My Part-Time Experience at BookFest Malaysia 2013

♫ 王力宏 - 脚本

Phew! It's been 2 weeks since I last updated my blog. As you can probably guess from the title, I've been busy being part of the crew at BookFest Malaysia 2013 that was recently held at KLCC from 3-11 August 2013.
BookFest Malaysia 2013 by Popular
The real work started a couple of days before the event officially opened, so we were working from 1-11 August. We didn't know which group we'd be put into until the first morning. Thank goodness my friend and I were assigned to the stationery and multimedia hall (a.k.a. "Lifestyle Pavilion") on the third floor, even though we were in different teams. I was super glad to be assigned to the "Cash Only" lane, because the cash lane didn't have to bother about credit card slips and stuff.

CD Rama section of the Lifestyle Pavilion at Level 3
The first 2 days were spent unpacking and arranging items, plus some cashiering exercises (I didn't wanna be a cashier, honestly; I suck at dealing with money). They had an opening ceremony on the evening of 2 August, so 4 cashier counters (including mine) were open for the VIPs and  media to buy stuff before the hoi polloi arrived the next morning. Pffft... special privileges! *rolls eyes*

The supervisors and department heads had already told us that weekends and public holidays would be super crazy during the BookFest, but we were still pretty overwhelmed by the hectic first two days (Saturday and Sunday). Mostly because we hadn't gotten used to using the cash register yet, and also because we didn't expect such a large crowd. I took Monday off to rest my legs, and came back to a relatively relaxing Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thank goodness my friend discovered and recommended this quiet place behind her counter's booth that we could sit and rest during lunch/dinner break. The peace and quiet was like heaven among the chaos happening in the hall.

Facing this cash register for the past 10 days (x_x)
The most scary day was undoubtedly Thursday (8 August), which was also a public holiday due to Hari Raya. It was so crazy, we literally couldn't see the floor of the hall for a solid 7 hours thanks to the freakishly long queue of customers! There were so many people from noon until about 7pm, we barely had time to go for lunch/dinner and completely had no chance to even drink water in between. Seriously, that was the craziest thing I've ever experienced. (✖╭╮✖)

We barely had any time to do our own shopping at the BookFest (even though they said we could take 30mins off) so the only time we could get was in the morning, right when the doors opened to staff and before we headed to our counters to count the day's float.

Every morning after the cashiers had counted their float and everybody had arrived, there would be a short briefing by the head supervisors. They even had us do this cheesy "We Greet, We Smile, We Serve" kinda cheer before and after the briefing, lol. (ーー;)

Bunch of awesome co-workers! :D
The 'cash lane' team including our supervisor ヾ(^∇^)
The working hours were grueling, and my feet felt like they were gonna fall off at the end of each day, but I was really glad to have met some great new people during my time working at BookFest 2013. They friendly, cheerful and funny that the hours would just pass by while we worked, talked and basically got to know more about each other over the past 10 days. :)

Tiny tree I found on the floor on the last day of work :3
Well, it was an eye-opening working experience at BookFest Malaysia 2013. Sore feet, empty stomach, 10-minute meals, thirst, angry customers, friendly customers, great co-workers, rushing to catch the last train home, chatting with the other part-timers, and lots more, made this a truly memorable journey. Even I myself am surprised that I actually managed to stick with it until the last day, and for this, I'm clapping myself on the back. :P


That being said, I probably wouldn't want to work as a cashier at BookFest again, LOL. Thanks for the memories though!

5 comments

Sunshine Kelly said...

i know is not easy to work a the exhibition or trade fair or book fest like it at least you have tried it. i did that during my uni days before real tiring.

Camy said...

i wanna try to be cashier! its not a easy job especially in huge fair :O

Iriene said...

I have not try being a cashier. It is good that you have try it, it is a skill that you can apply anywhere as it is highly in demand for sales.
My part time job when I am waiting for result was being a promoter.

LauraLeia said...

Kelly: Yeah, it was tiring indeed but a very good experience ^^

HerYuan: It's kinda scary coz we're responsible for handling cash =X

Iriene: Yes, it was a good experience even though it was tough and a bit confusing at first. :D

Anonymous said...

How did you apply for the part-time job? I'm also thinking to do it for bookfest 2018