Bonjour!!!
I have posted another entry below this one because I never finished it. There is no gap, so never fear! haha.
Not that ya'll ever did. :P
Louisiana. What can I say? It was seriously fun!
On the friday I got up early and my awesome friend drove me to the airport (hugs). I was early (yay!) and so shopped around a bit. Eventually my friend turned up and it was time to head for the security (fun times).
The flight to Louisiana was not bad (the flight back had some nasty turbulence). It went pretty quick and when we arrived we turned our clocks back an hour (yay for gaining time!) due to the time zone change.
When we arrived we had to pick up a rental car and then drive to our hotel. The car was pretty nice but gtting to the hotel was another story.
My goodness! The roads in New Orleans are kind of insane! New construction everywhere and little side streets and a crazy insane amount of u-turns!!! To get to a place you could see could take a long tme because there were detours and roads that were like spaghetti going everywhere!!!!
We actually went around in a giant circle 4 times because the GPS was getting confused and so were we!!! It was super tiring and frustrating.
Alas, we got there eventually. The place was quite nice. We dumped our stuff in the room and then were hungry so asked for a place to eat. Luckily a place was recommended to us and it was a lovely restaurant famous for their cheesecake.
I ate a cajun local dish and it burnt my throat. ...but it was nice!
The cheesecakes looked amazing but they didn't have the one that we wanted so we passed (not to mention I was pretty full and we had dinner reservations...)
Dinner was at a place called Snug Jazz. I was pretty yummy, and I tried some root beer (non-alc) stuff. I thought it would be like Ginger Beer but it wasn't as sharp. I quite enjoyed it. :) The burger was pretty massive and I couldn't eat it all.
After dinner the same place had a Jazz show which we had tickets for. We had time though so went for a bit of a walk.
The area kind of scared me. Posters on polls, creepy dimly lit streets, creepy looking people, beggars, dogs everywhere, creepy looking above ground cemetaries...eeary silence. Yeah I was happy to not be alone!
The show was so cute. It looked exactly like you might expect. Unfortunately you weren't allowed to take pics (like a lot of places in the city - especially places that sells masks!) so I can't show you much othr than what the room looked like before the show. It was very authentic and quite enjoable. It's just eventually jazz all sounds the same to me so I had to try hard not to fall asleep!
I learnt that you are meant to clap when there are solos and especially when the Sax dude was playing.
Omg one thing I thought was super awesome that I noticed afterwards was the street musicians. They lt the night up with music and it was such a fun cultural aspect.
I also love the cute lamposts and statues and horsepoles and art and street names on the foopath.
I wasn't a fan of the scary uneven roads and paths though! You had to be constantly aware of where you were walking or risk tripping over or worse!
Saturday we explored the French Quarter. There are a crazy amount of horse and carriages floating around the streets with all he cars. Kind of made driving more challenging, but it was a nice touch. :)
We were going to eat at Cafe du Monde but the line to get in was crazy long so we skipped that and found another place to grab a bite to eat. It wasn't bad but I really miss free range eggs on toast with bacon. Yum. :)
I doscoveed the awesomeness of apple jam (or jelly..whatever you want to call it). It freaked me out to start with but when I tried it I was pleasantly surprised...
Walking around the French Quarter as interesting. Nothing like how I thought it would look. It seemed kind of cramped and run down, but with a lot of history and culture surrounding it.
I found a French Market and it was so cool! Lots of interesting food and shopping. :)
When we wer walking down the street we encountered this cool outside concert. They were playing spanish music and I was so excited! There was salsa and merengue etc and I wished I had someone to dance with!
When we walked back near Cafe du Monde the line was no-where near as long so we actually went there. Their beignets were a requirement to try, apparntly. I was good with that because they looked awesome (and yes, also tasted awesome!)
Unfortunately I felt terrible (not from food I had just eaten) and so we had to try find medicine. We found a place but it was shut. Joy. We found some more places but it was in a different part of town. Looked like the CBD.
I felt better eventually and then we were wondering what to do next.
We managed to get to the botnical gardens before they closed which was awesome. They were abandoned and t was like we had the pace to ourselves. So I was silly and as a result have a whole bunch of crazy pics. :P
The sculpture garden was still open after the botanical gardens shut so we wandered around there for a bit. There were some strange looking things. ...but can't say that I am an art person so I just had fun wandering around.
After that we went to a place called Cafe Degas for dinner. Nothing much appealed to me on the menu(oh my goodness - they had NZ lamb!) and then I started to get eaten alive by the bugs so we abandoned ship after our appetiser (a nice cheese selection) and went to another of the cheesecake places. This time we actually managed to get the cheesecake that we wanted which was called Death by Chocolate. Man it was amazing. So rich but so heavenly!
That night we went on a horse carriage ride! It was so awesome and relaxing. Our tour guide/driver told us lots of fun stuff about the city.
On Sunday we went planatation hunting. The scenr was interesting, we had to drive across swaps and metal bridges. It was really interesting. especially since we went to 2 and they were totally different. One was Creole and one was traditionally white and posh looking.
The first one was called Oak Ally. They were all dressed up and we learnt lots of interesting tradtions. Eg. that a cut pineapple on your bed meant welcome and an uncut one meant go away! There was an awesome candlestick that the father used to indicate how he felt about the man the girl was dating.
I was interested to learn about the slaves since we studied about it in History class.
Can I just add that they have awesome [real] frozen lemonade, too? :D
Our second tour guide was awesome. He was funny and made sure we hada good time. In this tour we actually got to see slave cabins which were fascinating. It's crazy how small they were and how many people lived in such small place. :S
We also were told about Code Noir and various ways things were done back then. I love how bottles were so numerous they were used to decorate the gardens!
Dinner was at Applebees. The spinach/artichoke appetiser thing was really nice! My meal was also nice (a pasta) but I forgot the doggy bag that I put it into after... :/
We went on a Voodoo tour!
