Thursday- Strangely I needed to make a call to Adi (my husband)... strange because I hardly call him these days... We talk mostly through 'whatsapp'. And as I started scrolling through my recent call list I realised I hadn't made a call to him the last 1 week! Wow!
I still distinctly recollect I got my 1st phone when I started working around 1998/1999. It was one of those 'then' cool 'Sony Ericsson' (blue) colored phones. Not to mention it was passed down to me by my sister! Yet it was the highlight of my life. Sending a message to someone was the coolest thing to do then. And today, life moves only on messages. No one has the time to talk. My 'cool' (almost teenage) nephew refuses to go shopping with me and suggests that I 'whatsapp' him whatever I choose for him, and he shall let me know if he likes it! I think this is a good training ground for me before my girls grow up and I face a similar situation!
Saturday: I have been making rounds of the Singapore Squash and Tennis centre every Saturday evening. My nephew (visiting us from India) gets trained there for squash. Being a bit far from home, I have to spend my 2 hours there. At this location is this quaint cafe (and the only place I can sit peacefully and write this blog). Seeing me a 2nd weekend, the cafe owner got chatty. More than him, I was curious to know how did he get to open a cafe here, is this what he did all his life? My brief 15 minute chats with him was an eye opener for me.
An IT consultant who decided to take a sabbatical, go to France for a month and get trained to bake breads, pies, croissants (undoubtedly the most yummy ones I have tasted). Came back to Singapore, found this highly unattractive location and starts to live his dream. Why do I say unattractive location? Well this location is not in a commercial/ market area, its not around where expats live, there are no other shops around that area. But yet this guy took that bold step and started this cafe. And mind you he is half Japanese and half Brazilian who speaks fluent French and he sells to a large local population.
I learnt a big lesson when I chatted with him. If you have a dream, you can live it by taking baby steps. Its not important that every dream has to be big and there is no 'one' way to do it. He got this location at a good cost (that he could afford), he worked hard on his clientele, and what he bakes is excellent.
Every dream comes with a fear.. A fear that you will fail. But a small start makes that fear less daunting. Atleast you are living your dream every day!Strangely this bakery doesn't have a french name- it's called Bread King and its written in Chinese style- he says that's my main clientele and why should I have a name that no one can pronounce!!! He knows most of his customers by name and they all call him 'Pedro'- his first name!!
When I walked into his cafe that evening I had asked for a croissant but he hadn't baked it then. As I was ready to leave after two hours, he made sure I had a freshly baked croissant on hand! True marketer and an equally good baker!! That's probably why people drop by to buy even just a loaf of bread from him!
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