Euphoria Blossom CK & Homesickness

For those who love sweet smell... this perfume is definitely worth every penny. I finally got mine today! ;)

OK that's the good part. The bad: I am officially homesick :( I was watching today's Diary Akademi Fantasia 5. In this season, Astro brought a "mum-figure" called Tok Wan for the students so they won't miss their mum so badly. So ok i do miss mum. Oh sugar. My microphone is kaputt so i can't use my Skype just yet. I miss home. I terribly do.

Why Asian Don't Speak Up? (Part 2)

Continuation... Why Asians Don't Speak Up? (Part 1)

• We normally do not say no directly. This is considered rude. If a person says "I'll think about it." or "Yes, but...", this normally means NO. So be prepared to get a rejection by email, phone call or sms. As we are indirect, you could even receive a long email but if you read again and again, you know it only means no. We do this because we do not want the other person to lose face.

• We usually make friends, do project or business together ONLY if we have the trust, good relationship and we believe that we can work together as an in-group. Without these elements, the result would be negative red. So relationships come first and once we trust, it's hard to break it. Remember this when you want to invest/negotiate in Asia.
  
  
• This also explains "why you won't be left alone" if you live in Asia. Employers would even treat you like a family member. They will invite you to meals, bring you out, play sport together, call you just to know how you are doing etc
  

• If you invite your friends for dinner/lunch and they are quiet, it is okay. This is not a bad thing or insult especially if you cannot stand silence. For us, you being there is enough and hence, talking is not so important.

The above only explains one aspect of cutural dimensions. Maybe i will write more next time. Hopefully, you can understand more now. Thanks for reading.

Why Asians Don't Speak Up? (Part 1)

Back in Brunei, i never noticed this as an issue because everyone acts the same way. You usually do not know how to describe your own culture and values until you see what other people do and have the chance to compare. Being in Germany, we all have encountered some problems when dealing with the locals and other foreigners. Hence, it is always crucial to understand. Cultural differences should not lead you to make false judgements.

I once had an experience where an American lecturer tried to encourage students to speak up. She said, if we don't... it will badly influence our grades. Ofcourse, this method was not very effective. She was also very prejudice where she favored only those who were very outspoken. We usually felt uncomfortable in her class because keeping quiet was a serious crime.

If you haven't read any books about international cultures, here is a summary on why we behave such way:

• We are born and raised with one principle: Speaking up or talking back to parents, family, teachers, manager etc is considered to be impolite. Where parents in the western countries encourage their kids to express their opinions, it is not normally the case in East.
  
• To speak up, be direct and express opinions straight to the face is considered to be good and honest in most western countries. In Asia, however, bad statements will make the listener lose face. The impact is a lot worse if you do it in public.
  

An Iranian student was very upset after she received an email from her professor asking her "why did you ask silly questions in the class?". It's not surprising if she stops asking questions altogether. In general, we all need to be very careful when working with people especially those who do not have the same cultural background.

One way to encourage your students/subordinates to speak up is to put them into smaller groups and have one person as the group's representative. This is one effective way to have results. It does not matter where you are - whether you work locally or sent to one of the Asian countries.

To be continued... Why Asians don't Speak Up? (Part 2)

Mirwana - Aku Tanpa CintaMu

Telah ku mungkiri janjiku lagi
Walau seribu kali
Ku ulang sendiri
Aku takkan tempuh lagi
Apakah kau terima cintaku lagi
Setelah ku berpaling
Dari pandanganMu
Yang kabur kerna jahilnya aku

Mengapa cintaMu tak pernah hadir
Subur dalam jiwaku
Agarku tetap bahagia
Tanpa cintaku tetaplah Kau di sana
Aku tanpa cintaMu
Bagai layang-layang terputus talinya

repeat 1

Masihkah ada sekelumit belas
Mengemis kasihMu Tuhan
Untukku berpaut dan bersandar
Aku di sini kan tetap terus mencuba
Untuk beroleh cintaMu
Walau ranjaunya menusuk pedih

This song kalau kita betul2 hayati boleh rasa sedih and insaf :) Jangan tah ketawa nah :p

Suriname

Ever heard of a country called Suriname?


