Maulidur Rasul

Today mark our Prophet Muhammad's SAW birthday. As usual there was a Maulud celebration at the Taman for all walks of live. I was also in the thick of it all, joining thousand of my fellow muslims basking in the morning heat and walked all the way through the designated route. I leave you guys with some pictures that I took of my whole experience today.

Our "Base Camp"

Planning on which short cut to be taken

A glimpse of His Majesty

Our Agency team number and it's 'Jelitawan"

Just after the starting point at the Syariah Court Building

Nearly half way now, Tasek Lama area

Not far now, Kianggeh area

The Final Stretch

Finally the Finish Line

The Aftermath
(Kudos to the 'Bandaran' people who did a good job in cleaning the area)

Comic Books

I did mention in my previous blog regarding the dvd movies that I bought collecting dust at home, but there is one more interest of mine which is also being neglected for quite sometime. Actually I did not neglect it but it seems that I don't have enough time for it anymore. The interest that I am talking about is reading comic books! I don't mean those superheros comic books but I'm more interested with ARCHIE comic books. I started reading this comic books when I was still at sixth form. It started with one book that I borrowed from a freind of mine and I was hook from that day onwards. As of this date I have a collection of more than 600 comic books comprising of Archie Digest and Double Digest and not to mention his other spin off such as Betty & Veronica, Jughead, Pals & Gals, Little Archie and many more.

I never miss buying all of their issues and believe me, it really cost me are fortune to buy them all. I just can't stop buying it, buying this comic books is no longer for fun or buying it when I got that extra cash or something, but for me now it is a necessity, I MUST buy it regardless whether I have time or not for it, it have become a habit of mine now. At the moment there are exactly 43 unread comic books lying beside my bed and it is increasing every month, how in the world will I be able to finish reading all of it is only god knows.

The Three Lions

Typed this blog while watching the replay game between England and Israel. Ronney is out of form, Gerrard and Lampard is busy showing the world who is the better captain of the team, while the defenders are injury prone. I pity Mclaren who have to lead a medicore team at the moment, no wonder he is not doing well with the result.

I wonder what will happen if Gus Hiddink or Scholari was given the chance to manage the team. It is very frustrating for the fans, including myself, to see England failed to beat minnows like Israel. It is the right time for England to win something in football since the FA premier league are consider the best league in world. The only silverware they won was way back in 1966 ,if you don't count the Le Tourney Tournument prior to France 98 where Roberto Carlos scored THAT amazing free kick, remember?

I was surprised just like the rest of the world when England was robbed for hosting the world cup in 2014. I think they deserve it more than Germany, but I guess their hooligans may have shifted the vote in favour of their bitter rivals. For the next two major tournument, I fail to forsee England winning, especially with the pool of player that they have at the moment. But noboby gave Greece a chance when they won the European cup so maybe, just maybe, we the England fans will have something to cheer about in 2008.

Promotion

Being promoted up a notch at work should be fun and at the same time challenging. After all, the person may have waited for, let say 7 years, before he was given the chance to take over a postion to manage a section in his organisation. The stage are set , the players are at ready, and the only thing left is this "lucky person" to navigate and conduct the play. Everything should be easy like taking a candy from a baby coz he had gathered experience by giving the best 7 years of his career to the organisation doing what he do best by being a committed,trustworthy, hard working and reliable employee.

Now imagine this, promotion have not give him fun but misery and headaches. The stage here are scattered all over the country that create havoc as far as communication and monitoring is concern. The players are mostly veterans of more than 10 years in the field who thought they deserve a far better deal than being second fiddle to this newly promoted chap and two of those players are even earning more than him! This is all an ingredients for a recipe that can change this "lucky person" into being the "Unlucky victim"!

Moreover, he realised and agreed that he is better off doing what he use to do before the promotion and he already anticipate this problem when he was offered the job! But why do he accept the offer you might ask? Well what will you do if you were given the chance of a lifetime on a silver platter right in front of you? A chance which may not be given again in the future.

What will happen to this chap is only god knows. What he can do at the moment is to try his very best and pray to Allah to give him guidance. Not even the experience of 7 years can help him here as this is a whole new ball game for him. It make him think whether he really deserve this post in the first place, he even have this naughty thought of just burst into the Big boss office and gave it all up, and he even admit that he is not a good leader and someone should take over.

But at the end of the day, he realised that this is all a test for him because nothing is easy in this world. As long as he is still the manager of this wicked section, or until the management say otherwise, he knew that he have gave his best effort and nobody can take that away from him.

