Merry Christmas

I'm writing this post now live from the lobby of Pacific Sutera Hotel, KK. I should have brought along my MacBook as I was not aware that iPad can't upload photo to blogspot (well, I could be wrong). Please enlighten me if someone knows how. I have also planned to update my WP blog during this trip as it's been delaying since last week. But, it doesn't work on iPad either. Well, I guess I just have to do it when I'm back.

Kk trip has been great so far. The food is great, weather is cooling and as far as safety is concerned, I am not as worried letting my boys running around compared to if we are in Miri. I plan to meet up with Thanis and Dinoza for dinner tomorrow if they are available. Shopping is not in our priority list this trip as we are more into relaxation and seeing the nature beauty of Sabah. Have you heard of this place called Kudat? I certainly have not heard of it until recently. Apparently, it's about 3 hours drive (I could be wrong) from KK and it's remote and very "kampong". I shall share more info and photos about this place after the visit.

Time check: 12:03am and I'm the only one left in the lobby now. It's time to log out and back to my room. Till next time, Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day. Checking out and good night.

Proud to be a Bruneian/PR

I am proud to say I am very happy living in Brunei because we have such a kind and generous Sultan. Thank you very much Your Majesty for all the thoughts and kindness you have shown during the recent tragic accident happened in KK. May you be blessed with good health and long live Your Majesty.

The Greatest Moment

I meant to post the following blog a couple of weeks ago but just couldn't find the time to finish it. Anyway, here it goes...

11.12.2011
Finally, I am no longer a lone ranger. I picked up my family back home last weekend after not seeing them for 10 days due to their family reunion in Miri. Upon arrival at my in laws, I saw my two boys standing outside the main door and before stepping out of the car they ran to me and gave me a big big hugs. It's so sweet of them.....

Having Issue with Expectations?

Today, I came across a FB post by a long time friend about him having issue with expectations. I don't really know what he was referring to as his post was too abstractive. Well, I guess everyone has expectation towards certain things whether it is business related, relationship or family. I'd be lying if say I am someone without expectation whatsoever. I'd expect to get paid for the good service I've rendered to my client, I'd expect to have a pair of listening ears when I need someone to talk to, I'd expect to be rewarded for the good deed I have done in the past or future. All these are expectations and I believe everyone should have expectations. Without expectations, it is like riding a boat in ocean without directions. The question is at what level of expectation one should have? Having a high expectation often results in unhappiness when thing doesn't turn out the way it is planned. In contrast, would a lower expectation means closing up the door for self improvement? I am not in the position to advise but if I am asked to, my answer would be "life can be very simple, it's you to decide how you want your life to be"

Home Alone

Home alone is of no fun as everything is just stagnant especially my bed as it looks so lonely. I have been occupied with work 24/7 since beginning of the year and now that we are approaching the end of 2011, I promised myself that this month is going to be an easy and relaxing month. 2 more events to go and that's all for the report card this year. I am looking forward to the short getaway with family after Christmas. 

Frozen Yogurt

Frozen yogurt business is mushrooming in this country. Today I tried out a new yogurt place in the Airport Mall. It was OK and I am giving it a 8/10. I never like putting toppings on my frozen yogurt for one simple reason ie. that's the only way to taste the actual flavoring and quality of the yogurt. Oh, I only go for Original flavor. Off my head, there are 5 popular places where you can get frozen yogurt in Brunei ie. Blitz, Mochi, Bakerlyn, Dorayaki (Utama ground floor) and Scoopsfroyo (online business). I pick Blitz but my buddy prefers the one from Bakerlyn. I was told that an international franchise is coming soon to Brunei too. It is always good to see international brand here as it benefits us as consumers in terms of varieties :)

Moody Saturday

Not in great mood today as there were some minor incidents happened at the workplace this morning. I am a person with expectation and when things are not being done as planned, I got carried away easily. But after 20 minutes of soft music in the car, I am OK and I am still going to bake tomorrow as planned :)

Call Me Chef

Being home alone for one week means I can be more focus on my work and at the same time fulfilling my commitment for hitting the swimming pool everyday after work. I have also made it a point to create a new product during this time. Hence, I ordered a block of premium quality chocolate made in Belgium from a local supplier yesterday for the new product this Sunday. It will be a chocolate cake ofcourse but I am yet to decide whether it is going to be a mousse or sponge. My personal preference is a combination of both.

The last time I baked was using a household oven for the butter cake back at least 1.5 months ago - a cake so simple to make yet so tasty. This time round, I will be using the big commercial oven at the bakery kitchen with my first try on full uniform which I bought from Manila on my last trip. Yeah, I feel like a celebrity chef right now :)

Good vs Great Customer Service

I attended the Local Business Development (LBD) Forum on 3rd November 2001 at The Radisson Hotel which was organised by Asia Inc Forum. To read more about the forum, click Here. My favourite session throughout the whole forum has to be the panel session where Mark Grieves and Shaun Hoon talked about "Customer Service". I particularly like the remark made by Shaun where he mentioned that a good customer service has nothing to do with how good your English is. It is the heart, passion and action taken that delivers a good customer service. In comparison, a great customer service is service rendered that may not necessarily result in any sales transaction. He then went on to comment that in general, most customer service in Brunei sucks. A daring but true statement he has made.

Frankly, we have had few disappointed customers over the past 3 years due to wrong orders, unsatisfactory design, unfriendly sales attendants or even late delivery of cakes etc. I have to admit that in some cases (yes, only some), our customer service sucks too. Nevertheless, some of these unhappy customers have eventually became our regular customers but ofcourse, some never came back. As much as possible, we do not wish to disappoint customer under any circumstances whether it's a $1.30 or $32.00 transactions.

Here, I would like to share an incident that happened on last Sunday. Due to miscommunication between our chef and a customer, a birthday cake with specific design which was supposed to be collected at 10.00am on Sunday morning was not made. To read more about what had happened, click HERE. In short, the cake was finally delivered to the venue on time and we ended up having a happy customer. I shared this incident on Twitter and FB and was surprised to receive a number of positive comments about how we tackle the situation right. A regular commentator, Anthony Er has even blogged about it. You won't believe my chef was so touched after reading the blog that she actually shed tears. That must be the tears of joy :)

I am dedicating this post to the three awesome chefs who had successfully turned around from what I called a "disaster" into a beautiful ending.

                          Chef Jean

                           Chef Amy

                       Chef Abe

Life is back to normal (for time being)

The past few weeks had been overloaded with work where my average sleeping time was merely few hours a day. First was the 3rd Anniversary of Mr.Baker followed by a business trip to Manila and just about 2 weeks ago we had the Musical Garden Wedding 2011 held at Gadong Mall where we were the official cake decorator. 

Another reason for the sleepless nights was also because of the new website which I am currently working on. Not an IT person but I manage to create THIS completely on my own is something that I am quite proud of with. At the moment, I am still struggling with some features such as the "drop down menu", "photo gallery" and "Live Traffic". Wish me luck.

I still have few weeks to relax before the next event in November and another bigger one in December this year.