We Call That Learning

Christmas is just around the edge and I can feel the atmosphere already!!
I just finished my exams, holidays are set and I started planning on Christmas pastry menu. This is the time of the year that I really like.

Last week, I finished baking my Gingerbread Men Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Hazelnut Crescent Cookies. I'll upload the pictures later! They're still in my sister's camera. Today, I got a day off and I baked Panettone, the Italian Christmas bread. I put lots of effort in it but the result was not satisfying!!! I think it did not get enough proofing time and the texture was very hard. I got a little bit sad since I spent lots of time baking it and hoped that it taste would taste like the one that I tasted last Christmas. But this one, not even close!!



It's not my first failure in baking breads and I can say that I'm not a good baker at all. I haven't learned much techniques on baking since I concentrated mostly in pastry making. Earlier, I thought I would just abandon it and practice on chocolate modelling instead. Then I realize that it is not the right attitude! If I wanna be a pastry chef then I have to know how to bake breads too! I have to persevere and strive for excellence. So I've decided to try baking Panettone again tomorrow!! Wish me luck, everyone!! Hahahaha..

For the last several days, I've been reading the book that I borrowed from campus library, it's entitled "Baking and Pastry: Mastering the arts and crafts" by Culinary Institute of America. I had a copy of "Professional Baking" by Wayne Gisslen from Le Cordon Bleu and I think that the latter is much better since there are lots of pictures on the mixing, shaping and other processes. From these books, I learned a lot about the chemistry behind the pastries and breads that I've made, what creates the flavor, texture and color of the products. I gotta keep on learning, practicing and improving my skills. It's not an easy process but if it's what it takes to reach my dream, then I'll do it no matter what!





There are still lots of things that I wanna bake for Christmas like Stollen, Christmas Pudding, Lebkuchen, Minced Pie, Beef Wellington and Turkey, but my entire family is on DIET and there will be no one to eat my foods!!!

Company Visit: Sheraton Hotel Surabaya

Today's marketing class was kinda different because we went for a company visit to Sheraton Hotel Surabaya. Finally!! We've been asking for a field trip and there were lots of obstacles but we finally made it. Yeaaa..

When we got there, we were welcomed by the Human Resources Manager, a cheerful and easy going, plump woman in a stunning batik top. Then we were divided into three smaller groups and had a tour of the hotel. The hotel has a total of 358 rooms with 8 different room types such as Deluxe, Premium, Deluxe Suite and Presidential Suite. We were not able to get a view of all the room types since the current hotel occupancy is 100%. We went to the meeting rooms, lounge, swimming pool, restaurants and health club.

Sheraton Surabaya is basically a business hotels. The events hold there are like business meetings, seminar, exhibition, conferences and wedding parties. Another property of the hotel is Pakuwon Golf and Family Club, just near my home, the place where my sister usually plays basketball. The hotel is under the Starwood hotels management, together with St. Regis (my favorite hotel in Bali), Westin and Le Meridien. All hotels under Starwood are focused differently with different customer segments, and therefore different brand positioning.

The last segment of our company visit was a lecture by the manager of Operational Excellence, a position that is uncommon in hospitality industry. His works are focused on ensuring operational excellence within the company by the use of Six Sigma theory. This theory is all about continuous efforts to achieve perfection (by defining the problem, measuring the current process, analyzing the data gathered, improving the current process and verifying the new design).

All in all, it's been a refreshing lecture and a new experience for us. I get to know that every hotel has its own personality. When I was sitting in the ballroom and listening to the speakers, I couldn't help but compare Sheraton and Grand Hyatt Bali (the hotel where I had my internship last year). Well, I will bear that in mind, that I have to establish my own hotel identity when I'm going to build my own hotel (hopefully someday).

Service Marketing Mix

For the last two semesters, we have been discussing a lot about the service industry. Of course we should, since hospitality and tourism are parts of service industry, that's what we are learning! However, it was my first time hearing a theory like "Service Marketing Mix". I studied Marketing Mix with the 4Ps elements, but not service marketing mix.

I found out that in service marketing mix, the elements like 'people, process and physical environment' are added to the traditional 4Ps. These elements are essential in the service industry because it's about how we treat people, how we impress people!
Gotta apply this theory more often in future strategies in any service business that I will encounter.

