Turquoise and Roses

Apparently, we’re in the top 20 happiest nations in the world. Well, I don’t know. I don’t personally know a Bruneian who is sad all the time, so maybe the list has some truth to it.

It didn’t say where Israel is on the list. Maybe I should search for “top ten most anal nations”.

Click on image above to watch video.

Dancing merrilly without any physical contact whatsoever, while everyone else watches. This video is not for the faint hearted.

I’m speechless.

After checking my blog statistics this morning (yes, I admit to the whole world, I am a statistic whore), I’ve discovered that one particular site has been generating a lot of traffic!

Turns out, Ranoadidas.com did a review on my blog. Hah, that would be the first time I actually get formally reviewed.

For those who wonder, the name ‘Turquoise and Roses’ was inspired by the band Guns & Roses. Deep down, I’m an ol’skool rocker chick, . Right, for more information please visit my About section.

Anyway anyway, welcome, welcome new readers! I’m an honest blogger, I speak my mind. So stick around, great things might happen.

Aside from blogging, singing is also known to be quite therapeutic, especially when one knows all the lyrics.

Fact: Maurina loves to karaoke.

Fact: All Bruneian families have at least one karaoke machine at home or know someone very close who does.

Fact: Weddings are an important avenue to show off one’s vocal skills.

Fiction: With all the practice from karaoke-ing all the time at home, most Bruneians can sing very well.

On a personal note, I am absolutely tired!

Hahaha! Read this.

Jump on the “I’d-Like-to-Take-Advantage-of-Brunei’s-Royal-Scandals” bandwagon, why don’t ya!

Plugs out to girls (and guy, hehe) from the Bruneian blogging scene who came to the Summer Blogger Gathering.

Tina

Atul

Fz (pronounced Feeeeez)

Amal

Dee (should I link you or should I not)

Lish

Goose

Much fun. Much love! We’ll have another one some other time!

While Phnom Penh is the Pearl of Asia, our very own Brunei is called the Venice of the East.

(Photo by David Cheok)

Personally, I find that, Ziana-Zain-is-Malaysia’s-J-Lo type comparison rather cringeworthy. Ick.

Omigod, okay.

Pardon me for being excited. I have never been able to do much customisation (or rather personalisation) eversince I moved to WordPress. So everytime I find out that a new theme is uploaded by WordPress, I become immensely excited.

IMAGINE THE EXCITEMENT WHEN I CAN ACTUALLY CHANGE MY HEADER IMAGE. Observe the bakawali picture I have uploaded and is now on my header. I am even willing to overlook the fact that my sidebar settings has completely disappeared and is replaced with… an ugly underbar? I’m just going to enjoy my moment of being able to personalise something on WordPress.

Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

FOR BLOGGER USERS WHO ARE THINKING OF MOVING TO WORDPRESS: Don’t! Unless you are willing to sacrifice the extent that you can actually personalise your layouts.

UPDATE: Turns out, other themes also has the Custom Image Header option! Nyahahaha!!! Suka ku sukaaaa!!! Oh by the way, guess how much I bought those shoes for.

Lebih kurang 7 jam yang lalu, saya menulis sebuah pos yang serba sedikit menyentuh tentang ketiadaan Bahasa Melayu atau Bahasa Beku dalam lebuh kasual dan pertuturan harian. Saya seterusnya menyatakan bahawa ketiadaannya itu telah menyebabkan ramai anak Brunei buta akan bahasa demikian.

Apakah yang telah mencucuhkan perandaian ini? Adakah ini tanda nyata bahawa Bahasa Beku akan pupus?

Di manakah keutamaan seharusnya diberikan? Pada Bahasa Beku yang tidak digunakan di alam pertuturan kasual? Atau pada Bahasa Brunei yang tidak diajar atau diseru tetapi lebih bermakna dalam kehidupan harian?

Exactly how many of us speak the official language of Bahasa Melayu that we learn in schools?

