Working For the King of Kings in Burger King
Its been so long i have always wanted to share this entry with you all. Many nights when im in Leeds i felt like blogging about it. My working experience in Burger King.(again) God is so real through this whole working experience. Countless of times i cant stop thanking God for providing me this opportunity to work here in Leeds. I shall blog this with the bestest i can.
I remembered when i first came to England, Leeds. The one thing that is on my mind the most..is how am i gonna survive one year in England! when the cost of living here is so high itself. I was mega kiam siap during my first week in England. The currency difference of Ringgit and Pounds Sterling is just too high. Everytime i purchase something to eat... the math of multiplying it by 7 comes to my mind. An average meal in England would cost about 3.50pounds... change it to ringgit: 42.50ringgit!!! 3.50pounds for a pizza and drink. Even PizzaHut in Malaysia not that Ex!!! Having more pounds(money pounds) is so important for me! I was lost then, for my first two weeks in Leeds, savig every pents i have. Didnt spend. walk to uni.A bus ride cost 1.50pounds a ride and with me living at Lupton , it is quite a distance to Uni.
With prayer and advise from mum+dad, i decided to go job hunting. Surely parttime jobs is available everywhere. I remeber that day on the 1st of October 2005, i was at Leeds City Center..walkin around... asking shop to shop if there is any vacancy for a parttimer like me. On that day, I got myself two job interview appointment which is 1) at Ainsley's Bakery and 2) BurgerKing. What coincidence is that both of th job interviews are on the same day. Burger King was first and Ainsley's Bakery after that.
Mag: Good morning Yes Sir, what's your order?
Me: Errm... I'm here for the job interview
Mag looks puzzled ,went behind and asked Rob ( that time i didnt know any of workers yet!). Mag returns to me.
Mag: Here is the application form, you can fill it, return to us, and we will give you a call.
Feeling so unsatisfied. My intincts kick in.
Me: Really? But two days ago. John Scott told me to come today for the interview.
Mag looks more puzzled. When to the back. Talked to Rob. Rob went to some room behind the kitchen (the staff room). Came to me and said
Rob: Would mind follow me upstairs and take a seat while i get the manager.
Me: Thanks
An hour later, Rebecca Reed(the asst. manager) came in. She apologized because she forgotten that John told him of the interview today. The interview went really well. Oh heres a tip guys.those of you in job interviewin in England. Make sure u speak clear and Good english. If you can put up a understandble English accent..go for it. hehe. This are some pointers that help me in the interview.i remember one part in the interview.Rebecca asked me ( gosh its so weird calling her Rebecca in this Blog. In work we call her Banni /or Becky )
Rebecca: Okay Benjamin, What makes you want to work Burger King?
i so wanted to say " Cause i need money! cant you see? im a foreigner??!" instead u know what i said?
Me: Well, my full name is Benjamin Khor..in initials it stands as B.K. so coincidently BurgerKing shares the same initials as my name. B.K. How could i not work in a place which has the same initials as mine?
Rebecca laughed really loud and said she hope that sense of humor would bring lotsa beniefits in tghe kitchen. I got the job on the Spot and she arranged the induction meetings for me.
Woohooo!!!i got a job! i got a job. Free food somemore. Free burgerking. Burger burger. haha. this burger somemore got bacon in them!!! haha. non halal burger oh yea baby!!
That's pretty much how i got the job. It really was a miracle. Bare in mind i just came to England two weeks ago. To get a parttime job in two weeks time... is really a miracle. Many of my friends...couldnt believe how quick i got a job. God really looked after me. Gen.2:15 "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it". Work is a reward! Thank you God for giving us work and not being lazy apes.lolx.
Over time in Burger King i got promotion after promotion. I worked parttime non stop throughout my term in Leeds. I started working in BurgerKing since the 1st of October 2005 till 3rd of August 2007. I worked in Burgerking through all the four seasons. Even during exam period(for four hours only a week). The starting pay is 5.05pounds an hour....and will increase as you are promoted. The tax is excluded when we applied for National Insurance... to get it we have to register ourselves and go for the N.I. interview which is all free. The uniform, aprons, midnight shift transport, meals is provided by them for free! i get an average of 10-16hours weekly during my schooling term. On holidays like Winter holidays, Summer holidays. i get more than 20hours weekly. On Public holidays like Easter, Bank Holidays,...the pay is triplled.
With the money i earned weekly from BurgerKing i survived real comfortably in England. Besides... i cook. Yes i cook. My tongue is no fan to english food. Grocery shopping is very very cheap. 10pounds worth of grocery shopping is enuff to survive me more than a week easily.
this are all just facts about Burgerking. More will come later when it comes ac ross my mind.
With BurgerKing, I got money! , free meals! and most importantly Experience which is priceless.
What kind of Experience? Not flipping burgers experience(though its a little bonus experience)... but the experience of knowing God through this whole process.
God has taught me so much about Work. I hear sermons of it. Read about it. But experiencing it with what His word says about Work...is simply wonderful. Ephesians 4:28 "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need". God saw how much...my family needs Him to help me pull through a year in England. All Glory to God for this job.