Today, we also discussed about the Massachusetts Audubon Society case study. The article was loooooong and very detailed. The answers were all there in the case, we only needed to compute. Overall, our group did pretty well in this case study. I didn't even know what a non-profit organization can be this big of a size! I thought, organization like this will only have office in a small house with small events and stuff. It's kinda amazing to understand more and get new things on non-profit organizations! They even compete with each other! That really amazed me!

It's just about time for us to do our final exam assignment! Time flies really quickly. Gotta make a schedule and practice time management from now on.. There's just sooooo much works to do!

Huff....

Lately, everybody around me is either 'in love' OR 'in a relationship'!!
From my best friends, sisters and any other people!
GOOOOOSH!! Is it just me who's weird?? Am I too picky or something?
Currently, I'm NEITHER in love NOR in a relationship
I wanna be a part of the crowd too!!!!

Service Productivity

This week's case study was really interesting, it was about Starbucks. The brand is everywhere and it's probably a part of our lifestyle! Understanding how Starbucks markets its products was something new for me and I thought these guys are brilliant! Creating such mega brand and dominating the whole world should require endless hard works and determination, right?

Overall, my group's answers for the case study was right but all the answers lack depth in analysis. I should use all the diagrams given and answer based on the facts presented, that's how a bachelor degree student should work! On the next case study, I will make sure that all the data given are used properly.. Thanks for reminding us, Mr. Sandy!!! The way you analyze and answer all the questions really inspired me.

We then moved on to the day's theory and we learned about service productivity. I've known about productivity and the formula long time ago, but it was for production industry, not service industry. In hospitality, where everything is about service excellence, productivity is hard to measure! The way one person works and serves the guests might be slightly different from the others. One person might be good at speaking, one person might be fast in cleaning, which one is more productive? It's hard to determine!!

Basically, we cannot just judge the success of a business from the financial status. There are lots of other factors such as customer satisfaction, employee morale and productivity that need to be considered. What's important is that, when aiming for an improved productivity, quality should not be sacrificed! If that's the case, then everything will be wasted.

Mr. Sandy gave an example on TGIF and Hungrylicious restaurants. When giving the final mark, the lecturer cannot just look at the financial figures but he should be aware of the crew's productivity! Even though the restaurants will not be opened anymore, but this is a lesson for us so that we can apply it in our other projects.

Adventure will be coming true!

Still remember my adventure lists??
The ones with different holiday places that I want visit..
Tell you what, I will fulfill one of the holiday destinations this year!!!!
Yes, I will be going to Jeju Island this Christmas and New Year. But instead of going on a spring, I will be going during winter season. Obviously, the charm will be different. There will be no flowers blooming but snow and I will also have the chance to play ski!!!!! It should be very interesting! I've never seen snow before, my family don't really like winter time, so we've been travelling mostly during summer.
Can't wait to go there!
December please come sooner...
Hahahahaha..

Business Model Canvas Part 3

In this service marketing class, we are given a project to create a super hotel that will cater to 3 different customer segments (business people, employees and housewives). Our group's part is the business people. So, we focused on infrastructure management which means maximizing the use of all assets to be more efficient (that in turn will cut down cost).

Our idea to improve employee efficiency was to give them more training on how to reduce mistakes, better time management, delegation and others. Aside from contributing to employees' knowledge and skills, this training program will improve their motivation level which will, again, lead to higher efficiency. Moreover, efficiency can be improved by creating waste management program like reusing or recycling waste products to create something else. Such as the use of toast bread crust to produce breadcrumb. Other than that, more revenue can be earned from renting free space to outside establishments and expenses can be cut down by working together with hospitality schools and universities to provide free trainees.

It is really important to be efficient and that's what we have done in our businesses. In our Hungrylicious restaurant, the left over croissants are coated with chocolate, packed and sold all around UC. Vegetable trimmings can be used to make vegetable stock, and the chicken bones can be roasted to make brown sauce. This is proved to reduce the cost of our restaurant. In the future, we will think of any other ways to reduce cost and improve revenue to earn higher profit.

