internship's tales..

:: Posts ::

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

went to the international canadian school with ivan, daniel simon and alex porteous. we sold raffle tickets and take in registration for the trry fox run.. its so boring there.. there's not much people there and most of all daniel simon told me there will lotsa of canadian girls around to see... damn,, there are only canadian toddlers and their mums.. no teenage girls... when i m back in the hotel.. haha.. i m back to mailing list... argh..it never ends and its always alot.. i haven't finish it up yet, gonna continue it today... NVM... "mailing is fun!"

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 6:11 AM

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Saturday, August 28, 2004

i'm attached to cheryl yesterday...we went for a site visit and mooncake delivery. the site visit is about bringing the clients around to show them the facilities of the hotel and most importantly the rooms. its a feel good feeling to beack to the rooms since my stinst at romm service.. on our way to suntec to deliver the mooncake, cheryl told me about the basic things the sales manager do. they are in charge of entertainment, prospecting,site visits, sales calls and blitz and telephone blitz at times and maintaining contact with their usual accounts. cheryl show me a diffrent side of sales as she spend much more time with the clients as compared to elsie and emma did. through the conversation she manage to dig impt info from the clients. this something new and something i'm going to emulate if i'm going to sales next time..

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 8:44 AM

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Friday, August 27, 2004

went mooncakes delivery with elsie and emma yesterday.. elsie really tlaks alot.. she told me so much about sales and marketing.. from what clients they do, to the bosses they have to report to. she surely have lots of experience at her helm and i learnt alot from her while we combed through shenton way. she've opened my eyes and what i realise that its really a big deal to work in the sales. so many things to do yet so little time. that's why time management and priortizing. emma is abit more grouchy yesterday but she didn't show her irritation much.. we got to nkow each other better cos we talked more about our personal life compared to the "work stuff" elsie talked to me about.
however they both asked me the same question when we are out on delivery. "which department do you plan to go after you have finished studying? i still haven't get the answer to this question but i believe i will after my internship. i'll just need to go through the rooms division operations then i'll be enlightened.

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 8:01 AM

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Thursday, August 26, 2004

its slightly much more better yesterday...cut down on m data entry adventure but my mailing adventure still prevails.. i sent a couple of hundred mails yesterday... you shoudl see the amount of glue i used.. anyway yesterday i managed to tag along emma to help her deliver the mooncakes to her usual clients.. its part of a customer loyalty thingy but its an eye opener. the buildings we went to are so high tech.. so many secuirty passes at each entry point. got to know emma better too and i feel lucky to follow her cos she's one of the nicest sales maanger in the department. she's really friendly and offered to bring me along today.. Yeah! at least i got to step out of the hotel for a while.. will be following elsie this morning...hmmm wonder how it will be like.. my past experiencewith her wasn't that great.. we haven't really talk before..will see how it goes...

i did a signature four seasons move yesterday. was at the biz centre printing some stuff when a guest approach winnie for assistance. the couple wanted to several numbers of parcels and boxes back from to their country from their shopping trip.. then she took out a tattered wooden ornament. she must have broke it on her way back to the hotel. she asked us to just bubble wrap it and she'll fixed it when she get back to her country. i don't know what got into me , i feel pretty confident i can fix it so i offered to fixed it back for her and put in a bozx for her. i know winnie was stunned but i know i can do it. so i went to the engineering to get super glue and went to the training room to dig for a suitable box. and after half an hour, whala... i did it. though at that time i suppose to be working in the pr office but all of them are out for lunch so who cares..hehe.. i feel a sense of satisfactiona nd pride after the whole carpentry session. next time i become a full time staff in four seasons, i know what i'm going to do to my guests. i'm not selling them a room and service, i'm selling them an experience..

