Again, With The Updates.

Here's my schedule for these few days:

22th Oct - Work at the newsagent.. 7am - 12pm-ish.
23th Oct - Financial Management finals - from 1pm - 4pm
24th Oct - Work at the fresh fruit market.. 10am - 3pm
25th Oct - Work at both the newsagent and the fresh fruit market - 7am - 11am shift, 12pm - 7 or 8pm shift, followed by preparations for studies in Commercial Transactions.
26th Oct - Work at the newsagent.. 7am until unknown, then followed by preparations for Commercial Transactions
27th Oct - Offday from the fresh fruit market, but Commercial Transaction finals, followed by Principles of Finance preparations.
28th Oct - Work at the newsagent from 7am until unknown, then followed by preparations for Principles of Finance.
29th Oct - Principles of Finance finals.
30th Oct - Plans unconfirmed
31st Oct - 10am - 3pm shift .. and rock my balls off with the guitar until next February.

Now that I wrote all that out, I think I should lay off the idea of working and studying at the same time.

Then again, not.

I'll be able to do this.

I believe in myself.











Besides that, I had a straight 2-day birthday celebration. I had work yesterday, then I treated my brother and my housemates and a friend to dinner out of sheer randomness. Then followed by lunch today .. where my housemates bought lunch for me.. And this friend of mine.. bought a $50 iTunes Gift Card as a present, and then my other housemates bought a cake and dinner for me, so that's cool.

But the iTunes Gift Card was the worst present I ever thought to give to someone else. And this time, I was being offered the ..present.

I mean. $50 on the iTunes Store. What the hell is there to buy?? We can always torrent and download whatever junk we're interested in.. Until..

.. I remembered that Victor Wooten's album - Soul Circus and Yin Yang was not available for purchase in JB Hi-Fi or torrents.

So I got the two rarest album for myself. And months back, I remember updating my status saying that if anybody wanted to get me a birthday present - that would be those two albums.

.. I guess I should really be careful for what I wish for, eh?

I haven't gotten the time to review those albums yet, but from the previews, it's different - and definitely better than Palmystery.

I am looking forward to my break.











And I am looking forward to go back to Malaysia as well. That should be my long-awaited vacation.. Boy, am I stressed out.. bah..!

Burp.

Today, I happily got up without procrastinating to get to university. Usually, I'd be tossing and turning in bed and shit. I even cut out on my throne session this morning, made my way to the bus station earlier than any other day, and made my way to university.

When I got here, all might and all awesomeness happened.

I remembered that the 10am class were to be my future housemate's tutorial time. For the same subject, but at different places and different times.

Mine's at 11pm, by the way.

So I've been here since 9.30am. Awesome.

Sigh.

And I tried asking for a spot in this local coffee house; Red Bean. The only thing that scares me would be that the baristas here know the actual Art of Espresso. I don't, because it wasn't part of Starbucks procedures to .. do them arts.

On another note, I hope that the email gets through. At least it'll kill some time around here as I'm doing my uni studies. Bleh. And I think I should've just submitted a hardcopy of the resume instead of a softcopy. You never know how things might work faster, right?

And here's something I'm hooked onto.

Trying It Out.

Greetings from the University of Tasmania in Sandy Bay campus!

I'm just meddling around with the possibilities of these computers and how they really work on campus.

All I can say is..

.. A lot better than college.

I'm pretty much dead sleepy, and just over-tensed about that stupid quiz coming up.

Not so awesome, but hell, I'll just get thigns out right in a bit.











*yawns*

>___>

HELLO.

First thing's first. The iPhone Optus plan, I cannot apply for. So that really sucks balls. The only way I can apply for it would be if that I have a credit card, or extend my studying period.

If that were to be the case, I'll never get the plan with my own name and account..!

So I might as well save up for a proper iPhone 3GS, which I have to foot a total fo $860 on the spot. In cash, and in full.

No installments.

It'll be cheaper by 100+ from Optus stores, and 600++ more cheaper compared to the plan I was looking forward to.

Too bad.

BUT, on the brighter side.





Sturdy looking, but I hate the fact that when I do a vibrato, I'm scraping whatever's left off the frets. Also, I think the fretboard's made out of plastic.

Besides that, for $40 cheaper than the original, it has only one small dent. Which you can't see in the picture, so I think this is pretty neat!

This is officially my 5th guitar!











Now wish me luck, everybody. I am going to write my first ever resume to apply at the Hobart Music Centre.. Where they retail Ibanez and Cole Clark guitars!!!!!!

(Now how in bloody hell do you write a resume.)

Although..

.. A customer came up to me and saw the whole place in a mess, the preparation for me to shut the whole kiosk down when my boss is not around.