Business Model Canvas Part 2 -- The Patterns

Today's marketing class was a continuation of the business model canvas. I haven't learned about these theories before, that was why I listened very closely and tried my best to understand. We focused on business model patterns. There were many business models such as un-bundling business model, long tail, multi-sided business model and open business model.

The thing is, we must not try to cover all areas in business because we will lose focus and spend just way too much money on things that will not work out! Instead, we should try to focus on one aspect such as service excellence but try to integrate this value with other values like product innovation and infrastructure management. This is what un-bundling business model is all about. When I ponder about it again, I think that 'well, it really make sense!' The same goes to our personal life. We have to make our priorities! Whether we want to focus on education, career, love life or relationship with family. Of course all these things should be present in our daily life, but there will absolutely be one aspect that overgrown the others.

While last week's lecture was about the basic principles of business model canvas, today was about the application of business model canvas to different types of business model patterns. We were taught about how the business model canvas looks like when it is applied in long tail business model pattern and so on. Our Miracle Recycle business can be considered as long tail business model pattern since it caters the niche market. It takes lots of time to earn revenue because we have to plant the idea of environmental concern into our target market. Currently, it is still not much but in the near future, we are sure that it will become a big hit in Indonesia.

BMC Part 1

I first learned about BMC (Business Model Canvas) in my Entrepreneur 4 class and surprisingly it is carried forward to my Entrepreneur 5 class as well as this Service Marketing Class. Mr. Sandy even mentioned that it will still be used whenever we are still in the business world. For me, BMC helps me to think in a paternalistic way and helps me to organize ideas for my product. What product I need to produce for the customer, how to distribute them to the customer and how will I be able to produce the product itself. There are lots of supporting details behind those 3 factors.

I got to know so much more about BMC from today's class because the discussion was really into details of each element and examples were given. Today's lesson made me feel that my E5 Mid-term exam presentation was incomplete! I need to explore more about our products (for Miracle Recycle, Carnaval Snack Box, Hungrylicious Resto and my very own Delicate Patisserie) and analyze every single element of their business model canvas.

Menton Bank Case Study

This week's case study on Menton Bank. I don't know if it is a real bank, but I cannot find it's information or website in the internet, no wonder the presenting group did not give additional info about the bank in their presentation earlier. I guess, the bank is opened for the sake of learning only! hahahaha..

To be honest, when me and my group worked on answering the questions, we didn't think that there are some flaws in the case. But then, Mr. Sandy mentioned it to us that the new job description of CSR is kinda inappropriate. He said that CSR only needs to be fast and accurate, they must not do cross-selling since the target market is now in the retail segment (many people will be waiting in line to meet with the CSR). The cross-selling and any other prospecting and marketing job should be done by CAR instead. More than that, the change in target market itself (from corporate to retail) will become a trouble. Once the focus is changed, then the whole company operation will have to be changed as well.

What I learned from this case is that, in business, we have to stay focused! A business that decided to operate in a niche market should stay in that area. The sales volume may not as big as businesses operating in mass market but the profit margin earned in each transaction can be much bigger, thus the sum of profit cannot be determined from sales volume only. If this business concentrates on performing well and keep on innovating in its niche market, then it can be the market leader of this small unexploited market. More than that, the competition is not as intense as those in mass market. Each market has its own difficulties and challenges, once we made our decision of which market we're going to serve, then we have to really differentiate and strive to be the market leader.

I have my own small pastry business, it is called Delicate patisserie. I sell different types of cakes ranging from loaf cakes (banana, carrot, cotton cheesecake, brownies and marble cake) to birthday and festive cakes (cheesecake, black forest, fruitcake, etc.) I chose to operate in a higher class of the market, that's why none of my selling price is below Rp. 50,000. I use high quality raw materials and people can even have a customized order. The population of my target market might not be too large, but I have my own loyal customers. What I need to do is to focus on exploring more about this target market and finding more information about what they like and what they need. I will not want to switch my operation to the mass marketing and sell way cheaper cakes because the market is too saturated and I don't think I have the channel to obtain the lowest priced raw materials.

