-continued from previous post, 29 Aug 2008-

Actually I don't wanna continue about the remaining of yesterday's work, I shall talk about what happened after I got home.

As I was saying, my sis bought the keyboard and mouse + mousepad (instead of mousepad only). I didn't have much trouble adapting to the ergonomically-designed keyboard (meaning the keys are curved to suit the inward slant of hands), in fact these two posts were written using it without much typo errors.

As for the mouse, of cuz I like it as it emits a blue (my fav colour) light through the scroller and sides and the overall feel is better, but if she called me before she bought it I would have asked her not to so that I could choose between it (Diamondback 3G), Copperhead and Deathadder. I understand that she wanted to surprise and make me happy, as I spent 2-3 hours thinking before finally deciding to buy the mousepad only.

-30 Aug 2008-

The drive to work was smooth but there were two accidents in the opposite lane. The first one near Bedok interchange seemed as if the van had changed into the other's lane and didn't or couldn't stop in time. The second one nearing Laguna National seemed as if the car had lost control while turning and went straight into the railing road divider. The damage was so bad that the front hood was crashed totally. In both cases traffic police were already there.

Work-wise, shall not write much about lunch as it was ordinary and manageable considering that there were 11 staff. The thing that pissed me off was that at one time 4 were at the bar, another 4 in the kitchen, 1 was missing and 1 was wiping the cutlery, leaving me to handle 7 tables (7x4=28 people). When I was in the bar I noticed ants and lifted the sugar and milk jar underliners, turned out that there was a lot more underneath but I couldn't bare to kill them so I left the underliners aside and let them move away, hoping someone else would not kill them before they did. Then there was an order of chicken rice with the customer asking for chicken backside meat with bones, I was like..

Before my 2nd break from 5 to 5.30pm it looked like it was going to rain. As I was eating it did rain and when I went back up there were a lot of customers. There was this group of 8 customers whom I took order for, all familiar faces. The 1st thing the guy said was "can you speak mandarin?" and I answered with a "ke yi". After the food was served he waved at me and asked "da ge ni de ming zi shi she me? bu ke yi yi zhi jiao ni da ge". Fact was that he's several times my age, about 50-60+? Anyway I replied that my Chinese name was "wei jie" and he asked "xing she me? and I said "wang, san zhi wang".

Was kept busy for the rest of the evening and night until I went downstairs to collect 34 cooler boxes from the golf cart area at 7.34pm. I finished in about half an hour and Bernard had merged tables and prepared ice water for the 30+ people who were coming.

They came separately in groups and were only seated at 8+. Bernard and Suhaime took care of their orders while the rest of us continued with normal operations. As I expected there were more people than planned and they merged more tables. I had filled up the ice water container at the station with instructions from Angeline when Bernard asked me to pour ice water for the new tables. Cuz the glasses were at the station, I didn't think of getting ice water from the bar instead and got it from the water container instead, which I had just filled up and would need to fill up again. Guess I was tired to the extent that I wasn't thinking straight already.

When the food began coming out from the kitchen (which got spammed) we had to sort through them before serving to the appropriate tables. The system which Bernard came up with was brilliant, the orders were taken from a few people instead of from everyone, then other than the usual table numbers there was also their names for reference. So we looked for that particular person at the table and asked him or her who to serve to. I thought it would be a big mess but thanks to him things turned out okay.

A regular customer (with his family) had ordered mee goreng takeaway and another coke light. I was helping Bernard with the 40+ people (and was exhausted) so I simply put away the coke light receipt when it came out, thinking I had served it already when I didn't. In the end he was so pissed that Suhaime had to tend to him and apologise, after Angeline had already been told off that he didn't receive the coke light.

For the same reasons, I overlooked the other stations and the already-bad-mood Angeline shouted aloud "hire you for what? stand around then forget the other stations". Sigh, she can complain to all the other staff about my "bad performance" all she wants, cuz I know there are times when I'm more alert and hardworking than full-timers like her.

Earlier at noon Bernard was telling me that his laptop given through subscription of a particular telcom's plan was fixed. The motherboard and lan adapter had been changed and without warranty it would have cost over $800. Then he said about how he had certs in website design, basic programming and another two IT ones from his previous studies back in Malaysia and I told him although I'm studying similar things, I'll only graduate with one cert. He also said that the 1-year e-learning diploma/degree in IT security from a renowned institution was gonna cost him $6000, no idea whether he's gonna leave the restaurant and take it up.

Like I told him previously, since he has interest in and is competent in the IT areas, he shouldn't withhold himself within the restaurant. His reply was that he could always make a few calls and get another IT job, but he was "lazy". In other words I guess he was comfortable in his comfort zone and wanted to remain there since as a captain his pay is higher than regular staff and he does not have to do as much.

Anyway after he declined my offer to help by staying after 9 I went off. As I was walking past Hadi and the other staff (who were waiting for the company bus) he was like "woah don't drive me to Simei, hope you crash". He's good to hang around and work with, always making laughable jokes and relatively hardworking. However that was.. unnecessary.

After more brooding about how I could have chose the Deathadder (which is right hand ergonomically-designed) or Copperhead instead, I finally realised the irony. I had come up with this quote "I am grateful for both the things I have and don't have, are you?" a few days ago. Yet I already have two Razer mice (Krait and Diamondback 3G) but still wanna trade the latter for another. I really shouldn't be asking for so much when people in 3rd-world countries barely have enough food to eat daily.

Shall take good care of my keyboard and mouse and use them till the end of time.

Thurs, 28 Aug 2008

Woke up at 10+ and studied exam hints lecturer gave. Also played a game of dota before leaving for sch. Reaching early, I kept my mind at peace while the rest continued talking about what might appear, what they studied etc. The paper was 20 marks MCQ and 80 marks open-ended case study. In the end the MCQ could be managed by simply reading through all the slides and the answers to the case study were exactly the hints.

This paper (consisting of 50% of final marks) should be no problem at all. I was worried that things other than the hints might come out as I didn't study the rest at all. When I read the paper during reading time, I smirked as the risk was well-taken.

Throughout the exam someone's phone kept vibrating, calls not sms. Either the caller really wanted to reach that person badly or he was receiving several calls. It continued for over 10 times but fortunately the two lecturers present (one of which taught us the module and gave the hints) did not find out who's phone it was.

Afterwards I went to Comex 2008 at Suntec and as expected it was very crowded. Shall not go into details about the show itself as there're too many.

Anyway, for my sis' friend, I bought a Maxtor 160gb external harddisk at $99. My sis specifically wanted Seagate as her own one is Seagate but I couldn't find them even after walking around in circles several times. So I asked Convergent (who is the supplier for Seagate) and they pointed me in a direction but I still couldn't find them. In the end I went back to the entrance to look at the floor map, turned out that I had walked past Seagate a few times. Seagate had merged with Maxtor and in their banner above it showed the word Seagate in smaller size than Maxtor.

