When My Hello Kitty and I were in New York, Carol told us that we had to go to this “Alice in Wonderland” themed cafe called “Alice’s Tea Cup”. It was on a really quiet street off a main street and was this little shop with a pink frontage. In spite of it’s colour, it was quite easy to miss. We would’ve missed it if it wasn’t for the group of people lining up outside to get in.
Alice’s Tea Cup was really quaint and small. This was all the tables it had downstairs
and I suspect there’s a function room upstairs or something. They served all sorts tea time pastries, cakes and all sorts of tea. I have never in my life seen so many types of tea before!
The pastries too were really really nice!
And the salmon sandwich that My Hello Kitty ordered (a natural choice since Kitties love fish) WAS DELICIOUS!
Halfway through our afternoon tea, My Hello Kitty suddenly commented that she wished she could open a cafe like that back home in KL. I was surprised… my dream was always that the woman I marry work in a full time job because I have chosen a really risky career path. In business, things can go well one day and turn badly another day. So I always wanted to have a wife that worked so that no matter what happens at least one person would still be contributing to the household income.
I hope that eventually though, if I earn enough money she could spend her time instead on doing social/charity work and pursuing her other interests. For some reason I always thought that she was the kind of person that would like to open a florist or something one day but now that I think about it, I was wrong. My Hello Kitty doesn’t like flowers… (she likes fish remember? haha).
Throughout her munching of the sandwich and sipping of the tea we were drinking she kept looking around her and paying attention to the details of the cafe.
Small small things like even how they decorated the stairs with this magical butterfly.
Or how they have cute little signs like this with reference to Alice in Wonderland.
Finally I suggested to her that if she really wanted to open it, I would invest in it. She was excited for a while but that excitement quickly went into fear. Fear that she’s responsible for other people’s money all of a sudden and fear or losing it. After all, whatever money we invest in it will probably be really significant for me… considering how little money I have in the first place. What was more important though was that in a rare moment I learned of a dream of hers. You know how we all work full-time jobs to earn a living… some of us love our jobs… some are ok with it and some don’t like our jobs at all. Either ways we all sometimes dream of doing something else with our lives one day.. opening a seafood restaurant, doing social work, traveling around the world…. something.
I’m lucky because my dream happens to be what I’m already doing right now.
Perhaps in a later point of my life my dream is to be in property since I’ve learned that I enjoy building things.Seeing how things grow. Lego was like my favourite toy growing up! I don’t necessarily mean huge big time property development. Even if it’s a small thing… like buying a piece of land, putting lots of effort into building a nice home on it and selling it.
The closest I got to wanting to open a cafe or restaurant is a steamboat restaurant! Haha I know I know.. my dreams damn Chinaman right?
My restaurant though will be more straight to the point… just like this one.
It’s called EAT HERE NOW! What a brilliant restaurant… really made me want to eat there right there and then. Then again I’m a sucker for advertising.
Either ways, I’ve learned that there’s a place and time for everything and the time for our dreams to come will come one day.
One day I hope My Hello Kitty can realize her dream too. I can just imagine her now in that small pink “Alice in Wonderland” cafe. She looks happy.
What is your dream ?
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space