Cartel..again =)

This week, i was posted to the bar area. After 4 torturous days, i can firmly conclude tt making sandwiches is NOTHING compared to making drinks!! Stress level * 100..serious. =D

from day one to three..i was still happily refering to the sop on how to make e drinks.. there are many diff kinds. For e cold drinks, theres frappes, smoothies, shakes, fruity frozen, spider, sodas, iced coffee. For e hot, theres mochas, coffees, teas, lattes, cappuccino. Not to forget, e fruit juices. The sop book is like dammmmmn thick lor..my heart rate increases everytime i'm on duty. The horrrible ordeal came on my fourth day. It was a friday night. When cartel gets too quiet..its e sign of an impending storm =X..true enough, at about 8pm..orders came pouring in..i had to make 10-15 drinks at a go..can u imagine..all different kinds..smoothies, shakes, sodas..and my most dreaded drink --> e latte! Y? cos latte drink, got 3 layers. If u order a flavoured latte..lets say hazelnut latte. There'll be hazelnut syrup at e bottom..followed by hot milk ..and an expresso layer at e top topped with milk foam and cocoa powder. its realli hard to make e ezpresso layer..u have to wait for the milk to go down to a certain degree celsius..so that e layer will not sink to e bottom when u ppour e expresso on top. Cant pour too fast..or too slow.. e layer will be mixed up. I tried for 4 freaking times to make tt stupid latte..and e customer ended up changing drinks..cos too slow..faint. I hate lattes..realli..e moment i see tt e orders have lattes in it..i will auot "kan chiong". Then..theres oso different equipments to be used for each kinda drinks..like smoothies and shakes and fruity frozen..need blender..need cherry and lemon. some need whipped cream on top..some dun need cherrys..all e measurements diff oso. Pink angel..for instance, needa 60ml cranberry..while cranberry peach fruity frozen needa 80ml cranberry juice i think =X. Then i'm realli freaking slow lor..e orders keep pouring in..i still stand there like a block of wood..trying to remember e diff ingredients for each drink. My fren commented tt my face has onli one expression thruout the night --> " STRESS". Haiz..almost broke down ..but luckily managed to keep under control. Its not a good idea to show ur vunerability in public..like i have learnt my lesson..too many times =).Some unhappiness and drama did happened..but it was not me..still, i felt pretty bad for my colleague..haiz..we are humans oso..service line so wat..must be reasonable oso right?? If i were e customer..i confirm wun behave like this de..puiz. Yah..i realised tt i suck at using e blender..always blend halfway the container can come loose and i can hear the motor grinding the plastic at e sides of the container =X..scare e hell of of me man..even my fren whos in e kitchen can hear..all e customers were like..staring!! Smoothie die oso wun come out of e blender into e glass..not enuff strength to knock out the goop..haiz..my fren helped me again. Hen3 mei2 yong4! Whipped cream oso..look very ugly..dun have enough strength to squeeze a v nice one out..hands must be stable and able to rotate in a nice circle..all e time pressing on e nozzle..i likeeee to press=) must perfect this skill!

E closing up oso sucks..i hate stock taking..cannot bloody find all e stock..and i had to ask for help..haiz..to conclude..my fourth day was e worst day in cartel..and i have a feeling tt e worst is yet to come =D..hope to become stronger each day as i work in e real world. Jiayou! =)

Piggy..pigpig =D

draw ur own pig here, very entertaining! =)

Sandwiches and salad making =)

Things behind e counter are definately more interesting then being a runner =D. Sometimes i realli think that i'm nuts. Study so much and yet i go work as a crew in cafe cartel. Y don't i go find design freelance to do? Since i had already put 3 years of blood, sweat into completing my design diploma. HaIZ. To be honest..i realli prefer working in cafe cartel..maybe i should have took my mom's advice and go into e hospitality and management course in TP. I hate to admit..but my mom has great foresight. The things that she suggest, will always end up as the paths that i will choose in the future. I'm lucky that she let me learn music, ballet. Regretted not continuing my ballet.

Recap recap..my lst day behind the counter was really fun and disastrous. Alot of salad and sandwich combinations to remember. The orders kept popping out and my trainer whos younger then me..and oso a nypian is a real expert at whipping out the stuff without refering to the S.O.P--> recipe book. While i was still fumbling with the chicken chef salad, he had already placed together one tender chix ciabatta sandwich and another triple decker. We slice eggs using a fishing line, v fun! But i end up with uneven..realli uneven quarters:D and he teased me, saying tt my eggs got pattern de, one big quarter one small, another big quarter, one small..i'm seriously lacking in e culinary skills department. I squished e tomatoes when i try to cut them, he had to explain to me how to prevent tt. My lettuce base was not stable, it was to be in e shape of a dome..but everything keep slipping off! stupid leafs. -_-'' i puty the unlucky soul who chose to order chicken chef salad when i'm on duty =D..he gets to taste my flat flat lettuce dome, uneven egg quarters, squished tomatos! Miraculously, i passed the quiz given by the assistant manager! I manage to remember e recipes and names of e veggies, meats, sauces after a short two days training..yay!! My other trainer on my 2nd day who was teaching me kept hugging the cashier after tt..they are a realli funny bunch of people, so cute =) Everything still looks so delicious to me..even when they claim that you wont wanna eat e foods in there after awhile..make for pple but you will feel like puking =D..no leh..i'm e exception, i still like to eat. Pinch food here and there=D I wanna learn how to make pancakes and waffles. Going back tmr again..and looking forward to meeting them crazy bunch!

