well. working in the food and beverage industry meant that i constantly come in touch with plates that are overly hot as they have just been washed, and no one really cares if ur fingers are cooking beneath those damn hot plates. i mean, they understand that it’s hot, but they aren’t going to tell you to wait till it’s cool enough to bring it out.

coz by then the food would be cold beyond reasonable.

at the moment, my index finger feels calloused. as if it just miraculously went through the 3 stages of being “scalded” by a plate. the reddish hot bit, the blistered bit, then the final healing bit, all at the same time. yet it’s still too tender to be touched, and has been so since 3 days ago when a retardedly hot plate was pushed to me by Wan to serve.

of course, the rest of my hands are in a somewhat similar predicament, albeit not as painful.

tonight, however, i met a retard of a customer. like seriously… an ass. the difference between normal australian asses and this little hoe, is that at least the other asses leave tips for being such an ass. or their friends would leave some behind, as if apologetic that they brought such imbeciles in. this one, is hell different.

tip or not, i was glad he left.

tonight, all my tables were sat down at the same time, or thereabouts. thus, i was slow again in trying to take all the orders at the same time.

mr chan came in, family in tow, and sat down at 103. after taking orders from 101, i rushed to 103 and introduced myself and started getting ready to let them know our specials and what not. except, mr chan stopped me, and instead knew already what he wanted. which was cool.

now, mr chan is obviously, a SINGAPOREAN. accent, actions, everything through out the night screams SINGAPOREAN. the wife and kids though, are obviously australian born chinese, especially the kids. maybe the wife was born elsewhere, but definitely raised here. now, for one, i was glad he’s a singaporean, home you know, feels awesome to know a compatriot. well not really, but you get what i mean.

however, the first few words that ever left his and his wife’s mouth, made me realised these are one of those families that aren’t going to be easy to serve. the fussy nitpickers, whiners, and what have you.

his wife is subserviant to him. fine. she likes it that way. despite the fact that in normal circumstances i would have taken his orders last, i have to start with him first, coz he won’t let anyone else in the family talk first nor order first till he does.

that’s all right.

then came the issue of mushroom sauce. “hey, i see i have to pay extras for the sauce?”

“yes sir. ” *smile smile smile”

“what the hell is that, i have never heard that people have to pay for mushroom sauce before in other restaurants!”

“yes sir, but we have always charged for them sir.”

“ah, go away..” then he brushed me off. “just a cheap thrill to earn 1.75 from something as free as mushroom sauce.”

well… SIR, you ARE arguing about ONE DOLLAR AND SEVENTY FIVE CENTS too aren’t you?

Then, the table’s meals arrived one by one. then he saw his damn mushroom sauce.

“WHAT THE HELL! 1.75 for such a SMALL bowl of mushroom sauce?!?!!?”

“yes sir, you can see it from the pictures in the menu they aren’t very big.”

“what a rip off!”

dear lord. this guy ain’t going to shut up. it’s just mushroom sauce. if he have issues with it, please bring your own mushrooms and make your own sauce, thanks.

“i am sorry sir, i should have warned you beforehand.”

“and are you sure this is mushroom sauce? isn’t it supposed to be darker???”

“SIR. you can SEE the MUSHROOM there.” *points at the tip of a button mushroom*

“BAH. go away!”

….

hello.

you little shit.

i am here to serve you. i ain’t here for you to throw tantrums at. mushrooms don’t fucking grow in our kitchens.

pleassseeee..

don’t ever come back again!

as if in good karma… i had 3 good customers. for one shit, i have 3 great customers who even tried to make me pocket the change behind my manager’s back. for one shit, i have 1 customer who said i was “top bird”, and the other who kept kept saying “that was good stuff” to me, while i tried to talk the little girl who was with him, who signed to me that i was awesome.

for one shit, i got my finger burnt, scalded, blistered and calloused, but similarly have others who made it a joy to be in that position.

so fuck that shit.

yer…!!!!

i r winnah~!!!!

uhm yer. what a weird day.

i was late again for orientation, not that i cared so much about today’s program at any rate, but it seemed necessary till i saw who was leading the orientation program for today. it’s someone i didn’t quite like, i don’t know why, but i kept on feeling that all her “ehs” and what not… well her entire being, was just a facade. regardless, she is still someone of authority and i did kinda “pay” for this orientation, so i sat through this bit.

as i was told earlier, i am exempted from most parts of the orientation since i am technically… a senior at all the stuff. it’s just some course information that i really had to sit through. i wasn’t quite aware what i would be sitting through though, so i came today, and realised everything’s just… a waste of time not in the bad sense, but as in, i needn’t have turned up at all today.

from the anubis system, and the squirrelmail, i knew most of how they function. and even if i don’t, the orientation is more for the less tech savvy people. not that i am particularly tech savvy, but i know my way around squirrelmail and anubis. besides, since i don’t officially have a login and pw, there was really no point for me to be around today really.

so i left early and nap till work time.

the restaurant was almost fully booked up. most of the larger tables were already snapped up except for about 3. the rest of the big tables, were the ones near the entrance, that few people bother to fill up except on the weekends.

that, was my section for tonight since there is a slight chance that there might be a huge group that decides to walk in. and walk in they did actually, just one small group though. however, they started in the bar, and my store manager was the one who mainly served them.

then i walked over to clear their classes and dishes and trying to take orders and crap, in case they wanted extras. this guy at the end though, an old man, kept asking me questions, like a drill. “where are you from, what are you doing?” confused as to why he’s asking me such questions, i skipped my tongue in cheek answer of being a mail order bride and just answered him normally, all this while thinking “wth… perv perv perv? nooo wait.. wth is he asking me all these for?” and i believed my face showed all that LOL…

then i walked around.

and chewbaca told me, “oh, you met ray yer?”

