Sunday, August 29, 2010
Mongolians
When i was last in Beijing, the client brought out to this Mongolian place to eat. Halfway through, some musicians entered our private room and offered to play some 草原music.
Sanya
It was actually quite some time back when i last came to Sanya. Pretty surprised how long really. Not that i miss it, given that it's a huge pain in the butt to get there from anywhere in China.
But there i was.. remembering how balmy it is. It felt like a huge body of hot air just whacks your face as you exit the airport.
The place we stayed at was quite decent.
I actually dont know why i took a picture of the bathroom.
When we arrived, there were two pretty ladies to bring us each to our respective rooms.
They each carried a "bag"-like thing, which i was quite curious.
I later found out that the various pockets were for the check in folio, as well as the portable credit card machine. And that tumbler in the bag? It contains orange juice which she poured into a glass, which was also in one of the pockets! HAHA. I was pretty amused.
The rest of the time there was quite uneventful and i didnt spend much time there anyway. Nowadays i rarely stay more than 2 nights in the same hotel.
But there i was.. remembering how balmy it is. It felt like a huge body of hot air just whacks your face as you exit the airport.
The place we stayed at was quite decent.
I actually dont know why i took a picture of the bathroom.
When we arrived, there were two pretty ladies to bring us each to our respective rooms.
They each carried a "bag"-like thing, which i was quite curious.
I later found out that the various pockets were for the check in folio, as well as the portable credit card machine. And that tumbler in the bag? It contains orange juice which she poured into a glass, which was also in one of the pockets! HAHA. I was pretty amused.
The rest of the time there was quite uneventful and i didnt spend much time there anyway. Nowadays i rarely stay more than 2 nights in the same hotel.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Change
I havent blogged for a little more than a month now. In part it's due to my busyness at work and in part i was trying to think of a new blog address.
Well, here it is... http://cornballskorner.blogspot.com/
The following posts would be some of those back-dated ones that i didnt have time to post.
Well, here it is... http://cornballskorner.blogspot.com/
The following posts would be some of those back-dated ones that i didnt have time to post.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Busy Day
I was on leave today and i accomplished so many things, i just had to put it down.
Woke at 8am to go change my white headlights to the regular orange ones at AMK for VICOM check.
Went AMK for VICOM check.
Then Smith Street to put screen protector for my ipad and BB. On the way a client called me and talked for 30 mins
Then lunch at Smith St market.
Then to Bt Merah to re-grip my clubs.
Then to Adelphi for facial. Even managed to squeeze some time to go Funan. (My Mac can play Starcraft II. YAY!)
Then to the dentist at Katong.
Then to the range at Marina Bay.
Phew im bushed...
Golf tmr at 8:30am!
Woke at 8am to go change my white headlights to the regular orange ones at AMK for VICOM check.
Went AMK for VICOM check.
Then Smith Street to put screen protector for my ipad and BB. On the way a client called me and talked for 30 mins
Then lunch at Smith St market.
Then to Bt Merah to re-grip my clubs.
Then to Adelphi for facial. Even managed to squeeze some time to go Funan. (My Mac can play Starcraft II. YAY!)
Then to the dentist at Katong.
Then to the range at Marina Bay.
Phew im bushed...
Golf tmr at 8:30am!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Longjing Tea - Hangzhou
Hangzhou is where longjing tea is from.
Another client decided that they wanted to give us an authentic experience so brought us to this place which supposedly is the origins of longjing tea. I wasnt too convinced nor excited cos the place was quite high up a winding hill.
The waitress pointed us to some bushes (tea presumably) and said that the 18 were planted by Emperor Qianlong when he came to Hangzhou. The leaves are harvested only a few times (or was it once) a year and they cost a bomb! I was a little skeptical cos Qianlong died long ago and how can the bushes still be here???
Further up a flight of stairs, she introduced this well as the Longjing.. THE well where the water is drawn to make the Dragon Well tea. It was a little dark..
i came back and wiki-ed it and it turns out that Qianlong really planted 18 bushes and they're still living! Gosh. I visited a piece of history!
Another client decided that they wanted to give us an authentic experience so brought us to this place which supposedly is the origins of longjing tea. I wasnt too convinced nor excited cos the place was quite high up a winding hill.