Then I wanted to buy the Microsoft Comfort Curve keyboard and Razer Goliathus mousepad but decided to think about it at home over the next two days (I have to work) and buy on Sunday instead. If I didn't buy my current Razer Krait I would have bought the Razer Diamondback 3G (free Razer Goliathus) with no questions asked. However if I wanted to buy it I would have to sell the Krait off. Not that I don't have enough money, just that it'd be lying around anyway.

As I was walking someone tapped me on the shoulder and it was Gonaidi from my year 1 poly class before the concentration split. He was working for one of the companies (can't rmb which), as were Deon and Ian who were at HP. After a short chat I continued walking and collected more brochures.

Went around Comex for around 2+ hours before going home and got around to calling a sec sch mate whom I consider as a good friend. He was like "are you sure you've called the right number?". We talked a little and decided that we would chat again on Sun as he was having dinner with his family at Bedok.

I brooded over whether or not to buy the keyboard, mouse / mouse + mousepad, soundcard and speakers all night. My final decision was to buy the keyboard and mousepad, not buy the mouse + mousepad as I already have the Krait, wait until Creative has better 2.1 speakers and wait until the drivers for the Creative Titanium series' drivers to stabilise.

---

Fri, 29 Aug 2008

Didn't drive to work today as my dad wanted to use it to go to his friend's place. I was designated stall runner and quickly asked John what condiments to put for each of them - wanton noodle soup/dry, prawn noodle soup/dry, laksa and chicken rice. Eg. Laksa has to be accompanied with sambal chilli and laksa leaves. The chefs at the stall were Elang and another Chinese. I had never spoken to the latter before but after chatting with him I learnt that he's 2 days younger than me. Then again with that mischievous face of his I have no idea whether I should believe him.

The thing about the procelain bowls used is that from the tray, there is no way to take it up to put on the table except to come into contact with the hot porcelain. I had no choice but to get scalded bit by bit with each order..

When I called my sis back (she had miss-called me) she told me she bought the keyboard for me and the mouse + mousepad I wanted. I replied that there were another two mice which cost a bit more and I may have preferred them. Nevertheless I guess I could exchange it on Sunday with the receipt and packaging un-opened.

Shall write about the rest of the day when I get home from work (it's Sat now).

Didn't sleep well at all last night for no apparent reason, kept waking up at irregular intervals.

There were few customers for lunch.. until it rained. When the "it's gonna rain" alarm rang, all of us were like "yea we're gonna get spammed!" cuz all the golfers would stop playing and come to the restaurant for a break. True enough we did get spammed and we were all glad it was over by the time the crowd left.

Hadi and Myanmar part-timer A had gone to restock on drinks and other stuff like straws, coffee powder and milk. Poor Hadi had gotten sick last weekend due to the cold weather. The trolley they pushed back was so heavy they could barely lift it up enough to climb the single short step which separates the restaurant and washing area & kitchen. The chefs naturally went to help and eventually managed to by going handle-side in first.

This happens everytime we take stock, I was "fortunate" enough to experience it myself last year when I worked. In fact there was once when the lift (which is supposed to be able to handle 10+ people) didn't gave the weight warning after we pushed it in, but when one of us stood inside it did. In the end we pushed it in, hit the 2nd floor and ran up the stairs from the 1st to 2nd floor to retrieve the trolley again, it was hilarious. Most of the time we ended up unloading the trolley to make it lighter first before pushing it up that irritating step.

Before meal time Pauline told me to be food runner for the night. My instant reaction was "don't want la" cuz depending on the food, it has to be accompanied with condiments such as green chilli, papadum, red chilli, sambal chilli, tartar sauce or calamansi. I didn't know what the respective condiment for each food was and asked Bernard to tell her to get John (a full-timer) to do it instead. Fortunately John was up for it.

As there were few customers for dinner, meaning I had few drink orders too so I stood at the station to help out. Then Suhaime (assistant manager) asked aloud who was the bartender and I said I was, and he told me to stand inside the bar. Come on, it wasn't like I forgot about my drink orders, I still looked back to check the bar counter regularly. Sure I'll go look silly by doing nothing in the bar and standing around since you said so. John was laughing at me by repeating Suhaime's words "go stand in the bar".

This AM is so damn inflexible. The other time he reprimanded Li Xue for helping out in the stations when she was supposed to be up the stairs welcoming customers. What was wrong? We could barely manage and it was only right for her to come back down to help.

Earlier for lunch he mistaked table 14 for 12 and I ended up bringing dessert to the empty table 12. Fortunately I noticed that table 14 had just finished their meal and that the dessert was most probably for them. I served it to them as I was right. He also forgot to enter in "no-ice" with a watermelon juice and the customer rejected it when I served it. William then had to remove the ice before I served it again.

In both cases it wasn't like he was busy taking orders, setting tables or serving items cuz we were the ones doing it. He only did so when all of us were caught up and there was no one else to respond to the customer, so why the mistakes?

Anyway further into the night Fuurin, the japanese restaurant located right beside us was full and Bernard asked me and John to go in to help out. I didn't even know the table numbers while John had worked there for 1+ months before going to Lakes Cafe. He would be going to Pine Valley in early October, the rotation is cuz he's in Singapore for 6 months as part of attachment by tourism course in Philippines. All I did was help clear plates, serve some food (after I learnt the table numbers) and push the full trolley (of used plates to the washing area across Lakes Cafe). Other than that, I remained in the small clearing area most of the night to empty the other staff's tray of collected used plates into the trolley and bin.

I also took two orders, the second one messed up as what the customer was served was not what he wanted, although I wrote down exactly what he had pointed at. Meaning he pointed at A and told me A, then I wrote down A but he thought A was B and rejected A when it was served.

I also found out that one of the full-timers was pregnant when she was bending down to put used plates into the trolley. A chef had asked me to do it instead and said so. She was the one who handled my second order and I had apologised profusely to her about it. On a smaller note, one of the cashiers is pregnant too.

Lakes Cafe itself had few customers for dinner and they were relaxed while me and John remained busy in Fuurin. Near 9 we went back to Lakes Cafe as most of the customers in Fuurin had left and they could handle it already, slacked the rest of the night away before driving home.

Saturday

Woke up late (at 11+) and decided to go shopping next Sunday instead. Spent the whole noon playing Need for Speed Prostreet to dominate the rest of the races. Managed to unlock the Speed King as well. Summarised Project Management slides into 1 single page to bring to work to study at night as I knew it wouldn't be crowded.

Monday

For work, I was to take care of a station instead of being beverage runner (John was) and I knew I couldn't hide from taking orders, learning how to set cutlery depending on the food (chopsticks + porcelain spoon, fork + spoon, knife + fork or fork only)and settling bills anymore. So I asked Bernard to teach me and he did. Then I also learnt how to place the chicken rice dishes on the eating tray. It's like this:
-------------------
| vege chicken |
|soup rice sauces|
-------------------

The lunch crowd was manageable. Our procedure is this, when customers walk in greet them and guide them to seats, then give them the menu and wait for a while before taking orders by serving them ice water. After taking orders, ask them whether they are members of Laguna National, if so get their card to attach to the order paper (15% discount) and give to a senior to enter into the system (as I don't have the password). Lastly set their cutlery. I kept forgetting the ask whether they are member part after I took orders and had to do so after passing the order paper. Shall remember this when I work again on Wed.

