Christmas Comes Early

Yesterday I was doing opening shift. It was the first day of our Christmas theme in Starbucks Carrefour so we had to wear the new t-shirt. It's nicer than last year's because it's got a collar so we look more "professional" with it. I don't know why they do it so early. Deepavali belum lagi lepas lagi.

Anyways, I was happy to know that I could fit into the size "S". Meaning I'm not that fat la. HAHAHAHAHA. But to my surprise, the majority of the gals in the store wear the size "XS".

Dude! They're all super slim and petite. Makes me feel like some kinda fat freak. Lol.

So, as I was doing opening, Ammar was nice enough to let me try some of the new cakes and drinks. Lemington Lemon, Strawberry and Coffee (I like the coffee one.) , Tofee Nut Latte and Frapp and Mocha Praline (I don't know how to pronounce this, you know. Can someone help me? Some say it's pra-leen; but other say it's pra-line. So which one is it? Maybe none of them...) Frapp.

I think the Mocha Praline Frapp is a rip-off. It tastes just like a Mocha Frapp with Hazelnut syrup. Duh!~ Because it is just that. That's why I think it's a rip-off. Shhhh... Don't tell anyone I told you that. :p

Anyways, there are quite a lot of mat sallehs coming to the store. Some are a bunch of sombong twits but there are some who are nice and courteous. I don't know why but whenever a mat salleh try to converse in Malay with me, I tend to have a goofy big smile on my face.

Why is that? I don't know.....

It could be because they seem to blush slightly whenever they converse in Malay. Girl or guy, attractive or ugly, skinny or fat, they all look so cute when they blush like that. Macam malu-malu kambing pulak.

The other day there was this family, a mother and two kids, who came in and took some time to survey the pastry case. I was there to be of service to them. They they decided to eat elsewhere. I could tell that the mother wanted to eat something from Starbucks but her kids wanted McD's. So, she looked at me and wanted to say something but hesitated a bit.

"Bolehkah saya makan makanan dari luar di dalam?" She asked in Malay.

"I'm sorry...?" I wasn't sure what language she spoke at first.

"Makan makanan luar di dalam sini?" Silly me. I didn't realize that she was, in fact, speaking to me using my own language.

"Oh. Oh. Sure. Sure, you can bring." I was so amazed by her Malay, that I forgot the number one policy in Starbucks: NO OUTSIDE FOOD ALLOWED!!!

In the words of Homer Simpson, "DOH!"

Before she left, she asked me whether there are any McDs nearby. I said there's one floor above Starbucks and one in Subang Parade. Then she said thanks and left.

I didn't know that my MOD was listening the whole time. Phelps, my MOD, was giving me the "pandai-pandai je" look. Hehehe. Sorry.

When she came back, she brought back three plastics of McD's food. I think she bought her kids the meal set.

Then she ordered the Siren Salad along with cappuccino and frapps for kids. She added some Kettle Chips, too, if I'm not mistaken and it all costed up to rm40 something. I think.

Then Phelps was a bit happy because inspite of all the outside food she brought in, she bought a lot of stuff from Starbucks, too. Good for our sales. Thank God!

Another time was yesterday morning. There were two white guys. I greeted them. Everytime a customer comes in, I start assessing them. I know it's mean but I do that. From the top of their heads til the shoes they wear. Not only physically but personality, too.

So when they both entered the store, I could tell they both were really caring towards eachother. I heard the younger one say something that I couldn't make out.

"Adapapaspecialsni?" That's what I heard. I thought to myself, What language is that

I thought he was asking the older guy something in his mother tongue so I ignored him.

"So, are you guys... umm.. friends?" I asked while looking at them both. I was so stupid because I had mistaken them for gays!!!!!!! (Ugh! I needed coffee badly! My brain was a bit groggy that morning.) I just misinterpreted the fact that he was caring and loving toward the older guy that they could be gay. ISH!

"He's my father." The younger one told me. But luckily he didn't take it in an offensive way.

The way I see it, it could have been either:-

1.the dad looks younger than his real age;
2. the son looks old older than his real age; or
3. they were gay because of the TLC vibe I was getting from them.

Sorry la. Anyways, so he again said, "adapapaspecialsni". When I finally knew that he was actually asking me a question, I asked him to repeat the question again.

And he blushed a little. Maybe he thought he said it wrong or something.

"Ada apa-apa special di sini?" And I smiled again. It's great to know that they try to learn and speak our language while staying here.

I explained about the menuboard and the pastry case. After that he asked me a couple of questions in Malay all the while his dad kept silent. Did I offend him? I didn't think so.

He wanted to talk more but another customer came. So, I politely asked him to have a seat while I tend to the next customer and that I would send his order to his table.

After I finished steaming the milk and extrected the espressos and so on so forth, I set off to send their orders.

Suddenly, he started to ask me all these questions in Malay. I just replied him in plain English. Hehehehe.

"Kamu belajar Bahasa Inggeris di mana?" The son asked.

And keluarlah all my stories about Canada and stuff. When I told him that I lived there for quite some time, he switched to English. Then I asked where he was from and he said Colorado.

"Do you know where Colorado is at?"

I thought it was some kind of a trick question or something because where else could Colorado be but in the US of A?

"Umm... United States?" I said in an unsure tone.

"Good guess."

The tone he used had a mixture of sarcasm, teasing and cheekiness. Kerek nya mat salleh. Lol.

We chatted more and the dad finally spoke, so I knew that I didn't offend him in anyway. When I knew everything was ok, I excused myself and went back to work.

It was a good day. After my shift, it was Fern's shift. My shift ended at 2pm but I stayed a bit longer to help her out because Ammar wasn't feeling well. When Caryn came, I knew I could ciao already. Thank God because I was starting to get really sleepy!

Balik rumah terus blackout.

Yeah!!