Yesterday, Australians all around the world celebrated Australia Day, i.e. their National Day. Australia has a fascinating history, and anyone who has met an Aussie knows that Aussies are a fun bunch. I would know; I have lived in Australia for over 10 years! Even if you haven't met an Aussie before, chances are that you are already thinking about personalities like Kyle Sandilands and the late Steve Irwin, celebrities like Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, artists like Kylie Minogue and Peter Allen, phrases like "G'Day mate!" and "shrimp on the barbie", songs like "A Land Down Under" and "I still call Australia Home", and places like Bondi and the Gold Coast.

These images come to my mind... 

A 1.7 metre long 'thong' from the Havaianas World Record Thong Challenge 2011

Greetings Readers! I just wanted to share a short one with you all. Every now and then, I receive tweets that grab a hold of my attention...and yesterday, I received this one:

(a huge JB fan): @bruneitweet can you guys make @justinbieber come here? It's my dream to see him...and I'm trying to chase it.

Of course, the name of the person who sent the tweet has been changed to protect them. My initial reaction was to chuckle when I read the tweet, but after I thought a little more about it, I stopped smiling. Allow me to share a few reasons why this tweet grabbed my attention: 

1. My guess is that the tweeter is actually serious about wanting to somehow connect with Mighty JB.

2. I remember what it was like to reeeeeallllly want to somehow connect with someone I admired (remember Winnie from The Wonder Years anyone?).

3. Two days ago, I sent out a similar tweet: 

BruneiTweet: Would love to chat and have a drink with @richardbranson. I'll find a way to make it happen.

So, dear "a huge JB fan", here's the thing. I don't like being told that I "cannot" do things, but I also don't like making promises I cannot keep. For now, let's keep this one for a revisit at a later date perhaps. I mean, anything is possible, right? And for the rest of us...

Greetings Readers! Check out this video of Eqah singing "If it isn't with you" featuring 'Step Up 3' star, Rick Malambri. Eqah was one of the finalists in the third season of Brunei's Passport to Fame (P2F) in 2010.

(for non-Flash browsers, click here)

Greetings Readers! I have a confession to make; I have never been a huge book-reader. Growing up, I was the kid who played Sonic on the Sega Mega Drive inside the house, and the kid who pretended to be Sonic outside of the house. I would have much preferred a story being read to me than a story being read. However, over the last 10 or so years, I dare say I have been reading more. Lately, in fact, I have been blogging less to make time to read more.

Most 'how to be a better blogger' lists will tell you to write and to write often. So we bloggers set time aside every day or week to sit in front of a computer monitor to write and then to write some more. We then proof read and re-proof read the post(s) before hitting the 'publish' button. Ah yes, the 'publish' button. Jimi Hendrix said "music is a safe kind of high". Well then, for bloggers, this is ours.

So then do we publish, publish and publish for the sake of it? Heaven forbid! (heheh, I read that phrase every now and then but never get to use it) If you are taking time out of your day to read what I write, then you deserve good stories and write-ups.

I say it often and I will say it again - Everyone has a Story. I intend to keep telling your Bruneian stories for a while yet, so I have been reading more so that I may write more.

Happy New Year Readers! This is my first blog post of the year, and I wanted to list a few things I would like to achieve this year. If you are anything like me, you too would have already given some thought to some sort of a list for this year. I wanted to list these out publicly so you guys can help keep me accountable. 8) However before I go on, allow me to digress.

I previously worked as a consultant for a publicly listed national Australian company, and one of the great things I was exposed to through my time there was billable hours. In a nut shell, I had targets to meet which was tracked by proprietary software. This meant that I could not just sit around doing nothing, wasting company time. We were also taught how to chart out S.M.A.R.T. goals. i.e. goals which were Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. This acronym is a simple and useful one to know and remember so that you and I do not trap ourselves with lofty "I want to change the world" type of statements.

So here they are - my 10 S.M.A.R.T. goals for 2011...