Remember the play dates that we all used to have when we were slightly younger? Maybe the girls could recall them. That cute little pink tea set, makeshift stove from the red bricks you find from the nearest house under renovation, plastic wok and the cool looking cash register.
Well, today, I experienced the “reality” part of the whole game. I volunteered to help out a close friend at his new restaurant, “Tasty Pot” (Damn, the food is absolutely divine, baby!). Being a greenhorn at the whole restaurant business, I would say that this experience is a far cry from the “masak masak” game.
Started out with memorizing (real hard!) the menu, the soup of the day, special on the menu…bla bla bla… I have to admit that my Cantonese is getting a bit rusty lately. My tongue still feels twisted from the “correct pronunciation” ordeal.
Learned how to use the cash register, damn bangga! Trust me, that machine actually much more fun than the McDonald’s cash register from Toys “R” Us. And you don’t have to really figure out the change, it does magic! Muahaha!
Then, the act of balancing the plates and bowls while at the same time trying to serve other pushy customers and trust me, they just won’t stop yelling, taking their orders, trying to understand Mandarin (yet another language blunder on my side). Still trying to figure out (or more appropriately, “Spit Out”) the translations of my English and Malay to Cantonese.
Since I’ve never really lifted a finger at home (ever since the Indonesian maid was made the permanent “family member”) serving the bowls of curry chicken and tau yew bak was rather a challenge. Customers always want their food crazy hot and boiling. I’m not making it up but you can still see the blister on my finger…boo hoo. (Ok Ok, I know, stop whining you crybaby!).
What’s even harder is the ability to multi-task, trying not to get the orders wrong. I guess the kitchen needs to be more systematic in that but overall, both the star dish was SOLD OUT! We had people eating in and taking away (again, I would like to stress this, food is absolute heaven!)
By the end of the day (or rather the 5-hour lunch ordeal), I’ve completely exhausted all my willpower to go on for another day. My hair reeks of the cooking, smells like a mixture of curry chicken and tau yew bak, (Mmmm). My arms are so tired, and my legs are wobbly, as if I’ve played at yesterday’s Brazil Vs Australia match. And I asked myself, was my childhood “masak masak” ambition something that I would mold into a career? I think the answer is clear.
But with all due of respect, I think my dear Adrian bro did an exceptionally great job with the restaurant despite this being his “firstborn” project. Food was good, hell who am I kidding, IT’S GREAT! Shop was handsomely decorated. Ambience was all there.
Bro, congratulations, you did a perfectly great job with your dream restaurant. Be patient, success is just around the corner and your firstborn will grow and have more babies (branches, that is).
As for the rest of the In2-tions, make sure you guys visit him from time to time, for encouragement and the willpower to go on. To all my friends who had a chance to view this entry, do drop by Tasty Pot @ Sunway Mentari Business Park (it’s a new row of shop lots). The shop is located opposite Domino’s Pizza (visible from LDP), with mushrooming buffet steamboat at the same row as Projet Station. Till then…
