Asian Food Odyssey

Lately of such, I’ve been eating out a lot. By saying that, I do mean a LOT! Being sick makes me crave for home cooked food and home cooked food to me means Asian food. That’s something closer to heart, I suppose.

We discovered a restaurant somewhere down the road from my place and decided to give it a go since it was Father’s Day in OZ. They served pretty authentic Malaysian and very large portion for A$10. Here are the pictures:

Laksa (above) and Beef Kuey Teow (below).

 

Think they looked nice and love to try out? The details:

Bentley Chinese Restaurant

28A Chapman Rd

Perth WA 6102

Bare Trees

Spring is here and I don’t quite like it. I’m serious, spring may be the season I hate the most (apart from winter) because it’s the time I get my annual hay fever relapse and yes, I hate to use nasal spray or take Zyrtec on a daily basis!

Something caught my eyes this spring. It’s the growth of flowers, it’s a celebration of new lives and new beginnings for most of the plants. It also made me wonder why do homeowners with gardens or plants like to trim down their plants to a state where it’s so bare you get goose bumps? The photo below should be an interesting reference.

Spring oh spring, how long would thou last?

Me and Big Things

How do you define big things? Could it be big physically, or big ideas in the progress of becoming the real deal? Or perhaps, being successful? I guess the latter fits in my way of defining big things. Now the next thing to tackle would be how big should big things be? No, this post isn’t written in a way to complicate the meaning behind, and yeah, there is a meaning behind it.

What I’m trying to say is, being a journo graduate that is working 2 part-time jobs in a full-time environment made me think a lot. Especially during times like that, when I think I ought to do better things that relates to my field. I want to be a journalist, someone who writes and pens down all sides of the story, someone who delivers, someone who’s just and proud of what she’s doing. I want to find my passion of writing back. That is what I want to do now. I know life doesn’t always turn out the way you want it to be, but being a believer and being hopeful, I believe things would turn out what the Almighty wants it to be.

It’s pretty clear that I want to go on blogging about things but I think the laziness in me is spreading inside out and now I’m uncontrollably lazy. So I just don’t want to be a pathetic graduate looking for a job in the field printed on my degree. I want to be passionate about things, be myself again and pick up the things I love from where I left behind. My next post would be dedicated to this special little girl that stepped into my heart and I honestly believe, I would never forget her.

Yesterday of my Life

Yesterday wasn’t very much a good day at work. It may seem true that everyday may not possibly the best days of work but the feelings I had it totally different yesterday. How shall I put it? I shall say I had a heavy heart after an episode at work. That episode did involved me indirectly and it kind of affected my performance at work throughout the evening.

I was cleaning the conveyor belt at work while a dodgy looking guy walked out of my checkout and was giving me all the very wrong impression. The alarm at the checkout went off as he walked passed and he was taking out a cigarette from the pack as he walked out. I did not do anything although he’s dodgy but just glance at my workmate bizarrely. The security at the centre saw him and called him back so that I could check his bag. I stood there – speechless – while he unzip his bag to show us the contents. A can of Lynx was found and he apologised to me but the security felt the can and it was empty. I don’t know if he’s hiding something but I could felt the security being harsh as the alarm still goes off. Then we found a DVD that sets off the alarm but the guy denied stealing that. Of course, I didn’t hum a word as the guy looked mentally unstable. The security then asked him to empty his pockets but he refused and took off. The security ran after him, leaving his cigarettes, Lynx and DVD behind. My supervisor came down to check on me and said the DVD doesn’t belong to the store.

At that instance, I felt a pang of guiltiness running through me. Did the security and I accused the guy wrongfully? Just within minutes, a woman shoplifted at the pharmacy and yet another episode of police and thief broke out. All in all, they caught the woman, the police came and lives are resumed to normal. But I didn’t feel the same. I still carried a heavy heart and I have no confidence as I used to have catching bad eggs. It’s just because I’m still unsure if I did the right thing by accusing that guy or if he actually has something to hide in his pockets.

It’s inevitable this sort of issues should always be considered over and over. I do not know how to tell the bad from the good and it’s undeniable that everyone has their own agendas – regardless of stealing or being a good person in the society. I think it’s always wise to look at things from a different angle and this is my new goal towards the days which I’m embracing.

Keeping Faith

To be honest, there are a whole lot of things I would like to post on my blog lately but I didn’t have the time to. Why? – Its just because I’m pretty much preoccupied with another of Jodi Picoult’s book, Keeping Faith. This is yet another brilliantly written book by Picoult with a good ol’ courtroom story that revolves around the life of a little girl who interacts with God upon her parents’ divorce. I don’t know if seeing God or interacting with God would cause how much ciaos since God Himself lives in us. Still, this book brings out a good sense of how the media portrays God and how different religions see God in a different form.

Of course, the issue in the book is the God the little girl sees is a female God and the traditional portrayal of God is often seen as male. But I guess what matters most is how much we love, devote and willing to give to God, regardless of what gender He/She is. This book hasn’t change much of my perceptions of God, but it does strengthen my faith. No matter what others think of Him, He is still the best Father I could ever asked for.

