The Skinny Bakers : My Mum, The COO

Many of us would decide to start a business with either their friend or partner or some random investor. Well, atleast that was how it nearly went for me as well. But things took a turn. Rather than going around finding for someone who I can 'trust' and would work as hard, possibly even harder than me, my mum was right there in front of me this whole time !

I couldn't have imagined growing this empire with anyone else than my mum. My mum is super hard working, definitely more hard working than me, and is very experienced in doing business. She's been my strongest motivation my whole life, that I'd do anything for her. In business terms, I'd do anything to make this business a success for and with my mum. And insyaAllah growing it to become our next empire ! Beyond that, she loves doing business and practically has been doing it her whole life ! I told her that I wouldn't want to be part of the business not learning anything so she would have to tell me every single step of the way on how the business grows, although I'm far away.

So here's how things work between me and my mum. We both need each other to make this cookie business into our next empire.
I got the recipe a few years ago and my mum got it from me over Summer. I work on the tech side of things, such as photography, social media, sticker designs, website etc. Its also cause I'm far away from home so yeah. And mum now handles the production at home ! (Yes, here's the answer to many of you who has been questioning me who has been doing the production of cookies since I've been away).

While I was in KL, I would approach cafes with our cookies, proposing our cookies to be placed at their cafes. Even when I was occupied by my internship, I'd go to cafes after working hours. And on the weekends, I'd go to cafes with my mum.

Since I've been away pursuing my degree here in the UK, mum has taken over that part and has been approaching places beyond expectation. Alhamdulillah, we've been getting orders for weddings and birthdays since we started, only a few months ago ! Our cookies are now available at Petron Manjalara and Petron Bandar Utama. Not to forget, we've placed our cookies at some event organizers office as well !

With the pace of how things have been growing great for us, it looks like I've got to save more money to have more capital in order to achieve our goals for this cookie empire !
But what are our long term plans for the cookies? Hmmm, It's still a secret. Hehehe. Till next time !

Why Robert Kuok is more than just 'The Sugar King'

"I will only leave a legacy of precious teachings, but not wealth or fortune to my children. Our business empire can be sustained for many generations to come if they follow the precious teachings taught to them"

I usually take weeks or months sometimes not even finish reading a book, but this was definitely one of the most interesting book I've ever read. One thing I definitely could conclude was that Robert Kuok was definitely more than just 'The Sugar King', well to me atleast. I could not help but to share the good attributes that he has to everyone else cause everyone should try to imply the principles he has (although biased based only by this book) 

Here's a couple of quotes that I personally love, 

"We cannot take wealth into our graves. Leaving too much fortune behind will ruin our offspring instead of helping them. Having too much money is like having poison, and wouldn't that eventually damage their brains? But because of love, we must leave something for them, so that they will have the opportunity to rise"

"I have often said that there are two things we need to do when we are alive.  First, it is to work hard to raise the family and secondly, to help those who need help in their education. Only by doing this will society progress, become harmonious and stable" 

Although his mother was not educated much, she played a very important role in his life and successful path in pursuing his business, 

"The only advice my mother gave us walk the virtuous path and that we should not become materialistic as we made money"

And he tries to help others and the environment as when he can,

In 2012, Shangri-La stopped offering shark fin dishes. At the same time, the hotel also phased out bluefin tuna and Chilean sea bass. 

Although he is a Malaysian, he still had a soft heart for China since his parents were people of the Mainland China. His mission was to help develop China. 

The path for him might've seem easy in the public's eyes, but he actually went through some difficulties and hardships in building his first Shangri-La in Singapore. It was his first set up and in the first few months, he actually went through a huge loss. Beyond that, Robert Kuok had to find his way around the rigidity of China's investment system through connecting to the locals since China did not welcome foreign investors willingly, after their reformation.

Upon his perception towards progress in Malaysia,

"Kuok said that if Malaysia wanted to progress, the Malays would need to be more open-minded. He believed that education is crucial in determining a country's development, that the government shouldn't lower the standard of education but should instead address educational issues seriously"

Eventhough the sugar business might not be of a high profitability, Kuok quoted,

"Never be greedy because it is big, nor give up because it is small", which happens to be one of his business mantras. 

