Home | Who is Reza Faizal?

Rizqun day

Me and my family check-in to Rizqun International Hotel today. Chose the Grand Deluxe Room which is actually similar to the Deluxe Room however it has an extra toilet room. The kids enjoying their afternoon swimming at the pool.
Rizqun Hotel Pool
Fa'iz and SyazaInside the room


It's Brunei 23rd National Day today. The grand celebration will be held tomorrow at the Taman Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddin in the capital. I was told by someone yesterday, there are 16,000 people involve in the celebration. This year theme is 'Iltizam Memperkasa Keupayaan Bangsa' or 'Commitment Empowering the Nation's Capabilities.'

What's up with the National Day website. I try to open it up this morning and this is was I saw.
National Day website
Checkout this video I took during the giant flag raising ceremony held on the 11th February 2007.
Brunei Navy Personnels



Related posts

Two weeks back, the gym have been putting up a sign on the big treadmills which says something like this "Use limited to 30 minutes during peak hours".

So far I've been ignoring the sign and still go for my 60 minutes run.
Today, there were this lady who really can't wait for us to finish. Both me and the runner on my right side was running more than 30 minutes already. The one on my left side just started his run. This lady keep on watching us from the back. She probably think we going to finish soon however we still keep on going. What bother me the most is her attitude and the way she look at us. Twice, she went to the counter lady looks like complaining about us.

I think it's about time JPMC gym add 1 or 2 new treadmills or sell some of the older treadmill and replace it with the new bigger treadmills.

Anyway, checkout my run summary below :


Speed against time
8.3km/h for 0-3 minutes

8.5km/h for 3 - 10 minutes

8.7
km/h for 10 - 20 minutes
9.1km/h for 20 - 30 minutes

9.6km/h for 30 - 40 minutes

10.1km/h for 40 - 50 minutes

9.5km/h for 50 - 60 minutes

* 9km in 58.26 minutes

Location : JPMC Gym
Distance : 9.26 KM
Time : 60 minutes
Inclination : 1.0
Calories burn : 739

+ 5 minutes cool down period, see picture

Related post :
  1. JPMC Treadmills
Notes :
Gym close tomorrow and saturday (23rd February) for the National Day Celebration

Home e-speed

Telbru have successfully replaced my faulty espeed1 service to espeed2 yesterday. Now my home internet is back in service. For one week I've been updating my blog either using my 3G line or from Coffee Bean, Gadong.

However my new espeed2 speed is not as fast as the espeed1 I normally experience. Most of the time I experience there’s a time lag. I'll do some troubleshooting before checking with Telbru.


Espeed1 ModemCompex Wireless Access Point/Switch and Espeed2 modem

I miss riding motorbike. I use to own this Yamaha Dragstar/Vstar 1100cc Custom. I bought it brand new from BM Motor in year 2005.
Dragstar 1100 Engine
I sold my bike end of last year after only owning it for one year plus. The handling is great and the riding is very smooth. However, I felt the exhaust sound is too quite for a great ride feeling. I was thinking of buying a Harley Davidson (HD) bike instead. I just love the exhaust sound made by HD bike. Secondly, my next bike should also have at least a touring bag attach to the side so that I can just put my notebook in the bag instead of carrying a bagpack.
Dragstar 1100 Gas Tank
The ultimate bike for me would be a HD Electra Glide. I've test ride one used Electra Glide bike. This bike comes with Harman Kardon Advance Audio System (CD/AM/FM/WM-MP3). It also comes with a two-way radio communication system which allow the driver to communicate with its passenger or with other bikers with two-way radio.
Dragstar sideview
To my biker friends, please be patience with me. I'm still deciding which bike to buy. Sometimes I get the feeling of getting a sport bike instead :) .

My favourite bike racers are Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi.