Actually, we were lucky to get on it because we almost missed it (it's hard to find parking in the French Quarter for one thing!). This was the most fascinating tour of them all for me because I learnt the most. I dind't know anything much about voodoo before and after I felt a lot more informed - and let me say, it's nothing like what I thought and what a lot of people stereotype it to be like!!! The tour guide was also very good for this tour as well and it actually amused me that he was so cynical about a lot of things...
iHop for breakfast on Sunday! I love that place. ...and they had some awesome Fall specials which were yummmmmmy. :D
We explored the architecture of the city a little before our cruise.
It was called the Natchez and is the only surviving steam paddle boat on the Mississippi (of that area?). The weather was kind of crappy but it was a relaxing journey.
Before our cruise was over we passed by a place called The Riverwalk. It looked nice so we decided to head on over there after.
There was a train in the way of the entrance to the place so we went through the Hilton to get to the Riverwalk (just as well, that train went on foreverrrrrr).
The riverwalk (obviously Louisiana's version, since there is also one in Texas) was an underground shopping mall! So cool!
I was entertained by the pretty things and the mardi gras decorations as well as the places to eat.
There was a fudge place that had free samples (and ya'll should know how I feel about free samples by now). The fudge was amaaaaazing. The best I have ever had. Whilst savouring the goodness I saw candy apples of all varieties in a case. Now, I had never tried one but had seen them alot. So I decided it was time to try one.
The thing was massive an took forever to figure out how to eat (and even then it was akward and messy). But it wasn't bad. :) At least I've tried one now.
The Chinese food we had for dinner was also very yummy. No idea why I craved Chinese but I am glad I did!
The last day consisted of a little shopping at a mall, discovering the wonders of Wholefoods and returning the rental car. That, and waiting the 5hours for the plane back to Orlando. I hated that the vacation was over, but I did feel like I had pretty well explored New Orleans.
I am grateful for the adventure and experiences.
I want to share something random. It might amuse you, but unlikely it will amuse you as much as it did me!!!
When I was in the restrooms at the airport I discovered this scary and entertaining device. The toilet seat moved! Uh, yes..I have film... But anway!
Time to go do something other than type!!!
Click HERRRRRRE to see a sample of my Louisiana pics!!!
Hugs to you all!
xx
On a lame work note: ergh. I hate having only 6hour shifts scheduled for the next few weeks... How laaaaaaame.
But I am going to balance it out with the fact that it is...
24 daysssss till cruise time!!!
Woop woop!!!!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The final countdown...
Hey everyone :)
(I never finished this post so will do so before launching into my large Louisiana one!)
Yesterday (the 10th) was my day off. I got up early for a day off so that I could go to Florida Mall (yay for friends with cars!). We shopped for a few hours. I didn't buy much but it was a nice unstressful activity.
Those annoying people in the middle that try to get you to buy stuff... yeah they get on my nerves. Especially when what they sell isn't really that great. I know products better than the things they sell even though they claim they are the best!
I ended up getting a few pretty tops and then we had to rush to my security class!
The thing was that we were rushed for time and my ride sped a little too fast.... So guess what? We got pulled over by the police/sheriff! It was a first for me - and I am glad the guy was nice. ...but I was kind of panicing because I thought I was going to be late for class for sure now!
Eventually we were allowed to go and we drove to Patterson. Some miracle meant that I got there with about 2min to spare. Woo! It was definately an adventure though..
My class was pretty good but after I was in the mood to go out. I was meant to hang out with Michael but he ended up doing his own thing. I was just going to hang out at home but then I got a txt and was invited to dinner at the T-Rex. I was keen and got ready very speedily.
I got what I must say was probably the most impressive salad I had ever seen. Usually I don't order salads when I'm out but I wasn't very hungry. This was a monster of a salad though!! It had so much stuff in it and was very yummy!
I love the theming of that place, it's pretty neat. Dinsosaurs everywhere and meteor showers and changing lights etc... Lots to look at and enjoy!
Thursday was my last day of work before New Orleans! It was a nice shift but I was so excited for New Orleans that the time went super slow!
I was in Ireland and it was slow to top it off. However, the weather was pleasant.I was enjoying the sun. ..but then the bees came along and totally freaked me out! I hate bees and wasps so wasrunnng away from them. Probably not good show but they seriously scared me and I could't help it. :/
At least there were some people who tried to help by catching and scaring away the bees!
The bees I could ignore a little more when I swapped to expeditor. I had a moment that made my day here, too. :)
It was Veterans Day and so there were a lot more elderly people than normal wandering around.
One man in particular caught my eye. He only had one leg. I smiled at him and then he was like "excuse me ma'am, can I get someone to help me carry food to a table?"
I was so touched, and was like "of course!" So when he came around I helped hm out. I felt good. It was so nice to be able to help out and he was so appreciative!
Anyway so my shift was eventually over and I was so excited that in the midst of everything I almost lost my ID card (that owuld NOT have been good!). ....and then when I was rushing to the bus (I was meant to go to Disneyquest with Michael but that didn't happen... :/ ) that mid way to Vista I realised that I didn't have my nametag. Yes, in the midst of returning everything I had, I left my namebadge on one of my shirts. Sigh. I was mad at myself.
I was just going to stay on the bus and pick it up on the next way around (gah so painful..) but I had a headache and was hungry, so stopped into Vista for a bit first.
I was lucky because when I got back to Epcot I managed to dig through all the flag tops and find mine! Yay! Lucky...
So now I just had to finish packing and it was holiday tiiiiime!
Too bad I had to call in on Sunday and get a point on my record. Sucks. What a lame situation.
But that's ok. Becuase it's holiday TIIIIIIIIIME!!! :D :D :D
xx
Someday I'll be liing in a big ol' city and all you're ever going to be is MEAN... why you gotta be so mean?
(I never finished this post so will do so before launching into my large Louisiana one!)
Yesterday (the 10th) was my day off. I got up early for a day off so that I could go to Florida Mall (yay for friends with cars!). We shopped for a few hours. I didn't buy much but it was a nice unstressful activity.
Those annoying people in the middle that try to get you to buy stuff... yeah they get on my nerves. Especially when what they sell isn't really that great. I know products better than the things they sell even though they claim they are the best!
I ended up getting a few pretty tops and then we had to rush to my security class!