Work

So I've been pretty much working very hard lately. I can't deny that as my last day off was like 2 weeks ago. It has been 14days in a row and still counting. As mentioned in the previous post, I've been bullied by customers and there's no doubt people living in this society isn't considering enough and the motto "Customers are always right" shouldn't be emphasised any longer. Why would I make such a point? It is undeniable that customers thought they are always right that they no longer need to respect people serving them and what are us other than the same humankind as them? We too are homo sapiens sapiens aka human. Let me tell you what happened to me at work yesterday. There were 3 of us, all girls, working in the afternoon at the cafe. We were busy cleaning part of the cafe when a looney man walked in. He stared long into my supervisor while she was sweeping and I was staring right at him, watching his every move not far away. It wasn't long until I decided to ask him what I could do for him. In a thick Russian accent, he asked if we were closed and I said we're just closing half of the cafe to clean up. Then he made his order at the till and the other girl was serving him his cake while I made his coffee. As I was serving him his coffee, I noticed he asked my co-worker to get him a newspaper. So hello man, you don't pay us tips nor service charges to do that! It's ridiculous what you're asking for here! So I gave him his coffee in a nonchalant mood and he called after me, telling me my apron is "unhygenienic" just because I have the smallest dirty spot right in the middle of the apron. Of course I wouldn't just say sorry, after all I do not owe him an apology for the tiniest dirty spot on my apron! I cleared my throat and told him it was a clean and fresh apron when I went in to work and it got dirty while I was working. He looked unimpressed and asked for my name, and so I told him. Guess what comes out next? He told me to "watch your back". Oh my goodness, I'm so terrified, and like I really do. I glared at him, hard, and walked away. Of course, he stayed there for more than 30minutes, laughing while reading the newspaper and staring at us like almost all the time he was there. As he was about to leave, he walked up to the till and asked my supervisor of Dome's origin and who owns our cafe. She didn't let out much information and he left. What an idiot and yeah, I guess I do have some attractions in attracting weirdo looneys! I guess I gotta get back to work on the Community Visitors Scheme newsletter. Bye for now.

Life

Hey there, it has been long, hasn’t it? Oh well, I find it a hassle to login into blogger to blog and I don’t think I am that interested to take that extra step. But I just realised there is much easier way to blog. The credit goes to Windows 7 for sure. Although I still have so much to discover about this new OS but life has been much easier and hipper with it, I must admit.

Today I did something out of ordinary. It’s not like I don’t walk a lot. Most people who knows me will know that I do walk a lot and I made this crazy attempt which I have always wanted to try out. I walked from Dome Applecross to Coles Karawara. Yes, that’s from job no. 2 to job no. 1. Not that I’m working at Coles today but I need to shop for some provisions before I run out of something to eat. It took me just a little over an hour to get to my destination, which I have minus the time I spent in Manning Library. This experience is a little out of the box and it would be memorable as my thighs are beginning to ache now. Alright, I might sound stupid but I just want to get back to the proactive me and make sure putting on the kilos are not on my list this winter.

Today is the 7th day I’ve been working straight. It wasn’t as bad considering I’ve worked 28 days in a row before. What made me upset are the customers I came across. Regardless of which industry you are in, either customer service or hospitality, I think the phrase “customers first” is not necessarily applicable at all times! I came across half a dozen of bad eggs customers since Saturday and I have to be honest, I did not do anything disrespectful to them! For example, if a customer does not have the money to pay up, should I be blamed for that? If the coffees I made are sitting on the bench for at least 10 minutes before it is served, should my head be on the chopping block? Honestly, since the dawn of consumerism, human behaviours have hardly move forward but vice versa. Being rich or middle-class (which means you could afford most things) doesn’t mean anybody can defile someone else or worst more, makes you more superior when you spend your dole! Such behaviour will just backfire and things are turning back at you as you self-disgrace. I don’t think I made a bad point here. Of course, I have to self-reflect in this area as I do think the same way at times when I’m a consumer but I think I am slowly walking with the shoes of a worker, someone who is serving the consumers and I honestly believe these few days of serving difficult customers have shed some light to me. It’s a little late now. I have to go to bed and nurse my lower body. Goodnight bloggie, will fill you up soon.

Ps. Some interesting facts about me.

1. I’m watching Golden Girls series 1 on YouTube during my lunch breaks, its so classically funny.

2. I’ve decided to apply for a library card for the local library. Back to reading Jodi Picoult again.

What can I say about me? I am unpredictable.

Nitenite.

Work Experience!!!

So I haven't been blogging for a long. What is the purpose of owning a blog then? Oh well, that doesn't mean I'm not going to start doing it now. I hope (fingers crossed) that I will be blogging on a regular basis, not an on/off basis from now on.

Judging by the title, I think you would know I'm actively seeking work experience in the journalism field. By saying that, I really mean it! Australian immigration is giving international students (or, bridging visa holders like yours truly) a very hard time. They are scrapping almost half of the occupations from the current Skilled Occupational List and the new list that does not include occupations in demand like accounting, pharmacy (and more), and also journalism will take in effect in 30 days. Honestly, I do not understand what's gotten into the policymakers' head that people like me have to suffer. The best alternative for me would be doing a graduate diploma in teaching, which would make me a certified teacher in Australia after the one-year course. The thought has been running in my head for sometime. It would be a tough decision to make as my ultimate choice of career would be journalism. So, I've decided to break the thought, and look for work experiences in the field now and gain sufficient experiences by the time I depart. By saying depart, I mean looking for a career in Malaysia and Singapore by the end of the year. I know it would be hard for me, especially when I've been living here for three and a half years. What choice do I have then when all these laws come into effect?

I can't play the victim here as I know a lot of people out there are affected by these laws as well. It isn't the worse option for me to go back. At least I could see my family every now and then and things would be much easier back home. There are people who need to stay here desperately as their home countries offer them limited opportunities. I might have a good life but I'm all prepared for adversities because that is how we learn from mistakes, and that is how we learn from life and grow up.

Anyway, I'm not bragging much here. There are heaps of things waiting for me to do. Goodbye for now.

Telephone Remake

6th Grade Heart-throb Performs "Paparazzi"