I have been offered a part time job at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Jusco Melaka. Allison referred me to the branch manager last week and I was told to wait for their call. With my part time jobs working experience, I was short-listed and they gave me a call today.

RM4.50 per hour is something that I would not want to miss out. I can earn about RM400 plus per month. (RM4.50 * 8 hours * 3 days * 4 weeks = RM432) It brings me a step closer to my dream – getting myself a new mobile phone and having extra pocket money to spend / save.

It will be another working experience for me because it is my first time working in F&B (Food and beverage, for those who do not know.) line. I always avoid working in F&B because it is quite tiring, especially when you work for restaurants or resorts, and most importantly, I can see but cannot touch. That is so cruel, for me. Besides, working in coffee beans is cool. No?

I am (still) really interested to work in Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

However, after talking to my dad, a little chatting with my cousin sister and Jinlan (靖岚), it would be better if I scrap the idea of working part time this time. Although my dad is quite OK with me taking up part time jobs, he doubts my ability to juggle between my work and studies. Besides, the subjects I am currently taking are very difficult.

I am taking EEN2056 Physical Electronics where I will be studying Quantum Physics. Quantum Physics is another type of physics where the normal physics and science are not able to explain certain things that happen in the world of engineering, science and physics. ECP2046 Computer Organization And Architecture is another subject on basic design and algorithms of computers, which means more programmings.

Although the manager did offer me a 3 days trial period / training, I think I will make a trip to the Cofee Bean & Tea Leaf, Jusco Melaka within these few days to inform the manager that I have to reject the offer.

So sad, I am this close to be part of the Cofee Bean & Tea Leaf team.

What is next? Mc Donalds? Secret Recipe? Hmm…

P/S :

Allison, thank you very much for referring me to the manager and I truly appreciate your help. I am sorry that I have to turn down the offer as well. “Teh tarik” on me! -wink-

http://www.coffeebean.com.my actually does not exists. Perhaps I should buy the domain name. -evil grins-

Happy birthday to Auntie Suzette.

My supplementary papers will start in 7 hours 45 minutes.

Although I have little no confidence in sitting EMG2016 – Electromagnetic Theory exam, that does not mean…

My house’s electricity should be cut off for 14 hours straight so that I cannot read blogs and chat study without my computer.

Fine! I went to my university’s computer lab to study, but…

The computer would either crash or take 15 minutes to load each time I opened a Microsoft Power Point / Word document.

AAARRRGGGHHH…! –wails-

[Updated at 4.33PM.] It does not look good. -sighs-

It was pitch dark when I opened up my eyes. I took my handphone and it was showing 5:15AM. What the heck?! Now, I have to stay awake for another 3 hours and 45 minutes so that I will not miss my first class of the trimester. Then, I have to stay awake for 2 hours to pay attention to the lecturer. What time did I sleep? 2.17AM. Sucks!

I sent in 2 articles to The Star for contribution lately. No need to guess, I wrote about food again. I edited my 2 previous posts – “Seremban’s Beef Noodles, Sugarcane Juice And ‘Rojak’” and “Breakfast In Bidor” and sent them to The Star Metro editor – Ju Eng. 3 hours later, I received an email from Ju Eng and her reply was :

I cannot use your photo because they are not of the right quality plus you may want to include someone eating there in your photo. It is really not easy to take food pictures. If you can, try some other pictures again. Otherwise I cannot use story too.

Probably she meant that my stories are good enough to be published in the newspaper but the pictures are not suitable. Therefore, it might not pass the editorial board unless I retake the pictures. The problem is, those pictures were taken during my holiday trip to Cameron Highlands and K.L. trip #1 months ago.

When I attended the Brats journalism workshop in year 2000, they did not teach us on how to take pictures for newspaper. Therefore, 25% is their fault. -blek- Anyway, I emailed 2 professional photographers - Jase Lee and Kevin Han to ask some opinions on taking food pictures. The feedback I got was bad.

Jase Lee said :

1. Facial expression
This is quite hard to harness as this require tremendous creative skill to actually capture the moment the person is enjoying his food. For example, if taking a picture of a model eating “ramen”, you need to capture their facial emotion. That is why mostly food photography do not use such technique.

2. Macro on food
Okay, this is the most easiest. Make sure your food are presented properly and then use a very low aperture (F1.8 or F2.0 works fine here.). This way, the food will take a lot of light and preserve its texture. I am not sure about point and shoot cameras (because I have no experience in them) but usually a fix 50mm F1.8 can do the job just fine.

Think you can do so on your point and shoot camera. If there are some saturation adjustment, put them to bring out the color in the food. If you do not have the saturation adjustment, try different function such as landscape as they tend to saturate higher than standard potrait or auto mode. Alternatively, you might want to use the zoom function of your camera, step back and zoom to the fullest to take the close shot of the food. Make sure the foold fills in the whole frame and do not be afraid that it got cut out. The main thing to look for is just the food & decoration, not the ware or utensils.

Kevin Han said :

Try photographing food from a lower angle. Food shot directly from the top is usually makes for an awkward angle. Shoot food when just served, and definately not while you are halfway through eating it! Hehe. Stuff like gravy smears on the bowl / plate should be avoided as to make the dish look as neat as possible. Placing the dish in such a way so that its backlit is another thing you could try. Also, instead of shooting the whole plate, try variations of closeups on points of interest in the dish.

Your photos seem to lack contrast. Meaning, they look kinda “foggy”. Maybe your camera lens has been smudged or you have some fungus inside your lens. That’s something to check out.

