Destinations

Greetings Readers! On Saturday 29th May 2011, the Waterfront in Bandar Seri Begawan was relaunched. Throngs made their way to the Capital for the opening of the revamped Waterfront which is located by the historical Customs Building in Bandar Seri Begawan, sitting across from Kampong Ayer. Also, Sunday 29th May 2011 saw a Jazz Festival co-hosted by Alliance Francaise which featured local talents Feez Madea, Fakhrul Razi, Sam Siren and others who entertained the crowds and local fans.

I was unable to attend neither the event nor the festivities surrounding it, but many folks from the Bruneian Twitterverse did. From the tweets across the last weekend of May 2011, the events were well attended and the music was much appreciated.

Readers, if you have photographs from local or international events and would like to share them with the world through my blog, I would love to hear from you. Reach me here.

And oh, did I mention there were fireworks?

Photograph by @Anehff9

Greetings Readers! I had lunch at Thien Thien's Gadong branch today. I usually ask for a lemon-ping, an order of chicken rice and a bowl of their ngau-lam / beef brisket soup. For us locals, Thien Thien needs no introduction. For those of you who have never been, I dare say just ask anyone in Brunei and the person could point you in the right direction. Thien Thien Restaurant is known for their chicken rice. Known.

Ah yes, chicken rice. Such a humble dish, yet so comforting...so simple, yet so darn tasty if done properly. And oh, chicken rice AND chilli at the same time? Mmm mmm mmm. 8) And here's the thing that amazes me. Today, as I sat there eating, I ran through a list of marketing questions in my mind. Do they have any fancy schmancy gimmick? No. Do they have a catchy tag line? No. Have I ever seen a Thien Thien advertisement in the papers? No. Is there anything special about their decor? No. Do I know the history behind Thien Thien? Have I ever had an in depth chat with the management there? Do I know why they chose the name 'Thien Thien'? Do I know the cooking mechanics that go into preparing a plate of their famous chicken rice? Are they on Twitter? No, No, No, No and No.

However, these I do know - I have been eating Thien Thien's chicken rice since I was a kid. Their service is fast and unassuming. Most, if not all Bruneians overseas miss eating Thien Thien's chicken rice or could tell you about Thien Thien. The food there is affordable. Perhaps above all else, their chicken rice always tastes great, be it at their Gadong, Kiulap or Seri branch. Always? Always.

Taste and see for yourselves.

Big Love!

My order and the general table layout