YES!!!! linxy just left for sydney!!1 woohoooo!!!!! balcony free for me to suntan on, prance naked around… yay….

tomorrow’s my off day too! free day + linxy not around = i can fuck up the apartment!!! yes yes yes!!!

ok, i know i sound retarded. it happens to the best of us.

there’s nothing much to talk about work today really. except i found out something truly astonishing.

Ashley’s car didn’t quite broke down yesterday, as someone suddenly told me. her stupid, retarded screwed up pos brother has been stealing her car, taking his friends on a speed drive around the neighbourhood.

This wouldn’t be much problem if Ashley stays near the city or something. i am guessing that 1) she doesn’t and 2) she needs to work things out with her stupid pos brother. so today, she couldn’t even come to work. poor ashley =/

In singapore, there’s a bus stop every few meters, with buses arriving every few minutes and often, more than one bus goes wherver we really need to go. this was something i often just took for granted, and i am sure most of my friends do too.

i never bothered to learn driving, not back there, not here, though i was supposed to. while some of my friends learnt driving or at least took the basic and advanced theory exams, i did nothing. just uberly reliant on our transport system back home.

here in small, little, lonesome canberra, there’s no real need for many buses nor bus times. most people go to school or work at the same time, and are off on the same days. and generally, most of them have cars too.

yesterday, as everyone has noticed, i had my share of retarded luck. labour day, a public holiday, and on weekends, the buses only come once per hour. once i’ve missed it, i’ve missed it.

late at night, there are less buses, and even more spastic timings. the good part is, i live near work and near the city. the bad part is, there’s only so far my rent would go. once rent ends, and my landlady comes home from england or some far far away land, there are only so many options for me.

obviously if i take a sunday shift, i am dead post 9pm or so. there aren’t anymore buses.

oh wells. whatever!!!

OH. guess who turned up for dinner tonight.

the people who owns flirty gorgeous.

yes that restaurant i frequent the whole of winter. that restaurant that knows me by my chinese first name, right off my eftpos (atm) card. that restaurant that serves me hand and foot when i appear there.

they felt awkward that i was serving them, as i them. we got over it though, and started chatting happily.

Tonight, i managed to start serving more tables, still with Edna, my trainer, by my side though. it was a good thing, since i have a little of a nerves breakdown somewhere into the middle of my introductory speech at each table, and her being there actually soothes my nerves a little.

Often, the main reasons why i get all worried and such, is more because of… say if they order something, they might ask weird questions, “does this come with onions? is it cooked in vegetable oil?”. while it’s great that so far, of the 5 tables or so that i have served, most of them were nice, sweet understanding people who didn’t mind if i stumbled or ask Edna for help.

some even called me sweetie, and others said i was lovely. VERY encouraging customers ^_^ i love them so much.

i am just worried about weird questions after all, and the bad luck of meeting overly demanding customers. “new? so what. ur supposed to know the menu the moment you walk in.” ugh. most importantly, i am not a drinker, thus my knowledge of beers are limited to what i have seen on tv – back in singapore.

i don’t even know wtf was the difference between tap, jugs, cans and bottles. they are all the same to me, just beers in different forms. and now, being in australia, i am often asked, “what beers you have on tap?” by customers. can you imagine how unnerving it is?

and wtf is a slider anyways -.-

Work peeps have been very encouraging though. Edna said not to worry about beers. she herself, though australian, doesn’t take alcohol either, and it took her 6 months to remember the beers, cocktails, mocktails, wines and what not too. so it’s perfectly fine, as it is fine to err, it is ok to forget shit.

they don’t really care much about my mistakes as long as they aren’t massive mistakes, like screaming at the customers or trying to kill our chefs. after all, it is human to err.

so let me tell you a secret, that i have been feeling really bad about.

you know those small little cups they use to contain the pepper, mushroom and diane sauces?

alot of customers have a tendency to eat like pigs and then strew their excess meat, vegies and all that all over the plate, including right over the top of the cups. they are often hidden, sometimes hard to see, but you can feel them if the plate isn’t ridiculously heaped upon, coz the aren’t exactly light.

i have been throwing them away into the bin along with the excesses by customers. and no, they aren’t disposables :X i just never notice them till it’s too late.

