Day 19 - October 11

Headed to my RSA course. The classroom was full with at least 30 people. Most of them were between the ages of 18-25. I felt old. There wasn't much to learn as it all seemed like common sense. Main things were to check ID before we serve people alcohol, to not over serve and suggest alternatives to alcohol if they look tipsy. If they are intoxicated, we have to get them out of the establishment in a safe manner, like calling them a cab. The course was for 4 hours. Seemed like it could've been a lot shorter. There was also a role-playing section that we did, but it wasn't in front of the class, it was just with the partner beside us. After role playing, the teacher, Stuart, asked us about the situation and tested us on our answers to the situation we had role-played.

The last 30 mins of the class was the paper test aspect. It was ridiculously easy. So easy that even they expect you to pass it because when I handed in my paper, Stuart marked it right away and gave me my certificate that already had my name printed on it. He told me I had the highest marks of the class so far (there was about 10 other people that hadn't finished the test yet, but I'm pretty sure I beat them too mwa haha). 


I headed toward Pinnacle. I met with Andrew who guided me to a meeting room and immediately told me to pick up the 3 plates that sat by the window sill. I picked them up, knowing it was a test. I failed it. He showed me the proper way of doing it, picking up the first dish with my left hand with the thumb and pinky above the plate while the other fingers were underneath. Then the second plate can sit on top of the thumb and pinky and wrist, while the right had picks up the other dish. I had no idea. I failed picking up dishes, I failed in life. Then he told me to clear away 3 plates as though they had food on them. I scraped food onto the blank plate and he told me that was improper.


Pretty much in the end he told me that he couldn't hire me as he was a hospitality company and that corporations hire his staff to hold functions and that these companies expect the workers to already know what they should be doing. He also mentioned that I was overqualified for the company. He did however mention that if he was a restaurant, he would hire and train me. He said Pinnacle didn't have time to train people. I was fine with that, I understood as a business where he was coming from. After all, I didn't have any food and beverage experience on my resume. He was friendly throughout our conversation but it sucked that he couldn't help me out further. He told me to apply to the actual business and not a hospitality agency, fair enough.


I headed to the next agency, Drake International. It was about a 15 minute walk. I took the elevator up to the 40th floor. It was super fast that my ears started popping. I walked out of the elevator and there was a fantastic view of Melbourne. After a small conversation with reception, I dropped off my resume and left. 

Federation Square is at the bottom. The southbank area is across the bridge. It's also where Crown Casino is.

Part of the Central Business District (CBD) of Melbourne.

I decided to apply at the Crown Casino next which was about a 30 minute walk. On the way I took some scenery pictures. 

To the left is Southbank, to the right is the CBD.

 River is kinda gross. 

A neat cafe under the bridge.

One of the buildings to the right is where Drake was.

I arrived at the hotel and casino. The hotel lobby was huge. It looked like the ones in Macau. Vegas ones aren't as big. Super high ceilings, marble and granite all around. It looked very exquisite. I walked past the security guard, also in a suit, and he asked how old I was. I responded and he laughed that us people always look younger. After that remark I had two options: throw him my bag, take a run at him and jump kick him in the face with one foot and kick him in the chest with the other, or laugh at his racist joke.


Note: The backpack I had was actually blue, not black.



After contemplating for about 5 seconds, I took the latter choice.


I looked for Guest Services, so that I could sign up for their card. I proceeded to sign up for the card and started chatting up with the person signing me up. The guest services representative had to get their supervisor as she wasn't sure if she could accept my Canadian driver's license as ID. Diana was the name of the supervisor. I told me my story about previously working in a casino. She told me that I should apply to their casino so that I could provide them with experience. I was trying to avoid working at the casino so that I could try something new, but then again, I would take any job at the moment. She gave me a $5 voucher to gamble, then gave me another one and gave me a wink.


I went to the poker room, located downstairs. It was massive. There were at least 50 tables. This is where they hold the Aussie Millions. In the poker room, they also had some blackjack tables (it was for poker players to keep occupied while they wait for open seats on the poker tables). I played on the $5 blackjack table. I lost the $10 in 4 hands, as expected. After my short stint at gambling, I headed back home.

mX Overheard and Lost in Love: