Aftermath of my first day at work

I learned many things at my first day of work.

I learned that God put me there for a reason.

I learned that God may be using this job to mould me into a humble servant.

I learned that the apron I put on is one of humility that tears away my pride.

I learned that I need to clean pails/containers, mop floors with dirty water, sweep, clean flowers, stand all day, eat in 30min, smile at customers, clear the garbage, clear the rubbish, clean the glass windows.

These are things that I learned on my first day. It isn't easy but it isn't very difficult. It's just very humbling. It is indeed a humbling beginning for a person like me.... having spent my prior 7 years working in the (sort of) corporate world and now, decked out in an apron and mop in hand. I even spilled an entire pail of gross black dirty water all over the floor and my pants because I was so afraid of it.

But it's all good. It's essential for me. I know I will learn a lot from this. With my decision to go into this line, I need to take this all in. I start from the bottom so I can work my way up to the top.

But it is very nice when I can meet customers who want to buy flowers. It feels so good to be able to make that transaction whether it is a stalk of bamboo or 30 stalks of roses. The idea of people buying flowers really made my heart so glad. The knowledge of the person receiving those flowers and being pleasantly surprised simply makes all this a small sacrifice.

I think it's therapeutic to sell flowers.

Shi-iki

Today I report for my first day of work at Takashimaya. This is a flower shop at Basement 1 called Shi-iki. I think it's japanese though I have no clue if the boss is Japanese or Thai or Vietnamese. She doesn't look Japanese but she sounds like Japanese.

I am both excited and a little nervous. I hope I can impress the boss and do well. I need God on my side to give me strength and confidence and of course... ability to do well.

God has been good. I recently 'adopted' a kid under the Living Waters Village project and I dedicated $40/month even though I do not have a full time job/income. But praise be to God... I just realised today, after doing my quiet time, that Shi-iki decided to hire me and I think God was the mastermind behind it. He provided me some income so I won't have to worry about my monthly 'adoption' donation.

I forgot to mention... actually Shi-iki rejected me the first time after my interview saying she already hired someone more experienced. That happened almost a month ago or more. I got a call from her on Monday this week and she offered me the job saying there was a vacancy. So I guess that lady quit, or someone did.

And I pledged the donation 2 weeks ago on Sunday. Isn't that marvellous? I really hope this little bit of income will help... but more importantly, that I can learn a lot and gain the exerience I need to build up my self confidence in this floral business.

Cooking Dinner Again

It's been a while since I last posted.

This time I'm proud to show you one of my latest experimental cuisines. This is the baked lemon pepper chicken marinated with herbs paired with pan-fried spicy string beans, red pepper and onions along with herbed butter rice.

Chris loved the rice and vegetabled. Unfortunately my second attempt with this chicken failed when I could not multi-task very well and neglected checking on the chicken. It over-baked and turned dry. Or else it would've tasted like the chicken I cooked the first time, which was fab!

But I am glad the rice turned out well, surprisingly. I referred to many reciped and did my own concoction since I did not have the exact same ingredients as those recipes and it turned out quite nicely.