I was reading a book today for tomorrow's discussion in class and in a countries-survey, i came aross the word Suriname. I never heard of it actually so i googled it just to find out about it's location. Here are 10 quick facts about Suriname:

1. Located in northern Southern America.
2. Gained independance from the Netherland on 25. November 1975.
   
3. The smallest sovereign state in terms of area and population (around 440,000) in South America.
4. Used to be under the Dutch Colony.
5. Used to have a system of slave labor until 1863. After the abolishment, labourers were imported from the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) and India.
   
6. The country is made up of 10 districts (Brunei only 4).
7. Economy - mainly denominated by the bauxite industry (aluminium ore) which accounts for more than 15% of the GDP and 70% of export earnings.
8. Demographics - its population is made up of several ethnics group including East Indians, Javanese, Africans, Chinese including Europeans.
9. Religion - Hindu, Islam, Christian.
10. Language - official language is Dutch, own language is Sranan Tongo.

Here are some photos of Suriname:






If you are interested to read more (i do mean Suriname and not the image on the left), please click this link: Wikipedia - Suriname or Here

Pusat Ehsan Special Tribute Video

Dedicated to the beautiful and special people in Brunei and worldwide



Credit goes to Borgkingkong for the video :)

Music: Adibah Noor - Istimewa (Special)

This video is so beautiful.... *sigh* Created to increase people's awareness of "Pusat Ehsan".

Interest, Brunei's future King & Names.

News of the week

(image taken from Brudirect.com)

Bandar Seri Begawan - A 47-year-old Chinese man got the shock of his life when $90,000 in cash he had kept inside a small wardrobe in his bedroom went missing recently. More

My comment: Local Veterans should be given briefings about the importance of saving money in banks and financial institutions। If that $90K is saved in TAIB, i wonder how much interest could the old guy earn... oh well, lesson learnt!

Today I just found out that i need to re-elect 2 more electives!! The electives that I am currently taking is not included in the list of acknowledged electives. I can't seem to decide what to take! So i need to think it over again later. Luckily it's just the end March so I still have time to catch up. I hope my life is better this year. Don't we all hope so ;) Im guessing this is way better than losing 90K in one night erks

His Majesty's new Grandson

(image taken from Brudirect.com)

Daulat Tuanku!! (Hail to the King!) In this case, our future King YTM Pengiran Muda Abdul Muntaqim :) Born on the 17th of March 2007 at 3.50pm. Congratulations to HRH Crown Prince & his wife! Bruneians should be happy to know that the future of our monarchy is secured. My children and grandchildren will live during his reign InsyaAllah. Let us all pray that he will grow up to be a great King & Warrior! (ok, this part is the side effect after watching "300" lols)

Al-Muntaqim means "Yang Memiliki Mutlak sifat Maha Penyiksa" or in English "The Avenger". As Muslims, it is always better to give arabic names to our sons and daughters. For the sons, one of the 99 names of Allah could/should be chosen. We muslims believe that our sons would be more blessed if he has one of God's name. It's up to you to think of it as ridiculous but personally, arabic name sounds better. FYI my name means "The Protector". So if you are interested, please check out this link for the list of Asmaaul Husna (99 Names of Allah)

Visit Brunei 2008 (2)

Royal Brunei Holiday Report

I am seriously speechless. What a beautiful travel documentary on Brunei! I loved it!

More short clips like these should be posted on streaming TV such as Youtube. Make it featured! There are millions of visitors each day and i think it does not cost a penny...yet ;) Keep it Up!

