My Review - El Cactus Restaurant, Port Dickson

El Cactus Bistro, Port Dickson

Quick Links This year for my wife's birthday, we went to check out El Cactus Restaurant, a Mexican Fusion restaurant located in Port Dickson. I have heard so much good things about this place from friends. Luckily I am married to a beautiful lady that loves to try new things like me. This place is tucked away just across entrance of Mayang Sari Resort. Its easy to spot especially at night as there is a large lighted signboard at its entrance. The ambience is really romantic, reminds me a some restaurants in Koh Samui. We ordered 2 main course and a plate of mixed nachos. It was nice and my wife loved the guacamole in the middle. But mind you, a plate of nachos here is big, I feel that’s its for four person and above. For the main course I had the fettucine and my wife had a steak. It was priced reasonable. For the three dishes and two soft drinks the bill ame to about RM110.00 and the portion of each dish to me was rather large. Service is rather slow but the staff there is quite friendly. So I would suggest that you to avoid Saturdays and Sundays when Port Dickson is busy. There have also a bar inside and also a pool table. This place is ideal for romantic dinner and also for small group parties. On weekdays they are only opened dinner. And weekends they are opened also for breakfast and lunch.

Pantai Cahaya Negeri, Port Dickson

As mentioned in my earlier post Accomodation in Port Dickson, that the Local Council is doing a great job in beautifying PD. On such place is the Pantai Cahaya Negeri near to Bayu Beach Resort. There are clean toilets there, small gazebos for picnic, playground and alot of shady trees.

For the best deals in Port Dickson or info about places of interest in Port Dickson, please visit my site Travel At Malaysia.

The Wealthy Barber

I found out about this book in the many forums I subscribe to. Everyone seems to have good reviews about this book. It's similar to The Richest Man in Babylon. Its financial planning book comes in a story form and also is not a get rich quick book.

The Wealthy Barber:

The Common Sense Guide to Successful Financial Planning




Chapter 1. The Financial Illiterate
The story starts with the writer telling about his life and wife who is five months pregnant. He and his wife are from the same town. They often go back there to visit their parents. This time he goes back to visit his father to ask how he can be financial literate. So the story begins on his journey to be financial free.

Chapter 2. A Surprising Referral
One Friday night the author and his father discuss on the topic of financial literates. As a family they have never discussed about money. As the author wanted to buy a house and a baby was on the way, he felt that it was about time to be financial free. His dad told him that he too didn't know about personal financing until six years ago. He then tells how he found an unlikely financial guru. The town's barber. After his father explains how his barber taught him about personal financing, the author tells his sister about it. Both of them agree to visit their dad's barber to learn how to be financial free.

Chapter 3. The Wealthy Barber
As with their usual routine, the author and his friend Tom visit Roy their barber for haircuts. But this time its different, other than a haircut, they also came for some financial advice. He brought along his sister Cathy. Roy the Wealthy Barber agreed to teach and said he will teach them in different parts. So in seven months onwards they can be financial free. He tells them that it is really easy to be financial free.

Chapter 4. The Ten Percent Solution
Despite the storm Dave, Tom and Cathy visits Roy the Barber for their first lesson. Roy starts by telling them how he seeks the advice of Old Man White, one of the town's wealthiest men on ways to build financial wealth. Mr. White advised him to save ten percent of his salary to invest later. Even Robert Kiyosaki said this technique is useful. So as you have savings t invests when an investment opportunity comes along. Later throughout the conversation Roy teaches what to invest in, how to choose and what to avoid.

Chapter 5. Wills, Life Insurance and Responsibility
This month Roy discusses a subject of what some people feels it's boring and thinks it's not important. Setting up a will and buying insurance, preparing your loved ones when you are not around. He starts by teaching his three protégé how to chose a lawyer to draw up a will, to map out what should go in the will and why is it important to have a will. The wealthy barber then goes on to teach them about insurance, how to choose one that suit them.

