Black out period

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone who celebrates. I do the celebrating part too, at work.

These past few days, customers kept pouring in. By the end of the day, even if we felt sore and tired..we do feel all our hard work being paid off when we looked at the numbers. Please do hand out bigger packets, big boss :)

I never notice this before until a colleague pointed it out to me - wherever I am stationed during the peak hours, there would be a long queue of beverage waiting. One night I was helping out at the La Marzocco, then the cashiers kept on adding up the marked cups whenever the numbers diminish. I did that for two hours straight (at least).
The next day, I helped out the cold beverage station. The same thing happened there. The cups kept on coming my way.
He jokingly asked for my 'pelaris'. It's not even my business, why would I be having those things? :p

But I do remember the same thing happened many times before, even in the previous store. Or is it coincidence?

Busy bees, like Zara said

On another note, I am happy everything run smoothly in my store these busy-like-crazy days even if the store was left in our hands without the manager and assistant. Only me with 6 months period of being a supervisor, and another, who's only been a supervisor for 4 months. :)

home

. . . is where the heart is. I'm now back, and working nearer to home.
 The news was thrown to me out of the blue, so I rushed back to pack all my things and come back home. I was told that it would be soon that I'll be getting the green light to transfer to where I wanted all along. But when all it took was just days, I was really taken aback. I was like.."whoa, that's so fast". But at the same time I'm glad I get to come back before Ramadhan starts.

I am still adjusting myself to the new place. Yeah, it's basically the same stuff..just the way they manage things are a bit different.

I just need more work assigned to me. All I do is sit down and watch the crew work, my help is seldom needed..that made me sleepy. Haha.

I miss the previous store..so much. And everyone there too. Should I go visit them anytime soon?

hardly enough

I've been working day and night lately, going to work real early in the morning..to go through the congestion every morning, duh. And going back in the afternoon, just to go back to the store at night and stay until the store closed.

Heaven, I tell you.

I don't have a life, seriously. Well, it's been like this for some time. But now I'm starting to have a bigger responsibility and phew, manning the operation is NOT easy. The last few weeks I've been watching from the backseat and worked as one of the team members. This week I am the one who needs to oversee everything and all I can say is that I'm lucky I get to practice more before the real test comes. Practice makes perfect, rightttt?

There are a lot of things I need to be thankful for - for being sent to this particular store. A lot to learn, and there's also the lil' hidden surprise. Every time I feel tired, I'll just tell myself that I'm better off learning at this super busy store and later be transferred to another one (if I'm lucky), than learning at a so-so store and later get sent to a busy store.

p/s: Today a simple "hati2 k" made my day ;)

flickers

Contradictions really bring confusion..I do different things and meant something else whenever I was nervous. Yeah, nervous me could have been sending mixed signals to people out there. But I do hope I showed what I really meant after that.

I'd be serious most of the time while working (read: when the orders can't stop coming in), running here and there. It's like I manned all the station - I'm the one who pick up calls, take orders and do a lot of other stuff. Thankfully there's this one person who helps me whenever I seem to be needed at different places. If not, I'd have to run all the time to cover the field :p
Glad is not suffice to describe, I'll need to check the dictionary for the right word. Haha.

two weeks

It's been that long since I entered the new company and the training session started..that is such a short time, but it already feels like a year here. Thanks to the awesome trainer and colleagues. I can't think of the time when we have to part ways at the end of the training period.

If only my convocation ceremony is not on the same day as the last day of training. I'm going to miss them so much. Hopefully all our plans would work out.

splash

Yesterday, or should I just say early this morning I was sent away by my former colleagues all dripping from head to toe. They purposely assigned me to the closing shift, which I spent my own sweet time cleaning all the stuff - I was sick of cleaning everything already, after 4 nights straight of same old closing shift.

I finished one hour later than the usual and had to let them pour two containers of yucky murky water on my body. They even sprayed whipped cream on me. Boohoo.
Yes, there were photos of me taken by them..but I wouldn't want to look at those photos. So no photos will be posted here also. Fortunately they were kind enough to bring out water for me to wash myself a bit. If not, I'd be a disgusting looking creature with flour and all sticking on my clothes.

Those few minutes of fun for them was a nightmare for me. I had to soak the clothes long enough until they stopped smelling yucky. Huhu.

