Work sucks in general, but it doesn't have to be. I'm one of those lucky people, whose parents support whatever I want to do in life and encourage me to be the best I can be. Thanks Ummi and Abuya, I love you both very much, and I can't ask for any more than you've given me.
Many people I know are stuck in a job that they hate, or hate their bosses; or both. And it is a shame, because this hatred eats you up in a bad way. Hating something you do makes you older quicker simply because you're not happy. I've always known that I would like a job that involves human interaction. Sitting in an office for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, is not something that I find appealing. Perhaps it is because of my outgoing nature, and because my family is like that. More than half of my family are teachers, and most of them have wonderful people skills. Of course, this leads to my going into tourism and hospitality, which is in a way, an accident.
Tourism management was my sixth out of eight choices given to you when you apply to go to university. Yes, I filled out everything I could think of, in terms of what I'd like to study. I've always wanted to become a journalist, but as we all know, that didn't happen. Haha. I was offered to study Tourism, and thought, "This could be exciting." And it was! I loved every minute of the classes I took, and every trip I made with my friends, every eating out sessions that we had. It was just an amazing time of my life.
I'm now working at a country house hotel, with the most amazing views, and rooms/restaurant/bar to be proud of. There's not much that I can fault with where I am working. The bosses are crazy sometimes, but there are tactical ways to get them off of you. Today, we had no guest staying at the hotel. I was going to set up our new online reservation system and thought I'd be doing that the whole night. Three people showed up at about 5.20pm, wanting to have dinner. When my boss came back from a walk with her dog, I mentioned that we were going to have people for dinner and she said she'd come over to help. This was excellent because I didn't really want to do dinner service, I'm not a fan of restaurant service. I still helped out a little in the restaurant, but it wasn't taking too much of my time away from my actual work.
At about 9.30pm, the guests paid and left. They were pleasant. The type of customers that I like. And my boss left about 10 minutes later. I attacked the new booking system, and checked and double-checked the rates, the facilities of the hotel, the cancellation policy, and everything else you can think of. I was mentally drained, but it was a good day.
Tomorrow is another day. And my list is about my height. Aiyaayayayaya!
About Yani
- Yani
- Looe, Cornwall
- obsessed with movies, books and socks. sucker for old songs and good-looking men. coffee addict. loves her white freelander. loves her looe home. loves sabah. loves her family and friends, A LOT! carnivore. sometimes thinks that she is a genius (not!) has excellent taste when it comes to shoes. believes that education should be free for all. not-so-hardcore environmentalist, but recycles as much as she can and avoid using plastic bags at the supermarket
Monday 7 February 2011
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Dream, dream, dream
"I have a dream." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
Dreams are to be realized. Most of them are reachable.
Dreaming is a part of being human. The desire to reach for something we admire, respect. I've always dreamed of graduating with a bachelors degree and further, dreamed of traveling and seeing the world, and dreamed of being the best in my field. Personal dreams that are easier to realize because it is up to you. The power is in your hands.
Bigger dream however, for example the standard Miss World answer, "World Peace" are far more difficult. There is too much greed in the world. And there is only so much you can do. *Sigh*
Dreams are to be realized. Most of them are reachable.
Dreaming is a part of being human. The desire to reach for something we admire, respect. I've always dreamed of graduating with a bachelors degree and further, dreamed of traveling and seeing the world, and dreamed of being the best in my field. Personal dreams that are easier to realize because it is up to you. The power is in your hands.
Bigger dream however, for example the standard Miss World answer, "World Peace" are far more difficult. There is too much greed in the world. And there is only so much you can do. *Sigh*
Monday 17 January 2011
Accents?
I've been reading some threads online about Malaysian/Singaporean accent (Manglish and Singlish). And I find them absolutely hilarious as there are many people trying to defend the accent, as well as disturbed by it. As far as I am concerned, as long as people can understand you, it is not important what you sound like.
However, for someone who loves language and linguistics, I believe that it is important that we learn and master a language up to a native speaker level. Or at least get the pronunciation correct and sound just a little more convincing. I phoned Sutera Harbour and Karambunai Resort and spoke to the HR department to see if there is any jobs available for me to apply for; and I spoke the way I would when I talk to people here. And, they asked me which country I was from. When I told them that I am from KK, they said, "Oh?" It wasn't like I was trying to show off or anything, it was just the way I talk especially when being formal (I was looking for a job after all, therefore, cannot speak cincai2 lorrr!).
A few years ago, my dad and I were watching the news and this man who was the head of our Malaysian contingent to the SEA Games was being interviewed. He said, "I think we will do well in the SIGEM." (or at least it sounded like that to me and my dad). Another example would be the phone call from Al-Jazeera to the former Information Minister, Zainuddin Maidin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMFY1-z2Lk0. These are embarrassing examples of the incompetence of 'important people' who represented our country at international level.
If they don't care enough about improving their language skills, perhaps they should just stay under the tempurung kelapa and croak (not bloody speaking to a journalist on international TV!).