My eBay Frustration

I am frustrated because, for the first time in my online shopping experience, the goods that i bought got lost in delivery. Maybe I was tricked. Maybe someone stole it if it was simply left on the doorstep, i don't know. It costs me around 55 euro so yes i admit, i was really dumb to get the normal postage delivery. OK Lesson learnt and as personal punishment (lol) no retail therapy for 2-3 months (Yeah right lol) :( Always purchase the Insured Postage especially for expensive items. I want my CK Euphoria Blossom :( :( So here is what i decide to do to ease my mind:

Just Posting Pics

Translation: 1st Text - Pull down your pants!
2nd Text - Who are you actually??

I honestly hate this advert. The other one is a girl wearing white panty and definitely won men's attention. Why? Because you can clearly see her wonderland leaves...if you know what i mean hehe :p



You will not believe me if i tell u that this was taken before 9pm lol! yes this is Reutlingen ladies and gentleman।

I think I just returned from my retail therapy in Stuttgart.



One of my favourite places to ease my mind when time gets rough. This is the short cut to the UNI and the nearest mini supermarket.

Other places include the mini park near the Town Library and the public park 10 mins walking distance from my place.


I saw this on my way home. I had to walk since I didn't have my semester ticket for transportation (i just got it today! Yipeee). Yeayyy it's spring seasonnn and there will be flowers soonnnn and more sunshineee! I love spring hehe =)



STARBUCKS One of the main reasons i love Stuttgart :) The magic of marketing and brand awareness esp. among youths, don't you agree? If Starbucks is opened in Brunei, I dare say Coffeebean, Coffeezone, Twelv....get ready to think of new strategies!

Money Matters on a Monday Blues

Today is pretty quiet. It's the first day of our new summer semester n hopefully, my final semester in Reutlingen :) So today, i met a few friends. Some (used to be my IB-Juniors) just returned from their internship semester n some js returned from the holidays. Surprisingly, there were no classes today lol. It's good exercise though kekeke

As soon as i arrived home, i logged into my MSN. My brother got me busy wf his Skype. My sis couldn't stop rambling about "Skim Cepat Kaya" ("Pyramid scheme"). Yes, i have stumbled into a few websites such as Forex, Google Adsense etc and I have to admit, they are superliciously tempting! Thousands of US$ per month..who can resist that?? The secret of such scheme is mostly its ability to attract students like myself or even employees who are in need of extra cash. All you need to do is find people who are probably spendthrift, have loans to pay, big family to take care of and so on. The more friends you invite and the more people they invite, the greater the income you will get! Simple isn't it? Unlike Amway, Tupperware or any other membership, you don't even have to sweat to earn extra income!

Oh btw, i finally bought Ralph Lauren Romance "Sensual Note". Its a limited edition from 2002 i think. I have to admit, the original Romance smells better but it's nice though and the smell stays! One spray is enough to make a man falls inlove! I wish lol. I have been experiencing weird dreams lately; old friends, family but mostly old friends.... almost everyday!! Does that mean anything? sigh.

Visit Brunei 2008

yes it's our turn next year :) I am wondering what will our strategies and plans be in order to lure visitors from all over the world. From marketing and promotion viewpoint, what are the measures taken by the government so far? Have we learnt anything from the previous dissapointed tourists and try to improve our mistakes?

I once asked a Korean businessman during his business visit here in Germany if he would be interested to come to Brunei. His answer was a straight NO. I was not surprised by his answer. In fact, I believe there are more out there who think like he does. My dream is to change their minds one day. Therefore, we must take action!

Here are some suggestions i could think of:

1. Know your target consumers! From statistics, where do most tourists come from? Which countries have the highest no. of tourists? Who are our new target tourists? From there, we can limit our commercials to these countries - enough to represent other countries as well!
   
   
2. Commercials and advertisements on international TV, Magazines (Travel, TIMES n other business mags, National Geographic etc), Publications, international newspaper, internet (YOUTUBE, yahoo, google etc) and so on must Be creative. There are a lot of professional photographers (or even hobbyists) in Brunei. If necessary, employ professional companies for TV commercials from other countries. It's definitely worth the investment. Oh by the way, whoever produced the Jerudong Park commercial made a great job! Include also in adverts a six months schedule plan on what will take place in Brunei during the whole year. It helps travellers to plan and make Brunei sound interesting at least lol.
   
