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Benjamin Tan
29 June
18
Advanced Diploma Hospitality Management
Polytechnic West
~~Swan TAFE (Bentley Campus)~~
~~Marsiling Secondary School~~
City Harvester
W193
Sports Leader

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Wednesday, 10 December 2008

"Advance Australia Fair"

National Anthem of Australia

Australians all let us rejoice,

For we are young and free;

We've golden soil and wealth for toil;

Our Home is Girt By Sea

Our land abounds in nature's gifts

Of beauty rich nd rare;

In History's page, let every stag

Advance Australia Fair

In Joyful Strains then let us sing,

Advance Australia Fair.

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross

We'll toil with hearts and hands'

To make this commonwealth of ours

Renowned of all the lands;

For those who've come across the seas

We've boundless plains to share;

With courage let us all combine

To Advance Australia Fair

In Joyful strains then let us sing,

Advance Australia Fair

___________________________________________

Hey guys, i'm back to blog again.

It's like finally after 2 wks, i'm blogging again.

On this account of my blogger, it's my 100th post!!~ Wootz

I still remember a few days ago i was still reading my archives about the past..

And reading about it really brings back memories to the past..

Both good and bad memories..

All the way back to 2006 when i was just an ordinary student

But with extrordinary goal and dreams ahead..

Well, enough of talking..

Today i'm gonna blog a "tribute" to Australia..

As most of you guys know,

I've so far spent 50 weeks in australia..

And yes that's how much time have past since i left last year on 27th december..

And indeed in 50 weeks, i've experienced a lot of things that you can only understand if u were to experience it first hand personally..

Just wanna make a re-cap on a few major things that happened to me over here..

______________________

1) Da Fish Da Chip Experience

2) My School Life at TAFE

3) My Work Life in Box 3

4) My Badminton Life in Perth

5) A few turning points in Life and crucial decisions that i've made

______________________

1. Da Fish Da Chip Experience

For the 1st month of my life in Australia,

I spent majority of my time "working" or shld i say, helping out in a Fish and Chips Shop..

It was call "Da Fish Da Chip" situated along a corner of Aberdeen Street at Northbridge..

Northbridge is a suburb that's situated beside Perth City itself..

It's famous for its nortorious reasons..

Being the "Clarke Quay" of Perth, it has lots of clubs, pubs etc etc..

More than you can expect..

I've indeed walked past clubs and pubs in singapore..

And what i can say is what i see and experience here is totally different from singapore..

While working in the Da Fish and Da Chip,

I get an insight and a personal experience of Perth's night life..

How clubbers drink, and get drunk..

And how they fight..

How they stand a row along a street to piss on the wall as there are no toilets..

How Customers will come in drunk and seeking a fight..

I also get to meet a certain race of australia..

It's the aboriginal group of people who happen to be the native Australians..

I get to see and observe about what kind of people they are..

And of course, with racial things concern, shall not elaborate more..

Although it was just deep frying fish and chips,

Making kebabs and burgers

But it triggered more into my love for cooking..

It sparked my path of culinary arts..

______________________

2) My school life at TAFE

On 5th Feb this year was my 1st day of TAFE..

I stepped into school, not really sure of where to go this and that..

I was having my Fast-tract Restaurant class..

it was when it was my first step to food and beverage service..

2nd day of school was my 1st cooking class..

I remember that i didn't have the stamina to last throughout the 8 hours of class..

it was so tiring for me..

But it was the passion for cooking that kept me going on that day with Chef Fielding..

I rmb learning about precision cuts..

Julienne, bronoise, macedoine, concasse etc etc..

It was not easy for me then, since it was the 1st time i held a knife..

I rmb even cutting myself on the 1st day of class..

Not once, but twice.. bcoz i can't get the correct grip for my knife..

But its was something memorable and enjoyable..

As time goes by..

The experiece comes..

And the more experience i had..

The faster and better i become..

The more exposure and experiences i have with other chefs and students..

The more i learn and experience..

As we come to the end of this year..

I've found a suitable grip for my knife

I've found a suitable style of cooking that suits me..

I've found a deeper passion and insight towards cooking..

I've found a location where i feel good in..

Being in the Bentley Pines Restaurant,

I happen to meet all sorts of people from all walks of life..

Most of them are retired people who live in homes or retired villages..

I've met people like the Commis, Ann and Luke, the Red Hats, Mrs Nurie and many others..

Talking to these group of retired people who have experienced so many things in life,

is indeed something really good to do..

To them, it's just some entertainment that they get from a "kid" like me..

Or telling a story to them..

But to me, it's something that i pick up and learn..

And apply it to my own life..

When talking to them,

I also realised more on what the world is becoming today..

Especially when it comes to younger and older generation communicating..

Being in Australia,

I find it really ironic that the younger and older generation are able to communicate well..

