Christmas blues

ok, i finally found some time amidst the christmas week madness. today is my day off.

the time now is 10.57 pm on christmas eve
i am sitting alone on my bed
with my laptop as my only company and source of activity
slow, soothing tunes of 'O Holy Night' instrumental is playing on windows media player
lights dimmed and christmas decorations lighted up
outside the air is cold and wind makes it all the more chilly
but inside the apartment it is warm and cosy
christmas presents are piled up under the small chistmas tree
waiting to be exchanged in an hours time in our Secret Santa activity
Im feeling a little lonely, while everyone is out working or enjoying.
i should decide, this is the best time and setting to spend with God
to commemorate the whole meaning and utmost significance of Christmas
For God so loved the world, He gave His one and only begotten son.

Thank you, Lord, for Jesus.

Christmas rush

christmas, christmas time is here
time for work and time for tears

nah, its not that bad. but the fact is that it gonna be a super mad rush at the parks this week (as it already was during the later part of last week)
i am scheduled for a shocking 68 hours of work this week!
and that number is sure to increase with a couple of extensions and maybe extra shifts
yes, this is the best time to work and worst time to play
(you might think, isnt festive times the best times to play?)
not when your company consists people who have to work like mad too during this period

5 good reasons to work to the max this week
1. because of the high amount of scheduled hours, any extra hours will be overtime pay!
2. its the easiest time to get extra hours, since demand is high of course
3. its a bad idea to go to the parks to play during this week, and squeeze in with the huge crowd and have long waiting times for attractions
4. there will be hardly anyone around to celebrate with - everyone will be at work most of the time
5. everyone will be at work, so the workplace is the right place to spend time, with the company of all colleagues!

so here's to my mad week of work. starting in 2 hours time. im sure ill survive. the question is, how far can i push it?

Day Trip, Miami!

One simple remark could sprout a seed of desire lying dormant for ... perhaps 3 months.
It all started with me casually saying to Vicky one day, " if you are going to Miami some time, remember to call me along!"
and then just a few days later, she organised a trip to Miami!
yay, it was my idea

'Rise and shine' was not applicable on wednesday morning, 9 december, when we assembled at our estate entrances to await the chartered cab. even with the illogical implementation of Daylight Savings Time which makes the sun rise at about 6am and set at 6pm, we were waiting for the cab already before the sky was lit. i understand. setting it at this time was for best measure, so that by the time we get to Miami following a 4 hour long road trip, it would still be morning time, with a good amount of sunlight hours to spend there.

unfortunately, the cab driver was almost an hour late. i dont know if it was his culture or what, but he acted like it was all OK and didnt even acknowledge that he was late. well, for one i know he spoke spanish. we didnt make a fuss, and just got on. perhaps we were too tired to bother. for most of my fellow trippers, it was a mere nap before coming. but for me, the 2 days were joined together by a late night at work, then some preparations for the trip (talk about cooking potatoes at 4am...) and then making my way off at 5+am. not a wink of sleep, and i couldnt wait to get some on the cab.

5 of us met at Patterson, and picked up another 4 at Vista Way and headed for Miami. 9 people fitting into a cab meant for 12 people. 12 Americans, to be more precise. the amount of space each of us had was very comfortable indeed. i could actually lie down inclined to sleep.

waking up 2 hours later by a dirty hand on my face and shaking me up, (i havent gotten back at her for that) i saw that we were still on the road, driving by countryside, and soon pulled over at mcdonalds for toilet break. still quite some more distance to go...

finally, when the countryside scenery changed into cityscape, we knew we were getting there. This is more like it! havent seen a building over 20 stories tall for 3 months already; the last one being the control tower at Changi airport. i couldnt help but feel that Miami is such a great difference for the better compared to the Orlando environment. A great treat for my eyes the place was.

First stop was the harbour. well actually a mall next to the harbour. not much shopping to do here, and we were only given 2 hours. looked at a few shops, decided nothing was of interest, and went on. took loads of photos of the irresistable harbour scenery, and settled down for some irresistable food for lunch overlooking the irresistable scenery.

Chilis restaurant. Mexican cuisine. heard much of it, seen much of it, but never really understood the variety they had, nor tried it. we all ordered different stuff. salads, tortillas, grilled chicken, tacos; with red beans and spice rice as the main carbohydrate. food was delightful. and so complemented by the surroundings. though not so delightful after the bill comes to $15 after tax and tips, for a miserable piece of margarita chicken on cheap red beans and spice rice. but hey, its all for the experience.

with a little bit of time left before the agreed meeting time, we took the city monorail and went in one round. didnt get off anywhere else - we just wanted to get some sightseeing and photo taking, and we got what we wanted, cause the views are great from the monorail.

then once again, the driver was late. urgh. we could have taken the monorail a second round with that time. for whatever good that may do.

then the driver took us to South Beach, supposedly the most famous and popular beach in America. clear blue waters, waves excellent for surfing, white soft sandy beaches, uninterrupted shoreline and an infinite expanse of sea across the horizon. i could understand why it would be so popular, even though it was not crowded at all when we went there; probably it was the blazing sun that turned them off. it was too sunny for comfort. The driver told us too that there is section for nude beachers, but we couldnt find it. only the beach birds were nude here.

