Under The Covers: Pursuing An Ideal

Its been a while since we had time to stop by - This time were looking further ahead - as to the reasons why we are here. Making that decision to step out and take a chance wasn't quite easy, and it did take a while and quite a bit of a reality check before realising that there might be no turning back. As expected, humans are not that fond of change and surprises in reality, though once they reach a point of acceptance, they progress much more smoothly than expected.

Looking back, we have always dreamt of an ideal - a happy, bustling developing community perhaps - where there is no suffering, little pain, and much of the worries and stresses of the day being non-existent. For many, this is indeed the ideal civilization - though when taking a step back into reality, we all know by now its probably quite impossible to reach such a status. Nevertheless, we still strive for it at the very least.

The idea of moving into FnB and entertainment focused heavily on the younger generation, people like you and I - whom knowingly or not, determine the future for our generations. In a time where social media reigns, sometimes I ask the question, can Facebook or Twitter ever be a replacement for real life? All of you would probably agree with me with a resounding "no". Despite that, when we look at the undercurrent driving these sites - it is clear the true answer could be as far off as "maybe". Have we been so privileged that we have started to miss the point? The fact that life is all about reality - and that anything else can never be a substitute? During the older days, children learned of various skills, handicrafts, painting, communicating with others - but in the age we know today, its more like the ability 'hao lien' on your Facebook.

In an age where we spend our time in virtual reality, we have decided its about time that we need to spend some efforts to create more value in the society. As there was a saying in business about the market, where only the true products of value will stand against speculation. We are essentially trading with value rather than anything else. However, in the information age, we have been putting too much value on things that apparently do not hold any significant worth! Will having the 'best' Facebook account guarantee the best relational skills on the planet? Not quite - but the other way round, yes! All these is a part of substitution, similar to replacing real food with processed food, and then bearing the consequences.

To sum it up, most of our young today spend their time entertaining themselves. Its going to take quite a bit to find ways to 'entice' them into activities that might actually create more value than simply 'hanging out', 'drinking and be merry' and 'gossiping'. Interest groups have always been an asset to the society as these groups pursue special interests which indirectly inject more value into the society - simply because interests and efforts are focused towards a common goal, other than the self. Its a long journey into working towards this ideal - but we are certain the first step needs to be made, the movement into 'alternative' entertainment in hope of passively fostering values into our peers. What happens after that is entirely up to the individual at hand.

All In A Days Work: Standing By

One of the more mundane tasks of being involved in a FnB operations is that of preparation. Unlike your daily mum's cooking which is fast and nice - FnB outlets have to cope with demand - and the possibility of screwing up a recipe when requested to prepare it hundreds, if not thousands of times.

All of this happens, of course due to human limitations - and unfortunately, we have to put on our thinking caps and figure out ways around the problem by introducing this thing called quality control, and also ingredients preparations. When going behind the scenes, most operations will try to 'cook' their food as much as possible before putting it on the 'waiting table' for customers to sit down and eat.

From our end - this occurs mostly by the mixing of sauces, cutting of vegetables - marinating the meat and pre-cooking certain dishes. Tedious work especially when the reserve levels are low. Demand is quite variable when it comes to FnB - kinda tied to the mood swings of our guests perhaps - When they are in the eating mood - everybody pops up and downs an elephant and at other times - everybody is busy at the movies - quite unpredictable behaviour honestly. Though we do see recognizable patterns throughout the year as guests tend to increase in flow during the end of the year and drop significantly over the middle.

Preparation is indeed difficult work - and there are many unsung heroes who keep your FnB outlets operating on a day to day basis - granting every guest a meal, despite having thousands running through the store every day. Sometimes the little guys deserve a break too!

All In A Days Work: Operating in Tandem

The act of pulling our operations together was done quite in development, mostly during the renovation works at the cafe. Being a FnB outlet, we have the need to tailor our operations to be cost effective, yet efficient to be able to serve a large number of guests who dine in regularly. As opposed to the more common 'home-cook' concept - we needed to have a system in place to plan for an unexpected number of guests who can appear at any point in time.