However, for someone who loves language and linguistics, I believe that it is important that we learn and master a language up to a native speaker level. Or at least get the pronunciation correct and sound just a little more convincing. I phoned Sutera Harbour and Karambunai Resort and spoke to the HR department to see if there is any jobs available for me to apply for; and I spoke the way I would when I talk to people here. And, they asked me which country I was from. When I told them that I am from KK, they said, "Oh?" It wasn't like I was trying to show off or anything, it was just the way I talk especially when being formal (I was looking for a job after all, therefore, cannot speak cincai2 lorrr!).
A few years ago, my dad and I were watching the news and this man who was the head of our Malaysian contingent to the SEA Games was being interviewed. He said, "I think we will do well in the SIGEM." (or at least it sounded like that to me and my dad). Another example would be the phone call from Al-Jazeera to the former Information Minister, Zainuddin Maidin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMFY1-z2Lk0. These are embarrassing examples of the incompetence of 'important people' who represented our country at international level.
If they don't care enough about improving their language skills, perhaps they should just stay under the tempurung kelapa and croak (not bloody speaking to a journalist on international TV!).
Sunday 26 December 2010
Mother Tongue
English is not my mother tongue, but I do think that I've mastered it to an extent of a native speaker (if only that would happen with French and Spanish too!). The reason for the title of this blog is the book that I'm almost done with; Mother Tongue: The story of the English Language by Bill Bryson.
He is probably my favourite non-fiction author. He speaks to me when I read his books, and the subjects that he covers are of course, my favourite things like travelling and languages and culture. All of this written in a wonderful sense humorous light, laughing at himself and others when faced with strange circumstances, and pretty good sarcasm!
We all need to learn so much about each other, and appreciate the differences (if not appreciate the custom itself). Being judgmental and ignorant will get us nowhere. We may think that the smartly dressed man in a queue at the bank is there for business, and the other man who wears a navy blue jumper with a dirty yellow overalls seem like a questionable character. And then bam! The smart man takes out a gun, yelling and screaming at everyone to "get down or I'll shoot!" And the dirt guy would come to everybody's rescue.
That was a bad example. I actually wanted to say something about respecting a culture different to our own. Say it's Christmas (well it is Christmas), and you don't celebrate it, but everyone else around you does. If they want to play Secret Santa at work, join 'em! And when it's Hari Raya, bring some satay and peanut sauce to work, and ask them to try your food. It's not complicated.
There is a bozo named O'Reilly who works for Fox News (a horrible right-wing news network). I feel that he is a narrow-minded fascist, who has no respect for anyone who does not share his values (which are not great anyway). On the news, he was complaining about the Eidul-Fitri celebration in American schools, and comparing it with Halloween. Because the lunar calendar is different from the Gregorian calendar, of course the date for Eid is different every year. Therefore, things related to Eid should not be displayed in schools like Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Easter.
More on this later. I need to get ready for work.. :)
He is probably my favourite non-fiction author. He speaks to me when I read his books, and the subjects that he covers are of course, my favourite things like travelling and languages and culture. All of this written in a wonderful sense humorous light, laughing at himself and others when faced with strange circumstances, and pretty good sarcasm!
We all need to learn so much about each other, and appreciate the differences (if not appreciate the custom itself). Being judgmental and ignorant will get us nowhere. We may think that the smartly dressed man in a queue at the bank is there for business, and the other man who wears a navy blue jumper with a dirty yellow overalls seem like a questionable character. And then bam! The smart man takes out a gun, yelling and screaming at everyone to "get down or I'll shoot!" And the dirt guy would come to everybody's rescue.
That was a bad example. I actually wanted to say something about respecting a culture different to our own. Say it's Christmas (well it is Christmas), and you don't celebrate it, but everyone else around you does. If they want to play Secret Santa at work, join 'em! And when it's Hari Raya, bring some satay and peanut sauce to work, and ask them to try your food. It's not complicated.
There is a bozo named O'Reilly who works for Fox News (a horrible right-wing news network). I feel that he is a narrow-minded fascist, who has no respect for anyone who does not share his values (which are not great anyway). On the news, he was complaining about the Eidul-Fitri celebration in American schools, and comparing it with Halloween. Because the lunar calendar is different from the Gregorian calendar, of course the date for Eid is different every year. Therefore, things related to Eid should not be displayed in schools like Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Easter.
More on this later. I need to get ready for work.. :)
Friday 17 December 2010
Needs another push..
My good friend Sofie a.k.a. Santafire sent me a message today asking me to 'like' her page on Facebook, and asked me when my next blog is coming. I'm so bad at this, I promised myself that I will write everyday, and I haven't written for 2 weeks. Very very naughty!