The waitress pointed us to some bushes (tea presumably) and said that the 18 were planted by Emperor Qianlong when he came to Hangzhou. The leaves are harvested only a few times (or was it once) a year and they cost a bomb! I was a little skeptical cos Qianlong died long ago and how can the bushes still be here???
Further up a flight of stairs, she introduced this well as the Longjing.. THE well where the water is drawn to make the Dragon Well tea. It was a little dark..
i came back and wiki-ed it and it turns out that Qianlong really planted 18 bushes and they're still living! Gosh. I visited a piece of history!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Thousand Islet Lake
Thousand Islet Lake is a little more than 2 hours from Hangzhou.
I hate long car rides and 2 hours is 2 hours too long. Ass was hurting after.
It's basically a lake made up of many islets (duh!). The islets are actually the tops of mountains and they became islets after the damming of the river upstream.
It's actually quite pretty.
The client brought us to this quaint little place for lunch. I had wanted to go to a hotel to eat but they decided that local food is the way to go :(
Have to catch your own fish too.
They has asked me to order but after staring at all the food they had in the freezer and not recognising 90% of them and getting sick of asking what's this and what's that (found out that one of the meat was rabbit), i asked the client to order.
They ordered alot.. more than 13 dishes in fact.. but only 1 meat and 1 fish and the rest were veggies. I should have ordered.
I hate long car rides and 2 hours is 2 hours too long. Ass was hurting after.
It's basically a lake made up of many islets (duh!). The islets are actually the tops of mountains and they became islets after the damming of the river upstream.
It's actually quite pretty.
The client brought us to this quaint little place for lunch. I had wanted to go to a hotel to eat but they decided that local food is the way to go :(
Have to catch your own fish too.
They has asked me to order but after staring at all the food they had in the freezer and not recognising 90% of them and getting sick of asking what's this and what's that (found out that one of the meat was rabbit), i asked the client to order.
They ordered alot.. more than 13 dishes in fact.. but only 1 meat and 1 fish and the rest were veggies. I should have ordered.
Shanghai Tarts
I spent the weekend in Shanghai and was walking around.
Saw a queue. No idea what they're queuing for but hey, if there's a queue, then it must be good.
Turned out to be egg tarts and there was a discount. RMB3.80 to RMB3.50! w00t! What a steal!
I bought 6, which turned out to be my dinner that night.
After buying, i walked pass the shop and saw its sign board. "Shanghai's Best Egg Tart"
I subsequently confirmed this at dinner. Yummy.
Saw a queue. No idea what they're queuing for but hey, if there's a queue, then it must be good.
Turned out to be egg tarts and there was a discount. RMB3.80 to RMB3.50! w00t! What a steal!
I bought 6, which turned out to be my dinner that night.
After buying, i walked pass the shop and saw its sign board. "Shanghai's Best Egg Tart"
I subsequently confirmed this at dinner. Yummy.
Monday, July 05, 2010
8 Cities in 12 days
I was so busy these days that i didnt have time to blog about my previous China trip before i had to go on the next China trip.
If the previous trip (5 cities in 6 days was siong), this trip was even more siong - 8 cities in 12 days.
Shanghai - Hangzhou - Thousand Islet - Hangzhou - Shanghai - Wuxi - Suzhou - Sanya - Beijing - Xiamen
I had a sinking feeling it wasnt going to be a smooth trip when the first text i received when i reached Shanghai on Monday night was that the client's driver who was bringing us to Hangzhou was late. Then i got another text that the person receiving us with here but the driver would take some time. I thought it was a little odd that the receiver would come separately with the driver. The receiver received us and apologised then said we could have dinner first at the airport while waiting for the driver. I got into some small talk with the receiver and i realised that my receiver doesnt actually work for my client. She was just a friend of the client who came to receive us cos the driver was late. Needless to say, we didnt have much to talk about over dinner.
Not the best way to start a two-week China trip.
At the end, i stayed in 6 hotels in the last 12 days... will blog each city as soon as i have the time.
If the previous trip (5 cities in 6 days was siong), this trip was even more siong - 8 cities in 12 days.