Skeptical run

I was feeling skeptical today whether I can run 60 minutes on the treadmill. Due to this feeling I started my run at my comfortable pace (8.5km/h) for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes of running, I felt more confident so I start increasing the speed. Check out my run summary below :

Speed against time
Walk at 5km/h for 1 minute
8.5km/h for 1 - 30 minutes
9.0km/h for 30 - 40 minutes
9.5km/h for 40 - 55 minutes
10.0km/h for 55 - 58 minutes
11.0km/h for 58 - 59.30 minutes
14.0km/h for 59.30 - 60 minutes (8.96KM)

Location : JPMC Gym
Distance : 8.96 KM
Time : 60 minutes
Inclination : 1.0
Calories burn : 733

+ 5 minutes cool down period, see picture

Who is Reza Faizal?

My name is Reza Faizal bin Haji Mohd. Nor.


I was born on the 19th February 1975 which makes me 32 this year. I'm the eldest and only son in my family. I have 4 sisters. I'm married to a lovely lady name "Mazriyani" and we are blessed with 3 childrens.

Fa'iz, 'Aqiel and Syaza

I graduated in B.Sc (Hons) Computer Sciences from University of Strathclyde, Glasgow UK in 1997. Work 3 years with the government, resigned and join the private sectors since November 2000.


I'm a health-conscious guy. I enjoy doing exercise especially running. Nowadays, I prefer running on treadmills. I normally run after work and weekends. Apart from keeping my body fit, it helps me clear my mind.

Me ... probably around 2 years old
I started this blog because I wanted to sell some personal items but then I don't really have much thing to sell and I can't post items for sell every day or every week. Apart from selling items, I use this blog to post up my running diary, Empire Cinema movie schedules, reviews plus any other stuffs I feel like posting. I only started blogging end of last year and discover that through blogging I actually make lot of new friends.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Do keep on visiting from time to time. I fully appreciate any feedbacks and comments made.

Reza Faizal

Birthday run

I was feeling abit tired and lazy to go to the gym today. I got to force myself to go. Need to do some exercise after a heavy Dim Sum breakfast at Dynasty this morning. Check out my run summary below :

Speed against distance
8.5km/h for 0km - 1km
8.7km/h for 1km - 2km
9.0km/h for 2km - 5km
* at this point my right calf muscle feel abit tight, walk for a minute (5km/h) then pause to stretch the legs then continue running
8.6km/h for 5.xx km - 7.6km
12km/h for 7.6km - 8km (54.33 minutes)

Location : JPMC Gym
Distance : 8.0 KM
Time : 54.33 minutes
Inclination : 1.0
Calories burn : 633

+ 5 minutes cool down period, see picture

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to my cousins Sumanty and Sally, my friend Pg Azam, my friend (Dani) wife and Mr. D.Kar. Also happy birthday to the guy below.

Pic #1. Me, my sisters and Rusyidah | Pic #2. Fa'iz

Pic #3. Da missus | Pic#4. Aidi


Birthday cake

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy New Year to all Chinese relatives, friends, colleagues and visitors to this site. I'm ¼ chinese. My mother is ½ chinese (father chinese, mother dusun). Every year, first house I visit for the open house is my grandma and uncle house.

Syaza Hamani ready to go grandma house
My parents and niece (Alya)
Nephew (Syafiq)Nephew (Daniel)

I didn't run for 6 days. Only today I manage to go to the gym for my run. The first 20 minutes I ran at 8.5km/h, then increase to 9.0km/h till I reach 5KM distance. Walk for few minutes before pressing the "cool down" button.

Location : JPMC Gym
Distance : 5.0 KM

Time : 34.28 minutes

Inclination : 1.0

Calories burn : 410


+ 5 minutes cool down period, see picture

Notes :
JPMC Gym close tomorrow for the Chinese New Year public holiday

Today is HRH Crown Prince 33th birthday. Last year after his birthday, I start seeing him driving a new Lamborghini car. I always wonder if he got the car for his birthday present.