Managing People by Ibu Ita Saleh

Finally, I got back to university today after a week of holiday and one day sick leave.. I'm still sick, a little bit, but much better than the last several days.. Praise God for that!

We had a guest speaker today on our marketing class, Ibu Ita Saleh, the HR Manager of Java Paragon Hotel. Last semester, she was invited to our Human Resources Management class too. It's interesting to learn about the art of understanding people, finding ways of making them do what you want them to do, motivating them and make them learn. Of course it will not be an easy task because every person has his own character, ego and point of view. That's why it is a specific branch of management!

Since primary school, I have shown my leadership skill and always wanted to be the leader of the crowd. My perception is, I don't want to be just someone in the crowd, just one of those people, I wanna be recognized, I want to stand out! That's why, most of the time, people will choose me (or I volunteer) to be the leader of groups. Starting from small school project groups to student council to large school events. I love it when I'm given a responsibility, it's a form of self-actualization for me and it gives me the drive to perform even more and prove them that their decision of choosing me was absolutely right!

It's been long since I understood that handling people, dealing with different people are hard, super hard indeed! The more people involved in the group, the harder will it become. One thing that crossed my mind during the class today was 'if I want to take control of people, then I have to make them do what they wanna do wholeheartedly. The only way to do that is to match my communication methods to their personalities.' Of course we cannot speak loudly, using harsh language and speak directly to the point to someone with a soft heart like Vania. On the other side, I have to speak with simpler vocabularies, more casual tone and a little joke around with someone as noisy and outgoing as Jenifer. Well, from now on, I have to analyze people more to find out ways to communicate well with every one of them. Not easy, but it is very important!

We also discussed about a case study on Accra Beach Hotel today. We had a different point of view from the presenting group. We refused the block booking of the sport group based on our profit calculation and several other reasons like losing the loyal customer, disturbing the vacationers and many more. All in all, when we're going to make an important decision, we have to take into account all aspect that will be affected

SCHOOL

SCHOOL by wufumei featuring ivory handbags

Elegance

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Lanvin sleeveless blouse
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Vivienne Westwood Anglomania puff sleeve jacket
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French Connection pleated shorts
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Alexander McQueen high heel sandals
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Python handbag
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Gabrielle Sanchez pearl jewelry
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Chanel - Coco Eau De Toilette Spray 100ml/3.4oz
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Balancing Demand Capacity

This is the last school day before Lebaran holiday! Yeeeey!

I have understood it a long time ago that we have to match the demand of our product with the production capacity of our company. But, in the service industry, production is done right away when there's demand! Still, demand should be match with the capacity.. Not only with the human resources (as the main production source) but also the physical capacity of the supporting facilities and equipment, like the storage, parking lot and air conditioner.

From the service blueprint that we have learned last week, we have to determine the overall capacity of our business before deciding the number of customer we aim for. Hungrylicious has a seating capacity of 75 people, the kitchen equipment, utensils and china wares are all limited, that's why we cannot serve a demand higher than 75 people all at the same time. Bringing in additional tables without adding to the equipment and personnel will result in low-performance service and unsatisfied customer that will backfire the restaurant. So, we'd better stick to this capacity and give the best for our customer!

It was our group's turn to present the case study of Shouldice Hospital. Basically, the hospital is only specialized in treating patients with hernias in Toronto, Canada. They have their own method in the operation, the facilities are exclusive and what's very unique is their idea of patient encouragement to do things themselves right after the operation! There are way too many patients who come from USA to get treated, that's why it would be better to establish a new branch in USA to get higher exposure of the huge US market.

Adventure

I have always wanted to go out and explore the world! I wanna visit countries, live in different cities for several months and learn their culture, lifestyle and just share.. However, this is quite impossible for me since there are just lots and lots and lots of things that I have to do.. There are school activities, projects, summer classes and many other things that hinder me from my adventure!

Well, since I can't go anywhere for the time being, I will just share some of the places I plan to go when I have the chance..

1. French Polynesian islands (Tahiti, Bora-Bora)



Clear blue ocean, white sand, kayak, sunshine, sea turtles, seafood! OMG!!! This place seems like heaven to me! Just simply astonishing! I absolutely gotta book this for my honeymoon! LOL....