Chapter 6. Planning for Retirement
This month The Wealthy Barber teaches his three protégé how to plan for retirement. What plan that suits them. As for me after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and Cashflow Quadrant and doing some research. I found that my contributions to the Malaysian version of the 401K is not sufficient when I reach retirement age. This is due to the ever increasing inflation. So now I am looking in other venues for my money like mutual funds.

Chapter 7. Home, Sweet Home
As Dave was planning to purchase a house for him and his family, Roy the Wealthy Barber changes the lesson plan to the topic of purchasing or renting a house. Roy says both is not wrong, you need to see your requirement. Everyone needs shelter same as they need food and drinks. But if it cheaper to rent than why burden yourself with buying. Roy then teaches his protégé how to evaluate whether they should buy or rent their shelter. He then teaches Dave some tips on buying a house. The tips are to buy a house that suits your needs and wants and should also fill the requirement of a good investment.

Chapter 8. Saving Savvy
This month Roy teaches them about savings. Not the monthly 10% but saving for things like a new hi fi, holidays. People nowadays enjoys those things by maxing out their credit card by buying the things. I am guilty of that. I have living for years without a credit card and managed to enjoy myself. Then a credit card came in the mail and I was tempted to go on holidays every three months. My reasoning was that I worked very hard and needed a break. Eventually I maxed my card. Now I am slowly clearing my debts, lock my cards in a safe box and forcedly save a portion each month for my holidays. I also look around for great deals or discounts. I am living below my means.

Chapter 9. Insights into Investment and Income Tax
In this chapter Roy starts by explaining that the rule of thumb to investing is to "Buy Low, Sell High". But many people fail at investing because they don't have the discipline and courage to follow this rule. He then teaches them how to identify what to invest in. Roy then advises his protégé that it's best they clear the high interest debts first. Then he goes onto talk about income tax. He teaches his protégé to take a deductible loan to pay off a non deductible loan. Therefore this loan will reduce the contribution to income tax. The wealthy barber also suggests to get professional help when doing income tax.

Chapter 10. Graduation
This last chapter is the end to The Wealthy Barber's lessons. This chapter he talks in detail about emergency funds, saving for a rainy day. Most financial gurus give a set amount to save but what Roy says is what's the use of having large amount of savings and a high interest consumer debt. He suggest to keep little money for a rainy day and use the rest to pay up the debts. He also suggest to look for the best Savings Bond to save for the children's education.

This book is a little technical, so I would suggest to read Richest Man in Babylon first. But the points highlighted is relevant to people who wants to be financial free.

Restaurant Promotion Ideas: - Promotional Letters

Towards the finish of the year, most schools will organise Annual Dinners and Gatherings. That is when they start to think and source for venues to hold their dinners. I was  thinking of ways to give them our menus and prices to get them interested and also to show them that our prices are affordable. I normally try to visit the Headmaster or the President of the Parent Teacher Association. But this was not always feasible as most of them were always busy and some had classes to teach.

Sending out Promotional Letters

So what I did was to search the World Wide Web for addresses of the surrounding schools. I then send out promotional letters with different types of menus to these potential customers & followed up with a visit where feasible. I dropped in a couple of my business cards in to the envelope together with the letters & menus. We got a few calls enquiring about doing their dinners from this schools, of which we told them that we can also tailor make their menus to suit their visitors. I didn't get all the schools but I managed to secure 40% from the total letters sent out.

How to Write a Promotional Letter

To write promotional letters, write with a warm and polite tone without being over friendly or imposing and demanding. Make it short and simple. Avoid using flowery long winded words; your potential customers might not have the time read your letters. The first impression matters. By this I mean that the first sentence must capture the reader’s attention or it else it will finish up in the trash bin. If the first sentence is lovely, the reader will certainly read the second sentence and the next and before they know it the letter is done. Avoid sounding like a sales pitch. State the facts and don't lie, most readers can see through your lies. Don't forget to put in your contact number although your letterhead at the top has the details. Most people don't read the letterhead. It is better to sign the letters by hand or get a stamp along with your signature. This will makes the letter more personal to the reader.

