Friday, January 25, 2008
Bar and Farewell Party for Mark
Kalo biasanya aku benci sama bar, itu karena bau beer dan biasanya bar itu gelap dan kotor. Juga banyak orang merokok di dalam bar. I hate cigarette smoke.

Tapi sejak tahun lalu, 2007, ada peraturan dimana dilarang merokok di dalam bar dan tempat2 makan di Aussie sini. Ada tempat khusus buat perokok, jadi dipisah. Sebelum 2007, semuanya jadi satu yang mana menjengkelkan kalo aku ke restoran, terutama chinese restaurant, baru menikmati yum cha eh ada bau asap rokok di ruang ber-AC lagi.

So, the story goes on, tanggal 26 Januari yang lalu ada tour ke hotel Quay Grand dan Quay West-nya Mirvac di Sydney. Enaknya kalo kerja tahu-tahu ga ada plan, disuru sama manager pergi ke hotel dan have a tour around, yeah.. free from the office, bisa cuci mata sambil jalan2.

Di salah satu hotelnya, Quay Grand, ada bar hotel yang bersih. Begitu masuk, engga ada bau beer dan tempatnya benar-benar nice. Karena sudah dikasi tahu pagi itu oleh Mark, supervisor aku, yang mau pesta perpisahan tanggal 26 malam itu kalo semua anak2 CRS bakalan minum di Quay Grand, jadi aku lihat-lihat barnya setelah tour keliling hotelnya. Oleh reservation manager-nya aku dan 3 teman sekerjaku ditawarin minum atau coffee yang mana terpaksa kita tolak karena kita mau ke Quay West.

Tapi setelah melihat-lihat barnya Quay Grand, aku jadi langsung relax mengetahui bahwa teman2 CRS pergi ke bar yang bersih dan gag bau seperti bar lain yang umum di Sydney. So when Mark asked me again that afternoon if I would like to come to his farewell party, I said of course, 'cos I would like to see the bar again. It's clean and nice.

Waktu malamnya aku kesana, ternyata barnya ada jendela kaca yang besar yang bisa dibuka lebar dan udaranya selalu mengalir. Juga ternyata banyak orang2 corporate yang ke bar disitu dan umumnya mereka minum2 cocktail buat socialize, ga ada yang minum2 sampai mabuk disana.

Juga ternyata aku suka sama cocktail khasnya Quay Grand Sydney, called "heaven". The heaven cocktail from Quay Grand's bar, made from angelic mix of liqueors and peach schnapps with magical flavours of mango and rockmelon. Itu yang tertulis di menunya.
Cocktailnya sendiri engga berasa ada minuman keras sama sekali dan lumayan ringan. Aku cuma membatasi minum 1 cocktail dan a glass of water karena waktu itu malam hari. Rasanya enak juga minum bersama2 teman CRS. Mereka menjaga baik-baik kelakuan mereka dan bahkan membelikan aku cocktail-nya dengan kartu staff karena aku belum lewat masa probation, jadi belum dapat kartu staff buat discount, ha ha.

'heaven" cocktail from Quay Grand Sydney

Yang lucu adalah saat Mark terakhir kerja just before heading to the bar, mereka sempat membuat video dan foto2 si Mark, termasuk dua managerku. Lucu juga melihat video Mark saat kerja dan digangguin sana-sini. Aku sempat bilang ke Mark kalo aku mau bikin dia famous dengan upload video itu ke youtube, siapa tao ditonton million of people, ha ha..

Tapi karena ada komputer di layar dan ada data-data sensitif, tentu saja aku engga bakalan upload si video, cuma sekadar bergurau buat melihat muka si Mark berubah-rubah.

Belum lagi sewaktu semua pada kasi kado cufflinks ke mark, aku bilang ke dia kalo itu adalah sepasang earrings dan mukanya langsung berubah-rubah lucu. Sempat juga aku suru dia maju ke tengah pada saat semua mau kasi dia cheesecake, aku pura-pura mau lemparin cheesecake ke mukanya. Managerku pada ketawa melihat muka Mark yang sempat bengong karena Mark kira aku sungguh-sungguh mau melempar. Sedih juga melihat Mark pergi karena baru dalam sebulan aku mengenal dia, dia suka membantu dan selalu membuat suasana bisa berubah-rubah menjadi ceria disana-sini.