2. Jeju Island, South Korea



The landscape, history, culture, foods and the story that I've watched in Korean dramas.. This place definitely captures my interest! Ooooh, one more thing, I have to go here sometime in spring. The flowers will bloom... Soooo pretty!


3. Switzerland



The nature, mountains, snow, waterfall.. Everybody will agree with me that Switzerland in picture perfect!


4. Greece (Athens, Santorini)



What I really wanna see is the white buildings contrasting the deep blue ocean and the sky.. More than that, there's still the romance, museums, Greek legends, olympic games and of course tzatziki!!


5. Taipei, Taiwan



It will be exciting to just walk around, get lost in the city, feel the vibe, go wherever people are going, eat the street snacks and imagine myself accidentally bump into Wu Chun or Evan Yo on the street! Unbelievable... hahahahaha...

Getting Busy

Lately I've been EXTREMELY busy with my Restaurant Operation Management project. We have to open a restaurant with just two week planning period.

Apparently, I was chosen to be the general manager to lead the group. The feeling of being trusted was really good, I was so thankful that my team members have faith in me and appreciate all the decisions that I made, despite the fact that I am the youngest member in the team.

However, sometimes, just out of the blue, I felt like I'm shivering!! I realize how big my responsibility is and wonder whether people will forgive me when I get careless and made a wrong decision. Well, I am always so confident about myself and my abilities but I am still a human being who will make mistakes.

It has been a very stressful and emotionally challenging two weeks! But, you know what, I really learned a lot!! I learned about time management, people management, I learned to not give up, to do my best, make priorities and control my emotion. I even get to know my team members even better!

Tomorrow is the Grand Opening, there are still so many things to do. I have to be in the restaurant at 5 AM to prepare for the breakfast at 8 AM. I pray that God will show me His ways, guide me and help me to make the right decisions and become wiser. I hope that everything will come into place, everything will work out just fine and the breakfast and lunch services will be smooth!

Last but not least,
Don't forget to visit Hungrylicious at THM Restaurant (Universitas Ciputra Surabaya, plaza, beside the marketing office)!
We open for BREAKFAST (buffet, all you can eat) from 8.00 to 10.00, Rp. 40,000 per pax and LUNCH (a la carte) from 11.00 to 14.00
Hungrylicious.... Come hungry, leave happy!

GBU ALL!!!!
Kiss from Miss J!

Service Blueprint

In general, blueprint is a detailed plan that's usually being used by architects or designers. I didn't even know that service also has a blueprint! Well, frankly, I understood it better as service rundown. It describes what happens to the customer, what happens to the supplier and what happens when they meet until they're finally separated. I didn't really understand the example graphs shown by Mr. Sandy earlier at class. But fortunately our group was able to make our own version of service blueprint graphs.

What I learn today is that it is really important to imagine and lay down all the things that both the customer and the supplier will encounter before making any plans or strategy. We have to plan it from the time when the customer was just a potential customer to the service encounter itself until the time the service is finished. This way, details will not be missed and as we put ourselves both in the shoes of the customer and supplier, we will know exactly what's best for both parties.

We also did the same thing on our Restaurant Operation Management project, we made a rundown or a blueprint from when the customer comes to our restaurant door, ordering the food, eating, paying and leaving the restaurant. We jotted down the things that the servers need to do to cater to the customers' needs. This service marketing subject really helps a lot in our ROM project.. Thanks to you, Mr. Sandy! hahahaha.. In fact, I almost forgot this assignment since my brain is overloaded with the restaurant opening tomorrow.

Today, we also discussed about a case on Jollibee, a famous fast-food restaurant from the Philippines. We discussed about its Filipino appeals (from the menu, family gathering concept, nationalism priority), its other restaurant branches and its growth in other countries. What I can conclude is that, Jollibee wins over McDonalds and any other fast-food restaurant chains in the Philippines because of its Filipino cultural understanding thus its growth in other western countries may not reach a maximum result.

