, students with an accounting background cannot enter a conversion course in Accountancy. For Masters courses, most universities require the student to have a good Honours degree (usually 2:1 and above). Some universities will consider work experience as part of the eligibility criteria.

Some courses, especially vocational programmes, also require work experience. Hence, a new graduate in Education for example cannot enter a course on Education Leadership, as the student has no prior experience to draw on. Postgraduate courses also require a high proficiency in the English Language. This can be demonstrated by either having a degree that was taught in English, or an IELTS score of 6.5 or 7.

It is highly advisable that students who did their first degree a number of years ago do a refresher course in English to ensure that they can cope with often a very demanding programme. Research courses involve an in-depth study of a particular field, enhancing worldwide knowledge of that field. This study requires intellectual independence, time-management skills, passions for the subject and self-discipline. Research awards are Masters degrees (MPhil) or Doctorates.

At doctorate level, the options are Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), which is completely research-based, and New Route PhD (in vocational fields such as Engineering) and Professional Doctorates (DEng, DEd, DClinPsych) that combine taught and research modules, The Professional Doctorates are the fastest growing type of doctoral study. Students are professional practitioners usually investigating their own practice or organisation.

The best guide to assess the quality of a postgraduate programme is the Research Assessment Exercise, which evaluates the quality of research in universities. There will be a presentation on applying for PhD programmes by Suzanne Alexander from the University of Leicester at 5pm on Feb 2 at the Grand Hall of Empire Hotel. HRD Services, organisers of the exhibition, provide all support for postgraduate applications. They can be contacted on 2232811.

From their website (makes me think perhaps in London there’s a bit more focus in quality):

Founded in 1997 by Simon Woodroffe, YO! Sushi brought the concept of a Japanese ‘kaiten’ sushi bar that delivered food to customers via a conveyor belt travelling 8cm per second to the masses, and became the original and most famous sushi brand in the UK. YO! Sushi was a brand new concept in dining and catapulted Londoners into the 21st century which made us the most talked about dining experience.

Our customers queued around the block as we gave the capital a slice of Urban Tokyo – we even had robots serving our drinks! The experience was fun and exciting, whilst the food was revolutionary and made lovingly, as AA Gill (Sunday Times) pointed out in his review stating it was “the best sushi in London" and Fay Maschler (Evening Standard) said she had “seen the future and it is fun".

Happy Australia Day to all me ozzie mates near and far! Not much happening here in Leicester for Australia Day so I thought I’d re-post my slideshow from a couple of years back. Enjoy…

G’day mate, to-die is Australia Day and being a strine alumn-eye in brewn-eye, I was invited to the reception this arvo. Wishing all my ozzie mates near and far, a Happy Australia Day! Chuck another shrimp on the barbie, have an ice cold one and enjoy the slide show!

Pics from a day trip to Birmingham yesterday with some friends. Checked out the Bullring and the Chinatown. From wikipedia:

The Bull Ring is a major commercial area of Birmingham, England. It has been an important feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages, when its market was first held. It has been developed into a shopping centre twice; first in the 1960s, and then in the 2000s.

The current shopping centre is the busiest in the United Kingdom with 36.5 million visitors in 2004, and is also the twelfth largest. It houses one of only four Selfridges department stores and the largest Debenhams outside of London. Consequently, the centre has been a huge success, attracting custom from all over the world, including New York.

The Chinese Quarter of Birmingham is an area with a predominantly Chinese influence as a result of a concentration of Chinese owned businesses, organisations and social clubs. The area now covers a neighbourhood that includes Hurst Street, Ladywell Walk and Pershore Street.

Many of the buildings in the area have Chinese architectural features and art including Chinese style roofs and wall murals in the Arcadian Centre depicting historical scenes typical of the Silk Road.

Waiting for the 1149 to Birmingham New Street

Passing through Coleshill Parkway

Walking towards the Bullring

The Bull in Bullring

These guys were overjoyed at the sight of the Bullring

Its pretty massive

Debenham’s ani kira macam Huaho bah ah?

First time ku meliat org naik escalator berqueue

Having a coffee while waiting for the gang to reassemble

Going towards Chinatown

Ahhh… home…

Glee Club

I take it there’s a large chinese community in Birmingham

Back at the train station

Waiting for the train to Leicester

This came in the mail today

From my buddy Aidy in Surrey

Aidy is an entrepreneur. He sells kayupuk by mail in UK. How cool is that?

He sent me some sample of the keropok losong to try

Complete with the sauce… Keropok and sauce are best friends

The keropok is made with fresh fish in Terengganu and Aidy ships it over to UK

The keropok losong tastes great, especially with the sauce!
Kinda reminds me of MOM’s acar and keropok.
I’m gonna be ordering some of this for sure!
What are YOU waiting for?
Details at the website and below:

Keropok ikan tamban (Sardine fish crackers)

Small packet -£1.70 (served up to 8 persons)
Large packet – £3.50 (served up to 25 persons)
Package – 3 large packets – £10

Keropok udang (Prawn crackers)

Small packet – £2.50 (served up to 8 persons)
Large packet – £5.00 (served up to 15 persons)

Keropok sira berlada (Spicy fish crackers) £1.50/packet

Cracker’s sauce available on request at £2.50/bottle

Delivery:

Small packet – 1 to 2 packets — GBP1.50 (2nd class Royal Mail)
Large packet – 1 packet — GBP1.90 (2nd class Royal Mail)
Package – 3 large packets — GBP3.00 (2nd class Royal Mail)

Apparently Aidy has been able to produce keropok lekor from fresh local UK fish! AWESOME! Waiting for his pricing now

Call Aidy on 07588045420 or email ekeropoklosong@googlemail.com to order!

advertisement

After the big hooha over raising credit card minimum payments and curbing of credit card issuance by the banks, and the subsequent suggestions to set up a credit bureau, this is a fresh approach by BIBD which I’m in full favour of. Bak kata pepatah, “Meluntur buluh biar dari rebungnya.”