Near evening Bernard predicted that there was going to be a hot barley jug order as he had seen the customers up the stairs. He said that all 10+ times they came to Lakes Cafe previously they ordered the same thing. And Bernard was right. Then there was another prediction of a lady and her son who would order a Ice Lemon Tea and he was right again. Fiona then predicted that the old man who just walked in would order tea and she was right too. These are what I call regular customers.

The 'new' part-timer called Denise from Myanmar was very hardworking (qin lao) as well. I didn't see him at all last week when I started work, but he said he had worked for 3 weeks before.

Other than these dinner was ordinary. I had driven to work again and during the drive home a Mercedes flashed his lights at me for being too slow. Sorry, I can't help it cuz this is all the horsepower my Dong Fong has. If there's one thing I look forward to in 5+ years time, it's to change this Dong Fong to something *I'll choose* and not my dad. Anyway thanks to the distraction I missed my turning lane and almost had to go through my sec sch to get back home (there're shorter routes of course but I only know that detour). It was like this:


The pedastrian crossing was right in front, meaning I had little distance to turn into the -> lane to the right 2 lanes away. Fortunately there was no traffic so once the car in front of me moved, I did the turn. This'll teach me to pay more attention to the road.

After double-checking the route to drive to work last night, I was confident about it this morn and I did drive to work. Might try another route as this one which passes through Bedok and Tanah Merah MRTs simply has way too many traffic lights. I took about 23 mins to get to Laguna National and told the security guard I was a part-timer. I got changed quickly and went upstairs to help at 10.45 instead of the usual 11.10 but fortunately they had enough staff for morning shift and there wasn't much left to do.

During the usual staff briefing with William at 11.15 he said that if any staff wasn't performing well he would not hesitate to remove them. Most of us had the Myanmar part-timer in mind as his Eng isn't good enough to handle orders at all, least to say answer customers' demands.

I had forgotten to remove the dessert receipt and when Li Xue served the longan w/ shaved ice (which another chef made thinking it had not been done yet) it was rejected as the customer already had one (which I served). I haven't apologise to her yet, will do on Mon when I work again.

The fruits for juices were stocked for a few good days as Li Xue had prepared a lot of fruits for juices before Fiona took over as bartender. Fiona seemed unresponsive when I talked to her and I asked her whether she was unhappy or tried. Her reply was that "ren dou you cheng mo de shi hou", meaning that there are times when people are quiet (she was emo-ing).

When the lunch crowd started coming in I went to help clear some plates and accidentally spilled some chicken rice chilli sauce on the table. 1 of the 3 customer's cap placed on the chair was splashed with a bit and the situation wasn't good. I informed the seniors (Bernard, Debbie, Suhaime, William) and went to wash it. The customer said that he wanted a replacement but the F&B manager who was around said that unless it directly stained his belongings we wouldn't compensate him. After some washing with plain water the stain remained and Suhaime advised me to use some soda water but it still didn't work. In the end I resorted to lots of washing detergent and the stains were gone, almost as good as new and I heaved a sigh of relief. After updating the seniors I offered to hang dry the cap until they returned from their golf and it was resolved.

Thanks to the sudden rain and the fact that it was a weekend, the lunch crowd was crazy and I was barely able to handle the drink orders with random people helping. William had to go into the bar to make drinks and let Fiona (who was supposed to be bartender) go out to help. Two staff from Pebble Beach came up to help also, one washed the glasses while another cleared plates.

Time passed quickly as we were very very busy. As I was clearing up plates I overheard Li Xue talking to William, she was almost in tears. What I heard was that she got scolded again and it was the second time. Afterwards I asked Bernard what happened (convinced him I was trustworthy of telling as Hadi and Debbie had told me about their little secret too), I learnt that Suhaime (da fan shu) had told her off for helping the stations when she was positioned up the stairs to receive customers. Then when she replied that she didn't know where the ash trays were when Suhaime asked, she was told off again.

Li Xue and William disappeared soon after and when she came back, her face showed that she cried quite a bit. I find what Suhaime did unreasonable. It was only right that Li Xue helped out in the stations after the lunch crowd came in as she couldn't simply stand upstairs. She, as well as all the other staff could still watch out for incoming customers and receive them. Then we were all so busy that no one could even clear unused ash trays from tables.

I was talking to Michelle and Debbie about this, when I said that Li Xue felt "yuan wang" (wronged in Eng) they both replied at the same time that it wasn't that, she felt "wei qu". After being back for almost a week, I know who the hardworking ones are and who aren't. Like I mentioned in my previous post, Li Xue was the only one who could be bothered to clean the fruit blenders to that extent. She has been nothing short of hardworking either.

Feel like talking to Suhaime about this and getting him to apologise, "bang Li Xue chu kou qi". He can pick on me all he wants after that, I can always find another job. However it may cause more discomfort between them or affect other people so I'll stick to comforting Li Xue.

Even after lunch hours there was a steady flow of customers due to an incoming second round of rain. When it did rain, the cafe almost filled up instantly and people from banquet (3) and pebble beach (2) came up to help again. In my haste I accidentally dropped a fruit juice glass containing hot barley when I knocked my tray into the chicken rice/laksa stall and it shattered into tiny bits. Imagine, a big glass broken into pieces about 5mm each. Ironically the sound of it breaking was soft due to its thickness. I took a while to sweep what I could see up while the rest served drinks.

As I seemed concerned about a particular table's ice cream orders, one of them from banquet (who seemed like a senior) asked me whether I was a captain. I told him no and he said I should go downstairs to work for him instead. This was the second time someone tried to poach me from Lakes Cafe. The first was by a Fuurin Japanese Restaurant (just beside) senior.

Anyway I was concerned as the Caucasians from that table had been very polite and had ordered 2 bottles of white wine (near $100). Hadi poured the 1st bottle and Bernard taught me how to pour the 2nd bottle. White wine bottles is the one which needs ice in the wine stand, red wine doesn't. White wine bottles can be opened simply by turning, red wine has a cork.

Dinner at 5.30+ (instead of 5.15 as there were still a lot of orders) was good. There were whole fishes and friend chicken, other than the usual fruit (watermelon), water (diluted bandung) and vege. I went back up quickly without resting further but they could have managed fine by themselves as the crowd had left.

There was a customer who knew his membership number but didn't bring his card. After checking with the cashier I asked for his IC to verify that the membership belonged to him in order to enjoy discounts. It reminded me that I had lots to know about the restaurant such as customers' cutlery setting for food and condiments when serving.

Then there was a table of 2 male Caucasians, a lady who seemed local but had an accent and their 3 kids (2 boys 1 girl). The kids were running around and I was afraid they would trip and fall, but when the lady wanted them to sit down, they did. This is a good example of still being able to handle kids although they're given the chance to explore and "fa zhan". When the little girl hesitated at walking down the stairs, the F&B manager who had appeared from nowhere and carried her down.

