This week, we submitted the duty report and all the necessary documents to our hotel supervisor. After handing over the duty report, I was taken on a tour to explore and familiarize myself with the hotel premises. After touring the entire area, I was then taken to the office space where I would be working.

This month, I have been assigned to the hotel administration department. In this department, I am learning how to organize and ensure that management-related documents are properly stored and easily accessible. I am also learning how to communicate and deliver documents to other departments efficiently and on time.

WEEK 2: 24-30 MARCH 2025

This week, we made a lot of Raya preparations at the hotel, such as creating Raya stickers to be placed on the hotel's free gift packaging, which contained Raya cookies. The sticker designs were chosen from Canva templates.

Additionally, I also assisted Ms. Jess and Mr. Zaki in organizing, rearranging, sorting, and preparing their documents. These documents are important and related to the management flow of the hotel.

WEEK 3: 31 MARCH - 6 APRIL 2025

Monday to Wednesday was a public holiday in celebration of Hari Raya Aidilfitri. All office staff were on leave during these three days to celebrate the festive occasion. Work resumed on Thursday and continued until Saturday. During this period, I assisted significantly in preparing documents required by the Head Chef of Hotel Perkasa’s kitchen. These documents were related to kitchen operations.

I also had the opportunity to liaise with the hotel manager to obtain approval for the Hari Raya memorandum, which is scheduled to take place next week. After receiving the approval, I made copies of the confirmation to be distributed to each department in the hotel.

WEEK 4: 7-13 APRIL 2025

This week marks my final week in the Accounts Department.

I am truly grateful and appreciative of all the guidance and support given by the staff in this department. I have learned many new things during my time here, including how to manage documents, handle financial matters, and oversee organizational operations that contribute to the smooth running of the hotel.

This is my first week in the F&B Department.
At the beginning of my placement in this department, I was assigned to memorize and familiarize myself with the areas and table locations. The purpose of this task is to help me easily identify customers’ seating when taking their orders.

WEEK 6: 21-27 APRIL 2025

The easiest way for me to remember the table locations was by doing cleaning tasks around the café area.
When I first joined this department, I was not yet familiar with the environment and didn’t have the confidence to take customer orders, as I was afraid of making mistakes or communicating incorrectly with customers.
Because of this, I focused on observing and learning how the café operates by watching other staff members, while assisting with cleaning tasks for the time being.

WEEK 7: 28 APRIL-4 MAY 2025

This week, I started to build up my confidence and began taking customer orders.

The task was relatively easy for me as I already had some prior experience. However, I still needed to be cautious and stay alert while handling orders, as I was afraid of making mistakes.

The first order I took was from a couple from overseas who were staying at the hotel. I listened carefully to their explanation regarding the food they wanted. However, I made a mistake by not being alert about the kitchen's ingredients. The couple ordered fried rice but specifically requested it without green beans due to an allergy. Since I assumed that the kitchen’s fried rice did not include green beans, I did not write down this detail on their order ticket.

As a result, the couple made a complaint, and it was a mistake that made me realize the importance of paying close attention to every single detail requested by customers. This experience taught me that even small oversights can lead to bigger issues, and I must always communicate clearly with the kitchen to avoid such problems.

WEEK 8: 5-11 MAY 2025

Learning How to Make Beverages, Especially Coffee and Latte Art

In this modern era, aesthetic cafés have become a popular trend among young people to hang out with their friends. Coffee is undoubtedly their go-to drink during these moments.

At this café, I had the opportunity to learn how to operate the coffee machine and understand the differences between various types of coffee.

I would like to express my gratitude to my colleague, Sharif, who has been very helpful in teaching me how to make and distinguish between different types of coffee, especially between a latte and a cappuccino.

I’m also thankful to the other team members who guided me in learning how to create beautiful latte art on top of the coffee. Their support has helped me gain valuable new skills in beverage preparation.

Restaurant as a Function Venue

In addition to my duties at the café, I was also assigned to assist with tasks in the banquet section of the restaurant. This hotel has three main areas under the Food & Beverage (F&B) Department.

The first is the Banquet Hall, which is used for large-scale functions and events.

Next is Tinompok Café, which serves both hotel guests and walk-in customers. This café offers a variety of beverages and à la carte dishes.

