An Eventful Reading Week

Right now as I'm typing this, I'm really tired but I really want to blog and get this post up. I uploaded a bazillion photos onto the blog and separated them into 4 posts because there's no way I can squeeze them into one post. So this is going to be the first post~

I went to work today and it was so busyyy. I was in the shoe department the whole day when I was supposed to be in baby-wear. It's just that the person in charge of shoes gave me a list of stuff to do ytd and asked me get as much done as possible but because we were so busy, I didn't really get much done. I actually hate being in the shoe department. I don't mind replenishing stock, arranging everything and making sure everything is neat and tidy but measuring people's feet and needing to squat down and stand up and look for stock and deal with fussy customers are a pain. I sometimes wish people can just leave me alone... but it's my job so I have no choice.

Nevertheless, I'm glad to be given more responsibility and I'm glad that the more senior colleagues trust me with some tasks. Because normally, all part-timers do are either stay on the tills or just make sure everything is neat and tidy (aka "recovery"). Although I don't mind those tasks but sometimes it's nice to have something different to do.

Also, I agreed to cover a colleague's shift tmr.... so it'll be another day in the shoe department... I always complain to some colleagues that Saturdays are so busy and tiring but they told me that Sundays are worst. So I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that everything goes well tmr. I'm the type of person that feels down the whole day if one thing (major) goes wrong. For example, last week, a couple came in and wanted a refund for a piece of baby's clothing WITHOUT a receipt!
Let me give an advice to you right now before I continue, please NEVER try to get a refund without a receipt unless you can prove you bought something from that particular store!!! It's common sense not to return something without a receipt and yet some people can be so stubborn and refuse to accept that fact without going down with an argument. And if you know me, I'm not good with arguments. So this couple requested to talk to my manager when I told them they couldn't return this item that they say has shrunk after one wash! So I called my manager over and they argued with him for at least 15 mins while I just continued serving other customers on the till. At one point, they tried to push the blame on me for not being able to return their item! Karma is going to get back at these unreasonable people one day. In the end, they didn't get their refund (hooray!) and my manager didn't talk to me for about an hour (he normally comes around and asks me whether I'm okay every 15 mins. I know, he's weird kekeke but super nice.).

Another example, was when a customer complained to another colleague of mine that I was rude just because I refused to give her some extra fabric. I told her that if we give out extra fabric to everyone, we probably will end up making a loss. and she's like, "Yeah, true, true." and then she goes behind my back and tells someone the total opposite. And my colleague ended up giving her the extra fabric. Ughhhhh. But my colleague came and told me about it and said that she knows that I would be the last person to be rude to a customer and she didn't believe it when the customer told her I was rude. I was like, phewww thankfully all my colleagues are on my side.

Yet another example that happened a few days ago... It was 8pm, the store had closed and it was alr announced twice that the store was closed. And yet, this couple was slowing walking around the shop floor. I thought they were walking towards the escalators but they headed to the toilets instead. So I went over to them saying the store is closed and they said, "Oh, we just need to use the toilet." I was like, "Sorry, but we're closed." They answered, "We're just going to take a moment." I was like, "But we're supposed to have the shop floor cleared." And they before he could say anything more, my manager walked over and said, "Did you want to use the toilet? Okay, you can go, we'll wait for you to come out." I was like, wtf. And then when i was about to walk away from the situation because I was so annoyed, the guy turned to my manager while his gf went to the toilet and said, "Your colleague was being rude to us just now." I immediately turned around and was like, O____O But once again, thankfully my manager was on my side and answered (she's the best at winning arguments), "How was she rude? Was she shouting? What tone did she use?" and all he could say was, "She was being rude by saying we couldn't use the toilets." At that moment, I just walked off because I really couldn't stand being there being insulted by such an annoying person. He should be grateful my manager was kind enough to let his gf use the toilet because she normally starts telling customers that we're about to close 20 minutes before we actually close and she normally gets so annoyed when people linger around the shop floor when we are close. Anyway, when these kind of stuff happens, I try my best to ignore them and forget them but it's not easy.

Anyway, this has just turned into a rant LOL. Let's get back to the photos.....


So.... My reading week for this semester started on the 23rd of Feb till the 29th of Feb. And I was busy the whole week because I signed up to help with a University Taster Day event for the School of Business and Management on Monday and on Tues and Wed, there were UCAS days going on so I helped out too.

I had to lead the students into the lecture hall on Monday and while they were waiting, they showed a  slide show of some photos taken during our social event last year and Phuong's face appeared on the screen! Haha so I snapped a photo of it and sent it to her.

These are a few of the other student ambassadors that helped out at the event~

And they always give out free stuff during these events so I grabbed two of these bags. One for myself and one for Nia~ And on that Monday, they gave out free lunch (sandwiches) and there was a lot of left overs, so I ended up grabbing three sandwiches lol. 

On that Wednesday, after my shift at uni was over, I met with an ex-colleague from John Lewis for lunch at a pub near our uni. She was only working as a xmas temp at John Lewis so we only got the chance to work tgt for a short 2 months. She's a really sweet lady and so coincidentally we live quite near each other~  I actually bumped into her at Westfield ytd as well!

