so busy busy busy...

what a change from my slacker lifestyle... i tell ya.. one of the things i miss the most about santa cruz is the amount of slacking i did. any regular day involved waking up at 12pm, having lunch, going to my friend's apartment to hang out, then going to work at 6pm, and then finishing work late, going back home, sleeping... and then repeating the day again. and... you never have to think past the next week. cos that's how our schedules are planned. week by week. and then paychecks come in every 2 weeks. so... life was so happy and temporal. but now... back to reality, life is not so easy.

neway got work, waking up at 7am everyday makes me tired... then having to keep a professional front (so not me) at work really drains me. and then, on top of that, i got other stuff to do for megalife. oh no... am i complaining? i really like to do whatever i'm doing for megalife. it's fun. i hate work tho... the only reason why i do continue on is because of the good pay. and then there's the fine balancing act of my time. it's not really that i have not enough time to do certain things, it's just that... i can't be in 2 places at the same time!!!! and all the commitments seem to clash. oh wellz... let's try to be superwoman for a while. heh...

neway it's just for a while... cos my job is only gonna last another 4 wks. then it will be over.

yeaaaaah... and silly little me agreed to help jeffery do transcriptions too. bah... and i forgot how hard they were to do... growl... torture... torture.

on a happier note, the workplace is becoming friendlier. really. the people talk to me, and tease me... so i guess it's a good sign.

yup yup... i need to be superwoman 4 weeks from now. maybe someone can invent a machine to split me up into 2 parts so i can be in 2 places at the same time? i can only hope...

my poor face...

it is disfigured!!!!! ARRRGGGHHHHHH.... now there's this red blood-clottish looking thing on my face....

i'm quite worried.... the doctor said that it was probably hives... but hives don't look like this! i'm pretty sure of that... hives are like huge mosquito bites... and they go away after u take antihistimines.... BUT... i took an antihistimine yesterday... and it didn't go away!!!! sigh... and then.. yesterday... i itchy fingers... go and poke at it... and liquid came out of the little bumps on my skin... and now it looks more horrible than yesterday... sigh... sigh... sigh...

i think i have a new disease... it's not a cold sore, and not a hive... what the hell is it, i have no idea. i think i shld go back and see the doctor if it doesn't get better.

and today... i went to buy a pair of charles and keith heels... cos they were having a sale. ok... i bought this pair, and wore them for 2 hours, and realised that they were damaged even before i bought them. so i went back, and tried to exchange it. BUT they didn't have my size. SO, suggest that i pick another pair, but... i don't like any of the others. they call the neighbouring shops to see if they have the pair of heels in my size, but to no avail. and... since i threw away my old pair of shoes immediately after i bought this pair, i was left shoeless. so the other alternative was to buy another pair of shoes from the shop, or go home barefoot. they wouldn't let me wear the damaged pair out of the shop because say that once the bottom is worn out, they won't be able to exchange it. sigh... so in the end, i had to buy a pair of slippers just to be able to go home. it was ridiculous, i felt. because the shoes were damaged to start with. but... i know how it feels to be a sales assistant, so i didn't want to make things any more difficult for her. i'm such a pushover... i should have asked to speak to a manager or something. bah.

2nd Day of work... MC.

it's quite sad... my 2nd day of work... and i have to be excused from work cos i have a medical certificate. neway... the only reason why i got a MC was because i have this ugly patch on my face! at 1st i thought it was a cold sore, because it was around the same part, and it looked the same to me!!! but after going to see the doctor, i was relieved to hear that it is probably a hive. not a cold sore.

i had a cold sore (viral infection) before.. and it's really horrible!!! it hurts, and because it was on my face, it was ugly, and then, cos i didn't get treatment until the later stages of the infection, it got really big! and it was just like a huge scab on my face.

i must have looked horrible. i remember when i went to get my medicine from the pharmacy, the pharmacist looked at me and went " wow, you are so brave! how can u dare to step out of your house looking like that!" i wanted to slap her. bah.

neway... so i have the rest of the day to sleep...

oh applications for SIA hostesses have just opened... i wanna go try out... my dream!

bored... santa cruz chronicles 4

so far i've shown some pictures of the people i really like in santa cruz... those people made my life there so fun! now here's really special guy. he's one unforgettable person. life in santa cruz would never have been the same if he had not been there.

this is Ben.

