Irene and her husband are new friends that I got to know recently as a result of an interesting job vacancy advertised by Irene.� She and her husband are the owners of Glorious Hair & Beauty Supplies situated on the second floor of Bintang Megamall. If you need any hair accessories & equipment, beauty & cosmetic products or nail art accessories, head down to their store….they have an interesting range of products.

I was at their shop at Bintang Megamall yesterday afternoon when two beautiful Caucasian ladies walked into the shop.� I immediately thought they must be contestants in the just-concluded Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010. They shopped for a while and as they were about to leave the shop after paying for their purchases, I plucked up the courage to ask them if they were contestants in the beauty pageant. They spoke very limited English but one of them replied that she is Miss Azerbaijan. Her friend did not respond and walked out of the shop. I quickly asked Miss Azerbaijan’s permission to take a photo of her. She very sportingly agreed and struck up this pose for me.

Miss Azerbaijan...isn't she sporting?

It was almost 5.30 pm when I left Bintang Megamall with my wife. We decided to try out the new Hong Kong themed Food & Tea Restaurant at Boulevard Commercial Centre. The interior of the restaurant is a bit crammed but they have a lot of tables on the five foot pathway outside the restaurant. The place was packed as it just opened for business a couple of days ago.

Food & Tea Restaurant

A view of the restaurant

Part of the deco inside the restaurant

I ordered Shanghai style vegetable rice with roasted honey spare ribs and “Ying Yong in Hong Kong” drink while my wife ordered cheese baked rice with chicken chop and lemon green tea. This is how the dishes we ordered look like in the menu.

Shanghai style vegetable rice with roasted honey spare ribs

Cheese baked rice with chicken chop

My order came first. I forgot to take a photo of the dish before eating so I do not have a photo to show here. When my wife’s order arrived, I quickly took a photo of it and this is how it looked like.

Cheese baked rice with chicken chop

I found my honey roasted spare ribs a tad too sweet for my liking and my wife did not like the taste of the chicken chop at all. The drinks were also rather ordinary. Not a satisfying meal, that is my comment. The bill came to RM35.30.

The restaurant menu boasts of� over 200 choices so you may find something that is to your liking. Go try it out!

Myriam Janeth Abreu Medfina, representing Venezuela, was crowned Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010 last night by Sarawak’s Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan at the Miri Indoor Stadium.

Miss Venezuela Wins

First runner-up was Miss Australia, Kelly Louise Maguire. Miss America, Amy Diaz, was the second runner-up. Congratulations to the winners!

Winners of the Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010

Miss Malaysia, Darcia Marselynna, won the subsidiary title of “Miss Congeniality”. The “Best Talent” title went to Miss Germany, Klaudia Domagalska. Miss Netherlands, Djamila Celina Mercherts, won the “Best National Costume” title.� Miss Mexico, Leslie Ines Quezada Bueno, took home the “Best Evening Gown” title.

Below are photos of 30 of the contestants taken during their stint at Grand Palace Hotel a few days ago. All the photos in this blog post are by the courtesy of Chris Gan of Grand Palace Hotel Miri. Thanks, Chris!

Miss Australia

Miss Azerbaijan

Miss Belarus

Miss Brazil

Miss China

Miss Estonia

Miss Ethiopia

Miss Germany

Miss Hong Kong

Miss India

Miss Japan

Miss Kyrghyzstan

Miss Latvia

Miss Lebanon

Miss Macau

Miss Malaysia

Miss Mexico

Miss Netherlands

Miss New Zealand

Miss Pakistan

Miss Russia

Miss Singapore

Miss South Africa

Miss South Korea

Miss Taiwan

Miss Thailand

Miss Tunisia

Miss Ukraine

Miss USA

Miss Venezuela...she really exudes confidence!

Chris Gan With Some of the Contestants

The Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010 Finale will be held at the Miri Indoor Stadium tonight. The pageant is organized by Alaric Productions which is owned by Malaysian Alaric Soh. It is being held in Miri in conjunction with Miri�s fifth anniversary as a city.

Miri Indoor Stadium

Thirty three finalists are vying for the title. These thirty three finalists are from Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, China, Estonia, Ethiopia,� Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kyrghyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, USA and Venezuela.

The beauty pageant has stirred up controversy in Taiwan. Amanda Chen Pei Ying, representing Taiwan, has sparked a war of words between two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators in Taiwan after photos showed her wearing a �Miss Taiwan China� sash.

Miss Taiwan Amanda Chen(photo courtesy of Chris Gan)

DPP Legislator Chen Yin said that the organizers undermined Taiwan�s sovereignty and that Amanda Chen �had problems recognizing her own country.�

Speaking to the Liberty Times, Amanda Chen denied that the sash was a big issue for her and said that she did not see the need to ask organizers to change the wording. �China is very friendly toward me, so the sash doesn�t need to be changed,� the newspaper quoted Amanda Chen, who reportedly works in China, as saying.

However, in a turn of events that left the DPP lawmaker red-faced, it was later revealed that Amanda Chen is connected with DPP Legislator Yu Tien through his son Yu Hsiang-chuan, who is Amanda Chen�s boyfriend.

The Chinese-language website NOWnews quoted Yu Tien criticizing Chen Ying yesterday afternoon, saying that her comments crossed the line and that she should instead empathize with the contestant.

�What kind of bullshit is she saying? What does she mean by problems recognizing her own country?� Yu Tien was quoted as saying. �Chen Ying has no right criticizing my son�s girlfriend.�

�She has no choice, being out there alone. Instead, what has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs done for her? I think that the problem lies with Taiwan�s government,� Yu Tien said.

Another snag that hit the pageant was the absence of Vietnam�s Kim Dung . Kin Dung was supposed to take part but she was not granted licence to participate because she has not won any titles in national beauty contests. She therefore did not meet Vietnam�s Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism�s standard to represent Vietnam in international beauty pageants. Kim Dung was the Bronze Cup winner at the Vietnam Supermodel 2009 contest which means she can compete in international model competitions but not beauty pageants.

Vietnam's Kim Dung

Malaysia is represented by student Darcia Marselynna, 20, from Miri. She was the first runner up in Miss Borneo Beautiful 2009 and is of Malay and Chinese parentage.

The contestants have varied backgrounds and include students, models, beauty therapists, environmental spokesperson, lecturer, TV host, general manager, tour guide, actress and cabin crew.

The tallest among the contestants is Pakistan’s Asma Waheed. Aged 24, she is 180 cm tall and weighs 65 kg and her hobby is car racing.

The shortest is 21-year old Ane Coertze, a beauty therapist from South Africa who stands at 162 cm and weighs 50 kg and lists scuba diving as her hobby.

The youngest is Panama’s Maria Alejandra Tejada, 18, a student of social communication and whose hobby is reading. Her height is 176 cm.

Who will win the coveted title of Miss Tourism Intercontinental 2010 tonight? Check out my blog post tomorrow!