-sweat-

Come to think of it, my 2.0 Megapixel Sony Cybershot U20 is starting to show signs of “old age”. Not only it lacks of the most basic functions that all digital camera has (My camera does not have zoom in function, macro shot mode, control over shutter speed… Heck, even handphones are better than my camera!), it even has fungus inside the lens. WTF?! (Although not comfirm yet.) Therefore, it contributes another 25% of the mistake. The remaining 50% must be my lousy shooting skill and no creativity in photography. My photos maybe just nice for my own blog, but definitely not good enough for publications. Damn! I need to work on it and consult the photographers out there.

I need to get a new camera, or at least, a better one. Hopefully, my father has the urge to buy a new camera and pass me that Canon Ixus. -pray- For the meantime, Egghead, can I borrow your camera? -puppy eyes-

The rejected photos :

P/S : Happy birthday to Earl Ku and Mr. Kiasi / Alphonso.

Being daddy’s girl, my sis – Jamie Lioh got her first mobile phone few days ago. A spanking new Sony Ericsson K700i that cost RM725. Initially, my dad budgeted RM600 for her phone. However, RM600 could not get a decent phone, so, my dad increased the budget to RM750. There is nothing wrong with that, right? At first, I felt jealous. Why?

When I wanted to get my own mobile phone…

Dad : “I don’t see any need of you having a mobile phone.”
Mum : “It is a waste of money. 浪费钱!”

When my sis wanted to get her own mobile phone…

Dad : “I will buy for you after your SPM.”
Mum : “Up to you (Dad). 随便你.”

I was jealous!When I was in the shop buying my phone…

Dad : “You are on your own. I am not sponsoring you.”
Mum : “I won’t sponsor you. 我才不要给钱你买电话。”

When my sis was in the shop buying her phone…

Dad : “RM725? OK. Ask your friend (My friend.) to order one for her tomorrow.”
Mum : “…… (No comment.)”

I was jealous!
Side note : I spent the money I earned from my part time jobs for my phone. RM450 for my Nokia 3310 and RM280 for my 012 prepaid sim pack. I forked out all RM730 on my own.When I got my phone…

Dad : “A waste of money.”
Mum : “Worth it? 值得吗?”

When my sis got her phone…

Dad : “Jamie, bring your phone and let me see.”
Mum : “Get more A’s in your SPM, OK?”

I was jealous!
When I wanted to change my phone to Nokia 6100…

Dad : “What’s the point of getting a colour screen phone?”
Mum : “Why you want to buy such an expensive phone? 买酱贵的电做么?”

When my mum reluctantly sponsored me RM250 for my new phone…

Mum : “This RM250 is extra one. 这 RM250 是多余的.”
Dad : “Why don’t want to buy a cheaper phone? RM400 also got a good one already, right?”

I was jealous!
However, after thinking about it, I do not feel jealous anymore. Why?

I do not feel good if I am to see my sis working part time job like me just to buy a mobile phone.

I do not feel good if my parents sponsor my desires or unnecessary stuffs.

I am able to buy things that I want, like and desire without consulting my parents. Although it will be better if I do, is not it?

I am a guy and it is better and more responsible if I work hard for the things that I desire instead of relying on my parents.

I do not feel obliged to report to my friends or feel guilty if I drop, spoil or lost my phone. Although it will be better if I do, is not it?

I am not jealous anymore!
Ok-lah. I admit, I am still jealous because my sister’s phone is better than mine! How can?!?!?!

Anyway, I am looking out for freelance work to earn some extra income and Mystiq Angel is trying to help me one way or another. Hopefully, within 6 months, I will get myself a kick ass mobile phone. Yes, it will be.

As I have declared in this post before, I have shaved my head as promised for Peter Tan’s donation campaign – “Hair For Hospice“.

I stepped into this Indian barbershop near my house and told him I wanted to go bald. The barber looked at me and asked me twice for confirmation. I nodded my head and asked him to wait for a minute so that I could take a picture of myself before the shaving begins.

Within 30 seconds, my hair was gone and the shaving begins. Now, this is the part that I am looking forward to, as I never shave my hair before. He sprayed lots of water on my scalp and started to shave. It was not that bad actually; I enjoyed the feeling when the blade shaved through my scalp.

While shaving, he said, “You got pimples at the back of your head.” –sweat-

After about 5 minutes, it was done. The barber said he would put after-shave oil on my head and it would be painful. I was wondering how painful it could be. The moment the oil touched my scalp, I made a “tttssskkk” sound. It was very painful, as if there were few hundreds of needles stinging you at one time. Not only that, it was hot as if something was burning my scalp. The barber increased the pace and quickly used the hairdryer to cool my head down. My head never felt cooler before.

I paid the barber RM10 that I consider a little overpriced. RM10 for a shave, that looks like a rip off though. On the other hand, its cheap consider the price of having a haircut at a unisex saloon is at least 2 times of the price. Why did not Peter gather all of us and do it together? Then, the saloon might sponsor us and get free advertising also! Kidding.

I showed my new hairstyle headstyle to my housemate – Raymond, and the first sentence was “Oh my god!” When I went to bath, I actually put shampoo on my head to wash my hair. –ROTFLMAO with Ms. LUITA-

Thanks to everyone who has donated and supported Peter’s “Hair For Hospice”. I am very sure that the money will be put into good use. I still could not believe I actually shaved my head for fun charity.

Now that I have done it, perhaps I can make good use of it. Perhaps some advertisement on my head or some fan signs for the bloggers that I love to read? What do you think?