Shanghai - Hangzhou - Thousand Islet - Hangzhou - Shanghai - Wuxi - Suzhou - Sanya - Beijing - Xiamen
I had a sinking feeling it wasnt going to be a smooth trip when the first text i received when i reached Shanghai on Monday night was that the client's driver who was bringing us to Hangzhou was late. Then i got another text that the person receiving us with here but the driver would take some time. I thought it was a little odd that the receiver would come separately with the driver. The receiver received us and apologised then said we could have dinner first at the airport while waiting for the driver. I got into some small talk with the receiver and i realised that my receiver doesnt actually work for my client. She was just a friend of the client who came to receive us cos the driver was late. Needless to say, we didnt have much to talk about over dinner.
Not the best way to start a two-week China trip.
At the end, i stayed in 6 hotels in the last 12 days... will blog each city as soon as i have the time.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Nantsuttei
Like i mentioned many times before, the Japanese just have us captive with all their fancy cuisine, fashion and stationery...
Only the japanese can put a picture like this of their founder and still have people flocking to queue up for their ramen.
There's a ramen craze sweeping town recently.. there used to be the one at Gallery Hotel, which i cant remember the name, then Tampopo, then Nantsuttei, then Ippudo, which i also just tried the other day. Very yummy but best to go before 12 noon on a weekday.
Only the japanese can put a picture like this of their founder and still have people flocking to queue up for their ramen.
There's a ramen craze sweeping town recently.. there used to be the one at Gallery Hotel, which i cant remember the name, then Tampopo, then Nantsuttei, then Ippudo, which i also just tried the other day. Very yummy but best to go before 12 noon on a weekday.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Town Councils
OMG.. I saw this piece of breaking news. Come on Straits Times, you’re just making things too obvious.
HDB residents can now gauge how well their town councils are doing their job, following the release of the first report card on the performance of the 16 councils in Singapore.
The two best performers are Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and Tanjong Pagar headed by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, according to the government's Town Council Management Report.
The two worst performers are run by the opposition: Hougang, by the Workers' Party's Low Thia Khiang, and Potong Pasir by the Singapore People's Party's Chiam See Tong.
Their low grades are due mainly to the bigger proportion of homes failing to pay their service and conservancy charges (S&CC) for at least three months.
But take away the level of arrears, and the gap between the performance levels of the councils run by the People's Action Party (PAP) and the opposition narrows significantly.
HDB residents can now gauge how well their town councils are doing their job, following the release of the first report card on the performance of the 16 councils in Singapore.
The two best performers are Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and Tanjong Pagar headed by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, according to the government's Town Council Management Report.
The two worst performers are run by the opposition: Hougang, by the Workers' Party's Low Thia Khiang, and Potong Pasir by the Singapore People's Party's Chiam See Tong.
Their low grades are due mainly to the bigger proportion of homes failing to pay their service and conservancy charges (S&CC) for at least three months.
But take away the level of arrears, and the gap between the performance levels of the councils run by the People's Action Party (PAP) and the opposition narrows significantly.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Peacocks
Saw some peacocks at this hotel i was at the other day. So many of them it looks a little scary.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Hectic
***I obviously was supposed to post this on 29 May but only ended up doing so on 9 June***
**This entry was supposed to be posted on 3 May but i have been too busy. Between the typing of this post and the date of posting (29 May), i travelled to China again for 10 days, which i might blog about. **
It has been some time since i blogged cos i have been in China for the whole of last week and China blocked Blogspot.
We were in Chengdu for 14 hours meeting clients before flying to Lijiang.
Lijiang looks like a place stuck in time cos they still have an old town (古城）that looks like a scene out of a period drama.
The hotel we stayed in was pretty modern actually.
After 22 hours in Lijiang, we flew to Nanjing. Man, that was a 6 hour journey due to a stopover. Damn. I shudder when i think of it now.
We arrived at the Nanjing hotel at 2am only to be told that the hotel was overbooked and they gave us the Presidential Suite which had two rooms. What the... it was so weird cos the Presidential Suite had a big living room so we just basically entered the room together and each went to a room. We stayed there for two nights and it was weird cos we didnt really "hang out" in the living room area and just stay holed up in our rooms. We BBM-ed each other instead. Like literally have a conversation like "Today was a good day ya.."
We managed to sign two LOIs after meeting the client for the first time at 10am that morning and ironing out all the details by 6pm. So that was a happy outcome for us.
