Day One

I am currently in a very tired mode which I can barely open my eyes but, I have to write this down before all the mental pictures I took today become something I can't even recall when I wake up.

Throughout the 20 years of my life, I never have thought that I would be doing this but I did it and, today was just day one of it. Well, actually nothing much, it's just that I am someone that don't need to get a job to survive (for now obviously). So now that I got a job working as a trainee waiter in Secret Recipe, I might as well make use of it as a stepping stone to jump start a new ideology of how I view my own life now. I can even include that job into my resume when I am actually applying to be an engineer in the near future.

To be honest, I kind of underestimated the job of working in the service field. To me, it is something simple because I obviously haven't try it before previously but I never fail to appreciate what these people contribute to the society. This is due to the fact that both my sisters were once air stewardess for Malaysian Airlines. Therefore, I always make sure that whenever I am served, I can at least repay them even with just two words - Thank You.

Then, I finally got to try it today and it was not as simple as I think. Perhaps I am too naive? I am taught with engineering skills in university, which are totally useless here. I can never apply it. I have to reprogram myself with new skills eg.

The 14 steps of serving,
The table settings for each food (the fork or the knife comes first? how about the spoon? what spoon to use?),
Memorising menus,
How to use the 'keying-in-orders' machine?
etc.

Too much to name but I don't have time to write much. My rest comes first in this case. I will elaborate later when I have the time to do so.

As a newbie, I made mistakes here and there but not much. I even broke a glass which I kind of have a hunch of that will happen even before I start day one! Regardless, I am hoping that I will get better for the remaining days.

Being the only Chinese working in that branch, somehow I don't feel left out. Maybe because I was hailed and raised in Terengganu for about 17 years of my life. So far, my manager and coworkers are okay. They taught me a lot. I am even considering to work there only during the weekends when the semester starts. We'll see how it goes.

My highlight for today would probably be the many customers I encountered. I shall start off with the best one before proceeding to the worst.

Around dinner time, there was this family. The first thing I noticed was her. This girl had features so unique that people might have mistaken her for a girl of mixed parentage. She is simply irresistable. I guess this might be call "like at first sight"? I wouldn't want to use the word "love" so simply on her. She got a very mysterious aura that made me want to approach her to talk to her. Comparing her to her other family members which consists of one brother, mom and dad, they looked, well, to put it in a polite way, normal. It makes me wonder is that even their daughter or she was adopted? If fate allows, I might be able to meet her again though. I am totally keeping my fingers crossed.

Then there were the worst of people. I felt like I had been jinxed for weirdness. Those customers were plain weird. Their demands were totally unacceptable. For example, ordering curry seafood laksa without seafood which again makes me wonder what is the point of the dish being called that way. Then there were 'datin' wannabes or maybe they really are 'datin'? I can never figure that out. Their attitudes kind of reminds me of 'Datin Mastura' and 'Mulan' in the show 'Merah Puteh' shot in MMU Cyberjaya. With all their diva acts, shoulder shaking 'gedik-ness', malay+english way of talking, big sunglasses, and LV bags, they can never go wrong being 'Malaysian divas'.

In addition, I believe that in every diva, bitchiness lies within them. It is proven true at least in my case. Customer B ordered something with lobster sauce and she demanded for more of the sauce. When I told her that the sauce cannot be added because the sauce was only available that much for each portion of the dish served, I got this as a reply: "Not even if I am paying for it?" in a very bitchy, sarcastic tone. Yo girl, I know ya got tha money to pay for it but you ain't Mariah Carey! (in Fantasia Barrino's voice tone; she can be bitchy, I can be hood). Oh ya, Customer B was with the 'Malaysian divas'.

I got to run now as it is time for me to sleep. I might edit this post if I am free. That's all for my update. TBC.