who would've known?

So I've heard about ppl complaining about how hot the weather back in Malaysia is, and I am, opposite the globe, complaining about how cold it is. Literally. Freezing. Sunshine state is never supposed to be that cold! As I'm typing this I'm bundled up under my Snuggie (Haha, yes Ju and I actually bought it) , with two layers of clothings on.

Work has been pretty good. It's such a repetitive job, the service industry, but the people and positive thinking makes the day pass by. For all who don't already know, I'm on a work and travel program, catered to university students who're interested to learn about the US culture. There's two companies in Malaysia who offer this program at the moment, Speedwing and Out of The Box. I came with the latter, but do check out both companies to score the job that best suit your interest.

Right now, I'm stabilized in Bonita Springs located in the state of Florida. Currently attached to Publix, a grocery outlet. I work in the customer service department, as a bagger, or a nicer name would go as a customer service clerk. Ha ha. My job involves putting groceries in plastic/ paper bags for customers, pushing carts back to where it's supposed to be, basically, customer service. Don't go 'omg what kinda job is that' because people here grocery shop ALOT, and I meant alot to the point the groceries sometimes equate to two cartfull. The store is currently very busy lately because all the snowbirds are down here, and it's a cluster of human jam. It's nice to be kept busy though, working hours seems to pass faster. One day I will post up the picture of my uniform, which isn't too shabby but i would love to do without the apron.

It's been two months into the job now, and I've experienced the good and bad of the job. Things like pushing carts around sunset simply is amazing, because the splendors of colors in the sky is beautiful at that time. Occasionally you get to chat up with nice customers who tell you about their plans in the evening with the groceries they bought, and these things makes your job more interesting than it usually is. Getting tips is sweet even though I'm not officially allowed to. Cleaning the store at night ain't that fun, but walking pass those aisle of goods while mopping isn't all that bad, I love America's grocery shopping. Everything is so instant, so easy. The coffee aisle is one of my favorite to mop, the heavenly smell of fresh ground coffee is intoxicating. Mmm. Biking to and fro from work is honestly pain for me, but I guess it's giving me the exercise I need for the amount of food I'm consuming over here. And occasionally lifts home from colleagues are cool. (: Just y'day we packed three bicycles, a scooter and six people into a MPV, just to get us and our bikes home. How cool is that. ;p

Being the workaholic I am, I scored a second job at Burger King, just to pass my off days, and earn extra dough. I work as a cashier in Burger King, and it's honestly pretty fun. I actually like my job. I love how busy the food industry can get, how demanding it is, but how you can put satisfaction in people's face, because there's this invisible bond between people and good food. It's a multitasking job, especially when you're working the drive thru. It involves filling up the right drink in the right cup size for the customer, getting the right food (picky customers, no lettuce, extra tomatoes, no mayo... ) , collecting money... at the very same time you have to take the order of the next customer in line at the drive thru. Pretty insane during busy hours. The only thing about Burger King is all the employees speaks Spanish, gosh I feel like I'm exposed to Mexican culture more than the US culture over here. It's so diverse. Which reminds me, I really need to buck up a lil' bit on Spanish if I want to make the effort to know my colleagues. Best perk of this job? Getting a double cheeseburger with bacon and mayo, add onions no pickles (yes, I'm picky too) at only a whopping 53 cents!! :D Es Bueno!

I've been enjoying myself at the expense of my sleeping time. Just yesterday night we had a game of poker with a twist, the bet being sips of beer instead of the regular poker chips. It was pretty insane when the bets were raised to crazy amount of sips. The worse thing is when you lose. But it was all good fun. Even got to drive on the left hand side to McDonald's at 4am to grab our one dollar breakfast burrito, although I wished they had sausage Mcmuffin at that time.

Another thing about living on your own, you have to settle your own food. Either you eat out, or take frozen, or cook. Since I came here, I've been cooking more than I've ever did in twenty years. Dead serious. I think no one can imagine me and Ju dissecting a whole chicken. It was pretty comical watching us do it. You should've seen the squeals and expressions. Haha. But look at the end product of one of our cooking! Doesn't it look pretty good?

Baked Chicken

(for two)

Cooking time: 30 mins

2 leg quarters
1 packet of Baby Carrots
1 packet of Spinach
Italian Seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Barbeque Sauce

If you're tight on budget and tight on time, this would do good. (: Marinade the chicken with salt, pepper, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, barbeque sauce, italian seasoning.. anything you prefer, to your own liking.

Place marinated chicken in oven dish, and pour the excess marinade into the dish. Throw in carrots and spinach. Potatoes would taste good too. Heat oven to 300 degrees, and just wait patiently. Don't forget to turn your chicken over from time to time so it won't get burnt.

Glaze with butter or honey when it's cooked.

Voila, bon apetit! (:


Ju and I were just randomly talking about opening a restaurant with the name: Everyday's a Suprise! to which we'll serve whatever we feel like cooking. Haha, pretty ambitious for two ppl who know close to nothing about cooking. Tsk. Well, at the very least the kitchen is still hanging in there, not burnt yet! ;p

Turrah for now! I'll try to update more from time to time, if work isn't dating me all the time! :p