Part time (baito) job in Japan

Aptly named so, this post will be about one of the biggest part of my life lately- my part time job as a hotel hall waitress.

my pay: 1100yen (rm40) per hour

as a hall waitress, i dont have to take orders from customers which i'm really grateful for as i have zero confidence in catching what the customers are saying. i only have jobs when the hotel has bookings for banquets by companies or associations etc.

each shift minimum 4 hours in where 

the 1st hour is spent on last preparations for the banquet such as

>the coffee cups task

1. fetch the coffee cups rack, coffe cups plates, spoons, cream and sugar packets

2. put together all of those in trays in according to the number of guests on each table

> and there is also the wet towel task - a simple task that can completed by the following steps

1. fetching the wet towel's small tray, then the wet towel itself from the 4th floor
2. spraying the tray with alcohol, wipe
3.  rip open the wet towel packets, put each wet towel on the tray
4.and finally putting the tray on the table so that the frilly side is facing away from the customer

>and lastly the bar tasks which

1. i don't even wanna begin..

then the banquet itself which usually last 2 hours where i dedicate my life and soul to ensure the customer enjoys their meal to the fullest by constantly pestering if they want any drinks, memorizing the brand of liquor they chose for their 1st round of drinks so i can replenish by only asking "shall i get you another drink of the same one?" instead of "what would you like to drink?" (therefore showing the customers our dedication to them), clearing away used dishes so they can eat new dishes(food) on new dishes(plates) , making sure the ashtrays contains no more than 3 cigarette butts at any time... the list goes on

then the last hour in clearing the hall, and arrangeing the setting for the next banquet which would be held on the same day or the following day. which i dont even know how to even begin explaining. it might run a few pages if i attempt to describe it

i used to love the last part when i still wasnt used to serving the customers cause even if i make a mistake there it wouldnt matter that much. but now that i'm not scared of serving customers anymore this part become one i dread most because most life energy is spent in dragging the table and chairs, rushing around

I've been doing this job for.. 2 months plus?　i still remember my 1st job was on 10th october with the interview itself a week before it. the interview was rather hilarious.

i remember arriving at the front of the hotel flower shop i was told to meet up at and not a single soul was there.  i kept wondering if i had messed up the meet-up time or spot.

the interviewer, toyomoto came shortly afterwards though.

i was the only interviewee.

The Toyomoto guy then "ok, now first of all please remember to use this back-door entrance which the employees are compelled to use..

 i was like woah..wait wait.. does this mean i'm hired? I mean he hadn't even read my resume which i spent one pain-staking hour writing.. and rewriting...or asked about how many shifts i can put in per week.

Toyomoto then procede to inform me that sakatani (a guy in my class) and another 4 other akashi kosen students are working there as well(￣△￣;). Oh well.. there goes my plan to lie about my current apricot head as my natural hair colour (the job require black hair, no perms)

As if he could read my mind, he then smiles charmingly and asks

 "is that your natural hair colour?"

"erm....."

damn.. busted.

and so my wig life begins (^^)/ 

muh wig...

which i ordered online

which costed me around rm150

which turned out NOTHING like the picture

which i have already cut into a bob style  *tee-hee*

because of the hair length, i still had to tie it into a pony tail and blabla..

plus i look like an aunty wearing it..

in the end i couldnt take it anymore and just chop it with the scissors.

it looks better now.

i should have been a  hairstylist...

oya i'm quite satisfied with my wig now but i dont have a photo of me wearing it and i'm too lazy to makeup and put the wig on now just to take a photo of it either so.. till next time!



korea day ten

farewell

this is it. the end of our happy-go-lucky days

*sigh* it has been such a good relieve from reality.

i didn't have a single thing in my mind during the whole trip except how to play hard

mr kim chia us lunch along with three of the staff

i'm sure i wasn't the only one who felt that mr kim wasn't as warm and friendly as he usually is?

maybe they're used to ang-moh customers whose tension are much higher than us, who're undoubtly more mature than us, who're better at striking up conversation than us.

but i

wish i didn't have to end my trip with a meal like this.

i would have preferred a 'just us' meal >.<

we couldn't even get rowdy like we usually do!

but i ish still grateful for the free meal

catching the 6002 bus back to the airport was easy

hoping to do some last minute shopping at the duty-free stores, we entered the boarding section rather fast.