The thing was that we were rushed for time and my ride sped a little too fast.... So guess what? We got pulled over by the police/sheriff! It was a first for me - and I am glad the guy was nice. ...but I was kind of panicing because I thought I was going to be late for class for sure now!
Eventually we were allowed to go and we drove to Patterson. Some miracle meant that I got there with about 2min to spare. Woo! It was definately an adventure though..
My class was pretty good but after I was in the mood to go out. I was meant to hang out with Michael but he ended up doing his own thing. I was just going to hang out at home but then I got a txt and was invited to dinner at the T-Rex. I was keen and got ready very speedily.
I got what I must say was probably the most impressive salad I had ever seen. Usually I don't order salads when I'm out but I wasn't very hungry. This was a monster of a salad though!! It had so much stuff in it and was very yummy!
I love the theming of that place, it's pretty neat. Dinsosaurs everywhere and meteor showers and changing lights etc... Lots to look at and enjoy!
Thursday was my last day of work before New Orleans! It was a nice shift but I was so excited for New Orleans that the time went super slow!
I was in Ireland and it was slow to top it off. However, the weather was pleasant.I was enjoying the sun. ..but then the bees came along and totally freaked me out! I hate bees and wasps so wasrunnng away from them. Probably not good show but they seriously scared me and I could't help it. :/
At least there were some people who tried to help by catching and scaring away the bees!
The bees I could ignore a little more when I swapped to expeditor. I had a moment that made my day here, too. :)
It was Veterans Day and so there were a lot more elderly people than normal wandering around.
One man in particular caught my eye. He only had one leg. I smiled at him and then he was like "excuse me ma'am, can I get someone to help me carry food to a table?"
I was so touched, and was like "of course!" So when he came around I helped hm out. I felt good. It was so nice to be able to help out and he was so appreciative!
Anyway so my shift was eventually over and I was so excited that in the midst of everything I almost lost my ID card (that owuld NOT have been good!). ....and then when I was rushing to the bus (I was meant to go to Disneyquest with Michael but that didn't happen... :/ ) that mid way to Vista I realised that I didn't have my nametag. Yes, in the midst of returning everything I had, I left my namebadge on one of my shirts. Sigh. I was mad at myself.
I was just going to stay on the bus and pick it up on the next way around (gah so painful..) but I had a headache and was hungry, so stopped into Vista for a bit first.
I was lucky because when I got back to Epcot I managed to dig through all the flag tops and find mine! Yay! Lucky...
So now I just had to finish packing and it was holiday tiiiiime!
Too bad I had to call in on Sunday and get a point on my record. Sucks. What a lame situation.
But that's ok. Becuase it's holiday TIIIIIIIIIME!!! :D :D :D
xx
Someday I'll be liing in a big ol' city and all you're ever going to be is MEAN... why you gotta be so mean?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Last Brewers Collection...
Why hello there :)
I have a run of bad luck - I wonder when it will stop? Maybe Louisina can be the turn around so that I have a run of good luck for a change?
It's really hard to volunteer for Give Kids the World because it's really popular. I was excited to finally get accepted for a position. ...but then I get an e-mail today saying that it has been cancelled for the day I was scheduled!
:(
Boo. That sucks.
But I shall prevail! I will particiapate in it before the end of my programme!!
Yesterday I was designated to Chile but got to change to Champagne and Desserts. :) That was fun. I love helping with the desserts and opening the champagne. Also I had fun with the culinary in there. We were singing and telling stories. ^_^
After work I had to wait for the C bus. Ergh. The first one was too full and so we had to wait for about 20mins for the next. So annoying. Almost didn't get on that one either but I was like - ahhhm! I don't care if I have to push I am getting ON that bus!!!
When I eventually got back I got changed and then I went out to iHop with my new culinary friend. :P
I had a yummy mango drink and a club sandwich. Gooood.
Today is Brewers. ...but Louisiana is so close I really don't mind! Can't wait to explore a new place.
Random rant of the day:
I don't know what's up wth the emotions of my roommate but it's impossible to know how she'll react to things becuase her emotions are all over the place. I've kind of given up talking to her because usually she snap at me or is bitchy. It makes me mad. I'm a nice person, and I try to help people...but she just doesn't treat me nicely. Which means she doesn't deserve my help anyway. It's a weird situation where we are always tip toeing aorund each other though. :/
Other random things:
GAH. Ihate people touching/mving/using my stuff in this apartment!!! Not only because the people aren't even nice to me - but I just hate the feeling that people have touched my things without me asking. Not only is itrude but it makes me wonder what else they ave touched that I haven't figured out! Hisssss.
I watch Camp Rock 2 the other day. It was ok... I like one song in particular though called Wouldn't Change a Thing.
Ok talk later...
xx
I have a run of bad luck - I wonder when it will stop? Maybe Louisina can be the turn around so that I have a run of good luck for a change?
It's really hard to volunteer for Give Kids the World because it's really popular. I was excited to finally get accepted for a position. ...but then I get an e-mail today saying that it has been cancelled for the day I was scheduled!
:(
Boo. That sucks.
But I shall prevail! I will particiapate in it before the end of my programme!!
Yesterday I was designated to Chile but got to change to Champagne and Desserts. :) That was fun. I love helping with the desserts and opening the champagne. Also I had fun with the culinary in there. We were singing and telling stories. ^_^
After work I had to wait for the C bus. Ergh. The first one was too full and so we had to wait for about 20mins for the next. So annoying. Almost didn't get on that one either but I was like - ahhhm! I don't care if I have to push I am getting ON that bus!!!
When I eventually got back I got changed and then I went out to iHop with my new culinary friend. :P
I had a yummy mango drink and a club sandwich. Gooood.
Today is Brewers. ...but Louisiana is so close I really don't mind! Can't wait to explore a new place.
Random rant of the day:
I don't know what's up wth the emotions of my roommate but it's impossible to know how she'll react to things becuase her emotions are all over the place. I've kind of given up talking to her because usually she snap at me or is bitchy. It makes me mad. I'm a nice person, and I try to help people...but she just doesn't treat me nicely. Which means she doesn't deserve my help anyway. It's a weird situation where we are always tip toeing aorund each other though. :/
Other random things:
GAH. Ihate people touching/mving/using my stuff in this apartment!!! Not only because the people aren't even nice to me - but I just hate the feeling that people have touched my things without me asking. Not only is itrude but it makes me wonder what else they ave touched that I haven't figured out! Hisssss.