If only it was like this

Image via David Bergman

Now I'm so lazy to pack my clothes. I need to borrow Mary Poppins' bag.

switch it off

I used to love sitting in the dark during Earth Hour in the past years when I was a student. If it's up to me, I would say let's just switch the lights off all night.

This year I went through the Earth Hour at work, taking orders from customers who varies from those who shoved their smartphones/tablets in our faces and those who asked for our help in checking in to foursquare to get the free frappe.

Image via ho kang tao

All I can say was I am glad I was only taking orders, and not doing the longggggggggg line of frappes. Even if all I needed to do was talking, it was very taxing. This photo doesn't quite describe the real crowd that night.

Image via foursquare

wants

The most awaited time is getting very near..I've been waiting in anticipation since last month. But before having fun, away from work (if I may add)..I have to complete some tasks. One given by my manager, others are the result of my persistence. I'm hoping everything would turn out for the better.

My manager asked me to 'represent' the store for the coffee tasting session in front of the District Manager. I was feeling a bit anxious, because it could turn out to be a scary moment if I make any mistakes. I have only conducted two sessions before that, one in front of my supervisor..and another in front of my manager. The manager said I did good, so I need to do it for the store's sake.

Thankfully I did okay, and the DM was satisfied. She said she was impressed because I had been in the company for less than 3 months and yet I showed them I can do it. I did jumble up some words, for the part that I didn't read much beforehand :p
Next time I need to be real prepared, and that is if there's next time.
I need some acting lessons, any tips? Haha. 

I need to do well for another three tasks, tomorrow and the next day. This is for myself, and I hope I can do as well as today. Gotta go rest because tomorrow's going to be a longggg day.

pre-Valentines

I didn't celebrate Valentines early, it was just another way to address 14th February. Me and my colleagues spent yesterday (until the wee hours in the morning, hence the title) cleaning the store spick and span. Heard that McD in Dataran Pahlawan also did the same thing last night. I worked the opening shift yesterday and re-arranged the POS area, the manager wiped the glass panel squeaky clean and another partner was assigned to clean all the lighting fixtures. I was reluctant to come to work early and then having to go back there at night, after closing time. But when the time comes, I was really glad - coz I didn't have to scrub the floors and wipe down the walls clean. I know how I would feel this morning if I do all that - sore all over.

Image via The Phrase Finder

I helped the others washing some of the tools (as we always do every closing shift) because they have so many things left to be washed. And then I moved on to stock up the condiments bar, before cleaning the pastry case. Bad move. My supervisor saw me cleaning it, and told me to take the heavy glass shelves out before cleaning every corner. There were a lot of crumbs hiding behind those little corners.

This morning I woke up with a sore throat and aching arms. I really need the day off today, but I can only rest tomorrow. Sigh.

look here

The partners have been planning to have a BBQ night for some time already, and my manager kept on telling me (more towards promoting the event to me) that there would be a lot of food and that he would give me the day off so that it would be easier for me, than having to go there after work. But I guess he forgot about it when there were so many things that needed his attention these past few days. So yeah, I got to work the closing shift on that day.

Mom told me not to go, saying if the event was to start after us finished working - that could go on forever. Thanks, mom. I think she saw that day coming. I wasn't even in the mood to go to work that day - extreme fatigue and sore all over. The partners kept on asking me to go, but as I said..I was totally exhausted. Even from before work.

The other partner who was supposed to be in the closing shift as me, left early because apparently nobody's going to send her to the place if she didn't follow the others who went earlier. I was furious to see her work halfway done, being continued by my superior's wife. Even if she needs to go early, she could have at least made sure her work was done. The superior was too kind.

I wasn't in my best spirits that night, and then going through that situation just made me turn mad. Then when I already calmed down, trying to finish my work as fast as I could - the screaming feat started. My superior and his wife kept on taking turns screaming at their 3 year-old son. The boy was naughty, that's true. But he's just 3 years old for God's sake. It's possible that they're both still young, the guy is 5 years younger than me..and he already has a son. Or it also could be the case that I don't quite know the feeling of being a parent, yet. There's a big possibility of having a tiger mom inside of me - the control freak, and future screaming queen. Haha. All I did was smile at the little boy when he kept on pulling out all the drawers and opening the cabinet doors. Yeah, maybe it's because he's not mine that I can smile at him. But that's what I thought all the time, he's just a small kid - who kept on flashing his cute smiles at me. He does look a little bit like the kid in the picture below.