BIG mistake

the duty-free stores were PRADA, LV all those impossibly super pricy stores =________=

arghhh!! we should have gone to the faceshop and skinfood outside the boarding section!!

one good thing that came out of it was that we came across some korean culture experience free event!

me, sze yang and lydia painted a fan.

the fan had the design drawn on beforehand so we just filled in the colours.

 samples of how the fan should be colored like were displayed, but i think everyone (including me!) wanted their fan to be special so in the end no one followed it. coloring it exactly like the sample might have been the most unique one after all.

further down the lane, we discovered this!

thank god we didn't pay money back at the korean folk village to wear hanboks

farewell korea!

thank you for the food

it's been some time since i've had anything near spicy

 i shall endure till next summer when i go back malaysia with this!

thank you for all  the make up shops!

 i got to buy branded nail polish at prices which would have otherwise only gotten me a lousy 100yen-shop nail polish in japan

thank you for the macho guys!

they were a feast for the eyes

okay this i haven't mentioned but maybe because all korean guys are required to undergo military training? anyway all the guys had bodies rippling with muscles hehe

and they wear tight shirts (which was a putoff actually)

but nontheless a refreshing change from the metrosexual japanese guys who pluck their eyebrows

thank you for the girls who didn't wear black tights!

and who didn't wore zillions of layers of clothing

and who didn't wear fake eyelashes

who didn't all have brown hair

who didn't smile all the time

who spoke loudly

 thank you for the PDA!

(for those of you who don't happen to know, it stands for Public Display of Affection)

it reaffirmed my stand that it's the japanese couples that's weird for trying to hide their relationship to the point that a couple can walk by each other in school and perfectly ignore each other!

even in malls, no couples can be seen walking hand-in-hand much less arms around each others' waist yet it's not  unusual for couples of two-months old to have sex? go figure!!

and lastly

thank you for the barbaric shoutings.

it made us appreciate japanese' courteousness which we were beginning to take for granted for being fake

farewell korea!

thank you...

for so much for a such memorable summer



korea day nine

bus terminal station & ehwa

the bus terminal station was a disappointment. the tshirts were cheap alright, 5000won but maybe because it was rather hot?, i totally didn't have the mood to shop. plus the shops' atmosphere were rather 'aunty' and there were very little young shoppers. me, carine and wei ling finished the place within less than an hour and just hanged around until our promised 3 hours to meet up with the others.

we swiftly moved to our next target, ehwa.

ehwa's feel is kind of similiar to that of hongdae's

couldn't resist the chicken...

sze yang "wow, i really loved this place's feel!

i want my future uni to be something like this."

...

it was an all-girls university.

deep within him, his true nature must have resonated with the girly feel here.

cute soap sheeps

in the end no one managed to buy any clothes here either.

no regrets at my shopping spree in dongdaemun after all (●⌒∇⌒●) !

though the prices weren't exactly cheap, at least i really love the variety of styles offered there. the accesories were really cute too! i didn't see any similiar stocks sold anywhere else either.

might do a post just about my 'shou huo' (^◇^*).

 would have gone to dongdaemun again but we were kind of pooped out by the time we finished exploring ehwa.

we headed back early to start packing our luggage.

tonight was the first time we played trump during this entire trip! unbelievable...

usually we couldn't resist not taking out the cards on the very first night.

losers have to immitate the mannequin's pose

one of the staff at the guesthouse.

funny guy.

he must have overheard our noise and came into our room with a mug of beer in one hand, expecting us to be drinking and partying which most of their usual ang-moh clients do.

carine sulking!! hehe so cute  (￣ε￣〃)