Here are some pictures... Siawwan, Roy and Maywoei helped me take on my last day of work. Thanks a million!!!
Heres the best picture i have in my uniform in the BurgerKing kitchen. This area of the kitchen which im standing is called the Whooper side. Its the side where i have to make whoopers...and slot them into shoes. In the whooper side... i dont only make whoopers. i also make veggie burgers. Specials such as like Chicken Strips..etc.ohh...in this picture... u see me wearing a watch. well...during work time...im not allowed to wear a watch...for hygene reasons. So happen when i take this picture...i just came into the kitchen and havent remove my watch yet. Posing away ma. Oh talkin about hygene in the kitchen. It is super super strict. When we are in the kitchen we MUST wash our hands with sanitizers and soap.warm water is used...cos it makes the cleaning effective. Clean shaven is a must. Every food that is made and havent been taken for more than assigned time ( burgers in general have a 10minute waste time limit and frozen food in general have a 5minute waste time limit) will be throwed into the wash bag. You might be thinking? what a waste. ya. But who would want to eat a ten minute expired burger? haha. we malaysians ok la. but the English im not too sure...besides it breaches the Food Health Inspection Code. We have a proper timetable which tells us how many burgers/whooper/food to make at different time intervals. For example at 10am in the morning is not a busy time for the whooper side( very rare people eat whoopers in the morning), we must maintain to have 1whooper burger on wait. But at 1-3 pm. the Whooper demand is higher, we have to maintain to have 6whoopers on wait. Working at the whooper side is one of the best sides to work. time flies very fast when u are working here...because... orfders just keeps coming in non stop. you will be like a machine. usually at this whooper side, two people will work on it. My partner-in-crime on this is Chris. u will see him later. It took me a long promotion to reach the whooper side..only in the beginning of January 2006 im assigned to whooper side.
First stage: For the first 2months working at B.K. im always/most of the time handling the dining area along with another partner-in-crime Ashok. Its really a nasty job. I get really really weird shifts sometimes at 7am i have to work at burgerking in the loading bay. Carry boxes and boxes of frozen products in the chillers. Its not nice. Its super tiring. Many boxes you know. they stack them up so wide and higher than me. Most of the boxes weight 10kg. This is not the nasty part of working in the dining area. The nasty part is on peak hours. wa lao can die man. You dont get good customers all the time. Sometimes you get goths, teenage brats, homos,etc. Yea its a family restaraunt... but its open to all... you all in malaysia knows how a fastfood restaraunt works right? I hate cleaning the toilets. Yes, I have to clean toilets. Nasty. Very Very nasty. So kids would be so &*@#@ and throw soda cans into the flush bowl...making it stuck and have to use a plumber to pump that stupid soda can out. There was once i found a needle in at the top of the toilet. yea... drug users might pump into their veins.. that adreline and walkin out burgerking high. In the dining area... the wash bags gets full very fast. i change the rubbish bag an average about 15times in a full day shift. Nasty nasty nasty.When its not peak hour. you will be like so bored..walkin around..wiping table over and over again. time pass slower than Malaysia Streamyx. But theres also a fun part of working at the dining area.. its the area where you deal with the customers one of the most...openning doors for them when u are near the door. Brits customers are real polite ( the 30s above) ... saying thank you to almost everything. The even take the trays and clear the rubbish into the rubbish bags themselves. They call you by your name( we wear a name tag), when they appreciate what you do. haha. and another catchy part of working in the dining area... is you get to see people... lotsa teens and uni students eat here...so yea. haha i can cuci mata sometimes. lolx. You hande with kids too. Get baby chairs. Make them smile by bringing a toy if they cry. Changing a toy when they already have got the same one. I remembered once i got a request from a parent customer asking me if burgerKing organise Kids bdays. lolx. I see a sight in me i havent seen before.
Here is a free meal i get during my break. I usually content with just a whooper. That would be enough for me. haha. cos...i stuff my whoopers with lotsa meat and veggie and other stuff.
As you can see how oily my face is.I cant wear a uniform when im on break or meeting my friends. so yea... u see me clant in homersimpson half naked t-shirt
Siawwan make me do this. Saying...i can be like Superman.. wearing normal on the outside...but under it...im the Burgerking worker.When duty calls... have no fear SuperBen the burgerKing worker is here!
A Part time job gets you some good shopping without guilt. Am i right Roy?!?
2nd Stage: After working at the dinning area... you can get promoted to the Fries / or drinks station. Here is me in Action feeding in the fries. This job is also fun cos you just stay at one position...and just keep filling fries and others( like chciken bites, onion rings,etc). .. but the nasty part is that...it is very warm. Its warm to keep the Fries warm. i sweat lots there man. Not nice sometimes. Esspecially in Summer...oh gosh... can die man.i was assigned there once in summer...and man.. tak syiok at all. always quickly masuk the chiller for a few seconds come bacvk again.Thank God im only assigned to this station for a short while..during winter jan.