Image via photaki

come join me

These days I met a lot of Koreans at work. Seriously. Every single day, there would be at least three Koreans coming in. I listened to their conversation to them talking just to be sure if they're really speaking Korean language. Yes, I'm guilty as charged. But no worries, I still don't understand much.

We are supposed to converse with the customers, being friendly and all. Those who know how much I'd talk, especially with strangers should have guessed what an 'easy' feat that is to me. But fret not, just speak some words in Korean language and I'll be rushing over to strike up a conversation with you. Lol. A few days before, two Korean guys came in and they talked about something. When I asked one of them about them being Korean and why they're here, the guy seemed happy that I'm very interested in K-drama and stuff. He wanted to talk more, but sadly there was a big Singaporean athlete team that poured in right at that moment. There goes my chance to talk, again.

Whenever there are Korean guys in our store, I'll point them out to my colleagues and then they'll be happy to wipe the tables nearby all day :p

I'll gladly stay longer at work for free after this..haha. Kidding.

But of course it's inevitable that every good thing will have something blergggh to accompany them. Today I met a person who acts like a know-it-all, pointing this and that to me. Like I've just started working yesterday. I've known those stuff you pointed out at me since Day 1, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I wouldn't mind it if that person is really great at work and is feeling helpful to a newbie like me (actually I'm no longer considered a newbie, someone new already came in..hehe). But when that person intended to boss me around, just because I'm a junior..and yet that person made a lot of mistakes - that just left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm just thankful I don't have to meet that person regularly.

Image via Miss Omni Media

one look

Again, I met Koreans. This time I was able to recognize them by only taking one look - pro already? Haha. I'm not kidding you.

But there's also help from one of them. He asked for extra drizzle on his drink, but the way he said it made it easy to know he's Korean. He said, "more sh-yrup". Yes, as in more syrup. There's a big Korean flag stamped on his forehead already :p

That's the only thing that made working during the holidays bearable. The customers were doubly fussy, unlike during Christmas. And the congestion is making me dreading this coming Chinese New Year.

something old, something new

Actually it was last year's news..even though it happened merely hours ago.First thing's first..

Happy New Year Everyone :)

I met some Korean guys..and I'm totally ecstatic even though they're not celebs or anything. I think. A bunch of guys were standing around the leather couch in our outlet and I was clearing the table when one of them asked me if there's Wi-fi available. I answered him, but he said "andwae" to his friend. I was struck by lightning right then. Exagerating, of course. But I wanted to be sure, so I listened to a couple more words before I asked.."Are you Korean?" And the friend said "Yes". They spent a few hours going online I guess. What I can see from what they ordered is that they're very health conscious. Half of them ordered something with green tea..and everyone don't want any whipped cream. And when they were leaving I said "gamsahapnida" to them - the only Korean phrase I was able to utter. I should have said something else to them too..haish. Lost the chance already.

Now I'm imagining if only Hyun Joong or Wooyoung would come (in disguise, of course) and spend time here. Haha. Like they need to, or can do that.

If I wasn't working at that time I could have taken photos to show to my sister. She's feeling jealous when she heard I met the guys. Haha.

Then another four Koreans came in..some time after the first group left. I think this group is a family, and the guys don't look as good as the first group, so I didn't bother to converse with them. LOL. I was busy actually.

That's what's new. The old news - my feet hurt, again. And I was wincing every now and then when I stepped on the accelerator and brake. Thank God I wasn't driving a manual car. The usual half-hour journey took me an hour tonight. Lucky I decided not to buy ice cream, else it'll turn into a puddle of cream even before I reach home. 

surprise

I love this day the most, even though it's been only what..a week? Okay, I love this day of all my working days to date. It wasn't a waste to go out real early to work and go back home later than I'm supposed to.

A little praise goes a looooooong way. All the stiffness in the arms, neck and feet went away like magic. Not. Haha. But it still makes me happy. Sometimes I do feel like throwing in the towel and just look for another kind of painful job. Especially when I'm assigned to the last shift like I mentioned before countless times. But it would not be easy to find people like them, awesome partners. So I'll try my hardest to grit my teeth and withstand the gale-force wind. Exaggerating, I know.