I watch Camp Rock 2 the other day. It was ok... I like one song in particular though called Wouldn't Change a Thing.
Ok talk later...
xx
Monday, November 8, 2010
New Orleans is around the corner...
I feel like poached eggs on toast with bacon. Yup that's todays craving. Of course I could go and buy some eggs and then fulfil the craving.... but I am not a master at egg poaching without the egg poacher! :(
Oh well.
So you know how I have been trying desperately to give away shifts I had pre-approved ages ago but were then taken away? Well, I have made progress, albiet with a lot of stress endured along the way!
I woke up yesterday and checked the Hub for updates on my schedule. Then I saw my worst nightmare. My CBR shifts now hadn't been honoured either. So I was scheduled to work on Monday (everything is counting against me, isn't it?). I then txted my friend who I was supposed to give my sunday too - and suddenly he had a shift on sunday even though that's his normal day off!
Now I had 2 days I still had to get off. I wanted to scream in frustration. I was so mad and upset. Could anything else go wrong?
Apparantly.
I rang up the labour people and they told me to contact my CBR managers and the schedule that was meant to come in on monday. In other words: unhelpful. ...and make me do all the work to fix this which wasn't my fault, as usual.
You know why it wasn't honoured? It wasn't just because they decided to cancel it since my Food and Wine ones had been - nope - it was because of my "separation from the company". -.-
Honestly. It's actually ridiculous how much stress the person who typed in the wrong end date has caused me. ..and it appears to still be on my record which I am NOT happy about. I think they owe it to me to erase it from my history.
Good thing I am persistant (and somewhat strong - I am not insane yet, right?). I found my area manager's e-mail on the Hub after much searching. I did try to ring but couldn't get through. He e-mailed back in about 20mins and fixed it all for me. Which was lovely. :) I was happier.
Now I just had Sunday. ..but I figured that it would now be best to just give up and resign to the fact I was going to get a point on my record for that. I hate that I have to call in but it's the last day of the festival and I don't know anyone who isn't working! I think I have done a pretty good job to have gotten friday, sat, mon and tues off though. I'm proud of myself.
So now that everything is pretty much sorted I can relax, start to pack and look forward to the nice little break that I'll get when in Louisana THIS friday! WOOoOOP! Exciting. :) I will take lots of pictures and relay as much as I can on here.
I deserve a break after all this stress, yes?
Oh - and I got even more excited about my Caribbean Cruise (gaah not looking forward to trying to get rid of the last 3 days of the cruise in december. Hopefully I can find people to help me!!!) when I recieved a fun booklet in the mail the other day. It had my bag tags and other useful info. That'll be an awesome adventure too!
My clock countdown says...33 days till the cruise! Yaaaay!
On a random note - my GOODNESS it's freezing in Florida at the moment. It must have been 10celcius yesterday evening. I was working in shorts and a t-shirt (I didn't bring my coat - smart, no? lol) and was sooo cold. I had to keep moving. ...and the warmers/ovens were my friend.
Today I would usually have my *fun* Chile shift, but I'll prolly swap with Kelly again. Yay champagne. I love opening those bottles, they're great. :)
Okay, off to do some excitng things like washing.
xx
---> oh and it was daylight savings the other day. Lucky I remembered but sucks for people who didn't and came to work an hour early..
Oh well.
So you know how I have been trying desperately to give away shifts I had pre-approved ages ago but were then taken away? Well, I have made progress, albiet with a lot of stress endured along the way!
I woke up yesterday and checked the Hub for updates on my schedule. Then I saw my worst nightmare. My CBR shifts now hadn't been honoured either. So I was scheduled to work on Monday (everything is counting against me, isn't it?). I then txted my friend who I was supposed to give my sunday too - and suddenly he had a shift on sunday even though that's his normal day off!
Now I had 2 days I still had to get off. I wanted to scream in frustration. I was so mad and upset. Could anything else go wrong?
Apparantly.
I rang up the labour people and they told me to contact my CBR managers and the schedule that was meant to come in on monday. In other words: unhelpful. ...and make me do all the work to fix this which wasn't my fault, as usual.
You know why it wasn't honoured? It wasn't just because they decided to cancel it since my Food and Wine ones had been - nope - it was because of my "separation from the company". -.-
Honestly. It's actually ridiculous how much stress the person who typed in the wrong end date has caused me. ..and it appears to still be on my record which I am NOT happy about. I think they owe it to me to erase it from my history.
Good thing I am persistant (and somewhat strong - I am not insane yet, right?). I found my area manager's e-mail on the Hub after much searching. I did try to ring but couldn't get through. He e-mailed back in about 20mins and fixed it all for me. Which was lovely. :) I was happier.
Now I just had Sunday. ..but I figured that it would now be best to just give up and resign to the fact I was going to get a point on my record for that. I hate that I have to call in but it's the last day of the festival and I don't know anyone who isn't working! I think I have done a pretty good job to have gotten friday, sat, mon and tues off though. I'm proud of myself.
So now that everything is pretty much sorted I can relax, start to pack and look forward to the nice little break that I'll get when in Louisana THIS friday! WOOoOOP! Exciting. :) I will take lots of pictures and relay as much as I can on here.
I deserve a break after all this stress, yes?
Oh - and I got even more excited about my Caribbean Cruise (gaah not looking forward to trying to get rid of the last 3 days of the cruise in december. Hopefully I can find people to help me!!!) when I recieved a fun booklet in the mail the other day. It had my bag tags and other useful info. That'll be an awesome adventure too!
My clock countdown says...33 days till the cruise! Yaaaay!
On a random note - my GOODNESS it's freezing in Florida at the moment. It must have been 10celcius yesterday evening. I was working in shorts and a t-shirt (I didn't bring my coat - smart, no? lol) and was sooo cold. I had to keep moving. ...and the warmers/ovens were my friend.