*sigh* already it's the last night in korea

and here we thought 10 days was too ridicously long for just seoul

korea day eight

carribean bay

hmm.. i don't think i have much to comment for today's trip...but

let's just see how it goes

carribean bay is located around 40 minutes away from gangnam (which takes an additional 40 minutes subway ride to reach from our inn) by bus.

subways are alright but riding buses in seoul are really such a hassle. we got scolded for no reason today!

there was a row of bus stops and just when we slowed down to look for the right one, we got bustled into a line by a uncle who looks like a bus conductor. we were like 'how does he know where we want to go without even asking??'

when we attempted to politely ask "carribean bay?" ,

he started shouting at us!

though we couldn't understand korean, his gestures (pointing at our clothes) and tone were more than enough to translate into 

"of course i know lah!! anyone who looks at your clothes would know where u guys are going! u think i stupid ah?!" 

=______________=

geez...

we weren't about to let some old uncle upset our trip but the incident did make us appreciate the japanese's courteousness, which we were beginning to take for granted, more

the entrance fee costs 45000won and you need an additional 5000won to rent the safety jacket.

one concept which was quite nice about carribean bay is that you can buy a wristband with a barcode on it, purchase some credits, and then use the wristband to pay for snacks and stuff you rent within the park. it was much easier than running back to your locker for cash everytime you were hungry.

you get back whatever credit left within the wristband by the end of the day.
 

oya!! there's some tube rides that require you to wear bikini

it was so hilarious. dong sheng and sze yang were in front of us while we were lining up for the ride. when the worker(girl) signaled them to take off their shirts, we thought that guys weren't allowed to wear tshirts or something.

when it was my turn, the worker turned to me and gave me the same signal while smiling.

i was like "carine! what do we do??"

 "nay.. she joking with you kut"

she repeated the signal again O.O

i was like laughing and pointing the inside of my tshirt and shaking my head furiously

and she goes "oh.. no?..nothing?" (you're not wearing anything underneath?)

after that she touched my tshirt to feel the material of it (worried that i wouldn't be able to slide smoothly enough through the tube from the friction of my tshirt maybe?)

and.... she finally OK-ed us ^^!

probably out of sympathy that we waited 20 mins for the ride :)

we prayed hard that the sun won't burn us black today!

and our prayer worked!

a little too well, i'm afraid

the water was freezing

carribean bay is located uphill

we gratefully sank into its miracle spa, glad for the warmth

not the one in the photo fyi

o.. there's a ride that i absolutely L-O-V-E!! it's called boomerang tower and is the most exhilarating water ride that i have ever gone on(again not that i have gone on much). if i have to describe it... i would say imagine a 'U' shape then imagine yourself in a raft that slides from one end to another..wu-la-la! a MUST if you ever come carribean bay. you feel like you're gonna get flinged out any second but it's perfectly safe ^.~

i got this boo-hoo at the outdoor wave pool >.<

 the ground at the shallow part was gritty (to prevent people from losing their grip, i assume?) and i lost my balance when the wave came crashing down. the wave pool was excellent! the waves were huge and you can ride on it by laying on your back (with the life jacket on, of course). there's actually another wave pool at the indoor section but it was full of little brats.

after a couple of hours, we decided to take a break and head back to our lockers for the cameras, which is how we managed to take all the photos, and food. food that we er.. sneaked in. we weren't aware that it's prohibited to bring food in until zi and wei ling who were checked by a different worker had their food removed and put into an outdoor locker.

luckily the worker who granted the rest of us entry didn't bother to check our bags.

after our photo session, we set off to the indoor section,

which was a bit of a disappointment for me though it was rather pretty.

the tube rides and facilities here were more catered to kids.

i appreciated the saunas though

in conclusion about today, i would say that i feel like i have gone to an hot spring resort rather than a water park.

so wanted to try the surf thing but by the time i worked up enough guts to go try, it was already closed for the day =(

carribean bay closes at 5pm on weekdays and the rides stops at around 4

it was the first time we reached our inn so early! 8pm!!

and so we headed out to karaoke!!

the other day we asked carine's friend whether karaoke in korea is cheap or not

she said "yup, super cheap! it only costs 10000won (rm26) for an hour!!"