The rest of the night was ordinary and we cleared up quickly. Bernard told Li Xue and Fiona to rest inside the back office as they worked split shifts for the day (6-3, 5-9) and still had split shifts tomorrow. When the clocked was near 9 we all left, me and John were so happy that we weren't working tomorrow, although I'm still supposed to study for my project management exam on Tues.

I had a good drive home and took a little over 20 mins, reaching home at 9.30+ instead of the usual 10.10+.

(1391 words)

(Shall try to be less detailed as I wanna sleep soon.)

Before work, I polished my black shoes using the liquid wax (kiwi) and it started to rain when I was about to head out. So instead of 3 char siew buns which I originally planned to buy and eat for breakfast, I had 3 pieces of bread with homemade kaya instead and played a little Need for Speed until it was time to leave.

At Bedok interchange I realised my black shoes had white patches due to the kiwi so I went to the washroom to wipe it off. Upon reaching Simei I went to Bata in East Point to get shoe padding so that my soles wouldn't hurt from standing and walking too long during work.

At the changing room I re-polished the shoes with black wax this time and put in the shoe padding, it felt much more comfortable. Once in Lakes Cafe, I noticed that there were a lot of plates to wipe dry, the morning shift must have been so busy that they didn't have time even until then. I can't imagine how Li Xue and Debbie survived the morning.

The lunch crowd was manageable until me and the bartender (Li Xue) got spammed with drink orders again. She told me I should call someone for help and she was right, there were orders of 4 coffee + 1 latte + 1 cappuccino and 5 coffee with more to come. In the end the Vietnam part-timer whom I asked to help me only sent a jug of Carlsberg.. William himself had to help make the drinks while I continued serving them until the rest served a few too.

After the lunch crowd left and as we were keep the buffet counter, I learnt that Debbie was taking up a beauty course and her exams were next month. With Hadi also having an interview with another company this weekend, I thought that Lakes Cafe was about to lose more of its better staff.

I asked Bernard and Pauline whether they considered changing jobs to something with better prospects and pay, Bernard said he could do anything and Pauline didn't answer the question directly. I was telling Bernard about the shoe pad I bought at $3 and he said he bought his at $8 from Bata too and it was torn after a single week. Anyway

The fact is that lower-end jobs in the Food & Beverage (F&B) industry like waiters are left for those who can't find the job they want, have little qualifications, are from overseas or just wanna work part-time.

Two people came to repair the waffle-making machine and after changing the circuit board, it still wasn't hot enough to successfully make good waffles. Liang Yong had to scrape off the waffle mix which had stuck onto the pan as the previous chef forgot to spray the non-stick thing. After several hours they're just gonna replace the whole thing. I heard that this brand was recommended by the Managing Director (MD) and thus Rahim (Operations Manager) emphasised that they had better fix it perfectly or replace it totally. I helped Liang Yong (who is from China and knows little English) translate his words to the Myanmar and Indian repairmen.

It started raining during makan time. There was curry chicken, dou ya, hor fun, white brocolli soup, diluted barley and the usual white rice, I considered it above average. I called back Justin (our FYP supervisor) and told him honestly who did work and who didn't. I ended our conversation by stating that if he were to call the rest and if they were honest, what I said would definitely be coherent with them.

The dinner crowd was crazy. There was a single group of 24 people and they got all of us frustrated cuz they ordered food and drinks one at the time instead of together, which would be much easier for us to process. A smart-ass even wanted to move the smoking and non-smoking area divider so that they would have more space. Other than that, when Li Xue sent the food, someone would claim it as his and then another would say so too. That led to her simply leaving it on the table and walking away as there was no way to resolve it with them being so undecisive. She was pretty much screaming to me and Bernard about those people. I comforted her by telling her not to get so worked up over those rich old brainless guys and that they were not worth it.

After the organiser Peter shouted out everyone's golf scores and commending the ones who scored highest, we were glad that the 24 left and cleared their tables quickly. It made me wonder how many of those there were real friends and who were the ones who showed up just to give him face or have a free meal (as he footed the bill).

For the rest of the night there were barely any people and I spent it cleaning the bar after Li Xue went in to tidy the kitchen. She had splashed water into the area underneath the bar counter and there was a big mess flowing out. It really looked like it hadn't been washed for 10 years as there were black pieces of charcoal-like junk, I took a while to wash them out using the pipe. Should've taken a photo as evidence.

Li Xue had washed the fruit blenders thoroughly to the extent that they were almost new with all the stains gone, I applaud her for taking the effort as the rest of the staff who have been bartender, including me can't be bothered as long as they're relatively clean enough.

Today was Swee Kean's last day at Laguna National but she wasn't at Lakes Cafe but another place. I thank her for her patience in teaching me some bartender stuff on Mon and Tues. All the best Swee Kean!

Saw Dean's sister on the bus home and she even sat beside me with her boyfriend. Dean was a good friend I had in lower pri and I still remember how he looked, don't think his sis recognised me though. Two nights ago on the bus home again, I ran into my pri sch classmate for all 6 years Stephanie but we didn't say hi, not sure whether she noticed me as I had turned my head to the side. Another pri sch mate was on the same bus, I think her name's Shu Ping, can't remember exactly.

Didn't post yesterday night as I had to study for Visual Basic exam. In the end I merely ran through my notes, past exam papers and obvious hints which the lecturer dropped and went to sleep after playing a bit of Need for Speed.

Yesterday at work, there was another new part-timer and it was her third day. Rest of the staff included Bernard, Pauline, John, Hadi, Fiona, Li Xue and Debbie. As usual there was a steady flow of drink orders until I got spammed till the extent where even William (the restaurant manager) had to help serve drinks instead of standing around. As compared to last year when I worked, there are a lot lesser Carlsberg jugs and jug of juices nowadays, which is good for all of us.

After the lunch crowd left I talked with Liang Yong, the dessert chef who alternates with Ah Qing (the other fierce chef). I asked him why hadn't he gone to a skincare palour to improve his face's skin condition. His reply was that looks are only superficial, I said that unfortunately looks can mean quite a lot in the society today and he answered that it still depends on your personality. He also enlightened me with this statement in Chinese, 'hao chi jiu chi duo yi dian'. Lemme add another phrase in English, 'and be grateful and appreciative that you have food'.

Anyway, Fiona, Li Xue and Debbie's shift were till 3 only and after they left I kept myself busy in the bar and by helping John fold the cold napkins again. I was ready to go for dinner (and a much needed break to rest my feet) after checking with Hadi that I could go for the 1st break (4.15-4.45pm) when Bernard came back and told me that I would be going for the 2nd break (4.45 to 5.15pm). So John, the part-timer and Hadi went ahead while me and Bernard remained behind.

There were 3 Japnese ladies who shared a ice kachang and had a chendol each. Bernard was chatting with the cashier and I was behind the bar when they took quick steps in walking away without paying and with our glasses. Bernard chased after them and I followed suit, after much confusion as their English was poor, one of them gave her husband's membership number and it was settled.

