On top of travelling the world, homegrown Singaporean serial entrepreneur Mustaffa Kamal is the brains behind some of our favourite cafes in Singapore, Afterwit Mexican Taqueria and Working Title Burger Bar (the Tower of Power burger is to die for!). We're super excited to feature him for this instalment of #HHWT Explorers!
Tell us a little bit about yourself ?
I love travelling not only to see nooks and corners on earth and meet cultures, but more particularly to remind myself of my place and purpose in this world, and hopefully establish a less obscure perspective to my existence. Therein lies the inspiration to everything I do! Today I run several small businesses in an area famous for satiating gastronomical and sartorial desires, Kampong Glam! Concurrently, I am completing a Diploma in Islamic Studies and picking up the Arabic language so I can read my favourite texts in its original language, and of course the Qur’an!
What inspired you to start Working Title, Afterwit and The Mad Sailors?
What has been the most rewarding experience for you since you started your cafes?
It would definitely be the people I have met along the way, the insight they have provided and the relationships I have built.
If you had an unlimited travel budget for 24 hours. What would your itinerary look like?
It would definitely be to charter a craft that would take me to the mesosphere. For 24 hours I will gawk at our planet and ponder on what lies in and around the canvas of the universe, while the craft orbits around the equator.
What are 3 of your favourite destinations, and why?
To limit my favourite destinations to just 3 is cruel! I’ll cheat a bit and slide in more ?
In no order of merit - Morocco for the gorgeous and surreal Atlas Mountains and Sahara Desert, Myanmar for its beautiful and dignified people, and Saudi Arabia for the rich history and sacrosanctity of Mecca and Madina.
What are some of the challenges you have faced while travelling and what did you learn from it?
No matter how prepared I am, the first day in a new place is always a challenge; it really throws me back from operating in a familiar environment and I quickly learn that we take many things around us for granted. I am distracted easily by unfamiliarity because I find the need to instantly comprehend everything that happens around. Spending intellectual energy like this on top of the travel fatigue gets me knackered on my first night in a new place. Thankfully the second day is always better, so I try to factor in an extra day for travel, especially when I’m off to unchartered territories. Does this count as kiasu?
What are your travel must-haves?
These days perhaps just one of the books from Imam al-Ghazali’s magnum opus Ihya Ulum Al Din, a pen, a pencil and a notebook. Besides the other obvious essentials, everything else I can make do without. Except of course the amazing HHWT application, which I will need when I head to Seoul soon!
If you could give one piece of advice to travellers, what would it be?
What is that one dish that you tried in a foreign country that changed your life?
It would have to be the North African dish tagine, which I had heard before but never tried. One fateful day I witnessed a tagine being prepared in the desert sand by Berber nomads and to my delight, breaking bread with perfect strangers and sharing tagine took my understanding of food to whole new level. It’s not just the food but everything else that surrounds it, the entire experience – from the source of food, to the preparation and salivation, to the comparison and the nods of approval.
Tell us an insider tip or two for people travelling to the Sahara Desert.
What's your favourite travel photo?
Fill in the blanks: My hope for the world is that ...
...we will collectively realize that we are but a speck of dust in the universe, that’s all we are.
Have a hilarious/interesting/memorable travel story or any tips you would like to share with us? Drop us an email at [email protected]!