WHOPPEE!
We went to Shanghai after Nanjing. My boss decided to use his own money and stay in one of the newer nicer hotels. After checking into my hotel, i went to pick him up from his hotel for a meeting. The traffic was quite bad due to the Expo but it was taking much longer than i knew it would and the surroundings were getting quite unfamiliar. So i asked the driver if she (yes, it's a lady driver :( ) knew where the hotel was. She replied emphatically "YES! My relatives have held many wedding dinners there. In fact i was there two weekends ago!"
Alarm bells just rang in my head. How can a taxi driver and her family afford weddings in one of the nicest new hotels in Shanghai? To cut the long story short, after driving for 15 more minutes, she brought me to a lousy ass hotel which has the same chinese name as the one my boss was staying. Needless to say, i was late and not a happy camper. :(
**This entry was supposed to be posted on 3 May but i have been too busy. Between the typing of this post and the date of posting (29 May), i travelled to China again for 10 days, which i might blog about. **
It has been some time since i blogged cos i have been in China for the whole of last week and China blocked Blogspot.
We were in Chengdu for 14 hours meeting clients before flying to Lijiang.
Lijiang looks like a place stuck in time cos they still have an old town (古城）that looks like a scene out of a period drama.
The hotel we stayed in was pretty modern actually.
After 22 hours in Lijiang, we flew to Nanjing. Man, that was a 6 hour journey due to a stopover. Damn. I shudder when i think of it now.
We arrived at the Nanjing hotel at 2am only to be told that the hotel was overbooked and they gave us the Presidential Suite which had two rooms. What the... it was so weird cos the Presidential Suite had a big living room so we just basically entered the room together and each went to a room. We stayed there for two nights and it was weird cos we didnt really "hang out" in the living room area and just stay holed up in our rooms. We BBM-ed each other instead. Like literally have a conversation like "Today was a good day ya.."
We managed to sign two LOIs after meeting the client for the first time at 10am that morning and ironing out all the details by 6pm. So that was a happy outcome for us.
WHOPPEE!
We went to Shanghai after Nanjing. My boss decided to use his own money and stay in one of the newer nicer hotels. After checking into my hotel, i went to pick him up from his hotel for a meeting. The traffic was quite bad due to the Expo but it was taking much longer than i knew it would and the surroundings were getting quite unfamiliar. So i asked the driver if she (yes, it's a lady driver :( ) knew where the hotel was. She replied emphatically "YES! My relatives have held many wedding dinners there. In fact i was there two weekends ago!"
Alarm bells just rang in my head. How can a taxi driver and her family afford weddings in one of the nicest new hotels in Shanghai? To cut the long story short, after driving for 15 more minutes, she brought me to a lousy ass hotel which has the same chinese name as the one my boss was staying. Needless to say, i was late and not a happy camper. :(
Friday, April 16, 2010
Mask
My boss gave the few of us each this today.
I was quite ill on Monday and he has been down these few days and another member was flu-ish since Wednesday.
He said we are so busy these days we cannot afford to be sick.
Siong.
Indeed we are busy. Two weeks from now, we will travel to China. Singapore-Chengdu-Lijiang-Kunming-Changsha-Nanjing-Hong Kong-Singapore.
Now, that's siong.
I was quite ill on Monday and he has been down these few days and another member was flu-ish since Wednesday.
He said we are so busy these days we cannot afford to be sick.
Siong.
Indeed we are busy. Two weeks from now, we will travel to China. Singapore-Chengdu-Lijiang-Kunming-Changsha-Nanjing-Hong Kong-Singapore.
Now, that's siong.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Books
Bought these two books the other day.
Hopefully the red one helps me seal some deals in China.
Hopefully the red one helps me seal some deals in China.
New Laptop
YAY! I got a new laptop. Largely cos my wifi was spoilt in my previous laptop and we have a new finance person coming so and she wont need wifi.
So i get a spanking new Thinkpad. Fast and light and sleek. Well, a little too sleek. The cover is so glossy it's a fingerprint magnet.
I took the pic with my blackberry on it to contrast the equipment i got when i first joined.
Although my laptop is new, the Windows Experience Index is only 3.4. Lose to ShitFong's 5.0. :(
So i get a spanking new Thinkpad. Fast and light and sleek. Well, a little too sleek. The cover is so glossy it's a fingerprint magnet.
