Anatomy Of A Stupid.

First Day Rants

Started training at a local fine dine restaurant called Third Floor, located in the JW Marriott KL working splits for weekdays and 3pm for Saturdays, and the restaurant is closed on Sundays.

What a way to start the first day, got up late and floored the Spectra through Kesas like there was no tomorrow, arriving at Marriott in a record breaking 14 minutes from Shah Alam, mind you, at 9.45am in the bloody morning! Well obviously we didn't miss out much, since we (Wai Kheng and I) arrived at the restaurant at about 10.10am but nobody was there or nobody there was doing anything yet.

Apparently it was going to be a quiet afternoon with what would be just one food tasting table and a 3 pax walk in, a bunch of ladies in their 40s up for some Wagyu cheek, not served well done thank goodness. The staff there are quite 'fascinating' and unique, but this is considering the fact that there's only 3 staff for the whole service department serving 11 tables and a bar. Oh and one of them is the manager, lol!

First that I would meet would be James from the kitchen, he looked a lot like the next of kin to Chef Ken, the director of Third Floor. We were then brought along to meet other staffs of the kitchen, Seong, Awie, Poon, Yao and not to forget the steward, Korea. Wait, Korea? I know, you may have queries as to isn't that a country and all in your mind, but apparently the story is this guy's mom is Korean and his dad's ancestors are Chinese. In short, perhaps he just wants to represent, y'all.

Then came KD, my mentor for the next month, the young and active service staff whom share the same interest in cars with me. Thank goodness, at least silent shifts won't be so boring with this guy around. I hope. He is a bit lazy and likes to 'steal bones' though. But oh well, at least he taught me how to do it myself, he's a pretty cool dude xD

So on with mis-en place. Set a couple of tables, had to re-set the settings on table 2 as KD placed the wrong table cloth by accident, it covered only 2/3 of the table and he didn't realize, d'oh! After setting the tables, swept the carpets for a while and gazed at my Bowerman, it's now 12 afternoon. Business hour.

The first and supposed only guests arrived at 12.30 for the tasting for next month's function, as predicted by Mr Ariff the Port Wine Creme Brulee and salmon main course was rejected. Replacing the Brulee with a Lime and Ginger variation, and beef replaces the salmon. Throughout service, KD did most of the work and I was jotting down notes since they don't believe in having training classes to show how to do things at Third Floor.

Half way through, 3 ladies approach the door and thankfully Mr Ariff was nearby, as he greeted the guests for me. Went through my quick notes for service sequence and proceeded to help Ariff with the water pouring, serving and clearing. Trust me, for a first day, this was scary enough! The guests ordered Roasted Pumpkin Soup and Wagyu cheeks to share, so the plate arrangement on the table was seriously screwed up with two huge platters attempting to fit itself into the middle of the table crammed alongside empty dinner plates for individual use. Darn.

After the guests all left, KD decided to leave the table setting of the used tables to Din, an afternoon staff. Thankfully Third Floor is another restaurant that appreciates it's staff, where they allow actual meals to be cooked for their staff. I managed to chomp down into Poon's Golden Fried Rice of which he claims is being sold for over RM100 a portion up in Genting. I have to agree it was delicious but that's overkill! So we left for our split break at 2.30pm, and headed out to Pavilion where I spotted Joanne the short leng lui from DH and Hadi at Michaelangelo's. Totally forgot about asking why she didn't tag along with her friends like June to Flam's, so do I remind me the next time we meet yeah? ;) Hadi looked super out of place with his black Michaelangelo's jacket but with a mismatching white Taylor's chef hat. LOL! Imagine that, and from far he actually looks a bit like a girl, but that could just be me...

Watched Wanted, the weirdest movie ever this year, with the weirdest storyline and weirdest weapons which have bullets that will redefine suicide in style. Angelina also had bloody skinny arms and didn't look as attractive as when she did during her Tomb Raider and Original Sin times. *cue sex scene* Overall I wouldn't recommend watching this movie if you're a saint, you'll just end up saying the f word too many times because of the cheesy concept behind the story.

