Do you have many previous experiences in competitions before the last Asian Pastry Cup?

Otto Tay.- Yes. I had participated in various local competitions in Malaysia that I lost count of. Also, I participated in three editions of the Asian Pastry Cup: in 2012, 2014 and 2018. The reason for all these competitions that I joined is for me to become stronger and have the chance to compete in the CMP. This year is the 3rd year I competed in the CMP.

MingAi Loi.- I participated in different kinds of pastry competitions since 2013, but the CMP is my first time. It was a good experience for me, I am honored that I got the chance to compete in CMP 2019 with the team.

Wei Loon Tan.- Yes. 2012 in Mondial des Arts Sucres (as Candidate). In 2013 and 2015 in the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtissière (as Candidate). In 2014 and 2018 in the Asia Pastry Cup (as Candidate). In 2016 in the Asia Pastry Cup (as Team Manager). In 2017 in the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtissière (as Team Manager)

How many times have you dedicated training for the Coupe du Monde? Has it been easy for you to organize your trainings?

Otto Tay.- We had more than 15 trial runs as a team and each training takes up to ten hours. It was never easy since I had no choice but to travel back and forth between Vietnam and Malaysia every week. For instance, I reached Malaysia from Vietnam on Friday; preparation for Saturday’s 10-hour trial run; travel back to Vietnam on the Sunday. It was truly exhausting not only for me, but for my assistants as well because when I was not in Malaysia, they were the one who were responsible for my training’s preparation and I had to make training arrangements through calls.

MingAi Loi.- It was approximately 15 times. It was quite tough for the three of us to get together, especially when one of my teammates is based in Vietnam. So, it was difficult to organize the same schedule to train at the same time. But fortunately for my superior/employer – Chef Niklesh was the one who arranged our teaching timetable so that it doesn’t clash with our training schedule. He also provided a kitchen and ingredients for us to do our training.

Wei Loon Tan.- The training started half a year before the competition, and we trained together for 10-hour each session almost 15 times. It had never been easy to assemble everyone as one of our teammates is currently staying in Vietnam for work. Even though we could arrange the trial run’s preparation in the Academy of Pastry Arts, due to everyone’s inconsistency of schedule, it took awhile to adjust.