The third is Hauss Café, which focuses more on Western food and alcoholic beverages. This is because many of the hotel’s guests are foreign tourists, particularly from Western countries, and the demand for alcoholic drinks is relatively high.

WEEK 10: 19-25 MAY 2025

Function Orders at the Banquet Area

Function orders involving the banquet area include breakfast service, weddings, graduations, and other special events.
This banquet space is capable of accommodating approximately 800 to 1,000 guests at a time.

Each morning, the banquet hall is used for the breakfast buffet. Typically, two staff members are assigned to manage this breakfast service during the morning shift.

In the evening, the most common function orders include set dinners and steamboat meals, depending on customer requests and event bookings.

WEEK 11: 26 MAY-1 JUNE 2025

Work in the Restaurant vs. Work in the Café

Working in the restaurant is quite different from working in the café.

At the café, I learned many things such as how to serve customers, communicate effectively, and work as a team with other staff members on a daily basis.

However, in the restaurant, I had to focus more on understanding and memorizing the preparation procedures, table settings, fulfilling specific customer requests, and waiting until the customers had finished their meals.

Once the event or dining session ended, my responsibility was to carry out cleaning tasks.

Although this work may seem simple, it can be quite tiring as it requires standing for long periods and waiting until everything is completely finished.

WEEK 12: 2-8 JUNE 2025

Learning Different Setups for Various Functions

At first, I assumed that all event setups in the restaurant were the same. However, as I spent more time here, I began to learn that each event requires a different style of setup.

I learned a lot about these setups from my senior colleague, Khairol, who patiently taught me how to properly arrange the settings for various functions such as set dinners, tea breaks, steamboat sets, candlelight dinners, and many other events.

There is still so much more that I have learned from the senior staff at this hotel, especially in terms of preparing setup equipment, handling events, and other responsibilities related to event management.

However, I am still new to this industry, and I understand that I need to take more time to continue learning and improving my skills. There is still so much to explore and master, and I am committed to gaining more experience and becoming more confident in this field.

The procedures for room service.

At this hotel, only male staff are allowed to deliver food to guests' rooms. This rule is implemented by the hotel to ensure the safety and comfort of all staff members.

However, if the order is too large for one person to handle, female staff are allowed to assist, provided they are not alone during the delivery.

The pricing for room service is generally higher compared to the usual prices at the café.

I had the opportunity to assist a staff member Aiman in delivering a room service order, in order to gain hands-on experience in this area.

This experience taught me the importance of not delivering room service alone, and confirmed that only male staff are assigned to this service for safety reasons.

WEEK 14: 16-22 JUNE 2025

Booking Function

All staff are required to understand the function bookings that are listed and written on the notice board in the designated area.

This is to ensure that every staff member is aware of the upcoming events and the number of expected guests (pax) on that particular date.

By doing so, it helps the team to be better prepared and organized for each function.

WEEK 15: 23-29 JUNE 2025

Employees who work in the morning usually only complete work that was not completed the night before.

The morning shift on a normal day is not too busy but every staff who works that morning has to do cleaning work in the cafe such as wiping the walls, changing the water in the flower pots and sticking the Perkasa logo sticker on the plastic cups.

WEEK 16: 30 JUNE-6 JULY 2025

In the evening, the cafe is quite busy because there are many customers who stay overnight and also walk in to eat at this cafe. Usually on the evening shift there are 2 employees who will work but if there are too many people, the cafe will ask another employee to work overtime.

Team Building Activity

Perkasa Hotel Mt. Kinabalu organized an outdoor team-building activity—a rafting trip—to strengthen the relationship among hotel staff.

I was selected as one of the participants for this activity, which was held in Kiulu. It was a very enjoyable and meaningful experience, especially because it gave us the opportunity to get to know each other better outside of the workplace.

The team-building activity was held twice, and I joined the second trip along with some of my fellow café colleagues, which is Sara Jane and Ayuni.

WEEK 18: 14-20 JULY 2025

Blood Donation Campaign

At this hotel, a blood donation campaign was also organized with staff from Ranau Hospital.