This idea is lovely in case you have a specific prospect to mail to. Also the date when you mail it is also important. If early the letter might get lost with other letters or files. Or even worse land up in the trash bin. If late the prospect might have already booked another venue. Another thing to note is doing send out this letters to frequent as it will be regarded as junk mail.

The hardest thing about writing sales letter is coming out with things to say. You can hire anyone professional to do this for you. But it will be pricey & time consuming. Or you can purchase a program that generates sales letters for you. Such program is the Sales Letter Generator. To know more about this program, Click Here! It also helps you to generate newsletters.

Later I plan to also send out these promotional letters to the Corporate and Governmental Agencies in our mailing list. To learn how I collected my Mailing Address List you can go to my earlier post Restaurant Promo Ideas #6- Collect Mailing Address

ECH Lantern Making Contest

For the past 2-3 years, Equatorial Cameron Highlands have organised a Lantern Making Contest in conjunction with the Mid Autumn Festival. The contest is open to all children in Cameron Highlands. The theme is to recycle and reuse. Some of the lanterns are really beautiful and its hard to believe they were made from waste. This year the contest was held on 11th September 2011. Below are some of the most beautifully created lanterns.

This was made by the kids from the Day Care nearby

Made from plastic tupperwares

Made from a biscuit tin

Made from plastic bowls

Papercups

By the way the weather was really cold that morning, the temperature outside was about 15 degrees. This was what it looked like

This was done by their pastry team for the Ramadhan and Hari Raya Holidays

A Layman's Guide to Cameron Highlands

Restaurant Promotion Ideas #11. Menus

Another great promotional tool that is often overlooked is your restaurant menu. Like I have mentioned in my Previous Post “Creating Great Customer Service Culture", first impression counts. Remember that the entire menu will compliment the restaurant theme. If your menu is not appetizing to look at, people will have the same impression of your food. Most restaurants put fancy words to describe their food. But fancy words and fancy fonts to me can be a deterrent for people to order something different from what they know. Most people will not take a chance in ordering an item that they are not sure about or they might not like. Also avoid jargons or terms that only a few people can understand. I have seen some menus that are so beautiful like a works of art, a masterpiece but if your customers finds it hard to read then what's the point. It’s like a beautifully painted house without any door, you can't get in. The menu must also be easily readable, so the size of the font is equally as important as what font you plan to use. The lighting in your place is another factor to consider when choosing your characters. If your place is designed to be dimly lit, then a bright colored font will be great. Usually, dark colored font on a white or light colored paper is much easier to read. I worked in a pub where the words in the menu were luminous as the place was dark. I felt that this is a great idea.


Recently in the Coffeeshop that I manage, I have added pictures of the food to our menu. I recently took up another hobby. Its photography which I took up after our owner gave the hotel a DSLR camera. Reason is he saw that with today's technology we could add food pictures to our printed materials and didn't need a professional to take out the photos for us. We could do it by ourselves and put in on the menu easily. By adding pictures next to the description of the food, I have noticed that the customers were more adventurous. Trying out different items. But make sure your kitchen brings out the food exactly as what is in the picture, or else you will have a lot of problems. Take mouthwatering shots like the pink area of a lamb, the juicy part of the steak. I usually use Google Image to see what other restaurants use to get an idea on how my pictures should look like. In this sense the saying “A picture says a thousand words" it’s true. A beautifully photographed picture of your food is thousand times better than all the description you can write.

Also pay attention to how your menu looks. If it’s old and tattered discard it. A dirty menu will also turn away the guest.

For more of my Restaurant Promotional Ideas, please go to my website Restaurant Promo Ideas

Don’t Eliminate the Middle Man—Add One!