".....

erm.... that's not exactly cheap..."

"it's 10000won per room"

"not per head?? now you're talking! yayyyy!!"

(^-^)/ we karaok-ed for 2 hours =)

and reached our inn at 12 am... again



korea day seven

nami island

the island famous for winter sonata!

it takes about a total of 2-3 hours to get there.

first we had to take the subway to Cheongnangyi station

then ride a 1.5 hour train (3800won) to Gapyeong station..

though the journey is long it's not an unpleasant one =). i've come to think that it's actually times like this that you get to talk the most with your friends.

chatted with sze yang througout the whole ride. i was so suprised when they said it's time to get off the train. 1hour30minutes isn't that long after all!

from Gapyeong train station, we next take a taxi (3500won) to the ferry wharf which is

5 minutes away

from the ferry wharf, you need to buy the 8000won ferry ticket which includes the Nami Island entry ticket. you then ride across the lake the nami island which takes about 8 minutes...

i was convinced by then that the only mode of transportation we haven't used to get to nami island must have been the airplane...

and behold!

we finally set foot on the very island where winter sonata guy and girl had their first kiss when they were but mere youthful students!

there's many many heart shapes stuff on this island

the aunties (probably japanese) were so frightened when the ostrich went to their table in search for food.

chased this ostrich around for about 10 minutes before i gave up the idea of taking a picture with it.

eats popcorn by the way.

looking at this photo makes me feel really serene

me and lydia started to tango when we noticed how my skirt has the 'feel'.

the skirt actually floats a bit and swirls around when i turn sharply!

nami island was very peaceful and quiet except for a bunch of aunties in purple t-shirts who were literally boisterous!

we were wondering who the hell were this gang of loud chinese-speaking aunties and uncles who were doing all sorts of weird poses (not that we are in any condition to talk about other people on weird poses but hey! we still immature mar.. can't be helped but at that age...) when we found out they were malaysians =.=

at least they looked like they were having lots of fun.

love lydia and carine's poses!

there's squirrels bounding around everywhere *^-^*

we were so excited when we saw our first squirrel

 but soon got used to seeing them bound off the tree onto the ground before they shot up the next tree.

it's nice to see an animal so lively instead of those half dead half alive caged animals in zoos.

even though it's summer, nami island is still quite lovely.

nami island would definitely be gorgeous during autumn when all the trees turn orangy.

half a day is enough for nami island as you don't really do much there except stroll around taking in the views around you

ah.. a word about this if i might.

must be korean culture. they conteng everything in sight.

everything

this culture is especially apparent at places where you have to line up waiting. such as lotte world.

'wow'

there's even scribbles on the ceiling! it's not that high but they would still have to climb on the fences. the longer the wait for the ride, the more scribbles there are along the waiting line's surrounding. 

we all owe this nami island trip to carine ^^!

it was thanks to her on insisting us to come here or we would have definitely miss out this place.

left the island around 5~6 in the evening.

the time we spent on the island was actually lesser than the time we took to travel back and forth!

when carine called yu yang for ideas on dinner, he ajak us over to his place

our 3rd meal of grilled meat at a shop introduced by yu yang.

he then brought us to his apartment to let us see how jpa korea students are doing.

 oya! he also introduced us to a sibu gal studying there who gave us ideas on where to shop cheaply ^^

dongdaemun was not on the list O.O *shocked*

according to her dongdaemun is actually considered expensive (｡＞0＜｡) *feels faint*

and that they usually go ehwa and bus terminal station place to shop..

wuwuwu~ i bought so much at dongdaemun already (ＴｗＴ。) !!

it was around 12am (again) by the time we reached our inn..

=="

boys will be boys...