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I’m currently sitting on my chair in my bedroom, enjoying the comforts of my home. Let’s track back to Saturday (:

I felt like I was literally dying on Saturday morning. I ain’t a person who can forsake sleep for other activities. Sleep is so important to me and well, to enjoy my Chinese New Year this year, I had to sacrifice that bit. I had afternoon shift on Friday which meant I reached home around Saturday midnight 12am went to sleep at 2am. After that, I had only mere 5 hours of sleep before I prepared myself for work. Afternoon shift the previous day and morning the next is seriously hell. I do not want to experience that again.

And so, I tried to endure the long hours of work. I was apparently already down with flu and sore throat. God seriously wanted to push me to my limits even further. Somehow, my schedule was changed from Women’s front to Front because there was this.. new girl? Can I even use the word “new”? She seemed really experienced but I’ve not seen her around before. Well anyways, she had sore throat so in the end I had to take her shift of being at Front. Thats like the fastest way to worsen your throat condition. For 2 hours, the customers had to endure my weird greetings mixed in with a little flu-strained and sore voice.

Pardon me but I was really counting down to break for the first time since I’ve worked in Uniqlo. Time often passes fast during work which means I’m really enjoying it but that morning, I have to admit it was far from that. Finally break arrived and I was able to hydrate my poor throat that I was torturing. Lucky me, my break wasn’t separated from others so there were people who accompanied me for lunch. Minji, Jaslyn and I just somehow met Davis at GoGo Franks and hence ended up eating together. Ah, and Davis made the entrance of Uniqlo so sticky with his drink! (I guess we really need to solve problems when they are small because it would lead to a larger mess. That’s a lesson that I’ve learnt that afternoon)

After break was Women’s middle. I was having fun doing my shift with Carmen. It somehow just feels good when you know someone is doing the same shift with you. Oh, the sad part was that today was her last day ): But we quickly traded our numbers and msn so that we can keep in touch (: The rest of the day was purely revolving around determination. Holding on was like the phrase I kept telling myself. The last hour was spent with Minji because Jaslyn ended work earlier.

I was celebrating when I heard one of my colleague announce that the store is closed for the day because it meant that my shift has ended and its time to go home! Poor Minji who has to stay till 7pm

Anyways I slept through the sms craze of everyone spamming Chinese New Year greetings to everyone at 12am.

On Sunday, I woke up at 7am. Was feeling so sick. Almost wanted to abandon my holiday at Genting. But that means I’ll have to stay in Singapore alone which freaks me out at the thought of it so I still dragged myself along. It proved to be a right choice because I had such a good time in Genting. SHOPPING! Bought my new year clothes on new year itself -.- Kind of ironic ><”

Went to sing k with my brother too. It was the worst experience ever because I was having sore throat. My voice was so cool. LOL. I could sing ah du songs without any difficulty :X This time, I didn’t go to the amusement park because there was no one to accompany me! When we were leaving Genting Highlands, I seriously regretted not going for the rides. Every time the roller coaster enter the mall, I would hear screams of excitment and I would wish that I’m on the ride too ):

Yesterday night finally reached Singapore at around 9pm. I’m so glad to be home now (: Oh, and today’s an off day which means that I had holidays for 4 days straight! Tomorrow’s time to go back to work >< I better enjoy today before it ends ~

Happy CNY people ^^

I’m almost wishing that I could find some way to grant my one and only wish. Those worries are creeping up on me during my slumber. March, my new beginning or death anniversary?

Today is my 2nd day off! Have been working afternoon shift lately, which means 1.30pm to 11.30pm. It’s interesting to see how people rush to the cashiers when you make an announcement saying that the shop is closed. Some people on the other hand take their time to continue walk around and shop for merchandise thats to their liking. A little hilarious if you think about it. People are so different when we’re actually of the same species.

Well, yesterday was fun because I’ve finally gotten Cashier Training! So fun!! I love being cashier! I made several minor mistakes like forgetting to smile and stuff around there but everything else was just great! Love the fitting room duty too~ Anyways being a cashier is hard work because there’s just so much that you have to say. First you have to greet the customer. Then tell them the total amount. If they are paying by cash, you have to inform them of the amount received. If not, you have to inform them of what they are using as in visa or nets or whatever. Then ask them to sign or give them the change. When giving them the change, you have to inform them again. Also, there is a need to tell them about the exchange policy. After everything, pass the bag of items to them, you have to thank them. Yeah. So much steps but still, it’s so fun!

Super love cashier-ing. Hope that I get more of it. But of course the worse part would be to calculate the items wrongly. For example you forget to scan one item or the other. Han Cong made that mistake but made up for it after that so there was no big deal. Oh and being a cashier means that you have to make announcements, help to get altered jeans or pants, sort hangers, fold clothes and do runs. Super busy but there’s kind of some coolness in between because thats one of the only times you get real close to the customers. Not as in physically but being able to provide some service other than helping them look for items.

