When Cafe Deco reception manager Laida Oareza is at work, she is truly busy. The phone rings constantly, and the stream of customers is non-stop. Things have been this way since the restaurant opened, she says.
'Before the actual opening, we worked at least 14 hours a day for a week,' she recalls. 'There was a lot of work to do.'
Despite all the preparations, the opening turned out to be chaotic. 'No one knew how to use the computer, and we had to do captain's orders on paper,' she says.
She also recalls a number of very restless, close-to-impatient people as the queue grew longer.
One of the perks that comes with the job, she says, is the chance to meet celebrities such as Andy Lau Tak-wah, Sammy Cheng Sau-man and Jackie Cheung Hok-yau, and famous names from further afield.
'John Travolta came in very late one evening. Everyone tried to approach him, and he greeted everyone.'
