26 December 2014: The Day Before Croisserie Opened

There are days you plan for,
and there are days that arrive beyond anything you thought possible.

26 December 2014 —
the day before Croisserie Artisan Bakery in Damansara Heights was meant to quietly open.

But it did not feel quiet.

Chef Nogami and his wife happened to be in Malaysia,
and they came to visit.

Even now, it still feels like something that should not have happened.
Not something you could plan,
not something you could arrange.

That day, everything came together.

All the breads I had imagined,
all the things I had wanted to try,
were on the table.

Not perfect —
but present.

And in that same space,
the person I had been looking up to
was standing there,
seeing it.

It was the most nervous I had ever been.
And at the same time,
the most certain.

Not because everything was ready —
but because, for the first time,
it felt real.

That this path I chose
could exist beyond my own head.

That day held everything at once —
pressure, disbelief, gratitude, and something close to quiet confidence.

A moment that does not come often.

And one that, even now,
still feels difficult to explain.