Today I would usually have my *fun* Chile shift, but I'll prolly swap with Kelly again. Yay champagne. I love opening those bottles, they're great. :)
Okay, off to do some excitng things like washing.
xx
---> oh and it was daylight savings the other day. Lucky I remembered but sucks for people who didn't and came to work an hour early..
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Kiaoraforhello
Kia Ora!
I picked up a shift on Thursday (yay for 6 day weeks…) to help out a girl who was trying to give away shifts (if only karma came into play here… :/ ). It wasn’t bad. I hadn’t opened Greece before but it wasn’t hard. I quite like my Friday 9.30-3.30pm shift and this was the same shift. Unfortunately it meant I didn’t get a sleep in 2 days in a row (and since I had a late night the night before I was kind of drained).
I was surprisingly tired after that shift and just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep. Especially since I was stressed and upset at the same time. Yes, this giving away previously approved shifts thing, was hard. Especially for the days I needed. They were possibly the hardest days of the whole festival to manage to give away/swap!
I felt bad since I was meant to hang out with Michael afte rmy shift but was too tired to go to Disney Quest. We did hang out a little in the evening though. You see, I wanted to cook, since i actually felt like it and had the evening off. The situation did not agree with my mood though.
I was kind of annoyed, but typically (I should have expected it I guess) all the pots and pans were dirty or being used. Was I going to tip out pans with weird food in them? Was I going to clean all their dishes?
Nope.
So we went to Wendy's. ....and it was a cheap-ass person's dream come true. A 99cent menu? Really? ...and Micahel gave the server a fright by asking for everything on the menu, and being serious. A good Kodak moment.
That was a yummy (and admittedly cheap) dinner.
I needed to get some extra things like milk and so we went to Walgreens. When I got back to the apartment things got sour. One of my flatmates (she basically replaced evil girl) yelled at me and swore at me. She was so horrible and even said "get out of here!"
Ok first ....uh, I live here too.
Second... B*************tch.
Third, no girl has ever said such evil things to me before. ...and they were unjustifued. If you had witnessed the situation you would agree.
I was so upset I took cover at Micahel's for afew hours before returning.
Sometimes my fire for wanting to move apartments grows. This was one of those times. ...and often I really do prefer being at work than at my apartment.
No crazy hormones and slamming doors and yelling and bitchy girls and tantrums. Ergh.
Anyway.
I managed to find the answer to my worries the next day. Yes, it was a miracle. Yes, someone with a Saturday off. Too bad they were not willing to give it up to help me. …but I practically begged and then she gave up eventually and said she would help me. :D Yay! I felt bad for pestering her but I so badly needed it off unless I wanted to get all these points on my record. Which I reeeally didn’t want. ..and man I would be so mad (yes, if this happens brace yourself for a ANGRY/UPSET blog.) if after everything my shift giveaways/swaps weren’t accepted. Basically my hopes rest on one particular manager. …and I really will be tempted to hug him if he sorts it out for me. …I wonder if I would be allowed to do that?
My Friday shift was pretty good once I got that shift sorted (well, my mood was dampened once I was told that they weren’t letting anyone get next weekend off – but I shall fight to the DEATH for the days!!! I mean, would they prefer I find the people to do the shifts, or that I call in and then they have to do it?)
The day got even better, too. One of my cast member friends (who drives, btw ;) ) and I decided to go to Arabian Nights! …and we even managed to get tickets for half price. Woooop. :D We had to pick them up from a discount place, but since my friend had a car it was all good.
When we got there we got to see and participate in a pre-show. It involved a belly dancer. We watched her perform and then she asked for volunteers. I felt weirdly brave so offered. I got to go on the stage and attempt to follow her dancing. It was hard but I figured I would never see the people again so it didn’t matter. Hehe. The lady asked if I had done it before and said I was a natural. Awesome. Possibly since I dance (Richard I miss going to dances with you!!!!) but who knows. She called me ‘dancer girl’ after that.
The show was interesting. There were some impressive parts, some pretty parts and then some boring parts. The storyline was pretty terrible and unoriginal, but I liked the horses! The costumes were pretty neat too.
The food wasn’t bad. I liked everything. The dessert could have been better though. Oh, and I would have preferred to have come out without a bad that smelt a mixture of wine and bread. :S
I got some pretty jewellery and a pin to add to my memory lanyard (which is looking pretty awesome I must say).
…and yes, I do have photos. I will put some up….eventually. haha. I really do need to have a massive photo evening when I get back. :P
Today was Saturday. Therefore, it was busy. In fact it wasn’t even normal Saturday busy. It was double the pace of a normal Saturday. I was confused as to why it was so crazy. It made the day pass quicker though. Which I like. :) I opened a crazy amount of wine today though. I must have opened in the hundreds. I am a pro.
What did I learn in the USA? What skills did I gain?
…uh, well. I can open wine and champagne bottles as well as pour beer. Is that helpful?
Yup, that’s something pretty useful to add to my resume. Hehe.
Lately I have been receiving a lot of mail. Which makes me happy. I love mail! Most of it is Amazon orders (the beauty of living in the USA!) but amongst it is cruise mail. It’s so exciting, I now know where I will be on the Disney Magic (3rd floor – pretty nice location!) and I even have my bag tags. Impressive, yes? How many days till my cruise? 35. Just over a month. EXCITING!
...how many days til Louisiana? 6…well, let’s say 5. Since it’s almost Sunday!
I love all this fun stuff ahead of me. …and Christmas is such a cool time to be in Orlando. Not only do we get all this stuff but there’s extra stuff to do (like the Osborne light spectacular at the Studios and Epcot Christmases around the world as well as Mickey’s Very Merry and resort decorations).
You know what is also cool? I got a banana and apple after work today. Isn’t it nice how they hand out token food at the end of busy days? I think it’s lovely and thoughtful. ^_^
Random thing. Some guests crack me up. Here is one example. One lady asked how we say "goodbye" in NZ. I was like "goodbye"(I couldn't remember how you say it in Maori). Then I decided to offer "Kia Ora" as hello.
