now that i’ve had enough time to properly collect my thoughts on the end of the waitressing stint, i can finally write about how i feel - I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD HAVE WORKED ONE EXTRA WEEK. then i wouldn’t be bored of my senses now, and i could have earned more money to sustain myself through my first month of fulltime work (since i won’t get paid until the end of that one month). i miss my colleagues and i’ve definitely learnt so much more about the service industry (albeit just the fnb part) and about people in general. having to deal with workplace politics, managing your manager’s/supervisor’s + colleagues’ expectations of you, as well as your own expectations of yourself, and most importantly the customers’ expectations of you - that certainly wasn’t easy. i think i liked it most when we’d help to cover one another’s backs to make sure everything got done and when someone forgot to do something, you’d tell them but still help them out anyway. i won’t forget the morning briefings before the restaurant’s first seating, where someone read out the list of reservations for the day, and we had to make sure all the table arrangements are right - and which tables needed a “happy birthday” on their dessert, who was a regular and what weird habits they had, if any (like when this person asks for salt, give sea salt and never ever give table salt, or this person only drinks sparkling water, or someone else absolutely needs to have specially bought Lingham’s Chilli Sauce with their fries). we’d have to memorise the soup of the day, french cheeses that are available, the souffle of the day, which sorbet comes with the fruit salad, that the threadfin is not available and we’d be replacing it with mackerel instead. at one point in time every single morning briefing was nervewrecking because we’d be scolded (sometimes for good reason, sometimes for no reason at all), and after that there’ll be tears from my colleagues to deal with. learning how to read customers was interesting - there were those who were truly rich and didn’t see the need to flaunt their wealth with clothes and bags. they were one of the nicest people to serve because they are either very easygoing, or they knew what they wanted and would make it clear to you, so no misunderstandings would happen. then there are those who are quite well-to-do, but still had to make it clear by treating you as less than human. there are those who don’t frequent such restaurants, and you can immediately see their nervousness when faced with such a menu, and asked to make a choice regarding the doneness of their onglet beef (which they didn’t realise was a steak). overall i think the most annoying people are those who don’t know certain things but are too proud to make it known - they have to act like they know everything, and get offended when you try to explain or help them. honestly i’d much prefer (i’m sure this is the same for my colleagues as well) serving someone who is willing to ask questions - we’ll be more than happy to help to clarify. it’s not like as though people who know less about french cuisine or semi-fine dining are less deserving of a place at the restaurant.. doing regular lunch service was always interesting, but serving at private events was another experience in itself. 21st birthday parties, wedding brunches, and there was once i served at a socialite’s 40th birthday bash. she brought so many bottles of moscato and brut, together with boxes of pears, peaches and cherries to give away to the guests..there were 2 parties on different days, and of course they were filled with singapore’s socialites (some of whom were astonishingly polite). then my managers said they also wanted to have birthday parties like that because for $XX per person (it was quite cheap), she could get loads of presents from chanel, shanghai tang, hermes, etc. hahahahaha anyway i’m babbling and so many things can’t be put into words so i should end here

now that i’ve had enough time to properly collect my thoughts on the end of the waitressing stint, i can finally write about how i feel -

I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD HAVE WORKED ONE EXTRA WEEK. then i wouldn’t be bored of my senses now, and i could have earned more money to sustain myself through my first month of fulltime work (since i won’t get paid until the end of that one month). i miss my colleagues and i’ve definitely learnt so much more about the service industry (albeit just the fnb part) and about people in general. having to deal with workplace politics, managing your manager’s/supervisor’s + colleagues’ expectations of you, as well as your own expectations of yourself, and most importantly the customers’ expectations of you - that certainly wasn’t easy. i think i liked it most when we’d help to cover one another’s backs to make sure everything got done and when someone forgot to do something, you’d tell them but still help them out anyway.

i won’t forget the morning briefings before the restaurant’s first seating, where someone read out the list of reservations for the day, and we had to make sure all the table arrangements are right - and which tables needed a “happy birthday” on their dessert, who was a regular and what weird habits they had, if any (like when this person asks for salt, give sea salt and never ever give table salt, or this person only drinks sparkling water, or someone else absolutely needs to have specially bought Lingham’s Chilli Sauce with their fries). we’d have to memorise the soup of the day, french cheeses that are available, the souffle of the day, which sorbet comes with the fruit salad, that the threadfin is not available and we’d be replacing it with mackerel instead. at one point in time every single morning briefing was nervewrecking because we’d be scolded (sometimes for good reason, sometimes for no reason at all), and after that there’ll be tears from my colleagues to deal with.

learning how to read customers was interesting - there were those who were truly rich and didn’t see the need to flaunt their wealth with clothes and bags. they were one of the nicest people to serve because they are either very easygoing, or they knew what they wanted and would make it clear to you, so no misunderstandings would happen. then there are those who are quite well-to-do, but still had to make it clear by treating you as less than human. there are those who don’t frequent such restaurants, and you can immediately see their nervousness when faced with such a menu, and asked to make a choice regarding the doneness of their onglet beef (which they didn’t realise was a steak). overall i think the most annoying people are those who don’t know certain things but are too proud to make it known - they have to act like they know everything, and get offended when you try to explain or help them. honestly i’d much prefer (i’m sure this is the same for my colleagues as well) serving someone who is willing to ask questions - we’ll be more than happy to help to clarify. it’s not like as though people who know less about french cuisine or semi-fine dining are less deserving of a place at the restaurant..

doing regular lunch service was always interesting, but serving at private events was another experience in itself. 21st birthday parties, wedding brunches, and there was once i served at a socialite’s 40th birthday bash. she brought so many bottles of moscato and brut, together with boxes of pears, peaches and cherries to give away to the guests..there were 2 parties on different days, and of course they were filled with singapore’s socialites (some of whom were astonishingly polite). then my managers said they also wanted to have birthday parties like that because for $XX per person (it was quite cheap), she could get loads of presents from chanel, shanghai tang, hermes, etc. hahahahaha

anyway i’m babbling and so many things can’t be put into words so i should end here