Good service recovery

It used to be that I would really fume and kick up a big fuss if service was even slightly not up to my par. Nowadays, it could just be an age thing or perhaps, I just got it.

I was eating at Superdog, Vivo City today and the cashier got my order wrong. Instead of a superdog hotdog, she gave me a burger. I could see it coming for when she repeated my order, she said burger and I had to say, "no, hotdog" and point it out to her. Mistake was still made.

The guy first brought me a square box and I was so quick to jump to the conclusion that I said, "no, this was not what I..." then I opened the box and realised it was my beloved chilli cheese fries. Relieve, as I was hungry. He was about to take away my number placard when I told him I still have a superdog.

Five minutes, 'superdog' came, but in the form of a burger. I told the guy very calmly that I had order superdog. He was also very humorous and told me it was no problem.

Sure wasn't a problem until I wondered whether they had overcharged me :) I was in a good mood and as I did not get any receipt, I took my one and only evidence (the number placard) to the counter. I asked the supervisor (who had served me the fries earlier) whether there were discrepencies in my bill. He was really nice too and told me he would check. I guess he too was so nervous that he told me he would get back to me in 20 minutes!!

My goodness, 20 minutes? I was starting to wonder whether he needed to call HQ to get permission to refund. Kekeke...Or did he mean that my hotdog would come in 20 minutes?!

Anyhow, all was resolved. Supervisor was apologetic but I was not in that sort of mood to shout and be angry. No point. Or maybe, just maybe, the chilli cheese fries worked some magic for me!

Someone else has the same POV.

During lessons today, my lecturer mentioned about how sometimes, some people, would tell their friends that they had bought such and such a brand of bag or watch or laptop for such and such a price. She is of the view that such persons do not have self-confidence and that we should be there to build a sense of self in children.

This reminded me of how I recently told someone that exact same logic: that the more one flanks oneself with all that expensive stuff, the more insecurity one reveals to the world. Of course, this person did not take it well at all and of course, I am not saying I absolutely do not go for branded stuff. I used to be more 'carefree' when buying them. Now, I kinda see if there is a need to buy it or not. If not, then I won't.

Just like how a $500 item could make my heartbeat go faster last time, it gives me a little cheap thrill to think that I have saved some money by not buying certain things. Hahaha! Yes, the operative phrase is "cheap thrill" but a good feel nonetheless.

More retro finds

Recently bought a Lily Allen album and an album by this group called "The bird and the bee". The former because she had a very cute song called f*** you plus, it is British (as opposed to the American, Kathy Perry). The latter because I read the review on JUICE,which was good, and it had a very retro look to it.

Yes, I am into all things retro now. Actually mostly clothes and music. For music, after the Ting Tings, I am quite into those indie groups rather than the more commercial sorts. Not that Lilly Allen is not mainstream. I guess, the rhythm and melody must be right. Pretty much go for the feel.

The funny part was that I was spotting quite some similarities between these two albums when I found out that the producer for Lily Allen's album was Greg Kurstin, the other half of "The bird and the bee"!!

Well, I am in that phase now. :)

Une belle soiree

I had a very wonderful evening last night. I went to watch Melanie Pain sing at the Esplanade. It was a belated birthday present from a very nice friend.

For those of you who do not know who Melanie Pain is, she is the lead singer for Nouvelle Vague who has this very nice whispery sort of voice when she wants to. The sort that French singers are so good at.

We even got an autographed sampler for a mere $10. Some of our friends who went for the second session, did not get any. Apparently it was a while stocks last thingy.

We were very early in the queue and got front row seats-best seats in the house! The pianist, bassist and guitarist were all so cute!! Most importantly though, she had a very good voice, and very nice shoes! :P

As the night was still young after a short one hour odd mini concert, we went to have some drinks and cakes at what I like to call "that anal place". I would not say the name now but you will definitely see it if you were taking the bus or walking to Esplanade from Marina Square.

Food and tea was good though, except my dear friend almost lost her copy of autographed of the sampler. Thankfully, a cleaner found it for her (she left it in the toilet together with some other stuff). What a relieve to have found it back!

Relieved

I received the documents that I was supposed to receive from my lawyer. That can only mean one thing: That he has signed the papers. It all seems so surreal now. Like I almost cannot believe it.

Then again too, sometimes, one is so used to the pain and emptiness, that it is almost hard to let go. I think it is easy to blame somebody for your unhappiness and loneliness. It is so easy to point fingers. Yet, it is the 'aftermath' that makes one seriously sit down and think of what to do and how to face the road ahead.

Sounds cliche, but I guess the only way is forward. Ambling along kind of forward. Take it one day at a time sort of forward.

It's not as if it is over for me though. I still have one more small hurdle to cross: going to court. I will cross it when it comes and when I have crossed that too, I shall celebrate life with a big bang before moving anywhere!