Have you ever asked yourself…

Why didn’t anyone teach me about saving and investing when I was young?

Why don’t I understand the financial page of the paper?

Why is it some people have money and others don’t? What am I missing?

BIBD has gotten off to a good start, but what would be even more awesome would be FINANCIAL LITERACY programs for kids such as the ones run by Moneytree or Creative Wealth International. Now these would definitely go a very long way to ensuring we will have a new generation of money savvy Bruneians who will know how to manage their finances well!

Congratulations to BIBD on the good start, but lets take it up a notch!

Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam Berhad (BIBD) today held a workshop on Financial Planning for the students at Sultan Sharif Ali Secondary School in Kg Salambigar.

Some 220 students from Year 7 (Form 1) attended the workshop presented by Chartered Financial Consultant, Dayang Nurul Jafriah binti Abdullah.

The purpose of the workshop was to instill the culture of savings while teaching the students the importance of it. It was also to encourage students to begin saving as early as possible.

Nurul Jafriah during her presentation talked to the students on how to differentiate between a needs and wants. She also did a demonstration on how to accumulate savings.

According to Nurul Jafriah, an early introduction to financial planning would help these students to associate the term “financial planning’ as they develop in life. She hopes the students will be able to increase their awareness on the importance of planning for their future, begin saving as soon as possible and spend wisely.

To make the presentation interesting, activities relating to financial planning were carried out. This was to ensure that the presentation is relevant to their level of understanding.

Pics courtesy of Ak Herman Pg Duraman

Good news peeps!

WHO’s Got Talent Season 2 is BACK! The competition is open to the whole of Borneo and to all ages. Bring in your talents, upload your videos and get voted! For more info and to join the competition, just log in to www.gayabmobile.com.bn. Bigger, Better Prizes awaits!

We Dare YOU!

Fancy a new car but don’t want to spend a bomb? How about a used car then? If you’ve never considered it, then now is probably a good time to take a good look at it as a serious alternative. Here’s a snippet of a recent article from BT:

USED cars have steadily become a force in the domestic automobile market with some dealerships of brand-new vehicles acknowledging their growth over the past year.

An executive of NBT (B) Sdn Bhd, sole distributor of Toyota and Lexus vehicles sees the domestic automobile market becoming more competitive because of the anticipated entry of more used cars.

"As long as there are used cars in the market, there will be competition, and other distributors will also offer some sort of competition," said Ninan Chacko, NBT managing director. "But the new player in market are the used cars." Asked how fierce the competition would be with used cars for the upcoming year, Chacko said: "I think that they are quite strong, especially with the yen as high as it is, the used cars provide an alternative for people who want to buy cars.

[…]

At the beginning of the year, sales of used cars surged mainly due to the recent increase in the prices of brand-new Japanese cars. A salesperson at a used car dealership said, “Usually we sell an average of five cars or fewer, but last month we sold about 20 cars and my boss has brought in more stock from Singapore because we see that we will continue (to see) this trend for this year.”

On my last trip home, I noticed the number of used car dealers was growing and car yards, a common sight here in UK, were mushrooming. The range of vehicles available was also growing with some of the more exotic cars being made available alongside the everyday commuters.

I spoke to a photog buddy of mine who recently got into the used car business with Bruneiusedcar.com and he confirmed the upward trend in used car sales last year and continuing this year. I asked him what type of cars were currently in demand and he said there were basically 3 types which were most in demand, the MPV, the budget saloon car, and the sporty two door coupes. All pics courtesy of Bruneiusedcar.com.

Toyota Picnic

Leather seat some more!

The MPV or 7-seater people carrier. I personally like these cars because of the convenience and room they offer, and I’m guessing so do most Bruneians with families! MPV’s come in all shapes and sizes and a fine example is the Toyota Picnic. Nothing too fancy but solid and reliable. At B$27,300.00, the price is definitely a lot cheaper than buying a new car! Plus its a Toyota I’d definitely take a look at this one to replace the aging Mazda…

Toyota Altis

Also leather seat leh! Got wood some more!

The budget saloon car need not be a no frills affair as this fine looking Toyota Altis shows. I wouldn’t mind getting around in this as an everyday commuter, would you? And at B$22,500.00 its certainly very affordable!

Mini Cooper

Wah, very sporty ah?

There are lots of sporty used two door coupes on the market to satisfy every boy racer’s whims and fancies, but I thought the Mini Cooper was a nice one because it also looks good on a girl racer heheh! This Mini looks like its quite high spec too, and for B$38,800.00 its quite reasonably had. Not quite The Guvnor, but it’ll do

Oh, before I go, now that assignments are done and theres a little break before classes start next week, I’m ready to do another lip-synch video. Which song do you reckon?