A test of endurance.
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.
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.