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 8:01 AM

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Tuesday, August 24, 2004

once again its data entry for the PR department.. i tot i'll have a new lease of life when i'm going to the sales department to help in the afternoon and who knows.. i gotta do data entry again.. argh.. i dreaded it man... but its a necessity of a organisation i guess.. hmm..come to think of it, i've learn quite a few things from all these keyboard beating and monitor staring... i know who are the important clients of the hotels, how they create sales lead from telephone marketing, and those nitty gritty stuff like using the mail flank, improving my skills at the MS excel and word. I'm satisfied. somehow. today i realise i got a knack of fixing spoilt stuff, a couple of times, i always manage to fix the photocopier when the staff can't. its kinda a fun challenge to fix the photocopier. like a treasure hunt or cluedo. you have to follow the track of the paper and deduce where its stuck and use different equipments to dig them out though the most handy one is the hand. a kitchen auntie pass(smuggled) me 3 freshly baked mooncakes today and i decided to share with the people i feel had made an impact since day 1 i came. i gave one to lee moi from stewarding.. she's like my ah ma in this hotel.. her dressing is quite modern, not like those normal market aunties and her smile never fails to brighten my day early in the morning. she's always sitting at the staff canteen and waiting for time to pass for her to report to work. i gave another to auntie may the seamtress. she draw a close resemblance to my mother. and she treated me like a son too. she's always patient with me when i'm fitting my uniform and always offer to help me when i'm in clothing related problems. seeing her is like seeing my mum in the hotel. the remaining mooncake i share among the finance, catering and ivan.
realise i'm getting weaker day by day.. each day i'm like lacking more and more sleep but i tried my best to sleep at least 7 hours per day.. maybe sitting in front of the computer is both mentally and physically draining but i know day by day i'm getting unhealthier.. i need to exercise...

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 10:02 PM

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the whole of yesterday was plain hardcore data entry.. and the kick is there's two list, so i have to countercheck each entry to see which is the latest.. that's a killer man.. i'm counting time almost every 15 minutes..after working for a week at the executive office, realise the the catering department is rather happening.. whereas the sales deartment seems more dead. the atmosphere is abit rather tense over there and its a much more warmer feeling at the finance department. and yes a small reminder to HTM seniors reading this entry, we have to choose an elective subject. either e-biz or biz calculas.. its compulsory..

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 7:33 AM

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Friday, August 20, 2004

the past two days my major task is to clear up that storeroom that is filled with long overdue stuff and piles and piles of documents. i clear a whole of them and manage to fit all the documents lying outside to where they belong.. i know many people gave me the "why an intern so suay kana do this sort of work" look... BUT they are so wrong.. i enjoyed myself throughly.. i got to know where are all the items are located, what are the names of the different items and abit of history about the hotel.. and i m glad most importantly CD and CP appreciate what i have done. i have left a piece of legacy already.. now CD is able to walk into the storeroom without knocking into something.

work have been piling up.. felt overused by the various departments but i realised i gain alot of experience and knowledge from all the nitty gritty stuff they asked me to do. slowly i feel i'm beginning to enjoy office work.. time whizzed past really quickly compared to operation..

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 11:13 PM

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Wednesday, August 18, 2004

i've finally finished my terry fox letters today.. yeah!!! with a bit of help from soo ling though... thanks "girl?" also went through the press clipping and did some of it... tedious job... at least know i'm clearer about the scope of the the PR department. did filing today and got the chance to see the marketing plan of the hotel.. hmm..its looks very different from what we did in school. theirs look more complex or i should say more "adult". its really a different world out there compared to the school.

this few weeks been thinking about the same issue... i usually gain my satisfaction from making guests happy.. but come to realise it, when i start climing the corporate ladder, customer contact will me minimized.. will my drive go down too? i realise i fare better in office work than in hotel operation work wise... however i prefer operation work... i'm really tempted to carve a career out of human resources cos i guess i can maximised my strengths over there however i'm still insistent on my dream. shall wait and see when i go over to the rooms division...

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 10:09 PM

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Tuesday, August 17, 2004

the whole day i've been doing the terry fox run letters to be sent out to the sec sch , universities n polys... i guess i've printed more than a thousand pages today...and wasted maybe perhaps a hundred. i learnt how to mail merge today.. its a really useful tool. did portering too.. and i realise i got closer with the finance people and i realise miss hon the director of finance is quite a nice lady. most of the time, she spoke mandarin to me... wierd~

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 9:01 PM

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Monday, August 16, 2004

its my first day in the sales and marketing today.. i'm currently attached to the PR department... hmm... of all department why there? there's only 2 people in this department and their english is really slang.. so its kinda of a whole environment.. but i m gonna create an impact as much what i created at HR. i leanr more about PR now.. their press releases, lots of mailing and publicity is done... and they basically have to know about the hotel products.. i m glad i got attached to quite a number of departments so i manage to know our products better.. did quite a bit of porter work today since im the only male in that department... gonna learn how to mail merge tomorrow.. can't wait for it...

my last week with the club wasn't a waste.. i made a number of friends, learn a lot about the club, so next time i know what to recommend during sales call or i m in reservation. i learn about the club system, different types of facilities and how they operate.. that week is somehow a week away from the hustle and bustle of the hotel industry.. its kinda relaxing..