As I was walking to the canteen I ran into Chester and Brandon, twins whom I used to work with. Chester was like "ehh f*** you" and I replied "f*** you back". I didn't know we were on such good terms that we were greet each other like that. Chester was the one who taught me how to serve drinks (as in straws, coasters, beer pouring etc) when I joined last year. They were working for Furrin tonight as there are buffets on Wed and Thurs.

After I went back to the restaurant, Pauline returned from her split shift (11-3pm, 5-9pm) break and was still trying to remember my name as her nephews were called wei something as well. She told me that her uncle or auntie had 7 boys before they gave birth to a girl and that they now have 10 children.

In the evening the China girl selling mooncakes upstairs from the restaurant waved at me and signaled for me to follow her. As I thought there was a customer who didn't know Chinese, a local one at that. After explaining to her that he was looking for mooncakes without egg yolks and 2 only instead of a box containing 4-6, she went to get 2 snow-skin mooncakes from another place and I chatted with the customer (Hadi was like "oi what are you doing up there"). When she got back the cashier wasn't around and he had to wait again before it was done. He left the mooncakes with me as he was going for a swim and I left them on the bartop. I went out of the bar to attend to a customer and they disappeared.. Hadi had put them in the fridge for me. I added a note saying "DO NOT TOUCH. CUSTOMER'S MOONCAKES" as there were other mooncakes around for staffs' consumption and if someone ate the customer's ones..

After closing the bar with the fact that I didn't break any glasses for the day, I went to the office (behind the restaurant) to slack a little and Hadi and Pauline were there. Hadi asked me how to fix his internet connection. In summary his desktop and laptop were fine, it was the router and he'd have to troubleshoot it by calling Linksys or simply buy a new one.

While walking downstairs to change after we left the restaurant, Pauline shared her tidbits with me and she was saying that she used to eat it often when she was young. Like I said all the minor small talk with other waiters, chefs and dish washers actually mean something to me.

After reaching home my sis let me see Creative' brochure for Comex, which hasn't even been printed yet. A pair of soundcard and speakers seemed like a good bundle, shall consider again during Comex itself.

---

Today, I intentionally went to sch earlier to be able to take my time in walking to the Visual Basic exam venue upstairs Macdonald's and revise. Joshua realised he didn't check his seat number and used his handphone to check it. After logging in (took some time to enter his long password) he couldn't click on the exam schedule link, probably cuz it's a menu extender which uses more complicated coding than HTML. When Ameen arrived he said that his seat number was 133 and I told Joshua mine was 131, so it was highly likely that his would be 132. He also reminded Joshua that he could also use his PSP's wireless. By the time Joshua was done entering his password we could enter the classroom and he ended up asking our lecturer for his seat number.

After several reminders to switch handphones to silent or turn them off someone's handphone still rang, I was like "sigh who is it this time". After someone went up thinking it was his phone as the lecturer picked up his bag but it wasn't, the real 'culprit' owned up and 'turned it off'. After a few minutes the same phone rang again, this time I was like "twice? how smart are you to be in poly?" Things people do (and fail to do) never fail to amaze me.

The paper was easy since I had been paying attention in class all along and done the practicals and tutorials. On the MRT home I called Sharon to cancel my working for them during Comex and told her Zai can replace me if she still needs someone. Then I passed Zai Sharon's number, and Shu Rong's as he had a job lobang as well.

After getting home I played Need for Speed Prostreet all noon, finished off the Grip King and Drag Queen. All that's left is the Speed King and I shall keep trying to break records in order to challenge him. This is gonna take a good while.

I was dozing off while playing and decided to take a nap at 5, with handphone's alarm set at 6. I only woke up at 8, my hand had probably instinctively reached to turn off the alarm like it has for a few times already. This is why I don't turn on the air-con when I have to wake up early for sch or work although I have no problem getting up after I wake up as I don't laze around in bed. The problem is that I might simply oversleep or fall asleep again after waking up and I'm not taking chances, although it only happens once in a blue moon when I'm really tired. Besides, I wanna lower the electricity bill as my desktop must be consuming quite a lot of electricity.

Been taking my own sweet time in blogging after I finished dinner.

And happy birthday to she-who-shall-not-be-named. =)

(this post is 1352 words, the one on 18 Aug is 1829 words long)

Today's staff included the assistant manager whom I had never seen before, Jocelyn, Fiona, Li Xue, Debbie, John (the Philippines guy), Pauline, Swee Kean and a new part-timer (she's named part-time on the schedule). Lunch hours was manageable thanks to Li Xue, John and Debbie who took the initative to help me serve some drinks and desserts. Pauline and Jocelyn had to remain in their stations and Swee Kean was the bartender. The part-timer didn't help even though she walked past several times, but I didn't blame her cuz she was new after all. In fact if she helped she might have gotten scolded by one of the seniors for helping to serve drinks instead of tending to her station.

The fierce dessert chef was not around today and I made friends with the China chef who was replacing her for the day quickly. I told him that I didn't even dare to ask the other chef to cut watermelons to make juice (it's their job) as I was (or am) kinda afraid of her.

There were two chefs in charge of the Laksa and Chicken Rice stall, let's call them Indian A and Chinese B. Indian A initiated a conversation with me when he was at the bar to wash something, we chatted about where we were from and when we started work. Chinese B approached me to ask about what an sms written in English from his girlfriend meant. These actions may seem ordinary but they meant quite a lot to me, that I still have the capability of making friends.

Wasted the time between lunch and makan time reading newspaper behind the counter. I sat on the unused trolley as my soles were really aching, probably cuz of my black shoes which have un-cushioned soles. Then I helped John fold 99 napkins while he twisted them dry after soaking them in ice water. I was like "ehh take a break your hands might get frostbite" but he simply continued, what a guy. When I worked last time we gave packet wet tissues instead of these cold napkins. I don't get it, why did the management change to this when it takes more effort? Need to wash them, soak in ice water before folding and then put into the fridge.

After makan time I took my time to set up the bar for dinner (better than standing around if I finish too quickly). I had taken the opportunity before the lunch crowd came in to ask Swee Kean some questions and refresh my memory about the role as bartender. As expected (and as I hoped) there were few customers for dinner. Distracted, I broke another 2 beer glasses (I had broken 2 yesterday) and went to tell the assistant manager, he was like "okay noted". Again before 8 the bar was ready to be closed after a constant flow of drink orders, glass washing etc.

Before makan time Swee Kean pointed at the bar and told me to take care of it as she had to go to Range Cafe. Pauline was standing in the direction which she was pointing and I thought out loud that she told me to take care of her. In the end this helped to break the ice between me and Pauline as we had always minded our own business when we worked together previously. Cuz while waiting for the clock to hit 9 she randomly told me about how her phone had fell into the toilet bowl and it was still working after taking it apart to dry. She even exclaimed that she hadn't even taken off her skirt/pants yet.

One more thing, before Debbie left at 3 she looked at me with a glass of grass jelly in hand. She said that I had given the thinner straw instead of the thicker straw which was more appropriate for grass jelly. So I laughed that no wonder the customer didn't finish the grass jelly, he probably got tired of trying to drink it through the straw. More bluntly, he simply couldn't suck the grass jelly through the straw.

