Viewing Dom's Teahouse Final Nights' Finest Hour on Slide

Heartbreaking Farewell From All

Pulling away and distancing myself from what I love to do  in life is  indeed difficult . But it is the time of that moment which has finally arrived on us. It is time to say farewell to each other. My inner self told me I must go and I have to ultimately accept this as inevitable. I know departing from my own staff as well as my customers and friends I have developed over the years  is sad and  heart rending for me. Only in the agony of parting do we realise the depth of our special human relationship. But I believe I do part from your beautiful neighbourhood a far more enriched  and an endowed  person than before entering into one . I may have stayed in Blackman's Bay for a  short while like perhaps seven and a half years   but you all have  left in me such an indelible mark on my heart that I will eternally treasure  and take with me wherever I go in future..Here goes Forever, and forever farewell. If we do chance to meet again why we shall smile: if not lets make this a good one whilst it last. And you still remember my favourite song I frequently played on our restaurant music sung by Vera Lynn..?. keep smiling through  just like we always do till the blue skies drive the dark clouds away. Don't know where don't know when, but I know we shall meet again some sunny day... 

Our Final Week's Well Wishers

I must say that I have the greatest admiration and affection towards my friends and customers. The tumultuous farewells with their accompanied flowers, gifts and cards exemplify how sad and truthfully painful this particular parting is going to be. This is because they know I shall not return to the restaurant scene anymore . Saying goodbye isn’t hard . It is leaving all those beautiful people behind that is the hardest. Remember real friends don’t say goodbye.They remain true to the last. I have all these beautiful photos to share with you all for our everlasting memories.Cheers from Sue and myself...

Tributes and Well-wishers

This is  BBC calling. This is your Dom’s Busy Body Corporation calling to whoever is interested or whoever may tune in.We interrupt temporarily to the boring Teahouse methodically listed ‘Timeline program’ so that we can give you the latest news  update on the exciting  restaurant home front. Our countdown begins a few weeks ago. We have done our final Tuesday night. We have just completed our final Wednesday night. There is still a few more 'final' nights to go. Then by this final Sunday everything will be all over.  I shall pray to Lord that I don't remain a General Custer in my last Stand but I rather be a small injun and stay survived. Celebrations are in the offing. I can feel that they are in the air. But should I party like most because frankly  I don’t even know how to start even if I try. Mr Sidebottom and Mrs Longbottom may decide to have a Wake but I feel poor Dom personally prefers to be a fugitive from his tiny kingdom  the kitchen. Tributes, laudation and Well-wishers are aplenty. Below are but some of the excerpt…

The Merchant of Far East (3)

Homer's Odyssey of the Origin (2)

The Original Dom's Teahouse (1)

 Malaysian Teahouse   1978-1989

 Malaysian Teahouse  1978-1989

   Malaysian Teahouse1978-1989

Of Whiz Kids Lunchbox and Fast Track

his is definitely not a satirical send-up from a grumpy Dom. I’ve figured  out that had I stayed  they generally won’t leave me either. They would have stayed on too. Does say something for their youthful loyalty  espirit de corp and their brimming enthusiasm under their rather worn-out  leadership. But for me to ever continue on  I would need a new pair of respiratory lungs and possibly a heart transplant.

In my few coming editions I shall attempt at a chronology of the history of the Teahouse restaurant concentrating possibly on the best part of 1980s and 1990’s and early 2000. This may not necessary be in the exact order of events but at least it gives you an insight into some sort of a timeline and a rough guide as to where our Dom’s Teahouse is today. Meantime lets get back to our Base. We have exactly two weeks to go. Yes! In a fortnight  I shall forfeit for the first time in my  working life the grand title of  Mr Teahouse.

