08/11/2025
Our shop, kitchen, and stock rooms were all hit by the raging flood. It all happened so fast. Around 17:00, I told my staffs that we had to close and go home. It was still raining slightly.
When we arrived at my house, one of my staffs and I decided to walk under the rain with my dog, Sky. After the walk, I told him that we had to go back to my cafe to turn off all the breakers for safety purposes. As we were walking towards our shop, we noticed that the water from the nearby river was already overflowing. I felt alarmed, so I told him to go straight to the cafe with Sky while I walked back home to ask for help from my workers and my brother.
As we walked to our shop, the current of the overflowing water was already strong. As we approached the shop, I saw that people from downstairs were already bringing their stuff to my spot, so yes, the water was already high... I tried to run directly to my kitchen and was shocked to see my refrigerator, my freezer, other appliances, and expensive kitchen materials already floating in the flood. I told my staffs to stop saving the appliances; we had to save what was more important and still savable.
It's like my mantra: stop controlling things you cannot control, move forward. In God's will, we are all safe in my house...
It broke my heart to see my kitchen, a place that always filled me with joy, reduced to an unrecognizable state. We suffered significant losses — our stocks, materials, equipments. Yet, amidst the devastation, we remain thankful. We're thankful for our lives, for the safety of our family, and for the opportunity to rebuild.
Recovery will be a journey, but we're confident we'll emerge stronger. We trust that what the flood took, hope will replenish in unexpected ways — slowly, yet surely. With your prayers and our resilience, we'll rise again, and we'll do it together.