ben was an employee at espresso. and he's just about the stupidest person i've ever met in my life!!!!!!!!!! he deserves one post all for himself!!!!
the 1st day i met him was his 3rd day of work at the espresso cart. he had already been trained by valente AND trina previously. so i did expect him to know the basics. he did not need to know everything... but at least some things.
i was at the cash register taking orders, when suddenly i realise that the cups are piling up on the counter... and the person who was working the front machine was already busy. it wasn't even that busy, so there shouldn't be orders being piled up. SO, i look back and see how ben is doing. and guess what, instead of making drinks, he was busy... CLEANING. i was like "Ben, you have to keep a watch out for the cups that are at the counter, if u see them coming, u have to make them!" he was like "YES. i got it" ok... never mind that... later that same day, i took an order for 2 ice blended drinks. i handed him the cups and told him to make them. 10 minutes later, i turn around and see 2 cups filled with ice on the counter top. puzzled, i ask ben, what the 2 cups of ice are doing there. he started and said "oh i forgot all about them, my only excuse is that the band playing was so good that i totally forgot about making these 2 drinks." i was shocked! and the 2 customers who had ordered the drinks had been waiting for 10 min!

the next day, he worked with michele, and he made michele so mad because he was at the cash register, and took orders for drinks. but then, after she had made them, and was calling them out, no customer wanted them. it turns out that he had taken the wrong orders, and so she wasted those 4 drinks.

tasks that usually take normal people half an hour to do, he would take an hour. for example, when we asked him to go stock (i.e. go to the basement and bring up stuff according to a list that was already made out) he took such a long time that 2 other employees had to stay back an extra half hour each, one to help him, and the other to help the girl at the cart.

the last straw was when i closed together with him. i distinctly asked him whether he was the one who had opened the money bag, because if he did, he would be expected to count the money at the end of the day. he said YES. i asked him if he had counted out money before, and he said YES too. so i went to do the dishes, and the other closing stuff and left him to count the money. after doing the dishes, clearing the waste tank, AND wrapping muffins, he still hadn't finished counting the money. it turns out that when filling out the cash count sheets, he had shifted the carbon papers so that all the numbers where on the wrong rows, and he had to correct each one individually. then i went to help him do the rest of the paperwork, and when i looked at the opening cash count sheet, i realised that the name of the opened was jesus! it wasn't even opened by ben. then... i said to him, now u put the yellow sheet into the money bag lock it, then we can go drop the bag. i turn away for 5 seconds, and when i look back, i can't find the shift sheet (which also happens to be yellow!). so i ask him where the shift sheet went. and he looked at me blankly and said "oh i could have sworn that YOU told me to drop it into the money bag." i was SO ANGRY!!!! so now it's my fault. ok... never mind... so i ask him why he had so much trouble counting money, when he had done it before, and he said "oh the last time i counted money, trina was doing most of the work." i wanted to faint... that meant that he had never counted money before! he had only probably watched trina do it!!!!!!

he never says NO, and always says YES buthe actually doesn't know a thing. he acted so stupid that jennie, this really nice lady actually wondered if he was mentally slow (like retarded!) but no... he's a UCSC student, and is a linguistics major. and the best part of it all was that he had actually worked in another espresso place before.

yup... ben... he's an unforgettable memory.

bettina is blessed

ok... i've progressed since i got back from being broke and stingy and without faith, to being broke and with faith. if u bless God with what you have, i really believe that he will bless you back. the sermon about miracles was quite amazing for me. i was feeling pathetic, broke, and unable to give. but then, after that, when i was thinking about it, if i did have the money to give, and gave it, it would hardly be a miracle would it? so, last week, i decided to put an amount down that i was felt God wanted to me to give for the church building fund. even though i did not have a single cent... not a single one, with no idea how my income is going to come about. and then this week, i find myself a temp job. an extremely high-paying temp job!!!! wahahaha... so now i can earn money! it's good... all good. i really think that this decision that i made to give God this certain sum of money is the turning point. without which i would still be poor and pathetic and without an income.

i am blessed!

more pictures... santa cruz chronicles 3

ok this is just about one of the scariest rides on the boardwalk. it's called the fireball... and this is what it does! it swings and spins at the same time!!!!! oh well... maybe for those who like this kind of ride... it's not scary at all... but this ride made me SO SICK! i took it with maritza (the pretty girl in the next picture) during work one day! maritza really likes the ride, and so angel, our supervisor called the rides deparment and got them to allow us to take the ride in our uniform... which we are technically not allowed to do. after the ride..... i felt so sick! i was all pale... and 10 minutes after taking the ride, i was like... umm... i think i need to go to the bathroom... NOW... and i went and puked... heh... my conclusion is that swinging rides are not for me...