Pirated DVD's

Stayed at home today and watched X-Men 3, I've bought the movie a long time ago and only today that I have the mood to watched it. The dvd cover had been gathering dust for the past few months! As of today I still have around eight or more DVD movies that I need to see. Ironically when I went shopping with the missus we tend to look for new releases although we know that there are a couple of them at home waiting to be seen.

All of this proof how fortunate we are, pirated DVD are abundance here in the abode of peace. It cost a mere $5 or less for a single movie, and sometime we can even have a maximum of four movies in one DVD. If you are patient enough, new releases with clear pictures and sound is available within a month after it is being released to the movie buffs. But for those who don't, they can just buy the mother of all pirated movies, the one that is secretly filmed inside a cinema.

I guess there is three types of pirated DVD out there. First is the one that had been captured secretly inside the cinema, the price for each movie is usually $3. Secondly is what the pirates call the DTS copy, prices for this decent quality movie is usally around $5, and lastly is of course the one that they call DVD 9, price is within the range of $8 to $10.

The same goes to Playstation 2 games. I'm an avid gamer myself and I'm always buying the newest release everytime. The copy games are so cheap at $5 a pop that I've always encountered problems of not being able to finished a single game, coz as I was about to get the hang of it, I bought a new game and I will certainly forget about the older games as I'm engulf in hype with the new one. Sometimes I will only played it once coz I found the game to be too boring.

If we are in other countries, origional DVD's are considered a collection item, it cost a lot and they even gave it as birthday presents and christmas gifts. Playstation 2 games is also very expensive, if I don't have the previlege of buying copy games and have to fork out $100 per game, I'll definetely going to squeeze all the fun out of the games and play it repeatedly so that I can get satisfaction for paying big bucks for one meazly game. Playstation 3 is already available in Brunei and I'm still keeping my finger cross for the avaibility of copy games for that console before I buy one.

Expos and Fairs

Currently there is this CIPTA IT expo going on at the mall, and then there will be BITEX 2007, also going to be held at the same place. I'm not against this expo or fair thingy but one thing which I find interesting is that the exhibitionist always comprise of the same big players in the market. The likes of Concept Computers and Netcoms ply their trade with the same strategy of giving out phamplets of all sort. Amazingly, they are located at the same place everytime, with the same design or layout for their booth, selling the same things that they promote during the last time they were there.

Remember the Brunei Book fair that was held sometime in February? Do you agree that most of them a selling the same books as the one during the last time they were there, and again the location of their booth are exactly the same. So if any of you miss the whole thing last February, don't worry, chances are that you will see the same thing next time.

This time around my brother is planning to buy a laptop computer. After doing a lot of thinking and surveying here and there, he finally made a decision to buy the most "famous" brand in Brunei....... (Drum rolls please)........ACER Computers!!! he...he...he, well what do you expect, he's a student and a gamer at the same time, so that is the only obvious choice as it is affordable and with the right spec. Actually I'm against it as I'm more fond of HP or the new Vaio but I have to respest his decision. ACER is a decent brand and it is improving every year. I believe that in the near future it will give the other more establish brand, a run of their own money.

The funny thing about the laptop that my lil bro is buying is that he can get a cheaper price IF he agree not to take the FREE gifts that comes with it, Suprisingly the total amount that he save for not taking this FREE gifts is around $300.00! What a rip-off!! So if you guys plan to buy computers which come with all sort of free gifts, make sure you really need all of it coz there are NOT free, you are actually paying for all of it!

TAP Financial Planning Roadshow

I was suppose to attend a Financial Planning Roadshow this afternoon, but just as I was about to reach my destination, I received a call from office requesting my present ASAP. The roadshow which was held by Tabung Amanah Pekerja (TAP) is the department's initiatives to educate the public on the importance of putting some money aside on top of your monthly TAP Contribution to ensure that you have enough money to live another 20 to 30 years after you retire.

It is pretty scary to hear that TAP also admit that the money you are about to receive at the end of your retirement may not be sufficent enough. I guess the monthly deduction of 5% of your salary and another 5 % contributed by your employer is the culprit in this matter. It is just to minimal to compare with our neighbours such as Singapore (CPF) and Malaysia (KWSP) which is more than 15%!