I was like "you an say Kia Ora for 'hello'"
...and she was like "kiaoraforhello ...that's pretty long"
I couldn't help but laugh. Her friends were laughing at her too. She eventually got what I meant. :P
I also have been humbled by the amount of guests who see I am from NZ and say nice things about it. Many say it's their fav place in the world and that they loved when they visited (or that they really want to visit - in this case they usually ask for advise on places in NZ to visit, which I gladly offer up!). It's so nice to hear people actually know OF NZ, and like it. :) NZ represent! ...and yes, I am the only NZer working for the Food and Wine festival (go me! I think it's pretty cool).
People have all these nicknames for me like "hey kiwi" and "kimmmmmie" [in weird deep voice] and "wicky wicky wicky" and "hey NZ". I think it's kinda neat. It's almost like being a mini celebrity.
I would have to say I am etting so good at talking to people. I even enjoy it. I make friends with prettymuch every culinary person, for instance. Actually, some of them I play with, but they play back so it's fun. :)
Love Taylor Swift's new album Speak Now. < 3
Okay. Off to bed. I get to sleep in tomorrow! Yussss.
xx
I picked up a shift on Thursday (yay for 6 day weeks…) to help out a girl who was trying to give away shifts (if only karma came into play here… :/ ). It wasn’t bad. I hadn’t opened Greece before but it wasn’t hard. I quite like my Friday 9.30-3.30pm shift and this was the same shift. Unfortunately it meant I didn’t get a sleep in 2 days in a row (and since I had a late night the night before I was kind of drained).
I was surprisingly tired after that shift and just wanted to curl into a ball and sleep. Especially since I was stressed and upset at the same time. Yes, this giving away previously approved shifts thing, was hard. Especially for the days I needed. They were possibly the hardest days of the whole festival to manage to give away/swap!
I felt bad since I was meant to hang out with Michael afte rmy shift but was too tired to go to Disney Quest. We did hang out a little in the evening though. You see, I wanted to cook, since i actually felt like it and had the evening off. The situation did not agree with my mood though.
I was kind of annoyed, but typically (I should have expected it I guess) all the pots and pans were dirty or being used. Was I going to tip out pans with weird food in them? Was I going to clean all their dishes?
Nope.
So we went to Wendy's. ....and it was a cheap-ass person's dream come true. A 99cent menu? Really? ...and Micahel gave the server a fright by asking for everything on the menu, and being serious. A good Kodak moment.
That was a yummy (and admittedly cheap) dinner.
I needed to get some extra things like milk and so we went to Walgreens. When I got back to the apartment things got sour. One of my flatmates (she basically replaced evil girl) yelled at me and swore at me. She was so horrible and even said "get out of here!"
Ok first ....uh, I live here too.
Second... B*************tch.
Third, no girl has ever said such evil things to me before. ...and they were unjustifued. If you had witnessed the situation you would agree.
I was so upset I took cover at Micahel's for afew hours before returning.
Sometimes my fire for wanting to move apartments grows. This was one of those times. ...and often I really do prefer being at work than at my apartment.
No crazy hormones and slamming doors and yelling and bitchy girls and tantrums. Ergh.
Anyway.
I managed to find the answer to my worries the next day. Yes, it was a miracle. Yes, someone with a Saturday off. Too bad they were not willing to give it up to help me. …but I practically begged and then she gave up eventually and said she would help me. :D Yay! I felt bad for pestering her but I so badly needed it off unless I wanted to get all these points on my record. Which I reeeally didn’t want. ..and man I would be so mad (yes, if this happens brace yourself for a ANGRY/UPSET blog.) if after everything my shift giveaways/swaps weren’t accepted. Basically my hopes rest on one particular manager. …and I really will be tempted to hug him if he sorts it out for me. …I wonder if I would be allowed to do that?
My Friday shift was pretty good once I got that shift sorted (well, my mood was dampened once I was told that they weren’t letting anyone get next weekend off – but I shall fight to the DEATH for the days!!! I mean, would they prefer I find the people to do the shifts, or that I call in and then they have to do it?)
The day got even better, too. One of my cast member friends (who drives, btw ;) ) and I decided to go to Arabian Nights! …and we even managed to get tickets for half price. Woooop. :D We had to pick them up from a discount place, but since my friend had a car it was all good.
When we got there we got to see and participate in a pre-show. It involved a belly dancer. We watched her perform and then she asked for volunteers. I felt weirdly brave so offered. I got to go on the stage and attempt to follow her dancing. It was hard but I figured I would never see the people again so it didn’t matter. Hehe. The lady asked if I had done it before and said I was a natural. Awesome. Possibly since I dance (Richard I miss going to dances with you!!!!) but who knows. She called me ‘dancer girl’ after that.
The show was interesting. There were some impressive parts, some pretty parts and then some boring parts. The storyline was pretty terrible and unoriginal, but I liked the horses! The costumes were pretty neat too.
The food wasn’t bad. I liked everything. The dessert could have been better though. Oh, and I would have preferred to have come out without a bad that smelt a mixture of wine and bread. :S
I got some pretty jewellery and a pin to add to my memory lanyard (which is looking pretty awesome I must say).
…and yes, I do have photos. I will put some up….eventually. haha. I really do need to have a massive photo evening when I get back. :P
Today was Saturday. Therefore, it was busy. In fact it wasn’t even normal Saturday busy. It was double the pace of a normal Saturday. I was confused as to why it was so crazy. It made the day pass quicker though. Which I like. :) I opened a crazy amount of wine today though. I must have opened in the hundreds. I am a pro.
What did I learn in the USA? What skills did I gain?
…uh, well. I can open wine and champagne bottles as well as pour beer. Is that helpful?
Yup, that’s something pretty useful to add to my resume. Hehe.
Lately I have been receiving a lot of mail. Which makes me happy. I love mail! Most of it is Amazon orders (the beauty of living in the USA!) but amongst it is cruise mail. It’s so exciting, I now know where I will be on the Disney Magic (3rd floor – pretty nice location!) and I even have my bag tags. Impressive, yes? How many days till my cruise? 35. Just over a month. EXCITING!
...how many days til Louisiana? 6…well, let’s say 5. Since it’s almost Sunday!