My birthday

While playing dough, my colleague made this message for me.

All the presents given by my colleagues :)

The day thus far

Nothing much happened today except that I went to collect my medical report in-between working hours. Luckily my workplace is small enough to allow for something like that and luckily, I drive.

Anyhow, I am generally OK except that I should cut down on red meats and alcohol (sob). Not that I have been drinking that much recently but looks like if I don't control, my liver may give me issues that I do not like to handle.

There seems to be a lot of things that I want to say and yet, I don't want to say. I guess I am just praying that everything would be over soon so that I can start anew.

Am I looking? Yes, I am looking and no, I am not really looking. No, I don't know how to play the dating game and I really don't know how to go out there and find. Resigned to my fate? Perhaps. Lacking in confidence? Perhaps. I guess I will just leave it at that as I feel that someone somewhere may just feel that I do not have the right to even look yet, given my circumstances. I will let the good Lord help me then :)

Not so worried now

I am slightly better now for after I posted the previous post, I got a reply and when I messaged my lawyer the next day, she seem to give me the impression that my soon-to-be-ex has already gotten in touch with her.

Have to go to sleep now. Hoping to wake up super early to do assignment. This is crazy. I mean this kind of life reminds me of my Uni days.

Worried. Very worried.

I never thought that I would have to worry about my husband not agreeing to divorce. After all, he did rush me to get it over and done with. Or was he just testing waters?

I sent him an email about a week or so ago detailing some things that he had to do and some of it involved money. I did not get any reply or sms-s. Today, my lawyer called me to tell me that the papers have been approved by court and it was time to ask him to go sign the papers. I messaged him quite late. About 10 plus at night because my hand phone battery was running real low and I guess I was still in half disbelief.

Somehow, there is this nagging feeling though and I am starting to panic. There are lots of what-ifs going on in my mind now. What if he does not want to sign? What if he disappears? What if he does not want to pay for his share?

The list goes on.

I am praying very hard now. I am praying that when I wake up tomorrow, that there would be good news, or at least some news. I know this makes me sound bad; as if I want to divorce real badly. You see, this painfully empty marriage has been dragging on for so long that I think it is time we put it to rest. I think it will do both parties good.

Yucks! Yucks! Yucks!

I had originally wanted to write about how I had a horrible lunch and how it was like eating poison as I had a big row with Dad before I ate.

I thought a visit to the hairdresser's would perk me up a little. Since I had just lost my original hairstylist, I thought I would explore a little. I messaged my cousin and asked about hers.

Before I go on, I want to say that I had every intention not to write what I am about to write. I had wanted to focus on the good stuff of the old salon that I used to go t (Reds, Tampines), but I still cannot hold myself back, so here it is. Oh! This has, in no part, got to do with my cousin either. She had quite an alright experience

My cousin recommended this guy named Tommy from I*CON by Shunji Matsuo (Suntec). I decided to take the plunge and go ahead with doing my hair. I was very apprehensive as I have not gone to any other hairstylist for so long.

I reached the said place and asked for Tommy. He didn't really talk much and I had barely sat down and he started asking me questions. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted and was probably too soft (voice). I mean, that is what a hairstylist is there for, right? They are there to listen and advise as they know better than us as to how we should do with our hair, how much stress our hair can take etc.

After two questions or so and me saying somewhat of an unsure answer from me, he walked away. Came this other lady who started talking to me. I thought she was the colourist. I thought she was going to colour my hair and then he would come and do the cutting. That was what Desmond at Reds used to do. In fact, Desmond would help the colourist. More than that, Desmond would listen to what I want and fit my needs closest to what my hair is capable of doing.

All this time, I was communicating with my cousin via sms. She also told me that he does the final cutting and his 'ka kias' (assistants) would do the rest. All this time, Tommy was either going about doing his own things or just sitting around. The real shocker came when the lady proceeded to trim my hair!!!

I was so shocked, I didn't know how to react!!!! Did I not ask for Tommy the minute I walked through the door? Did he not talk to me? Yes, he did not really communicate much but I had presumed that he would do so after my colouring and re-bonding was done. Even the re-bonding was communicated to the lady. I also presumed that she was in-charge of that area. I seriously had no idea that she would be cutting my hair too!!!!!!

I was really, really upset by then. I was not upset because my "cosmic cream" (or cosmic crimp, an alternative to re-bonding) did not turn out well. I was upset because I felt that I was taken for a ride and treated like a fool right up till the end!!!

From upset, I became fuming mad. I barked at the lady to not trim my hair so short as I really didn't want my hair to go wrong. I felt a little bad but I was already frustrated, upset and angry. When I was paying, she was explaining all that free stuff and all the 'discounts' that she was giving me and how I could use one of the vouchers given for my next visit.