HRH Crown Prince at Sengkurong Mosque

Interrogative pronoun

What :
shén me
Where :
nǎ li
Who :
shéi
When :
shén me shí jian (or) shén me shí hòu
Which :
nǎ ge

When asking a question. The order should always be same as declaration sentence i.e. Subjective + Verb + Objective

Example

Question :
tā shì shén me míngzi (he is what name)
Answer :
tā shì zhang hóng (he is zhang hong)

Question :
tā shì shéi péng yǒu (he/she is whose friend)
Answer :
tā shì wǒ de péng yǒu (he/she is my friend)

Word comes from outside (Words borrow from other language)

Coca-cola :
kěkǒu kě lè
Chocolate :
qiǎo kè lì
Aspirin :
ā sī pǐ lín
Coffee :
kā fēi
Tank :
tǎnkè
Hamburger :
hān bǎo bāo
Lemon :
níng méng
Soda :
su dá
Motorcycle :
mó tuō chē
Sofa :
shā fā
Jacket :
jiā kè
Salad :
shā lā

Other new words learn

birthday : shēng rì
phone number :
diàn huà
female :

male :
nán
women :
nǚ rén
men :
nán rén
classmate : t
óng xué
we/us : wǒ men
you (more than 1) : nǐ men
they : tā men
go :
know : rèn shi

Country

Brunei : wén lái
Singapore : xīn jiā pō
Malaysia : mǎ lái xī yà
Japan : rì běn
Korean : háng guó
United Kingdom (U.K) : y
īng guó
U.S.A : m
ěi guó

Notes : To say the citizen in the country just add the word "rén" after the country. Example, bruneian is call wén lái rén

Adverb

Word place in front of verb. Subjective + Adverb + Verb + Objective

: also, as well, too
dōu : all; both

Example :

wǒ yě
shì wén lái rén
I'm also a bruneian

wǒmen dōu
shì wén lái rén
We are all bruneian

: no, not, negative
méi : not, not exist

Example :

wǒ yě bù
shì wén lái rén
I'm also not a bruneian

I’ve been subscribing to espeed (espeed1) service to my home ever since JTB (now Telbru) launch this service in November 2000. If I calculate that, it’s BND 98.00 per month and up till January 2007, total up to BND 7,350.00 (6 years 3 months) excluding the modem and installation charges. Wow… that’s a lot of money.

My home espeed has been out of service since Tuesday (12th Feb 2007) evening. My wireless router can’t get the WAN IP address. I try connecting directly from the modem to my notebook and still the same problem.

13th Feb 2007 – Da missus called up 121 and complains regarding this problem. An engineer call her back and said they had done a reset at their end but she told him it still didn’t work. He also said that it is our router problem.

14th Feb 2007 – I called up 121. It’s a different engineer attending the call. All he can say is to do an “ipconfig /release” and “ipconfig /renew”. After 30 minutes on the phone the guy says he will call us back.

15th Feb 2007 – Finally today, we got a call from Telbru saying that their whole espeed1 is out of service (I can’t confirm that). They don’t have any service maintenance with their supplier anymore and would like to change our espeed1 to espeed2 by tomorrow (I’m crossing my fingers).

So why didn’t I change to espeed2 earlier?

At first when I heard JTB/Telbru want to change everyone to espeed2 more than one year back, I just keep myself quiet. I heard lots of complain with espeed2 so I didn’t apply or ask them to change mine.

Finally, around September last year Telbru send a letter to me informing that they will be replacing our espeed1 to espeed2 anytime. Well, I didn’t reply to that letter but then I also have no objection of them replacing my espeed as long as I don’t need to pay for it.

3 months back, a guy did come to our house wanting to change our espeed. Telbru or their contractor didn’t call us up in advance that someone will be coming. So when the guy came to the house, only the maid was at home and the maid have no clue what this guy want so he just went back.

He came for a second time few days after that. We did told the maid where the espeed modem located. Then this guy call up saying we have “no computer” at home. Yes, I have no computer at home. I’m using wireless access and all of us using notebooks. He says he will come again and bring his own notebook to test.

Third time, well no one came for the third time.