So after that, we returned to the office, skipping along to the tunes of automobiles revving when the junction light just turned green, but at the same time a peaceful tone of the wind was curling up in our ears. It was very much appealing and comforting. Maybe it's the jadedness like what Maynard says, after all having one table on the first day is a bit of an alert dropper if you ask me, since I've yet to see times when the walk-ins would triple or quadruple and we'd all be struggling to get back to the kitchen thanks to the many tables calling us to request for anything.

Nothing to do for place to dinner, so I folded some napkins with Din and KD, until Seong came out to join us after 7pm (opening) and no guests showed up. 7.45 and still no guests, so I did the Mui Huai wine chiller inventory while waiting, until I finished it at 8.30 and there were still no guests. Thought of doing the Fine Cut chiller inventory too but Mr Ariff came into the bar telling me business was no good tonight, and that I can now get ready to go home.

Haha! In a way it is good news, but inventory has never been my favorite past time hobby, and to already be in the zone to do it, I'd rather finish it all off at one go rather than delay, but oh well. So we all left by 9pm instead of the scheduled 11pm, and I went for dinner with Wai Kheng at a cozy little steamboat restaurant in Cheras.

Totally bloated myself and now here I am, after a cool and fresh shower and new shirt on, ready to tuck into bed and wake up to a new and hopefully more exciting day at the restaurant. Getting used to things slowly, hopefully it won't catch up and overtake my pace anytime soon.

That's it for today's post, more updates to come as time passes, thanks for stopping by to read this one!

Regards

Run Of The Diamond Mine

You know how I'd review the group every term at the end of it right? Well, since it's the night before training for everyone, I just thought I'd twist things a little, to instead tell you guys about where my groupmates will be going for their training, and give a short word or two about it if I happen to have patronized it before.

This term around the group received 6 more members as a result of the dispersed Group 6 and a completely new division arrangement for each group, though Group 1 and 2 suffered no casualties as a result of the change, as none of our members left the group.

So, let's start with the very unfortunate Mat Rempit Comel aka Hadi aka bigHuddy. Why do I say that this very random, intelligent and bushfighter which attacks at the times when you least expect it, unfortunate? Well, it's a sad story which starts at a little restaurant called Bakerzin at One Utama. He applied  for it, and got confirmed according to the system and was set to go together with Kah Mun, another one of our batch mates. Sadly, at the very last few days of the term exams, he was told he got rejected instead. Confused, he attempted to resort to options such as JungleB's lair, Cuisine Studio and Michaelangelo's Sunway Pyramid, but to no avail. Finally he's now confirmed for Michaelangelo's Pavilion, where everyday he will be forced to take a 2 hour journey on public transport since he's not used to riding his bike to KL. One sad ending to a happy introduction, don't ya think?

Then there's Aniq @ Beruang @ LadiesMan. I personally don't think his placement actually matters, because his present will be felt all the way to hundreds of miles away with the laughs he'll be giving to people at his new workplace. Quite a sad case at first, but a happy ending as he gets to be in the same building as his ex-husband, Maynard. TGI Friday's is the name, frying is the game. He'll be enduring training next to Zaha which will be at the microwave section. Just kidding guys!

Then of course there's Maynard and Group 2's MagicMan, Leon Ng. Like I said, Maynard will be in the same building as Aniq. I'm not sure if it's a Sarawakian thing, but strangely enough, Maynard opted for Italiannies voluntarily and keep in mind, he went to The Westin for his first training. Sort of like a downgrade, don't you think so? It's a whole different story for Leon lah, since Italiannies doesn't fry or microwave everything their pizzas. LOL! Again, kidding guys, nothing personal *cough*

Racking in about 30% of the whole group is Cuisine Studio. This is almost definately thanks to the rumors and lansi-ness of JungleB whom proclaims that Cuisine Studio is the best and everybody there loves him, but I'd just say that guy's just being lansi as usual. I quote someone, 'he's territorial'. Have fun making Ratatouille guys, and I don't mean for term 5's applied tech okay! xP Jungle will be bringing along Han, Elaine and Jon the taiko of Cheras.