Speaking of birds, the beach was infested with them. lots of seagulls everywhere, and also armies of these weird birds that i dont know what theyre called. they are literally like an army, moving around in groups and arranges themselves into formations. seagulls would fly and hover in mid air whenever someone would throw a morsel of bird feed into the air. for them it is their way of catching the food before it lands and becomes free for all to grab, but for the beachers it is for their entertainment.

we got bored. out of the 5 of us there at south beach, 3 were not in appropriate attire for swimming, and one that was didnt know how to swim. which left only ME to get into the waves and swim in the sea. not so fun alone, and also with the waves throwing me around and getting sand all over me. so we decided to take a walk along the shoreline, and at a chosen spot, decided to bury me. alive. the soft sand was just so comfortable to be buried in - i could just sleep that way! plus it was cool underneath and shielded me from the scorching heat.


when we had enough, we were taken next to a shopping mall. although i feel that shopping is such a waste of time and should not be done on a short holiday trip where we are not so bored and need to kill time. in the end, we hardly bought anything. just a totally unproductive time of window shopping. at least for consolation, we had nice christmas displays to see there. it is a grand and really nice looking shopping mall compared to those in Orlando, but pick any newer shopping mall in orchard road and it would be a fair fight.

little time was left before the scheduled time to depart, but we bought dinner to eat there. we learned from our lesson and gave the driver ample time to come. but this time, when it is time to go back, he was on time! so oh wells, we had to pack the food and he had to let us eat on board.
the day was ending, the sun was setting, and we made our way back to Orlando after a really short but memorable trip.

we were trying to make it back in time for the Winter Formal event, a disney event for cast members happening only once a year. but we arrived back late, and realized that by the time we wash up and transform from casual beach wear to formal and take the bus to the ball, it would be almost over. what a waste. but any ways, im sure i would have chosen the Miami trip over the winter formal any time.

Now whats up next... Tampa Bay? heh.

Give Thanks

For the past 9 days i have had hardly any time to go online and have some leisure time. 7 days went to the thanksgiving week, when like a miracle, i was scheduled for 55 hours as compared to the usual 30 - 35 hours. to add to it, i picked up extra shifts and had some extentions... even after the early release i had on wednesday to go for the thanksgiving party, i completed the week with 64 hours on the clock. and then to add to the miracle, i mysteriously had 7 hours of overtime pay added to my payroll! it was such a shock of delight. i earned almost as much as i would in 3 normal weeks.

the whole week of thanksgiving was really busy, cause its holiday time for the americans. a time for families to get together and spend some leisure time, and a time for those working in the leisure/entertainment businesses to be apart from their families, working their butts out to make the vacationers happy.

it was especially busy on thanksgiving day itself of course. a super mad rush on both sides of the counter. any mistake would be sure to cause some friction. guests filled up the whole restaurant from the counters queueing all the way back to the topping bar, and even almost outside the restaurant. and yet the guests willingly squeeze like sardines in a can and wait for half an hour just to get a meal, and then another half an hour waiting for a suitable table. it was a really eye opening sight. How much more it will be during Christmas day!

thanksgiving band

25th november there was the thanksgiving party at Patterson court. i expected it to be a really big event and i so didnt wanna miss it, so much until i was willing to give away 6 hours of overtime shift to a colleague just so i could go for it! turned out to be such a disappointment. all we had is a miserable portion of turkey ham to go with a scoop of potato, corn and cranberry jam. a limit of 1 serving per person! whats worse, the same meal was served at the magic kingdom cast cafeteria the next day for just $1!
mickey and donald were there at patterson too, open for us to take pictures with, but we were too lazy to wait in the long line. and there was live musical performaces, switching between a group of 4 choir singers (singing in 4 parts) and an instrumental band of 4, playing beautiful music like in the video posted. made the party a little more worth the time.

27th november... Black Friday! i have heard reports on black fridays that it is such a mad rush at shoping centres that every shop and walkway is packed and people would be trying to squeeze in between each other, rush for the good deal, and sometimes even trample to death anyone who happens to fall to the ground. transport would be really expensive to go to anywhere outside for shopping, so i decided to just settle for the Orlando Premium Outlets within walking distance.


On thanksgiving day, the morning and afternoon was spent at work and hanging around in the magic kingdom. upon returning home, i realised i was locked out because my keys were missing and everyone was out! i finally found 1 classmate who was home at another block. another 2 came, intending to go out soon for shopping at Orlando premium outlets. just nice! so i joined in with them. at least i wasnt stuck and alone the whole night - that would be the most pitiful thanksgiving day!
started walking around and looking at the good deals at 10pm, and come 12 midnight, all the shops opened and people rushed in. there was a large crowd there at OPO (mainly disney cast members, for obvious reasons) and they seem to be mad for good deals. some shops had hardly any customers, and at other shops, there would be people queueing outside for hours for a chance to get in to shop. the Coach store had lines outside extending 30 metres outside, and there was a queue all the time from midnight to afternoon. the good deal? designer bags and purses that go down to as low as a third of original price.

as for me, i avoided too long queues, and spent about $200 on shopping... my record expenditure in one trip! some people continued on from there on to other shopping locations for part 2 of shopping. but ive had enough, and was totally exhausted.

On black friday night, we finally had the chance to gather 7 out of 22 of us classmates, and had a home cooked thanksgiving dinner together, featuring a baked whole turkey! it was just $21 from walmart, and it was absolutely delicious. i think turkey meat owns chicken, pork or beef meat. it fed us all till we were full, and still had 2 plates of meat left over.

saturday was the last week of long work days. from sunday onwards it was back to the pathetic 6 hours a day, 30 hours a week. ahh, it was like a whole different life, for just that one special week. Christmas week is the next to look forward to!