... was I when the camera rolled. Yeah... Celeste had her face full of make up and was sitting nervously in front of the camera alongside the journalist from TheStarOnline! They were doing a feature on Starbucks Coffee and how part-timers in the company can study and work at the same time. So tadaaaa.... I was chosen to be interviewed. Yergh.
I never liked attention. Because being of mixed parentage has caused me to garner loads of attention wherever I go, be it at a dinner function, in class or at a mamak stall with friends. I burned my school pinafore (egads!) when I left school because I hated the stigma I received wearing it. Looking like a Malay and wearing a pinafore brings stares, trouble, narrowminded thoughts and slack to the wearer. Especially if she has worn only the pinafore and nothing else. So Mum doesn't like me wearing the baju kurung... but do these makciks and pakciks on the street even wonder if I'm not a Malay?
Anywayyyyyyy........
My one and only, lazy to do his homework, always sensitive to criticism tuition student of 2003 has made me proud. From always scoring a D in his English exam papers, he has finally(!) scored an A in his Pernilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination!!! And the family has asked me to continue teaching him next year.
Well if I want the money.. I should be diligent in managing my time because I'll be living in Hillpark and coming back to Ampang during the weekends to work in the store. Hmmmmmmmm......
Oraitla.. I'm gonna get ready for work. Happy New Year to all you insane people out there who actually bother to read my blog everyday!!!
... and its already the 29th of December. Looking back, I feel kinda sad becoz basically, well more or less, I'm at the same place I was a year ago... having a shaky future in terms of my education. But aaarrrghhhh let's forget about that bit and face life as it comes day by day k?
There was my Xmas open house on the 26th. Gave my parents a surprise when I told them that my friends would be arriving from 7pm right up to 1am. HEHE. Three different groups of peeps with the biggest being the last at 1am - my Starbucks colleagues who left at 4.40am all because of Muha who had to work the opening shift at 7am hahaha.. kesian la diorang yang masih terjaga dan teringin nak continue the bitchings about SH, about cerewet customers and about the upcoming 'transfer window' that's gonna happen in the Starbucks' circle. Yes. A lot of people are gonna be moved about. God save us. Everybody tried to delay their departure as you'll neva get to see most of us sitting in a room, yakking away and exchanging all our 'on the floor' stories becoz we work shift hours, and most of the time our conversations on the floor would be interrupted by a customer... right when we are in a heated discussion LOL. But then kesian la Muha, sapa suruh dia tak tukar shift dgan orang lain? Nanti terlelap kat cashier kang... kitorang yg susah hehehe..
Speaking about susah... I'm gonna have a headache. I'm moving to Pantai Hillpark.
Yeah you read me right. Pantai Hillpark.
Summary of it all would be this - My uncle who passed away, his wife (my dear godmother) has asked me to move in with her. They've been together since they were 15 years old, and have no children so with his passing, life alone is gonna be hard for her. She has asked my parents' permisson, and after discussing it, I agreed. It'll be better for me as Sunway is nearer by LRT as compared to Ampang. I guess there was a reason why I always had to delay submitting my hostel application form. Life was preparing me for this. It also happened at a time when I had decided to go for the supervisor job early next year because I thought I was going nowhere with ACCA. But if I'm gonna stay in Hillpark, then Starbucks is gonna take the backseat in my life as I shift my focus to my studies. Wargh major upheaval!! I've already asked to be off-schedule for a month becoz I need time to settle down. I dunno the Hillpark area! OOoooOOOooo Celeste gonna be sesat-O!
With me being gone for awhile, the others have voiced their concerns that alot of people are going/have gone till Great Eastern doesn't feel the same anymore. As most of our regulars are expatriates attached to the embassies, this month we've said our farewells to quite a number of them. It's either they've gone for good or for their vacations and will only come back in January. But the departures that have hit us the most were Ejad's, and then later MC's. The void left behind by them is kinda big, since they became close with us during the last few months.
