Internship

Poly education has unofficially ended 3 months ago, currently occupied with my internship at Ritz Carlton at In Room Dining department - more so of Amenity! This job really forces me to interact with the guests even if it's just following the necessary 3 steps of service but it comes more naturally now that I'm used to doing it!

Perks of this job
1. You get to meet some friendly colleagues or people from other departments from a diverse range of nationalities, namely Korea, China, Hong Kong, France and Malaysia etc.

2. You occasionally also get some tips! So there was once where I literally came to the room just to remove a trolley and the used plates and cutlery for an Indian guest (and his friends). And he gave me a whopping SGD$50!! - which I didn't think I deserved because what I did was incredibly simple and easy, anyone could have done it. Guess what was my response? I smiled sheepishly and told him "um, thank you but that's a bit too much". I think my brain was too shocked to process what just happened so I came up with such a dumb reply. He then told me to keep it so yeap, I obliged.

If you never knew, Singapore doesn't have a tipping culture unlike the West. It's uncommon but of course it still happens so I was surprised by his act of kindness. Thanks to him, I saved 50 bucks off my next court shoes purchase for work because my previous pair of shoes wasn't appropriate.

3. You get free meals hence you can save up! Though the food provided in the staff canteen isn't particularly great but it's good enough!

Cons of this job - obviously I can't openly discuss this because I can get in trouble but something that we all can agree on would be the work timing. There are 3 shifts because room service operates 24/7. Both morning and afternoon shifts last for 9.5 hours and graveyard is just 9 hours as there isn't any break in between.
Morning shift: 7AM - 4:30PM
Afternoon shift: 2:30PM - 12AM
Graveyard shift: 11PM - 8AM

I had a bit of a difficulty adjusting to the irregular shift timings esp for the graveyard shift. I felt like a bear hibernating when everyone else was awake haha. But my irregular work schedule can also be a benefit too! Going out on a weekday afternoon = emptier shopping malls and lesser crowds but it can also be more difficult to arrange for a meet up with my friends.

I'm speaking as though my internship has ended haha but it has been a good learning opportunity, giving me a taste of what the working world and hotel industry are like. Anyway, i'm left with 3.5 more months, hopefully i'll make the best out of it! :-)

Spiritual dryness

Hi. To anyone reading this, have you ever experienced what it's like to be "spiritually dry"? Feeling very distant from God, losing the motivation to pray, to give thanks, to do daily devotion, to just maintain a relationship with Him? Because that's what i've been feeling for the past year and this seems like it's such a long time.

So what happened was that my mum stopped allowing me to go to church for both service and cell group during school periods. But during the holidays, when i'm allowed to go, I no longer feel motivated or yearn to attend service when it's the basic thing any Christian would do. I feel detached from the cell group because I haven't seen them for such a long time, sometimes even distant from God. And it scares me - how easy it is to come to this stage. It's like a ripple effect, first it just started from something like a parental objection and it turns to this.

I don't know what to do anymore. I'm kind of exhausted... I feel like I want to turn this situation around but nothing is happening.

3AM thoughts

3:12AM

Here's a gif of me eating chocolate cake, supposedly my sister's reeeeeaaaaally belated birthday cake since she subtly hinted that she hasn't received any cake this year so being the nice and thoughtful sister, I got this coco exotic from Four Leaves. Tastes really good! Also got her a NDS game MarioKart for her gift. 

When you're awake at an unearthly hour, you find that there's so many things that you can do like you've limitless time in your hands. But when you wake up the next morning, you'll probably regret not sleeping earlier. Probably even get breakouts or be late for school/work. But you know what, it's fine because it's the holidays! What's a sem break tbh when all you do is go back to school for projects. 5 projects. 

I don't know why but I feel all sentimental during nights like this and my mind gets filled with a million thoughts. It's a pretty nice feeling i've to admit. Being alone, staying up, jamming to Coldplay, and basically thinking about everything the world has to offer. Maybe it's my way of escaping. Escaping reality? 

Editing my Japan video now, and I really miss Japan. I miss going overseas, anywhere that's not Singapore. You could call me a turncoat, or some ungrateful brat haha but I really am not. I probably just like other countries' cultures and landscapes more. Is that wrong? God, if you're listening, please give me an opportunity to study overseas or even work or stay overseas for a good amount of time. :-) i'd be so happy. Learning other people's cultures, exploring foreign places, getting lost (ok maybe that's not so attractive), taking loads of pictures and videos, making new friends and falling in love with the city... Sorry for the incoherent thoughts but that's what i've been feeling and a dream of mine ever since I was pretty young.