I love all this fun stuff ahead of me. …and Christmas is such a cool time to be in Orlando. Not only do we get all this stuff but there’s extra stuff to do (like the Osborne light spectacular at the Studios and Epcot Christmases around the world as well as Mickey’s Very Merry and resort decorations).
You know what is also cool? I got a banana and apple after work today. Isn’t it nice how they hand out token food at the end of busy days? I think it’s lovely and thoughtful. ^_^
Random thing. Some guests crack me up. Here is one example. One lady asked how we say "goodbye" in NZ. I was like "goodbye"(I couldn't remember how you say it in Maori). Then I decided to offer "Kia Ora" as hello.
I was like "you an say Kia Ora for 'hello'"
...and she was like "kiaoraforhello ...that's pretty long"
I couldn't help but laugh. Her friends were laughing at her too. She eventually got what I meant. :P
I also have been humbled by the amount of guests who see I am from NZ and say nice things about it. Many say it's their fav place in the world and that they loved when they visited (or that they really want to visit - in this case they usually ask for advise on places in NZ to visit, which I gladly offer up!). It's so nice to hear people actually know OF NZ, and like it. :) NZ represent! ...and yes, I am the only NZer working for the Food and Wine festival (go me! I think it's pretty cool).
People have all these nicknames for me like "hey kiwi" and "kimmmmmie" [in weird deep voice] and "wicky wicky wicky" and "hey NZ". I think it's kinda neat. It's almost like being a mini celebrity.
I would have to say I am etting so good at talking to people. I even enjoy it. I make friends with prettymuch every culinary person, for instance. Actually, some of them I play with, but they play back so it's fun. :)
Love Taylor Swift's new album Speak Now. < 3
Okay. Off to bed. I get to sleep in tomorrow! Yussss.
xx
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Night of Stars and the Evening of Enchantment!
Hey everyone!!
So the last few days have been pretty eventful!
On Monday I was scheduled my usual shift in Chile. I was not exactly excited because I like it when it is busy and in Chile, it's really not!
However, when I got to the break room another cast member was complaining about working in Champ and Desserts. I like working there so offered to swap. She liked te idea and the managers didn't have a problem with it so we swapped!
It perked both of us up. We got to have a change of pace and it made us happier which is always good for the guests!
Added bonus was that I met a new culinary that I hadn't worked with before! At first I thought he wasn't interested in talking and being friendly, but then we got talking. He started opening up to me and it was a fun and very interesting evening! I seem to find it easy to make friends here. :)
It’s so hard to give away shifts though… :( I’m trying so hard for my Louisiana shifts that were pre-approved and then cancelled!!! Its very hard to give away the days I need. …and when I find people the requests are denied because it would convert form normal time pay to overtime! Grr! Stupid. -.-
Wednesday was Brewers Collection. One of the only days I don’t bring my raincoat and guess what happens? We get –flooded- out. Yeah. Good timing. At least that day I managed to get a red winter coat (they didn’t have my size last time – and I wasn’t going to take an XXS or an XXXL….)
One interesting thing though was that an Aussie took over a shift of one of the girls who usually work on Tuesday. …so an Aussie and a NZer were working side by side! …and not only THAT but when the others left and were on break it was just us 2 running the stall!
I thought it was pretty cool. I even had one guest who noticed and asked if we got along. :P hehe
Today was my day off. Yes. Tomorrow I work because I was NICE and picked up a shift for someone (why can’t I find people who can do the same thing? :( )
I had a great time shopping in Downtown Disney with my 40% off cast discount. :D I know it will prolly go up in Dec from the rumours I’ve heard but I just wanted to shop NOW. Haha.
So I ended up getting these awesome Disney hole punch things that I’ve been wanting for ages, as well as some pics for my memory lanyard. I am creating a lanyard containing pins from things meaningful to me. Eg. I have a CBR pin and an Epcot pin, since I have worked at those locations. I also have a Halloween and Christmas pin. I will add to it as I do things here.
I also checked out the Christmas shop. That place has some neat stuff. I am starting to make a pile of pretty Christmas things to take on the cruise so that I can decorate the cabin all prettyfully!! It can be like my tree decorating thing.
After all that shopping (hard work, no?) I treated myself to a Ghirardelli’s ice cream (those things are goooood). …but that was after my small adventure…
When I was walking to the bus stop I saw something move on the ground (oh that reminds me!! I saw a SNAKE on the ground outside my apartment the other day! Not what I would have expected to see on the concrete..). It was a turtle!! A baby turtle at that. Super CUTE. I wanted to help it. So I bent down to move it so it wouldn’t get run over.
Then the weirdest thing happened. Some other guest sees me and pretty much picks it up out of my hands. I was like… huh? This is my turtle, what are you doing? Stealing my thunder and glory? Anyway, so she picked it up and tried to think of where to put it. I gave her directions and we put the turtle back near the foliage and water. …but I was still a little annoyed that she did that.
When I got back to Vista I had just enough time to get ready for my Security class. It was a pretty cool class. Learnt a lot of fun things and got shown cool examples of secretive stuff. ….we also got to see a video which was kinda funny!
After that I had planned to go to Night of Stars. I thought I was going to be late, but it turned out the event didn’t start till an hour after the entry time, so we were early for the show. In fact we were positioned in just the right area that we got to go where the VIP seating was -and sit down! Lots of people had to stand (sucks for them!). It was a fun show. Very enjoyable. :) The girl who won deserved it too.
There were prizes. I like free stuff – you should all know this by now! When they tossed stuff into the audience I actually didn’t catch anything but my friends did and so I ended up with a top and a towel. Yay!
The finale with the Professional Interns (how do they get that job? Looks fun!) was pretty awesome. I love Glee and the music from it so was excited to see them do a Glee melody! They popped confetti stuff everywhere at the end which was AWESOME.
Another really exiting thing about tonight was that they revealed a new event! I am so excited for it! It’s called the Evening of Enhantment. Basically, it’s a Disney Housing evening that’s like a prom. …which of course gets my attention cos I love that type of thing! Dressing up, dancing…what’s not to like?! It’s Dec 6. Which is even better, I will be here! I just have to get the evening off…and it would be nice to have someone to go with.