My feet hurt and I'm very sleepy. Besides I need to get up early tomorrow, I'll just watch Wooyoung dance for a bit and then hit the sack. Good night peeps.

not for the faint-hearted

The first closing time I experienced last night (which actually ended early this morning) was unbelievable.

Imagine having to scrub clean up everything..and that is every.single.thing right on the first day of work. Actually I had a lot of help from a senior partner. So the weight was lessened a little bit. I haven't had the chance to be partnered with others, yet. But it will be a loss when he starts work at the new branch soon.
Another senior partner that I met this morning seems strict and would stand two feet away, asking what should I do next everytime it's a new task. But at times when us new girls didn't quite have the strength, he'll lend us his.

I hope I'll get the grip in one week tops. Now it seems that there's a humongous amount of information that needs to be stored - what goes with this, what goes with that, what do I need to do, etc. I want to be in the seniors' team and not the newbies'. I am in awe with their experience and knowledge, and I know I need time to be at their level.

Even though it seems to be somewhat unwanted, a day off is very much needed. My feet need some more soaking in warm water. How did they go through all that all this time? But I guess it will be easier when I get a hold on it. The partners are a friendly and helpful bunch, it could be the key to endurance around there ;)

A check on the inventory (after only two shifts of working): aching feet and a cut on my right forefinger.

Can someone help rub my feet?

Image via gorgeous world

shocked

My body is aching all over - serious aftermath of too much walking when all I do at home is lie down in front of the telly and occasional chores (for two months).

On Sunday, we went down south to visit my brother. He seldom have the opportunity to come home, so we went there to go spend time at a mall with him. Haha. But one thing's for sure..the climbing part to his house is the main culprit my legs are sore all over until now. The elevator have to stop working on the day we went there. So we climbed six storeys high. Fortunately it wasn't any higher.
The people at the mall was in some kind of shopping frenzy that made me excited as well. Like I need any reason to shop...pfft. I managed to grab some pants for work..I think I was lucky as they were the last pair available :)
I spotted a lot of cute guys when we were there, but I'm not sure if they're local or from Singapore.

The next day we went up north, to KL. Another shopping trip, but I wasn't interested in anything other than work attires these days. We went to Sogo, then Jalan Masjid India. And luckily my manager called me earlier to cancel our meeting later that day, so off we went to Ikea after that. No need to rush back and we ended up arriving home very tired.

This morning I went for a training session, and I fell in love with the company I'm going to work for. Theoretically, they're good. And I'm going to soak in as much as I can. Can't wait to be awkward on my first day tomorrow..and I'm going to make a list of all the things I'm going to taste. You can bet I'll try each and every single one of them until I couldn't stand them anymore :p

Thomas, our trainer is wonderful. I wasn't even sleepy even though the muscles aching were a bit distracting. Usually, when my body is tired like that I would be quick to feel sleepy especially during times like this. But that was not the case this time.

Image via Eyriqazz.com

Disclaimer: The image has nothing to do with the real thing, though..haha.

acting

this semester will see us showing our best effort in looking like real pro actors and actresses, coz almost all classes that i'm taking for this 5th semester include some sort of role play a.k.a drama. it feels like we're heading towards mass comm students' direction :p

as long as there won't be a lot of other assignments, i'm up for it. guess there's a lot of benefit of the theatre class that i took a couple of semester before ;) and that's not all, there will be academic visits to various organizations too...yeay. that's what we're looking forward to. especially for Mr Idham who mentioned it rightaway during our first meeting when he haven't even know our names.

his classes are the best, as predicted. full of laughters and shrieks from us, and very relaxed - my favorite of all. he mentioned Dr A. H. Roslan Harahap's blog and sang praises about it and Dr A. H. Roslan Harahap himself. but it's full of economics stuff and all the terms, and i'm not the person who would read all the lengthy words when it's not of my interest. so i checked out his wife's blog: Siregar Marjamita and feast my eye on the pictures displayed. that's more like me ;)

i've just been hit with the news that for diploma students of UiTM, next semester (which is my last) will start on 30th May - way faster than i expected. there goes my beloved vacation. the best part is the semester will end earlier too. that means i'll finish my diploma earlier a few months. it seems a bit rushed though.