   
   
   
3. Jerudong Park, if not the maintenance... please consider the pricing policy! Does it make serious sense to pay $x for a certain game played? There are Disney Lands and Sunway Lagoon to be taken as examples. The adverts really lured me (yes i haven't been to JP since 2000 i think) Went in 2004/2005, I was really dissapointed.
   
   
4. More interesting programs and further improvement for the recreational parks, historic places and shopping centers. However, we must be aware that Europeans are different from Bruneians. They travel not to shop but in most cases trying to escape from the chaotic workplace and living environment.
   
   
5. Transportation system. Taxis from the APT are ridiculously expensive. Bus system are not properly organized. I admit that I do not know the progress in Brunei since the privatisation. Seriously, what is the point of having more hotels if it is very inconvenient for tourists to travel? Even Holiday Inn in Edinburgh has a bus stop in front of it and Brunei Hall has a metro station nearby.

For now, thats all i can think of kekeke

Brunei's 4 Billion Budget

I was reading brudirect.com this morning. The 4 billion budget for 2007 is approved. I hope this will be used in the right way. I think for SMB, their hope for success is to export abroad esp for consumer products & other services. I believe Brunei need more experts esp in the area of supply chain management and marketing. We need more consultants in all areas to assist the management. We need more professional auditors to make sure the accounts are clean and tidy. Companies need to be encouraged to comply with the international accounting and auditing standards.

We need more engineers to figure out ways to invent products that we can produce ourselves. If we lack skilled labour now, what can we do to reduce this problem, say in 5 years time? It is true that to import is cheaper but the time will come when we need to be self sufficient. And because our market is too small... exporting abroad is one of our main solutions. Ofcourse, i do not deny that it's a very complicated task to accomplish. Obstacles include large capital and financial investment and high level of international competition esp those companies which have already enjoyed the benefit of economies of scale.

I believe that the performance of the companies (large or small) that the government assist must be monitored. There is absolutely no point to continue supporting companies which continue to make losses! Bankruptcy can be avoided by other measures such as better management and new strategies.

I believe that not many in Brunei are impressed with students including myself who are sent abroad to study business. This is due to the fact that UBD offers the same course. However, here we have the possibility to learn from large companies such as IBM, HP, BASF, Mercedez etc. I do feel intimidated at times and hence my goal is to prove them wrong! We are the creative thinkers, strategist, the decision makers and believe me, businesses help the economy grow. And in this modern world, the need for economic, finance, marketing n management knowledge in all areas is almost inevitable.

I hope the above will not offend anyone and for opening up my mind, I hope i will not be tracked down lol! But yeah, that's Brunei :)

Today was a beautiful day bcos...

Expect the Unexpected

Today was full of unexpected happenings. It was a busy day. First, I couldn't extend my student card (after tryin hard translating the word "verlängern" lols), then the secretary couldn't find my "confirmation for registration" card. OMG! I had to see her colleague to find out what's wrong and after checking the database, opsss they are still missing 100€ semester fee!! OK That was sooo not in the agenda. The secretary told me it was a new rule introduced by the Student Union. I had no idea about that so i apologized and left. Basically, the whole costs went up by 500%!! It used to be 100€, now it is 600€ per semester! Nevertheless, it is still cheaper as compared to UK. I must always remember that kekeke :)

On the way back to the bus stop, I stopped for a few seconds because really, i could not believe what I saw! Was that really Jun??? (Jun is one of my closest frens here but he is working in Hamburg/Korea so i haven't seen him in more than 6mths) So it was him!! Gosh, that was really unexpected n I was sooo happy! We then had lunch n coffee js like old times :)

Reutlingen has not been the same without my frens n i miss them :( We talked and joked about a lot of things and he always have these useful advices and make me think outside the box. I remembered my frens calling me "Jun's favourite girl" infront of his father LOL but yeah, i was kinda close to him.

