At the Ritz

For the past 4 days, I took up a short stint as a guest relation officer at Ritz-Carlton Hotel. After those 4 days there, I can only say life is tough.

To some, being able to work at Ritz-Carlton sounds glamorous, ya, Liyun, you sounded so envious while Im like more envious of you students. Behind the facade of such a beautiful and classy lobby that guests see when they enter the hotel are complicated, winding staff passageways where I always got lost. Collecting my pay was also tough as there were like so many bureaucratic procedures that I have to follow.

Work there was almost a big killer. I had to stand all day, opening the big glass doors for guests with such a big smile that my face was cracking. Well, actually, what cracked was not really my face, but my 2-inch thick makeup. The makeup was thick enough for stage makeup at Kallang Theatre so much so that when I met Jiadai on the train after work she asked me if Id just had a performance. I dont know if it was PMS but, I was so drained out after work that I felt like dying. My colleagues expected me to know what to do, but I didnt, and after asking, they made me feel stupid. I dont know, but I thought that the people working there spoke in a tone that sounds superior which to my ears made me feel stupid, and they were ALWAYS asking others how were they and I hate it when they ask me that cos you cant really expect me to answer “Shitty!” and I really cant bring myself to answer in their model answer of “Excellent!” cos I really feel shitty.

At the end of the second day, I felt so so bad that I thought I was going to burst. Thanks, Vic, for lending a listening ear! Tuesday night was one of the most remarkable nights ever in my life. After feeling so bad, another chain of incidents really lit up my life again! First there was the nice chat with Vic, then I met Jiadai on the train. There I was chatting animatedly on the phone with Vic when Jiadai messaged me that she was on the same train as me, but no matter how I looked I couldnt see her, finally I heard her voice and went to chat with her. When feeling down, friends are the ones who can provide you with the comfort you would need. Really. Thanks Jiadai! Things didnt end there, just when I was feeling loads better, I met Alexis at the MRT station! He just left camp and was going home cos he had an interview the next day. It was really great catching up with him at the bus stop. That is really what I like most about 4B, you can put any two 4B people together and we can just talk, well, almost all... Its nice knowing from Alexis that basically all the 4B people did very well for the A levels, many people got like 3As 1B, the rest also did reasonably well. Its also nice to know that Alexis applied for dentistry (?!) and was given an interview, all the best to you, Alexis! And also good luck to you over in the army, dont get sent into military jail (although you seem to have half a foot in it already)! Really, after the nice catching up with him, bad feelings? all thrown out of the window liao!

Okay, back to my job... What I liked about the job was meeting lots of different kind of people, being able to lead them around the hotel, rendering them all the help that they can get, and also going around to check the state of the rooms to see if they were all in order. I even went into the presidential suite! but it was to do the most unglamorous job of sending a message... haiz...

In my short (it seemed really long then!) 4 days there, I also learn many things like having to control my temper, even when I think Im right I must also appear to accept that Im wrong. The high points during my work there... I received a nice big tip of $10!! I didnt expected it cos I didnt do much to that pair of guests, just led them around and answered a couple of questions, gave them advice on where to go shopping, so the tip was very sudden. Well, rich people are just rich people... How envious can I get?! The funny thing was that the guest slipped the tip into my hand while we shook hands so Id thought that the piece of paper was some rubbish that he wanted me to help him throw away so I didnt thank him for that tip... Well, in Ritz-Carlton, there isnt any dustbins, so our poor staff always have to improvise as portable dustbins... sounds stupid, but the threat of terrorism outweighs stupidity...

I also got to meet some famous people and one of them was Prof Tommy Koh! He was at the hotel for some UN seminar or something and when he was leaving, I held the door open for him! Sounds pretty unglamorous, but hey, its Prof Tommy Koh leh...

In all, it was an eye-opening experience working there, but Im not in it anymore, my poor legs are all spoilt from prolonged standing, my poor toes are in blisters from the stuffy shoes, my torso is stiff from the prolonged upright posture that I have to maintain to look good in that uniform, my shoulders are aching from all the opening and closing of those heavy glass doors (note: shouldnt it be my forearms aching? I used body weight to open the doors, so its my shoulders that ached... must rmb that someone failed her IFAH, so it was almost impossible for her to use her forearms to open the doors), my face has deteriorated from the heavy use of cosmetics, my head hurts from the tight bun that I have to put up... hai...

But the most pressing agenda I have now is to find someone to accompany me to Faye Wong’s concert... Im getting so desperate that Im willing to negotiate the price of the ticket and suffer a loss... Calling, if you are interested, do not hesitate to call me to negotiate a price, really...