December 2006 or was it early January 2007, I went to Telbru HQ and fill up a form to request to change my espeed1 to espeed2. I put in my contact number and told them I prefer them to come to the house either Friday or Saturday. Well, I have yet to receive a call from them regarding my request.

I’m updating this post using a dial-up account. It's sooooooo slow. I’ve not use dial-up account for so many many years already.

p/s.
Met LisaDragon in my meeting with one of the government department today. Checkout her site!

First we started with a revision from previous class.

Mandarin : Duì bù qǐ!
English : I am sorry!

Mandarin : Méi guān xi!
English : That’s all right.

Mandarin : Xièxie!
English : Thank you!

Mandarin : Búkèqi!
English : You’re welcome!

Mandarin : Xiūxi yíhuìr
English : Have a rest / Take a break

Mandarin : Hǎo ba
English : All right

Mandarin : Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
English : You call/called what name?

Notes :
Updating in progress!!!!
Chinese friends if I make some mistakes in this post, please correct me!

YB Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Mejar Jeneral (B) Dato Seri Seri Pahlawan Haji Awang Mohammad bin Haji Daud arriving during the "Giant flag raising ceremony".

Arrival of Guest-of-Honour


Time break

Espeed at home is down. Got to go hospital now.

Updating after I go back from hospital.

Figure out who is who?

Picture #1
Picture #2
Picture #3
Damn.... I didn't shoot the BlackCat a.k.a UcingItam. Perhaps next time!

This morning I went to bandar to see the National Flag raising ceremony in conjunction with the 23rd National Day Celebration (23rd February). The ceremony was held at the open foyer of the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation (in front of the SOAS Mosque).
The venue
Guest of honour was the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, YB Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Mejar Jeneral (B) Dato Seri Seri Pahlawan Haji Awang Mohammad bin Haji Daud. He arrived around 8:25am. The ceremony started with the recital of Al-Fatihah and Doa, then the opening remark by the Permenant Secretary of Culture, Youth and Sports, YM Dato Paduka Haji Jemat bin Haji Ampal followed by speech from the guest of honour.
Guest of Honour
Personnel from the Royal Brunei Navy then enters to raise the giant national flag of Brunei Darussalam.
Royal Brunei Navy personnel
The giant flag was then handed over by the guest of honour to the Royal Brunei Navy. They raised the giant flag accompanied by the National Anthem.

Please stand for the National Anthem of Brunei Darussalam


Also not forgetting, there was a choir group who sang the patriotic songs during the ceremony.
Choir group
This is the first time I went to see the ceremony and I didn’t expect it to be a very formal function. Should I knew it earlier, I will wear something more appropriate. Probably then I can get more close up photos.

Click here for more information on the Brunei 23rd National Day Celebration.

Bloggers I saw/met there

Bandar360, Bruneian, Kantalensa and his sidekick, Puzian, SoulJah, UcingItam, Zack. Mr BR was also there as one of the guest for the ceremony.

Today run wasn't that good. I can't finish 60 minutes run non-stop. Check out my run summary below :


Speed against distance
8.5km/h for 0-20 minutes
9.0km/h for 20-40 minutes
9.5km/h for 40-48 minutes
* at this point I was feeling very tired, walk for 2 minutes @ 5km/h
10.0km/h for 50-55 minutes
* again I walk for 2 minutes @ 5km/h
12.1km/h for 57-58 minutes
* that's it... I'm too tired, walk for 2 minutes + 5 minutes cool down


Location : JPMC Gym
Distance : 8.6 KM
Time : 60 minutes
Inclination : 1.0
Calories burn : 697

+ 5 minutes cool down period, see picture

My head was feeling tired after a long project meeting in office. Went to gym for my run to clear my mind. Now I'm feeling more fresh, anyway got to do some more work tonight. Checkout my run summary below :

Speed against distance
8.5km/h for 0-20 minutes
9.0km/h for 20-40 minutes
9.5km/h for 40-55 minutes
* 9km in 59.44 minutes
10.0km/h for 55-60 minutes

Location : JPMC Gym
Distance : 9.04 KM
Time : 60 minutes
Inclination : 1.0
Calories burn : 741

+ 5 minutes cool down period, see picture

Why no run?

