Monday 15 February 2010
change
Another month or so has passed. New shoots have sprouted but will they grow and mature, to bear fuit? Time, will always tell.
So in the month of February, after 2 months in Phnom Penh and away from the warm, sheltered cocoon of family, friends and Singapore, my birthday has come and gone. Just so happened the opening day of the cafe coincided with my birthday. A memorable no less, sweating and slaving in the kitchen, rushing to get orders out, fending off pestering staff inquiries on when the food will be out when only 5 mins has passed. After cleaning up and closing, my partners and I headed down to Brahaus, a Singaporean owned German pub, to have a pint and review the day's activities. Not too bad a day and birthday, busy and low key, all at the same.
First birthday away from family and the usual group of friends. A little strange, a little sad at the same. Makes me appreciate them so much more. Yet, also appreciate Stephanie and Alex more also.
Chu xi of the Lunar New Year was spent also in the kitchen. But we had our first company meal at Nagaworld, with our staff! Expensive yet something poignant about that moment.
Chu yi was a quiet day. Cambodians choosing to stay at home or returning to the provinces and expats, most choosing to return home. A slow day. A day to review, reflect and re-strategise.
Alex, Stephanie and I spent 4 days operating our cafe. Loads of angst, frustration, anxiety yet joy, pride and excitement. We can only hope to do better and achieve more. What's ahead of us, we can't determine. All we can do is to work hard, work smart, be open minded about things and always strive and be better. The days to setup and the 4 operating days have been bone weary and taken a toil on the three of us. Working more than 18 hours a day and having only 4 hours of sleep. Finally the reset button has been pressed we spent the evening of chu yi resting, sleeping from 5pm to chu er's 11am, haa!
I hope business will be better over time and we can achieve what we set out for and so much more. Regardless, it has been an tremendous experience so far and hopefully, it will be a delightful one for the days ahead.
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