November 14th - Majlis Mandi Berlawat @ Hjh Rita Hartiny bte Hj Abd Hamid in Madang

(: Lida - FReD - Rita - Louie :)

Thanks Ta for sending me this pic!

xoxo!

Borneo Bulletin - December 1st - Sultanate and Singaporean adventure students begin six-day camp by Rosli Abidin Yahya

Posing for a group photo

The S'porean participants being greeted upon arrival at the airport

Twenty Secondary School students from Singapore that comprising five boys and 15 girls arrived in Brunei yesterday afternoon to join 20 of their local counterparts for a six-day Brunei-Singapore Adventure Camp 2008, which will run until December 5, to promote international understanding, collaboration and bonding.

They were greeted on arrival by last year's student participants, of a similar camp that was held in Singapore, who have now been promoted as trainer-guides for this year's camp, as well as supervising teachers, and Education Ministry and Singapore High Commission officials.

After their arrival, the Singaporean students, accompanied by four of their teachers, as well as their local trainer/guides and local supervising teachers boarded waiting buses to take them to the Wasan Vocational School, which will be the participants' home for activities conducted in and around Brunei-Muara District.

At the school, the Singaporean students met with their local student counterparts participating in the adventure camp for an official opening ceremony as well as an ice-breaking session. The local student participants comprise 10 boys and 10 girls that have been selected from secondary schools nationwide.

Today, the camp participants will explore Kampong Ayer as well as visit historical sites around Bandar Seri Begawan.

Tomorrow morning, the participants are scheduled to participate in padi farming activities at Wasan's padi fields. Sometime later in the afternoon, the students will go trekking along Bukit Shahbandar.

On Wednesday, the adventure campers will go on an exploration of the Tasek Merimbun Reserve Forest and see how sago is processed into 'ambuyat', a local delicacy. Later that evening, the students will get to sample 'ambuyat' for dinner and play traditional games.

Temburong will be the venue for their activities on Thursday at the National Park and the Kampong Amo Longhouse, where they will be spending the night at the Bangar Rest House in the district.

The following day, they will be taken for a tour to see the making of two popular traditional delicacies 'wajid' and 'cendol', before attending the closing ceremony of the adventure camp later that same evening.

One of the objectives of the adventure camp is to forge new friendships across national borders through various team-building games and outdoor activities. The camp also serves to educate students on the need to conserve the natural environment, to preserve its biodiversity and the need to preserve the cultural heritage of one's country through nature activities.

Student exchanges through the adventure camp is a key area of cooperation in the Memorandums of Understanding on Educational Cooperation that were concluded between Brunei's and Singapore's Education Ministries in February 2006.

Singapore Students Visit Brunei's Cultural, Natural Heritage by Azaraimy HH

Brunei and Singapore students playing 'Kayu-Tiga'

Students from both countries work in teams during a game activity at Bukit Shahbandar

The visiting students at the paddy field in Kg Wasan

The Wasan Paddy Field

Bandar Seri Begawan - Twenty Singaporean students visited the paddy field in Kampong Wasan recently.

The students joined by 20 other local students, are here for a six-day friendship camp, entitled Brunei-Singapore Adventure Camp 2008.

Besides visiting the paddy field, the students also hiked at the Bukit Shahbandar.

Included in the programme in the coming days in Brunei are witnessing sago processing in Tutong, eating ambuyat, participating in challenging activities at Temburong National Park, visiting Kg Amo Longhouse in Temburong, watching the manufacturing of traditional food of wajid and cendol in Temburong and many more.

Yesterday, the students visited the Tasek Merimbun. (Note: This was written wrongly, it was supposed to be Bukit Shahbandar)

Separated by the South China Sea, there are much to learn about each other, the students said, both in terms of culture and its geography. The students told the Bulletin that they had so far enjoyed their programme here in Brunei, adding that Brunei has so many unexpected surprises.

Throughout the camping, students from both sides will interact and take part in team building adventure activities and games to promote international understanding, collaboration and bonding. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

*Pictures of this event will be shared as soon as the camp is over :)

December 1st - Brunei-S'pore Youth Camp by Syed Rory Malai Hassan

Opening dance: Bruneian students performing a dance during the opening ceremony of Brunei-Singapore Adventure Camp 2008 at Wasan Vocational School, Limau Manis. Picture: BT/Saifulizam

Bandar Seri Begawan - Twenty youths from Singapore are taking part in an adventure camp here in Brunei as part of the Ministry of Education's drive to raise the younger generation's awareness and appreciation for culture, traditions and the natural environment.

The students, accompanied by 20 local students from schools throughout the country, will hopefully be able to take the camp as an excellent way to develop new skills and appreciation along with making friends and cooperation with other countries, said the Permanent Secretary (core education) of the Ministry of Education Datin Paduka Apsah Hj Abdul Majid.

Datin Paduka Apsah noted that through the week long outdoor experience, the students from both countries can nurture their full potential for becoming future leaders as the unique exposure will enable them to inculcate a collective responsibility in caring for the environment as well as give them the opportunity to build their characters.

Quoting the camp theme "This is Where the Friendship Blooms" the permanent secretary said she is hoping that the meeting will be able to show the participants that people everywhere have similar dreams and fears even where traditions and customs may vary.

The students, accompanied by 20 local students from schools throughout the country, will hopefully be able to take the camp as an excellent way to develop new skills and appreciation along with making friends and cooperation with other countries, said the Permanent Secretary (core education) of the Ministry of Education Datin Paduka Apsah Hj Abdul Majid.

Datin Paduka Apsah noted that through the week long outdoor experience, the students from both countries can nurture their full potential for becoming future leaders as the unique exposure will enable them to inculcate a collective responsibility in caring for the environment as well as give them the opportunity to build their characters.

She also said that the experience, based on last year's camp which was first introduced to the two countries and hosted by Singapore, the participants will be able to cultivate a new sense of confidence and community as they put to test new found skills and encourage their peers to meet the same challenges that they will have to go through.

The Brunei-Singapore Adventure Camp 2008, which is hosted by the Brunei Ministry of Education at the Wasan Vocational School this year, will run for seven days until December 7. Participants are scheduled to go through a series of activities designed to introduce and familiarize themselves with the Brunei tradition, economy, culture and people, similar to the camp that was held in Singapore last year which showed Brunei students the Singapore way of life.

Among the activities planned out for the week by the organizers include a trip to the Wasan Paddy Fields, Tasek Merimbun Recreational Park, an Ambulong Factory and a trip to Temburong where they will witness the processing of a local malay dessert namely wajid.

Bruneian Students camp coordinator Cikgu Norsuzilawati Ahmad said that the experience gained by last year's students showed positive results as they seemed more confident and outgoing compared to before when they started especially in meeting new people.

Singaporean camp coordinator from the Singapore Ministry of Education, Kuang Yoke Wei, agreed to her comments saying that the Bruneian students in last year's event started out slow but in the end were much more open, enthusiastic and even more interested much like their Singaporean counterparts. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

November 28th - Unplanned Visit To 91.4 Pelangi FM

Pictures courtesy of DJ Zura @ www.aboutzura.blogspot.com

It was an unplanned visit. We went to RTB for the recording for the 13th episodes of the 3Cs - Children's Chat Corner with DJ Diddy and Zana KKI as the hosts of the programme. It will be aired some time next year. No fix dates are given but I will keep you updated :)

Will share more pics soon after my camp!