On Thurs, I met up with this young lady dressed in pink trousers... kekeke

...and who has the same obsession as me.... kekeke

Nia, me and another two of her friends were supposed to go to a art exhibition together but one of her friends was not feeling well and couldnt come. So the other friend thought we cancelled since one of us couldn't make it. So Nia and I met earlier that day to sit down for a cup of coffee and catch up on our lives... and we ended up chatting for 2 hours and when it was the time we told her friend we were meeting, we called her but she didnt pick up. When we finally got through to her, she said she thought we cancelled and wasn't ready to go out. LOL We still ended up meeting, but at Westfield instead hahaha

We ended up meeting at Westfield because I made a mistake on the dates of the exhibition... It was actually alr over a month ago *major fail*

So since it was raining quite heavily and we were both hungry and I had to go to work at 4pm, we decided to just head over to Westfield.

But before that, I had to snap a few photos of the Barbiban estate before leaving~

And a photo of the lady in the pink trousers. I really liked her pink outfit~  I can never see myself in a bright pink top and pink trousers. Ever. But it looks so nice on Nia~

The unique architecture of the Barbican estate. 

The exhibition we were supposed to go for was all about the Barbican estate.

It was a very gloomy day though....

When we got to Westfield, of course, we had to hit up the drugstores first before we did anything else lol But because I was trying to save money, I didn't buy anything. While we were there, Nia's friend Diva finally arrived! 

After that, we decided to have Thai food for lunch at Busaba Eathai~ 

This photo of me and Diva was taken before I learned how to switch off the "warm" setting on my camera.... so some of the photos turned out very orangey.... but i blame the lighting in the restaurant as well!

And being a typical Asian, we couldn't stop taking photos and the waiter decided to photobomb us lol

And then our foooood arrived!

Let me tell you, I will definitely be going back to Busaba Eathai! Their food are so good~

I actually have been to two other branches of theirs with Veronica before this. 

The waitress told us this was supposed to be their spiciest curry on the menu but it wasn't spicy at all 

It was more like a soup's consistency though..... But I loved the bamboo shoots in it~

Som Tam~ After working in a thai restaurant, i'm slightly more familiar with Thai food lol

This was so so good. Spicy though. Nia couldn't stop eating this dish!

We finished every last drop of its dressing. 

And lastly the spicy stir-fry prawns were delicious as well~ The sauce was so good. Kinda like a sambal. Loved it!

After our meal, took a few more photos before I had to head to work. And they visited me at work as well~ kekeke

This photo was obviously not taken on my camera... And I am aware that my hair looks a lot lighter in colour but I swear I didn't do anything to it since I dyed it last summer. It's just the lighting and the camera that fails to set its exposure right.

I am planning to cut a few inches off my hair though and then re-dye it~ Hopefully it'll happen during my Easter break! 

Okay, it's 3am and I need to sleep in order to be able to get through tmr without giving people the wrong shoes. 

I'll be back (hopefully) tmr with another post!

Good night~

x

Steps To Happiness

Just a quick post before I head to bed!
I was searching through my blog just now for a photo or some details of my Jazz dance certificate but I can't seem to find it... I clearly remember that I took a photo of the cert but I'm not sure if I posted it in a blog post. I just need to know whether I got an Honours or whatever the grade was.
Anyway, so when I was clicking through those old memories, I came by this post that I wrote on the 5th of August 2011.... Can't believe that was more than 3 years ago now.
So I posted this poem of some sort ages ago... and when I read through it again just now, I felt like I probably can relate to it and understand it a lot more than my 17 year old self did.
I think I got this from a book I bought in one of those book fairs held in school. I love that book; it's a very inspirational book and I wish I had it with me now.

After reading it and being filled with emotions, I decided to re-post it just as a reminder (for me and for you).
Actually, I am in the midst of applying for an internship and the process is just so effing long and annoying and it asks you questions about your achievements in life and all your skills and motivations and I always have the urge to give up half-way through the application (because I always feel like I am not good enough for the role or that I actually don't give a fuck about the role I'm applying for) but I think this poem gave me that little bit of inspiration and motivation to continue on.

I hope this short and meaningful poem can help you in some way or another as well.
If it does, you're welcome. :)



Steps To Happiness

Everybody Knows:
You can't be all things to all people.
You can't do all things at once.
You can't do all things equally well.
You can't do all things better then everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else's.

So:
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of "being you".

Then:
You will have to learn to accept you own uniqueness.
You will have to learn to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have to learn to live with your limitations.
You will have to learn to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you'll be a most vital mortal.

Dare To Believe:
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it's more than a right, it's your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem, but a gift to cherish.
And you'll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.

x

Edit @ 2:22am: I managed to find the photo of my cert! kekeke

Sunset in London

Oh my gosh I can't believe I actually forgot to blog about my trip to St. Paul's Cathedral! I was writing about how I went to St. Paul's before I bought my new camera in my last post and then I started wondering whether I uploaded those beautiful photos of the sunset I took from the top of the dome! When I looked through my previous posts then I realised I didn't upload them!
How silly of me.... Okay, so here they are. A whole post dedicated to my trip to St. Paul's Cathedral....