As most fast food outlets will have it, a limited-sized menu, large-shiny equipment of mass production, and also the unwavering wallet-choking (not quite - its still somewhat reasonable haha) rates so that they can be accompanied with offers and promotions. A very crude look at the system, but you will observe that many fast food outlets will do something similar in their processes that enable them to serve a wide range, and also huge number of guests.

On the other hand, we have the traditional restaurant concept - where variety and the quality of the dishes are the focus of attention. However, they of course struggle with different issues - namely somewhat less throughput, high risk of wastage but a higher selling margin in return. Most cafe-styled concepts try to marry the two - but of course we will eventually end up with a 'rojak' where most cafe's still fail to produce their food  within a short time frame and instead end up becoming slower in overall as their drinks and beverages generally take longer to prepare, leaving guests with nothing on their tables for a longer period of time.This problem can of course be solved by adding solutions over it, but we are trying to find one that can solve the root of it bottoms up.

To simplify things, we came down to one golden rule: Zero Wastage, followed by the next golden rule: Stupidly Simple. Essentially, that's how we worked on our procedures and preparations for recipes and dishes from the kitchen where we needed to ensure that things will not be too difficult for a newbie to learn from. Also, we needed to keep our operations cost effective, so we tried to make use of just about everything that had side-products.

For example, we will use the clean cuts and 'prime' cuts of lamb to be used for our lamb chops, while smaller and less well shaped pieces were essentially boned and used for mince. The resulting fat was used for stew and sauce  preparations, leaving us with the bones - which well - went to our pets :D Its not that we intend to serve our guests with anything less than acceptable - We still practice the other golden rule "If you dare to have this yourself, then you can serve this to the guests," which serves as a very crude, yet somewhat effective means of ensuring all-round quality (don't expect 5-star performances though) without the need for a 5-star chef. Of course, we do have experienced cooks in the house, but we cannot discount the fact there are many occasions the best many not be available!

So how do we simplify complicated preparation procedures so that even a newb can perform them? Well, it does involve a little bit of simplifying, of course (Like the way we stock up sauces used in almost every dish - prepared only by the more experienced crew or suppliers) - but it mostly involves the idea of divide and conquer - Management tips certainly do make their way into a civilized kitchen, where complicated tasks are broken down into smaller, simpler, individual tasks to make up the whole. Nevertheless, balance comes into play since time is a key variable we need to keep small.

Another inside look at some of the things we do here at Myst.

All In A Days Work: Waffle Mania

Before we headed out to get Myst running, we had a little waffle stall running for about 2 months as a little past-time project. It was certainly a fun experience, and considering that none of us had any experience with a waffle iron before - we actually only spent 1 day in testing the machine before rolling out to the market.

How things happened were certainly very interesting as the operator for the desserts shop had requested us to start within a 3 day's notice if possible. Up for the thrill of the challenge, we obliged and rushed over to get the machine we have been eyeing at the Boulevard Mall. The waffle iron was made in Malaysia (*grin*), and it was much cheaper than many other imported models that were being used in the market.

Well, there are some interesting quirks about this machine. Ours was of the same size, but the depth of the iron makes its waffles much bigger - which required us to come up with a new formula for making money other than copying the Magic Byte clones out there in the market. Soon enough, we came up with a recipe of our own that we believe is somewhat superior in many ways as opposed to a power-based batter. Well, that's the way we look at it - We believe that fresh and natural ingredients are always superior to anything that passes through the manufacturing process.

Business was booming initially - though ever since we moved the waffle machine to our waffles bar in Myst Cafe, it has somewhat slowed dramatically, probably due to its location that new guests are unaware that we do have waffles for sale unless they look into our menu. Nevertheless, we still retain its signature size and taste, with a new variety of flavours including ice-cream waffles to accompany your meal at affordable prices.