Then there's the wise one, Phang, and the... well... slightly less wiser one, Seng Ming aka TuEsBiatch Man aka Carrot Head. Don't ask me how or why, cause I just play along most of the time. They'll both be going to The Apartment at The Curve which I almost chose after I got rejected by my first placement. One fine day after exams I caught Phang and his girlfriend (yup, it's true, the guy's taken!) right in front of The Apartment when I went for a movie. He gave me a brief intro about the restaurant and it's concept. It seems pretty casually formal. I mean hey, there's a bed in there but the food is fine dinish, cool right? Also tagging along is Calvin Khan, master pastry chef from Group 3.

Not to forget, Miss Hypertune, or should I just say Miss Hyper 2008, Chong Li Shuang aka Mischa aka Reepicheep. She's on a roll with Banker's Club in her pocket for first training, and is now headed to Westin for her second. I'd say the amount of exposure she's getting is going to be pretty helpful in the future, where exclusive service lessons are absorbed from Banker's and techniques to work fast will be taken from the hotel. Good luck Mischa, if you ever marry Nathan don't forget to call me ok! (like what you always say... no la, I talking crap only.)

The always welcomed new member, Kok Man Yaw or better known as Cow will be going to Seri Pacific KL, after his first attempt for Westin turned unfruitful. Of course this time around with his new girlfriend, Ivana Ta-Hjj-Ya-Wee, they'll be going together just like how Aaron Teh and Samantha Tey went together to the exact same place. Looking at Sam's notes, trainees at Seri Pac should be in quite good hands and should be blessed with quite valuable information.

As for Jay, well I was quite convinced that he would go to Lobsterman PJ, but due to unknown circumstances he's now headed for TGI Life Center instead. Just like the other TGI trainees, I'm sure his microwave and frying skills will be perfected, just in time for term 6's final exam xD Once again, just kidding, as if Parkroyal didn't use MSG in what, all of their dishes?

Hong... well, I'm not too sure about the place where she's going to, Mantra Bar, so I'll just not be an ass and stop here.

Ckin @ Adik Abang Hitam will be going to PNB Darby Park, a very exquisite serviced apartment with beautiful views and reasonable rates. Though the F&B lacks a little on the kitchen side, they still serve pretty good breakfast, and you have to love the fact that it's just next to a mamak, KLCC AND a park with a public swimming pool in it! Wait, maybe we should skip that last one...

As for me, I'll be going to Third Floor, a restaurant located on the second floor in the Marriott KL. As mentioned, I got rejected at first, but after appealing (or what the manager likes to call begging) I got the chance to train there, only starting with F&B service first. See the thing is, for second training we're not supposed to have service, but oh well. I've always liked the concept of the place, and excellent reviews from food critics, websites and not to mention previous trainees Elaine and Han didn't help me want anywhere else. Guess I'll just have to prove that I don't beg for fucks and do what I have to. Wish me luck!

Last but not least, Chef Frederic. Wait, he's the lecturer...

*silence*

Oh you didn't catch the lame joke? Well don't ask me, Jungle said humans have the right to make lame jokes once in a while.

So that's about it, I'm about to go prep my uniform for duty tomorrow, and head to bed. I believe this training will be the very stone that sharpens our future, but like it or not I wish everyone from DC and DH a very safe and good training, and ultilize this chance as a second angle for viewing what more will you do or be in the future. We'll always love the easy life more, but a little hard work can lead to good recognition, and accept the result of recognition which David Cook calls the time of your life.

Take care guys, see you either soon, or in 3 months time. Don't cut yourself.

A Champagne Wish and Caviar Dream Moment

400kms, 7 people, 4 states, 1 hell of a road trip. Nothing else can describe the vacation we planned for ourselves to Penang in conjunction with supporting our lecturers in a competition organized by the Penang Chef's Association at the iFoodEx, a food exhibition. In a way, I had a lot and too much fun at the same time. The awkward feeling of responsibility, as if I was driving a wife and 5 kids back to the hometown, as if I'm supposed to make sure everything goes right, the fact that it's just me, friends and the road this time, and the desire to just let go from everything all set together like a pudding in a freezer... all too perfect. With the exception of a couple of wet blankets, I tell myself this is going to be an awesome time.

We started our journey on Wednesday morning at approximately 9am 10am. Yeah, sure we had some technical errors only to surface right there and then, like the suddenly jammed CD player, or the not so sudden lack of space thanks to the huge luggages we brought along but we managed to leave by this time. Everybody was neatly seated in and we were on something like never before.

