Skip to main content

A Waitress Does That!

I failed my first plan. ahaha! My previous post says today should be my last day working as a waitress/ kitchen hand. But, I didn't even get to tell the makcik that I want to quit. so, I'll be working tomorrow. Anyway, now that she makes me work only from 11am - 3pm, I guess it isn't so bad. but hey, I have only two weekends left. I should really tell her that I'm quitting.

Now, who says it's easy to be the one's leaving? ;p

*neighbor's amp is too loud, should I bang the wall?*

hhehe.. sorry for the intermission.

Dear readers,
How many of you have ever worked in a restaurant? or maybe currently working in one?

When I first told my friends that I'll be working as a kitchen hand, they were like
"what are you gonna wear?"
"you don't seem befitting for the job?"

funny aye... I however understand their remarks. I have to say that my wardrobes is rather fancy. Not that stylish though. But I love skirts, lacey, chiffon, satin and colorful clothing, which seem a bit too much and inappropriate to be worn while potong ayam sayur mayur, wiping kitchen top and tables, carrying dishes etc etc... but hey, I do have normal shirts as well... afterall, I'm just budak comot as some may call.

I think working in a restaurant, albeit for just approx 3 months taught me a lot. Here I'm sharing what I've got for being a kitchen helper and waitress.

1.  I acquire some quite useful kitchen skills, that includes how to sharpen a knife properly, peel off chicken skin and slice carrot quickly. Since I haven't really been cooking since I live in Malaysia Hall (we are not allowed to cook), my cooking skills has really gone rusty. Thus, it is good that I'm working at the kitchen. I sometimes 'jeling2' the recipes while the chef is cooking. The recipes yeah, not the chef.

2. I learn about the ethnic differences. It is normal that we see men eat more than women. But ethnic background influences that too. Somalians and some of the Arabs really eat a lot. I mean like A LOT!!! like, nasi tu berbukit-bukit. Kadang tu dtg kedai skinny mcm bilis, nasiknya minta bergunung. oh, yeah, it's a Malay-Singaporean Restaurant, so they serve Malay food.

3. I learn how to be nice to people, even when I'm tired, busy and moody. That fake smile and happy "hello, how are you today sir?" are pretentious... but somehow, it can cheer you up just as well. even temporarily. I find that it makes me happy when someone returns a smile and greets me back etc. That adrenaline rush when there are lines of people waiting to be served, in the nervousness of being a newbie, I'm continuously repeating how are you, how can help you and forcefully plastering a smile on my face... It makes me feel good.

4. I learn to say sorry more sincerely. Everyone makes mistakes, especially when you are new at something. I'm a lousy cashier, always make mistakes at keying in and remembering codes for the menus.But everytime I made a mistake, I said sorry... to the customers... and surprisingly, the locals, I mean orang puteh are more forgiving than many other races. oh, more on ethnic background.

5. Malaysians are not the most berbudi bahasa. This is quite related to the above point, and point no. 2 as well. I'm most happy at serving orang puteh. First, they say thank you. At the age of 24, I learned that being appreciated is one of the best feelings in life. And saying thank you does a lot of that. Bagi sudu ckp thank you, tunjuk air kat mana ckp thank you, ambik duit dari tangan dia pun cakap thank you. Dahla tu, senyum selalu. and as I said, they are forgiving too. Rarely they frowned if I did something wrong or made them wait. They'd accept my apology and say.."that's allright"... Ada jugak org kita berbudi bahasa... but meh! not that many though.

6. I learn about business here and there. Not so much though, but kinda gives a good insight of what it's like to run a kedai makan. since it's a small restaurant, the tauke turun padang, the kitchen isn't so big and I can pretty much here every business discussion they had... I think I've got something... ahaha.. what are they? hmmm... rahsia la...

7. Money doesn't come easy. My salary is hourly based. I'm beginning to compare every expense with the number of my working hour. ahhaha.. damn you capitalism! :D

Okay, I think that's all for now.. but hey... any of you can add to the list? Selingan, makcik tu masak taufu sedap laaaa. I think I'll miss her sweetspicy taufu.


p/s:
should I become a full time housewife...
 I'll get myself a stylish apron. ahaha


Comments

Tina said…
Aunty Norsiah ke? Kalu dia, kirim salam k? In case dia tak ingat, just kata kawan Shakira :) I blank kedai mane tapi bila you mentioned tauhu.... oh yeah baby!

Oh dan I nak add satu point - though this is general knowledge la kot.

Omputeh makan nasik guna garpu. And they ALWAYS (at least in my experience) managed to clean up setiap butir nasik. I was impressed! (impressed sebab I tried that tapi mcm gagal je -- last2 amik gak sudu -_-')
asriah said…
Tadi ada pakcik ongputeh cakap melayu, pastu makan nasik bawa cili padi sendiri. makan banyak2. hebat sungguh.

kool kdg tgk depa.
hahah. ok tina, iA. nnt ckpkan.
Assalamualaikum wbt.

Sudah pandai masak ya :)

Popular posts from this blog

Asrama

Oh, my dear nephew is enrolling to Maahad today. Oh, I could see his murky face when he kissed me goodbye… Sorry dear, makcik tak hantaq, malas nak menyempit kereta… the thought of being sent away from home for the first time must be dreadful… oh, I know it well… masuk asrama memang tak best. Anyways, you’re a boy, you must do well… It reminds me of my first day being away from home. I rushed for a shower the moment I saw my ayah’s car left the school yard. It was still early for a late noon shower, but all I wanted was just to cry (out of anyone sights, since that I found shower is a great place to shed my tears)… haha… I couldn’t sleep at nights, found it so hard to make friends and follow the rules… For a year, I scribbled everywhere a note ‘ adik nak balik, adik benci asrama ’… wishing that my parents would read and get me out of there… hahaa… Oh, I made it through though… Eventually, a bunk bed did give me some good sleeps, I made lot of friends….oh, but I never really succeede

Transition

Sometimes I wonder if I would still blog after I go back for good since it always turns out that I don’t really blog whenever I return to Malaysia. I’m back in Melbourne again. Despite everything I said about this place. I'm always thankful that I’m studying here. 8 hours is long enough, can’t imagine going further. Let alone going back during a short winter break like I just did. Haha… However, regardless how good Melbourne is, coming back here is never easy. It is not the place, it’s the transition. Travelling is tiring. Yes, like yesterday, I had to take two flights, one from Penang to KL, then KL to Melb, it is a lot more tiring for someone like me who could barely sleep in a plane. That’s why I enjoy traveling during the day and taking a window seat. I enjoy day dreaming while staring at those fluffy white clouds. Haha.. Weather change changes everything. I had never went back during winter before. So that was my first time experiencing an abrupt change from a

Creepy Me in my Poems

For the first time in my architecture-life, I'm bringing my poems into architecture. What's more interesting is, I use my poems in their original form, by this I mean, in Malay language. Now everybody in my class knows how Malay language sounds like. ahaha... The project is pretty much investigating the space between poems. The atmosphere of hearing two poems recited simultaneously. Sounds that make space, space that's defined by sound. Seriously, I don't really know how it'll work out... but hey, just having some experimentation with stuff a bit off-architecture... a break from my headache major project. Plus, I kinda enjoy making people listen to my poems without expecting them to understand a word... rather then, reciting to a bunch of people who understand but couldn't 'appreciate' them... and yeah, I receive some flattering comments from 'mat-salleh' course mate like... "when something is well written, even you can't understand it..