I came across this interesting article by Richard Saporito. It highlights that the service personnel in your restaurant is equally as important as the chef at the back. As mentioned in my Creating Great Customer Service Culture , 60% of restaurants fail in the first year. Reason being is that the food is only 20% contribution to the sucess of the restaurant. The article is as follow.

Don’t Eliminate the Middle Man—Add One!

Today, there are situations when we actually add a “middle person” instead of eliminating one for increased service efficiency. If it’s cost-effective and demand is high, then proper market positioning will make it a worthwhile endeavor. For example, my sister just informed me of a food delivery service in New Mexico that will let you choose one out of many different food outlets (all types of ethnic/fast food)- and then guarantees delivery within a specific time period. This not only gives the customer assurance of reliability, but more choices for dining take –out style.


In other areas of industry, the same idea holds true. There are electrical suppliers that no longer manufacture the product of electricity, but now are involved only in the delivery process of electricity to the customers. Because of market fluctuations, the new delivery supplier will utilize many other different energy suppliers to get the product of electricity to the customer efficiently and at the best market price. Again, adding the middle man seems to benefit all around.

In relating this theory to restaurants, it is the food runner that has become popular, especially in the larger dining establishments that rarely existed years ago. Food runners are employees who only work the rush hours of the dining room- only running food back and forth from the kitchen to the tables with light dining room table interaction (condiments, fresh pepper etc.). It is a 2-4 hr. shift, depending on how long the dining rush lasts.

Before large restaurants existed, the waiter would complete the process of order taking and delivering of the food. Today, the food runner can be implemented (additional middle man) relieving the waiter of this time consuming and sometimes painstaking process. The waiter must share a percentage of his tip with the runner, but in return his job is eased because the food is delivered for him- allowing extra time to work more tables and up sell to customers thereby increasing sales. Though, it does remain the waiter’s nresponsibility to check the table for additional diner needs-- either while the food is being placed by the runner or shortly thereafter. The tip-out to the runner is usually 10-15% depending on the service system, but well worth it if waiter sales can increase by 20-30 %.

The main point is the food runner addition improves delivery service efficiency while being cost-effective (if the sales increase outweighs the payroll increase). Properly integrating employees into the dining room with exact middle man connections always makes for smooth service flow. It’s not a matter of just blindly throwing extra employees at a service problem, but organizing the best system possible with the minimal amount of labor.

Adding the middle man can sometimes streamline operations in such way that it becomes irresistible and impossible to ignore. Always, the demand arises when delivery routes of a service system become overloaded.

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About the author: Richard Saporito is a NYC Restaurant Insider with more than 30 years experience. He is currently the President of Topserve Restaurant Consulting, Inc. and the author of "How To Improve Dining Room Service." Discover how to improve your restaurant's dining room service and dramatically increase your profits here: How to Improve Dining Room Service E- Book


Restaurant Promo Ideas

I came across this book after reading Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad Poor Dad" books. Its one of his recommendations for a must read for people who want to be financial free. As with most books in My Little Inspirational & Self Help Books lense, this book is small, in story form and simple to understand. Below is a short review of this book.

The Man Who Desired Gold
The book starts with Bansir, the chariot builder of Babylon, who was thoroughly discouraged, sitting on the fence thinking. He was deep in thought, not caring about the hustle and bustle of the city around him. He was interrupted by the smiling face of his best friend—Kobbi, the musician. Then they discussed how their lives have evolved. How they took the trouble to learn their skills, hoping that if they increased their knowledge, their richest will increase too. But this is not always the case, their skills improve but their richest didn't increase in value. Then they remembered their friend Arkad who was wealthy. They planned to meet up with him and ask what his secret to building wealth is. I too had the same mindset like Bansir and Kobbi, thinking that if I improved my knowledge then my wealth will follow suit but now I have found that this is not the case.