Stage 3: This is the washing area/back area. Heres where..you clean the millions of trays and other stuff. Everything to do with cleaning and the kitchen cleaniness is all done by the person in charge here. The person u see here is Ashok... he is in the Back Area on my last day of work.When i was working in the back area...my partner in crime is with this polish guy,Adam. Big man. Very huge man. But damn playful...we would spray water at each other when sophies not around. There was one time, Adam closed the door without realising Ashok is in the chiller.Kesian Ashok in there for a few minutes...since then we called the Ashok the Chocolate ICe man/ Ice man. Adam left B.K. in Summer and i havent seen him since. He's the best collegue i ever have in B.K. lotsa funny times and he is very helpful.
Stage 4. Hers the Whooper Side. This is Chris. who is trying to give a dodgy pose but failed. Chris uniform is in Blue with a tie.. meaning he is gonna be an asst. manager. What we do here...i havce already explained.
Here is my best side. stage 4: The Burger Side. Making Burgers. I make Double Bacon Burgers, Burgers, Cheese Burgers, Super Burger, Superman Burger, Supreme Cheese, Supreme No Cheese, Veggie Burger, Chicken Burger, Plain Ham, Kids Ham, Kids Cheese, Plain Cheese, Double Cheese Burger, Moterral cheese, Spicy Chicken, and Bean Burger. This is the busiest side of the kitchen. Really really must move like lightning speed. Somemore some customers when special burgers..like no pickle, just mayo, bla bla. A lot of concetration is needed here. you have to be alert with whats the order is being shout, remember to maintain the number of burgers, be precise with the spcial burgers.There was once a customer ordered, Burger no ham.I was like what?!?! Vishul a.k.a. told me its burger without the beard. Weird weird weird. Some English are interesting beings. When i first started this station i was extremely slow. And got better over the next shifts. Learned how to multitask. And Banni is such an encouragement, i remembered once she came to me and compliment that i have progress so much in just a week. That really lift me up.Cos... Sophie was super piss one weekend bcos of my blur syndrome...by making double bacons...without any bacon. Communication with the counter people is importnat here...to confirm orders...to know how many more to maintain. a lot of shouting go about here. like:
Sophie: Ben, I need three Veggies pls
Me: Thank you
Rob: Baconh going, you have 4left
Me: Thank You
John: 2kids cheese, and one supreme no lettuce
Me: Thank You
Mag: Come on guys keep the levels up.Chop Chop Chop.
Thank You is a very important word in this side. It confirms the order. It informs the Counter people that we received their order. etc.
Oh behind the burger side is the frying station, to fry the chicken bites, chciken, fries, etc. There was once this newbie... was rushing here and there.. he drop a whole big pile of fries into the frying station. lotsa hot oil jump out. REally a lot of hot oil. The poor fella took most of the blow. i got so of the burning oil.. but it wasnt serious.
A picture of meand Vishul. A north indian guy in England. He is in Leeds uni too. Nice guy. We still keep in contact. Nexttime when i go to india...i have a tour guide. woohoo. The Taj Mahal. He keeps on tellin me the story of the king of taj mahal who went insane waste money building another replica of taj mahal. and got locked up. He works at the counter area. Most of the closing shifts..im partner with him and chris. Talkin of Closing Shifts. Its really a fun shift. its the shift from 6pm to 12midnight. where its more quiet. but can nasty at 10-12pm when u get drunk clubbers dropping by for burgers. A max. of 4 people is allowed to handle the closing shift. Closing shift. we have to do stock count. kitchen cleaning. the whole restaraunt cleaning. and basically doing th tutup kedai work. I like close shifts..cos we get to ta pao... back the waste. If sophies around the closing shift...we wont be allowed to do that. But Chris is our partner-in-crime man...we just ta pao. Oh...also in closing shift BurgerKing calls a cab to pick us up and drop us back at our doorstep.Free transport for u somemore. crazy la this job. So so so blessed.
Stage 5: this is the stage which you reach before u go to the gap training to be an asst manager (like Chris).Counter Area!. Here the basics lo. take orders. Tell the whooper and burger side what you want. Get drinks from the drinks station and fries. The responisibility here is higher of course. Cos you are dealing with customers face to face. Its kinda easy for me to pick up this station... with the adopted accent. Thank God they understand me. That was my first fear when im assign to do counter area. There's once when im working at the counter area... there's this man and his little daughter came to make their orders. He was carrying a green snake next to him...letting it moving around his arm and shoulder...i was like....eyeeerrr... dont kill me dont kill me and Vishul next to me jahanamly laughing. By the time im promoted to this station... im about to go back Penang already. sobs. couldnt say much about this station. Here is a picture of how i look when you come to Headingley, Leeds City Center ,Burger King counter 5.
John( the guy who is supposed to interview me) thinks i look too lonely and join in the picture. Argh. i wasnt lookin at the camera. Dad with two kids. seconds later after taking this photo...suddenly.