I only knew of Ejad's resignation from Power Station during the LOTR marathon, when he told me that he had said farewell to everybody in the store earlier in the evening and that I was the last Starbucks person to see him. Telling me after the marathon only made me glad that he had pulled me along for the breakfast session we had prior to the 3rd movie... and all that stupid running up the escalators and into the cinemas when we realised we were late haha. And to be the only person to know why he left Power Station... what he's gonna be doing next.. I'm honoured. And yet sad coz I won't be seeing his stupid smiling face up there on the 1st floor.. or get all excited when he pulls a damn good magic trick in front of my eyes. Or running after him with a towel during those rare moments when he managed to bang me cheh.
And then MC had to drop the bomb. The Tuesday prior to Xmas, which was my last day at work before my holiday started, he suddenly comes and tells me that Xmas would be his last day in Grt. Eastern. I was like.. why??? Well Ejad's replacements just doesn't click with him and his upcoming practical in the next semester is gonna take much of his time.. so work is just gonna be a burden to him. And then he goes and leaves me there... feeling like that was the last time I would see him. Which sucked! What was my last moment with MC? Me cleaning the Starbucks' Whole Bean collection! Hargh..
But it wasn't. Heh.
During my last moments on the floor before my shift finished, he came and sat next to the bar... talking to all of us as we worked. And then whaddaya know, after my shift, I accompanied him for a haircut at the salon upstairs....hehe. He went bald! Which made him cuter coz it made you focus on his eyes....hahahaha my favourite part of a guy....eeeeee! And then he started his shift so I went and had my very late lunch with my supervisor. Which ended at 6.30pm!
I stayed on in the store coz I guess I was gonna miss it since I had 3 days of rest. And then this dumb BB got all excited about eating at Steven's Corner that she pestered all of us (me, Aim and May) to go for supper after closing. Closing! 12am! But still I fell for it. So waited la.... waited waited waited...tadaaaa.. at 9pm MC comes by my table after his shift, asking why I haven't gone back. Yeah it was a ploy to see him duh! I simply asked him along for supper... and he agreed (shrieks!)... I'm so lucky BB is a sporting person hahaha...coz she's the driver that night. And so from 9pm-12am, it was me and him hanging out at the store waiting for the others to finish closing. We talked from the simplest of things, to the most complicated of stuffs. And......
He dropped a few hints. But I didn't know how to react becoz as I said, I've had guys who were closer to me but still regarded me as a friend...or worse.. a sister. I felt like being in a pressure cooker becoz everytime we weren't together, BB would bang me about him, or May would ask if he had already popped the question. Or Aim would laugh all of a sudden. Aim's laugh worried me the most.. for Aim was a very close friend of MC. My curiosity was over and done with when, on the way to the toilet with BB, she told me that Aim had already known about my affection for MC for quite some time....
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now comes the whole dilemma. Does MC know? Do guys talk between themselves like girls do? Is Aim the type to keep secrets? HARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.......
The whole time at Steven's, BB and Aim were hitting MC and me discreetly with their wise choise of conversation topics...mostly regarding girlfriends and boyfriends and relationships. And MC had his mission of the day - to introduce Celeste to a new delicacy - FRIED QUAIL! Those lil' birds in boiling hot oil with their legs all intact. I squirmed all the way to the last bite I had of them, sweet as they are, I still couldn't stop thinking of live cute lil' quails chirping and running around me. MC had a good time laughing becoz tough Celeste finally found her match... hergh. I had to eat them (yes! more than 1 quail!) becoz MC bought them, and they weren't cheap!
So there you go. My last moment with MC was quite a good one (minus the damn quail), but yes, none of my questions have been answered for I haven't seen Aim the past few days.
And I've got no mood to usher in the New Year becoz our salaries are only coming in on the 2nd. I'm broke!