The job I hate most is to be at the front where you do nothing but just greet. It’s important, considered really significant in Uniqlo that we have greeters at the entrance. To me, it feels kind of.. how do I put this. It doesn’t really matter should I say that? Nono. It does matter but its just that you don’t really get any sense of satisfaction as compared to when you are able to help someone out like directing them to the item they wish to purchase or guiding them to the rooms at the fitting rooms. Of course they do smile back when you greet them but in my point of view, there’s somewhat a difference. Perhaps others won’t agree to this but well, it’s how I feel actually (:

AH! And I feel SUPER OLD in my work place. Except for the supervisors, store managers and several other colleagues, the others are YOUNGER than me! They didn’t believe that I was 19 for one matter so they treated me like best buddies. When I told them my age, they gasp in disbelief and kept insisting that I was lying. Oh well, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m OLD!!! All of them are around 17 years old, most waiting for their admission to polytechnics. And I have to say looking young is much better than looking old! Some of them looked like they are in their twenties when they are younger than me!!! Kind of amazing but yeah =/

Lastly, if you’re wondering why I’m still up when I could just take a good rest, I’m watching Jiu Xiang Lai Zhe Ni. It’s so funny! The kids are so cute I love them to bits~

Okayokay, time to continue watching. Oyasumi (I greeted Arao-san with this when I ended work. He was surprised and it definitely brought a smile to his lips. Finally some Jap after working in Singapore for not-a-very-long-but-still-considered-long time)

What’s the most scariest thing during your first day of work? For me, its being late. And yeah, I was late but somehow I didn’t end up late or something like this. Let me explain.

I was feeling more excited than usual because I’m going to work in Uniqlo! The first time we went for interview, we weren’t accepted. This time instead of Part time staff, we applied for Full time and we got it! *gleams* And so I was on the train while recalling the days when I went to work at OG Somerset. It was only a stop away and as usual there was a huge crowd. I hated the squeeze in the morning, especially this time I wasn’t plugged in. Have I ever mention that when I don’t listen to music, I start to worry a lot? Thats what happened yesterday. I started counting down the stations till my train reached Orchard. My heart was seriously going to pop out while I spied on the time from the watch worn my the person beside me.

When I finally reached Orchard station, I was walking at the speed of running. Somehow, I managed to scrape through because Jas and I had no idea how we’re supposed to get in. While waiting outside B2 of Uniqlo, I caught a glimpse of an open door at B3. Then I realised we were supposed to get in via that. When we stepped nearer, faces of Uniqlo staff turned and stared at us. I had this weird smile plastered on my face because I had absolutely no idea how to react. We were in a state of confusion from the moment we stepped in because they started greeting us in Korean. After that we were questioned by this staff who asked if we were Korean.

After confirming we were not, they laughed and showed us the way in. I guess they were just joking. They probably do it to all the new staff or something just to lighten the tension. This time, we were in the manager’s room for a purpose. We’ve gotten the job and are going to start work! I have to say I didn’t like the start because everything was in a mess. We were assigned tasks that wasn’t planned properly. I can’t blame them because they were already flustered with their tasks. There were several staff around but they had so much tasks on their hand such as restocking which already took much effort. In the end we got the job of flattening cardboards. A weird job, but well we got used to it.

Our newly met colleagues were pretty friendly and I got the feeling that I would enjoy working here. Everyone seemed like a cozy family without much discrimination around. Our Japanese manager, Arao was really cute. He was stumbling over his poor english and asked for our forgiveness. Val on the other hand was pretty much organized so I really liked her. She made all the screwed ups seem possible. She herself was irritated as everything wasn’t going as planned yet she gave us a short welcome and planned beforehand on our jobs so I guess it didn’t turn out that bad in the end.

We had a short briefing before the shop officially open. It was pretty interesting. Everyone was cheerful and knew that the most important thing was to provide good service. Bright smiles were seen from all of them. Pretty soon, customers streamed into Uniqlo. I have to say I did not expect so many customers as it was a weekday. Friends would agree that I ain’t exactly an extrovert so I have trouble greeting the patronizers when they came in. I kept my mouth shut while I did my tasks of folding clothes.

After that, Arao demonstrated to us the importance of being friendly and of course smiling. Then we got a hands on practise. I guess I opened up much and was even praised with Han Chong. Oh wait. I haven’t introduced the newbies which included Han Chong and Alicia who were from NJ and of course Jas and I.

Overall I really enjoyed the job because it was more of helping customers and making sure that enjoy our service. Jobs like this really give us a sense of satisfaction as we really felt that we were helping them. Useful (: Thats how I felt I was. Pretty soon, I’m sure we’ll be welcoming customers with our heart and not greeting them just because our job wants us to.

Hope by Orchard Ion, Uniqlo and you’ll probably be greeted by my friendly colleagues or maybe even me!

Tomorrow my shift starts at 8am to 6.30pm so I guess its time for me to sleep! Have to wake up by 6.40am. Feels a little like school but a little different and fidgety because it isn’t that usual routine I’ve went through the past 12 years! ^^

Have a good night people.