Wednesday, 18 June 2014
Roller coasting it out
Rain and Thunder
Heavy rain at 3am. Woke up to close the windows. Brazil vs Mexico playing (ended 0-0). Groggy but didn't go back to sleep immediately because the mind was filled with the excitement of the on-going live match.
Drifted in and out of consciousness and finally the alarm rang to put me out of my misery. There are still drizzles as we make our way to the stall in the middle of 5.30am. Some traffic can be seen. All the people who had just finished watching the live match and making their way home?
Sugar Burn
Apparently, the stove was rearranged too close to the sugar bag. A hole in the newly opened bag was burnt through while the soya milk was being "reprocessed" and precious sugar spilled. Didn't even realise until the smell of caramelising sugar filled parts of the stall.
"Oh <censored>!". A good half an hour was spent cleaning up and thus delayed the sales hour by that much.
"The soya milk is what? Finishing?!?"
But, thank God the wet and panicky morning was not the tone for the rest of the day. Customers came in bits and parts so serving was a breeze. And by 10am, the soya milk was left with less than a container. By lunch hour, we could only have enough to keep sweaty and thirsty customers happy till about 12.30pm before asking them if they prefer grass jelly or turning them away.
"Good thing" the sun was roaring hot with fire and made everyone get a drink anyway. By the end of the day, we finished everything and sold extra grass jelly, making the earnings of the day highest for a weekday, ever, in the 3 months. And we hardly broke a sweat. Everything was nice and cool. Cleaning up was done leisurely and by 2.15pm we were closing the shutters, to the envy of other stall owners (no, not really).
Tired but happy
Because I knew we took in quite a bit today. Secretly praying for similar weather and crowd tomorrow, at the expense of fellow Singaporeans who have to endure icky outdoors. Come to Mei Ling Market and Food Centre and cool off in delicious "Michael Jackson".
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Hawking Truth
Life as a hawker can be tiring, physically. You start relatively early (maybe about 5am). Then its almost a rush to get the stall ready for the early birdies.The sun is not even out yet and you have drenched your tee shirt in perspiration.
You eat only during the off peak periods and not as and when you fancy, even though you work in front of food stalls.
Toilet breaks are not for quick snoozes or face checks in front of a mirror. Its fluid drainage at max efficiency.
And efficiency will be your favourite word when you do such retails. You want max turnover of customers so you do your humane best to serve each customer, with a smile, and hope they won’t come back with complaints.
You maintain politeness even after customer have insulted you, intentionally or not. You take everything with a big stride and a huge pinch of salt.
When the sales hours are finally over, you turn around and face a mountain of dirty dishes and equipment to clean up, or face the nasty end of the stick from a government agency. After everything is sparkling again, you start getting whatever you can ready for tomorrow.
The trip home will not be how much you think you earned that day. It will be how fast you want to shower and sleep.
So when the opportunity for me to take over a stall with a 40+ years of reputation came up, I said “YES!”.
To be honest, I didn’t know that being a hawker can be such a challenge at the start. Its only when I started operations then I realise my lifestyle need a complete change. All of us do that. When we have a newborn, or when we discover a disease in our bodies, or any other major change in our lives.
And now after 3 months (2 months technically) of sweating it out at an old neighbourhood market and food centre, I have new respect for those doing retail in the food industry. Things are better since and I guess you adapt to survive. You may not like the idea at the start but once you get the hang of it, its actually not that bad.
I am in fact having fun observing people and discover the different kinds of people in our society from a hawker’s perspective. I have decided to digitise all my musings in relation to this venture.
You eat only during the off peak periods and not as and when you fancy, even though you work in front of food stalls.
Toilet breaks are not for quick snoozes or face checks in front of a mirror. Its fluid drainage at max efficiency.
And efficiency will be your favourite word when you do such retails. You want max turnover of customers so you do your humane best to serve each customer, with a smile, and hope they won’t come back with complaints.
You maintain politeness even after customer have insulted you, intentionally or not. You take everything with a big stride and a huge pinch of salt.
When the sales hours are finally over, you turn around and face a mountain of dirty dishes and equipment to clean up, or face the nasty end of the stick from a government agency. After everything is sparkling again, you start getting whatever you can ready for tomorrow.
The trip home will not be how much you think you earned that day. It will be how fast you want to shower and sleep.
So when the opportunity for me to take over a stall with a 40+ years of reputation came up, I said “YES!”.
To be honest, I didn’t know that being a hawker can be such a challenge at the start. Its only when I started operations then I realise my lifestyle need a complete change. All of us do that. When we have a newborn, or when we discover a disease in our bodies, or any other major change in our lives.
And now after 3 months (2 months technically) of sweating it out at an old neighbourhood market and food centre, I have new respect for those doing retail in the food industry. Things are better since and I guess you adapt to survive. You may not like the idea at the start but once you get the hang of it, its actually not that bad.
I am in fact having fun observing people and discover the different kinds of people in our society from a hawker’s perspective. I have decided to digitise all my musings in relation to this venture.
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