Research!
- Spent quite a bit of time today in the Lifelong Learning Library (LLiBrary) at Paya Lebar. Amazing facility! Got my first book on the food and beverage industry- a how-to book on setting up a restaurant. While it is definitely more detailed than I need at the moment, it is a good starter into this new world.
I also took a look at reviews of SaladStop! and blogs on the salad-scene in Singapore to get an idea of what people like/dislike about salad shops here. My first impression is that variety and flexibility are major plus-points for SaladStop!, while cost is a bit of a concern. More surprisingly, service quality is a major issue - while people expect quick and efficient service, they would like smiles too. Quite a demanding bunch!
Interestingly, I didn't see too many people laud SaladStop! for their work in sourcing ingredients from nearby (less than 72 hours of travel time) as well as good quality and sustainable meat. I wonder if people are actually interested in this at all. More importantly, I wonder if other salad shops source their ingredients responsibly. This is something that I will need to look into -> my next research idea.
- Spent some time in the Alliance Francaise library. Sadly, it turns out that the other beginner books I picked up weren't as easy to read as I had thought they would be. So Zoe was leading me on... haha! On the plus side, this means that I have quite a bit of new vocabulary to pick up!
Lessons Learnt:
There is an infinite amount of information and tools out there.
With determination, there is nothing that one cannot accomplish!
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Journal of My Joblessness!- 19 September (Monday)
Another day, another record
- Started the week by swimming 800m. New personal best!
I have reached a stage where I can speed up and relax while swimming to modulate my breathing and make sure that I don't get out of breath. This is an amazing feeling.
- First evening shift on the salad-floor! Definitely not as hectic as the lunch-crowd, but I don't know how they manage with just two people. Good to know that I'm helping out!
Arsay mentioned that he would show me how to work the cashier during my next shift, on Wednesday. Progress! :)
- Started the week by swimming 800m. New personal best!
I have reached a stage where I can speed up and relax while swimming to modulate my breathing and make sure that I don't get out of breath. This is an amazing feeling.
- First evening shift on the salad-floor! Definitely not as hectic as the lunch-crowd, but I don't know how they manage with just two people. Good to know that I'm helping out!
Arsay mentioned that he would show me how to work the cashier during my next shift, on Wednesday. Progress! :)
Journal of My Joblessness!- 16 September (Friday)
New mission!
- Today was my follow-up interview with Adrian of SaladStop!, two weeks after our first meetup.
I had gone in with little expectations for the discussion. I have only worked three shifts on the shop-floor and have a very basic idea of everything- from the menu to the way the restaurant operates. But I had planned to tell him that I was still intrigued and that I wanted to learn and work more.
The interview started of a bit shakily, I must say. Adrian was shocked that I had only done three shifts and that I knew so little. While this was a jarring, I finally understood that he had had some expectations of me. So I asked him: 'What do you suggest I do?'
He gave me two broad questions to answer:
1) What makes SaladStop! special? Why do people come to it, over other food establishments? And why do they come back?
2) What do people want next... where is this market segment of the F&B business moving?
Tough questions, for sure, but I am glad to have something to think about over the next few weeks while I work on the shop floor.
And it seems like I will have to start eating salads myself as well!
So, I've been set a new challenge!
I will try to learn as much as I can, about both the F&B business in general and salad-based restaurants, over the next month and do my best to answer Adrian's questions. In fact, I can't think of a better way to figure out if I want to get more involved with them as well.
So, all in all, this is good!
Lessons Learnt:
Clarifying expectations is the way to go!
That being said, I will try my best to learn as much as I can, without pushing Arsay too much. I've still got to make it worth his while to teach me things.
- Today was my follow-up interview with Adrian of SaladStop!, two weeks after our first meetup.
I had gone in with little expectations for the discussion. I have only worked three shifts on the shop-floor and have a very basic idea of everything- from the menu to the way the restaurant operates. But I had planned to tell him that I was still intrigued and that I wanted to learn and work more.
The interview started of a bit shakily, I must say. Adrian was shocked that I had only done three shifts and that I knew so little. While this was a jarring, I finally understood that he had had some expectations of me. So I asked him: 'What do you suggest I do?'
He gave me two broad questions to answer:
1) What makes SaladStop! special? Why do people come to it, over other food establishments? And why do they come back?
2) What do people want next... where is this market segment of the F&B business moving?
Tough questions, for sure, but I am glad to have something to think about over the next few weeks while I work on the shop floor.
And it seems like I will have to start eating salads myself as well!
So, I've been set a new challenge!
I will try to learn as much as I can, about both the F&B business in general and salad-based restaurants, over the next month and do my best to answer Adrian's questions. In fact, I can't think of a better way to figure out if I want to get more involved with them as well.