I took the pic with my blackberry on it to contrast the equipment i got when i first joined.
Although my laptop is new, the Windows Experience Index is only 3.4. Lose to ShitFong's 5.0. :(
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Shenzhen
I was in Shenzhen the last few days. Quite many new hotels there. I chose to stay in one of the newer ones cos there's just something about new hotels.
Quite a nice room.
Except that being the pretenders the Chinese typically are, they tend to screw up once in a while. This time, the open concept bathroom has a bathtub that blocks the entry to the bathroom. It's so dumb!
i got back to Singapore on Friday night. I was so gian to play golf on Saturday that i followed Sox's parents to JB to play golf at 5am even though he wasnt going. Haha..
Check out the usual breakfast fare before the 7am tee off.
Quite a nice room.
Except that being the pretenders the Chinese typically are, they tend to screw up once in a while. This time, the open concept bathroom has a bathtub that blocks the entry to the bathroom. It's so dumb!
i got back to Singapore on Friday night. I was so gian to play golf on Saturday that i followed Sox's parents to JB to play golf at 5am even though he wasnt going. Haha..
Check out the usual breakfast fare before the 7am tee off.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Lying there..
Oddly, I found the missing piece of my cufflink in the paper tray of my office printer. Wonder how it got there.
It’s a little depressing to see it lying there. Lifeless and alone.
It’s a little depressing to see it lying there. Lifeless and alone.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Trepidation
Next week is one of the three weeks in a year that i know i'd fall sick. It's Board/Exco meetings week.
My CEO and President have just arrived and i just got off the phone with them as i have scheduled some meetings for them.
It's Board meeting on Wednesday and my client told me last week that he was going to sign an LOI with us on Tuesday when he's back in the office. Therefore there's a possibility i could announce our first LOI for the year in the Board meeting if he comes through for me. Another project i have been chasing is likely to make a decision at the end of March. So there's a chance of either heartbreak or elation.
My HCMC meeting went relatively well. Seems like there's an LOI lurking to be signed somewhere.
I hope the week turns out well. *shudder*
My CEO and President have just arrived and i just got off the phone with them as i have scheduled some meetings for them.
It's Board meeting on Wednesday and my client told me last week that he was going to sign an LOI with us on Tuesday when he's back in the office. Therefore there's a possibility i could announce our first LOI for the year in the Board meeting if he comes through for me. Another project i have been chasing is likely to make a decision at the end of March. So there's a chance of either heartbreak or elation.
My HCMC meeting went relatively well. Seems like there's an LOI lurking to be signed somewhere.
I hope the week turns out well. *shudder*
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Babel
Im so happy to be going back home tomorrow that i bothered to draw this out.
My CEO is in Asia so i dragged him to Vietnam with me. He's German so he speaks German and English. The client is Vietnamese and their consultant is a Vietnamese German so the bugger speaks Vietnamese, German and English.
Here's how the meeting this meeting went.
Im not kidding. Half the time, the conversation went from German to Vietnamese and vice versa.
Most of the time i was starting into space wondering what i was going to wear for golf this weekend.
The title of this entry "Babel", refers to the Tower of Babel a bunch of sinners was trying to build to reach god and god made everyone speak different languages so that they cant communicate.
Until the devil made everyone take two languages in school.
My CEO is in Asia so i dragged him to Vietnam with me. He's German so he speaks German and English. The client is Vietnamese and their consultant is a Vietnamese German so the bugger speaks Vietnamese, German and English.
Here's how the meeting this meeting went.
Im not kidding. Half the time, the conversation went from German to Vietnamese and vice versa.
Most of the time i was starting into space wondering what i was going to wear for golf this weekend.
The title of this entry "Babel", refers to the Tower of Babel a bunch of sinners was trying to build to reach god and god made everyone speak different languages so that they cant communicate.
Until the devil made everyone take two languages in school.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
=(
As a continuing slew of bad things to happen to me, one of my favourite cufflinks was damaged. Only realised it when i removed my shirt.
Im in Ho Chi Minh City and staying in the same hotel that offers me four free pieces of free laundry. I even brought two dirty shirts i wore on Monday and Tuesday in Singapore to be laundried here. Wahaha..