so this is maritza. i find her really attractive! at 1st, i thought that she and angel had something going on... hehe.. that was before i knew that angel was already married!!! heh... okie... about maritza, she's a cheerleader! u know.. the bring it on kind... hehe... she's so chirpy and bubbly. ok... so here's the story about her. one day, she had a party... this was cos she was going back home to LA, and she would be leaving Santa Cruz for good. i was working really late... cos i had to close in the office... and so valente came back to pick me up. as we drove into the driveway of her house, we saw cops coming out! and people leaving... so we sat in the car for a while until the cops had left. then i wanted to go say goodbye to maritza. and this was the drama that happened while valente had gone to get me. apparently, maritza's ex-boyfriend was throwing a fit because she was talking to this other guy that he didn't like. so the ex-bf stormed off. THEN... apparently, as he was leaving, he got pulled over for drunk driving... and the cops arrested him. when maritza heard about it, she was all hysterical, and crying and everything. when we got there, she was still crying, and the party was over. sigh... quite sad i missed the party.. but then later, some of us went to mike's house to hang out. and that was fun too!




this is mike's neighbour's kitchen.at mike's house, we played this game called shut the box. it's a gambling game played with dice... but that nite, we played for shots.. wahahaha... i actually shut the box once!!!! i am so good... hehe
neway we went into mike's neighbour's kitchen and stole pizza. oh well... it was just sitting on the counter... valente is trying to feed sequoia some of it... haha

a little happier and a little less bored...

I've found myself a temp job!!!!! everybody scream and say hip hip hooray 3x!!!!!! so it's just a temp job... but i still get to earn some money... yay!!!!!! and the pay is pretty good too!!!! the per hourly rate is $12.60. that's quite good! it's for a 6 week assignment too... so i can still continue looking for proper job in the mean time. =) yup. i'm happy. it means that i finally have some money. i can go shopping... and pay my mother back... wahahaha...

so this is the 2nd instalment of the santa cruz chronicles... in the previous post, i put up pictures of ppl that i liked.... here's more!

this is armando... i think i mentioned him in one of my previous posts. he always laughs at me! mostly cos i did a lot of stupid things when i 1st joined the boardwalk. i had SO much trouble especially with counting money... and it always has to be that i am working with him. so whenever i call his name... and ask him what i should do, he just shakes his head and laughs. he's also the stupid one who got me caught for giving him a drink! cos u know how espresso staff gets 2 drinks a day... so one day he helped me do something. so i promised him one of my free drinks (which we are not supposed to do). i make the drink, and valente jokingly says, "don't let everard catch u giving that away!" i'm like "yeah yeah whatever". THEN later, i discover this is what happened!!! everard must have seen me walking away with the drink i had made. then later, he goes into dipper diner (which is where armando works), and he sees the same pink drink that i made on the kitchen counter! he asks around, and everyone claims that they don't know anything about it. he calls the espresso cart. valente picks up the phone and everard asks valente a series of questions, like what's this drink that bettina made, and who it was for. valente covered up for me and said that i had gone into dipper diner to drop off something and must have left the drink there by accident. *whew* that was a close shave! everard had earlier written rachel up for letting her boyfriend eat some company food. scary...

this is rachel. she's only 16!!!!! she's such a wild 16 year though... i really like her. i treat her like my little sister! she's taken all sorts of drugs before, she drives really really fast and scarily, but all in all, she's a responsible and mature girl. she's alot more mature than her boyfriend! and her boyfriend is 18. there was a period when her boyfriend had not started working, she would give him money to go play video games in the arcade! i thought that was horrible actually... that her boyfriend would take money from her like that... but she's really mature.




and now we come to brandon. i have nothing personal against brandon. i think he's an interesting guy to talk to, a nice guy to occasionally hang out with... BUT he's just about the laziest worker in the world. he was the one who applied for lead together with me, and he didn't get it, even though he had worked there for 2 years, and i had worked there for only 2 months! but because he was so lazy, no one liked working with him. actually he improved a great lot! he used to just stand by the cashier and not help to make drinks. and he would take orders, then slam the cups down on the counter, and expect u to make them. but then, as in my earlier blog, he suddenly become alot more hardworking. and more pleasent too. he once made me push in the cart alone! i didn't want to. not that i couldn't have done it, but just cos i don't think it's worth it to risk hurting my back. he claimed that trina and aimee (the lead before trina, who is just as small as trina) could push in by themselves. yah yah and trina has back problems all the time... *rolls eyes* he could be such an ass.



anyway, in the background is my beloved espresso cart. that's where i spent most of my time in santa cruz. yup it looks a little shabby, but that's how the boardwalk looked! it has this nostalgic feel to it.

ok now... guess how old this guy is!!!!! you'll never guess right...



he's 20!!!! omg... i bet u guessed at least 26 right??? can anyone be more chao lao... *faint* he looks old, and he acts old too! he does not act 20 at all. he's a supervisor, and he makes himself seem really mature. he 1st told me that he was 22. i couldn't believe it already! he looks so much older! then he told me that his real age was 20... he's in his 1st year in college. omg.... it's amazing. how can these people look so old!!!!! neway he's quite nice. he's friendly, and he always takes coffee from us.

these are just some of the nice people i met in santa cruz. sigh... i miss the laidback life there... my next post will have more pictures... hehe...

bored...

oh well... i think no one is ever gonna be looking at this blog anymore now that i'm home... but as u can tell, i'm really really bored... as yet, i don't have a job, everyone's working, or studying... going for interviews drains the life and energy out of me... and somebody doesn't wanna talk to me. sigh. ok neway i'm just bored... so i've decided to upload pics for my own pleasure actually cos no one's gonna see them anyway.
they are those that i think i look nice in or have a story... wahahahaha.

