Reception at Chi Spa

First day at Chi Spa and I had already learnt so much. I stepped into the reception area and the I could smell everything so spa-ish. You know the smell you get when you walk into any spa? Then I later found out that the source of the smell came from the incense which I had the opportunity to light them. Felt like holding joss sticks when I light them. Hahahah...

I got to know a few new friends from the department namely, Lina, one of the therapists who was the first person I got to know, Sharm, this lady helped me a lot in my course of training today and Melissa, another trainee from Indonesia as well as Zaki, my mentor for tomorrow. They are all very wonderful people and gave out sound advice without hesitation such as, "Be careful of people around you.... You must be careful of guests who are easily offended.." and such.

My job today was fairly simple. Apart from observing how the guests are served, I got to play a part too by printing out promo letters for guests who would be checking in tomorrow to tell them about Chi Spa as well as trying out the checking in and out of guests. Oh and not to forget about the billing part. There's a little bit of F&B part in it too. For guests who were waiting for their treatments to start, my duty was to serve them drinks and cold towels, for the guests after treatment, fruits and hot tea would be served.

Aside from getting on-the-job training, I acquired new knowledge about the different types of elements in Chi and the various treatments available in the spa. Tomorrow I will be learning in detail about the services offered as well as the products sold there. And Zaki gave me homework to do. I have to memorise the meanings of the names of the villas (in which the treatments are carried out). It was like going back to school again. :)

My shift for now is from 12 to 8pm. I forgot to ask about my off day since I was too excited today.

My working look for two months:


I quickly grabbed the chance to snap a photo in uniform while there was nobody around. This was during lunch time.

Full length

First day at Rasa Sayang

Finally reported to duty today and I will be training in the Spa Department for two months. Then another two months in the Food and Beverage Department before being 'thrown' into Front Office for the final two months. Hahaha!!!

The uniform for Spa is very 'cun'. Will snap a picture with me in it tomorrow. Hehehe..

Today had been a good sort of training as we get to know the training manager, Mr. Aziz better. Everyone seemed so friendly and offered to help whenever we face problems. Met the Resident Manager too.

We were given a locker (two person to one) to keep our stuffs during working hours.

I am beginning to feel a sense of belonging here just after one day of orientation. The rest of the trainees are very friendly too. Met some new friends like Dawn, Evol, Bernice and Lynn. I wish them all the best in their respective training departments. :)


My name tag for 6 months!!

Went for a hair net hunt after that and finally found it in Gurney Plaza. So I got my dinner from Gurney drive since I was there.


Rice + Egg + Vege + Pork Chop. RM3.80. Is it worth the money? I think it is! Quite nutritious.

Adventurous first Sunday in Penang

My mission to go to church this morning was an adventurous one. I took the bus from Batu Ferringhi to Burma Road where Wesley Methodist Church was located. The fare was supposed to be RM2.70 but the bus driver was so kind and said RM2 was enough. Praise the Lord. I was thinking it was great getting a discount but God truly knew what was about to happen next. So the bus went along the road and passed Burma Road but I still could not see the church.

It was 10.59am then. The service was supposed to start at 11am. I got panicked and asked the driver where the church was and he said I missed it. I looked around and saw Penang Christian Centre but decided not to get down because their service had already ended. Prior to that, I have checked that the service at Penang Christian Centre starts at 9am.

Then I asked if I could get down at one point and the bus driver said I couldn't because it was a one-way street and no bus will go to Burma Road from there. He was very helpful to tell me to take a bus from Komtar. Thank God for the helpful driver. :D

In the end, I managed to get a bus at 11.16am from Komtar and the fare was RM1.40 (I think that was why I got a discount in the first place. God knew that I would get lost.) This time, I became smarter. I asked the driver to tell me when he sees the church. I kept a lookout at the same time though. Then I saw it.

The name 'WESLEY METHODIST CHURCH' was so obvious in one of the buildings along the road and I got off happily. It was 11.30am. Praise the Lord for I was only half an hour late. I almost dashed through the lawn into the main sanctuary and realised something was amiss. It was the language. I remembered clearly that I checked online there would be an English service on. But this was Hokkien service! I sat down anyhow with my head full of question marks. Did they change the services without updating in their website?


The sanctuary where the Hokkien service was held. I found out not long later that the traditional services are held here.

During offering time, I asked the usher whether there was an English service going on somewhere and she said yes. She said it was in another building and off I went in search of the building. It was already 11.50am then. I found the building and the service was held on the second floor of the kindergarten block.


Finally, I reached my destination. :D

The ride home was uneventful. I came home and then went out again with Ju Dee to take care of our stomachs and other necessities.


Our home for six months.

Tomorrow I am finally reporting to duty. I wonder which department I will go first. Lord, give me strength for the long hours of work. Amen.

Penang Trip (30-31 December 2010)

An additional post for today. This is just a short one about Penang trip on 30 December 2010.

This picture below is snapped while we were in the moving bullock cart in Malacca, hence, it is a lost picture.

Eunice and me in the cart.

Back to Penang. Went there on the 30th December and we managed to catch a skit by real Barbie and Ken on stage in Queensbay Mall.


Barbie who looks like Rachel McAdams, don't you think so?


Ken

In the skit, Barbie misunderstood and thought that Ken wanted to break up with her and off to Paris she went to mend her broken heart. Ken later on booked a flight to Paris to explain to her. That's about the gist of the storyline.

After watching a while, we strolled some more and saw this Barbie poster which you can put your head in the hole and pretend to be Barbie.

This was my shot.

I looked so slim. Wahahahahahaha!!!

Before checking into Sandy Bay Paradise, I contributed some money to the less fortunate on behalf of mom. Hehehe....