"I'm sorry. But are you all closing..?"

Me: "..."

Thoughts: ".. Star Skills; Just say "Yes"!"

Me: "... Yup. We're still opened. You looking for the ring you spotted a few days ago?"

Opened the till, blasted in the opening fund, again.

Served the first and the last customer for the day.

Then I closed the kiosk.

Although only a small profit was earned today, I felt frustrated. Nobody's around, nobody even bothered to look around, and listen to what we have to say about the products we're selling.

(I can't say, I'm selling, because it's not my company.)

Unfortunately, results are bad, and I'm suffering from its downfall with the absence of my superior.

He is planning to sacrifice himself due to the downfall, and also cutting as much cost as possible. Firstly, with the labour cost due to the sales not being able to cover back.

So, one more week to go in this odd experience.

Then my holiday begins.. *phew*











Although little, but now I understand how my ex-Store Managers mumble about costs, CoGS and not being to achieve sales. Of course, when we work under them as baristas, we didn't really care. But imagine if you were to be in their shoes, reporting to the District Managers. That's when the fireworks will begin.

Also, although it's been a tiring day, and tomorrow will be another one, like a stressful day at my previous working place..

.. I'll sit down, play the guitar until everything seems right again.











Now, that's what you call passion.

Hi Guys.

It's been a while since I last blogged.

I haven't found the appropriate mood to blog about my overall Starbucks Experience, or my Green/Black Apron story. All put to good rest. One day, maybe, I shall write about it if I'm in the mood.

For the moment, if you all are interested in jewelry being presents, please do drop by at Gurney Plaza. I'm working under Bausch K until the 24th, and we have quite a wide range of Stainless Steel Jewelry.

Advantages?

If you were to be robbed off your jewelry, you will be the one laughing because the thief doesn't realise he just stole a high-quality fork.

Or teaspoon, if it were to be a small plain ring.

I'm participating in the fair from the 1st December to the 24th December.

Please do pop by to support.











Besides advertising, I am also facing a huge headache with this new job of mine, because not many have heard of stainless steel jewelry.

One day, I'll blog about it.

But for the moment, I need my sleep.

Today,

I laughed so hard until I nearly lost my voice.

And also, I laughed so hard until my asthma kicked in.

I also laughed very hard because of poker.

And to top it all, today marks my last day in Starbucks.

Wheee?











There goes my green and black apron journey. I wanted to blog about it, but I lost the mood somewhere. So what's the point? Where is that passion?

It Feels Like..

.. Shit.

You come home, to the place you call home, and you face everything that a home does not define.

I feel very unwelcomed.

Very, very unwelcomed..

And the only thing I can do is nothing.

Just sigh, and get along, I guess.

Ain't nothing we can do, right?

There's always music.

So I'll just hide away in this shell. Hopefully it has good THX sound system, and a shitload of Dream Theater. I'll survive.

Brrr...

And tomorrow shall be my ..first day!

First Day of Raya.

The first day of Raya went well, but not as well up to my expectations. Doesn't matter anyway.

Also, I just finished my 2nd last shift in Starbucks Ikano. My final shift would be tomorrow, then I have to report in @ Starbucks New World Park next Sunday.

The people here are great. Just that when the time calls you to go home, you have to go home.

I'm not going home because home calls me, but I have some stuff and settlement issues to settle over there, then I'm out of Malaysia.

I'm going to miss being a Starbucks barista. It's all about the Green Apron that creates the Starbucks Experience.

At least I'm leaving in a good manner.

I guess.

So..

......

So many things going through my head. But then again, I've settled one of them - the Coffee & Tea Authority certification. I'm not certified yet, but (hopefully) soon. I don't know if I'm able to carry the qualities in passing that certification as it is our basic test that they just introduced (??).

Plus the previous 2 weeks have been very very horrid towards me. No internet connection and chronic fever. It's like an on/off switch, and I'm not the one flipping it.

It's what I eat.

Pretty much scary due to the H1N1 issue, but I wasn't bothered completely by it. Heh.

So I've got a headache now. How?

THUG2, that's what! Wheeee..!

Minor Updates.

Very minor ones, that's for sure.

Today, I'm going to transfer the final batch of items that I do not use anymore (I hope) from my place in PJ. After that, I'm going to watch Up. Cute movie, really. This is probably the first time that Pixar managed to catch my eye regarding a movie with a cartoon-ic storyline.

I've got a question though. Why is Bolt and Angels and Demons still out and Public Enemies is already cleared from the cinemas listing?

Thanks to them being retarded, I will officially support pirated products by buying a DVD, or not support piracy but original products by downloading an original DVD off torrents.