*long boring post as it's a recollection of my first day being back at work, emo part quite far below (and short)*

Woke up early so that I could take my time in preparing. After washing up I polished my shoes quickly, showered and went to the market for breakfast (minced meat noodles), didn't even wax my hair cuz it looked alright to me. On the bus and MRT to Simei I listened to music using my Muvo TX FM (which I've had for like over 5 years and it still works fine), the minimum volume's 1 and it was kinda loud.

After reaching Simei I looked around for familiar faces so as to not miss the company bus to Laguna National Country club. Upon reaching, I waited for the slow security guard to fill in the part-time forms and greeted William, the restaurant manager. When I went to get the uniform, the auntie recognised me and I briefly explained that I was back in sch so I couldn't work before heading to the changing room. Inside, I exchanged looks with 2 guys wearing the same uniform and proceeded to change. Had to ask Bernard, 1 of the captains how to tie the apron as I had forgotten completely.

Once upstairs at Lakes' Cafe, I said hi to staff whom I had worked with when I was working last year like Debbie, Swee Kean, Sze Yun and Fiona, the 2 guys from earlier were also there. Fiona told me that the 2 guys were from Myanmar and Phillipines and that they had been working for 1-2 months already. After a briefing by William, Bernard explained to me what was new since I had left such as the buffet and new menu. Glad that Jocelyn (another captain, an intimidating 1) was not around today, I chatted with the rest before the crowd came in and served drinks. Fortunately the pace was constant and manageable, unlike weekends where we'd usually get spammed with orders to oblivion.

There was a commotion about the visible tornado/hurricane/twister in the distance where the seas are. I so wanted to take a picture with my handphone but I couldn't. William even said that they had appeared for a few times already. After it disappeared it rained and Swee Kean joked that my re-appearance had caused it.

Lunch hours were quickly over and I kept myself busy by taking over Swee Kean's position as bartender (as she had to go to Range Cafe) to wash the glasses, make drinks etc, then I refilled the fridge and wiped the tables and chairs etc until it was time to makan at 4.15. By then I was already very tired and humourously thought that I might not be able to last through the night. I walked down with the Myanmar guy and chatted a little with him. After filling up my stomach with just enough resources (as the black pants which used to fit nicely now felt tight) I went back upstairs with Swee Kean's meal. Fiona then brought me to Range Cafe where Swee Kean was to pass her her meal. On our way back we commented that the cars around were expensive ones like BMW, Mercz and Lexus, it's a country club after all.

I was still nursing the headache I had, probably from the loud music earlier and from the fact that I had not worked (long hours of standing and walking) for a long time even after taking panadol from Bernard. Fortunately, he let me be the bartender and I was thankful that I didn't have to walk so much while stretching my legs behind the bar. Although I knew what the bartender had to do as I used to always serve drinks, I had never actually taken up the position until tonight. There was a constant stream of orders until I got spammed with jugs of beverages. Running out of watermelon for watermelon juice, I asked Bernard to ask the fierce dessert chef (a woman) to cut more. She always had a straight face last time, and she was still the same. After re-emphasising that she wasn't gonna cut anymore after it was finished I continued making the drinks.

The barrel of Carlsberg ran out and Fiona replaced it for me (as I dunno how to attach the connector to it). I noticed that the new Carlsberg took a while to flow and knew something was wrong. True enough even after 2 half-jugs of foam there was still a lot of foam, which wasn't supposed to happen and it couldn't be served like that. Bernard helped me again by using another way to fill the jug up (unexplainable in words).

By 7.30 the crowd was almost gone and by 8 the bar was almost ready to be closed after washing the 2 blenders, washing and returning all the glasses, wiping the surfaces, taking out the ice, refilling the hot water, returning milk and milk jars to the fridge etc. Fiona had told me what to do and cleaned the coffee machine etc.

Then exactly at 8.30 where we would not be accepting orders anymore, 2 Japanese ladies and 4/5 children came in. Bernard decided to accept them anyway and the Philippines guy took their orders. I rushed to serve their drinks and helped Fiona in serving the food. The kitchen floor was wet as the cleaners was washing it and we were careful so as to not tripping. I carried the tray to the door and she took it from there.

A guy arrived and joined the Japanese group, maybe he's the husband of the 2 ladies? Anyway the children were all playing Nintendo DS and I told Fiona that they cost over S$200 each. He asked whether the golf course would be open tomorrow and Fiona explained that it would be closed as they had to do maintenance. The guy footed the bill with a voucher (taken out from a booklet of vouchers) and another S$50 note. Then he stood up and went all the way to the fridge to order takeaway drinks but I told him that the cashier was closed already and we were unable to accede to his request.

At 8.55 we were almost ready to leave and the Philippines guy had already left. Suddenly Bernard, Fiona, 1 of the 2 cashiers and the Myanmar guy were stacking up chairs. I went to help immediately and found out that they were washing the floors the next day. After finally finishing we all quickly went down to change to catch the company bus back to Simei.

I couldn't help but listen to Secondhand Serenade's songs on the journey home (which was loud) and mimed along. It got me thinking.

Why did I choose to work when I could have chosen to remain at home to play Need for Speed or DotA? Was the tiredness (and headache) worth the S$5.50 an hour?

In the end, I realise that there are people without jobs and I should be thankful that I can work to earn some money during this holidays. Not like I need to when I have enough savings at home to buy the things I wanna buy - Razer mousepad, Creative 2.1 speakers and a new chair from IKEA. I also realise that this is nothing compared to what I would be facing in National Service (NS), it would be much much tougher, even if I were to be excused from the physically-demanding platoon.

Sze Yun's hands had roughened from the constant contact with water while she was bartender last year. Today my hands were wet most of the time too as I had to frequently wash the glasses. Think I'll bring my own pair of gloves to wear when I'm bartender.

"Will you still hold my hand when it's roughened from working?"

1) On Wed or Thurs, I overslept on the MRT back home from project meeting and alighted at Bedok instead of Eunos. As I was walking to the buses I saw a few salespeople and intentionally hid behind another group of guys to avoid them. Unfortunately I was stopped anyway by a salesgirl and I was like okay I'll answer your questions or whatever. Her questions were (in order): 'are you working or studying?', 'oh studying where?', 'do you have a habit of saving?', 'oh next year ns, can you give me your contact number so that I can contact you when you're out about our plans?'. Anyway I did give her my contact number (no other purpose other than to help her out) and I continued home.

2) On Thurs night when I was polishing my black shoes I finally figured out the trick. No thanks to my dad who told me to apply thick layers, I realised that for this kinda shoes the shoe polish can't be too thick, else it'll crack for sure.

3) On Thurs noon in the MRT I got around to calling William, the manager of Lake's Cafe in Laguna National at Simei to ask him whether I could go back and work, the answer was yes and for next week I'll be working on all days from 11-9 except on Thurs (exam + someone's birthday) and Sunday (rest day). The last semester for my diploma starts on 13 Oct, meanwhile I should be able to earn more than $1500. I just don't wanna slack at home, although I could and there would be no objection.