I believe TAP are trying their best to look into ways of increasing the contribution rate. However we have to be realistic here, by imposing a higher contribution rate above 5% may have a significant impact to the employers. The question here is, can they afford it?, I was informed that at the moment, TAP still have delinquent employers who are unable to pay the monthly contribution. Even at the fixed rate of 5 %, employers seems to have difficulties to pay, so what will happen if it is increase to more thatn 10%?.

I guess as long as our economy is not increasing that rapidly, we still have to be satisfied with what we have at the moment. Anyway, since we know TAP is not going to ensure our financial security in the future, we have to stop being to dependent on TAP and start looking for other options elsewhere.

Maktab Duli

I sent my brother to MD this morning for extra class. He is a junior who was just enrolled a few weeks ago. It is good to be back in the vicinity of the college as I have fond memories of the place. I did my A Level way back in 1992 the same intake as our Crown Prince. MD back then was simply amazing, beside Maktab Sains, MD is the only place for us, the ordinary student, to do our A Levels. Unlike today, where six forms can be found in KB and Tutong (I'm not sure about this one), but during the heyday, all the guys and gals from all four district was centralised here in MD.

I stayed in the hostel eventhough my house is only 15KM away from the school, I took Maths, Economics and Accounts. I spend three years there as I did not get a single A Level on my first try(not even on my second try either!-what a loser!) The good thing for being a repeater is able to witnessed and involved in the setting up of DPMB FC or better known as DPMM FC. I can proudly say that I'm one of the first player for His Royal Highness and I played as a Striker (Note for Shahrazen: Your wearing my number (22) he he he), we sure have a lot of fun back then and HRH Crown Prince was our goalkeeper.

The other important thing that happened during my time at MD is the time I met my wife. She was a junior and I was a senior, we were introduced by my friend and the rest was history. Studying in MD was one of my highlights in live, the memories that I expereinced during that time will never be forgotten, it was fun, scary and very enjoyable. The icing of the cake is of course being a good freind to HRH Crown Prince Al-Muthadee Billah, our future king.

Aston Villa 0 Liverpool 0

What a boring match last night. Inconsistency strike again, one day they beat the likes of Barcelona and Chelsea but yesterday they are totally ordinary! Rafael Benitez is a good manager, but I guess he is only good with the knockout games and not with the league. He is very lucky to win us the Champions League in his first season with Liverpool, so the fans still have some hope in him.

What's wrong with Steven Gerrard! For the past two season he was amazing, how many times do we see him wining a game single handedly, remember Istanbul and the 2006 FA Cup Finals? He was god to some liverpool fans, but this season he is a nobody. The only player which I thought is outstanding is Jamie "Mr Reliable" Carragher, I believe it is because of him that Pepe Reina maintain the most clean sheet in the EPL at the moment. Someone even try to persuade Steve Mclaren to play him as a midfilder playing the holding role for England, but for me that is to much, I know he is very good but he is not THAT good.

So what's next for Liverpool, I think they can maintain their position in the top four but I can't see them leapfrogging Arsenal for third place, but it all depends on the game where both side will do battle at Anfield on 31st March and Theirry Henry is out for the remaining fixtures. As for the Champions League especially against PSV, I can't say a lot because as I said earlier, Benitez is good with this event and who knows, I may be going to Athens come this May via Kristal Astro.

As for next season, I'm not sure how the new owner will play their cards. They are Americans for crying out loud. They don't play football, they play Sockker!! They own Ice Hockey teams, unless Wayne Gretzkey can play football, we are doom. But hey, look at the bright side, we have the world class player by the name of Andriy Voronin to look forward to next season. (Yeah right, who the hell is he?)

2007 Formula 1 Season

The 2007 Formula 1 Championship has officially started today at Melbourne, Australia. I miss it today as I totally forget about it. My passion for the race had diminish since Michael Schumacher retiredlast season. You see, I'm Schumi fans since he was with Benetton in the 90's and I got to thank Kristal Astro or whatever they call it back then, by introducing the "decoder" into our lives. From that day onwards I've become Schumi fan and never miss watching, from the comfort of my home that is, the 3 hour long race every time, everywhere in the world, including waking up in the wee hours of the night when they race in Brazil!

As for the constructor stand point, I'm only a fan wherever Schumi is, in this case I've only cheered the Benettons and the Ferraris, as this are the only team that Schumi had represent since I started becoming an F1 freak. The future of me keeping tabs on the sport is not looking good. Without Schumi, I find it less entertaining although I might try to convince myselt that Kimi Raikonen is my true successor to 'The' Michael Schumacher. Kimi won today so I'm keeping one eye on him on the next race.