So, all in all, this is good!
Lessons Learnt:
Clarifying expectations is the way to go!
That being said, I will try my best to learn as much as I can, without pushing Arsay too much. I've still got to make it worth his while to teach me things.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Journal of My Joblessness!- 15 September (Thursday)
The times, they are a changing
- Met Tushar for a coffee in Simei. Great to see him post-FGE and after he pulled off quite an amazing transformation.
He is now the Director of his own consultancy. In fact, hemet me after signing the contract for a new project.
While I have always heard of people going down this road, it is still amazing to see it happen first-hand. I admire his guts in choosing to go down this road. Much more experienced people would not want to face the insecurity and the huge unknowns of self-employment. And I admit, it is quite a scary prospect.
But it seems to be one with huge upsides. I can imagine that it changes your mentality towards others in the industry... from just focusing on work, attention must be placed on business development, building your reputation and your list of contacts as well. So even if it doesn't work out for him, I can imagine that he will end up in a position of greater strength at the end of this period.
If nothing else, people will definitely admire his resolve for going at it alone, and appreciate his capabilities on finishing projects single-handed.
In fact, I could notice the change in him as well. I have never seen him so humble and found his attitude towards FGE totally reasonable and respectable. With such an attitude (backed by his solid experience), I am sure he can go far.
Good luck to him!
Lessons Learnt:
It never helps to burn bridges.
I am glad to have established a respectful relationship with Tushar and with everyone in FGE, for that matter.
If for nothing else, this just makes it all the more pleasant when we do eventually bump into each on the street.
That being said, I really appreciate Tushar's offer to collaborate with him. I will definitely take a serious look into this once I'm back from France.
- Met Tushar for a coffee in Simei. Great to see him post-FGE and after he pulled off quite an amazing transformation.
He is now the Director of his own consultancy. In fact, hemet me after signing the contract for a new project.
While I have always heard of people going down this road, it is still amazing to see it happen first-hand. I admire his guts in choosing to go down this road. Much more experienced people would not want to face the insecurity and the huge unknowns of self-employment. And I admit, it is quite a scary prospect.
But it seems to be one with huge upsides. I can imagine that it changes your mentality towards others in the industry... from just focusing on work, attention must be placed on business development, building your reputation and your list of contacts as well. So even if it doesn't work out for him, I can imagine that he will end up in a position of greater strength at the end of this period.
If nothing else, people will definitely admire his resolve for going at it alone, and appreciate his capabilities on finishing projects single-handed.
In fact, I could notice the change in him as well. I have never seen him so humble and found his attitude towards FGE totally reasonable and respectable. With such an attitude (backed by his solid experience), I am sure he can go far.
Good luck to him!
Lessons Learnt:
It never helps to burn bridges.
I am glad to have established a respectful relationship with Tushar and with everyone in FGE, for that matter.
If for nothing else, this just makes it all the more pleasant when we do eventually bump into each on the street.
That being said, I really appreciate Tushar's offer to collaborate with him. I will definitely take a serious look into this once I'm back from France.
Journal of My Joblessness!- 14 September (Wednesday)
Happy O-what?!
- Second shift at SaladStop! and first one at Fusionopolis. As I had suspected, the staff are really great and a lot of fun to work with.
The lunch shift was less hectic than Metropolis, but it can still get quite intense.
However, I still haven't figured out when/how to fit in my lunch... Being hungry around food is torture.
- Onam dinner with Lisa and Colin at Preemas, Little India. First Onam celebration after five/six years, I think.
Good food, but the place was crowded, as expected. This wouldn't have been a problem if they hadn't chosen to hurry us up at the end of our meal. As a result I had to gulp down all four desserts, which were all in a competition to see which was the sweetest of them all. That was no fun.
Next time I'll just go to Muthu's Curry.
- Of late I have been suspecting that I should take a break from my friends... just so that we all have time to do our own things.
After my last gym session with the Faz I decided to do the same. It's odd, but I feel that our interests have gone off in totally different directions. This is fine, of course. But it just makes hanging out really difficult, especially because we don't have hobbies that we share.
Anyway, I'll try this out for a while and see how it goes.
Lessons Learnt:
There is a reason that they say 'absence makes the heart grow fonder!'
Right now, a break from the 'usual' sounds like a great idea.
Note to self: Do try to stay open to meeting/interacting with new people!
- Second shift at SaladStop! and first one at Fusionopolis. As I had suspected, the staff are really great and a lot of fun to work with.
The lunch shift was less hectic than Metropolis, but it can still get quite intense.
However, I still haven't figured out when/how to fit in my lunch... Being hungry around food is torture.
- Onam dinner with Lisa and Colin at Preemas, Little India. First Onam celebration after five/six years, I think.