I was not listening at all. I was just fuming. No. Seething. I had barely finished paying when I called my cousin to pour out my woes. I felt bad as it was not her fault but on the other hand, I just needed to vent it all out.

All I am going to say is that this would be my first and last visit to this particular hair salon. It did not help that my ears were constantly bombarded by sounds from the arcade next door. The slightly haphazard way that things were put also irked me a little. Although I had a good hair job but an appalling experience. I feel that a stylist should never be like that. I think that there is no basic manners and no service etiquette.

What can I say? I am spoilt and too pampered by Reds, but they really provide good service.

I will continue my search for a new hairstylist.

What to do??

Aaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!! I found out yesterday that my hairstylist had quit! Right at a time when I needed to fix my hairdo too! Now, I am really in a fix!

I shall try to breathe and then ask around as to which are the credible hairstylists in town. I have been with this particular hairstylist for 3 over years and now, I am really at a lost. He was a really good hairstylist as my hair is one of those 'problematic' ones that would need an expert like him to handle.

During my uncle's wake, I even recommended my cousin to go to him, but now, looks like I have to tell her otherwise. Wish me luck!

Did you know?

Today, I chanced upon those branded goods sale at Suntec City. There were Levi's clothes and jeans and Liz Claiborne stuff. If I were not going into JB soon I would not even think twice about grabbing many pieces, but I restricted myself to two.

When I was paying for my stuff, this lady came up to ask the cashier what size is 6? Both of us replied that it is either a small or extra small. Then she asked another funny question as to why the pants was so big then.

Well, the next most natural thing that came out from both our mouths was that these were American sizes. I mean, what do you expect?? It is Liz Claiborne leh. She mumbled that the sizing seem strange.

Hee, then I told her that if she wanted to know whether it fits, to put the waist of the pants round her own neck. If it does go around with some allowance for some fingers, then she would be able to wear it.

She walked away and came back to ask whether this was true and the cashier totally agreed with me. She told me that that was the way she bought pants too. I had to reiterate that "the neck is equivalent to the waist".

She said, "Wow! I didn't know that!". Then went in search of more pants.

To me, this is a shopaholic must-know for what happens when there is a mega sale and there is a whole line of people waiting to go into the changing room? Measure with the neck of course!

Do men always have to have the last say?

Was eating dinner at O'Brien's at The Central when I came across two incidents whereby the men had to have the last say.

Firstly, it was a mature man who obviously has never drunk chamomile tea. Ever. I guess he wanted to show the lady friend that he was very gentlemanly and looks for value-for-money in a 'suave' kind of way (note the inverted commas).

When the tea came, he asked the waiter how come the tea looked as pale as water. Ha!! Hello, just in case anyone of you was like the man I saw (who didn't know zilch about chamomile tea), it is supposed to be a pale yellow colour. The wait staff was very nice though. He obligingly brought a pot of hot water or what I presumed, could be the tea itself and added more.

If anything, I think he just showed his lady friend how lacking in knowledge he was when it came to that area of tea. From overhearing them, I also get this feeling that he is a little stingy, trying to get more out of things. This is not pasar malam (flea market. Direct translation from Malay: Night market), you know?

Then came another couple who ordered a wrappo. When the food came, the guy (another mature guy) made some comment and said "Woah! It doesn't look like we will be full eating this". He was implying that the wrappo was small in portion.

Now, I would understand if you were eating one whole wrappo on your own and complained that it was too little. He is, after all, a guy. Guess what? He was sharing it with his lady friend! So why complain?? It was their choice to eat there and therefore, he should not have any grouses and if he did not feel too happy about the food, etc, order more or don't come the next time!

In my world of weird theories, I would conclude that this is a male ego thing. That they have to show the females that they are the boss around and they call the shots. They also make such comments to make themselves feel all-important, but in actual fact, it just shows otherwise. When will these big boys learn?

Every time I visit my lawyer...

... I buy shoes!!! Two pairs each time! This time it was at Mitju. My feet were absolutely killing me (I wore one of the pairs that I bought when I last visited at her other office near Golden Shoe Car Park).

Both were flats and I just could not resist it. Once I changed into the new pair, my feet got instant relief. Aaah!! So many excuses :P

Calm amidst frenzy

I would call this another crazy day, except that I think I have overkilled the word "crazy". Anyhow, everything was not going according to plan.

I was supposed to go do my medical check-up today and I fasted since 10pm the night before. It was 8.40am and we were still in the house when I was supposed to have reached the clinic. Not that there were any appointments made but this was precisely the problem. It was on a first come first served basis and getting there late means waiting longer in queue and getting hungrier by the hour.

Dad was supposed to send me there as he needed the car today, but because he woke up late (coz I did not have the heart to wake him up earlier, seeing that he was tired the night before) and both of us ladies of the house occupied the toilets, he ended up being really late.