There is also another catch to our waffles - The art of removing waffles from the iron ROFL. Naturally, anything cheap is not too durable either, and I guess the same goes for our dear local made waffle iron. It has went through some heating problems, and the biggest problem is the wear and tear of the non-stick surface. Removal of waffles has evolved into some sort of art where you can actually observe the bartender performing world-class stunts of flexibility in an attempt to remove the waffle in once piece while avoiding the searing heat of the waffle iron. Truly a sight to behold :D

Another random article on some of our daily incidences with the crew :D

New Affiliate: NERF Kuching

Just recently we were lucky enough to get in touch with a group of young enthusiasts of the global NERF community. Just what exactly does NERF stand for? Simply put, its an extension of those classic rubber-band 'lastik' most of us used to play back in our high school days - Less painful and more fun!

Found this classic off Google!

NERF basically stands for "Non-Expanding Recreational Foam". Sounds kinda lame at first, but who cares when you get the opportunity to shoot your friends in the head. Its a brand of 'blaster's' created by the Parker Brothers quite some time back, and it works its way to modernize the classic rubber band catapults into a truly fun and immersing experience.

While one could say that NERF is nothing compared to paintball - but its a great alternative for those who do not want to undergo the pain, sweat and dirt (Well, sweat and dirt is  more of a personal choice) - and more importantly a hole in your wallet.

So while we can't really lay pain on our dear friends everyday via air cannons, we can still 'NERF' them every other day. And its still great fun after all regardless of how you 'pwn' your friends.

Before we go, catch this infamous NERF vid:

NERF Kuching will be a great addition to our recreational groups going alongside those of particular interest including RPG's and collector's games. The hold weekly 'scrimmages' every week Be sure to check out their Facebook page for the latest news and updates on their weekly events!

DIY: Making Your Own Chilled Cheesecake

It was just recently that there have been quite a number of guests and friends wanting to make their own cheesecake. So here is a simple, straight-forward, yet somewhat delightful recipe that nearly everyone is be able to prepare with some basic equipment and access to the nearby supermarket.

There's no secret to the recipes I have used for my cheesecakes since several years back, it lies within the selection and the combinations of the flavours used to make something simple, exotic. Getting to the point, here is the recipe breakdown (For a 1kg recipe):

Ingredients:
300g cream cheese (Any brand will do, though its up to your preference)
300g whipping cream (You can use non-dairy topping too, they are somewhat similar)
2 tbsp of gelatine powder
1/2 cup of water
a little vanilla extract to taste
a little sugar to taste
and other flavourings of choice (e.g.juice of a lemon, chocolate powder, milo, you name it) to taste

100g of broken biscuit crumbs (any biscuit of choice - chunkier bits will be a little crispier)
75g of melted butter (I generally discourage using margarine as its taste is inferior and also probably unhealthy)

Equipment:
2 mixing bowls
1 Mixer
1 Baking Tray with a removable base (looks like pic below)

Refrigerator
Stove
Basic utensils

Method:
1. Whip the cream cheese with solid or powdered ingredients until they form a smooth paste.
2. Dissolve gelatine powder with water over very low heat until the mixture is smooth.
2a. Prepare the biscuit base by melting butter over low heat and mixing in the biscuit crumbs. Press firmly with a spoon. If the base is too brittle, add in more melted butter.
3. Whip in the gelatine mixture with the cheesemix.
4. Beat the whipping cream in a separate bowl until firm tops are formed, then fold in (Mix manually) the whipping cream with the cheesemix till smooth.
5. Pour everything into the baking tray, then add any toppings of choice.
6. Chill for four hours to set.

And that's it! The basics are really quite simple, but from there there is so much that you can do to give add a variety of new ingredients and add-ons to make a truly exquisite dessert. Here was a little something I did for a friend sometime back (Nothing spectacular, but it will still great fun):

The best part of doing it yourself? The whole thing will cost you only around RM25!