1st one is on our trip to the monterey bay aquarium... it's like underwater world but alot alot nicer and bigger. it was really cool. neway we were at the children's play area and decided to go put on the little costumes for the kids and take a pic... so that's us. me, rachel and sam.



here's a pic of me and trina! trina is one of my very very very good friends in Santa Cruz. you probably have heard her name mentioned in some of my previous blogs. anyway, trina is one of the 1st people to volunteer to take me out! she invited me to watch a movie with a bunch of them, and then she took me ,rachel and sam to gilroy where all the outlets are... and she lets me do laundry at her house, and we just go hang out. it's so fun to hang out with trina! i really miss trina. she's one of the people that made santa cruz special for me. =)



then this is mike. mike is one my supervisors. he's quite a funny guy. he's the one that kept on calling out my name in various weird voices in the beginning. then, he broke up with his then girlfriend, and he'd talk to me about it when we closed together. this was taken at his party. he was having a bbq! wow... he makes really good steak!!!! it was so so so good... i really need to get the recipe from him! after trying his steak, i wanted to marry him. haha. neway one day, after his bbq party, we and a few other ppl went to this bar called the red room. it's a nice place. decor is mainly red, hence the name. it's got a nice atmosphere to sit down and chat. mike got SO DRUNK that night. we were laughing at him... and then michele (i'll intro her later) was saying that she was going to laugh at him the next time she saw him at work! i was like no no no... we have to be nice... even though he is so drunk today, we have to forget all about this tomorrow. she said... ok ok... then the next day, she took one look at mike and burst out laughing! we can't forget the sight of our supervisor being so drunk.



oh yeah... did i mention that samantha was always spending time at jeff's place... so much so that she practically moved over? and elaine moved to san jose to live with her friends... so i had the whole house to myself! and oh well... u guys know me... i'm not the neatest person around... so this is how my room looked one horrific day after i was looking for something, and elaine just popped by for a visit. she was shocked... heh...

neway the guy in the next pic is valente. he's making turkey burgers! omg... they are just so so so good. big, juicy, tender, full of flavour! i never knew burgers could taste so good! it's interesting how i'd never be able to make stuff like that... but to cook singaporean food is just so easy. i look demented in the photo... but oh well... it was pretty funny.



the turkey burgers were made just before our party! ok... if u really want to know, we singaporeans are really really quiet creatures.. we hardly make noise in la bahia... but that night... our apartment was rockin'!!!! we had such a cool party. lotsa alcohol, good music, and lotsa ppl having fun!!!! woohooo!!!!

neway so i took a photo with sequoia. she's the coolest single mum! she has this really cute 5 year old daughter... but she can't be more than 22 or 23 herself! neway she parties hard, but she's really disciplined too. that's what i really like about her. the office is always organised with her in it. and she thinks i'm cool! wow... that's a real compliment...



now... for my favourite french canadian... michele!!!!! it's wonderful how 2 ppl from such different backgrounds and cultures can be so similar and can click so well! maybe part of the reason is because we are one of the oldest working there. she's 23 and i'm turning 22. much as we like the 16 year olds... it's kinda hard to be very very good friends with them... but anyhow... i'm glad for her friendship! we always have so much fun together!!! whether it is going to great america, or just going for a meal, or even partying together. hanging out with michele is always entertaining.

the sunday before i left santa cruz, we decided to go paint ceramic at this ceramic shop... so she chose salt and pepper shakers, and i chose i huge mug...

it was really fun to do! and cos we were such amateurs, we didn't know how it was going to turn out! mine turned out really pretty, i think. hehe...



my last day of work... it was a little sad... though i was looking forward to going travelling and coming home... but leaving santa cruz was hard too! neway this is angel... the one who made me cry... the same one who has a 5 yr old daughter from a previous relationship and is currently married to a 19yr old korean girl. but i still think he's nice. i like their whole little family!

here's his daughter, lilly.... she's so precocious! she's really really adorable..



and this is claudia. valente's sister... and the one that i thought was really scary initially... heh heh... i still wonder if she really liked me... cos she never did give me hours! she schedules me for crappy shifts (like 6pm-1.30am) and i still wouldn't get a 40 hr week. oh well...



ok this blog is getting kinda long... maybe i shld continue some other day. i bet this page takes forever to load too! wahahaha....