A Memorable Internship Experience with Ritz Carlton Bali
The Ritz Carlton Bali is one of the newest hotel in Bali. It is located in Jalan Raya Nusa Dua Selaton Lot III, Badung Regency, West Java 80363. I choose this hotel for my second internship, because I want to be a part in the development in the new hotel, also feel the spirit of new hotel, and for sure I want to learn in Ritz Carlton Company.
In the day 1 everything’s doing great, The Ritz Carlton Bali gave to all trainees an orientation and history about The Ritz Carlton also the allocation for each department. For the first outlet, I got the placement at Indonesian Restaurant called Bejana, and every Monday the restaurant is closed. Since the First Day Orientation held on Monday, so Bejana Restaurant was closed.
Bejana offers Indonesian and Balinese food and famous dishes from different regions of Indonesia. In Bejana Restaurant, I met my learning coach, his named San San, and he is also a sommelier in Ritz Carlton Bali. First day Kak San San gave me a lot information about Bejana Restaurant regarding the menu, the service sequence, and all the things about the restaurant. I have a plan with Kak San San to be the best trainee in this batch, so he really pushes me to learn. In Bejana all the staffs have a same schedule, start from14:00 – 23:00 and Bejana was closed on Sunday and Monday. To be honest, the first time I learned about the menu that’s really hard, because the ingredients is not familiar for me. At the first time I forgot the herb’s name in English such as basil for kemangi, turmeric for kunyit. Since Indonesian and Balinese food is rich with herb and spice, therefore it is necessary to remember the herb’s name in English.
Bejana is a fine dining restaurant, therefore the guest turn over is relatively low. So it is an excellent opportunity for me to learn a lot.
But in the second week, Bejana was so crowded. At the end I presume myself to taking care one section start from taking order, served the drink and food, and farewell the guest. It was fantastic experience. I felt happy to meet the guest, to explain about Ritz Carlton Bali, Bejana, and all the facilities in the hotel. I don’t even know that the guest who laughed together with me write the positive feedback about my service in Trip advisor. It was my pleasure to know that, i thought that the comment just a contingent, but after the first comment there is a second and third comments. After that story, my manager and all the team in Bejana Restaurant trust me to handle one section every day. In day 21 all the trainee need to do the test. We called it credo test.
Initially, i was assigned 4 months in Bejana and 2 months in Beach Grill. But in the end the Mr Nyoman the Beach Grill manager asked me to move, in 9th November I official move from Bejana to Beach Grill. Beach grill Restaurant offers extensive selections of wines from 18 different regions, it serves grilled and seafood dishes and the concept is Semi fine – dining restaurant. In Beach Grill there is 2 shift, Morning Shift starts from 09:00 – 18:00 and Afternoon Shift starts from 15:00 – 00:00. The first week I felt that working at Beach Grill is difficult, because I got the morning shift and Beach Grill incredible hot. I felt depressed with that restaurant. As time as goes by, I can handle it. Actually Beach Grill have a same sequence with Bejana, what make different is Beach Grill has more crowd. Working here is definitely a big challenge because the space from the table and kitchen it really far, so need more time when serving the food.
On the first day i met my learning coach name is Dewa. He told me everything about Beach Grill. But in this outlet, I didn’t need long time to got their trust. Even in my 3rd day I served Pak Karim the General Manager in Ritz Carlton Bali and his family. I felt so glad and excited that I got change to serve the General Manager. And for the fourth times I got a positive feedback about my service in trip advisor and also I got the comments in Gallup. Hearing that I got good feedback, make me feel so blessed.
My journey doesn’t stop as a server. One day, I got evening shift, and my manager told me that the hostess was sick. And he asked me to replace the hostess. Finally I learn about the hostess and cashiering for 2 hours, and got the job as a hostess. It was an interesting job. I got the new knowledge to escort the guest. After that for a few times I got a schedule as a hostess.
And the last thing I got, there is a family who had dinner in Beach Grill during 3 days in a row. On the first day I was assigned as a hostess, and the second and the third day I was assigned as the server. We had a lot conversation, talk about Ritz Carlton, Bali, and anything else. And when they are check out from hotel, they are put something in front desk for me as a farewell gift. It was really surprising me, and I really thank for that family for happy with my service and remembering my name.
Until the end of my internship, Mr. Jaya my Training Manager told me that I need to make some speech for the intern graduation. On 27th January 2016 we had the intern graduation in chapel, and all the trainee use the Traditional costume from Bali. The ceremony was great, all of us feel joy because we finished our internship, and we got a memorable experience. All the story with the ups and down we do thank you for The Rritz Carlton, Bali.
As the appreciation for the trainees, during Intern Graduation HR Department announce the Best Trainee from all of departments. And when the time for announcement for the Food and Beverage Best Trainee, I heard that my name was called and the MC mentioned “give applause for Vinny Tan”. I am shocked because it is unbelievable but definitely I feel happy. I feel like all of my hard work in Bejana and Beach Grill was pay off. This appreciation is meaningful for my hotel carrier. Accrosed in my mind I found out that why Mr Jaya told me to prepare the speech, simply because of the Best Trainee title.
Thank you so much for the opportunities from The Ritz Carlton Bali. This chance really made me as a person who love work in hotel. During the six months training, a lot of information and knowledge I got from this hotel. I hope that The Ritz Carlton Bali going to be the best hotel in Bali. See you soon The Ritz Carlton Bali.
Best Regards,