Hopefully, si Mark bisa sukses kerja di tempat barunya dan persahabatannya dengan teman2 CRS tetap erat.
 
posted by Lilia at 11:14 pm | Permalink | 1 comments
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
CRS Dinner
So, here I am. Back to blogging after I was having a busy 2 weeks work. I had to train 3 new people and learned a lot of things to do as my supervisor will be away for a holiday in February. I was having fun as well and learnt a lot of hotels' product knowledge. I was trying to mingling with those people from CRS as well and tried to know their personalities better so I would know how to talk and deal with them. Most people in CRS are nice people. They do care about others, helpful and not being selfish. They all are working as a team which is good as we will be recruiting more people, so we really need to work it out together while keep being a close-knit friends.

This is not my blog if there is no photo entries, rite? So here are the photos from my first CRS Dinner on 23rd January, last Wednesday at the Front Restaurant at the Sebel Pier One Hotel:



The bread rolls, menu and butter was arranged nicely.




The view from my table, a harbour view.




Amuse bouche. Salmon & potatoes fried and garnished with tangy sauce and caviar.




Scallops with raspberries Hollandaise sauce.




Beef gratin potatoes and peppercorn sauce. The sauce was a hit with a flavourful peppercorn hint. The beef was tender despite I asked for a well done beef which was a hint of a careful and nicely cooking. Usually a well done beef would get a black burnt and hard to digest.




Blood orange jelly. Full of flavour despite the small portion served, this small dessert was very flavoursome and good to switch from main meal to dessert without feeling stuffed. This one was not on the menu, so I guessed that this one is a bonus from the chef.




Chocolate Tower with berries and passion fruit coulis. Inside the tower is a chocolate mousse which was smooth, packed densely with chocolate and medium-sweet. Those fresh berries was a hit and helped me to digest those dense chocolate mousse.




International cheese platter. The cheese are blue cheese, double brie and camembert cheese. One of my workmate said that she smelled a stinking smell but couldn't find it till I told her it was a blue cheese. She couldn't believe that a cheese would smell so stinkingly strong, so she tried to smell it closely and quickly ran away from the table, ha ha..
 
posted by Lilia at 11:30 pm | Permalink | 2 comments
Saturday, January 12, 2008
A Chance
I think I was making a mistake last Friday morning.

I did something that I wouldn't do in a normal situation.

I keep thinking why would I do something like that?

Why did I get a "yes" answer?

After all, it already happened.

Well, I'll see what will happen the next 2 weeks and what kind of situation I'm in.

This will be my last chance and my last effort.
 
posted by Lilia at 10:59 pm | Permalink | 5 comments
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
New Year
I sent him an email this morning. Wishing him a best wishes and thanks him to make my 2007 a great memories for me. A bad start happened in April as my dad passed away and I felt so sad. However, he turned my sadness by gave me chance to go to Paris and Montpellier. That's when I realise that there is something different on what do you see on TV and media when you experience the experience itself. The culture, the different people around, the food, the air and the music. Everything was a new experience for me. It was the first time I ever spent a long flight hours, European dining experience, fast train TGV, seeing Paris from atop of Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe and Paris Wheel. It was also the first time I ever been to South of France, seeing poor Spanish migrant and rich people on the Mediterranean (French Riviera) side.

It's also the first time I saw him so relaxed and happy to get around. I just wished that he would not going alone like when we were separated in the Louvre museum, rather I wish him to get along with us and going together. However, when he got back to Sydney, he told me that he likes London (he went to London at the end of our Paris journey without us) because his friends are living in London. Maybe there is someone special to him in London.

I received my certificate in Hospitality Operation last November after finished my classes which was paid by the hotel under his management. Then, I received 2 awards on the Christmas Party day from him and the managements. The managements are included Maintenance Manager, my supervisor and other staffs who voted for me. If in 2006 I received 1 award being the Best Team Player, in 2007 I received award as Employee of the Month and they made a special award namely "The Liliana Award". I was surprised to heard him saying what I have done, I guessed that those managements people told him a lot about me.

Tonight, I read his reply. He told me how special I was for the hotel and hope that our friendship will continue even after I started my new job. So here is the conclusion, he just want to be my friend. Maybe it's time for me to move on and started anew. I don't know how I will be able to do that. I feel that I didn't know yet why did I receive this new job and why I would even leave "my big family".

All I know that I had to receive this new job to step up, grow up and especially to help my family. This new job will guarantee me to get a better salary and better future as I get more challenge (which I really want). I was bored with my previous job. I got bored if I had to do the same thing over and over again. I feel that those people from "my big family" always protect me whenever I make a mistake. Sometime I wish they will get angry to me or scold me, but they never do it. I guess that I don't want to be protected anytime. I need to stand on my own feet and being more responsible on my job while getting more challenge ahead.

Hopefully, one day I will look back and say to myself that I made a right decision.
 
posted by Lilia at 9:51 pm | Permalink | 2 comments