Banni Runs in and Arghh... i look like my arse got struck by lightning and lovin it.Was funny la.when siawwan wanted to take anbother photo and i wanna pose nicely wan..and suddenly banni hops in. Btw. All the photos taken are doing a non peak hour. so yea... the staff are pretty free to take pictures.
This whole experience in Burger King is unforgettable. God not only bless me with income from it, but has taught me lots about work. Most of my quiet time happens when i come back from work in the evening or late at night. It make me always on a look out on what the Bible says about work. So often we hear people complain about work( not to say i enjoy working all the time too), that we tend to forget what the Bible says about Work. In my quiet time i was always on a look out on certain key words. "work" is one of the keywords that i look out.
I wrote this in my journal in august 2006. 10 things i have learned about Work from the Bible. Theres a so much i wrote. Here's a sipnosis of what i have received.
1. Work is to provide the resources you need to give.
Eph 4:23 - To have more than enough so that i can give a Blessing. The money i recevied from BurgerKing has taught me wisdom. Taught me how do i invest them. What in my live is at most need. It taught me of giving to God. tithing became a breakthrought for me when i was in Leeds... was blessed beyond measure when i gave on God's soil. With the money i have... i can bless the people around me. I got nice gifts for the people i love. REALLy nice gifts. Gifts i never thought i couyld get for them.
2. Maturity and Responsibility lessons comes from HArd Work
Proverbs: 12:24 " Dilligent Hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labour"
Proverbs 10:4 " Lazy Hands make a man poor, but diligent hands brings wealth"
This two proverbs is no rocket science. How true. I grew so much and matured in thinking when it comes to money and work. The work dilligent means persistent. Like proverbs 12 says.. to avoid work is to invite poverty in your life. This work also taught me how to take my studies seriously. i treasured every study time i have. making the most of my study time. It taught me not to be shameful to walk to the lecturer and ask questions. This lesson of "dilligent Hands" taught me how to get promotion after promotion. i got promoted to 5 stages in the spam of just 1year. Thats really a blessing. The wisdom in it was hardwork in the work that i do. Hardwork in studies. Hardwork in BurgerKing. Hardwork in bible study,etc.
3. God wants me to prosper.
Psalms 35:27 -God takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servants. *received in one of Kevin Loo's sermons*.
4.Satisfaction from fruits of your Work
Proverbs 12:11.
5. Work is part Purpose of Life
6. Exellence
Work needs to be excellent. Proverbs 22:29. I have to bring the best i can from my work or anything i do. This is so important in working life. People observe u all the time, most importantly GOD. i remember there was once, i have to close the second floor of burger king. A man came to me and said to me, hang in there Benjamin, one day you will go up. I guess he met promotion. I didnt know who is that elderly man. He knew my name obviously because of my name tag. Later that shift, i told vishul abt the elderly man...and how encouraging it is. He was like... Ben, do you know that he overseas the BurgerKing at Headingley. I was like waa.He was the Manager of the BK Headingley district! two weeks later after that comment he make to me, i didn have to do dining work anymore...and was promoted to back area. haha. Whee! Exellence !exellence man! Whatever work you are doing, whether its moping the floor, flipping burgers, being a litigator, worsip leading... Do it with exellence.
7.Making aProfit Come from Work
Proverbs 14:23 - " all hard work brings profit but mere talk leads only to poverty"
8. Work can release the Glory of God
Collossions 3:22-25 check out... What a great biblical truth.
John 17:4 " i have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do"
Whos Glory am i seeking from Working ? Whos Glory at i seeking from studying? what Glory can man possibly give. For only man sees the seen. But God sees the unseen. Come to think of , that makes working hard in secret all the more exciting. hehe.
9. Work is a life purpose.
Rick Warren probably might have notice this when the bible mention of Gen. 2:15. I found out that every thing we do requires us to work for it. Everything except one. Thats our Salvation. For it is not by works of man. This blews me away... to know that everything that surrounds man...revolves work. If you want to eat you hve to plant corps (work), you wantto make ur gf smile , you make a gift (work), you want to sleep you have to first get tired (work), you want to look like Jessica Albas or C.Ronaldo you have to exercise (work)....etc. But there's one thing that doesnt require us to work. That is Salvation! Grace! through Faith. Eph.2:8-9.
10. Only the Dead Dont Work
Essclesiastes 9:10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom"
This probably is the most breathe taking truth i found if work is of concern so far. I have learned that Work is only temporary, therefore do it with all your might. and Theres comfort to know..that when God calls us home. It will be a rest. A Great time of no work but just resting in the presence of God in Worship.
Thank You God for leading me through and your guidance. This job experience is more than just money. Its a life experience when i see yur Word in it.
There's sooo much to write. A years story of working in burgerking is impposible to write in one entry or even to blog. Heres a picture of three of my closest friends in Leeds. Roy, Siawwan and MAy. Thanks for coming to BK visiting thru the whole year. and for being such good camera people on my last day of work.that im able to post this pictures on this blog. It wont be possible without ur help. thanks ( i doubt u guys even know of this blog.lolx!).