Im in Ho Chi Minh City and staying in the same hotel that offers me four free pieces of free laundry. I even brought two dirty shirts i wore on Monday and Tuesday in Singapore to be laundried here. Wahaha..
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Dumbass
I only just realised that all this while, I have been meaning to type “是否“to my clients but I had typed “是佛”instead.
Now my clients must think im either a dumbass or a Buddhist fanatic.
Now my clients must think im either a dumbass or a Buddhist fanatic.
Dilemma
A client gave me this thumbdrive today. It says there's some mother of pearl thingy in it but it's soooo girly. Dont think i'll dare to use it.
But it's 2GB. Argh. Such a dilemma.
But it's 2GB. Argh. Such a dilemma.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Nerds
I saw this Asus repair centre in Adelphi. Somehow i feel that when service centres are designed to be spacious and many seats, Im never confident of the quality of their products cos they're expecting tons of people to send in their products for repairs.
Apparently this particular repair centre took things a little further even after allocating a lot of space. Check out their signboard.
"Royal Club"??? "Rock solid"??? "Heart warming"???
They make the place sound like a premier airline lounge. And hey, it'd warm my heart more if your products are more solid that your signboard. Asus? More like Asses.
The picture was taken at an oblique angle cos there was a geek standing outside and i had to stand further away to take my clandestine pic.
Apparently this particular repair centre took things a little further even after allocating a lot of space. Check out their signboard.
"Royal Club"??? "Rock solid"??? "Heart warming"???
They make the place sound like a premier airline lounge. And hey, it'd warm my heart more if your products are more solid that your signboard. Asus? More like Asses.
The picture was taken at an oblique angle cos there was a geek standing outside and i had to stand further away to take my clandestine pic.
Austerity
For some reason, I've been on a saving mode of late. Sure, those golf games cost a bit, plus the accessories and attire but other than that, i havent bought a non-golf shirt for ages, havent gone to the tailor for 8 months, just changed my wallet after using for 1.5 years, just changed my phone after almost 2 years.
This is compared to my peak of making 2-3 shirts per week, changing wallets/phones after less than a year.
I was glad i managed to save more than half my pay in Feb.
I think the personification of this austerity was exemplified by the state of my golf glove. Play until got holes.
I have another pair of gloves which i wear, depending on the color coordination with my shirt/shorts and it has some holes as well.
Sigh, got to buy 2 gloves now.
In some ways, im glad im travelling a little more now so that i dont have to pay ERP ($6 daily) and my daily meals, etc.
Im going to Vietnam next week again. Yawn.
This is compared to my peak of making 2-3 shirts per week, changing wallets/phones after less than a year.
I was glad i managed to save more than half my pay in Feb.
I think the personification of this austerity was exemplified by the state of my golf glove. Play until got holes.
I have another pair of gloves which i wear, depending on the color coordination with my shirt/shorts and it has some holes as well.
Sigh, got to buy 2 gloves now.
In some ways, im glad im travelling a little more now so that i dont have to pay ERP ($6 daily) and my daily meals, etc.
Im going to Vietnam next week again. Yawn.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Checking in
Im on leave today to do my first annual body check up. Decided to do this since now that im over 30, thought it'd be prudent.
Hope nothing bad turns up. Im kinda scared and hungry (from the fasting).
Then it's facial.
Then it's golf tmr in JB.
Then badm.
Then i might have to go Vietnam next week. Bleah
Hope nothing bad turns up. Im kinda scared and hungry (from the fasting).
Then it's facial.
Then it's golf tmr in JB.
Then badm.
Then i might have to go Vietnam next week. Bleah
Monday, March 15, 2010
Kio Dio!
We went to Inagiku last weekend. We have been going there quite often cos the lunch there is quite good and I get a 50% discount.
We decided we didnt want the usual tempura we usually eat, nor the usual set, nor the lousy clear soup that came with the other set. So we ordered this set (set 1) that had unagi, pork cutlet, sashimi and miso soup. We ordered another wagyu beef set, which we ordered before (set 2).
The food came. First was simmered vegetables. Alarm bells started ringing for me cos there's no way in hell (heaven has no vegetables) im going to pay for vegetables, when i dont eat vegs! I thought perhaps it was just a very large portion of appetiser. Then came tempura! Now, something was very wrong.
