Bon Voyage Emma Faridah

Last Tue I went to the airport to send my niece, Dk Emma Faridah to UK to continue her study. Pity her, she will miss again Hari Raya for 2 year in a row but its all for her own good, for her better future. I know she would be ok cos she is a strong gal. You better be good gal and make sure you come back with flying colors and make us proud of you esp your loving parents. I envy my sister for having a daughter like you. Hopefully my princesses will be able to realise their dreams in future and follow your footsteps..:)

Hmm...speaking of dreams and educations, I have to admit that the thing I regret most is that I did not continue my study to the highest level. I had the chance before but I blew it. I remember my late father would not think twice if I asked for money from him in the name of education. Too bad, I was still young at that time and failed to realise the importance of education. Being happy-go-lucky teenagers and a bit spoilt *hehehe* by my parents and sisters, I let go that oppurtunity. Well. it is now in the past and I cannot just dwelled in it. Now, as I said before, I will strive hard to improve myself be it in business and my personal life. The most important thing now are my four princesses. I promised to myself, I will make sure they get the best education they can get, follow their cousins who are succesful and more importantly do not follow me. *sigh* I did not give them a good example...:( I realised that nowadays, which is too little too late that other than money, education also play important role in life in order to earn respect from others. Sometimes if I recalled back my school days memories, I cried. So many things I cried for but most importantly is because of my stupidity for not continuing my studies. *arghhh....* Wish I have Hiro's power now so that I could go back to the past and change my life..hehehe... *keep on dreaming*

Enough said about my stupidity for now. Anyway, being more mature now, obviously, than few years back when I was a teenager, I will continue to climb the ladder of success in everything and will try to overcome all the obstacles that I will come across. God willing, I want to be a successful person one day and be able to realise my dreams... Amin...

Payday...

Yeah!.... Its payday...:) I still remember when I was still working, I always looked forward to this day but then again, who doesnt? Hehehe...its the day that people have been waiting for and now it is more than before bcos of upcoming Hari Raya. Being in the business or food business to be exact, payday means a lot to me bcos customers now have the spending power. I know that people will want to buy other things for their raya celebrations but over the years I realised that towards the end of puasa esp after payday, people also tend to eat outside more than before. This is why I only started sungkai buffet at my restaurant after 2 weeks of fasting. The same goes to my gerai. After 2 weeks of slow business, this is what I have been waiting for. Its seem that more and more people skip fasting toward the end of Ramadhan...hehehe... I dont know whether my theory is correct but I just said this based on my experience in selling nasi katok for the past 3 years. Im not encouraging people to skip fasting but with more and more people skip fasting, it means more and more income to me..hahaha.... Anyway, its up to the individuals to keep on fasting till end of Ramadhan or not. I just remember that when I was a small kid, I usually skip fasting towards the end of Ramadhan, the reason: so that I could be a food taster for all the cakes and biscuits that my mother baked for Hari Raya. I know it was a lame excuse but hey..I was not even 10 years old that time so could be considered ok lah...:P

Speaking of payday, now I suddenly remember that I haven't bought shoes for my youngest princess yet, Wanie. Her other 3 sisters already have their new shoes. To be honest, I hate doing shopping after payday cos I dont like if it is too crowded. Moreover, after the payday, nearly all the good items are sold. So, that's why I usually did my shopping before payday. But, this year I was so busy that I forgot to do the shopping earlier. In fact, I just did the shopping last Sunday at Bebeland. Huh..Imagine having four princesses and bring them to Bebeland! Most of the time I was busy keeping eyes on them and stop them from buying everything that they like. Wish I were a millionaire so that I would be able to buy anything that they want..;)

Sacrifice something to gain something...

Ever since I started sungkai buffet at my restaurant, I never had the chance to break fast at home with my family anymore. Even my four little princesses (esp Kaka and Syasya) now started complaining cos we are always at the restaurant. Kesian durang...;( tapi we had to jua, hopefully only for the time being sja. Actually, the reason that we had to stay is that I still don't have enough staff yet so I have to be at the restaurant to check the setting of the buffet and sometimes be the cashier. My daily schedule also change now. After the buffet, I went home at around 8 or 9 pm where I usually took a nap till 12 midnight, then I would go again to my restaurant until it closed at 4 am. In addtition to all these, I still have to go and check my two gerai at Lambak and Salambigar. I seldom have the chance to take a nap during the day cos I have to buy groceries for my restaurant. Well, like I said before, Im still new in restaurant business and it is completely diffrent with running foodstalls but I do enjoyed it.

So, now I have less time to spend with my princesses but then again, we have to sacrifice something in life in order to gain something. But still deep in my heart, I feel sad for not being able to spend more time with my princesses, I yearned for the time before I opened the restaurant. Tomorrow, I will have two new staff so hopefully after 2 or 3 days, I would have more time than before. Fingers crossed..:)

AB in da house

Im so tired... I did not have enough rest nor sleep since I started sungkai buffet at my restauant. The good thing is, school holiday already started meaning I have a bit extra time for resting...:) and I don't have to wake up early to see my daughter off to school. Btw, its 2nd day of sungkai buffet and I purposely invited Reeda aka Anak Brunei to try our dishes. He said the food was okay ( I do hope he was really honest about that). Thanks again to Allah, I have more customers than the day before. In fact, it was a full house and I pity some of the customers who did not make reservations had to turn away due to not enough seats. How I wish I have bigger space and enough staff so that my restaurant could cater more customers. More customers means more income...hehehe... That would be wonderful but I have to be content with what I have.

