首禾 is located near Mr. Brown Boulevard. It serves rice beverages like rice milk, rice chocolate, etc. and they also offer dishes, desserts and coffee. It is owned by Tashong and been running this store for a mont. He also manages business in Taipei, an engineering company which serves light, water and electronics.
What made him moved here in Chishang?
One year ago, Tashong went to Taitung to manage his business on light industry and decided to meet Aweign, owner of 21 life house. Unexpectedly, when he was wandering around here in Chishang he loved the scenery of big mountains and a paddy fields all over. That made crossed his mind to live here.
Suprisingly, Aweign told him that he knows someone that can be rented a place. This gave him an opportunity to move here, since his parents is still strong he wanted to take this chance to pursue his dreams to experience to live in his own place that has a view of nature, play around and to invite his friends over. Because this is the life he wanted to live.
He shared the life he has been experiencing here, which I can see to his face that he is living in a warm fuzzy. It is good to live in a life that you wanted, that you can able to do the things you wanted to do, he added. Living in a simple life here in Chishang is worth living, it allows you to breathe a fresh air and allows you to exposed in a healthy environment. On the other hand, back when he was in the city, his schedule is very hectic, unlike here it makes you live in calm state manner.
What made him open a coffee shop?
Tashong and his wife have been wanting to open a coffee shop, it is already in their plan but in Taipei they don’t think it was ideal because there are so many competitors around the area. They thought it'll be hard for them to manage, and market their shop if it happens. After moving here in Chishang in two months, tashong decided to fulfill their dreams to have an own place and have a coffee shop.
The name of his restaurant is “首禾” which 首 means “first time” and "禾" means “rice”. He came up to this name for the first time he saw this place, he fell in love with the paddy fields around and rice symbolizes the product here in Chishang. The restaurant is recently opened, 3 weeks ago. Within 3 weeks, he hasn’t encountered any struggles by running this shop, he thinks the number of the customers is okay. He added that “seeing customers happy and enjoying our meal is enough”. They haven’t started the promotions and marketing so far.
The division of work between him and his wife is not that tight, most of the time his wife is making the dishes, and he is the one who’ll entertain the customers. He added, that sometimes he do the tasting that his wife cooked and if he tasted something that is not tasty or it lacks something he will adjust the taste and add some flavors if needed.
When it comes to their food, they insisting a good ingredients and as much as possible make it healthier and organic. Through his foods he wanted to make a connections with people around the area. As of now, he is on the state of testing what is the right food that will fit on his customer’s taste. The way he ended his story, seems like he was happy and contented for the life that Chishang offers to him.
" When life give you an opportunity..."
The moment I heard his story made me feel like if you have an opportunity to do the things you wanted “go grab it”. You never know what will happen until it happens. It gave an impact to me as I couldn’t do what I wanted, it seems like my life is being controlled by fears and discouragement. Like Tashong, he didn’t think about “what ifs” he followed his heart and do what he wanted to do. This way of attitude shows his entrepreneurship is not a way of dreamer but a doer.
The way I connect myself on his story is too far from my perspective that made me wonder again. This kind of situation is hard for me, because I’m a type of person who is a dreamer but not a doer. Sometimes, I think that “this is what I want” but I have no courage to begin with. I’m afraid of failures and rejections, although I know that I experienced a lot of it. That kind of feeling is unwanted, nobody wants it. Through Tashong, I learned that you need to understand that everything holding you to a life you don’t want to live is a prison that is created by your own mind. If you want to do something meaningful to your life, then start to listen to your heart that will matters to live without penitent.
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