I must admit, i am still not used to the idea that i am back into the working lifestyle. and one that involves part-time working and full-time studying too. i tire out easy, and never have enough rest it seems, especially since my body thinks i am joking -.-

it is tempting to go “i don’t want to work today!” call in with some stupid crap and then laze around whole day. sadly, i don’t have that kind of luxury.

before i continue on though, i must announce this one…. shame (!?!?) of mine. i never quite like to eat at the place i work coz of some ethical and etiquette issue that i had with it. i just think it’s wrong to ask your colleagues to serve you on your off days, or your boss, or whoever. and then just sit there and enjoy while they potter around. i am just… a dumbass, don’t mind me.

so the idea of eating before work often scares me. so far i have only went back to eat at work once in my new job. it’s a good way to save money anyways. however, for these past 2 nights that i have worked suddenly, linxy asked for some steaks. and so i have been asking them to be taken away.

Don came up to me just now, and kind of warned me in a nice way that i am actually not allowed to do that. so tonight would be the last time i am packing home steak and it’s not even for me. oh wells. just pretty embarassing though when he came and tell me not to do it again that’s all.

tonight, another girl quit. that’s a total of 2 girls who quit now, in a space of 2 days. it wasn’t a sudden thing though, the restaurant was warned 2 weeks before Anna quit since she was an old staff. it’s just kinda sad that they are leaving once i started to get to know them.

Anna’s reason though, was pretty strange. on the one hand, she said it’s coz she stays too far from work. she stays within uni, which is like 20 mins slow walk from work. Her other reason that i heard her tell someone else was pretty understandable though.

it was the same reason as Diana’s.

Uni’s workload is increasing. she’s holding another job. she worked 15 hours yesterday, and 12 the day before. by the time she hits the restaurant itself, she was often tired out from work and unable to fully be there anyways. it is now week 10 in uni, in 2 weeks she has exams, yet she isn’t prepared and neither has she studied much other than just being physically in her classes.

the thing is, she isn’t alone.

Diana too, holds 2 jobs. with my company, she would have been holding 3 jobs had she not quit. she made the smart move though to quit, even though she was new and had at the most 6 days of work. she picked the better paying 2 jobs out of 3 to stay.

through out Australia, there are students all over that are like that. they hold 2-3 jobs just so that they can afford their personal life from uni, afford uni and many other uni related stuff. it is not easy being a student. alot of people have a tendency to say, ooo, asian students are more mature, they are more independent, etc etc.

since i arrived though, i would like to say, that’s not totally true. most Australian friends i know, start paying for their lives by the time they start working part time. this can be anywhere from 14 – 16. by the time they hit uni, they are carrying 2 jobs and trying to stay with uni and be active with everything. Anna, for example, is a sports rep.

Independence… also comes from learning to be financially independent. Maturity, is also learning how to balance your life out despite how hectic the timetable is. while i am not saying that asians sucks, because i know some of my friends do work while studying, i am saying, we should not jump to conclusions so quickly anymore.

i mean, before i came, everyone’s telling me “Australians are lazy.”. my defense is, they know how to relax when they have to. they work as hard as everyone. 2-3 jobs while studying as well, it’s no mean feat. and it’s sad that they are doing that so that they can have an education.

Because, as i believe, while their education do benefit them financially, it also benefits the society from their skilled knowledge. not saying that education should be totally free either. but for uni’s that say they are just working on the bare minimum and not earning much profits, how is it that they are profiteering on say… just internet charges alone?

somethings can ease up the tough life of being a student, and make it less scary to try and step out of being a kid and step into the limelight as a responsible adult.

Tonight’s also the footy final. there were less customers than on fridays and saturdays, altho it is natural since it IS a sunday. whoever came though, sat through most of the final, hooting, wooting and whistling at every goal. the kitchen was cheering loudly at every single goal that the majority bet on.

yes… there were some betting between them in the kitchen it was funny, how they wrote a list of who bet for what, and then you see everyone cheering shouting and going urgh into each other’s face. tired as i was, spaced out as i was, that always make me laugh though.

grown man acting like little kids.

wait… even the most attentive kid was quiet :X

oh. and… from what i can see, john howard is a short man.