The Lord Of The Rings trilogy overnight movie marathon is finally over. All the hype, the excitement, the planning... all of it was worth the experience of sitting through an 11 hour movie marathon. The 3rd instalment itself fell short of my expectations.. maybe because I absorbed battle scenes far better than all that yadda-ing onscreen.
The hour before it all started... Starbucks KLCC was packed as hell. Expected it though because most of the peeps going for the marathon were Starbucks regulars. Met J Lo there (that's her nickname, given by us at the store) to redeem our free drinks that came with the ticket. Bumped into Casey, another regular who was there with his 8 friends and quite alot of Starbucks peeps. Surprisingly, Ejad and Nanan managed to find us there although none of us planned to meet up. Up the escalators towards the cinema, everybody hears my name as Edwin screams it from one floor below, pillow in hand and a Santa hat on his head. Edwin will always be Edwin la.... ever since that accident 2 months ago we all think he has gone cuckoo abit hahaha...
11pm - The Fellowship Of The Ring... Everybody in Hall #4 clapped and whooped as the lights went off. There we were, back at the start of the story, as how we were about 2 years ago.. only this time it was the extended version. Extra footage was welcomed because it kinda made the story look complete, and abit funny as a result of a little banter between the characters, particularly between Gimli and Legolas.
But I sat with the wrong bunch of people. Everytime Elrond came onscreen, we giggled and tumbled over our seats. How can you not think of Agent Smith when you see Elrond?? And silly little me had to whisper something everytime his face is stuck on the screen up there, or if he speaks. And I think the cinema hall magnifies my whispers, because when I say something, a chain reaction happens. This big wave of mirth consumes all around me, particularly the 7 other people who are in earshot distance. What do you do when you're in a serious situation, but you can't help laughing? You try to kill the laugh by keeping it in you, hence your body trembles.. but if there's 7 other people around you trying to do the same thing, the sight of their bodies trembling just makes you burst out laughing... and then whooooooooooshhhhhhhh... cackles of laughter fill the air. Sigh..
At the secret council meeting Elrond : You have only one choice... *silence on the screen and in the hall*
Me : Mr. Andersen... *silence on the screen and in the hall*
...whooooooooooooooooooooshhhhhhhhh.......
I just had to say it! Hehehehehehe...
2.45am - 1st intermission... 1 down 2 to go was all we could think of when we headed to the fountains for a smoke. Met Ejad and Nanan outside and we started walking to stretch our legs... from comparing stories, we realised that Hall #4 was quite happening (Ejad and Nanan was in #5) hehehe.. Oh and the stupid security guards just didn't let us walk near the fountains, kept whistling us away cheh.
3.15am - The Two Towers... My favourite pick. And with 43 minutes of extra footage...dammmmmnnnn! This was by far the longest of 'em all. So long it was till at one moment, between all that banter on the screen, there was a slight whirring sound amongst us. My ears pricked as the sound repeated.. J Lo who was sitting on the steps next to me looked up and around, I looked towards J Lo's friends on my right... and then we all turn to look to the back where the sound was emanating from, even louder than before. The 3 girls behind J Lo's friends were all giggling in their seats and so I turned to the seat directly behind me. Casey was snoring! Mouth agape and all.....hahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Oh God that's embarassing..
7am - 2nd intermission... I was hungry. I needed breakfast but J Lo didn't want to walk to anywhere so I followed her to the Starbucks booth in the TGV foyer to get some sandwiches. And then next thing I know, Ejad and Nanan comes wheezing past me... stopped.. reversed abit... grabbed me and walk hurriedly off shouting to J Lo that we're going for breakfast. I was like.. whaa? Nevermind no need to think... just follow. I didn't want any Starbucks food at 7am anyway. So we ate at this mamak near Mandarin Oriental hotel. And then started the uphill journey back to KLCC.. only to find the escalators up to the cinema very quiet as we realized that we were late for the 3rd instalment! Next thing you know we were running, nasi lemaks in our stomachs and all hahahahaha.... but worry not, for behind me were quite a few people doing the same! Marathon indeed..