There isn't much interesting happenings for the past couple of weeks apart from being cold, and stressed at work, and (pause, trying to button my work jacket).. what the hell is this??!! Have I grown so fat over 1 month of eating junk food?! Oh, it's not my jacket. It is Ulrika's. Pheww (and yes, she is one size smaller than me!).. Now I really need to go on that diet. My excessive coffee drinking has got to stop, swap that with oolong tea which tastes very light and clean.
Augustus is going on that 3-day diet I gave him, and promised me that he would be thin by the time I go home next year. Haha, we'll see about that. I intend to lose about 5-7 kilos. I think that will be just fine. And doing yoga has definitely kept me stretchy, I can touch the floor when I bend forward! Yeay! Perhaps I should keep a journal for this particular diet and see how much I actually lost instead of just relying on the buttons on my jeans.
I'm going to go and light the fireplace now. It's cooold! Maybe I should be in the fireplace, burn some of those awful calories.
There isn't much interesting happenings for the past couple of weeks apart from being cold, and stressed at work, and (pause, trying to button my work jacket).. what the hell is this??!! Have I grown so fat over 1 month of eating junk food?! Oh, it's not my jacket. It is Ulrika's. Pheww (and yes, she is one size smaller than me!).. Now I really need to go on that diet. My excessive coffee drinking has got to stop, swap that with oolong tea which tastes very light and clean.
Augustus is going on that 3-day diet I gave him, and promised me that he would be thin by the time I go home next year. Haha, we'll see about that. I intend to lose about 5-7 kilos. I think that will be just fine. And doing yoga has definitely kept me stretchy, I can touch the floor when I bend forward! Yeay! Perhaps I should keep a journal for this particular diet and see how much I actually lost instead of just relying on the buttons on my jeans.
I'm going to go and light the fireplace now. It's cooold! Maybe I should be in the fireplace, burn some of those awful calories.
Monday 6 December 2010
Frost
When I left work last night, I had to scrape my windscreen as the temperature dropped below zero. I also had to wait for the de-mister to to de-mist my windows so I can see where I was going. The red car parked opposite my Jerry looked as if it just came out of a giant freezer. Not a great look on a car I promise you. Ooh, and I just remembered to make an appointment for Jerry to be serviced. Hold it, hold it.... booked! to drop him Thursday morning and probably pick him up early evening.
The weather, it is nice and bright right now, but freezing cold! My house has been kept warm and I hope that my gas bills for the next couple of months won't make me suicidal. It's been alright actually, but that is because of the summer, when you obviously don't need heating.
I'm waiting for the little birdie to come to the feeder just outside the house so I can take a picture of it. The feeder has been quite popular as the birds look for food to sustain themselves. There isn't much left in the wild as everything starts to freeze as you can see from the photos.
Let's hope this would be my last winter, as I do hate winter. It's bleak and grey and depressing.
The weather, it is nice and bright right now, but freezing cold! My house has been kept warm and I hope that my gas bills for the next couple of months won't make me suicidal. It's been alright actually, but that is because of the summer, when you obviously don't need heating.
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| My frozen poppies, the hills across the river was somewhat white this morning |
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| the feeder waiting for the birds, that reminds me, maybe i should go get more fat suet balls |
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| See the ice on my barbecue and fence? |
Let's hope this would be my last winter, as I do hate winter. It's bleak and grey and depressing.
Sunday 5 December 2010
Genius/Insanity: a fine line
"There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line." ~ Oscar Levant
The title of this blog is very likely going to be engraved on my possible iPod. Yes, I intend to buy the new iPod nano in of course, RED! The colour red is always associated with positive things like passion, fire and festivities. Sometimes it is also seen in a negative light, like the devil. Hmm..
But let's talk about the positives. The [RED] campaign to fight AIDS founded by Bono that aims for AIDS free generation by 2015 www.joinred.com. Chinese lucky colour (that's why they wear red on their wedding day and Chinese New Year). These are reasons my blog is red, apart from it being my favourite colour since forever, and the fact that my rumah sukan (sports team) had always been red since I was in primary school, and we totally rocked the Sports' Day of 2001. Definitely good times!
I've actually lost my train of thought. And have no idea what I was rumbling about. But hey, this is a random rumblings blog. More insane than a genius after all. (sob..sob..)
The title of this blog is very likely going to be engraved on my possible iPod. Yes, I intend to buy the new iPod nano in of course, RED! The colour red is always associated with positive things like passion, fire and festivities. Sometimes it is also seen in a negative light, like the devil. Hmm..
But let's talk about the positives. The [RED] campaign to fight AIDS founded by Bono that aims for AIDS free generation by 2015 www.joinred.com. Chinese lucky colour (that's why they wear red on their wedding day and Chinese New Year). These are reasons my blog is red, apart from it being my favourite colour since forever, and the fact that my rumah sukan (sports team) had always been red since I was in primary school, and we totally rocked the Sports' Day of 2001. Definitely good times!
I've actually lost my train of thought. And have no idea what I was rumbling about. But hey, this is a random rumblings blog. More insane than a genius after all. (sob..sob..)
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