I most certainly do not. Saya tidak dapat membayangkan hidup saya apabila terpaksa bertutur dalam bahasa yang sungguh kompleks ini. Tapi mun kamu kan nyuruh aku becakap Berunai, inda ku payah dipajal.

Difficult. Piece of cake.

I primarilly speak Bahasa Brunei and I personally do not know anyone who actually speak Bahasa Melayu other than those who teach it.

Hmm. Why is the official language the language that no one speaks? Or do people actually speak it but I happen to not socialise with them?

Written. That is the only place where I see Bahasa Melayu. Not spoken. When spoken, only in the news – heavilly scripted and choreographed, meaning that it was written before it was spoken.

Points to ponder, points to ponder.

You know, I would love to see a blog of which the primary language is Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Brunei. Especially, those people who so frequently writes in the HYS forums, it would be interesting to read don’t you think?

You know what kind of people I do NOT like?

Pretentious people who label everything by status.

People who get so caught up in status and social classes that they actually hinder the process of having fun.

People who think that just because they have achieved a certain level in society, it means that they have gained the right to become condescending little bitches, better than every single being on earth.

People that take pains to make sure that they are surrounded with people from the in-crowd.

Rich, spoilt brats that do not respect their intelligence by being stupid on purpose.

Urkgh. Eww.

Being a bitch is so last season, just so you know. This is a good time for you to start being nice.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE MOST ATTRACTIVE 60 YEAR OLD I KNOW.

He’ll always have that special place in my heart forever.

So some of you might know that I am currently very much involved, and is extremely honoured to be so, for the rest of the week with the International Forum on Disaster Relief held at the Rizqun International Hotel.

The Opening Ceremony was today, officially launched by our very own Pengiran Muda Mahkota, who, I must add, seemed quite lost in the whole debacle. No, it is not an insult. It’s an assertion of his normalcy: you would look very lost too if you had to give an opening speech to a crowd of people (doctors and experts, no less) who do presentations all their lives, especially if your own speech was written by someone else.

Anyway, the focal point of my blog entry is not the Pengiran Muda’s speech style or habits. However, more towards the people I’ve met today. They are people, who dedicated their lives towards the betterment of others, at the cost of theirs. And sometimes, these group of people just don’t get enough credit and are taken for granted.

One of the amazing women I’ve met today was the President of MERCY Malaysia, Datuk Dr. Jemilah Mahmood. She gave a wonderful presentation that just almost drove me to tears. Of course, I am hardly the kind of person to go around in poverty stricken countries to give them food and supplies. I would probably cry everyday, heartbroken with all the suffering and eventually die of depression.

However, she said something very important that reminded me of my blog, me blogging and all Brunei blogs as a general,

“If we don’t speak up, we don’t stand a chance”

Our small voices can one day, become a strong and formidable voice. Yet, cooperation is needed, collaboration is seeked. Rise to the challenge: don’t be afraid to express opinions. Don’t be afraid to encourage discussions. God knows, we might be helping a lot of people.

I’ve just came home from an outing to Pantai Tungku with my sisters and aside from feeling slightly irritated with my perpetually untanned skin, I am also extremely angry. Why you ask? Well, here. Observe these wounds that I have acquired while swimming.

Well, it didn’t really look very serious. I have taken these photos after I’ve stopped bleeding.

Want to know what caused those cuts? Read on.

No, not a snake. PUKAT!!! SHARP BITS STILL INTACT!!! And the thing is that picture only shows part of the whole pukat which the boyfriend cut off. Some bits was buried in the sand so we couldn’t pull it to shore.
Anyway, rant: What irresponsibility to leave pukats in a public swimming hole!

Imagine the scenario: I was in almost-chin deep water with my legs stuck in a freaking pukat!

Just a few feet away, there were a few kids swimming around. Yeah, what if it was THEM.

I was lucky I was in water where the level was low enough where I could still stand and not be submerged completely.
CURSES. I was f***ing scared!

What made me exceptionally angry is that, this incident wouldn’t have happened if some responsibility was observed! It didn’t have to happen, seriously.

Pure rants in the following section. Don’t bother if you can’t speak Brunei Malay.

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