Beside Formula 1, the dreaded Akademi Fantasia 5 also officially started last night. Alhtough the quality of AF had deteriorate since AF3 (Mawi world) Bruneians plus the missus will still hog the tv everyday for the diaries and especially on Saturday for their weekly concert. Thank god that EPL is about to end.

Job interviews

I've conducted an interview today for a post in my section. Since this is my first experience interviewing potential candidates, it took me quiet sometime to get the hang of being an interviewer as my past experience is only as the interviewee.

Last night I kept on asking the missus on what kind of questions should one ask beside the normal questions that were always bombarded by the panel. I want my question to be unique and made all the candidates come up with an intelligent answer.

Come the day, I saw a lot of good candidates but there are also some who did not do very well. It is sad to hear that some of them are unemployed for the past three years and they were so desperate that one candidates almost cry and beg to be recruited.

I can't imagine if I'm in their shoes, first I like to say thank you to Allah s.b.t for giving me the job that I have today, and with that I can live happily with minor worries. Unfortunately for those who are still unemployed, I can't imagine how they carry on with their lives. Some are lucky that they still have their parents to support them but for those who don't, it must be very very difficult. It is easy for us to take for granted with what we already have that we forget to say "Syukur Alhamdulillah" to God Al-mighty.

For those who are about to be interview in the near future, I advice you to do your homework, do some research about the organisation and last but not least, be yourself and you will do just fine.

E-speed

I went to Telbru today to see if I can reduce my monthly subscription from $98.00 to an amount which is more appropriate with the speed that I have for the past 5 months. You see, the reason for my bold move is based on the advice from one of the bosses from the e-speed unit or what ever they call it. As I'm writing this blog my bandwith speed test meter indicates 43 average Kbps! Yes you heard me right, my e-speed connection is, if not better, as good as a dial-up connection.

I was inform that the area where I was staying is always plague with problems and they are still trying to solve it but until now, it's look likely that they can't do nothing,they said it's got to do with the Distribution Board or something. The problem must be a serious one, if not why do they advice me to go and negotiate the monthly subscription.

When we arrive at Telbru, we were greeted by a lady and we immediately explain to her of our intention. She ask us how many time do we made our official complains and we said a couple of times, however when she check their records, it was stated that we only called once, and she happily said that if they received only one complains they will not consider it seriously!!! Gosh what kind of service is this, I thought any complains, no matter how many times it is, must be taken seriously (basic rule of ensuring customer satisfaction), moreover we did complain a couple of times and I don't know why it was only recorded once, and when we try to justify ourselves with the number of time we call, she scolded us for not remembering the docket/reference number as proof that we did really call a zillion time. How do we suppose to know that? As if there are some manuals/phamplets lying around Telbru office reminding us on what we have to do when we make a complain through the phone!

Telbru should inform me or the rest of the subscribers around my area before registration of the problem that they are having at our area, so that we can decide whether to proceed or not. I basically will not register if I was inform earlier! Now we are stuck paying the same amount that my "lucky" freinds are paying, minus the speed. Anyway, our complains were noted and it is going to be forwarded to their superior and as usual at the end of the conversation we hear the dreaded word..."We will call you, thank you"

DPMM FC 3 Johore FC 1

It looks like DPMM FC is back to their wining ways and second in the league. But I'm still have my doubts whether they are really that good or is the level of the Malaysian League is under par!!! Anyway I still rate Shahrazen as a fantastic player and we still have the 2nd round of the league to make my true judgement.

I did not watched them play yesterday as I was having dinner with the missus and family. Season Restaurant is getting old. I wish they renovate the place ASAP. The night went well altough the choices of food are so-so, but the singing waiter/waitress did manage to cheer things up including surprising my other half with a birthday song and a cake Ha Ha Ha......

Happy B'day Scarlet

Today is my better half b'day, and guess what? I did not give her a surprise birthday present (again) but I do bring her shopping and treat her to whatever she desire, as long as my wallet complie. I don't know, maybe as I've become older B'day present for me is not a priority anymore or maybe just because I'm no longer that you call ROMANTIC, but don't get me wrong, I love my wife very much and there is no gift that can match my love to her.

Well I've got another year to prepare for this day again next year, I hope I can do more for her next time compare to what I did for her this year but again I did say the same thing last year and look what happen.

Happy B'day dear