Anyhow, my day didn't have a good start but ended well :) Hopefully, the coming days will always be this bright n shiny :) :)

BruStu Gathering in Mannheim

Broodies Gathering on 17th Feb. and CNY Celebration on 18.02.07...siapa inda datang atu.... RUGI hehe :p

The Pictures ;)

Let's Cook Together!!!

TIME TO EAT!!!

AFTER DINNER

REUNION WITH SHIRLEY!!

Felt good to see her....Broodies is complete now kekeke

THE NEXT DAY... LUNCH & MANNHEIM COSTUME CARNIVAL

CHINESE NEW YEAR DINNER WITH THE GROUP

That was our 2days activities kekekeke

More Ramblings!

M.è.m.o.i.r.e.

I am trying to forget about my silly mistakes for getting 80% of the equations to this particular section mixed up. I had Cost accounting and I was looking for the summary card this morning. Rupanya tinggal on my bed! The question could be worth 25-30marks *sigh* so i try to keep my mind busy. Oh well...

I was on the way to UNI one day and i thought about things. Here are some of them:

This one is my ermm wats the english word for "waschmittel" ermmmmm ahaaa DETERGENT lol. I have been using this since i first came to Germany. It smells good! A guy fren used to tell my baju smells nice (oh I miss those days). AHAKZ! Even mum likes it. Our personal tutor, Hannah, recommended Dash to us. Banyak memories nie lol luckily she got paid to tolerate us lol. I remember us calling her to ask what cornflour is in german ....and she was in the middle of her love-making session lol. Classicssss!

O T H E R M E M O R I E S

This is the Faculty of SIB. Just half of it. This was taken during Autumn. I was in the library so i took pics of the building hehe. Actually this part of the building is where you can find the Dean's office. I cannot face him because everytime he's infront of me, i will feel as if the world is crushing down on me. lol. My friend asked me how i coped during his lectures? I said "Either i never looked at him or if i do, i imagine him as someone else :)" So i learn, that whatever your position may be.... be it a teacher, manager, friend; watch what you say. People can be easily demotivated... and i mean VERY! Dun get me wrong, I moved on but.... yeah... i lack confidence ever since :)


Would you like to wake up each morning thinking about the 10-15mins you need to spend clearing the snow on your car? This is infront of our house. I live in the basement. The owner of the car lives on 1st floor. So can i call him my housemate? Kekeke



Finally, the landlord's dog. He is BIG!! But he barks a lot. Kinda disturbing but overtime, its like music to the ear lol. IF there's a postman or anyone at the doorstep, he barks so i know when to check my mail ^_^

He's nice. He doesn't bite. Would you make him as a puppy? ;)

So exam is over............... what should i do during the holiday?!?!? =(

Breaktime.

PIZZA ANYONE?

Ermmmm.... i had my Economic Policy (ok i assumed it means this in English lol.) exam yesterday evening. It's really not funny when a Prof. says a certain topic is not relevant for the exam and suddenly *kweng3* .... 8 marks!! ok so if u dun read the topic, basically u wont know what to write, right? lol. I ordered Pizza for lunch. I was more interested in the seafood ingredients when looking at the menu n when the pizza came, i thought they lied about "Large Pizza" because....



It was super delicious with those thick filling *slurppp* Do you want some? :P

*Blank*

Rambling Rambling!

I was in the middle of doing my paper ..... until hunger strikes!! The blankness began. Nightmare! I have to submit it to my fren tomorrow to check my German. Last minute work. Tell me about it. Google Translator saved me n my time! Trust me, German is not easy. The same with any other languages. OK its js an excuse for my lazyness kekeke. Anyway back to Google Translator. In my opinion, it is much better than Altavista Translator. It's not 100% perfect but it's close. You js need to change the words a bit. So for those of you out there who might have a letter, certificate, contract or even an article in German which u hv no clue what its all about (and not to mention unwilling to get a professional translator to save $$), i really recommend the page.