4) In addition I'll also be working for Creative at Comex 2008. It's a big step for me as I really don't like crowds and bright lights (I have a poor complexion, need I say more?). I asked for a transfer from the Vado section to anything else as I would prefer the latter. If I don't get a transfer when they call me back next Mon I might just withdraw and work at Lake's Cafe.

4) Today after I boarded the bus towards Eunos and sat down, there was a loud sound of glass shattering and then the female bus driver (auntie-type) started shouting in Chinese. She then stood up and started exclaiming that the bus couldn't move anymore, that she'd give us a ticket to have a free bus ride within 1 month period and to tap our EZ-link card before alighting. The thing is, she shouted in Chinese and then talked to the Malay women in Malay, but not in English. Anyway when it was my turn I didn't look at the driver's seat to see exactly what happened, I should have as I'm still curious until now. When she explained to the office about it and to the next bus driver which arrived, she said that the handbrake broke. How does the handbrake break? How did it break until it was like a glass bottle was just shattered? I don't get it until now.

Our FYP presentation was finally over yesterday. We were asked several questions by the client and the two lecturers who were grading us, I feel that those questions would not have been asked if we had worked together to do the project.

My thoughts:
- Joshua worked on the administration function alone and he did an amazing job, even though some extra functions are redundant and basic ones were ignored instead. I sent him an sms after we left saying "good job dude, really".
- Ameen did the payment and enquiry alone and I guess due to other dedications such as his girlfriend and CCA he was distracted to a small extent.
- Clement.. doesn't know how to lead a project group at all. He allowed the two slackers to slack their way through.
- The two slackers knew they could get away with not doing much for the project and they really barely did anything. These kinda people have no conscience.

What I've done for FYP in phase 2: sort through 1214 products to get 150, resize and resave them, upload them, update the database with their values, create the page generator to display them and make multiple visits to the shop itself to discuss things with the client.

So then again, who am I to comment when I only did my part for the project and then kept quiet?

Anyway we're all glad it's over. Now we can move on to finish the Project Management report and study for exams. Then let 6 weeks worth of holidays begin!

Before the presentation two other groups of people were in the lab, one was quiet while the other was noisy. In the latter one of them, Jer was from my secondary sch so I told them we were having FYP presentation and asked them to leave the lab first. Then this fat guy who is taller than me asked me what sch I was from. The conversation was like this:

Me, "Hey Jer, can you all leave the lab first? We're having FYP presentation."
Fat guy, "Which sch are you from?"
Me, "Does it matter?"
Fat guy, "We're doing FYP project also. Which sch are you from?"
Me, "Diploma in Business IT, shared between the previous SMIT and SB. Does it matter?" *walks off*
Fat guy, "Why so fierce? Like want to fight."
Me, "Fight with you? Waste my time."
Fat guy, "Cuz you'll lose what."

1) Why the heck did he ask what sch I'm from? Isn't it obvious I study in SP as well, that's why I'm having a Final Year Project presentation? If he meant my sec sch, I sure can call friends from there to deal with him.
2) Yea I felt like punching him. The second time I've ever felt like hitting someone. It's okay, I never thought of actually doing it, only had the feeling. He's so not worth it.
3) This fat guy's a perfect example of "all brawn no brains" and how stupid and idiotic people can be.

Thanks for making my day, fat guy, I enjoyed laughing it off after you left.

Once I woke up I instantly got around to re-organising the wires of my computer, wiping the surfaces and pushing the cabinets back in. It looks great now, all neatly cable-tied together.

I knew my sensitive nose was gonna react to the dust, what I didn't expect was that my running nose would become a full-blown 'heaty' break-out. It got so bad that my upper gems were aching near evening. When my family came home from Tampines Giant with panadol for cold/flu relief and I felt better soon after taking two. After all the tissues my nose feels like it has been sandpaper-ed.

Yesterday night, I couldn't help but watch the Beijing Olympics 2008 opening. I was amazed at the choreography, creativity, design, technicalities and how much effort had been put in, not to mention the amount of money. I can't explain it here, if you watched it or have looked at pictures I'm sure you'd think the same way, it was just remarkable.

I also had another thought that China hosting the 2008 Olympics all the more confirms their entrance into the global market. Sure, some businesses know about China's potential and have made use of it but after this, even more businesses will do so. It's gonna be an interesting road ahead for China. It has so much potential.

Singapore's National Day Parade 2008 this year was good as well, there was creativity and uniqueness. It brought out the Singaporean spirit, as to whether the spirit is in Singaporeans, that's another story. Anyway, after the move from National Stadium to Marina Bay I can't see the fireworks from my flat anymore, too bad. The planes used to fly right across as well, but now they're as small as ants in the distance, better than nothing I guess.

In the middle of the day I received an sms from Clement saying that we're gonna have a FYP rehearsal tomorrow (Sunday). I really wonder about how serious the rest of the members are now as the presentation is on Monday. No thanks to the two slackers, I ended up doing some things myself like removing unnecessary files, changing pics to jpg to reduce file size, making a 250kb intro pic to replace the 2.5mb one which changes every few secs, correcting punctuation and formatting text.

I can't wait to see how far their "professionalism" and attitude can get them when they enter the industry. Oh wait, one wants to be a teacher (LOL) and the other's gonna return to Indonesia where he'll be spoonfed by his family again. Right.

I know I haven't posted the last few days. Anyway here are the more interesting things that have happened:

I bought my 1gb Imation thumbdrive from Sim Lim a few months ago at $10+. Almost lost it once by leaving it in a lab (written in previous post). So a few days ago when I didn't bring my pouch (which I usually do to carry handphone, mp3 & thumbdrive), I left it in my pocket. Even after a mental note to take it out when I got home, I still forgot. It was only when my mom gave it back to me after it had gone through a near 30 mins wash in the washing machine. It didn't work and my reaction was "okay I'll just redo the work I had done this morn". Surprisingly after two days it works just fine again! Support Imation!

I met up with the FYP client and his wife told me she wanted only 12 products for each category so as to protect secrets of the business. At night I sorted through the 336 to get 150 products and reworked the page generating algorithm. I wasn't pissed at all that she didn't say so in the first place, it's only right that we meet the client's demands anyway. If it was any of my other group members, they probably would have reacted in another way.

Pasar malam! Have had Ramly burger almost everyday since they started last Sat, today's (Thurs) the last day. Takoyaki, shark's fin soup, siew mai, seaweed chicken, the list goes on! Business for them seems good, especially for the food stalls.

SP gives $7.50 to each student to spend each semester - on BBQ, chalet, movies, food etc. I'm the only one under the Project Management lecturer (Calvin) while my group members are under the FYP supervisor. So me and Calvin went for a buffet at the staff's lounge. It was not bad for a restaurant located inside a poly, there were quite a lot of people too. I knew what I could talk to Calvin about - the teaching career. What I learnt is that to teach pri or sec sch, NIE's 2 year course with monthly allowance is the way to go. To teach ITE or higher, a degree is definitely necessary. The degree itself would take another 3 years, with exemption for a period of time depending on affiliated subjects which had been taken. Eg. Diploma in IT students could take their related degree using only 2 years.