We asked for the manager, cos he was the one who took our order. We asked how come the food that came wasnt what we ordered from the menu. He calmly said that they had a new chef and the new chef changed some items from Set 1 cos he didnt like some of the ingredients in there. So he removed pork cutlet and unagi and added the veg (what???) and tempura. He offered to give us the unagi and pork but we'd have to wait for a while for them to prepare it. Then he said we could have the tempura since it's already made and given to us.
He came back after a while to say that there's no more pork cutlet and he'd give us a large portion of unagi and he wasnt going to charge us for set 1.
So in the end we only paid for set 2 and cos we had 50% discount, we only paid $60! w00t!
Here's the spread we had.
We decided we didnt want the usual tempura we usually eat, nor the usual set, nor the lousy clear soup that came with the other set. So we ordered this set (set 1) that had unagi, pork cutlet, sashimi and miso soup. We ordered another wagyu beef set, which we ordered before (set 2).
The food came. First was simmered vegetables. Alarm bells started ringing for me cos there's no way in hell (heaven has no vegetables) im going to pay for vegetables, when i dont eat vegs! I thought perhaps it was just a very large portion of appetiser. Then came tempura! Now, something was very wrong.
We asked for the manager, cos he was the one who took our order. We asked how come the food that came wasnt what we ordered from the menu. He calmly said that they had a new chef and the new chef changed some items from Set 1 cos he didnt like some of the ingredients in there. So he removed pork cutlet and unagi and added the veg (what???) and tempura. He offered to give us the unagi and pork but we'd have to wait for a while for them to prepare it. Then he said we could have the tempura since it's already made and given to us.
He came back after a while to say that there's no more pork cutlet and he'd give us a large portion of unagi and he wasnt going to charge us for set 1.
So in the end we only paid for set 2 and cos we had 50% discount, we only paid $60! w00t!
Here's the spread we had.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Vietnam
I was in Ho Chi Minh City for a couple of days. I never really enjoyed my trips there cos it’s such a cowboy town with bad traffic, not very nice food, no shopping, etc. I could go on.
The bulk of my meetings was going to be near the airport so I was deliberating if I should stay in the nicer city centre hotels or nearer the airport in the lousier hotel. I decided to help the company save money and also save the amount of time I spent in the horrible traffic with this hotel near the airport. Managed to get a good rate, upgrade to suite, two-way airport transfer, free internet, use of executive lounge, 1-hour use of meeting room (didn’t think I’d use it but I did eventually), discounts on food eaten at their restaurants. What a steal!
My impression of this cowboy town started even at their immigration when the visa of the angmo in front of me only started the next day (what a dumb angmo), and the immigration officer demanded money from him. It was that blatant. The angmo kept saying he had no money and the immigration officer just stared into blank space for a very long time. Held up the queue for a long time before the officer relented and threw the passport back at him.
My hotel room was pretty decent but like ive mentioned before, I don’t really like suites cos the distance between the bed and the table and the tv is too far that it’s tiring.
I saw this wedding couple standing at the lobby of the hotel underneath some arches that night. Apparently they are waiting for their guests and when the guests come, they can all pose under the arches and take a picture. This is repeated until it’s time to go in. That sounds tiring.
My client brought us to a place to eat in the middle of the city. It was a quaint black and white bungalow and very crowded and no air-con. I felt stupid to be wearing a suit in this place but the client was insistent that the food was very good. The food was indeed very good!
Check out the chendol making process.
Doesn’t my client’s assistant look like Chuck Bartowski from the tv series “Chuck”? Curly hair, side burns, white shirt, dorky face. All he needs is a nerd herd badge.
I also flew to Nha Trang to visit some places. My cowboy clients said they didn’t manage to book our return flight from Nha Trang to HCMC so they said we had to take a car ride back from Nha Trang to HCMC… a 10-hour car ride. I very nearly fainted when I heard that cos I had serious motion sickness. Man, 10 hours.. my longest in a car was 6 hours and I nearly died then. It made me pissy the entire night on this news. I therefore only packed my facial wash and stole a hotel face towel into my laptop bag in preparation for my flight the next day.