Thanks to my very responsible co-pilots, Sherry Nana Dia and Vincent "Pyroboy" Liew, passing by tolls and looking out for oncoming trucks about to pull a Final Destination on us went by smoothly. Made our first stop just after Rawang for a quick snack and loo break, and we were back on the road shooting straight until Ipoh where we arrived for some lunch.

Note that I've never actually driven on a road trip solely with friends and outstation before, but I tried my best to give a good recommendation... But fudge it, I guess I didn't really do a good job when I recommended Mee Rebus Ramli, a small time shop near the Excelsior selling what used to be my dad's favorite Mee Rebus. Well hey, I always have sushi at Jusco, what did you expect? The guys wanted something Malay since they presumed that Penang would be blooming with Chinese hawker cuisine. Oh how regretful they were.

Lesson learnt, only buy a Ramli if it's a burger, not Mee Rebus. It was to some bland and to me, too spicy to handle. But then again, I'm a wuss when it comes to hot food. Some people like my co-pilots had chicken rice, Malay style. Don't bother guys, I already know it's terrible :P We had to compensate with some Tau Foo Fah from a place Vincent recalled which had a name just as weird as his obsession with lighters.. Funny Mountain. I'm sure it's a very famous 10 by 15 feet stall, since it's almost covered in newspaper pull-outs. I personally thought the owner was a bit uptight, since he seemed humorously annoyed when I asked if they had brown sugar instead of white. Brushed off with a nice, "we unfortunately dont give options so that it's easier for everyone" I was.

But the tofu itself was unsually firm, yet soft, and almost sponge-like that it bounces like the perfect mattress. Nothing special about the sugar though. Still craving for some brown sugar, I opted to stop at the next shop too, selling Cendol. Cendol is a Malaysian dessert consisting of shaved ice, coconut milk, brown sugar, pandan jelly and kidney beans. But personally I'd prefer it without the beans. It was very unsual, it had a bitter aftertaste which makes me almost want to never stop the feed so that I won't taste it. Everyone came down for Cendol, unlike the Tau Foo Fah stop where only me, Vincent, Calvin and Tommy had it.

Back on the road shortly after, with David Cook's Time Of My Life constantly playing on every station miraculously, but the pleasure could only last so long until we approached the north Ipoh tollgate. The sudden appearance of a run of the mill Proton Waja next to us, what looks to be a Mat Rempit with a decent haircut in it flagging us down to stop while holding only a namecard size ID which I could barely see. Immediately my mind went into panic mode, and recalling my incident 3 years back where I got mugged the exact same way, I decided not to stop yet but instead try to cut them off.

However, it all brings to no avail, they are still next to me trying to stop me, and sometimes almost running into me even, it was getting serious. In an attempt to dodge, I accidentally excited the highway and was forced to stop the car at the shoulder of the road. The thug-like passanger came down from his vehicle and marched over to mine. At this moment, everyone kept giving me different instructions on what to do, but sadly... all I could remember doing was trying to unjam my window which I was trying to roll up. Imagine that, of all the time for it to jam.

The guy went to Sherryna's side first, and not mine. Fearing for her safety, I asked him to come over to my side. To my surprise, he's actually just a reposesor! Sheesh. It's a long story but, the previous owner of the car had an outstanding 4 months which he didn't settle, and of all the time for the reposesors to come out was when I used to for the trip. Sighs! Well eventually after some pretty scary moves from his behalf like snatching the keys from me, walking off with my phone, we settled it all with the best solution, an RM20 bribe.

Trauma still in my head, we continued our journey. At this point, everyone was literally making jokes about how other reposessors would run into us to makes us stop, tow the car from the hotel, etc. Gee, thanks guys. Quote unquote Cook, this is the time of my life.

Finally we arrived at the Holiday Inn at 4pm for the check in. Instead of two single doublebed rooms, we got one double doublebed room. So the boys and girls slept in the same room, in what qualifies to be a close proximity offence, but I'm sure none of us mind, what more with handsome chicks like Mischa and Sherryna, right boys? ;) Oh and don't forget to send me their snoring/drooling/naked pictures.

Hahah!

Just kidding lar...

