This is LIFE!

My current life: Intern, Part 6 - Less than 7 weeks left!

2012-01-08T04:39:00.000-08:00

Finally, the ending date is getting nearer and nearer! These few days I have different feel all over again!

Although it is ending in about 7 more weeks, I am very thankful to everyone who have taught me things in a way or another. They have their own teaching methods, some good and some I have no comments.

The people I am very thankful to;

My manager, Ms. Liza! She is a very bubbly lady who is fun to be with and fun to work with. When working with her, I have no stress. Something I really respect her for is her attitude. Currently her wrist is fractured due to a bike accident but she still comes to work although she could take MC. Other than that, with that injury, actually she is advised by her doctor that it would be best to try not to overwork her hand but during busy period or when she sees that the table is not cleared, she would still take a tray and clear the table. A very outgoing manager who does not have the "manager feel". YOU ARE BEING LOVED LIZA!! THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE!! <3

My supervisor, Mr. Sufyan! May be strict at times but so long as you complete your task, the process does not really matter. Get the job done quick and we can get our rest faster. Very humorous and easy-going guy. It is an enjoyment working with him as he would find things that is very hilarious to do or show us. This motivates me to work as time would seem to pass faster and we find enjoyment in the things we do. Sometimes the tasks we were being told to do may seem like small things but from here, I realise that small things make a big difference. SUFYAN! THANK YOU FOR BEING VERY PATIENT WITH ME AND GUIDING ME THROUGHOUT MY INTERNSHIP. <3

My laughing partner, Ms. Aminah! She is a very funny person and fun colleague to work with. Whenever I work with her, there would surely be very funny things happening. She made my internship more enjoyable and makes the last few weeks of my intern filled with more laughter! THANK YOU AMINAH FOR BEING MY LAUGHING BUDDY! YOU WILL BE MISSED MAN! ALL THOSE NONSENSICAL THINGS WE DO AND RANDOM CHATS! <3

My entertainment guy, Mr. Steven Eric! He is Mr. No Problem! Whenever guest ask for things, he would have no problem. But sometimes even when he is unsure, he would still says no problem to the guest, afterwhich he would come and ask the seniors if we would be able to do it. Fun loving guy who takes care of me like a little sister! STEVEN! THANK YOU FOR THE THINGS YOU HAVE DONE! STUDY HARD! MAYBE YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER TAKING ANOTHER LANGUAGE COURSE ;)

My 'big head', Mr. Kevin! Blur guy who works hard! Puts in effort and doesn't mind staying when there is not enough staff. A caring guy, when he sees that everyone is tired, he would be there to cheer people up! KEVIN! THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ME WHEN I FIRST JOINED THE CLUB! <3

My dajie, Ms. Eva! Very particular about napkin folding, loves teamwork. First person I get in touch with when I first joined the club. Introduced me to the people who I would be working with. Teaching me about the different shift works. THANK YOU EVA! WE WOULD GET TO SEE EACH OTHER IN THE NEAR FUTURE!! :)

My KingKong, Ms. Helen! Very kan chiong but get things done quite fast. THANK YOU HELEN! TRY TO CHILL KAY! THINGS WOULD BE DONE IN A MORE RELAXED WAY! ;)

My stewarding, Auntie Saroja and Ah Liang! THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT WITH ME THESE FEW MONTHS!! MUCH APPRECIATED!! :)

Also, I am done with my weekly log for week 1 till week 17! I have completed my presentation as well but I just need to take photos with them first before submitting! Next I have to do my 2000 word report and get my manager to fill up the feedback form for me and I guess I am done for POLY!!!

In this 3 years, I met different kind of people and a bunch of darlings! My lovely friends, we would be able to meet soon!!!! Finally freedom is near the corner!! Hang on!! <3

With Love,
Leow

My current life: Intern, Part 5 - ITS MY OFF DAY AGAIN!

2011-12-29T05:01:00.000-08:00

Its my off day again! Yesterday worked 12 hours shift as I have to clear my 7 extra hours, so I worked from 9am till 9pm. After which, I rushed home, washed up and prepare to leave house again as my manager said she managed to borrow a car from her cousin so we could go for durian feast and some 'sightseeing'. We asked Steve and Mina along too! So the four of us head to Geylang in the middle of the night and ate durian.