7.30am - The Return Of The King... Alot of Merry and Pippin scenes in this movie. More mischief hehe... The beginning had more yadda-ing than action.. and J Lo actually slept through the first 15 minutes ahahaha.. My right knee was gone by then. I can't stand unnatural cold e.g. air-condition.. my joints hurt after awhile and so I kept shifting in my seat till I gave up and sat on the steps next to me. Soon more people did the same as the 3rd movie unrolled itself on the screen. The battle at Minas Tirith was quite awesome as I found myself at full attention, back upright, mouth agape as my eyes tried to capture every detail on the screen, every arrow, every swing of the sword. Helm's Deep was a war between 2 sides that were separated by a wall. Minas Tirith saw them coming against each other, eye to eye... advancing onslaughts were furious with blows and the clanging of swords against each other as Oliphaunts did the most damage of them all by flinging the humans aside. Legolas was the main warrior here as Aragorn was on his way with the ghostly betrayers of Gondor, whose arrival won the battle for Men as they were unstoppable. But Eowyn's scene with the #1 Nazgul was an eye-opener, for it was assumed that he would do battle with Gandalf. How I wish I could ride a horse like the Nazguls.. sigh.
If I found pity for Gollum in the 1st two movies, I despised him here. His true colours became obvious and he was evil right up to the very end of his life, all for the sake of the Ring. But if it wasn't for him, the Ring would never be destroyed as we saw how, like Isildur, Frodo too succumbed to the power of the Ring on the very edge of Mount Doom. Shelob was a disappointment, truly. When I first saw Balrog in The Fellowship, I thought that the creators did a very good job of designing the villains, showing evil in their very shape. Actually making you fear them, even in your seat. But Shelob didn't have the same effect on me. By far she looked like an insect-being from a B-grade movie you find on Astro.
And I thought that Aragorn looked like a very serious, no-adventures-for-me kinda fella when he had the crown on his head. Cheh.
Well, that's about it. Sorry for the delay. I had to go back and sleep coz I worked the closing shift later on in the day hehe. Hope I didn't make those of you in countries like Indonesia, Australia and the UK jealous for I finally went to the marathon....
And received a survival certificate and a HBO LOTR t-shirt!!
Lots of food. Wine. Red. White. People everywhere in the house. Balcony. Room. Kitchen. Tarts! Sleepy becoz too much wine.
Tomoro will be another round of people coming and going. My friends would be coming from 10pm onwards... I'm still waiting for the 2 bottles of Sapphires!
Saturday, December 20, 2003
posted by Platypuck |
1:22 PM |
Monday, December 15, 2003
The ghost of Christmas past...
What a day it was!
There I was, working as usual... when I noticed this blond short haired guy working at the Bateel (sells dates & chocolate) store in the concourse area. I knew one person who would dye his hair that colour, but the last (and only time I saw him) was November '02 in KLCC. Daniel was a friend of Dit and we met up for buka puasa since Daniel had to get some dog tags from Dit. Back then his hair was waist level, 3 hues of blonde and he had funky diamond studs in his ears. Not easy to forget huh?
But I'm blind see. Well near sighted actually. So I gave up squinting, trying to make sure if it was Daniel or not. And then I go out for a smoke. He comes out for a smoke too. Well here goes... I plucked up all my courage and called out his name and tadaaaaaaaaaa.... an old acquaintance found!
Since GEM is (way) not like KLCC where Daniel is based, he was so damn bored that everytime he spotted me going out for a smoke, you'll be damn sure to see him right there next to me soon after. By the end of the day, I got free chocolates, he got himself a free drink and are on each others' Friendster lists....hehehe. Not to mention the curious stares from other people. Hey there's a new malay guy with short blonde hair selling chocolates in the concourse area. I think every girl right up till the 6th floor was updated on that bit piece of news. Hahahahahaha....
