peons

first day of work at raffles city was quite exciting. there was a mad half an hour queue at the entrance for workpass collection so after getting one it was running all over the employee basement with kah ming to collect our jackets and then running all over the fourth floor trying to find our reporting place. gotta come earlier next time.

after getting to the correct room, there was this long briefing by the manager about all the dinner courses, procedures and sex. couldn't digest all the information before they started assigning us to our tables. kinda felt like being called out to join the battlefield in war movies where the new recruit doesn't know wtf he needs to do but goes anyway.

so as a first timer i got grouped up with this short hairy ah beng dude and a china fag, both 3rd timers. lil beng was quite friendly and helpful in showing me the ropes while china fag was basically.. a china fag.

we wandered around trying to find the ballroom for awhile. then we got in and wandered around trying to find our tables. met the drinks server for my table, who was hot and cute and asked me to help her serve tea. she was one of the few english speaking girls around but i accidently spoke to her in chinese later on, but that's another story.

anyway, china fag was looking around trying to find one of our tables which had been missing its number plate. apparently he hadn't already figured out how to read the map.

first course to serve was an empty plate.. apparently some lame joke by the organisers. when the diners were asked to open the plate covers the emcees belted out their rehearsed "oh noezzzzz! what is going on here????"

rest of the night was pretty much see and do. watched where people go to take food to serve, watched how people collect plates and watched how people steal leftover food. there was this funny dude who feasted frequently at the dirty dishes drop-off point, eating more than most of the dinner guests. the mutton rendang was good. taking drinks for yourself was easy too. ah beng taught me how lin zui, going to the bar to ask for drinks to serve diners and making a detour to the kitchens to consume.

halfway through i got reassigned to another table where this china noob who is supposed to have experience couldn't handle 2 tables and complained to the manager that he was in desperate need for help. he was too freaking noob to carry 2 dishes from the kitchen on his own so he asked me, a first timer, to help him carry them BOTH. yea doesn't make sense. i ended up doing serving for groups of tables at opposite ends of the room.

i wasn't prejudiced against them before i started work, despite kah ming's constant warnings about how annoying workers and poor communicators they were but by the time the event was over, i realised they really... suck. it's not about where they're from(in a way we're both from china anyway), or how they speak(ok maybe abit), but their attitude and thinking capabilities.

for example, china fag asked me to get a ladder from the kitchen. it took him 4 repeats for me to understand that he wanted me to get something and another 5 to understand that he wanted a ladle, not a ladder. and he still complains that me and beng are not helping him when we are constantly bringing stuff to and fro from the kitchen while he stays there to clear plates from the table. it was a good thing that hairy beng shared my opinion. had to speak chinese to my fellow workers the whole night, which was tough.

did overtime for that extra bit of cash. basically its 3 hours more of sai kang, will not do it again.

work is interesting.