Chillout at Maan Maan Haang cafe

 

Twice – It so happened that the two times when I was in the Crest@Austin neighbourhood on a Monday, I saw that the Maan Maan Haang Café was closed. Disappointed, I checked online and discovered that Monday was their weekly day off.

 

A wide wooden door at the cafe entrance;
made from wood repurposed from a boat

A café by such a name certainly intrigued me but its shuttered façade showed nothing of their window dressing so I had no idea about what was within.

 

Maan Maan Haang is a phrase in Cantonese dialect that literally means, Slow Slow Walk, or paraphrased to read as, Walk Slowly.

 

Recently I received an invitation to visit a Brytte & Bonn popup store for affordable gemstones and fresh-water pearls in Maan Maan Haang Vintage Café and I did not hesitate to accept.

 

Facade of the cafe as seen from the road

It turned out that the Brytte & Bonn Gem House was a pet project of Grace Chiam, who started to get serious about her hobby in the past two years.

 

While she has a successful career in PR Marketing and Communications, Grace used every spare moment to explore, research and learn everything she had to know. Then to seek out suppliers before stocking up her collection of gemstones and pearls.

 

I arrived at the entrance of Maan Maan Haang Café and saw vintage bric-a-brac through the large glass paneled window. While I was eager to discover more inside, I had to pause and gather some strength to push open the wide wooden door.

 

[I later learnt that this door was made by a Singapore designer in Vietnam from wood repurposed from a boat.]

 

Please observe what is being used
as an umbrella stand: a chamber pot!

As the wide wooden door creaked opened, I slipped indoors – unconsciously taking slower steps – probably because I was slowing down, ready to soak in the vintage vibe …

 

Grace warmly welcomed me in and my eyes quickly scanned the vintage collection throughout the café and rested on the popup display of sparkling Brytte & Bonn jewellery, creatively designed with semi-precious gemstones and freshwater pearls.  

 

“I super love freshwater pearls,” Grace declared unabashedly as she introduced the range of designs for earrings, rings, pendants and bracelet charms, made by 12 suppliers, both local and from China, Taiwan and Korea.

 

She went on to say that some of the jewellery designs were made with 925 Sterling Silver and Gold-plated Silver, but emphasized that they were designed to be affordable.

 

A range of Brytte & Bonn products
in the popup store within the cafe
 

When I asked Grace about the brand name, Brytte & Bonn, she explained that Brytte, pronounced bright, refers to the sparkling jewellery while Bonn, is for bond and friendships, an expression of love where people present each other with exquisite pieces of jewellery.

 

Grace then introduced me to the café proprietor, Brian Chui and his wife, Hui Lin, who bakes daily to serve a range of cake slices.

 

I spied the mouth-watering cakes in a glass chiller and was eager to have a taste of her Lemon & Passionfruit Tart and Chocolate Banana Tart.

 

Brian brewed and served my hot cup of coffee while the cake slices were served in old-school crockery with familiar patterns, similar to that used in our grandmother’s house.

 

Brian Chui and his wife, Hui Lin

As I enjoyed the simple pleasure of hot coffee paired perfectly with the cake, my eyes roved around the café to admire the vintage collectibles that Brian had curated here.

 

I spotted many familiar items including a glass-paneled display cupboard from the 1950s and a tall jar filled with souvenir matchboxes, [just like what we have at home!] along with vinyl records, books, cameras, crockery, glassware, toys and knick-knacks from a bygone era.

 

I had flashbacks to secretarial school when I spied the chunky manual typewriters, the kind I used when I learnt to type – properly using fingers of both hands – and at such speed too.

 

Before electric or electronic typewriters came along, these manual typewriters made me develop muscles on my fingers. And now we only need to tap on the computer keyboard and use even lighter touches on our handphone keys.

 

Freshly brewed coffee from
Ethiopian coffee beans
 

The storyteller in me could not resist quizzing Brian about his passion in vintage items and to find out the inspiration that gave this café such a unique name.

 

Soon I learnt that Brian and his wife are both Johorean, himself of Hainanese descent while his wife is Hokkien.

 

They however, decided to use a Cantonese phrase, Maan Maan Haang for the café name because they felt that these days, people were always in a rush, with an attitude of needing instant responses at a touch of a button.

 

Brian and his wife’s desire is for this café to be a Rest Stop along the long journey of daily life, for people to chillout and enjoy some “me-time” over cake and coffee or tea.

 

Lemon & Passionfruit Tart and
Hazelnut Yam Tart [Background]

Since 2020, he and his wife were selling cakes and cookies online and when a cake connoisseur – who owned this property – tasted and appreciated their products, he encouraged them to share it from a café. So this café was opened since April 2024.

 

Now every morning, about 9am, Hui Lin will start baking so that the freshly baked cakes and tarts are ready to be served from 12.30pm.

 

Brian said that his father, who lived through World War Two, inspired him to be a collector. Interesting experiences and anecdotes that his father shared with him sparked his interest to seek out historic and vintage items.

 

He started collecting postage stamps and matchboxes from his childhood but some 10 years ago, it was a traditional tingkat food container that led him to add to his collection.

 

A collection of souvenir matchboxes

Among his most valuable finds are the vintage beer cans, the camera collection and old bus tickets, on display in the café.

 

In fact, some collectors have approached Brian to buy his items, so if you spotted something that you must have to add to your own collection, do ask and discuss with him. Who knows? He may be willing to part with it.

 

Grace and her husband – who happens to be Brian’s former schoolmate – often visited the café as regulars and in the course of conversation, the idea of a popup store for Brytte & Bonn in the café, came up.

 

And with the Chinese New Year just around the corner, Hui Lin has baked cookies and other specialties for sale. So it was just the right time to welcome people who enjoyed cookies, cake, coffee and affordable jewellery, to meet at Maan Maan Haang.

 

Then it became clear to me, how the vintage charm of Maan Maan Haang Café perfectly complements the timeless beauty of exquisite Brytte & Bonn gems and pearls.

 

As I looked around the café, I thought that the passion that Brian and Hui Lin have for nostalgic charm in a café was equaled by Grace’s passion for sharing her love for affordable gems and freshwater pearls.

 

Maan Maan Haang Café is at No. 55, Jalan Jaya Putra 7/6, Bandar Jaya Putra, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor. Open daily from 12.30pm to 9.30pm. Closed on Monday.

 

For enquiries: Call +6016 – 718 0002 or Email: maanmaanhaang@gmail.com

 

More info on the official Facebook page for this Café – Vintage Shop – Bakery.