Speaking of Friendster... I found an old chum from the old days of Form 1 - 3 when Norlia messaged me. And through her, I found a few others too! And then Friendster does it's thing when it tells you that (surprise!) this this this person you know is linked to another person you know. Cheh.
The house is starting to evolve. More red hues coming into the picture. I'm off tomoro. Let's see what these hands can do eh?
Did you get it too? Your family? Your friend? Don't worry it'll come sooner or later. I got it this morning. Well actually I contracted (??) the bug on Saturday as I ate my breakfast at the store. MC came by coz his shop didn't open yet and he told me he was having the flu, but since he wasn't sneezing and shit, I didn't caution myself.
Yesterday being my off day, I was alive and well... enjoying myself immensely as I met up with the old SAB gang at Fadia's engagement ceremony. The pink baju kurung only made it obvious that I was in a hyper mood after having worked for 10 days. But this morning....aihhhh..... there went my whole nasal system. Do you know how bad it is to sneeze and sneeze and sneeze in the bathroom? The echo bouncing off the walls just makes it worse hehe.
At work, B was the floor manager so she helped around while I ran to the back every 10 minutes to blow all that goo out of my nose. Damn man. I felt like taking out my whole nose. MC came by at about 10+ coz he was early for work and had his breakfast. He gave me one look and giggled, but fortunately handed me a flu pill before I could sock his head. Medication. Good. Down it went. Heh.
Then when I was outside, my regular customer, this young Datuk, could be heard sneezing too. He promptly went down to get some medication while I made his drink. Upon returning, B told him that I was having the flu too, and lo and behold, he handed me a strip of the flu pills he bought and told me it wasn't the drowsy ones so I could have them while working. Ohokay... now I have people handing me medication LOL. Kinda nice of him :)
Nose was better after taking the pill that MC gave me. But my head felt like a rock. I guess all the goo was up there? HEHEHE... MC came later on and I in turn gave him a few of the ones from Datuk. B was laughing saying this was like a pill-exchange-day or something. Later on I bought myself some drowsy pills from Guardian (wanna go back home and sleep like a baby) only to find out on my return to the store that Aim (who just came in for his shift) was also having the bug and pestered me for a pill to make his runny nose dry up LOL. There goes another of Datuk's pills, since it was the only non-drowsy pills I had.
I guess, today... in a way... was a good day. People around me were nice to me. Yea yea I know what you're thinking.... it was a good day becoz MC gave me medication right? HAHAHA... whatever la....
And this was supposed to be posted 4 hours after I wrote the entry below..
When your phone rings in the middle of the night... it is never good news....
And definitely not news you want to hear when you've just retired to bed in anger, wishing to wake up in a good mood...
Uncle Bala had a fatal heart attack while seeking treatment for lung cancer in London. He and Aunty Marie had only left KL 2 weeks ago and now this happens. What's sad is that they've been married for a long time but did not have any children, what's sad is that he passed away far, far away from all of us, what's sad is that nobody knew why they went to London until now... so nobody was prepared for the news. Nobody prayed for his health.
Papa looked grim as I put on my shoes to get ready for work that morning. I knew what he was thinking as I said it out loud... he was the first... the first in Papa's generation... to pass away...
I'm worried for Aunty Marie. Being her god-daughter, I'm worried for her like a daughter should.
Anger has evolved into sadness. Sadness has brought a veil of tranquility upon me as I say the rosary for Uncle Bala's soul everyday when I'm alone. This will go on for 7 days, as according to our beliefs that the soul stays on Earth that long to say it's goodbyes to everybody. As to when the body will be flown back and the burial date, I have no idea yet...
B is already saying the store is quiet. Nobody knows yet...
This was supposed to be posted on Saturday, the point of origin of my anger...
Today the only time I felt like my usual self was when dawn was breaking through the gloomy skies at 7am... and when I was having pasta with meatballs for dinner 12 hours later.