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 9:48 PM

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Friday, August 13, 2004

the past 2 days in the club was rather uninteresting.. maybe its the quantity of people that pass by the club... i felt abit pressured to remember the club's members's name as all the staff over there recognise each and every one of them. what i can address them is either sir or madam. although the club is quite a slow paced place, i realise the people there are nice. each possessing their unique sense of humour.. i was even surprised the 51 years old coach, rob, is also quite funny. Here's an excerpt from what happen yesterday...

(rob walks down from the tennis court...)
(rob nudges gerard the assistant club manager)

Rob: hey, i'm so disappointed with you.. why aren't here for the staff clinic?
Gerard: working la.. anyway did anyone came for it?
Rob: (gives a smug smile) i gotta thank you for it.. zannie.. woo....
Gerard: (jaws dropped)
*zannie is this babe from the PR department who wears sexy tennis clothing, especially her skirts. Ivan commented its damn short.

Its rather cute to see 2 middle age man, by the way gerard is 36 years old, commenting on a 20 plus babe... haaa.. just when i thought Rob who always keep a straight face and l0ok darn serious. that joker..

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 11:47 AM

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Wednesday, August 11, 2004

the main thing i learnt about yesterday Four Seasons Introductory Training Programme 1.5 is about telephone courtesy. i realised i made a number of mistakes which might come across as rude to the caller so i gotta changed that. the programme end off with a short paragraph, "imagine a man saving and scrimping for 1 years, planning for a month, mapping his trip for 2 weeks and flying for a day, don't he deserve an extra bit of hospitality? it make sense but come to think of it, most of our guests are corporate clients, they are sent to and fro by the company and paid by the company. hmm...do they deserve that lil bit'?

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 9:43 AM

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Tuesday, August 10, 2004

it was my first day at the club yesterday... basically i learnt the minimal cos its rather slow over there.. i learn operate their booking system and abit of fidelio and micros. however the people over there are quite nice.. funny usually... especially lukatsz, the tennis coach from poland. he's a goofy charmer. when we are eating, he was the only one eating with a fork in his hand and another hand he use to hold his food as we are eating with the fork and spoon. then he shouted that all of us are wierd.. at around 9.30pm, room service called for crunch, so i went down to help them.. this time i did 4 service back to back and i love it.. i wasn't as nervous as compared to last time.. i realise i can be quite versatile as i've been to quite a few department so basically i;m the jack of all trade. i find it rather useful whenever any department needs help.. now i see the need for cross training...

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 7:22 AM

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Monday, August 09, 2004

last saturday marks the my stinst officially at the HR department... its a bad feeling, no good feeling at all. i am beginning to miss everything i have over there. but the earth still revolves and life still has to go on.. i've pack up my barang barang and set off to my new designated department, the club. had my review with celeste. we talk about how important the HR can be to the hotel.. its like the architect of the hotel and how well it is gonna operate will depend on how well they play the chess game. Next time i become a GM, i believe the HR will be a good tool to make me go far. Celeste convinced it about it.. and i always remember one phrase she gave me.. "life is too short to learn from your mistakes, you need to also learn from other's mistakes in order to speed up the process." Then we talked about my strengths and weaknesses. she told me my intensity is my strength and also my weakness. if i keep my intensity and efficiency in doing my work, i will go far...but if i get too intense, i will work myself to dead. she say i have to manage it well or else i will be average... i have to work hard and also work smart. celeste and julie discussed before and said i might be the next nathan, the front office manager. he won the world's receptionist competition.. i've seen him in action before, he's really on the ball. but i feel that he's too on the ball which lead him to lack that human touch in him.. that's his weakness and i'm gonna make sure i don't become like him... i'm not going to be like nathan, i'm gonna bettered him.

yesterday was the singapore hotel association athletics meet. i was in javelin and it was make an eye opener. my performance is like a mouse over there.. i bet i'm the youngest competitor in that section. i look like a newbie over there.. however i feel this Meet is somehow rather useless. its didn't pull in alot of supporters from the hotel. can't feel much of the team spirit... is it because everyone is so pre-occupied with work that makes them forget about how important it is to support their own colleagues in action...