Acting only. Money not mine. :)

Then on the 31st December 2010, we went to Prangin Mall. Prangin is sort of like a tradition for us to go whenever we go to Penang.

P.S. It's going to be the second night in Penang. I think I feel more at home. Looking forward to tomorrow as I will be going to Wesley Methodist Church for the morning service at 11am. :)

First day of 2011

Happy new year, everyone! This is my first new year out of Ipoh and celebrating alone with my loved ones seem so far away. I thank God for technology that I can send messages using various means to connect with them and feel closer to them than ever. ♥

Today started off quite interestingly. As stated in the training letter, I was supposed to report to the Human Resource Department at 9am today but it turned out that the department is closed since it is a public holiday. I called the training manager when I returned to the apartment and found out that I can only report on Monday, 3 January. This means good news for me as I can go to church tomorrow! I hope I get my off day on Sunday so that I can go to church.

Will be attending the second service at Wesley Methodist Church tomorrow. I hope everything goes well. I know Jesus will always be with me.

To my dearest mommy, I miss you more than ever. Let's sms more! Hehehe!!

Malacca Trip (22-25 Dec 2010)

This is my very first post written in Penang. When you have never left home, you never knew the meaning of missing home. I do miss home. I guess this is what happens to everyone who leaves home for the first time. I will get used to it gradually.

Time to blog about the Malacca trip with family from 22-25 December 2010. In less than two hours it will be 2011. So this means this is also the last entry for year 2010. How the year went by in a blink.

The first food (our lunch) we ate at Malacca was none other than the famous chicken rice ball.

In a nutshell


The 'nga choi gai' Malacca style


Assam fish


Rice balls

We stayed at Avillion Legacy Malacca for the three nights we were there. I just realised I didn't snap a lot of photos of what we did but only what I find interesting such as the bullock cart below. We took the bullock cart ride on the 23rd, if I am not mistaken. It has been so many days that I cannot remember the events clearly.

RM10 per ride

It was indeed a bumpy ride. But I love the ride so much that one round along the dirt road felt very short.

As we were leaving the parking lot of the bullock carts.

The next stop is The Crocodile Farm or Taman Buaya in BM. At first I thought there will only be a few crocodiles but the farm had other surprises. The first thing that caught our attention was a park with models of Malaysia's famous buildings and a bridge.


The Penang bridge


I have been to A Famosa!!


Walking further into the park.

And then we saw an enclosed area with muddy water and some creatures swimming inside.

Can you spot a crocodile?


This croc was smiling like this =)


Another crocodile captivated by the camera. *See my beautiful set of teeth. Teehee!*


The smiling croc from afar.


They are known as the Estuarine Crocodile or Buaya Tembaga.

More pictures of crocodiles. Too lazy to put caption. Hehehe....

The crocodiles here prefer clean water!

This crocodile was poked by a long stick because the owner was trying to force it to go into the water. But it remained stubborn and continued its slumber.






This crocodile is of a different species. I think it is from India.


Beautiful dark-coloured croc






This croc is Quasimodo because it has a hunchback.

When I say the Crocodile Farm comes with surprises, I mean surprises like we get to see other things other than crocodiles.

They have an aviary too!

Mandarin ducks!

This yellow birdie was very clever. It wanted food but didn't wanted to land on my dad's hand. So cute!

When one saw the palm oil seed, more came to get their share.

Look, there's another two!


And they began to grow in numbers.


Some already feasting on the palm oil seed.


There's also a peacock standing nearby.

It was not afraid of the camera. Proud peacock indeed.


A bird that looked like it was standing on my dad's palm to get the palm oil seed but it was still hanging from the branch.


I gave the seed to this birdie. See how he's enjoying the treat!




This one got tired of palm oil seed and decided to try some other seeds left by the peacock. This was also where the peacock was standing just now.

After visiting the aviary, we went to the reptile section where we could see snakes and other creepy crawlies. There was a raccoon too. Too bad no photos were snapped from the reptile section.

Finally, end of tour at the Crocodile Farm. There were some baby buaya tembaga outside the farm.

Say hi to baby croc!!


Goodbye, Taman Buaya Melaka!

The following day which was Christmas Eve, we went to Tan Kim Hock to buy some food souvenirs.


The products were stacked up so high that I was afraid they would fall any time.


Durian cakes galore!


A cute teddy purposefully put inside the trolley to give dad a shock. Hahaha!!! He pulled the bear by the ear and removed it from the trolley instantly.

We had Nyonya food for lunch at Nancy's Kitchen. We had to wait for a long time for the food to come. The shop was that popular.

Nyonya Popiah


Eunice waiting happily although there's no brinjal ordered.

After what felt almost hours of waiting, our food arrived.

Kangkung fried with belacan


Egg fried with cincalok


Otak-otak

Assam meat

Walking was a joy in Malacca town because we got to notice shops that we would never have noticed in the car.

We found a museum that featured all Nyonya furniture and decorative items.


This reminded me of Little Nyonya.


Cute little piggies!


Malaysian version of Hachiko?


Rabbits

The traditional Nyonya outfit


Models of Nyonya houses

We also tried mille crepe at Nadeje in one of the shopping malls.


Original flavour at its best.


Banana chocolate flavoured. Too sweet for my liking.

Next was satay celup for pre-dinner.

Everyone dipping the satay into the sauce to cook it as well as to flavour it.

I slept early on Christmas Eve and before I knew it, it's already Christmas morning. Went to City Community Church for their Christmas service. It was short and interesting.

The stage and the pulpit


The worship leader having her last round of practice.

Aunty Julie took us out for a spin and we came to this Everly Resort with the seaview. It was breathtaking.

The apartments

Four days three nights in Malacca flew by in a breeze. It was indeed a very enjoyable trip with family and I wish we will be able to travel together again in no time. :)