In between was all fucked up. 10 hours on the floor started with entering the store and finding that the closing staff didn't do their work properly, everything was not in place, not washed, not stocked up... first batch of pastries didn't arrive on time at 7am but came 2 hours later. So I had the time to clean up the store as District Manager was supposedly gonna make a surprise visit today. You think that's it? Hell no. If it's a fucked up day, everything should follow the theme right? First fella to get killer stares from me was the late pastry truck driver. He didn't even say sorry for being SO late... and yet can crack jokes. Az my supervisor just tiau-ed him on the spot while I got the food ready when the 2nd batch of pastries came (right on time) at 9am. Great. Now I have an empty pastry case, loads of food to prepare.. and customers should be coming soon.
Oh and did I mentioned that the cashier system went cuckoo on us at 7.30am? The computer ppl did some adjustments yesterday and now the system didn't want to respond to me when I wanted to handle my till. Some server path shit. Yeah shit. And since it was a Saturday ( why would anyone wanna change the system the day before the weekend??!), customers came pouring in and there I was, listing their orders on an A4 paper, counting manually the amount and giving them their change hoping to God I wasn't making a mistake in minusing all the stupid-ass discounts and free voucher promotions. Poor Az had to do all the drinks by herself as I stood rooted at the cashier, apologizing for being slow. And on weekends, we don't get our regular customers, we get strangers, people who think we charge exhorbitant prices, who think Starbucks is fine dining where I must serve them at their tables... well if that's the case why don't they just go and sit their asses at the mamak outside??? Why bother coming? If your friend's friend is an employee of Berjaya, you think I'm gonna give YOU his discount? And fuck to those who sarcastically told me to give them a 50% discount coz the system is down and they have to wait a lil bit more longer in line. I hate weekend customers! Strangers who don't know me by name.... I'm a human, you can't talk to me like that.
....................
10am. Aim's running late. Can't get him on the phone. Me and Az can't keep going to the back to use the phone to call him coz the line at the cashier was starting to get longer. So we woke B on her annual leave day to help us to get him. He woke up late and came rushing in at 12pm, and I put him in charge of the till coz he still can't handle the bar yet. I took the bar while I shooed Az off to eat her breakfast. I was hungry, starved, tired, jaded. Az came back and I saw no chance to scoot off to eat my sandwich as the line started to snake into the concourse area... this is hell, pure hell...
12.30pm. System is up after the computer geeks terhegeh-hegeh came from their slumbers. Ok if you make a program and update it into the system, I think you would at least expect problems and be on stand-by no? And you should say sorry to the people affected no? No. You don't do that. You just order lasagna and sit outside to enjoy the view. HIEAARGGHHH.
2pm. I'm shooed off the floor to have my lunch. 7 hours. Geez. I couldn't even stand while smoking, had to sit on the marble floor outside the complex. Which was weird seeing that my view were legs passing by.
3.30pm Sh comes in. Aim doesn't like working with her. Can't help it. All we did were shout orders to the bar, blend drinks, clean tables, wash wash wash all the plates n' mugs...poetry in motion to put it ironically.
By 6pm customers saw different, more energetic faces on the floor. I got off at 5pm, Aim went on his break at 5.30pm while Muha, Sh and Ed took over. Az was at home by then.
8pm. I'm leaving the mall with Aim after having large dinners at Strudels with Muha. For once the stupid bus came immediately.
Nobody's home. I'm not getting my off day tomoro. Name's on the schedule due to lack of staff on the floor. Opening shift. Hopefully it'll be better. But I don't think so.
Coz right now I'm still feeling pissed off. At everything that had to happen today. Usually it doesn't bother me this long. Today's punyer sial is of a different kind. Lain macam. Nobody bothered to said sorry. Not the pastry guy, not the computer geeks, not the arrogant pretentious customers, not the cheapskate customers, not Sh who kept annoying us with her endless pemerintah kuku besi punyer orders, not anyone. End of puasa month, end of forgiving nature.
Sorry ain't a big word. I said it a thousand times today to customers. Why couldn't they say it once to me?