The next morning while waiting for the flight to Nha Trang, the client told me that they managed to secure tickets for us. I was elated, before I realised that I didn’t bring a change of clothes, nor my laptop. Means it’d be a night of naked cable tv. Beats a grimy 10-hour car ride.
It was my first time in Nha Trang so I was quite excited that I now can add one more location on my facebook “Where I’ve been” app. The client decided we should have breakfast first before starting work. In deference to us being guests, they opted for a cleaner establishment.
Otherwise, it would have been this roadside stall. *shudder*
This is the bed that I would spend a naked cable tv night.
This is the view from my Nha Trang hotel. Quite nice actually.
This is the city area.
We had lunch at this nice alfresco beach side restaurant, which served damn good fish. We ate three different kinds of fish.
All in all, I spent four nights in Vietnam. I couldn’t wait to get back after the first night.
The bulk of my meetings was going to be near the airport so I was deliberating if I should stay in the nicer city centre hotels or nearer the airport in the lousier hotel. I decided to help the company save money and also save the amount of time I spent in the horrible traffic with this hotel near the airport. Managed to get a good rate, upgrade to suite, two-way airport transfer, free internet, use of executive lounge, 1-hour use of meeting room (didn’t think I’d use it but I did eventually), discounts on food eaten at their restaurants. What a steal!
My impression of this cowboy town started even at their immigration when the visa of the angmo in front of me only started the next day (what a dumb angmo), and the immigration officer demanded money from him. It was that blatant. The angmo kept saying he had no money and the immigration officer just stared into blank space for a very long time. Held up the queue for a long time before the officer relented and threw the passport back at him.
My hotel room was pretty decent but like ive mentioned before, I don’t really like suites cos the distance between the bed and the table and the tv is too far that it’s tiring.
I saw this wedding couple standing at the lobby of the hotel underneath some arches that night. Apparently they are waiting for their guests and when the guests come, they can all pose under the arches and take a picture. This is repeated until it’s time to go in. That sounds tiring.
My client brought us to a place to eat in the middle of the city. It was a quaint black and white bungalow and very crowded and no air-con. I felt stupid to be wearing a suit in this place but the client was insistent that the food was very good. The food was indeed very good!
Check out the chendol making process.
Doesn’t my client’s assistant look like Chuck Bartowski from the tv series “Chuck”? Curly hair, side burns, white shirt, dorky face. All he needs is a nerd herd badge.
I also flew to Nha Trang to visit some places. My cowboy clients said they didn’t manage to book our return flight from Nha Trang to HCMC so they said we had to take a car ride back from Nha Trang to HCMC… a 10-hour car ride. I very nearly fainted when I heard that cos I had serious motion sickness. Man, 10 hours.. my longest in a car was 6 hours and I nearly died then. It made me pissy the entire night on this news. I therefore only packed my facial wash and stole a hotel face towel into my laptop bag in preparation for my flight the next day.
The next morning while waiting for the flight to Nha Trang, the client told me that they managed to secure tickets for us. I was elated, before I realised that I didn’t bring a change of clothes, nor my laptop. Means it’d be a night of naked cable tv. Beats a grimy 10-hour car ride.
It was my first time in Nha Trang so I was quite excited that I now can add one more location on my facebook “Where I’ve been” app. The client decided we should have breakfast first before starting work. In deference to us being guests, they opted for a cleaner establishment.
Otherwise, it would have been this roadside stall. *shudder*
This is the bed that I would spend a naked cable tv night.
This is the view from my Nha Trang hotel. Quite nice actually.
This is the city area.
We had lunch at this nice alfresco beach side restaurant, which served damn good fish. We ate three different kinds of fish.
All in all, I spent four nights in Vietnam. I couldn’t wait to get back after the first night.
Friday, March 05, 2010
Sacked
There’s a show out in theatres now featuring George Clooney playing a person whose job is to travel around and telling people that they’re fired. Whilst that’s a pretty weird job in itself, I actually have a better way to do his job.
Saw this in my office today. This is a much easier and less emotionally draining way to sack a person. Of course in this way, you don’t get an excuse to see George Clooney.
Saw this in my office today. This is a much easier and less emotionally draining way to sack a person. Of course in this way, you don’t get an excuse to see George Clooney.
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