Let's just say that I'm borrowing the officially copied DVD from someone else off the net that I do not recognise or know of.

I'm not wrong for borrowing an officially copied DVD, right? All I need to do is to get my PowerISO/MagicISO up and running and I'll be able to watch them movies.

:D [ / end of sarcasm ]

Now, as per Starbucks - I might have the finalised store that I'll be transferred to in Penang during my 4 month stint. But the problem is, I'm going to be tendering my resignation on the 1st of November and I'll be officially inactive on the 1st of December.

Problem is, what if my application for an Australian university doesn't get confirmed by February?

Rejoin Starbucks? I have no idea yet. HAHAHAHAHAH.

And as for the guitar - I'm pretty disappointed that I'm not going anywhere. I'm still playing the same old stuff, doing the same old things (and even less from time to time), and I'm still stuck with the same studies. It never ends because there's no boundaries in music, supposingly. Everybody's striving to get better from every aspect or all of the aspects they've already achieved. Just improvements, I guess?

I picked up a couple of videos through YouTube.com. It's the perfect source of inspirations, but hell, I don't know who to look up to and for.

So here's a couple of videos I checked out, literally, just last night:



















What the...??



Also, my recent download of guitar tabs include Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart and Paul Gilbert's version of Fly Me To The Moon.

Oh God.

Now you see how fucked up my musical mind is?

But then again, I ain't complaining much because music's just.. awesome.

It's orgasmic!

Let's not forget Jack Johnson as well now, shall we?

Simplified Mentality.

Whenever you are vocal regarding your opinions and want to ensure that it all goes well, people say that you're a little bit too loud.

So the next time I'm required to assist something important, or an event, you can get my mobile number and shove it right in between of your ass.

If you do not require full corporation, then just say it, retards.

Photographic Updates.

Here's a few things that happened lately.

The reason why I decided to post up some pictures is because I can touchy-touchy a little bit on LightRoom.

I just got home from Pavillion. Got my first top from Heritage 1821 or 1981, or something like that. It's a Forever 21 branch. The designs are somewhat similar to TopMan, which are entirely European, so I wouldn't want to wear such things.

Until I found this:


And at Starbucks? I managed to compile my rewards. The most recent reward I managed to get would be the M.U.G. award - an award where I managed to take at least 256 employee beverages in mugs / tumblers instead of using plastic cups and harming the environment!


Just joking. The M.U.G. award stands for the Moves of Uncommon Greatness award - Something you've performed for the store - regardless to partners or customers - that goes beyond your job scope, in a way. The reason why I got this award would be that I came in for my shift hours before due to a voluntary act without being requested. This happened due to lack of partners on the day.

Then comes the certification of being a Store Coffee Master and an In-Store Learning Coach.



The In-Store Learning Coach is a position where a partner is certified to go through a Barista Training Programme with new partners in coaching them in accordance to Starbucks' standards. It has been a very interesting experience for me as I meet plenty of people with different personality - causing me to have the ability to adapt towards others like working in different stores in a short period of time.


The Store Coffee Master shows a partner (of any sort in Starbucks) having great passion in what they do; regardless if it's doing a Tall Latte, or grinding a 1 pound whole bean French Roast for customers, it's about the passion that you have for the job. Accompanied by a Black Apron, having the ability and knowledge to explain what's what to customers; not correcting what they know, but educating them regarding the coffee culture and how we roast, sell and compare beans against each other.














Next up? Ain't going to be much. What was it again? Andy Timmons? ;)

You Know It..

.. When a customer compliments that you're quick on the cash-register system in Starbucks.
.. When a customer gets their drinks, change, receipt, and foodstuff right after the printer prints out your order.
.. When a customer sees that you hold quite a bit of knowledge (where the senior partners definitely know more.) and they enjoy sharing it with you.
.. When people sees the passion you have towards your work.
.. When people knows you're particular about a certain procedure being done.

It definitely marks the 1-year milestone in my life. Until today, I can't believe that I'm still holding onto this job consistently without complains (Well, except for a few), and of course, Creating the Starbucks Experience.

I am constantly reminded and tempted to go through my Barista Training Programme to ensure that I am reminded of what they taught me in class to ensure that it is practised everyday.

It's simple.

