Across the Pacific we go!

Our flight leaves at 7pm, and it's currently 3pm. Gotta go pick up some stuff and off to the airport we go. We will make a 9 hour stop in Seoul, Korea before departing to Malaysia. Once we're in Kuala Lumpur, we'll immediately take a few hours ride to Ipoh. I'm not sure if I'll do any blogging while we're down there, so in case I don't, see everyone in 3 weeks!

Hey Lance, thanks for watching the house!

Ouch....Ouch....Ouch...Ouch...

I may be overly cautious, but with the urging of Phan, I went to get some vaccinations for our trip to Malaysia. I got 4 vaccinations in all: tetanus, typhoid, polio, and hepatitis A. 2 on each arm. The needle injections themselves weren't all that bad, but what I don't like is the soreness that occurs for days after the shots...especially when Phan thinks it's so funny that I flinch everytime she goes to poke my arms. Ouch...ouch...stop..ouch...I mean it..ouch...

Meeting with the Banker

Today, Phan and I met up with the banker that we had sent our business plan to. This was the banker that said he thought our business plan and concept has merit and sent us the application forms. Our meeting with him went really well. After talking with us and looking through our application, the banker said that he was impressed with our preparation and told us that he is highly confident that our loan will be approved. Looks like we'll be getting the startup capital we'll need. Needless to say, I'm ecstatic, woohoo! ^_^

Earlier this Monday, we went to check out another restaurant equipment supplier. This one has a lot of imported smallware and kitchenware from China. While we were there, we heard the business owners (2 daughters and their mother) speaking in multiple languages. We heard Thai, Vietnamese, Hakka, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Their customers were mostly Asian restaurant owners, and they could communicate with their customers in each of their native languages. It was pretty cool.

Once we are back from Malaysia, we will be working with our realtor to look for a location. We'll also need to find a construction general contractor and/or architect. Let the fun begin.

Sunday Night

On Sunday we had dinner with Boun, one of the owners of Halo Thai, and his fiance, Penny. They're a very nice couple, and Boun provided some pretty good advice about starting and operating a restaurant. We had a good time, we'll need to get together again.

One thing I found out that night is that I had no idea just how many Chinese restaurants and retail shops are on SE 82nd St in Portland... We saw a big concrete plot of land where a mini-mall of Chinese retail shops will be constructed. I know for those folks out there in Asia that it's nothing special, but it's something very welcoming to me here in Portland where 8 out of 10 people are naturally blonde. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but not by much. Not that I have anything against natural blonde hair, oh no not at all, it's just... ah nevermind. :oP

One week before our trip to Malaysia

Alright, a short update of what we've been up to. I've sent the paperwork in and the startup business is now officially incorporated and has an Employer Identification Number. I also sent out our business plan to a few banks. Got positive responses so far. One bank, in particular, replied back and said that they believe our business plan and concept has merit, and sent us their application forms (15 pages in all), and asked us to meet with them. We hope to do that this week before our trip to Malaysia.

Looks like all that effort writing up a thorough business plan is working in our favor.

I called a few government agencies to find out all the permits and licenses that we'll need to get. I also called a few insurance companies to find out the costs for insurance, as we'll need general liability, worker's compensation, and property insurance. Additionally, we went to Paychex's office and met with an account manager to find more about their payroll services, as we may be using them. This coming Tuesday, we'll meet up with a CPA accountant from an accounting firm to find out more about their accounting service.

A year ago, I didn't really think about how much is involve in starting a business. It's quite a learning process. This is only the beginning, because once we get the financing, there's a lot more to do.

Shopping Around...

It was a busy and interesting day. We went to check out a local restaurant equipment supplier, Pacific Restaurant Equipment. Terry, one of the owners, showed us around the warehouse, which consisted of a mixed of both reconditioned and new equipment. He was a pretty laid-back guy, approachable, and easy to talk to. We checked out some stove ranges, wok range, fryers, broilers, fridge, prep tables, and several other things we will need for the restaurant. He'll be a valuable resource of information, as he and his partners had owned and operated a total of 9 restaurants in the past.

We also went to see a food supplier, Charlie's Produce. We met up with the sales manager and one of their salesman, Roy, who gave us a tour through their HUGE warehouse. They carried a very wide array of produce, I was quite impressed. Their vegetables were very fresh and their facilities were top notch. We'll most likely have them as our suppliers.

Lastly, we went to a Thai restaurant, Halo Thai, that Terry from Pacific Restaurant Equipment had referred us to. Halo Thai just opened only several weeks ago. The restaurant had a pleasant ambience, with hard-wood floors and numerious modern paintings hung high on the walls. Phan and I had dinner there, and we had the chance to talk to the owner, Boun. Boun took us to the restaurant kitchen and showed us around. All of his equipment was bought new, and it looked like he ran a pretty good operation. The food was pretty good, and everything was made fresh from scratch, and they're food presentation was quite attractive. After thanking him for his time, we exchanged numbers, as we will definately keep in touch. We will certainly recommend our friends to his restaurant and wish the best for his business. Halo Thai info is listed below:

Halo Thai Restaurant
1625 NE Alberta Street
Portland, OR 97211
Tel: (503) 546-7063
Fax: (503) 546-7065

Open 7 days
Sunday - Thursday: 11:00am - 9:30pm
Friday - Saturday: 11:00am - 10:00pm

Overall, it was an eventful day. It's good to actually talk to the people we will be doing business with and talking to others who have opened their first restaurant, just as we are working to do.

Spaghetti -- Asian Style

This is Spaghetti Noodle with Tomato Sauce. The tomato sauce was made of yellow, orange and red tomatoes. We also added chilies, garlic, onions, basil, oregano, parsley, capers, balsamic vinegar, rice wine and mushroom seasoning. Besides the button mushrooms, the other vegetable ingredients were bok choy, jalapeno and carrots. Bok choy made it even more nutritious, no? Among other nutrients, bok choy is a great source of calcium. :o)




Here is a stir-fried udon noodle. We cut the fried tofu into small pieces. We added red pepper and red jalapenos to add a difference to the mushroom and soy sauce that we use for this dish. We also add a dash of fresh lime juice. The vegetable ingredients were red onions, bok choy, broccoli, bean sprout, red cabbage and button mushrooms. Despite the red jalapenos, this dish was not overly spicy.

Broccoli is an excellent source of vitamin C, iron, folate, carotene, and protein. The high amounts of vitamin C that's present in broccoli actually helps your body's ability to absorb iron.




We found a packet of dry flat rice flakes from Thailand. We used that to make this soup dish. The rice flakes curled up into a roll when cooked. The soup was vegetable broth with chinese dark sweet vinegar, soy sauce, mushroom seasoning, red chilies, red pepper and five spice. The vegetable ingredients were bok choy, carrot and firm tofu. We also added a dash of cayenne to add some spiciness to the soup.




We deep-fried broccoli and brown mushrooms in a flour batter. Then we tossed in the sweet tomato sauce made from tomato ketchup, celery, garlic, onion, red chilli peppers, rice vinegar, rice wine and potato starch.