Will be uploading my Japan photos hopefully soon!!! Promise to get them done by this holiday. Till then! :-)

End of Year 2

Year 2 has officially ended. If you asked whether it was challenging? Yeap. Exhausting? Definitely. Different? Very. But thank God for pulling me through this far. Sem 2 was honestly the most stressful and challenging sem with tons of projects where we had to always pull up all-nighters just to get work done. It also concludes the end of my study dates with Chao Lei at Pies and Coffee - the cafe which we visited at least once a week to do assignments and mug for our exams. Haha didn't really end it on a good note unfortunately because one service staff working there totally judged us when we ordered iced lemon tea and mouthed something to her co-worker. True that we hogged up the seats but the cafe usually has many other seats available so we weren't really posing a problem/affecting the other customers. But thank you P&C for being my study spot for the past semester!

Today I went to Atlas Coffeehouse and splurged my money on the cafe food! Plus i'll still be going to another cafe on Friday with my project group and Whisk and Paddle with Si Rui next Saturday! #gettingbrokeoverfood Their service was great! I like the decoration too, it has this open window concept = good lighting, perfect for taking photos. Brought my Canon DSLR in an attempt of taking more pictures since it's newly bought and I still don't really know how to use the functions properly.

We ordered iced mocha, iced latte, creamy mushroom on sourdough with scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans and sausages and lastly, shoestring truffle fries! The place was a little squeezy though and it was pretty noisy but I enjoyed myself! 

Will be going to my grandma's 85th birthday celebration on Saturday, will update again! x

Lord, please help me through this.

Lizzie McGuire movie

Decided to reward myself by watching The Lizzie McGuire Movie after the most exhausting two weeks of school ever. Had a tub of strawberry Haagen Dazs (only ate some mouthfuls btw) and it was 1-2+AM and right now 4AM, and I didn't regret rewatching it! Though I probably watched it way too many times when I was younger but whatever the case, it brings back a sense of nostalgia. :'-) one of my favourite films because I like how it took place in Rome, Italy and Lizzie was exploring the city and it has this very nice adventurous feel to it. Wish i was in Lizzie's place and could go on a school trip to explore Rome I mean how lucky is that? Or I just wanna go to Europe and explore, that'd be really nice. Now Rome is on my to-go destinations! 

Can't wait till April is here, looking forward to Tokyo and Osaka! :-) my foxes and deers in Zao Village and Nara Park are waiting for me. Till then! x

Deadbeat

Have never felt more tired before. Don't know how long I can last to be honest. Because my MICE report is due on Wednesday but technically my group and I have to finish it by Tuesday to submit to Mr Ron and stuff. I've never stayed back in school till 10PM in consecutively 3 days. 2 of which I had a bit of gastric pain because we didn't eat much for dinner. One time I totally skipped dinner till I got home and the other I only ate a waffle. Plus i'm having ear infection now for 2 days already and I finally went to Dr Cheong to get some medicine. It really hurts even when I don't talk/swallow. But thank God it's recovering a bit, on and off.

Today I even had to go to school after seeing the doctor and stayed all the way till 7+PM. Literally had a lot to be done and we should have managed our time better and rushed through it in the holidays but we didn't know there is so much to do and we slowly took our time. Ah, I still have my FMA test that constitutes 20% of my grade that's on Monday and i'm exhausted already but i've to hang on.

Can't wait till next thursday ends so that I can finally get some rest and then i'll be left with SIP and MICE presentation. And then... Exams.

God please sustain me with strength (both mentally and physically) and let me have a speedy recovery and finish this race well!

2016

Featuring my mandatory annual New Year fireworks! :-)

Happy New Year! I'm 10 days late, aren't I? Yeap, i've been piled with project work even though it's e-learning week but I had to return to school from Monday to Thursday just to get things done. This holiday isn't even enjoyable, it's exhausting. School has been draining and the thing is it's about to start again. I don't like whining and complaining about things, but i'll just stop here. On a brighter note, (a really bright one), I'LL BE FINALLY GOING OVERSEAS DURING MY NEXT SEM BREAK! Am genuinely super excited and very happy because I haven't travelled in such a long time (excluding school trips

I believe that 2016 will be a year of new beginnings for me. I think it's time for me to recommit myself to God, even despite certain restrictions. And I know that when we are faithful to Him, and we are earnest in seeking God, He will bless us with joy, peace, and even grant you desires of your heart. 

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33

Praying that there will be great things in store for me this year. Trusting in You Lord x