Adidarwish post a message in my cbox "Why no run?". :)

Yes... I didn't run for the past 4 days. Why?

  • Sunday (4/Feb) - Rest day, 2 days of 9km running (Friday & Saturday)
  • Monday (5/Feb) - No motivation to run
  • Tuesday (6/Feb) - Still the same feeling as Monday
  • Wednesday (7/Feb) - Was planning to run but went back quite late. Also need to go UBD for my Mandarin class at 7pm.
So today, I manage to do a short run. Need to be back home before 6:30pm.

Location : JPMC Gym

Distance : 5.0 KM

Time : 34.14 minutes

Inclination : 1.0
Calories burn : 414

+ 3~4 minutes walk at 5km/h pace before pressing the "cool down" button
+ 5 minutes cool down period, see picture

I actually missed my first class. I didn't know that first lesson started on the 5th Feb 2007. I thought it starts today. Anywhere, for today lessons we started with learning numbers in Mandarin.

Numerals
One to tenNumber table
Other example:
  • 10 0000 shí wàn
  • 20 0000 èr shí wàn
Chinese use 4 digits compare to English 3 digits.

Dates

Day - Month - Year
hào - yuè - nián

When we say date in Chinese we say it backward i.e. Year, Month then Day. For example todays date 7th February 2007. We say it "èr líng líng qī nián èr yùe hào".

Second lesson

nín guì xìng? -
you honorable surname/family name? (direct translation) or
what's your surname

wǒ xìng mohd. nor
I/me surname is mohd. nor

nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
you call what name? or
What's your name?

jiào reza
I/me call reza

By next class, student should be able to speak in mandarin :
  1. Say the date of the day
  2. Say your own phone number
  3. Tell your birthday date
  4. Say your name

Bruneian is selling his Canon EOS 20D. Selling price is BND 950.00 inclusive of one 1GB and one 512MB CF Card. If you interested please email to bruneiforever@gmail.com


Checkout the review for this camera here.
Canon EOS 20D

EOS 20D Major Features
  • Lightweight and durable magnesium alloy body
  • Canon EOS (EF/EF-S) lens mount, 1.6x focal magnifier
  • New 8-megapixel, CMOS image sensor, low-noise / wide dynamic range
  • Recording choice of 6 levels of JPEG, CR2 RAW, or RAW plus JPEG (choice of 6 different levels of JPEG)
  • All-new 9-point AF unit with high precision cross-type center sensor has one full stop better low-light performance than the EOS 10D
  • Ultra-fast start-up time of 0.2 seconds, only 65ms shutter lag time
  • Adobe RGB and sRGB color space selection
  • New high-speed mirror drive normally found only in pro-level models allows a major reduction in viewfinder blackout time
  • Processing parameters include 2 presets, 3 custom sets, adjustable for contrast, sharpness, saturation and color tone, and the new monochrome mode which includes built-in digital filtration for yellow, orange, red and green, and print toning in sepia, blue, purple and green.
  • 12 shooting modes, seven Basic Zone modes (Full Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close-Up, Sports, Night Portrait and Flash Off) and five Creative Zone modes (Standard Program AE, Shutter-Priority AE, Aperture-Priority AE, Manual and Depth-Of-Field AE)
  • 35-zone TTL metering, Evaluative (linked to all focusing points), Center-weighted average, or 9.5% central-area spot metering
  • White Balance: Auto, six presets and Manual color temperature (2800-10,000°K in 100° increments) and can be corrected for blue, amber, magenta or green.
  • Continuous mode capture: 5fps up to 23 frames (6 frames in RAW mode)
  • Shutter speeds: 30 to 1/8,000 seconds, 1/250 sec. flash sync
  • Eye level TTL viewfinder with diopter adjustment, illuminated AF points, depth-of-field preview and detailed information display.
  • AE bracketing and White balance bracketing
  • 1.8 inch, color TFT LCD, 118,000 pixels, 5 levels of brightness
  • Playback histogram and up to 10x image zoom
  • ISO Range: 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1,600 (3200 with ISO speed extension)
  • 18 Custom Functions with 50 settings available
  • Built-in E-TTL II popup flash with red-eye reduction.
  • Hot shoe for Canon EX Speedlites and standard PC flash sync connector
  • CompactFlash Type II card slot, Microdrive and FAT32 compatible
  • High-speed USB 2.0 interface for fast image downloads
  • Video Out with selectable NTSC or PAL timing
  • Powered by new BP-511A Li-ion battery pack with 25% more capacity. CG-580 rapid charger included