Cheers for Orphans

I was supposed to post this article last Saturday just after the event. Last Friday, the orphans from Kg Rimba were treated to sungkai buffet by the owner of Bangunan Radin (where my restaurant is located). After the meal, the orphans also received donations from the owner's family so as to lighten their burden for the upcoming Hari Raya. In addition to allo these, B-Win Company (Unit 2) also sponsored some fireworks to entertained the orphans. It was a simple display but quite impressive considering they did not have ample time nor space to work with their firecrackers. Too bad I did not take the photos during the fireworks display cos I was busy attending my 2 princesses (the other 2 were 'kidnapped' by my niece).

Sungkai Buffet

Finally, KAKA Restaurant is having sungkai buffet for our customers. It was busy on the 1st day mainly because we don't have enough staff and it was the 1st day! The turnout was encouraging, in fact I honestly did not expect the no of customers that came to my restaurant. There were still tables which were not occupied but nevertheless it was more than what I anticipated. Syukur alhamdulillah to Allah, God Al Mighty for giving me rezeki. Hopefully in days to come up to Hari Raya, my restaurant will attract more customers.

I did invite 1 reporter from Borneo Bulletin to come to my restaurant to write article about our sungkai buffet, well it's one of my way to publicise to people so as to attract more customers. So, fingers crossed...;) I was quite nervous actually, from the preparation itself until the buffet finally finished. If only I have the power to read people's mind then I would be able to know their honest opinion on the food..hehehe..... I just want to give it all so that the customers who came would be satisfied and they will come again in future. Luckily also, I have my sis-in-law to help me with the decorations. Tq Jurinah for the effort, nanti blanja makan nasi katok...:)

2nd Week of Ramadhan

Time passed by so quickly and now we are entering the 2nd week of Ramadhan. I just realised that I haven't update my blog since last week. I was too occupied with with my daily activities plus I was a bit lazy to write. Hehehe....as I did mention earlier when I started this blog, I do admit that Im not really into writing a journal hence my blog always not up-to-date.

Well, business is slow for the 1st week of Ramadhan but I already anticipated that as I already involved in the food business for more than 2 years now. What I noticed is that most Bruneians prefer to go to restaurant which provided sungkai buffet which I would do that too. Bearing that in mind, I will start sungkai buffet at my own restaurant next week on the 15 of Sept. The dishes mainly cover our local delight with FREE ambuyat, yes, I will give free ambuyat to the customers for their break fast. So, you guys out there who are really into ambuyat, drop by at my restaurant for sungkai buffet and get ambuyat for free. The menu will change every day so that you guys can try varieties of food and you will not get the same menu if you come more than once in a week.

When talking about breaking fast, each people has their own ideas and opinion. Some people prefer breaking fast at restaurant and some prefer at their own comfort ie at home. For me personally, I prefer at home esp with my family. With all my sisters and brothers and also my nieces and nephews and my princesses, you just imagine how cheerful it is and how havoc it became with the kids running around the places while we were enjoying our food. Another advantage sungkai at home with my families is that we can perform isya prayer and terawih together at home so we don't have to go to the mosque. After terawih is the most interesting part. Why? Because we usually gather together again for so called MIB ie Meeting Inda Beranti where we shared stories and jokes among us. This usually drags on untill 11pm or it can be later than that during the weekend. To be fair, we rotate the places where we were having our sungkai between my sisters' house and my mother's house. For me personally, this is one of the many beauties of Ramadhan, families get together and so hasten our relationship so the bond are getting stronger and stronger. Well, this is what families are about, sharing and caring each other and always there to lend support.

Hmm...I guess I better stop now coz this is the 1st time I spend longer time updating my blog. My brain is nearly dried of any ideas so I have to stop and save for next time.

I bet that most people know who the guy in black is. He was visiting my restaurant so I took his photo with my staff.

Business Hours for Ramadhan

Here it comes again, Ramadhan, the Holiest Month for all muslims. Time passed by so quickly, last Ramadhan seemed yesterday to me yet there are lot of changes happened in my life. One of it is the expansion of my business. Last Ramadhan, Nasi Katok KAKA only have branches at Lambak (previously at Berakas) and at Salambigar but Ramadhan this year Nasi Katok KAKA has expanded by the opening of my new restaurant just 2 weeks ago i.e KAKA Restaurant & Catering Services in Rimba. I have to admit that running a restaurant is not as simple as just running foodstall, there are lots and lost of challenges I have encountered and yet to encounter but Im relishing the oppurtunities and will try to work harder to tackle the challenges one at a time.

Anyway, I would like to take this oppurtunity to wish all my valued customers:

Selamat Menyambut Bulan Ramadhan yg mubarak. Semoga Allah melimpahkan kurniaNya dan meluaskan rezeki kepada semua hambaNya di bulan yang mulia ini. Amin...

For information, the business hours for Nasi Katok KAKA for month of Ramadhan are as follows:



1. KAKA Restaurant & Catering Services at Rimba will be open from 4 pm till 4 am



2. Gerai Nasi Katok KAKA at Lambak will be open from 2pm till 4 am



3. Gerai Nasi Katok KAKA at Salambigar will be open from 4 pm till 2 am