D&D - Moving It Out

Recently we were lucky enough that a reporter dropped by to take a look into one of our most unique worlds within Myst - Dungeons and Dragons, an RPG-based game set in a world where fantasy and imagination rule. Let the article speak for itself (Taken from The Borneo Post):

TOTAL strangers and from vastly different backgrounds, six young local professionals get together without fail twice a week and even on public holidays.

What is it that so compels them to willingly give up their free time for, and at the same time, has the power to bind them like a brotherhood cult?

It sounds extreme, but it isn’t. The young people are merely indulging in a highly interactive and mind-stimulating game of D&D (Dungeons and Dragons).

It’s a kind of Role Playing Game (RPG) that requires a high level of imagination and creativity — a game of fantasy usually centred on medieval times where dragons, castles and knights ruled. Basically, it’s about saving the world and good conquering evil.

The players have to assume the roles of imaginary characters in a fictional setting, acting out their part according to the rules and regulations set by the Game Master (GM) who also pens the storyline.

What’s unique is that the players have a crucial role in determining the conclusion.

Their part (or rather act) is not transcribed by the GM – they themselves determine the flow of the game. It’s a more sophisticated and intellectual form of story telling that pools the players’ collaborative efforts.

RPG is played here exclusively by those who took it up while studying abroad. It’s a hit among college students and also appeals to computer game buffs.

The only people known to play the game in Kuching are a five-member group comprising Jerome Wei, Jonathan Isaac, Alvin Katek, Roy Eng, Remington Ling and Lim Kheng Sen.

Sheela Kym, who just joined the group, is the only female member.

While many readily dismiss RPG as a waste of time and childish, the group will spring to its defence in a flash.

Explained Wei: “It’s an interactive game that involves deep thinking and stimulates the mind.”

Eng put it this way: “It’s a game that requires vivid imagination. The Game Master has to come out with the storyline while each player has act out a character to fit the storyline.”

Jonathan said it’s a highly interactive game that improves one’s oral skills and also helps one to think out of the box to overcome the obstacles that crop up so often in the story.

Ling believed RPG could boost one’s confidence in public speaking as it involves a lot of conversation while Lim said it helps improve one’s command of English in which game is played.

Despite their different opinions of the game, they all agreed on one thing – it’s a form of escapism that transports them to a world of fantasies inhabited by dragons, swash-buckling heroes and villains, fair maidens and chivalrous knights.

“You need to be open-minded. Only then can you appreciate the game. Basically, you are stepping into a world of fantasy,” Jonathan pointed out.

With the crinkum and crankum of blockbusters like The Lord of the Ring and Harry Potter to fuel young minds, it’s no wonder RGP is popular among college kids.

Most members of the Kuching group have been playing the game even before their college days, either alone via computer or with others online. They met by chance and after discovering they had the same interests, decided to get to know each other better by coming together to share a common hobby.

“Previously, it was just sheets of paper and dice. Figurines were too expensive and hard to come by. Now these miniatures are more easily available,” Wei noted.

Usually, the game is played with sheets of paper and dice but when it comes to the conclusion, the table is set with figurines representing the characters in the story, complete with a huge model of a fire-spitting dragon.

Explained Eng: “Sometimes, we do set the table with models and miniatures. So we don’t have to use visualisation.”

A game lasts about four hours.

“It’s all about saving the world, good triumphing over evil. But the mission is treacherous and perilous,” he added.

Though it sounds fantastical, it’s also very pragmatic and structured, Eng said, adding that just like a real battle, tactics and strategies were necessary to defeat the enemy.

“The game is as practical as it is fantastical.”

The earliest RPG is Dungeons and Dragons created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules Inc (TSR). Its early success led to a proliferation of similar game systems but D&D remains dominant in its  genre.

As of 2006, about 20 million people have played the game with more than US$1 billion in book and equipment sales.