I remember visiting St. Paul's when I came to London when I was 9 years old with my uncle. I remember the Whispering Gallery and counting the number of steps up to the dome.... So when I revisited it on the 29th of December, all the memories of that trip 10 years ago came flashing back to my mind.
I've always wanted to visit St. Paul's again since I came to London for uni. When I passed by it for the first time during the Malaysian Society London tour, I knew I had to come back and actually go into the cathedral (as we only took photos outside). And since I didn't have much to do during my winter break, I decided to go~ It cost £13.50 for an entrance fee (for concession/student ticket) which allows access to the cathedral floor, the dome and the crypt. You also get one of those audio guides! Which I always want when I go to museums/galleries but they always need you to pay an extra fee and I'm always too stingy to spend that money LOL.

Anyway, I really enjoyed my visit there. My initial plan was to go in the morning (9.30am), so that I can take my own sweet time to walk around without needing to worry that the galleries would close. But you know me, I can't possibly wake up that early LOL. I ended up going there around 1.30pm and walked around until they were about to close (around 4.30pm). Without really planning, I managed to go up to the dome right when the sun was setting and I could enjoy the beautiful view of London's skyline with the sun setting on the horizon. But it was slightly too cold to stay up there for long and they don't allow people to stay up there for too long either to prevent overcrowding.

Okay, let's proceed to the photos~

First and foremost, of course, selfies. LOL 

I just really enjoy taking my own sweet time to get ready while simultaneously watching a few Youtube videos and having some food and then followed by a small selfie session before I actually head out. XD

My hair required a lot of dry shampoo that day. kekeke Btw I need to get a new dry shampoo.... I don't like the scent of my current one and the thing with it is that the scent never fades from my hair, it just stays there all day and I keep smelling it and it annoys me so much. 

And I love this dress of mine so much (it's from H&M) but I rarely get the chance to wear it out!

I was also wearing that gradient lip colour again~ I love it but it's not a suitable colour to wear to work so I rarely wear it as well.

Here we are!

I could've gotten a much better shot of the cathedral but I was just lazy to cross the road to get a full shot of it.

This will do. lol

They didn't allow any photography in the cathedral and of course, I respected that, unlike some other disrespectful tourists. But I bought a postcard which is a photo of the interior of the church which is just breathtaking. People put so much effort into making cathedrals look glorious and majestic and it's really worth going to check it out.

I especially loved the black and white checkered floors. And it was obvious how the designs of this cathedral (which is an Anglican church) differs from the Roman Catholic churches like all the ones I saw in Italy. All the mosaic wall-art was so beautiful. 

After walking and lingering around the cathedral floor for a while (there was a lot to absorb in there), I headed to the stairway that led to the Whispering Gallery and then up towards the dome!

The Whispering Gallery isn't fun if you go alone lol. There's no one to listen to you when you whisper into the walls. lol

Anyway, I then got up to see the amazing view of London from above the cathedral!

There was two viewing points, so this was from the first one.

All the little ant-like people down there!

I took so many photos of the view and thus, made it a very difficult process of choosing the best out of the bunch to upload.

ugh so pretty

The bells and clock towers.

This was from the very top (second viewing point) of the dome already! I didn't get the chance to take a lot of photos up there coz they wanted people to keep on moving in order to maintain the flow of the queue. Plus, it was freeeeezing up there. 

This shopping centre/offices is One New Change. I need to go to their roof terrace one day!

Some people love the Shard, some people hate it. What do you think about it?

It doesn't really fit it does it? 

But I still think it looks really nice. 

If I don't remember wrongly, this was the last photo I took before walking down to the first viewing point.

The sun looked extra red and pretty and this was the only photo I took of it before I was being rushed to walked down but this photo doesn't do the view I witness any justice.

So this was back at the first viewing point again~

After I got down from the dome, back to the cathedral floor, I headed to the crypt which had lots of memorials and some more history about the cathedral.

By the time I got out of the cathedral after buying my postcards, it was dark already.

I then took the bus back to my place which was a huge mistake.... should've just taken the tube instead. I had to wait almost half an hour for one stupid bus in the cold!!!

This has no relation to St. Paul's but Veronica gave me this a few weeks ago when I saw her and I was so excited to start eating it!

I should've done a comparison of some sort to show you guys how big this piece of Reese's was. but omg it was huge but I still managed to finish it (not in one go though). I love Reese's but it's soooo unhealthy. It tastes so much sweeter than other chocolates and the peanut butter is plain sinful. 

Anyway, that's all for this post. It's 4am now and once again, I'm not tired at all and don't feel like sleeping. But I have so much to do and prepare for my classes next week so I better get some sleep and get some brain juice back in my brain before I start on all the readings I need to do.

Good night/morning! XD

x