So after we got settled in with our sections, we went down to see what the beach at Feringghi was like. The girls seemed to like it by the looks of their surprisingly already wet pants, and I thought we were there just to survey it but alrighteo. After that we showered, some took cat naps, and at 7 left for the town for some grub. So determined that the usuals at Gurney would suffice their appetite, I took them there but again to my dissapointment, Gurney Drive has changed.

The food is terrible, and the variety is slashed to half. Prawn Mee which tasted like normal soup without the salt, claypot chicken rice which tasted worse than the ones you get at the Giant food court, we were very dissapointed. So we left Gurney before ordering anything heavy and stopped by a food court I once saw but never patronized in Chinatown.

Safe to say, everything there was great. The oysters were wonderful, I had an extra RM5 plate and Calvin and Mischa liked the Ikan Bakar, satay and fried cockles. I'd go there again, and recommend it if only I knew it's name... Sorry guys!

After that we went around town for a while for some sightseeing, then went back to the hotel where we stopped by the night market to get some DVDs to watch before the night ended. Ended up buying RM40 worth of movies and the rest spent quite a while at a marble stall where you could get anything you want engraved on the marble for a steal. Tommy got a necklace and ankle bracelet at RM10 each and got his funky Naruto-ish phrases engraved on it.

So we're back at the hotel, and the theme for the night were horror movies! Some of which included 28 Weeks Later and Saw IV.

*to be continued*

_____ kills.

Once again I find myself in a very familiar spot. The one where I am aware that it is a quarter to midnight and I have a theory exam the next morning. I'm all alone roaming the streets, wanting to take my car for a 'walk' after it's long undesired rest under the nylon curtain. It's been a while since I've managed to appreciate the car well, especially right after the petrol prices shot up. Not that it bothers me a lot but I'm not the type that patrons gas pumps more times than a toilet in a day, so I just use a more... or should I say less thirsty car.

But now I'm not. I'm back in my beloved 7. I'm still cruising around the almost empty streets. Too often when I am on the road in a lack or urgency and yet have something urgent occuring soon... history strikes me right at the back of my head. Another Fall Out Boy tune plays on the changer and it's a song that can't help but make me picture thieves breaking into people's property. I'm like that sometimes, having weird taste for music that helps me recall weird things.

Lost my phone again recently, or should I say had it stolen by one of my own classmates and it happened again today to another classmate. I still suspect the same person. Lost a lot of incentive to call, SMS or just communicate with anyone using phones now. Weird how I find myself traveling up to 20km just to pass a short message to a friend, because I can't be bothered to find a phone to call him with.

Tomorrow's French and Food Science. Have got no Food Science notes at all and I've been pulling 2 hour sorties (it's my way of saying I started studying from A-Z 2 hours prior to the starting of the exam) for the past, oh, I don't know, every paper? Yet again I see the urgentness, but there is no urgency in me.

I boost.

I want to photograph again, like how I used to do so enthusiastically. I feel like I've lost touch with the Rebel, and ever since I sold the F2.8L I've been stuck with the kit lens. Even more sad is people with point and shoots are producing better photos than this old bugger, seriously. Looking to get a budget lens soon, maybe an F4L or 28-135mm and just start clicking. Click click click until I encounter dejavu where I stand in an open park, with motives to take good pictures, but don't know where to start. Why dejavu? because I always find the perfect angles, spots, lightings and people... when the camera is at home.

I boost again, this time longer.

Went for dinner at Rick's Cafe, Bangsar. Sad to say the food was not up to par at all. Pasta with smoked duck and carbonara might as well have been called Pasta with Heavy Cream and some bird meat on the side, served with a gallon of clarified butter in it. Rejected the butter fish because dory fish from a box had a smoother texture than that, but was offered complimentary dessert. Wanted to talk to the chef a bit longer, but he didn't seem like the talkative type and just snatched my plate and ran off. Was supposed to be a pleasant dinner me and the missus, turned out to be sour like the juice of a lemon.

Mom not feeling well, went to a tomyam store to take away some noodle soup, waited for 20 minutes to find out that the cook never even knew, took me another 15 minutes after leaving the place realizing I got the wrong item, but screw it.

D-day for the pastry competition is coming, don't be there to see us okay? I'll let you know what KDU makes.

I arrive home.

Can you fill in the blank?