Next entry... Summer holiday at scarsborough..... Sea sea sea...beaches beaches....
God Bless.
I remembered when i first came to England, Leeds. The one thing that is on my mind the most..is how am i gonna survive one year in England! when the cost of living here is so high itself. I was mega kiam siap during my first week in England. The currency difference of Ringgit and Pounds Sterling is just too high. Everytime i purchase something to eat... the math of multiplying it by 7 comes to my mind. An average meal in England would cost about 3.50pounds... change it to ringgit: 42.50ringgit!!! 3.50pounds for a pizza and drink. Even PizzaHut in Malaysia not that Ex!!! Having more pounds(money pounds) is so important for me! I was lost then, for my first two weeks in Leeds, savig every pents i have. Didnt spend. walk to uni.A bus ride cost 1.50pounds a ride and with me living at Lupton , it is quite a distance to Uni.
With prayer and advise from mum+dad, i decided to go job hunting. Surely parttime jobs is available everywhere. I remeber that day on the 1st of October 2005, i was at Leeds City Center..walkin around... asking shop to shop if there is any vacancy for a parttimer like me. On that day, I got myself two job interview appointment which is 1) at Ainsley's Bakery and 2) BurgerKing. What coincidence is that both of th job interviews are on the same day. Burger King was first and Ainsley's Bakery after that.
Mag: Good morning Yes Sir, what's your order?
Me: Errm... I'm here for the job interview
Mag looks puzzled ,went behind and asked Rob ( that time i didnt know any of workers yet!). Mag returns to me.
Mag: Here is the application form, you can fill it, return to us, and we will give you a call.
Feeling so unsatisfied. My intincts kick in.
Me: Really? But two days ago. John Scott told me to come today for the interview.
Mag looks more puzzled. When to the back. Talked to Rob. Rob went to some room behind the kitchen (the staff room). Came to me and said
Rob: Would mind follow me upstairs and take a seat while i get the manager.
Me: Thanks
An hour later, Rebecca Reed(the asst. manager) came in. She apologized because she forgotten that John told him of the interview today. The interview went really well. Oh heres a tip guys.those of you in job interviewin in England. Make sure u speak clear and Good english. If you can put up a understandble English accent..go for it. hehe. This are some pointers that help me in the interview.i remember one part in the interview.Rebecca asked me ( gosh its so weird calling her Rebecca in this Blog. In work we call her Banni /or Becky )
Rebecca: Okay Benjamin, What makes you want to work Burger King?
i so wanted to say " Cause i need money! cant you see? im a foreigner??!" instead u know what i said?
Me: Well, my full name is Benjamin Khor..in initials it stands as B.K. so coincidently BurgerKing shares the same initials as my name. B.K. How could i not work in a place which has the same initials as mine?
Rebecca laughed really loud and said she hope that sense of humor would bring lotsa beniefits in tghe kitchen. I got the job on the Spot and she arranged the induction meetings for me.
Woohooo!!!i got a job! i got a job. Free food somemore. Free burgerking. Burger burger. haha. this burger somemore got bacon in them!!! haha. non halal burger oh yea baby!!
That's pretty much how i got the job. It really was a miracle. Bare in mind i just came to England two weeks ago. To get a parttime job in two weeks time... is really a miracle. Many of my friends...couldnt believe how quick i got a job. God really looked after me. Gen.2:15 "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it". Work is a reward! Thank you God for giving us work and not being lazy apes.lolx.
Over time in Burger King i got promotion after promotion. I worked parttime non stop throughout my term in Leeds. I started working in BurgerKing since the 1st of October 2005 till 3rd of August 2007. I worked in Burgerking through all the four seasons. Even during exam period(for four hours only a week). The starting pay is 5.05pounds an hour....and will increase as you are promoted. The tax is excluded when we applied for National Insurance... to get it we have to register ourselves and go for the N.I. interview which is all free. The uniform, aprons, midnight shift transport, meals is provided by them for free! i get an average of 10-16hours weekly during my schooling term. On holidays like Winter holidays, Summer holidays. i get more than 20hours weekly. On Public holidays like Easter, Bank Holidays,...the pay is triplled.
With the money i earned weekly from BurgerKing i survived real comfortably in England. Besides... i cook. Yes i cook. My tongue is no fan to english food. Grocery shopping is very very cheap. 10pounds worth of grocery shopping is enuff to survive me more than a week easily.
this are all just facts about Burgerking. More will come later when it comes ac ross my mind.
With BurgerKing, I got money! , free meals! and most importantly Experience which is priceless.
What kind of Experience? Not flipping burgers experience(though its a little bonus experience)... but the experience of knowing God through this whole process.
God has taught me so much about Work. I hear sermons of it. Read about it. But experiencing it with what His word says about Work...is simply wonderful. Ephesians 4:28 "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need". God saw how much...my family needs Him to help me pull through a year in England. All Glory to God for this job.
Here are some pictures... Siawwan, Roy and Maywoei helped me take on my last day of work. Thanks a million!!!