Afterwhich we went for out 'sightseeing'. It was really an eyeopener! This is the first time I see so many of them, different nationalities. The place is really "more merrier as time passes". There are even BBQ food stalls set up along the road side! Didn't know that in the past till yesterday! The stalls there closes late at night as people usually goes there in the night.

It is also the first time I took a bike. My manager rides a bike to get the car so she has to return the car and retrieve her bike. But the place was more ulu and it is very dangerous for a female to retrieve the bike alone, sh asked if I could go with her and she would give me a ride back on her bike. It was a fun experience! Never knew that riding a bike could feels so good, although it is more dangerous.

Went home and started working on my weekly log, did a little for my presentation and went to bed after that. Slept half of my off day away! It was too tiring. But went out with my eldest sister after I woke up as she has to visit the clinic for her eye infection. Then we met my 2nd sis and went to da bao food home!

Seems like after I started my attachment, I rarely see them. Even if we do see one another, we don't really talk. So it is really rare that we could even eat together. Felt so happy today!

Now the next thing that I am looking forward to is on the 31st December! We are going to club! I rarely goes clubbing, firstly is because I don't really like the environment, another issue is because it is hard to look for a big group of friends who you can trust to go with you. I prefer to go pub, grab a drink and chill. It feels more relaxed and enjoyable.

Hopefully there would be another 'outing' soon! Looking forward to it and looking forward to the ending of my attachment. I don't mind doing part time after the attachment though, provided that my manager and supervisor is still working there.

With love,
Leow
"Smile wherever you go. You would never know if your smile could bring a smile to another person's face." :)

My current life: Intern, Part 4 - Random thoughts

2011-12-18T04:48:00.000-08:00

Today is a happy day for me. Although we are facing a lack of manpower, we had fun at work this morning! I think the team this morning was awesome! If I had to name us, perhaps I would call us as Disturbing Team, Awesome Team, Anyhow Only Team haha! There are only the 3 of us but it seems like whenever we are working together, there would be jokes and laughter around us.

We had a guest with a baby, less than a year, but she is simply adorable! Noticed that she loves yoghurt and she seems to get easily distracted because whenever we walk near her, she would turn around and look at what we were doing. Sometimes when we look at her and smile, she would also give us a big smile :D Babies are the most innocent creature on Earth!

People used to say "the size of your pupil determines how innocent you are". I think that is true. When babies are born, their pupil seems to take up all of the space of their eyes. However, as they grow older, the pupil seems to dilate and becomes smaller. One of the reasons why it is so, I believe that it is due to environment they are in. Most of the children are being protected by their family members. But as you grow older, you meet with more people and usually in the adulthood, most people would think about themselves first. Perhaps this is where we start to grow less innocent? Maybe.. Just maybe..

Anyways, seeing the baby makes me feel happy! Moreover, I am working with fun people today!

Sometimes life gets dull. But it also depends on yourself how you want to spend the day. Even if it might be dull, you can still find something which would helps brighten the day and create laughter. This is what I do. I would find something to amaze myself, think of those silly moments and stupid things I did with my friends, sometimes when I would with people like the 2 guys today, we would disturb one another so the time would pass faster and we would also enjoy our shift!

The next time the three of us would be working together might be next week of the week after next. Looking forward to working with the two of them again! I am sure it would be another fun experience! Now the thing I worried about the most is whether I would be transferred to another department as there seems to be some changes but not made known yet. I would treasure the remaining days I would be spending with those lovely people!

With love,
Leow
The girl who smiles even when there are people who wants to bring her down!

My current life: Intern, Part 3

2011-12-17T01:44:00.000-08:00

Its week 14 of internship, going to end in another 10 weeks. These few days I learn new things and I feel very touched by some gestures by one of my colleague. As we are facing a lack of staff now, everyone is working harder so that operation can be smooth. Yesterday morning, there are 2 staff working in the morning, my senior and me. Our stewarding + buffet guy starts work at 730 in the morning so we are all by ourselves for an hour. BUT my supervisor who is suppose to start work at 9 in the morning came in at 7plus, going to 8! He says can't possibly leave me and my senior till 9am. He says it is responsibility and I salute him for that. Thank you for making the effort to wake up early, supervisor! Utmost respect! But he had to work till 9pm as his shift ends at 9. Next day, shift starts 7am for him again and he is not late. Although lack of sleep but he still give in his best. The effort he put in is really remarkable.