PS: Realli am gonna miss them when i get transferred to marina square after my training. Am considering not to switch oso..c how.

very true..=)

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.

In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you.

You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was insecure and in constant need of reassurance.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as something you don't need. You just feel like flirting around and playing right now.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Cafe Cartel

I have been working as crew in cafe cartel since last fri. Yupyup, i have decided not to work at the ktv pub because of persistent nagging from my mom, from everyone..i mean..geez, what could be so scary abt a pub? I like e environment in there. rolls eyes* People may think tt i'm this blur blur, simple-minded(aka dumb) easy to bluff person..but yes, i still have a brain..no matter how tiny it is..i HAVE a brain..i can differentiate right from wrong, sense danger, keep alert. but i guess pple still doubt my ability to do so. so sad.

Anyway, i started training on Fri, at e eastside. 907 upper east coast road..and its a torturous 2 hr bus journey! The people there are all very young and friendly..so there wasn't much of a age gap..in fact, i am one of e oldest in there, with e exception of the duty managers and supervisors.Initially, i thought tt waitressing and serving are quite easy tasks, whats so complicated about it? =P Turns out that in order to serve e dishes, be it dessert, main course, drinks, we have to listen out for e faint tinkling of e bell whenever a dish is ready , which can be realli tough, especially within e kitchen, where e door is always closed. The seniors always have to tell me when e bell sound..cos i cannot hear!! Argh. Besides that..i have to memorise e type of cutlery, sauces to go with each dish, dessert or drink. And i always gave up guessing between the curry mayo, tartar, green mayo...so difficult! Everyone gave tt knowing smile when i asked for their help..geez! And oso, e white round main course plates are really huge..peple can carry 3-4 of them at a time, i tried carrying 2, and i almost crash e plates onto the floor, omygod..so damn heavy! not to mention hot! burned my hands once when i carried two plates of fried macaroni, cos e distance from the table to be served and the kitchen was really long..by the time i was halfway thru the route, the heat got to my hands, and it took all of my self control to not drop the plates onto the floor..lols! ow.

Theres oso tables to be cleared and wiped, bread, condiments, water to be topped up, some ushering to be done..in fact ALOT to be done just as a runner. one thing i hate about this job..e closing up!! especially the sweeping of the floors, people laugh at me, say tt i dunno how to sweep!! cry, ok lor, maybe its because of e way i hold e broom? but as long as its clean who cares right? puiz. hate tucking in my shirt, hate e long apron which always threatens to trip me. And by the time i got home, its always 2 plus in e morning. Though it may be tiring, must admit tt its quite an interesting job..cos i have interesting colleagues=) better than an office job..cos i get to be occupied, i get to exercise, interact with e customers, colleagues, laugh at e blunders, jokes made..if onli it pays better.

Today, i'm gg down again..gonna learn how to make cartel sandwiches and desserts! Can't wait=)

What have i been up to??

Hmm..nothing much actualli. Been slacking around like nobody's business after i ran away from the loreal promoter job. Actualli promoting is not that bad. If ypu don't have a quota to reach. I'm surprised that i actualli enjoy chatting with the customers, interacting..but i dun realli like to pressure anyone into buying stuff that don't wanna buy. Thats e problem..i like to chat, dun like to force people..but i tried my best..not pushy imo, but rather promote discreetly. For example. customer one walks in. And looks at bigen hair dye. I walked up to her. "Hi Miss, looking for hair dyes?(yah...like der right? i truly find this qns hypocritical. buay tahan myself oSo.) she mumbles "yah..i always buy bigen." So i attacked with " Y not try loreal excellance? its loreals latest hair dye and they have this new breakthrough(sounds so lihai liddat:D), which comes in a form of a serum. Apply it to ur hair ends for smooth color coverage and it oso has nourishing effects. And i added e most important line " This is esp designed for total grey hair coverage. if u wanna cover--> this i added hastily, in fear that she might be offended that i mentioned tt she got grey hair." Quite tough right? Must be quick witted, do alot of fast thinking on your part. Not easy at all. Sometimes, my approach paid off..e customer ended up buying loreal excellence instead of bigen. Sometimes, i get snide remarks like " Of course u will say loreal is good..cos u are with the company mah. Bigen is good, can keep for future use, loreal must use all in a go." Like dUH...u know oso dun needa say out right? Its my job mAh, i'm paid for it.

so i was saying..promoting is quite okay actualli..minus e mascara unhappiness. I have been slacking with eve..slacking with my beloved Harvest moon, which eve had been mercilessly taunting me with, in wat sense? --> by adding "Xuan, pls stop playing harvest moon, its not IN le" U realli cmi girl. And oso another fren who loves to ask me " Heyhey, planting ur crops and weeding?" Haha...u guys make me feel v lame okie. Pls consider my feelings oK. :D not bad mah...got nice graphics, nice cows, nice sheeps, nice crops, nice girls for e main char to woo. Nice festivals..nice secrets to unlock. okok, stop gushing already. =)

And like everyone, i will oso feel guilty if istop working..y? cos my savings will deplete with my movie watching..my nUaing around..my ktv seesions, my food binges. cos i will feel like a piece of lumpy shit if i keep laying around at home..cos i will feel that i've become fatter and fatter when all e walking i do is between my room to my kitchen. LOLS. So today..i went down for 4 job interviews! I marvel at myself ..realli:D And i'm going to start work on mon night in a ktv pub near clarke quay mrt..hongkong street there..number 38. As a part time server..i realli like e work environment when i stepped inside..it has music!! i like being surrounded by singing and music =) Abit too smoky though..but e pay is good...perfect for my saving plan.