Heres the best picture i have in my uniform in the BurgerKing kitchen. This area of the kitchen which im standing is called the Whooper side. Its the side where i have to make whoopers...and slot them into shoes. In the whooper side... i dont only make whoopers. i also make veggie burgers. Specials such as like Chicken Strips..etc.ohh...in this picture... u see me wearing a watch. well...during work time...im not allowed to wear a watch...for hygene reasons. So happen when i take this picture...i just came into the kitchen and havent remove my watch yet. Posing away ma. Oh talkin about hygene in the kitchen. It is super super strict. When we are in the kitchen we MUST wash our hands with sanitizers and soap.warm water is used...cos it makes the cleaning effective. Clean shaven is a must. Every food that is made and havent been taken for more than assigned time ( burgers in general have a 10minute waste time limit and frozen food in general have a 5minute waste time limit) will be throwed into the wash bag. You might be thinking? what a waste. ya. But who would want to eat a ten minute expired burger? haha. we malaysians ok la. but the English im not too sure...besides it breaches the Food Health Inspection Code. We have a proper timetable which tells us how many burgers/whooper/food to make at different time intervals. For example at 10am in the morning is not a busy time for the whooper side( very rare people eat whoopers in the morning), we must maintain to have 1whooper burger on wait. But at 1-3 pm. the Whooper demand is higher, we have to maintain to have 6whoopers on wait. Working at the whooper side is one of the best sides to work. time flies very fast when u are working here...because... orfders just keeps coming in non stop. you will be like a machine. usually at this whooper side, two people will work on it. My partner-in-crime on this is Chris. u will see him later. It took me a long promotion to reach the whooper side..only in the beginning of January 2006 im assigned to whooper side.
First stage: For the first 2months working at B.K. im always/most of the time handling the dining area along with another partner-in-crime Ashok. Its really a nasty job. I get really really weird shifts sometimes at 7am i have to work at burgerking in the loading bay. Carry boxes and boxes of frozen products in the chillers. Its not nice. Its super tiring. Many boxes you know. they stack them up so wide and higher than me. Most of the boxes weight 10kg. This is not the nasty part of working in the dining area. The nasty part is on peak hours. wa lao can die man. You dont get good customers all the time. Sometimes you get goths, teenage brats, homos,etc. Yea its a family restaraunt... but its open to all... you all in malaysia knows how a fastfood restaraunt works right? I hate cleaning the toilets. Yes, I have to clean toilets. Nasty. Very Very nasty. So kids would be so &*@#@ and throw soda cans into the flush bowl...making it stuck and have to use a plumber to pump that stupid soda can out. There was once i found a needle in at the top of the toilet. yea... drug users might pump into their veins.. that adreline and walkin out burgerking high. In the dining area... the wash bags gets full very fast. i change the rubbish bag an average about 15times in a full day shift. Nasty nasty nasty.When its not peak hour. you will be like so bored..walkin around..wiping table over and over again. time pass slower than Malaysia Streamyx. But theres also a fun part of working at the dining area.. its the area where you deal with the customers one of the most...openning doors for them when u are near the door. Brits customers are real polite ( the 30s above) ... saying thank you to almost everything. The even take the trays and clear the rubbish into the rubbish bags themselves. They call you by your name( we wear a name tag), when they appreciate what you do. haha. and another catchy part of working in the dining area... is you get to see people... lotsa teens and uni students eat here...so yea. haha i can cuci mata sometimes. lolx. You hande with kids too. Get baby chairs. Make them smile by bringing a toy if they cry. Changing a toy when they already have got the same one. I remembered once i got a request from a parent customer asking me if burgerKing organise Kids bdays. lolx. I see a sight in me i havent seen before.
Here is a free meal i get during my break. I usually content with just a whooper. That would be enough for me. haha. cos...i stuff my whoopers with lotsa meat and veggie and other stuff.
As you can see how oily my face is.I cant wear a uniform when im on break or meeting my friends. so yea... u see me clant in homersimpson half naked t-shirt
Siawwan make me do this. Saying...i can be like Superman.. wearing normal on the outside...but under it...im the Burgerking worker.When duty calls... have no fear SuperBen the burgerKing worker is here!
A Part time job gets you some good shopping without guilt. Am i right Roy?!?
2nd Stage: After working at the dinning area... you can get promoted to the Fries / or drinks station. Here is me in Action feeding in the fries. This job is also fun cos you just stay at one position...and just keep filling fries and others( like chciken bites, onion rings,etc). .. but the nasty part is that...it is very warm. Its warm to keep the Fries warm. i sweat lots there man. Not nice sometimes. Esspecially in Summer...oh gosh... can die man.i was assigned there once in summer...and man.. tak syiok at all. always quickly masuk the chiller for a few seconds come bacvk again.Thank God im only assigned to this station for a short while..during winter jan.