The Richest Man in Babylon
In old Babylon there lived a certain very rich man named Arkad who was famed for his liberality, his generosity to charities and his family. And each year his wealth increased more rapidly than he could spend it. Because of this, his friends came to see him to learn how they can increase their wealth. Arked then told them a story on how he met Algamish, the money lender. Algamish taught him the first step to financial freedom. It is to pay oneself first. What this means is to save a tenth of your salary. I have found that if we set our mind to it we can live on 90% of our income. That's why most Personal Finance books, blogs or guru's say in order to build wealth; we need to have some sort of savings. Reason being when an opportunity comes, you have the resources to invest. This brings us to the next lesson by Algamish, which investing your savings. Algamish suggest that we invest with people who know how to invest. People who are successful in investing.

Seven Cures for a Lean Purse
After defeating the Elamites, King Sargon returned to Babylon to be confronted by another problem. The people of Babylon were no longer able to support themselves. His chancellor reported that the wealth of the people was accumulated by only a few men. This is due to their knowledge on the workings of wealth. The king asked the chancellor to search for such a person, so as he is able to teach the people. The chancellor then selected Arkad, who was then summoned to see the king. To which Arkad agreed to teach a few people so as they can teach others. He taught them the "Seven Cures for A Lean Purse"

THE FIRST CURE
Start thy purse to fattening.
What this means is that we need to save, a minimum of 10% of your income. This is so when the opportunity comes, you have the money to invest.

THE SECOND CURE
Control thy expenditures
The second cure is a continuation of the first. It is to budget yourself so as to spend within 90% of your income. You can save the other 10% as advised in the first cure. Now I am listing down my daily expenditure. I have found that there are expenditures that I really don’t need. As my company provides lunch what’s the use of having lunch outside. Take it from someone who is going to be financially free. List down daily what little things you spend and you will be surprised as where your money goes. I do it on my PDA but if you don’t have a PDA then do what one of Orpah`s guest suggested. Write on a piece of paper and put it in a box or basket. Later you can review what you spend either daily or weekly.

THE THIRD CURE
Make thy gold multiply
After saving your 10%, of your earnings and seeing it grow. But by just keeping savings in a safe place, your wealth will not increase. You need to invest to let it grow. What you should do is look for the right advisors as to what and where to invest.

THE FOURTH CURE
Guard thy treasures from loss
When your money increases, make sure you do investment that is safe. Investment that doesn't have any risk to your principal. Consult with wise men. Secure the advice of those experienced in the profitable handling of gold so as their wisdom can protect your savings from unsafe investment.

THE FIFTH CURE
Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment
To buy property or your own house. This I found to be true. When were growing up, we always stayed in a rented house which we had to shift once the owner needed the house or sold it. So for about three decades we were paying for a house that we didn’t own. So imagine that if we took a loan to purchase a house, after three decades the house would be ours. And after we pass on our children would have a place to stay. We only need to worry about paying property tax. And if we don’t want to stay there, we can rent it out. Let another person pay our loan for us, like what we did when we were young.

THE SIXTH CURE
Insure a future income
The sixth cure for a lean purse is to prepare for the day when we are not able to work. The day when we are old, sick and unable to work. In some countries they have saving program like the 401K and the Employee Providence Fund, that your employee and you contribute a percentage of your income monthly to a saving fund. You can take out your savings when you reach the retirement age. But as what Robert Kiyosaki said with the ever increase in inflation this call may not be enough. So we need to look at other avenues. We also need to plan for the day when leave this world, so as our loved ones are provided for.

THE SEVENTH CURE
Increase thy ability to earn
This is the same thing highlighted by Robert Kiyosaki in the Rich Dad Poor Dad Series. In order to be financial free, we need to have another source of income. What he suggested that works for him was real estate. There is alot of other avenues to make money, choose one that suits you. There is the Multi Level Marketing or what I am trying out now is Internet Marketing. Its hard work but people have succeeded in it, so I intend to be one of them.