Today, there is a change. Our stewarding + buffet guy wore a different uniform. Not really different but he put on apron and paper chef hat. He looks very happy because his dream is to be a chef. Today seems like a day whereby he fulfilled his dream as we can all see that he really is elated to wear the apron and the hat to work. My supervisor called him chef too and I believe he is proud to be one. My supervisor told me that it has always been his dream to be a chef. That moment when I heard my supervisor said that, I feel like he really understands the staff well and he helps us to achieve our goals at the same time.

Another thing I learnt is also from my supervisor. He said: "Leaders lead by actions." This, I totally agree with him. Leaders are a living example themselves. If all they do is just telling you what you have to do instead of showing you how to do it and doing it with you, I don't see how the other staff would follow. He is a good example. To me, he is my role model. He doesn't just speaks, he does it, everytime. For example he says, clear the plate whenever you see an empty one. He does that when we don't. So sometimes I would feel guilty as it is suppose to be my job to complete that task but he is doing it and he doesn't say anything about it. Some of the leaders only do the talks but he walks the talk.

I remembered that time when one of the staff told me to do something and she says it is the standard operating procedure but she is not doing it. But I still did because I know it is right to do that. Even if she is not doing it, I should still follow the procedure.

I realise that most of the time human beings are contradicting animals. They told you something and yet they did it another way. In fact, I am frightened to work in the hospitality industry because there are so many people who are two-faced and you can never tell who are the ones you can trust. In the past I would share my thoughts with some of my colleagues but now, I rarely did because you never know what would happen next.

Now, more than 3 months has passed since I started my internship. The first 3 months is really like honeymoon period for relationship. Everybody seems to be so nice and so concerned about you. But now, the third month has passed and people are starting to show their true self to you. I know there are some people who I really trust and I know that I can trust them, at least that is what I believe in.

Now I am really hoping that I could be as happy as when I first went to work in the lounge.

With love,
Leow

My current life: Intern, Part 2 - ITS MY OFF DAY!

2011-12-13T07:13:00.000-08:00

Finally after working for 8 days, I got my precious 2 days off! Like every other working adults, I love off days. Its a day whereby I can rest and enjoy my day out with my friends. Sometimes I can simply feel the happiness even lazing around at home, not doing anything but feels happy.

First day of off, I stay at home and read 2 novels, watching television and celebrated mom's birthday. However, today is my mom's actual birthday. So I am gonna wish her:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU MY DEAREST MOMMY!! THANK YOU FOR GIVING BIRTH TO ME AND BEING SO ENCOURAGING SINCE I WAS BORN. ALTHOUGH YOU MAY BE VERY LAME AT TIMES AND SOMETIMES I CAN'T HELP BUT GOT ANGRY WITH YOU, THROWING TEMPER AT YOU BUT YOU NEVER GIVE UP ON ME. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! I LOVE YOU MOMMY!! <3<3<3

xxx

Day 2, I met up with this silly friend of mine, AngAng! Obviously that is not her real name but I like to call her that. Went to slack near our house, for dinner we had some grab-&-goes. Didn't do anything much but just feels peaceful and happy.

xxx

I am becoming a fan of Starbucks. Although I am not really a coffee-lover but I like the atmosphere when I am in the shop. Now that my friend is having her internship there, it gives me "excuses" to visit her and also to grab a drink. Previously when I was a secondary school student, Starbucks is something which I feel I could not afford because for a tall size beverage, it would already cost me more than 5 bucks. Until I went to poly, I met this friend who influenced me to go for coffee. Actually he did not really influence me to have it because he did not pull me into the shop and force me to buy a drink. All he did was after we became talking friends, he would ask if all of us would want to slack at Starbucks near our school. After which, I got so used to going to Starbucks, mainly to chillax.

Now it has been more frequent. It is either before work or after work, sometimes even during my off day but not that frequent on my off though.