I feel like time is chasing me!! The other day its Jan.1 and now it's the middle of the month! I haven't even thought about my resolutions haha. Oh well, when things in your life never turn out as planned, you will eventually stop planning :) In less than 2 weeks I will have my first exam and *sugar* i haven't even finish reading the whole chapters. Panic breakdown. Good luck Hafizah! All the Best.

I just had lunch. Food delivery again.


I was craving for pasta so today I ordered "Kawatini". 3 types of noodle or pasta backed with mushrooms, brocolli n cheese with napolean sauce. I requested no Tortellini because it was filled with minced beef. Coke and salad. All for €8.10. Not bad. Plus, the delivery man was handsome!! And i have his mobile number *lol*. Ofcourse i didnt ask. The bell for my apartment doesn't work so anyone who comes by MUST call me first. But i dunno y... he rang the bell anyway. Not mine but chose randomly!?! Heard him talking to the House owner. erksss.

I think i wrote a lot today. I should get back to work. Maybe next time, i will write something useful not js rambling :) Cheerss!

New Years Eve 2007

2007 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007

31st Dec 2006. This is the final night of 2006. So what did we do? For sure we did not go partying nor clubbing...queue nya panjanggggg!! So being good muslims haha we js had new year's eve dinner. We had to look around for restaurants. Either they were fully booked or closed!! Can you imagine? Restaurants closed on one of the busiest nights of the year?? OMG!! I went all the way from Reutlingen (around 80mins with the fastest train and 3 hrs with the slowest connection) so i was worried if we wouldnt be doing anything hahaha opssieee :P

so we ended up eating at Prince of India. Ate there once. It normally takes 30mins - 1 hour for your food to arrive. But the waiting is always worth it. The food was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s!!! After dinner, we went straight to Arif's place. Watched the Barcelona clips then head down to play the fireworks. It wasnt a great new year's eve because of the wind and the rain but we had great fun!! Yuly didn't want us to sleep. Am had PMS. Yuly n i both had a cold. lol. But we didn't sleep the whole night. Imagine six people in a 9m² room hehe. Am planned kan balik at 7am but..............time atu tah we started gossiping lol. so inda jadi lagi kekeke

At 11++ (i think) we went to Istanbul to have lunch. It was raining heavily!! ada mini hailstone lagi tu. If i get that right. haha. So in the end we were soaking wet!! Lunch was good as usual. My train came at 3.54pm. Missed the 3.30 one with ICE. In Stuttgart, I missed the connection train so i had to wait half an hour for the next one or even longer. OMG!!!! It was coollllddddd! Almost 1.5hrs later, i arrived home. *Phewww*

That was our new year celebration!! It might not be as big and lively as yours but..... It was really fun and i hope none of us will forget this....ever! :)

Barcelona Trip

THE MOVIE



THE PICS

summer during winter??

Yes believe it or not, winter this year in Germany is pretty warm. The sun is shining and it's really warm. Is it January already or end of April? The past years is not like this. Global warming? You figure. By this time, you will be cursing the cold weather, the slippery roads due to the snow, the strong wind or... you might even spend days on your bed due to fever!!

I am.... ofcourse enjoying the weather. I wish it would stay like this. I am not a fan of cold weather and slippery roads. I had winter fever recently.... imagine spending the night out in the rain and strong wind just to celebrate new years eve and erm Raya Aidiladha. OK i lied about the Raya part. What's there to celebrate anyway? No cow nor lamb to sacrifise here. Oh wait, they did sacrifise Saddam Hussein....in Iraq. The other muslims. :)

Anyway, i need to get back to work. Otherwise, the Germans would create war again. I can't wait for this semester to be over and done with. :) :) :)

Cheers!!