An Unforgetable Experience At A Reataurant

This was one of those outings most would choose to forget. My family and I went to a restaurant in Puchong for dinner on a Saturday in August this year. We were so happy looking forward to good food, especially the sight of a big "steamed Sultan fish", which we saw on the brochure distributed by that restaurant.

None of my family member had ever seen this Sultan fish, let alone tasted.it. It would have been a good experience of sort for them. I had booked a table for 5 the morning as I wanted to be sure we did not have to wait for a table. At the time of booking the table, I was asked whether I wanted to make order for our dishes at the same time. Was this an omen that the service is going to be very slow?

Since I did not know what they offered other than the Sultan fish, I said I will do that when we reached there.

We reached the place at around 7.20PM. After sitting down, we immediately placed order for our food. The first dish came out about 20 min. later, and another two within 15 minutes of each other. Then the waiting game started.

"Where's the fish" I asked one of the waiters. He then walked to the captain just outside the kitchen. The latter flipped through the order sheets and then gestured to me to say the order is being readied. On seeing that the fish is still not coming after another 10 minutes, I walked up to the captain and asked again,

"what happen?". Again he said it will be with us in two minutes. At that moment the clock on my mobile phone was showing 8.30PM, some 70 minutes after we sat down at the restaurant.

While waiting, we saw a big plate of steamed Chinese pomfret being served to a table who came 20 minutes after us. Earlier, I had suggested to my family to walk out, but my eldest insisted on staying put. Now this latest episode completely put us off. I could not stand it any more.

I walked up to the cashier, "please give me a bill, we are not waiting for the fish, any more!".

At the same time the captain was looking in my direction, so I gestured and told him we won't want the fish any more. He came over, apologized a few times. It was too late. We were determined to leave.

The captain offered not to charge for the 3 dishes that we were served. I did not accept his offer and insisted the cashier bill me for the served food. I then paid the billed amount of RM70.50, by giving her an RM50, 2 RM10, and an RM1 note and left immediately without bothering to collect the 50 sen change and the receipt.

While paying, I told the captain we will not be coming again. He was dejected, but it was a lesson he ought to digest to find out what went wrong. From my side, I could see that the whole organization needed to be revamped. It was not just us losing patience, the table next to us must have also been cheesed off by the slow and bad service.

If the captain had the foresight, he should have done the following:

1) Food ordering procedure and follow up. The waitress who took our order told me she would check with the kitchen and come back to me to let me know the size of the Sultan fish available. This was important as the fish is charged by the kilo @ RM99. She did'nt report back. I only saw the figure RM138 written on the counter foil at the cashier.

It should have been good customer service to come over our table after 3 dishes were served to check whether they have left out anything, or whether we were happy with the quality of the food, or whether they suited our taste. I take it as an essential customer service procedure if the restaurant wanted to retain existing customers. Satisfied customers are the best advertisement.

2) The kitchen was dis-organized, otherwise our dishes should have been out one after another. In most of the reputed restaurants we went to so far, we notice any steam fish will be on the table before the 3rd dish. in many, steamed fish come out first.

3) The captain must keep a tight control on the sequence of delivery for dishes ordered. He must not be just the person waiting outside the kitchen identifying where the cooked dishes should go to. The kitchen staff should be placing some sort of clip marking on the cooked dishes, freeing the captain to go round to spot check and take remedial measures.

4) The kitchen was under staffed, while the cashier counter had one too many.

Having said that, I had one compliment for the restaurant. They employed 3 guards to look after the security outside the restaurant. This gave customers at least a sense of security.

Overall, I would rate the restaurant 2/10. It's a lot of improvement to make. Until then, we will not return.

醒世十二篇

Generally speaking, good people have been those who did what they were told to do, and lack of eager compliance is a sign of something wrong in their nature.  -

HUMAN NATURE AND CONDUCT
An Introduction to Social Psychology

BY JOHN DEWEY

The Question Of Togetherness

I always wonder: How do couple remain faithful to each other, given the stress and strain of issues big and small that happen everyday.     Having observed many couples who frequently quarrel and those who happen to quarrel occasionally, I tend to buy the idea that there is something greater than the loss of being together that let the couple continue to stay that way.

The following could offer some answers:
1) For the sake of their children
2) For lack of a better place to live
3) Monetary reason
4) If one has to leave, then who?  And, that's a million dollar question.

It is easy for outsider to suggest that the couple look back at their days of courtship, and to recall those moments of love.   But, believe me, when they quarrel, those reasons become non reasons.    In fact, it may sometimes be worse to mention those good old days, when good will no longer lingers around.

醒世十一篇

This world is full of people with many faces.  For some of them, the first look will reveal his inner self, by his conversations or none at all, and/or his/her body language.

In others, it takes a bit of time as he/she is able to conceal the ugly side of his/her well.

Then there are others who are so adapt at putting up a front that one may be deceived for decades.

In any case, the true ugly face will eventually reveal itself, once the setting is right.

醒世十篇

以财交者，财尽则交绝；以色交者，华落而爱渝。 

－《战国策》

You Can Get It If You Really Want

What happened at the Manchester City vs QPR match on Sunday 13th May is a lesson in many ways.   To say the least, when the score was still standing at 2-1 in favour of QPR in injury time, Not even Roberto Mancini was optimistic that his charges would eventually prevail, let alone the Man. City players.

As the other Manchester rival was preparing to celebrate, having beaten Sunderland 1-0 a minute earlier, miracle of sort happened.   Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero give the City the reason to celebrate by scoring a goal within 2 minutes of each other.   Incredible is the word.

In a situation where the stake is so high, the players so motivated to turn the table against a lesser team, Manchester City created history by taking the EPL title.  When the final whistle was blown, one can see the dejection on  the faces of the Man. U and QPR players.  It was a heroic achievement for QPR to go from 0-1 to 2-1 up-till the normal time.   In fact I went away from the screen, thinking to myself it was not going to be Man City's night.

Going into the pitch at the start of the match, QPR was well aware that a win could let them stay at the premier league, even as other bottom clubs may upset the better teams that night, and a defeat would mean their fate would be left to others to decide...............