19/10/2026
Truly a heartfelt Good News! After 8–9 years of working nonstop, it’s finally time for us to take a break ❤️
For the longest time, even travelling overseas felt like a “luxury”.
There was always something to worry about. 🤦🏻♂️
Were there enough staff?
Were the ingredients sufficient?
Were our customers happy?
Was everything running smoothly? 🤦🏻♂️
But this time, we told ourselves, “Hello! Enough already lah. It’s time to REST!” 😂
We’ve decided to go to Korea, attending the 50th Holy Spirit Conference (https://cgi50.org/).
For those who may not know, both of us are Christians, and our home church is Calvary Church Bukit Jalil.
This trip means so much more to us than just travelling overseas. For the 1st time in years, we can go away without constantly worrying about the restaurant or bakery.
For the past years, we’ve been working almost nonstop. The F&B industry has been such a rewarding journey, and we’ve poured our hearts and souls into serving people. But somewhere along the way, we neglected our own lives.
Our Chinese customers have always reminded us of this saying:
“Chiong-meang-kung-fu-chiong-meang-jou!” 🙋🏻♂️
We laughed 😅whenever we heard it, but now, looking back, we realise how 🥹 true it is.
We were so busy working that we forgot there is more to life than work.
For our upcoming trip, we want to seek God for His wisdom, spend time in His presence, and most importantly, spend some quality time with each other.
After all, my wife has been standing by my side through thick and thin ❤️
All these years, our daily conversations have revolved around work. What needs to be done, what needs fixing, what needs ordering, what needs preparing, and what needs to be improved.
Even when we were together, our minds were often somewhere else 🥹
We didn’t just put our family aside at times. I think we may have neglected our relationship as husband and wife, too.
And that is something worth thinking about 🙋🏻♂️
What is the point of building a business if, along the way, we forget to build our own family and nurture the people we love ❤️ most?
This post isn’t written to inspire anyone. I’m not here to teach people how to live their lives because, honestly, we are still learning ourselves.
But I hope our story makes you pause for a moment and ask yourself:
What matters most in your life?
Is it work?
Money?
Success?
Family?
Parents?
Your relationship with God?
Of course, all these things matter. We need to work, earn a living and fulfil our responsibilities.
But at the end of the day, what is the point of looking successful to the world if we have no time for the people who matter most to us?
Because no matter how Hebat we appear outside, we are still human beings who need love, rest and connection.
And sometimes, in the pursuit of a better life, we forget to actually LIVE that life.
❤️ 【A LITTLE UPDATE ABOUT OUR BAKERY】
This is also the first time we’re closing our bakery for 2 whole weeks!
We’ll reopen on Friday, 6 November 2026, and continue operating for approximately another month.
In December 2026, our bakery tenancy agreement will come to an end.
We’ll then close the bakery and restore the premises to its original condition before handing it back to the landlord.
It feels surreal.
It has taken us months to bring Say Cheese to a close permanently — a family-owned restaurant that has served hundreds of thousands of customers over the years.
Sometimes, I still can’t believe we’ve reached this chapter of our lives.
As a chef, I miss cooking. I really do.
I still remember our kitchen team mashing 100kg of potatoes, preparing 100 meals in just 30 minutes, and washing hundreds of dishes throughout the day.
Those were crazy days! Exhausting, challenging, and sometimes enough to make us want to scream 😂
But those memories are precious.
When we bid farewell to our team last month, I felt genuinely grateful for every single one of them. Their hard work, teamwork and contributions helped us get through so many years of running the business.
We couldn’t have done it without them.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been focusing on baking our Burnt Cheesecakes. We’ve kept things simple and basic, and while I’m grateful that we can still bake and serve our customers, something feels different.
Deep down, I miss the scenes in our restaurant.
I miss 🍳cooking. I miss the conversations. I miss the laughter. I miss seeing customers enjoy their food and watching people gather around a table.
Who would have thought that one day, I would miss the very things that used to make me so busy? 🥹
Perhaps that is what happens when you spend so many years building something with your own hands and pouring your heart into it.
You don’t just close a business.
You say goodbye to a chapter of your life.
And even when you know it is time to move on, a part of you will always miss what you once had.
❤️ 【TO EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN PART OF OUR JOURNEY】
Today, I want to send my love ❤️ to everyone reading this post.
To those who have met us personally, supported our businesses, enjoyed our food, encouraged us, sent us messages, prayed for us, or simply wished us well — THANK YOU.
You may think your little gestures are insignificant, but they have meant so much to us.
Every meal purchased, every cake ordered, every kind word, every message of encouragement and every prayer has helped shape not just our business, but also the people we have become.
We are truly grateful.
And although Say Cheese is no longer operating as a restaurant, I still have a dream.
A dream to continue cooking, baking and serving people in one way or another.
I don’t know exactly what the next chapter will look like. But I know that I don’t want to lose the joy of doing what I love.
【So please, do stay in touch with us!】
When we have GOOD NEWS, we’ll share it with you immediately.
【ONLY GOOD NEWS, OKAY?! 】🥰
For now, we’ll continue selling our cakes for the next 2 days as we have existing orders to fulfill before preparing for our trip to Korea.
We’re looking forward to this much-needed rest, spending time with God, reconnecting with each other, and allowing ourselves to breathe a little.
Perhaps we don’t always need to have everything figured out.
Perhaps sometimes, we just need to slow down, let go, and trust God with what comes next.
After all, life is not just about how much we can accomplish.
It is also about who we become, whom we love, and whether we make time for the things that truly matter.
【Thank you for being part of our story】
We may be closing one chapter, but our story isn’t over yet.
See you when we return! ❤️🙏
❤️
Chef David Wong
Say Cheese Cafe Bukit Jalil