Perkasa Hotel will provide a room for the use of people who participate in this campaign. Most of the people who participate in this campaign are not only the public but also the hotel staff themselves. Many volunteered to donate their blood.

This campaign lasted for two days and provided rewards to those who donated.

WEEK 19: 21-27 JULY 2025

Booking Function

Usually, all customers who book a table at the cafe will deal with the manager or senior staff of the Food and Beverages department.

However, because they are busy handling other events that they manage first, my friend Asria and I were tasked with handling a booking from a customer who will be celebrating a birthday at this cafe.

It is quite easy to manage customer bookings but the trickiest part is fulfilling the customer's request. This customer told us that they would be coming with 11 people in a few hours, they needed a table that could accommodate all of them but the cafe was quite busy at that time.

At first, we could not accept this booking but after talking to our manager, he told us to continue with the booking to gain experience in handling customers ourselves.

Luck was against us when there was an empty table after another customer left that could accommodate this customer. Everything went smoothly and the customer was very satisfied with the service received.

WEEK 20: 28 JULY-03 AUGUST 2025

Career Carnival

The career carnival held at the Ranau sports complex made Perkasa Hotel Mount Kinabalu the accommodation for the staff involved.

Many staff involved in this carnival from Kuala Lumpur made this hotel their choice because not only is the distance short but the accommodation cost is also affordable.

Many artists like Syuib Sepathu also made Perkasa Hotel Mount Kinabalu their accommodation.

Assignment Task

Another important thing I learned at this hotel is how the Outlet Manager manages each event that is scheduled to take place.

In addition to giving instructions to the staff, the Outlet Manager is responsible for assigning and organizing specific tasks for each team member. This plays a key role in ensuring that the event runs smoothly and efficiently.

From my observation, the Outlet Manager works by preparing a job assignment list for the staff involved, conducting a briefing to explain the event flow, and providing full guidance and supervision throughout the event.

WEEK 22: 11-17 AUGUST 2025

Menu Design

This week, I was assigned by Mr. Ismail to design a new menu. This design is to make it easier for the waiters to take orders and make it easier for customers to place orders.

At first I was not sure I could produce a suitable design, but with the help and ideas from other friends I was able to complete the design of this new menu.

After completion, Mr. Ismail is still in the process of researching whether the design can be used or not in the future.

WEEK 23: 18-24 AUGUST 2025

Farewell Party for Chef Harol

Our Chef, Chef Harol, has resigned from this hotel because he wants to open his own business.

To celebrate his departure, the hotel has held a special farewell party for him. Chef Harol is the head of the kitchen department and he is the head who helped me a lot to learn the basics of the kitchen even though I did not enter the department.

WEEK 24: 25-31 AUGUST 2025

TMBT

Every year, Perkasa Hotel Mount Kinabalu will be the location for the Climbathon event that will last for 2 days and 1 night.

The event will be held on 30 and 31 August in conjunction with independence.

Throughout this event, only male staff will be on duty at midnight. They will be in charge of the drinks and food section. TMBT is a large-scale event because the participants are not only from within the country but also from abroad. This event is divided into several categories of participants starting from different locations.

Wedding Function

September is a very busy month. This is because, there are many wedding events that take place from the beginning to the middle of the month.

Most of the weddings that take place are over 100pax and above.

The largest number of wedding guests that I personally handle this time is 500 pax. Several staff and also part time people were called in to help run this event.

WEEK 26: 8-14 SEPT 2025

School Holiday

Apart from weddings, school holidays also contribute to the busyness and arrival of customers at this hotel. Many customers come to this hotel with their families during school holidays.

Regardless of whether from abroad or within the country, many customers come to this hotel to enjoy the beautiful scenery with Mount Kinabalu in the background.

The arrival of these customers certainly contributes to the increase in sales at the cafe, especially in the drinks and snacks section as well as the pastries and buns sold.

WEEK 27: 15-19 SEPT 2025

Festival Pesta Kubis

Every year the Cabbage Festival celebrated in Kundasang is a factor in increasing the number of customers coming and staying at this hotel.

This festival is a big celebration every year to the extent that the TYT of Sabah, Musa Aman, comes to Kundasang himself to officiate this event. His arrival will be welcomed at the hotel, making the hotel quite busy to offer services to him.