Anyway.
I have a morning shift the next 2 days. So I had better get some sleep.
Night ya’ll!
Have a magical evening!
xx
So the last few days have been pretty eventful!
On Monday I was scheduled my usual shift in Chile. I was not exactly excited because I like it when it is busy and in Chile, it's really not!
However, when I got to the break room another cast member was complaining about working in Champ and Desserts. I like working there so offered to swap. She liked te idea and the managers didn't have a problem with it so we swapped!
It perked both of us up. We got to have a change of pace and it made us happier which is always good for the guests!
Added bonus was that I met a new culinary that I hadn't worked with before! At first I thought he wasn't interested in talking and being friendly, but then we got talking. He started opening up to me and it was a fun and very interesting evening! I seem to find it easy to make friends here. :)
It’s so hard to give away shifts though… :( I’m trying so hard for my Louisiana shifts that were pre-approved and then cancelled!!! Its very hard to give away the days I need. …and when I find people the requests are denied because it would convert form normal time pay to overtime! Grr! Stupid. -.-
Wednesday was Brewers Collection. One of the only days I don’t bring my raincoat and guess what happens? We get –flooded- out. Yeah. Good timing. At least that day I managed to get a red winter coat (they didn’t have my size last time – and I wasn’t going to take an XXS or an XXXL….)
One interesting thing though was that an Aussie took over a shift of one of the girls who usually work on Tuesday. …so an Aussie and a NZer were working side by side! …and not only THAT but when the others left and were on break it was just us 2 running the stall!
I thought it was pretty cool. I even had one guest who noticed and asked if we got along. :P hehe
Today was my day off. Yes. Tomorrow I work because I was NICE and picked up a shift for someone (why can’t I find people who can do the same thing? :( )
I had a great time shopping in Downtown Disney with my 40% off cast discount. :D I know it will prolly go up in Dec from the rumours I’ve heard but I just wanted to shop NOW. Haha.
So I ended up getting these awesome Disney hole punch things that I’ve been wanting for ages, as well as some pics for my memory lanyard. I am creating a lanyard containing pins from things meaningful to me. Eg. I have a CBR pin and an Epcot pin, since I have worked at those locations. I also have a Halloween and Christmas pin. I will add to it as I do things here.
I also checked out the Christmas shop. That place has some neat stuff. I am starting to make a pile of pretty Christmas things to take on the cruise so that I can decorate the cabin all prettyfully!! It can be like my tree decorating thing.
After all that shopping (hard work, no?) I treated myself to a Ghirardelli’s ice cream (those things are goooood). …but that was after my small adventure…
When I was walking to the bus stop I saw something move on the ground (oh that reminds me!! I saw a SNAKE on the ground outside my apartment the other day! Not what I would have expected to see on the concrete..). It was a turtle!! A baby turtle at that. Super CUTE. I wanted to help it. So I bent down to move it so it wouldn’t get run over.
Then the weirdest thing happened. Some other guest sees me and pretty much picks it up out of my hands. I was like… huh? This is my turtle, what are you doing? Stealing my thunder and glory? Anyway, so she picked it up and tried to think of where to put it. I gave her directions and we put the turtle back near the foliage and water. …but I was still a little annoyed that she did that.
When I got back to Vista I had just enough time to get ready for my Security class. It was a pretty cool class. Learnt a lot of fun things and got shown cool examples of secretive stuff. ….we also got to see a video which was kinda funny!
After that I had planned to go to Night of Stars. I thought I was going to be late, but it turned out the event didn’t start till an hour after the entry time, so we were early for the show. In fact we were positioned in just the right area that we got to go where the VIP seating was -and sit down! Lots of people had to stand (sucks for them!). It was a fun show. Very enjoyable. :) The girl who won deserved it too.
There were prizes. I like free stuff – you should all know this by now! When they tossed stuff into the audience I actually didn’t catch anything but my friends did and so I ended up with a top and a towel. Yay!
The finale with the Professional Interns (how do they get that job? Looks fun!) was pretty awesome. I love Glee and the music from it so was excited to see them do a Glee melody! They popped confetti stuff everywhere at the end which was AWESOME.
Another really exiting thing about tonight was that they revealed a new event! I am so excited for it! It’s called the Evening of Enhantment. Basically, it’s a Disney Housing evening that’s like a prom. …which of course gets my attention cos I love that type of thing! Dressing up, dancing…what’s not to like?! It’s Dec 6. Which is even better, I will be here! I just have to get the evening off…and it would be nice to have someone to go with.
Anyway.
I have a morning shift the next 2 days. So I had better get some sleep.
Night ya’ll!
Have a magical evening!
xx
Monday, November 1, 2010
Picturrrrres
Hello ya'll
Below is a very long and babbly post. It was so long I figured I would just make a new post for pictures. ...I have been slack on them lately. :P
Ok.
Here's a random assortment....
Here are pics from when I went to CBR to get my purple form signed. I had extra time whilst waiting for the bus so went exploring. It is a pretty place. :)
Some pics from Universal:
This is the Defence against the Dark Arts room (Hermione, Ron and Harry are in the background talking - might be able to faintly see)
This is Dumbledore's study in the castle..
...I have a lot more but it is 2.17am now, so I am going to go to bed.
i really should have a GIANT picture evening when I get home where I can explain all my thousands of photos... Yup.
Night ya'll!
Don't forget to read the post below!!
xx
Below is a very long and babbly post. It was so long I figured I would just make a new post for pictures. ...I have been slack on them lately. :P
Ok.
Here's a random assortment....
Here are pics from when I went to CBR to get my purple form signed. I had extra time whilst waiting for the bus so went exploring. It is a pretty place. :)
Some pics from Universal:
This is the Defence against the Dark Arts room (Hermione, Ron and Harry are in the background talking - might be able to faintly see)
This is Dumbledore's study in the castle..
...I have a lot more but it is 2.17am now, so I am going to go to bed.
i really should have a GIANT picture evening when I get home where I can explain all my thousands of photos... Yup.
Night ya'll!
Don't forget to read the post below!!
xx
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