“ray? who’s ray?”

“that old guy at the end..”

“yer… kinda. he asked me lotsa questions. your friend?”

“nono!!! that’s our franchise boss!!”

uh oh..

LOL!!!!!

then wan mysteriously pulled me aside to where all the girls were.

“eh cheryl… what are you doing on saturday night?”

“er… sleep?”

“no you’re not fucking sleeping! you’re coming out with us and getting fucking pissed!”

for those who know me, i have never drank in my life save for baptism and the occassional easter and some masses. so.. this was out of question. i don’t deviate from this strict rule i have set in my life, except for God.

“uhm… i don’t drink.”

“that’s why you are coming to break your virginity with us. and then we are going to get u so fucking pissed, you aren’t going to be able to work.”

“eh… i am going to sydney on saturday!”

“no you’re not!”

so… suddenly i am invited to get drunk with Wan.

the other girls are great, i still don’t know what to make of Wan. but i sure as hell ain’t getting drunk for anyone. i am crazy already without drinks. can you imagine when i get roaring drunk? i might set a kangaroo loose to rape some people with those huge hairy kangaroo penis that i have heard about.

ok i didn’t say that.

so yer, i ain’t getting drunk! and though it isn’t as weird as some of my other days were.. still a little off the rockers.

by the way, i know i promised picts of my new campus. i kept on forgetting to bring my camera though, and besides, whatever picts i have taken with my camera phone, i can’t seem to find an angle that’s clear of trees enough. so i guess i have to somewhat show you a pict with less trees come thursday, when i am free of most of my obligations.

yes.

it’s another campus in the jungle. see a pattern already? i am just another female version of Tarzan.

have you ever had a day that went like 99% excellent, save a few scrubs, then one small incident at the end of the day, something small exploded and just ruined your day?

yer. that’s what happened today… not that it totally ruined my day, i just felt so shit for an hour or so.. and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

first off, i was late for my orientation today due to some bus fuck up. the bus was suppose to arrived at 9.31, but i was there at like… 9.25 and the bus had just left. like, right infront of me. the old lady in the bus shelter was whining about how it came early too -.- normally some bus drivers had wait a bit before driving off if they are early.

this one happily zoomed off. -.-

anyways… so i got there late, and they passed us some goodie bags for “morning tea”… i think it must be raining blessings or some shit. the entire goodie bag was full of sweets.. LOL.. i know it’s not healthy! i do! i just can’t save myself.. there’s fizzy lifesavers!! and chips!! and omg! lollipops! mentos!!!!!

yer i went stupid right there lmao… and i didn’t have breakfast prior to that so that wasn’t very helpful.

most of the people in that class were asian, as i expected… there was this guy who might be from the maldives who was a caucasian, and that’s really it. there were only like 7 or 8 of us though LOL… not much of a comparison really. we were given our timetables and such, and suddenly, i felt a sense of surrealism.

i got kicked by uni. i am joining another uni, without letting my parents know.

what the fuck am i doing?

i felt overwhelmed. i didn’t dare to carry forward my plan initially. i still had the money in my wallet as i munch on the free lunch and walked towards the student union, ready to pay bills or bail on myself. i didn’t know if i should pay. my breath caught as i handed over the first 1k. then the 3k.

i felt so shit, and yet excited. i mean, fuck, i looked at my timetable, my course schedule for the next 3 semesters, and i realised “this is going to be a breeze other than fucking maths.”

and i knew i could do it. and i didn’t know if i should, but i knew i could do it. so i handed over the remainders of my life’s money and then went “screw the world” and just decided i am just going to study.

i knew i had the same drive when i first arrived here. hell, i was so enthusiastic, i packed up a month before i officially left singapore. would anything be different this time? i don’t know. i am going to start things different though, counselling appointments to start soon. coz i know i need it and coz that is part of the reason why i insist on staying.

i started work at 5 today, and there was no one for a long long time. infact, it was a terribly quiet night. my tables were sat, and they were not “re-used” for another group. so essentially, i only served 5 tables worth of people tonight, and then after they left, i was free to go.

i made another innocent error today, but it wasn’t totally my fault. i was hungry and was just casually talking to my trainer about it. she said there were another group of people coming in at 9 anyways, and to go ahead and order food if i really want to.

the kitchen wasn’t too happy about that, although i apologised heavily for it.

apparently, my trainer has no say in these issues though, and only my manager and the head chef really could decide on such things.

as i left, i realised i forgot to sign out. so i went back in to sign out and said bye the the guys. ben, the guy closest to me, just turned around and smash a steak at the cutting board. then threw his knife at the steak as if it offended him.

then sat staring into space as he went into his corner.

i felt so shit at that point. i thought it was ok, coz my trainer said it was ok. most of the time, people took her word for it too, as if she’s a manager, and i did like wise, never realising sometimes it’s wrong. don said not to worry about it since i didn’t do it deliberately nor knowingly.

but as i walked out, all that i could keep in my mind was how ben threw the steak and his knife.

altho ben said bye later on, the damage has been done. i didn’t know if he was serious or if he was pissed with someone else. it wasnt a nice image to keep though, considering so far, i only knew i was the only one who had did a mistake in that last 10 mins.

school was great, work was mostly great…

to end the night with bad images…

isn’t great.