For now I'm aiming to teach pri or sec, meaning I'll have to go to NIE. If I decide to aim higher I'd have to take a degree in order to teach poly or ITE and looking at my family's financial status I definitely would have to think properly. Most probably would have to take it part-time in order to work in the day to pay for it. Calvin suggested that if possible I could take it while in NS, as I'll probably not be in the main pes anyway.

Yesterday noon was the birthday girl Ada's celebration at Scott's Lounge, Hyatt Hotel. After meeting JC on time, we waited for an appropriate time to go in as she was still entertaining the people who just entered. We gave her the present and talked a bit before settling down. It was silly, me and JC didn't know whether we could sit around that area or had to go to the lower platform so we stood around for a while before actually sitting. Then when a waiter came to ask for drinks we were worried she might think we're there as normal customers instead of under Ada's buffet and charge us the buffet price so we didn't order immediately. We did get around to getting ourselves coffee and tea before helping ourselves to the buffet.

The environment was.. high-class and.. awkward. The other guy (Dr Wang in early 20s) and couple who sat with us were either graduates from medicine or were already doctors, and the rest were from her sec sch RJC. Me and JC are both in poly and fortunately I can get along with him so we mainly chatted within ourselves until Dr Wang broke the ice by asking about the programming languages we were studying. The conversation continued with JC talking about food while I kept quiet and maintained a mild smile.

I'm not a food connoisseur at all, I can be very content with eating similar food everyday cuz after all, there are people in the world who can't even fill their stomachs. However I knew enough that the food there was good. I can't remember the exact names but there were salad, crepe, chocolate fountain (with strawberries, marshmellows, cookies), sushi, salmon, beef, sandwiches and several desserts like cheesecake. In the end me and JC felt so full even though we ate little as we sat on couches, not regular chairs.

After a birthday cake and song by the waiters (arranged by Ada), we continued chatting. The couple left soon after and I asked Dr Wang about my condition. He couldn't tell me much as he didn't major in heart and my condition is kinda unique. JC also asked about his wrist which he has injured from badminton over time.

We stayed till 5+ before Ada had to leave and walked around Orchard with JC. The bus was damn crowded, fortunately I had a seat at the last row after some time. Upon getting home I bought two packets of sotong takoyaki and shark's fin soup from the Pasar Malam which will last till Thurs. Gotta eat Ramly burgers when I pass by again. Spent the rest of the night slacking, in preparation for the work which I was to do today.

Today, I woke up at 9+ and played a bit of Need for Speed (NFS) Prostreet before reminding myself that I had to get started on the FYP documents which would be due Wed. I realised music was gonna be a distraction so I turned it off and after a short mental block, I finished the first drafts.

When I was about to shower, I saw my parents and sis returning from Malaysia from the window. I realised that my dad was slightly balding. At that moment I did feel a tinge of pain, for I have been very much selfish in my thoughts and previous post. Thus, I would like to emphasise now on the part where I said "he's alright compared to other dads who have done worse things". I return to this quote thought by myself, "they have not been an ideal family, but they have been a good family". I really thought too much yesterday.

Anyway I shall try to concentrate on the projects and upcoming exams and try to abstain from NFS Prostreet temporarily. Notice the words "try".

While I was driving my mom home from work she told me my dad wanted to go into Malaysia this weekend to pick up his stuff from the fish farm where he used to work. She also said that if I didn't want to go she and sis would go instead. My face instantly became angry and upset, I admit.

Dad, why have you only decided to do this now when you quitted long ago in early March? Why only now when I'm going to be busy with project and exams are near? It doesn't take a genius to know that I'm expected to go instead of my mom and sis.

Yea, he's working hard at his current job where he drives people to wash up fast-food restaurants and supervises them. The working hours are like 6pm to 6am, I know it's tough. Other than this where he's working hard, what else I can learn from him? How to become an addict in smoking and drinking? His stubbornness? How disappointing he has been?

Fine, he's alright compared to other dads who have done worse things. It's just that at times I get really pissed off from thinking about this, like now. I keep thinking about how selfish he was when he chose this Dong Fong vehicle instead of a Perodua Kenari who cost $5K lower at that point in time.

He said it was so that 2nd sis, bro-in-law and my nephew could sit together with us when we go out instead of driving their own. Now? They've barely come to this home at all after getting their maid as they can now leave my nephew with her instead of my mom here. 2nd sis is another issue I'm upset with. I can tell you I will only speak to her in the future regarding the debt she owes my mom - $3K. Is it that difficult to put aside a few hundred a month from you and your husband's combined pay of $4K (after income tax) to return in installments? She also wanted my elder sis to pay for my $20+ phone bill instead, can't afford $20+? Fine, I'll pay for it myself, I don't want to owe you anything in the future. In fact I don't want a sis like you. Yes, I've thought it through and through before saying this.

Continuing on the Dong Fong subject, he also said that it was so that we could transport something bigger if we wanted. Now? The only time we've used it for that purpose was when 2nd sis wanted to transport standing hangers, and she didn't even have the courtesy of giving us a little money back for petrol.

He said the engine power would be okay. Now? No matter how hard I try to speed up its moving off from a stationary position, people always overtake me and cast glares. Other cars with lower capacity do a lot better than it.

Dad, it was supposed to be for me to drive to school, which part of the decision considered me? As I said, the Perodua Kenari I wanted was $5K cheaper and would require less petrol due to it having a smaller engine capacity. Why did you choose this Dong Fong instead?

It was all because of his selfishness that I have to take up the responsiblity of his decision now. The happiness in knowing that I was going to get a vehicle all disappeared in an instant when he chose the Dong Fong. Other than me washing it every two weeks, it simply sits downstairs everyday to endure the hot sun as I don't drive it to school, I only use it to drive my mom to and from work. Why should I frustrate myself over driving it to school when I had no part in the decision.

Yes, I should be very happy I have something to drive around. Do you think I'm happy now? In the very first place, I told my dad I wanted a 2nd-hand car which would be scrapped in 2-3 years after the COE expires. In fact I wanted and could work to pay for it totally by myself, I had a job vacancy back at Laguna National's Lakes' Cafe in Simei where I used to work.

Dad, which part of your decision with mom to isolate yourselves from all our relatives considered me and sis inside? I have 10+ uncles and aunties (their brothers and sisters) and 20+ cousins whom I wouldn't know even if I see them on the street. This year's Chinese New Year consisted of visits from our old neighbour and 2nd sis, that's all.

Life is really unfair, of all people I should know. Other than what has been mentioned here, there are so many other things which I have gone through, are going through or will be going through. Why is this happening to me when I'm not someone who pollutes the environment, not someone who wastes food, not someone who mistreats animals, not someone who spends money like water, not someone who has ever done badly in exams, not someone who has let his parents down, not someone who ignores the elderly by not giving up their seat in the bus or MRT, not someone who doesn't donate to people on the streets. Why can't I be healthy too?

I once thought that if someone else has to go through this, let it be me instead of him or her. I don't regret thinking that way a single bit, it's just that it gets so tough at times.