Good food, but the place was crowded, as expected. This wouldn't have been a problem if they hadn't chosen to hurry us up at the end of our meal. As a result I had to gulp down all four desserts, which were all in a competition to see which was the sweetest of them all. That was no fun.
Next time I'll just go to Muthu's Curry.
- Of late I have been suspecting that I should take a break from my friends... just so that we all have time to do our own things.
After my last gym session with the Faz I decided to do the same. It's odd, but I feel that our interests have gone off in totally different directions. This is fine, of course. But it just makes hanging out really difficult, especially because we don't have hobbies that we share.
Anyway, I'll try this out for a while and see how it goes.
Lessons Learnt:
There is a reason that they say 'absence makes the heart grow fonder!'
Right now, a break from the 'usual' sounds like a great idea.
Note to self: Do try to stay open to meeting/interacting with new people!
Journal of My Joblessness!- 13 September (Tuesday)
Mission Accomplished?!
- Delivered my submissions for Stage 2 of the MDS part-time educator application process.
The pressure really did build up at the end. Gosh, the last piece was as hard as I had imagined. Not the best time to be right.
I sent over my videos at about 7:30pm, after a long day of practicing and recording. Admittedly nothing was excellent about my application- the recording quality, my drumming and the sound quality.
But I did exactly what I had set out to do... do the best I could do in the time provided. I could've obsessed about the recording quality, but that would have taken time away from practicing, which was so much more important.
Here are the results:
- Delivered my submissions for Stage 2 of the MDS part-time educator application process.
The pressure really did build up at the end. Gosh, the last piece was as hard as I had imagined. Not the best time to be right.
I sent over my videos at about 7:30pm, after a long day of practicing and recording. Admittedly nothing was excellent about my application- the recording quality, my drumming and the sound quality.
But I did exactly what I had set out to do... do the best I could do in the time provided. I could've obsessed about the recording quality, but that would have taken time away from practicing, which was so much more important.
Here are the results:
Video link 1: https://youtu.be/
Video link 2: https://youtu.be/
Video link 3: https://youtu.be/
- Celebrated the end of my mission by watching "J'aime regarder les filles" at Alliance Francaise. My complicated relationship with French cinema continues... I can't help thinking that the process in deciding what makes a movie isn't too restrictive in France.
Lessons Learnt:
Stage 2 of the interview process with MDS was a loosing battle for me. From the beginning I knew that I wouldn't be able to deliver a mind-blowing performance. And that sucked!
But still, it was worth my best effort.
I was right... I didn't deliver a mind-blowing performance after all. But it wasn't all that shabby neither!
Most importantly, the process, the practice, the experience of recording myself, these were all worth the sweat and tears.
In the end, I have no regrets about the application.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Journal of My Joblessness!- 9 September (Friday)
Another day, another new experience...
Things done:
- First day as a NECDC facilitator assisting Atiqa with teaching the mechanics of motors to kids at Tampines Primary School. The session was from 9am to 1pm, and boy was it tiring! Please read that considering that I wasn't the one doing most of the talking!
Overall, it was a really good experience. It was great to see enthusiasm in the kids and also to see them actually make things, even if they aren't all successes. It was really quite priceless explaining to them that they could make anything they wanted- pokeball helicopter? Sure... Starbucks cup that moves around the table? Sure... Airplane that is also a helicopter (but also an airplane)? Sure. Their minds were blown by the fact that they didn't have to make something logical, and their eyes would really light up!
On a more serious note... it is quite hard drawing the line between having fun with the kids and remaining in charge. I realized that once they view you as a friend, then you've lost all control. With that in mind, it might be better to maintain a certain amount of distance, just for my own good.
- Drum practice followed by a movie over dinner- Deathproof. Was a pretty slow movie, but the end sequence was just fantastic!
Things done:
- First day as a NECDC facilitator assisting Atiqa with teaching the mechanics of motors to kids at Tampines Primary School. The session was from 9am to 1pm, and boy was it tiring! Please read that considering that I wasn't the one doing most of the talking!
Overall, it was a really good experience. It was great to see enthusiasm in the kids and also to see them actually make things, even if they aren't all successes. It was really quite priceless explaining to them that they could make anything they wanted- pokeball helicopter? Sure... Starbucks cup that moves around the table? Sure... Airplane that is also a helicopter (but also an airplane)? Sure. Their minds were blown by the fact that they didn't have to make something logical, and their eyes would really light up!
On a more serious note... it is quite hard drawing the line between having fun with the kids and remaining in charge. I realized that once they view you as a friend, then you've lost all control. With that in mind, it might be better to maintain a certain amount of distance, just for my own good.
- Drum practice followed by a movie over dinner- Deathproof. Was a pretty slow movie, but the end sequence was just fantastic!
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