23 Oct 09 - Lunch Catering at PPUM

My morning kicked off at 4 a.m., an un-godly hour to many (especially me!!), with hundreds of thots, memories, opinions, ideas, conversations, flashbacks.....all buzzing in my head at 200 km/h. I kept my eyes closed, which didn't have the desired effect....more ideas came flowing in, many of which were genuine ones that I suddenly realised needed to jotted down, before I forget all of them....

As I opened my eyes, the sight of my beautiful Adriana sleeping soundly beside me greeted my sight. I then spent 5 minutes just gazing at her flawless face, strokking her lovely hair, and telling myself how much I loved and adored her, and how hard I'll work to make a better life for both
Adriana and Alyssa.

Once the cobwebs were gone, I got down to business, jotting down all the thots, ideas, memories, conversations etc etc. Before long, 2 whole pages of my notebook were filled with all sorts of stuff, and boy was I glad I too the trouble...some of them were pretty cool stuff. The ideas dried up at 6am, and since I'm not sleepy at all, got dressed and went for my very first jog in the wee hours of 610am. Initially my body revolted, maybe due to the weird time, but after Dr Murali's Clinic, I got into the rythm and somehow started to glide along. Traffic was light, and the air was crisp with the sun just starting its climb, so it was really pleasant. Got home at 645am, and got in some push-up and sit-ups while catching the morning shows on TV.

The girls woke up at 8am with an expectant look on their face....yes, it's time for our puree breakfast at Abirami Restaurant. The restaurant was packed, but we got our regular table, and after a 5 minute wait, our eagerly awaited puree's were lovingly placed on our banana leafs. Boy, the 3 of us literally wolfed it down without saying a word, me having to supplement it with a vadei. Then its back home to get ready for the catering.

Left home at 945am and got to the poolside at 1030am thru the heavy morning crawl. Caught up with the news while waiting for Eddy, who showed up at 1115am. Loaded up the Honda City, and got to PPUM at 1130am. Everything was set-up perfectly in the dining area, so I got busy laying out the food and making little touch-ups. Realised that we didn't have any ice, so Eddy ran off looking for some, while I chatted with Dr Salem. Many people popped in to check out the food, but I have a sneaky feeling they were admiring our simple but nice set-up. Gold coloured cloth covered the buffet, white ceramic dinner plates, B&B plates, with double-plated serving spoon holders, proper water goblets (no highballs here), and good quality stainless steel roller chaffing dishes.


After Eddy came back with 2 measly bags of ice, I invited Prof Goh to start off the buffet, and the rest of the guests trickled in. I observed their faces while they waited for their turn, and caught some roving eyes.....checking out all the small details on our simple buffet line. While they ate, I took the opportunity to work the room, going around and asking how they found the food, any comments for us to improve our service etc. Generally, it was a 100% success with everyone giving us the thumbs-up. There was one vegetarian request, which I kept nice and warm. When the nurse was ready, I personally served the food to her, making sure that she knew what she was eating and checking that she was comfortable.

What gave me the most pleasure of all was the vegetarian nurse seeking me out, and personally thanking me for the " delicious vegetarian food", as well as the favourable comments and enquiries for future catering events made by Dr Salem's nurse sister.

At 1:30pm we went searching for lunch, which was at the " food court" next to the carpark. It was pretty dissappointing stuff, but remembering my vow, I whispered a quiet Alhamdullilah for the food that I was about to eat and ended up leaving absolutely nothing on my plate.

When we got back, I chatted with Eddy on our plans for Alamritz catering & wedding planner. He shared that he's ordered a Nissan 14 seater van, which can be used for future caterings. Told him about my tour guide idea, as well as transfers for corporate customers, which he instantly liked. We left PPUM at 3pm for Kg Sg Pencala, as Eddy wanted to show me his equipments. It rained heavily, and when we finally arrived there, it was reduced to a heavy drizzle. The store was in Kg Palimbayan, and boy was I shocked to see the number of goodies Eddy had stashed there!!

Reached home at 430pm, and after getting into my shorts, brought the girls along for a haircut at my regular Indian barber. Went for a very short side parting, which made me look 5 years younger, then went to Giant for their girls to work off their pent up energy, while I caught up with The Star. Left Giant at 615pm, gave both of them their baths and dressed them. While we were watching the TV3 news on the 2010 budget, Bg Nizam, Kak Ah and Dini came over.

I then made my exit, and ended up at the internet cafe till 11-ish.

All in all, it was a really fulfilling and satisfying day, one that will be remembered fondly as it is the start of Alamritz Catering & Wedding Planner as a full fledged caterer and wedding planner. In the coming weeks, we will tie-up all the loose ends so that the market won't know what hit them, insyallah.