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 10:08 AM

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Saturday, August 07, 2004

right now i'm in front of my HR office typing this.. its my official last day today... i;m really going to miss this department.. my desk, my noticeboard, my in tray, my inbox, my space, my phone, my lab top, my bottles, my mini posters, my post-it and my legacy i have left behind. i'm heading to the club next week... a new home, a new challenge..

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 8:14 AM

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Thursday, August 05, 2004

i forgot to mention i did lobby duty with Theresa yesterday... Realize the most important guest contact staff will be from the bell desk. They will create the lasting first impression to any guest so finding the right staff to do the job is a MUST... i realize there's a few bellman lacks that desire to serve. Their smiles were forced.

I went to find the Dir of Catering to apologize. Am glad it went well, and its really a relief... I shredded 10 bags for papers today.. and yes i enjoyed the process. i gotta to see the company past years history and the ex staff that make an impact or make a disaster. i realise i learn quite a lot through shredding paper amazingly.. 2 more days.. i will be gone... i'm really really gonna miss the HR department. Especially the people, Celeste, Theresa,fiona & Julie. they are like mothers and sisters ensuring i get the best of out the 2 weeks and taught me a tons of stuff.. they make me feel important, instill confidence in me. i'm sure i'm going to be a indomitable force in the hospitality industry in times to come. i'm sure i have left behind a legacy not a vacancy judging from the contributions i made to the department.

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 10:46 PM

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I made a major blunder yesterday that involves the whole HR department and the Dir of Sales and Marketing and the Director of Catering. the feeling is terrible... All of them are looking for a pile of reviewed papers and i even help them to search high and low for it.we gave up and the next time, the Dir of Catering gotta redo his stuff, and then when i m packing my stuff, i found all of it chuck in the hidden corner of my desk.. i was shaken, dumbfounded, amazed!, speechless and yes afraid... Don't know what gives me the courage, i juz admit my BIG mistake to celeste. the rest is history.. i got buttered by her. i feel i got no one to blame except myself. i'm glad it happen during internship, it keeps me more prepared for the working world next time i got this sort of "surprises". i made a mistake, i admit it , i move on and i'm never going to commit the same mistake again.

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 7:27 AM

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Tuesday, August 03, 2004

felt extremely burnt out today.. many projects on hand and a few appointments to attend to. so many things so little time... i needed sleep. i enjoyed work but for now i enjoyed sleep more. I can pull through this. its just a minor hiccup, shall drink more water to keep me awake...

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 10:06 AM

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Monday, August 02, 2004

I went to help one-ninety work part time yesterday... its was rather a fulfiling day.. my guests are pleased with my service and i received a few compliments and a very good news.

came early for lunch and met the banquet aunties over there. sat down and have a chat with them. i asked whether they have been treated nicely since i left. aunty Gen said that the captains have now toned down and it feels wierd as this is the first time they are experiencing that since working for many years. she confirmed with me whether the rumour of me voicing the unjust treatment of the casuals at the departmental meeting is true. hmm... how did the casuals know that since they are not at the meeting. rumours spread really quick in this hotel. anyway i told them i did voice out at the meeting and i guess i gain their admiration cos no one dare to do that since they first joined. the other auntie enthusiatically asked me to return to banquet but i realised that's not my cup of tea so i told her i won't be going back there. i have succeeded. i have leave a piece of legacy behind not a vacancy.

During service at one-ninety bar, i met mr Gopal again. He's the right hand man of the hotel owner. we had a good chat and he told me that its rare to see local youngsters like me in this industry. Its hard to find patience in them nowadays. He said i will go very far and asked me to ask for transfer to other countries to gain exposure. it feels good to have someone believeing in you and it comes from him. Yana, theresa and leigh believe in me too. I'm gonna do them proud.

<..do unto others as you would have others do unto you..> at 7:39 AM

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