April 2010 - Girls Admitted into Pantai

After both girls spent a weeks in Pantai for a severe cough in mid-March 2010, I thought that will be that. Well, the cough came back with a vengeance, and after 1 week of listening to the girls coughing their little lungs out, we decided to go for one final appointment with Dr Eric Lim to find out once and for all what the girls are having.

The morning of the appointment, both girls started to show rashes on their faces. Dr Lim got them admitted straight away, but somehow Pantai was really busy, so I sent the girls back to Duta at 2pm, and at 5pm Azie got a call from Pantai that their room was ready.

They were given Room C512 and 513 in the lovely children's ward, complete with life sized clowns decorating the nurse's station. The girls didn't loose anytime re-acquainting themselves with their motorised bed controls, while I kept busy arranging their clothes in the cupboard, and setting up my bed for the night.

After the girls bravely went thru getting their drip installed on their left wrists, I copied the clown pictures on some art paper and got them busy colouring them, while I got to watch some National Geographic...kakaka.

Thank god the kid's ward has a cool chair that reclines all the way down, with a foot rest to go with it. Well, with my 6-foot frame, I joined both of them and boy did I sleep like a baby, totally oblivious to the cute nurses coming in the middle of the night to give the girls their nebuliser treatment.

Anyhow, the x-ray came back negative, so we waited with bated breath for the blood test results. Dr Lim mentioned that the girls are suffering from a viral fever caused by mycoplasma, which also causes rashes to grow on patients. Being the laymen that we are, we nodded in unison and promised ourselves to learn what the hell mycoplasma are on Wikipedia!!

On Friday, we we allowed to discharge, and by 1130am, we were home in Duta, and the girls squeeled with delight to see their Mummy and Bibik. All in all, it was a good stay, Pantai Medical has not let us down at all, and do I need to some real beauty sleep after a week sleeping on the blue reclining chair thingy!!

2 days later I received the first of many calls from Pejabat Kesihatan Petaling enquiring on the girls measels jabs...

Laman Function House

This May 2010, Alamritz Catering & Wedding Planner will be catering for two weddings at Laman Function House. The first is Trevor's & Salwa's Wedding Reception on 15th May 2010, which we have already started to plan out today. 70% of the staffing, market list and general operations have been sorted out. Watch this space for further insights into how a 400 pax event is organised.

Kafe Chendana - April Full and all things nice!!!

April Fools!!! My yearly battle cry was helped by a Hair Loss Advert in The Star, which made me send out fake congratulatory sms's to people saying that they've won a 1 year supply of this wonder product. Needless to say, I got some sarcastic but mostly good humoured replies......I'm already looking forward to next year.....

After a fantastic March where we managed to make some sort of impact in Sg Penchala, the team was tested yet again with another bizzare promotion that took a whole 3 days of discussion, brain-storming and exchange of ideas to come up with:
Kafe Chendana's Inaugural Buffet Lunch at RM9.80 per pax.

Many people questioned our wisdom when this idea popped out. I mean, who would even think about creating a huge menu of 30-odd items, set-up the tiny cafe to look like a pseudo-hotel ballroom buffet line, and then charge only RM9.80 for the pleasure. Anyhow, from the positive feed-back we've gathered, we're not doing that badly; as long as X number of pax has their lunch at the kafe of course.

The first week of April was also spent designing the 2'x 5' buntings, as well as the A5 sized flyers to advertise this promotion. Insyallah, we hope to gain some sort of momentum in the first week, and build up towards to end of the month.

Even with the hectic schedule in running a steadily busy kafe, Eddy & I were also busy in preparing the tender document for a new site, which was submitted at 11:29am on 26th Apr 2010, 31 minutes from the deadline. If it's our rezeki, then we will win this tender exercise, and who know what the new site has in store for ACWP and all of us in the team.

Kafe Chendana - First Month of Operation

March came and went, and boy was it an eventful month, full of surprises and a steep learning curve for all involved.

The dressing up this tiny cafe with some decorative touches has gained favourable responses from our customers, who obviously appreciate how much effort we've put in to beautify the cafe, together with: the fresh cream and green colour scheme, the ivy and bird's nest hanging from the walls, the candle lanterns on stands that we put along the road frontage, the prominent banners displaying our special menu items, and the fairy light hung as high as the tree is tall, the clean open kitchen, and the staff in uniform who use trays to serve our customers.

It was also obvious from Week 1 that our Nasi Ayam Bakar and Chicken Chop will be a hit amongst our regulars, some even tapau-ing up to 4 orders at one go, not forgetting our huge charcoal-grilled toast (we serve 2 slices per order at RM2 per order). Of course with any new opening there will be kinks here and there that needs to be ironed our, and i must say that the ironing will be an on-going exercise.

We've also realised that besides Restoran 123 (the corner tomyam joint), we are the only place that shows Astro football programmes in Sg Penchala. During major games over the weekends, we now know how restaurants feel when valuable tables are taken up by hordes of people who only order drinks and sit for 2 hours.