Service Consumer

Well, I can say that today's marketing class was quite entertaining and fun! The lesson that we learned was about service expectations. I didn't realize that indeed, every one of us is a customer to services and products. We use our blackberry service, internet connection service, electricity service. But, yet, we also buy clothes, gasoline and foods which are considered as products. We learned that service promises made by business, word of mouth and past experiences contribute in the creation of customer expectation.

When Mr. Sandy talked about customer's perception about a business establishment, it just felt like dejavu! Hahahaha... Of course, I may be a business woman, an entrepreneur who wants to please customers but at the same time, I am a customer to other people's businesses too, right? So, I can just clearly understand and relate to every theory that he told us. We can simply put it as 'do to others what you want them do unto you!' When you're planning a service marketing strategy, then put yourself in the customer's shoes, think about what would they want to have, how they would wanna be treated and so on then you will immediately get the answers! As simple as that!

Today's topic was very important to us because our project in Restaurant Operation Management (ROM) is to open a restaurant of our own. The timing was just perfect! The dead lines given by the lecturers were a little crazy because all proposals should be done within one week and the restaurant should be open in two weeks time! A stressful period for me, indeed.... So again, the topic on service quality gave us some clues on how we will treat our customer when we open our own restaurant for the project. I hope, other students will also apply these theories that we've learned into the ROM project. Fingers crossed!!!

New Perspective in Service Marketing

Today was the very first day of Service Marketing class. I was sooo excited to know that Mr. Sandy was the lecturer because he can always make the discussion interesting!
This semester, our challenge is to work together with the whole class to generate ideas and brain storm about a new super hotel concept! Can't wait to work!!! Hahahaha..

I've never thought that service industry varies greatly and takes up almost 70% of the total business sectors. What more is, it is constantly developing from time to time following consumer demand, globalization and changes in trends. Now we can say that we're in the right path by taking Tourism and Hotel Management major that focuses on service! hahahaha...

This subject is the 'extension pack' of last semester's Introduction to Marketing subject. Last semester, we studied the 4Ps in marketing, but now in Service Marketing we have another four elements added, they are productivity and quality, people, physical environment and process.. Something very new for me! Let's see how this will turn out....

I am super excited about 5th semester! The challenges it presents, the new projects and becoming a tutor in Culinary Business... I'm seeing a bright future ahead! Yeeeey! hahahahaha...

One thing that will remain true for me: "NEVER AIM FOR MEDIOCRITY!"

Feelings

Human's feelings are complicated, hard to understand and dangerous.
It is resistant to change, it is unpredictable.
We can simply say that it is ABSTRACT.


Jealousy -- a wicked feeling of anger or unhappiness because you are envious of other people or other things that you do not have.

Empathy -- a person's ability to understand another person's feelings or condition.

Excitement -- a feeling of happiness or enthusiasm when you experience adrenaline rush.

Sadness -- the most painful and unpleasant feeling of being unhappy which may happen because of unlimited factors possible.

Curiosity -- a desire to know or to understand about something that in excessive amount may lead you to big trouble.


One feeling can be mixed with that and that and that and thus in the end creates a newly 'unvocabularized' feeling!
WOW! Wonderful........

Hillsong -- Here in My Life

One of my favorite songs..
We will always need Jesus in our lives, every second of it...
Making decisions, facing our 'giants', making friends and any other things..
So, here it is..


Here in My Life (Hillsong)

I have never walked on water
Felt the waves beneath my feet but
At your Word Lord, I’ll receive Your
Faith to walk on oceans deep

And I remember how You found me:
In that very same place
All my failing surely would've drowned me
But You made a way

You are my freedom
Jesus you’re the reason
I’m kneeling again at Your throne
Where would I be without You
Here in my life, here in my life?

You have said that all the heavens
Sing for joy at one who finds
The way to freedom, truth of Jesus
Bought from death into His life

And I remember how You saw me:
Through the eyes of Your grace
And though the cost was Your beloved for me
Still you made a way!



Oooh no, too bad the video could not be inserted...

jessica|jeany|jesselyn

SISTERS by wu_fu_mei featuring patent leather flats

a little sneak peek at our fashion styles!

Yeaaaah, me and my sisters have different styles when it comes to fashion.
They always say that I dress too much, but I always tell them that they're under-dressed!! LOL!!

Love you all anyway, sis!!!