Maybe I should just carry out my action plan yea? But I don't think I am that childish to do that.

Note to self:
Look forward and don't take people's comment seriously unless you know that they mean well.
Lead by example. Don't just say and not showing or doing it. How would you expect people to respect you when what you say does not match with what you are doing?

Sometimes people can be really nice. But do not take advantage of them just because they are nice and they are always ok with everything. You would not and never would want to see those good people turn nasty. It will scare you. Not really that scary but when you see someone who is always smiling and happy with everything, it does not mean that they are always happy. They just wish for the world to be a better place for people to live in.

Sometimes a smile can make someone's day. :)

With love,
Leow

My current life: Intern, Part 1

2011-12-11T07:44:00.001-08:00

Life as an intern part 1.

Although its been 3 months since I am an intern, but I have not been updating the other 2 of my blogs and now I am retrieving back this old blog of mine which was down since 3 or 4 years ago?? But now I have decided to retrieve this blog because it has tons of memories in it.

As this is my third year in polytechnic, I would have to be attached to a company to learn and gain real life experience of the course which I am currently studying to complete my diploma. The first thing that came to my mind when the school said we have to undergo internship before we could graduate is that it would be a tough one. By the way I am currently working as an intern in a hotel. In those dramas or movies, it seems like being a hotelier is a fun job and you earn a lot. In fact, it is not as easy as what we think.

Different people has different character and they have their temper too. Some guests are really nice and you can feel that they are very sincere while some guest just wish to enjoy that peaceful moment.

So far my life as an intern is going very smooth just that I guess it is too smooth till I have been told about me getting transferred to another place in the same department. At first when I went to report to work, I feel very sad because I would be separated from my friends and I have to do f&b although it is part of the front office team. Previously I really wish to work at the front desk although I have to stand for long hours. Now, I do not wish to leave the place I have been working for 3 months.

Firstly, and most importantly, is because of the people I am working with there, at the club lounge. The people there are fun and they are very helpful. Other than that, I have really learnt a lot of things from them since day 1. I have been very grateful that I am being allocated to work in the lounge since beginning and met so many wonderful people, actually there are only 7 of them and 8 including me. I don't know how to express these feelings into words but I felt like home. They have always been taking care of me and making sure that I am alright. Sometimes small gestures speaks a lot.

What you would expect as an intern would be that the seniors, supervisors and managers would scold you. But till now I don't think that I have been scolded by any of the people I work with, at least that is what I feel. Even when I made mistakes, they would just bring me to the side and tell me what is the right thing to do, sometimes they would be my role model and they would demonstrate. However, there would be times whereby some of them would say but not do. "Action speaks louder than words." But when they have taught me, I would do accordingly as it is my responsibility.

For the past 3 months, I broke glasses, plates, had spillages, messed things up etc. But I hope I did not really disappoint them.

The most impressive things I learn from them are:

1) most useful word: ADVANCE!

2) most useful skill: SHORTCUT

3) main objective: GET THINGS DONE WITHIN THE SHORTEST TIME POSSIBLE

Although life may be sucky at times, things doesn't go well, always remember to SMILE! You may not notice but sometimes just that smile is enough to cheer everyone up.

During operation hours, it may get busy or duper busy at times but my colleagues would still crack jokes so everyone would not be so tensed up. I am that kind of person who cannot work in a very stress environment. If I feel very stress, the mistakes I make would be more fatal and the chances of me making mistakes would increase. However if I am too relaxed, I may get things done faster and happier. Sometimes when you got too happy and get carried away, you would not be able to focus as well and this is when mistakes occur, such as not refilling coffee and tea, not clearing tables etc. But overall it is a fun experience!

Now that the assistant manager told me that there would be a rotation of staff and I would no longer be working at the club lounge, I feel so damn depressed! But no matter what, I could only listen to instruction. For sure I would miss the people there! <3

I have set some goals for myself if I were to be posted to front desk. Currently I am able to do check outs, as for check ins, I am still not very sure but I would do my best to master that within these last few days of my time up there.

Will not disappoint you guys!

I have decided to write them letter as well. Hopefully I have the courage to hand it to them! :)

Love to you guys,

The girl who is always smiling :)