Unlike in singapore, where a year or 2 can be a generaton gap..

I asked myself, will i actually have this problem with my children and the younger people nxt time..

I remember i told syazmir and warda this before..

I remember that when i was the president of the SL council last year..

I elected them as the sec 1 lvl head..

They were not really happy about it at first as they were not close to them..

But i rmb i told them this..

"Do not be afraid of them.. Bcoz trust me, you are raising up the nxt generation of leaders in the council, anyone of them will be the one who will lead the council one day.. Someone from that group will be the next president.. so you gotta be honoured to do so =) "

This i rmb was something that my Zone Supervisor Ian told me about it..

Until today i will never forget about it..

I want to thank all the students and lecturers and guests, who have been a part of my life in Tafe..

_______________________

3) My working life at Box 3

I officially started work at Box 3 in mid May this year..

I also rmb what i did with my very 1st pay of Australia..

I bought a present and a card and sent it back to singapore for a really good friend of mine..

For her birthday..

In box 3, like bentley pines restaurnat, i get to display my skills as a cook, waiter and bartender..

I get to prepare good food, serve it..

As well as prepare and serve drinks for them..

Depsite my 7 mths of experience at Box 3,

I've really learnt a lot as well..

Learnt more about how the industry is like..

Well, if most guys don't know..

Box 3 is under this really powerful man call Mr Han.. Who owns Han's Cafe as well..

There are about 25 outlets all together as in just WESTERN AUSTRALIA ALONE..

and he's opening more stalls in Queensland..

And he's a multi-millionaire who drives a ferrari and lives in a very expensive suburb..

He wears branded stuff and his wife carrys LV.. LOL..

Throughout these few mths under the company..

I must thank my mentors..

Jeffery, Cresta, Shariel for Front of house..

Angela, Stein, Rhodan and Jimmy for Kitchen..

These people shared with me their experience ad guide me along as i progressed in the industry

Thank You so much guys.. Especially Jeffery, who has been moulding me into someone ready and fit for the industry =) i really appreciate whatever you've done for me so far

______________________________

4) My Badminton Life in Perth

As most people know by now,

I used to be a super hardcore badminton player..

Playing 6 days a week.. Many Hours a day..

But in perth, it happened to be the other way round..

I used to play 3 days a week..

But as time goes by, i ended up playing only once a week the most

or worst come to worst, once a fortnight..

The further we get into the year..

The more i realised that i lost touch of my racket.. Gripping it..

The more i realised that i lost the feeling of the court..

The more i realised that i lost my stamina..

The more i realised that i lost my skills..

The more i realised that i lost my timing to hit the shuttle..

The more i realised that i lost my footwork

AND I REALISED MORE AND MORE THINGS CAME OUT..

I realised that when i play with younger people..

People like Alphonsus, Shaun, Cynthia, Natelie, Aaron and many more..

They told me that they really enjoy learning from my experience..

The more they told me motivated to train hard when i return to singapore..

It was because of them,

I went to told norm during the leeming gala last mth..

That i'm going to train really hard for my fitness.. for my badminton..

For the sake of everyone and for myself..

It sparked my interest into badminton again..

I make a commitment to myself..

To bring up my fitness level to a very high level..

i'm gonna train more in badminton..

gain more skills and exposure to it..

then go back to australia once again .. and play with the people here once again..

_________________________

5) A few turning points in my life and a few crucial decisions that i've made

Throughout these 50 weeks of my life here in Perth,

As usual in part and parcel of life..

We all have to make decisions..

And a few things have happened to me as well..

Shall not elaborate further..

But as what Wei Shan always told me..

BE POSITIVE!!

hahahahahahahahah..

So i've been trying to stay as positive as i can..

No no no..

I WILL BE POSITIVE ABOUT IT.. hahaha..

And all these experiences that i have, i've really learnt from it..

I feel that being over here,

I was also able to advance further in terms of friendship..

Even tho i might lost a few friends as well..

But i'm glad that until today, they have been a part of my life..

Being by my side, running the race with me..

Thanks to you all =)

_________________________________

To conclude,

to me, without Australia, i wouldn't have experienced such things..

And without experiencing it, i wouldn't have grown as well..

I feel that Australia has brought me up to the nxt level..

Not only in terms of cooking of whatsoever

But in terms of my life as a human being..

Someone who's a child of God..

Yes indeed like what Advance Australia Fair mentioned,

"Our home is girt by sea", which means we are surrounded by sea..

The sea usually represent thoughts..

The vast thoughts that i have..

Especially towards my own life this and that..

Well, to end..

Here's my salute to Australia and everyone whom played a part of my life this year =)

See ya on the 14 december everyone =)?

Labels: Australia, box 3, Singapore, tafe, Thoughts and Feelings