We plan to create a football viewing corner, which only needs an extra tv and some chairs; let's hope business will be brisk so that we can afford to get a decent sized TV. Let's see what April has in store for us....

13th Mar 2010 - Another weekend is upon us

Boy am I tired from a hectic week, and I'm looking forward to some down time this weekend. First off is both little girls who became poorly last week, Adriana with her never-ending cough, and Alyssa loosing 2 nights of sleep from a painful ear infection. I brought them to Dr Murali on Saturday morning for their supply of medicine, and alas, Sunday morning I found Alyssa melancholic and too quiet for my liking, while Adriana was still coughing her lungs out.

After getting a referral letter from the clinic, picked up Azie and went to Pantai to get them admitted. The entire process was pain-free, with all hospital staff at their most efficient. After a bland-tasting lunch at the Sodexho run cafe, we finally reached our room at 2pm and the girls immediately got their right wrists fixed up with the needel for the drips. Surprisingly, the doctor said that both girls acted like true ladies with no tantrums or tears, unlike some adult patients she's had to stick needles into!!

In no time, both girls got down to exploring their room, discovered their remote controlled bed, and simply absorbed their 24 hour Astro cartoon channel.... after they were served with cake and milo for tea, they simply got comfortable and dived into back-to-back cartoons that they missed like Spongebob Squarepants, Cat Dog, Dibo the Gift Dragon, Animal Mechanical etc etc.

Kafe Chendana at Sg Penchala - The first month

This week is the first official week Kafe Chendana has opened its green doors to the public. Judging from the sales trend, and the positive feedback from our customers, we must be doing something right.

It is ironic that this very shop is under our management now, the same shop where we spent countless afternoons at the inner tables preparing papers for the Laman project. Now, I am semi-permanently working at the table directly next to the kitchen door.

From the moment of conception, it was agreed that the menu must not in anyway follow or copy the other types of food being offered at other eateries in Sg Penchala. Therefore, we chose a charcoal grill concept, where real charcoal is used to cook food items such as chicken chop, steaks, burgers, fish etc etc. Chef Hafidz came up with the unique and delicious Nasi Ayam Bakar, chicken rice but with charcoal grilled chicken, served with homemade soy and sweet chilli sauce.

It is still early, but I have a funny feeling that this kafe will gain some loyal customers, who are smitten with our brand of service, the delicious food in big portions coming out from Chef Hafidz's kitchen.

A hectic December 2009

So, its finally Dec 2009. The much awaited month, where I celebrate my birthday among other things. From 7-11 Dec 09, I practically lived at the Securities Commission where we catered for an international conference of 70 delegates. Through many logistical challenges, ACWP managed to produce delicious food, served amidst professional looking dining and buffet set-up. All in all, the delegates were obviously happy as most of them personally conveyed their thanks to me on the last day of the conference for the good service and delicious food served.

ACWP had a few weddings to decorate at KGPA, which kept Eddy and I busy. The wooden tunnel that Eddy's dad constructed was unveiled during a wedding, which took some guests breaths away. However, the atrocious rope decor was still a challenge to put up, until someone thinks of an easy way to tie it.

I spent the 15th Dec morning at Laman, getting the admin issues settled. I left early for Duta. Azie and the girls were all dressed up, and we left in the blue Kenari at 730pm. It was raining heavily which flooded the road. From the route we were taking, I guessed that dinner was a Victoria Station, which was right!!

Dinner was leisurely and we enjoyed watching the girls acting like young ladies. I ordered a Tenderloin, while Azie ordered escargot, mushroom soup for Alyssa, seafood chowder for Adriana. After the main course, the restaurant managed brought out a chocolate cake and sang the birthday song loudly with his Filipino waiter.

From a chance phone call and a few meetings with Kak Salmah of i-Lumen in Dsara Perdana, as well other shareholders at KLGCC, ACWP is on the way to manage Laman Function House in Sg Penchala, after settling some minor details.

With this, I look forward to a great 2010 where I foresee ACWP will rise to greater heights, and, all those involved with ACWP to enjoy the fruits of our labour sooner rather than later, insyallah.

After negotiating the tenancy agreement, Eddy and I got down to re-arranging the kitchen, getting the floor scrubbed, all 435 Chiavari chairs washed and dried, and changing the dirty ceiling scallops with new cloth. Designing a revised quotation format, menu format, as well as standard forms, I believe that ACWP will transform Laman into a fantastic venue that will be the talk of the town.

Dec 09 to me is the start of a new life for me personally, and a new beginning for my little family. Whatever effort I've put in the past few months, and early 2010 will determine my future, whether its a rosy one or otherwise.

Insyallah, with renewed vigour and resolve to transform my life, things should work out. Since I can't depend on anyone else but myself, I'll put in the hours to make my dream become a reality, god willing.