The Company Secretary

So few acknowledge the backroom folks of their businesses. We thought we'd take some time to give some snaps to our favourite founding member.

This is our Company Secretary. Her name is Athena. Ijam has also proclaimed her his KL girlfriend whenever he comes to visit. We suspect it's because when he stays over at our house (yes we believe in keeping a close eye on him LOL!) he sleeps on the futon in our den - also christened by him as Athena's bed.

Whether or not we have meetings with Ijam face-to-face or on the phone, Athena attends all of them faithfully (unless of course we're in Langkawi -then, she's boarded at Camp David with the rest of the doggies and busy sulking...)

5 minutes before meetings begin.... (note the anticipation on face)

Rapt attention mid-way through an architectural debate...

In deep thought.

She will claim she is overworked.

Hopefully you will all get to meet her when La Pari-Pari opens.

At any rate, we have listened to her complaints and got her an assistant.

But I have my suspicions at 5 months Beyonce has already been quickly influenced by her superior!

Walking Through La Pari-Pari

A few weekends back we went to Langkawi once more for a milestone visit. Finally, after months of waiting, we picked up our land title from the lawyer! It's officially ours now!! We also visited the site once again where Ijam had the footprints of the various buildings pegged - marked with wooden pegs and raffia string.

La Pari-Pari's entrance and office

So we literally "walked" through La Pari-Pari for the first time :-) We checked out rooms, the distance between various structures, and unanimously declared the swimming pool too small! LOL!

Since then we've discovered that our original target for funding, the SME Bank, has run out of funds for the particular loan we were targetting. Apparently, due to the high number of loan defaulters, the bank no longer has money to disburse for tourism. Of course this can change if defaulters pay up or the Government provides additional funding following the next National Budget in October.

Meanwhile, we're busy exploring other avenues for funding, limited as they may seem at the moment. The fact is, there is little by way of financial support given in this country to start-up SMEs like us who may have good ideas but no company track records. And we are in no way alone.

But, as usual, there are people out there with ears to the ground for us, trying to help us in their own ways. So fingers crossed, if we find other avenues, we will still be seeking funding by the end of this year.

All the same, work continues. The design of La Pari-Pari is close to final, with us already in the third round of interior concepts for the rooms. We're even in the midst of finalising our logo! By end of August, we will have submitted our drawings to the planning authorities, with an ultimate view to converting the site's status from agricultural to commercial.

So, things are moving, albeit at a gradual pace. Although, as I've often said to Anim, I believe every apparent setback has its reason, often times if not for anything but to force us to pause and consider our next step. And many a time this has resulted in a better, more improved version of La Pari-Pari emerging from our respite.

Meet Imah!

Say hello to Imah Salleh!

Imah is someone we've known for a number of years now. We first met her when she worked at our friend's restaurant.

I am constantly amazed at the confluence of coincidences that seem to surround La Pari Pari.

Imah comes with years of experience in the hospitality industry, predominantly in the food & beverage sector. So naturally, when we thought about people we knew on whom we could turn to for advice, especially on the operational aspects of running a resort, we thought of Imah.

The funny thing is, two years or so ago, Imah took a hiatus from Kuala Lumpur. Her "sabbatical" was in Bali, working with a company that provides internet booking services and website development for several resorts in Bali.

So now, she's become a resource on whom we depend for insights for the sales aspect of the business too!

Who knows - with any luck, maybe we can entice her to join us once La Pari Pari opens. I seem to think she's look smashing in a bikini and a pair of wings on Cenang Beach, no?