An exciting new year awaits

I'm sure 2007 will be a great year waiting for us to transition into it. For me, I've got lots of activities to look forward to. I'll be going overseas with my friends for the first time, to Genting. After that, it'll be more exciting work at the hotel. Come March, MOE will announce the date all JC students are waiting for - the release of the A level results. Even though it is still 3 months away, just a slight thought of it makes me nervous and excited. I really do not know how I'll feel on that day itself, it's something even bigger than the release of the O level results.

So far, I'm getting used to working, it is becoming a routine. Setting up the shop, talking to people, closing the cashier etc. It's definitely great working in a department with 7 ladies and 0 gentlemen. I've learnt a lot from them. They even gave me chocolates and cologne for Christmas, I really didn't expect it. I still have loads to learn though, especially how to sell items which I do not actually use. I need to pursuade guests to buy the necklace, shawl or earrings on display, items which I've never used before in my life. I've also come to know of several brand name items like Bvlgari fragrance, Pashminas (goat fur material), Allan Ross, and several other designer items.

I'm signing off now to take some much needed rest, good night!

Work, work, work

After working 2 days in the hotel's retail shop, it's becoming really stressful for me. There're so many things to do and remember every single day, like stock taking (usually takes 2-3 hours), counting the money, closing the accounts for the previous shift and my shift at the end of the day, and worst of all, packing up the items on sale. People would think packing up is easy, but it's really difficult for beginners. You need to pack so many items into 3 shelves, creating space is really crucial.

My shift this week is from 12 to 8pm, it'd be 10pm by the time I get home. Although the job is tough, it's pretty fun and I learn a huge load of things. I learn to interact with the guests, operate the cashier and credit card machine, and answer countless of phone calls. It's really all multi-tasking. Stock-taking is the most dreadful task, there're more than 500 items in the shop, and you need to count every one of them.

I must really thank the full-time staff for being so patient with me, they have taught me the processes step by step in detail. So far, they've not been frustrated with my countless number of questions. Up till now, I still need to master the speed for stock taking, memorising the product details, closing the accounts and very importantly, packing up the shop. If I can handle these things, the next 3 months will be a breeze for me.

Back from Malaysia

I just got back from Malaysia yesterday night.
I left last Sunday morning, my family and I traveled there by car, my Dad drove. We stayed in KL for one night at the Prince Hotel. It's so far the 2nd best hotel we've stayed, among about 7-8 others we tried in the past years. The best was the Ritz-Carlton hotel that we stayed in probably 3-4 years ago, my aunt was able to get us the staff rate for a room there.

We then went to Genting to stay for a night. My parents went to the casino while my brother and I played at the arcade and other entertainment stuffs there. We played pool, bowling and the arcade. We did not go to the outdoor theme park as it was old and boring. We've tried the rides many times already, so it wasn't really worth the while.


We then continued our holiday with another 3 nights in KL. KL was really fun, lots of shopping and good food. We visited our relatives there, and they brought us around Malaysia and recommended us where we can get very good food! The bak kut teh, dim sum, prawn noodle, grilled stingray and Hokkien Mee in KL were really good. Other than all these, the really heavy traffic in KL was really a put off.

(click on pictures for larger view)

Really bad jam on the opposite direction


During morning peak hours, the road leading out of town is split to give one more lane to cars going into town. So effectively, a 3 lane road becomes a 2 land road with one lane going the opposite direction. The orange cone was there as a road marker. Amazing eh? No chance to see such traffic rules in Singapore.


The picture says it all. This is the type of jam Malaysians face every single day during peak hours. Even during off-peak, there's still heavy traffic on all the major roads and highways. One of my relatives owns 5 cars, one car for each member of the family. Woohoo!

But overall, the trip was really fun. I look forward to my next trip there, probably next year.

Away on Holiday

I'll be away on a holiday from 10 Dec to 16 Dec. Please contact me via e-mail or SMS only, I may not be on MSN unless I get the opportunity to log on in a cybercafe in Malaysia. :D
Happy holidays to all! :D

Prom pictures

Lobby of Fullerton


From left: Me, Peck Hor, Dezhi


From left: Me, Genial, Dezhi, Jasmine and Peck Hor


Girls from left: Jamie, Alicia, Bee Hua, Doreen, Jasmine and Mei Kuan
Bottom: Me!


From left: Yvonne, Jasmine, Peck Hor, Genial, Lester, Me, Johnathan, Dezhi, Meikuan and Jamie


Stage of Ballroom @ Fullerton


The dancefloor


Lester met up with Yvonne. Yvonne had this really disgusted look on her face, haha.


Chem Rep Alicia and I :D


Maths Rep Genial and I :D


Jasmine and I. I think she looked really great that night.


Yvonne and I. A low cut black gown with nice jewelry


The tallest girl in class, Jamie, and I


Cheerful Doreen and I

Day @ Work

Today was my 2nd day at work, and I had split shift - 730to12 and 1630to2130. It was really really tiring. I've got the same arrangement for tomorrow, I'll definitely ask the supervisor not to arrange such shifts for me ever again. Many things happened at work today. First thing in the morning, a guest requested for a hole-puncher, so I brought it up to his room. His room had many files packed neatly, and he requested that I help him pack his files into boxes. Well, in the hotel line, never say no, thus I helped. He was probably a lawyer, he was rehearsing his arguments while I packed the files. I was already perspiring running up and down at 730am in the morning! The day went on smoothly.

In the afternoon, my supervisor brought me to experience how a hotel welcome a super VVIP. The Prince of Arab arrived in the evening, all the head of departments, including the hotel manager and general manager were getting ready to welcome him, Woah. It was really an eye-opener for me. My supervisor told me that there'll be cabinet ministers attending a wedding dinner next week, I'll definitely look out for that, hope to shake hands with LKY and our beloved SR Nathan! :D

Victoria JC had their prom night today at the Ritz Carlton too. I wanted to meet a few of my friends but didn't see them. Their ballroom setting was much more grand than NYJC's...
Blarh, I'll post up the NYJC prom pics I took last night hopefully by tomorrow. It really takes time to upload pictures one by one.

Long holidays

I finally have a job, it's recommended by my aunt. I work as an assistant at the business centre in Ritz-Carlton. It's a really luxurious hotel, and people staying there demand the best service. Thus it's really a great learning experience for me. I don't really care about the pay though, even if its $4 or $5 an hour, I'll still take such a job. The job's really fun, I help provide services such as computer access, photocopying and printing to the guests.

Today was my first day at work, and I almost cocked up. A guest wanted to photocopy several sets of papers. As it was my first time using a heavy-duty photocopier, I was slow, I was afraid the guest would complain about it. So I kind of panicked and tried my best to be fast. After that, I had to staple a 35-paper thick set of notes. It's the first time I use the really huge staple. The guest complaint that the stapled set was too untidy, the sheets of paper were not aligned properly thus I had to re-do the stapling. Removing the staple bullet from the thick stack of paper was not easy! Fortunately, I completed the job and continued on. Later in the day, people came in for internet access, requested stationary and printing services. I went around the hotel delivering faxes to guests, thus meeting many people along the way. It's really a great way to explore the hotel. I especially like the uniform, it's a set of dark-blue suit and pants, with a nice yellow tie to match. I can now see how I'd look in a pure business attire. :D I hope to continue with this job till March... but this job doesn't have regular shifts, thus I may not get called up everyday. You can't have a cake and eat it too. =\