• When a customer compliments you that you man-handle the POS quickly, it shows that you were put on shift on every weekend - whenever it's busy.
• When a customer also compliements that you work quickly and get their stuff done before s/he could even lay out the exact change, it means that you have proper time management to serve the customer (e.g. reading body language - using CDR.)
• When a customer knows you know your stuff; it shows that you were too used to the store and you read upon the magical resource manuals that nobody bothers to read nowadays.
• When people see that you are passionate towards the things you do. It's more to like, you worship coffee and have a shrine at home.
• When your partners notice that you're particular about procedures, unless if there's a special reason and excuse to break it. Just think about it - Do a customer's beverage like you're doing your own. I'm sure you wouldn't like it when someone else spits into your employee beverage or someone else screws up your beverage whenever you purchased it regardless under discount or at full price, right?

As some of my partners heard regarding my departure from Starbucks Ikano this coming September, I have no idea if I have a proper store to work in,or not.

.. or maybe just slack around, and play the guitar until I'm musically inclined once again..

Heh.







I lap you, Gajah boolat ;)

A Couple of Random Thoughts.

Only because I am unable to think straight for my stupid Corporate Governance tutorial.

• Reinforcement/Behaviour Change Feedback. Ability to identify what are the learner's good behaviours, and providing a reinforcement feedback to show that what the learner had done is good, and he should do it in the near future to ensure satisfaction (if it is service-based performance). Behaviour change would result to something the learner had done wrong, and the coach would need to take action to change the learner's behaviour. To state out the mistake, then what is supposed to be right, and then give a reason why it was supposed to be right to ensure certain progress.
• Brazil may be the largest exporter of coffee. But that doesn't mean that Starbucks purchase most of it, because most of Brazil's exported coffees would be Robusta beans, due to Brazil's geographical condition (being less than 450m above sea-level) of it being unable to produce high quality Arabica beans.
• Asia/Pacific coffees are interesting. Like the Starbucks Anniversary Blend, the only blend created to go against Dark Roast Blends, and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Starbucks in 1998.
• Peaberry Blend - One of a kind. Because 5% of most tree's coffee cherries only contain a peaberry, it could be a multi-region blend. And for it to have ascertained complementary flavours would be theoretically impossible as it comes from Asia/Pacific, Latin America, and Africa/Arabia.
• 85% of the beans are purchased from.. Latin America. And Guatemala supplies most of these beans because Guatemala grows the highest-quality and highly consistent Arabica beans in Latin America.

Studying the basics of the coffee may be a stale subject. But if you were to venture more off to like, why does Columbia Narino Supremo have House Blend or Guatemala Antigua as a similar coffee to present towards customers, you'll approach coffee in a different aspect.

That is a key learning - a term for us to use when we learn something new.

RE-viewing.

I've been studying, working, complaining, travelling, spending (!!!), and playing a lot of music lately, yet I'm still dissatisfied.

I don't know what is wrong with me, but I think I'm nearly reaching the peak of whatever I'm doing.

I've been feeling tired, like as if age was catching up. Stressed, not entirely moody, but just.. stressed for no reason.

Whenever class ends at 5pm, my eyes gets heavy and I don't even have the mood to do anything else. Even whenever it's work, or something else exciting, I'd just snap and lose my mood.

Sometimes, I even branch off to blankness when someone else is talking to me.

What's up with me, anyway?

Oh well.

For the moment, I can't be bothered.

But whenever I'm bothered again, this nonsense comes up.

.. So whatever.

BM, Bitch.

You're going downnnnnn.

There goes my Saturday classes, and for my final semester, I'm off on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays! Woohoo!

Did a 10 and a half hour shift at Ikano.. Approved of OT, yeah! I wanted to help out regardless of what happened, anyway. Minor glitch in the schedule.

Well, Labour's Day is coming up. Come what may!

I feel freaking stressed out at the moment, but who cares, yup. I feel my shoulders all tensed up. But whatever it is, I'll sleep through it, hopefully. Meh.

Now, what should I do for tomorrow since I'm off..

Work @ Starbucks, Borders The Curve.

One word; La Marzocco..

.. Yummy ........................

No objections for being partner on loan there.

HEEEE.

Ok nights.

Will be offline from 24th - 27th March.

What for..?

Simple.

To find myself again.

Oh. Last minute changes, I won't be attending the Earth Hour @ CapSquare this coming 28th of March. Nevertheless, I'll be busy serving customers at Starbucks Ikano.

Huhu

Surprising.

How many of you here know that if I had the chance, I would be driving about mindlessly, getting lost, and just enjoyingthe roads?

Or if I were to be at work, I'd be one of those baristas wasting water.

Or I'd be probably doing something unproductive that relates to wasting the world's natural resources.

So my Store Manager decided to make me learn my lesson by making me attend the Earth Hour.

I should be working.



But then again, many others are heading there. So yup. I'm going to represent my store. And why me and not the other managers from the store, heh?

Maybe it's a good change.

So good, until I'll sleep without my fan from then onwards.