Teahouse Not For Sale

ou would have to admit that some people are knocking on the wrong door if they think that my business is up for sale soon as I announce my retirement in public. They can do all the scurrying and scampering they like.  But I shall maintain my unwavering steadfast and stay aloof from their clamour because I just don’t sell. Some carry on as if they are about to swoop on a fallen body ever ready to cherry pick the carcass best parts. This is indeed a shameful sight

 Running a small establishment and particularly staying afloat in a small business nowadays is not exactly an easy task what with your quarterly gst, paperworks, annual return, insurance . bureaucratic intrusions and such likes. It is not like as if you are owning a goldmine, a BHP Billington,a  Rio Tinto or such. But why do we still have people out there dreaming of easy money shortcuts and all that. I suppose if people are mercenary they are born to be that way, mercenarial like any soldier of fortune seeing everything in terms of dollars and cents amorally. If you think you are in for an easy sail in this business you must be in a wrong game.

Talking of shortcuts. I know some shonky mediocre operators are more likely than not to use the method most of the time to achieve a higher profit margin. After a while this habit becomes compulsory and eventually becomes essential part of their ‘cutting-cost’ regime. This is but usually done  at the expense of the quality of their products and services though they may try to camouflage it in one form or another.

You have to realise not everybody is of the same. When I came over to Australia at the age of sixteen I came alone not as a migrant but as a High School student straight from a Boarding school and got embedded to a chosen ‘Australian family’ and since then I rubbed shoulder to shoulder along with friends in sport field school and at 'home'. The people that show interest in my business may  not exactly be the same. They may come with their vast cultural divide and and perhaps a  language barrier. They may also bring forth their family into business.  There is nothing wrong in that. For after all everyone has his or her family’s livelihood to be concern with. But it is only when they decide to trade under my name and my menu and dishes and found out that they couldn’t do what I have done then they may just turn around and sue me in court for a case of fraudulent misrepresentation. 

In any case I had already exercised my exit clause and not sign for a further term of contract. Literally and legally speaking I cannot sell my business if I wanted to. Blissfully I shall be looking forward  to my retirement and a new lease of life without going through the complications of yet another new terms of lease, a sale contract as well grooming the new incomers on top of all these. Only this way shall I keep my dignity and my self-respect over my thirty odd years of honest labour intact. My history is not for sale. I am certainly not for sale. My self-respect is not for sale. My personal freedom is not for sale. They can never be purchased and they will never be on the market. I am just what I am my own person. 

Dom's Teahouse Restaurant  is closing down . Our Last Trading Night being the  29th of may but This blog will stay

A Helping Hand

 Well ! Whatdoyouknow! This would be the second time I have tried uploading as the other end of  our interface strikes some trouble since the last twenty-four hours or so. Much to my horror for a while I thought I have some of my posts and the slides gone for good. However I am so relieved that everything seems to be returning back to normal by the look of things. In any case, I must admit I started off spending my time behind the desktop merely as a diversion from my work  I do learn a lot from computing and I am still learning as there are so much to learn. I don't think we ever finish learning.  For instance This is the first time I have ever tried click-able thumbnail gallery. It is only because nobody teaches me so it looks so rudimentary and rough here that I just hope it does work.

I must personally thank Ms Courtney Powell for emailing online some of the photos she took on our restaurant  so that I can download them from my email account and upload them to this 'account' here. You don't see many youngster taking such a serious creative interest like photography. This is highly commendable if you only know how young and brave they are.. Once again I thank her very much for her heartwarming assistance here.

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Dom's Teahouse Restaurant Countdown, Our Last Trading Night being 29th May 2011.

Testing Only

I am trying  a click able photo album  from  just the photography supplied by   Courtney Powell whose hobby is serious photography. Her creative activity is highly commended. Hope this clickable biz does work as it is my first attempt.

Dom's Teahouse Restaurant Countdown, Our Last Trading Night being 29th May 2011.

Capturing the rare moments

On the eve of our closure and on the eve of my own departure from the Hobart eatery scene I have decided to relentlessly record whatever that is left of my last  memorable days spent at the Bay down here.I know I may have done millions of  wok shoveling around Hobart over the years. Come to think of it now even the most mundane of  the act of 'wokking' will soon become a precious memory and an art to keep.  Now that I have decided to throw in my apron who is going to cook for me when I get out of here in the future, Brave New World.