Stage 3: This is the washing area/back area. Heres where..you clean the millions of trays and other stuff. Everything to do with cleaning and the kitchen cleaniness is all done by the person in charge here. The person u see here is Ashok... he is in the Back Area on my last day of work.When i was working in the back area...my partner in crime is with this polish guy,Adam. Big man. Very huge man. But damn playful...we would spray water at each other when sophies not around. There was one time, Adam closed the door without realising Ashok is in the chiller.Kesian Ashok in there for a few minutes...since then we called the Ashok the Chocolate ICe man/ Ice man. Adam left B.K. in Summer and i havent seen him since. He's the best collegue i ever have in B.K. lotsa funny times and he is very helpful.
Stage 4. Hers the Whooper Side. This is Chris. who is trying to give a dodgy pose but failed. Chris uniform is in Blue with a tie.. meaning he is gonna be an asst. manager. What we do here...i havce already explained.
Here is my best side. stage 4: The Burger Side. Making Burgers. I make Double Bacon Burgers, Burgers, Cheese Burgers, Super Burger, Superman Burger, Supreme Cheese, Supreme No Cheese, Veggie Burger, Chicken Burger, Plain Ham, Kids Ham, Kids Cheese, Plain Cheese, Double Cheese Burger, Moterral cheese, Spicy Chicken, and Bean Burger. This is the busiest side of the kitchen. Really really must move like lightning speed. Somemore some customers when special burgers..like no pickle, just mayo, bla bla. A lot of concetration is needed here. you have to be alert with whats the order is being shout, remember to maintain the number of burgers, be precise with the spcial burgers.There was once a customer ordered, Burger no ham.I was like what?!?! Vishul a.k.a. told me its burger without the beard. Weird weird weird. Some English are interesting beings. When i first started this station i was extremely slow. And got better over the next shifts. Learned how to multitask. And Banni is such an encouragement, i remembered once she came to me and compliment that i have progress so much in just a week. That really lift me up.Cos... Sophie was super piss one weekend bcos of my blur syndrome...by making double bacons...without any bacon. Communication with the counter people is importnat here...to confirm orders...to know how many more to maintain. a lot of shouting go about here. like:Sophie: Ben, I need three Veggies pls
Me: Thank you
Rob: Baconh going, you have 4left
Me: Thank You
John: 2kids cheese, and one supreme no lettuce
Me: Thank You
Mag: Come on guys keep the levels up.Chop Chop Chop.
Thank You is a very important word in this side. It confirms the order. It informs the Counter people that we received their order. etc.
Oh behind the burger side is the frying station, to fry the chicken bites, chciken, fries, etc. There was once this newbie... was rushing here and there.. he drop a whole big pile of fries into the frying station. lotsa hot oil jump out. REally a lot of hot oil. The poor fella took most of the blow. i got so of the burning oil.. but it wasnt serious.
A picture of meand Vishul. A north indian guy in England. He is in Leeds uni too. Nice guy. We still keep in contact. Nexttime when i go to india...i have a tour guide. woohoo. The Taj Mahal. He keeps on tellin me the story of the king of taj mahal who went insane waste money building another replica of taj mahal. and got locked up. He works at the counter area. Most of the closing shifts..im partner with him and chris. Talkin of Closing Shifts. Its really a fun shift. its the shift from 6pm to 12midnight. where its more quiet. but can nasty at 10-12pm when u get drunk clubbers dropping by for burgers. A max. of 4 people is allowed to handle the closing shift. Closing shift. we have to do stock count. kitchen cleaning. the whole restaraunt cleaning. and basically doing th tutup kedai work. I like close shifts..cos we get to ta pao... back the waste. If sophies around the closing shift...we wont be allowed to do that. But Chris is our partner-in-crime man...we just ta pao. Oh...also in closing shift BurgerKing calls a cab to pick us up and drop us back at our doorstep.Free transport for u somemore. crazy la this job. So so so blessed.
Stage 5: this is the stage which you reach before u go to the gap training to be an asst manager (like Chris).Counter Area!. Here the basics lo. take orders. Tell the whooper and burger side what you want. Get drinks from the drinks station and fries. The responisibility here is higher of course. Cos you are dealing with customers face to face. Its kinda easy for me to pick up this station... with the adopted accent. Thank God they understand me. That was my first fear when im assign to do counter area. There's once when im working at the counter area... there's this man and his little daughter came to make their orders. He was carrying a green snake next to him...letting it moving around his arm and shoulder...i was like....eyeeerrr... dont kill me dont kill me and Vishul next to me jahanamly laughing. By the time im promoted to this station... im about to go back Penang already. sobs. couldnt say much about this station. Here is a picture of how i look when you come to Headingley, Leeds City Center ,Burger King counter 5.
John( the guy who is supposed to interview me) thinks i look too lonely and join in the picture. Argh. i wasnt lookin at the camera. Dad with two kids. seconds later after taking this photo...suddenly.