another good news is i don't have to sit for MUET again. that's triple big yeay. but i thought i had to because of the validity period and stuff, and already submitted the form with the fee paid. then i heard from this other girl that we don't have to sit for it again. so i'm gonna meet the lecturer in-charge and withdraw my form, and of course get my money back. such a hassle, but it was my mistake afterall. need to confirm the facts before taking action next time.

next step - - - > plan my admission for degree before July 2013, so i really don't have to sit for MUET again.

vying for the prizes

the media should do something about the programs shown on the telly these days. those that entertain are becoming scarce and the stuff worth watching are mostly reruns of the yesteryears. it's hard to keep my attention on the lackluster performance of the actors and actresses, mainly local..and you'd find me flipping through the channels endlessly. and how long do you expect me to be satisfied with just reruns? it's like hooking me up with a life support machine when you already killed me with all the bore accumulated from watching those monotonous actings.

the same goes with reality TV shows like AF, the longer they are around the less quality they have. and by now, the worth watching seasons have long since gone. pardon me, but i'm never a big fan of reality TV shows. be it Survivors, American Idol, or even The Biggest Loser..they failed to attract me. I agree that American Idol can discover a lot of new talents, but i'd rather wait after they win the contest than have constant headaches choosing who's better than others :p

for me, game show like Who Wants to be a Millionaire is much, much better than those reality TV shows. we can concentrate on their skills, capabilities or maybe luck..rather than their antics that sometimes are just a front. a facade to attract us into liking them or maybe put sympathy in the picture and make us vote for them, like with the reality TV shows. i disagree with the voting system, because i think talents should be judged by professionals and not by audiences or fans which could be biased.

and i still remember one of my favorite game shows, Supermarket Sweep. well, i couldn't even recall the name actually..it's been years since i last watched it. but i did recall the fact that i've always wanted to play in the game show. for those who have no idea about the game show, there would be teams of two..competing in a supermarket. they would first guess the retail price of a grocery item and then have a shopping spree, putting everything possible in their cart during the allocated time. and, they get to keep the stuff they picked up during the game..cool. there were even bonus rounds, and one i remembered was when they had to assemble sandwiches on tables with checkered tablecloths.

what can possibly be better than getting paid for doing what you love best, right? anyone needs a personal shopper? ;)

picture taken from here

mat saleh ke??

this is about some customers i served a few days before..

they wanted to look like they're some important people, by this i mean they speak like we're not at par with them. but they made some mistake, and i had to control myself from laughing out loud in front of them. there was this two middle-aged ladies, (who would be angry if i ever call them makcik ;P) and they were talking about their family i guess. suddenly one of them started to brag about her son, saying something about him..and then she said, she looked up the dictionary and found out that the word "thought" can be shortened to "tho". she even emphasized the word, and spelled it for the other..T.H.O.U.G.H.T

i want to kill myself right in front of them, maybe after i laugh so hard until tears come streaming down my cheeks ;P

i know she would have mistaken the words, just like when we first learnt to differentiate those two at school years ago. but please, there's no need to talk like you know everything in front of us. i felt like telling them the right word, but then maybe they would think of me as a rude girl to interrupt their conversation. so i let it go..

another colleague of mine pun had a similar situation, when a family spoke in english in front of her..like they have some standard that we don't have. ckp melayu sudah, nama pun kat kampung..no need to show ur mat saleh side here..

something came up

actually since last nite da tergerak hati nak online, this morning i pun try la tengok kat uitmonline tu. tengok2 result da keluar on the second week of this month..baru jugak la kan. tapi baru ada result for diploma je. degree punya next week baru keluar. seems that i dapat..yeay ;) this time dapat diploma in business studies kat uitm alor gajah. so sekarang ni da ada la chance i nak sambung balik my studies. but i'll wait for the degree results to come out first. kalau tak dapat, baru i'll go for the diploma.
hurmm..lama i tunggu nak confirm kerja tu. ni da nak masuk the 4th month i kerja, bila nak sign confirmation letter??
yesterday my manager panggil pun for appraisal je, da la exec i yg 'baik' sangat tu salah calculate my percentage in one part tu..ada ke patut i dapat 10% die tulis i dapat 1% je. i terus cakap dengan my chief cashier, depan2 manager tu. biar die tau exec dia tu banyak buat kerja tak betul. guna calculator pn boleh salah ke?
sekarang ni da tau nk sambung studies, da x kisah sangat pasal confirmation tu..but still nak. hehe..sape tak nak naik gaji kan ;P