Motivation to run

I didn't go for my run yesterday and today. Somehow I'm feeling less motivated to run. Anyway, I've been surfing the web tonight, first googling for "motivation to run" ended up looking at some magic tricks videos at "You Tube". Here's one that I would like to share.



Small snake

I saw a small snake this morning at Bukit Shahbandar. See the photo and video below!

That's not the tongue
I think it's swallowing either a small lizard or a small snake




Nothing special about the run today. I was planning to increase my speed after the 50 minutes mark but stomach felt hungry. Slow down to 9.3km/h instead just to finish my 60 minutes run.

Speed against distance
8.7km/h for 0-10 minutes
9.0km/h for 10-20 minutes
9.3km/h for 20-30 minutes
9.7km/h for 30-40 minutes
9.9km/h for 40-50 minutes
* 48th minutes onward, stomach felt hungry :)
9.3km/h for 50-60 minutes
* 9km in 58.05 minutes

Location : JPMC Gym
Distance : 9.26 KM
Time : 60 minutes
Inclination : 1.0
Calories burn : 756

+ 5 minutes cool down period, see picture

For the month of January, all my run were done indoor i.e. JPMC gym treadmill. Below are my run statistics for last month. This figures exclude the 5 minutes cool down period at the end of each run.


Running time
Running distances
Calories burn during run
Summary :

Total running distances : 82.42 KM
Total running time : 9 hours 19 minutes
Total calories burn during run : 6,739

JPMC gym got a new TV installed. I just wonder what happen to the old one. The old one is almost double the size of the new TV. I think the old one is a projection TV but the new one looks like a plasma TV. I don't think it's an LCD TV.

Anyway, my run wasn't that bad today. Still manage to reach 9KM under 60 minutes. Checkout the summary below.

Speed against distance
8.5km/h for 0-15 minutes
9.0km/h for 15-20 minutes
9.3km/h for 20-25 minutes
9.7km/h for 25-35 minutes
* lower leg muscles for both sides feel weak, walk for 1:30 minutes at 5km/h before continue my run again
8.5km/h for 36.30 45 minutes
9.0km/h for 45-50 minutes
9.5 to 10.0 km/h for 50-55 minutes (0.1km/h increase every minutes)
10.2km/h for 55-56 minutes
10.5km/h for 56-59 minutes
13.0km/h for 59-60 minutes
* 9km in 59.43 minutes

Location : JPMC Gym
Distance : 9.1 KM
Time : 60 minutes
Inclination : 1.0
Calories burn : 714

+ 5 minutes cool down period, see picture

I'm stuck

Today I don't know what to post about. Actually, I do have few things I wanted to post but I don't feel like posting it today.

Office work have been very busy. My overseas guests just flew back. I haven't been to the gym for 4 days and I miss my treadmill run. BTW... thanks SirT, for providing some updates on the JPMC gym. Tomorrow I must go to the gym to do my 60 minutes run and checkout the new flat screen TV.

What picture can I share today?

I took this photo when I visited Brunei airport control tower. The 3 displays is suppose to show the windspeed at the runway from one end, middle and the other end.
Airport runway windspeed measurement