Banni Runs in and Arghh... i look like my arse got struck by lightning and lovin it.Was funny la.when siawwan wanted to take anbother photo and i wanna pose nicely wan..and suddenly banni hops in. Btw. All the photos taken are doing a non peak hour. so yea... the staff are pretty free to take pictures.This whole experience in Burger King is unforgettable. God not only bless me with income from it, but has taught me lots about work. Most of my quiet time happens when i come back from work in the evening or late at night. It make me always on a look out on what the Bible says about work. So often we hear people complain about work( not to say i enjoy working all the time too), that we tend to forget what the Bible says about Work. In my quiet time i was always on a look out on certain key words. "work" is one of the keywords that i look out.
I wrote this in my journal in august 2006. 10 things i have learned about Work from the Bible. Theres a so much i wrote. Here's a sipnosis of what i have received.
1. Work is to provide the resources you need to give.
Eph 4:23 - To have more than enough so that i can give a Blessing. The money i recevied from BurgerKing has taught me wisdom. Taught me how do i invest them. What in my live is at most need. It taught me of giving to God. tithing became a breakthrought for me when i was in Leeds... was blessed beyond measure when i gave on God's soil. With the money i have... i can bless the people around me. I got nice gifts for the people i love. REALLy nice gifts. Gifts i never thought i couyld get for them.
2. Maturity and Responsibility lessons comes from HArd Work
Proverbs: 12:24 " Dilligent Hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labour"
Proverbs 10:4 " Lazy Hands make a man poor, but diligent hands brings wealth"
This two proverbs is no rocket science. How true. I grew so much and matured in thinking when it comes to money and work. The work dilligent means persistent. Like proverbs 12 says.. to avoid work is to invite poverty in your life. This work also taught me how to take my studies seriously. i treasured every study time i have. making the most of my study time. It taught me not to be shameful to walk to the lecturer and ask questions. This lesson of "dilligent Hands" taught me how to get promotion after promotion. i got promoted to 5 stages in the spam of just 1year. Thats really a blessing. The wisdom in it was hardwork in the work that i do. Hardwork in studies. Hardwork in BurgerKing. Hardwork in bible study,etc.
3. God wants me to prosper.
Psalms 35:27 -God takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servants. *received in one of Kevin Loo's sermons*.
4.Satisfaction from fruits of your Work
Proverbs 12:11.
5. Work is part Purpose of Life
6. Exellence
Work needs to be excellent. Proverbs 22:29. I have to bring the best i can from my work or anything i do. This is so important in working life. People observe u all the time, most importantly GOD. i remember there was once, i have to close the second floor of burger king. A man came to me and said to me, hang in there Benjamin, one day you will go up. I guess he met promotion. I didnt know who is that elderly man. He knew my name obviously because of my name tag. Later that shift, i told vishul abt the elderly man...and how encouraging it is. He was like... Ben, do you know that he overseas the BurgerKing at Headingley. I was like waa.He was the Manager of the BK Headingley district! two weeks later after that comment he make to me, i didn have to do dining work anymore...and was promoted to back area. haha. Whee! Exellence !exellence man! Whatever work you are doing, whether its moping the floor, flipping burgers, being a litigator, worsip leading... Do it with exellence.
7.Making aProfit Come from Work
Proverbs 14:23 - " all hard work brings profit but mere talk leads only to poverty"
8. Work can release the Glory of God
Collossions 3:22-25 check out... What a great biblical truth.
John 17:4 " i have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do"
Whos Glory am i seeking from Working ? Whos Glory at i seeking from studying? what Glory can man possibly give. For only man sees the seen. But God sees the unseen. Come to think of , that makes working hard in secret all the more exciting. hehe.
9. Work is a life purpose.
Rick Warren probably might have notice this when the bible mention of Gen. 2:15. I found out that every thing we do requires us to work for it. Everything except one. Thats our Salvation. For it is not by works of man. This blews me away... to know that everything that surrounds man...revolves work. If you want to eat you hve to plant corps (work), you wantto make ur gf smile , you make a gift (work), you want to sleep you have to first get tired (work), you want to look like Jessica Albas or C.Ronaldo you have to exercise (work)....etc. But there's one thing that doesnt require us to work. That is Salvation! Grace! through Faith. Eph.2:8-9.
10. Only the Dead Dont Work
Essclesiastes 9:10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom"
This probably is the most breathe taking truth i found if work is of concern so far. I have learned that Work is only temporary, therefore do it with all your might. and Theres comfort to know..that when God calls us home. It will be a rest. A Great time of no work but just resting in the presence of God in Worship.
Thank You God for leading me through and your guidance. This job experience is more than just money. Its a life experience when i see yur Word in it.
There's sooo much to write. A years story of working in burgerking is impposible to write in one entry or even to blog. Heres a picture of three of my closest friends in Leeds. Roy, Siawwan and MAy. Thanks for coming to BK visiting thru the whole year. and for being such good camera people on my last day of work.that im able to post this pictures on this blog. It wont be possible without ur help. thanks ( i doubt u guys even know of this blog.lolx!).
Next entry... Summer holiday at scarsborough..... Sea sea sea...beaches beaches....
God Bless.
posted by Ben Khor | 12:54 AM
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