You would've expect that when it comes to friendships, he would pick friends that would benefit him. But he made friends who believed that would stay and has good attributes. When it comes to friendships, Kuok believed to "Make friends. But be able to distinguish the good and the bad"

The most important bit was when he shared the secrets of being a successful leader. Kuok believed that a successful leader would have to,

"Have a strong and highly efficient team of management talents and work closely with every level of subordinates. Be fair and honest. And to have a strong determination to strive"

There's so much more of his business attributes that many of us should practise in doing our own business but I guess the only way to find out is to read this book ! (it was actually sold out the first few weeks it was out which took me quite a struggle to grab it at some bookstores). All the quotes were extracted from the book of Robert Kuok by Kanyin Publications. Note that the story might be a bit draggy at the beginning but it gets really good after that. This blog post does not even do justice on how good the book is. 

Discovering Turkey in 10 days : Cappadocia

Day 4

If there was any place in the world that I would visit again, it would definitely be Cappadocia. It's such a unique place and definitely one of the places in the world you would have to visit. 

We took an overnight bus, roughly about 8 hours ride from Istanbul. It was not the best of bus rides but it was alright ! 

We took the 'Metro' Bus which is known for its good services and affordable price. Arrived in Goreme early in the morning at about 6-7 AM, and we had to switch into a van in order to get to our accommodation (Note : There are not supposed to be extra charges for this). 

We decided to stay in a cave ! Yes, at Cappadocia you can opt to stay caves ! 

Although I was all prepared to sleep on the floor like real cavemen, we got a pretty decent cave ! Hahaha I'm just kidding, I don't think they would or do provide such accommodations but it would've been cool if they did though. So we checked out the packages offered to us, like if we should check out the hot air balloons, or the whole area and trek around and stuff. But me and my sister decided to go for what we enjoy most, horseriding !

We were told that the horse ride would only be available during sunsets and it seemed to have fit our schedule perfectly fine. Since we had a few hours before the sunset horse ride, we decided to go for the Cave Museum and find out more about the History of Cappadocia

You'd probably want to bring food where ever you go in Cappadocia. Its not that much of a 'commercial' area so food is not as easy to get unless you don't mind spending on the small shops by the road which would cost you so much more. 

We then headed for the sunset horse ride and it was such a great experience ! Probably not that advisable for first time horse riders but the experience was definitely priceless. We stopped halfway our journey up which took us about an hour on the horse, enjoyed the sunset at a pit stop, then continued our way down before it got too dark :)

The next day, we went for the blue and green tour which took us almost the whole day. 

The tour was great ! We had a really passionate and enthusiastic tour guide and a great group of tourists. He told us on how Cappadocia was influenced by the many religion that has been growing here which I thought was pretty awesome to know about.  

Check out the paintings on the walls which has been existing here since hundreds of years ago. Pretty cool eyy? They were left untouched 

At the end of the tour, we were given the choice to order some Turkish food and I chose Beef Casserole. It was part of the package we paid for which was totally worth it !

And so when the tour was over, me and my sister waited to catch our next bus around midnight, to Konya ! Will be updating you guys next time ;)

21 : The Age of Discovering Yourself

Hi there !

Although I've only turned 21 only a few months ago, I feel like this phase has been going on awhile. I guess in your early 20s, you really decide who you are.

Its only natural, that you're in uni, whereby the decisions you make are based on your own perspectives, your own judgement and what you think is best for you. And it can get quite confusing at times since for some of us, most of the decisions we've been making for our lives has always been dependent on what our parents want for us.

For most of us, we tend to question even things as simple like, 'What do we like?' So if you ever feel like trying something different or out of ordinary, go ahead and try ! Get out of your comfort zone. Learn from experiences and stories from different people you meet (although you should experience with your own boundaries and limits preferably). But when people say you're only 21 and that you should live life, they meant it real ! Not only to party hard, get high and stuff. But to explore yourself, know what gives you adrenaline, what makes you happy, what you aspire to be. As selfish as it sounds, it's all gonna be about you, discovering you!

And it might not be as easy as it sounds sometimes. You might have times that some decisions are a bit difficult to be made. Like your heart tells you to do it but your mind tells you the other around. Just do what you feel is right, what feels like you, and you should be fine :) (Also never neglect your responsibilities whilst figuring out who you are hehehe)There will also be times that you have friends who come and go in life. And probably around this time of your life is when you'll know who are the friends who are most likely to stay. Just stay strong and know that you're not the only one going through this phase.

So don't beat yourself up too much, just take it slow. It's gonna be one hella roller coaster ride ! But, you'll pull through, just know that its only a phase, of growing up. Forgive yourself, forgive others, for the many mistakes that people make especially throughout this phase. And as cheesy as it sounds, its a phase of growing up to the adulthood, whether you like it or not ;)