Meet the Goddess of Good Luck
In old Babylon, there is an important building called Temple of Learning where people came to discuss on any matter no matter what levels they were. One such person who had his own special hall was Arkad. He came here frequently to discuss to ways to improve them. Tonight they were discussing on how they can attract good luck. What they have found out that betting on the gaming tables doesn't attract the Goddess of Fortune. They continued to discuss on missed opportunity. How opportunity comes in a few seconds only and how they were not grabbed fast enough. So what this means is good luck follows those who grabs opportunity fast.

The Five Laws of Gold
Around a campsite Kalabab tells his slaves the story of Arkad the richest man in Babylon as told him by Nomasir, Arkad's son. He tells the story of Arkad wanting his son to proof to him that he is capable of handling the estate that his father will leave him. How he send Nomasir out with a bag of gold and a clay tablet, asking him to return after 10 years. When Nomasir returns he gives an account of what he did. How he lost the bag of gold to a scam. He then tells the tale how he used what was written on it. On it was written the Five Laws of Gold.

The five laws of gold were

THE FIVE LAWS OF GOLD
1. Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one - tenth or his earnings to create an estate for his future and that or his family.
2. Gold laboureth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.
3. Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.
4. Gold slip peth away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep.
5. Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who followeth the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment.

Then Nomasir goes on to tell how he used the wisdom of the Five Laws of Gold

The Gold Lender of Babylon
This chapter starts with Rodan, the spearmaker walking towards Mathon, the moneylender. He just had received a large sum of money for his work, now he asking Mathon should he lend to his sister's husband to invest and whether it’s a good idea. Then advises him, that he can lend the money if it doesn't burden him. Then Mathon goes on to show Rodan his token chest and explains the contents, so as Rodan understands the importance of lending money to a person who can pay back.

The Walls of Babylon
The story continues with Old Banzar, a grim warrior guarding the passageway leading to the top of the ancient walls of Babylon. The city is under attack but there are only few defenders. Banzar from his vantage point gets first hand news on the fight below. One by one the citizens come to him for reassurance that the wall will hold against the attack. He reassures them not to worry. The walls of Babylon again protected the citizens as the enemies retreated. The moral of this story in life we should also build some protection with insurance, savings to be used for a rainy day.

The Camel Trader of Babylon
Tarkad, the son of Azure was very hungry because he had only eaten only two figs in two days. He was looking for someone who could spare him some food. But he meets the person who he has been avoiding, Dabasir, the camel trader. Dabasir invites him to join him for dinner in a restaurant but only orders water for Tarkad. While he eats his meal in front of starving Tarkad, Dabasir tells of tale how he conquered his enemy- debts.

The Clay Tablets from Babylon
The story starts Alfred H. Shrewsbury from the Department of Archaeology writing to Professor Franklin Caldwell. He says he has translated the five tablets the Professor sent to him. He says that he found it interesting; it’s about the story of how Dabasir clears his debts. Dabasir writes on the tablet how he lived on 70% of his earnings, saved 10% and he used the last 20% to clear off his debts. So the Professor tries it with his wife. By following the writings of Dabasir, he created a plan as to get out of debt. Which he did. And later the Professor wrote to Shrewsbury that's he is financial free by following Dabasir's plan.

The Luckiest Man in Babylon
In this chapter you will hear how Sharru Nada on a camel caravan journey tells of a tale how he came out of slavery. He was telling Hadan Gula, grandson of Arad Gula how his grandfather also got himself out of slavery. Hadan Gula didn't believe it at first. Then Sharru Nada continued his tale. Relating how Arad Gula brought helped him to get out slavery. He also related what happened to his friends that was sold wih him in the slave market and how he worked hard to save some money. Then only did Hadan Gula believe and promised to follow the success of his grandfather.

An Historical Sketch of Babylon
The last chapter is a historical account on the city of Babylon.

It is hard to believe that this book was first published way back in 1926. Reason being the ideas in this book can still be used in today's world. This is also a great book given as gift to young person.

For more Inspirational Book reviews, please go to my Little Inspirational & Self Help Books lense