Just as we were about to go, my mum said something really not so nice. She told me, if I were really in such a hurry, why not go take a taxi? She sounded real challenging and in the end, I really did for I knew if I waited for Dad, there would be more arguments along the way and it would not be good for blood pressure results.

When I reached the clinic, I had to take pee samples right? Well, I had very little pee as I thought fasting meant no water too. I had to drink 5 cups of water before managing to deliver. Well, there was no doubt that I kept looking for toilets for the rest of the day.

Then I had to go to my lawyer's and because I did not manage to get a lift from Dad in the morning, I did not get the cheque that he wrote out for me. I had to withdraw money from an ATM. Guess what? There are no UOB or OCBC atm-s at The Central!!! Usually where they is at least one UOB at the MRT stations, there was none at the Clarke Quay station. I had to walk two traffic lights away to People's Park to get my money. It was torturous considering that I had blisters on my feet and swollen ones at that!

I managed to do it though; draw money and get back to the area near The Central. The papers will be filed tomorrow and I would soon be on my way to freedom. Hopefully everything will turn out fine.

During the wake

I think many people would find it funny to attend our funerals. We do not really cry. Not a lot anyway. In fact, going for our relatives' wakes has also become somewhat like a family gathering.

We catch up. We talk about what is going on in our lives and then we exchange facebook accounts :)

Passing on

Just received news that my fourth uncle has passed away at about 3.10 am this morning. In a way, I am relieved for him as he has been suffering for the longest time, drifting in and out of consciousness.

Rest in peace, my fourth uncle. In dying, you make us treasure our life and our loved ones even more.

Heartening

I have never really dared to say too much, as I have always, until now, felt that I should not reveal too much about my job (or at least my previous job). I guess it is now quite safe to do so. After all, I am not saying bad stuff about it.

I just wanted to say that it is heartening to myself that I am still able to use the knowledge that I have accumulated as a librarian to help people, specifically my classmates in my present course.

We were, until tonight, doing something that was close to my heart and had a very close relationship to storytelling. We had to borrow books from the library and there were so many questions directed to me as they needed to look for books and to know what stories to tell.

It was our last lesson tonight and my lecturer told me that "I will always remember you as the librarian". That was when I felt a strong bond to my previous job and felt that I should really still conduct myself well even though I have left the organisation. The name "librarian" still carried some weight. In some ways.

After class, one of my classmate was telling me how she was quite surprised that the people working in the library did not seem to know their work. Woah! Felt so 'malu' ("embarrassed" in Malay) even though I am no longer working there. I quickly told her to look for those in black jackets and she said she did and that librarian was not able to answer many of her questions. Hmmm... .

She was particularly puzzled with the short forms such as WRL, SBCL and such and while explaining to her all those and more, I suddenly felt that I was wearing a black jacket and the MRT station had transformed into the library once more. My classmate was happy that I helped answer some of her queries and we parted ways.

This is not the first time that a lecturer has promoted literacy and the library in one breath. The lecturer for the previous unit had even gone so far as to promote the kamishibai that the library was selling, which my ex-colleagues and supervisors helped to create.

Even back then, I ever so gladly offered information about where they could get it and which were the regional libraries and so on. I guess these are the sorts of promotions that we do not see. It's the sort of intangible thing that you could not measure with concrete numbers and results.

As I was writing this, I just remembered another heartening thing that happened this afternoon. There was a new girl that had come under our care and she was feeling very out of place, wanting to go home. The only person who could seem to talk to her was me as I was the one who received her at the door.

She was moping a little and I told her o bring out her notebook so that we could talk about the pictures she had drawn inside (I had seen the book earlier). There were lots of drawings and scribblings but among all that imaginary 'mess' I saw "eresources.nlb.gov.sg".

I asked her whether she just went to the library and she told me that she did not and it was her teacher who told them to jot this down for it would come in useful for them.

Heartening, very heartening.

At what price, love?

Sometimes, we lose almost, if not all our dignity when we go through a divorce. I think that women, at least in the local context, is at the losing end.

First, we have to wait. 3 years, before we can file. How many 3 years does a woman have? Yes, many say, you can find another while waiting it out (like going to jail isn't it?) But how many Singaporean men are so open as to accept a woman who is separated?

Then there is the selling of the property. There are lots of questions of who paid for what and how we are going to split the cost. It's not even funny when a lot of things that you have paid for just disappeared from your matrimonial home. Well, I just have to blame it on the fact that I now live in a much smaller space and have no where for any extra furniture (Oops! I think I had bitched about this in some other posting.)

Then, there is alimony. I had to throw away all dignity to ask him to put down a token sum. Not that I was going to ask him to pay it was just in case, in the future, if I ever needed to, I could then re-apply to court for him to pay me some. I mean who would want to wish bad stuff upon themselves?? Bad stuff meaning accidents, retrenchments. Touch wood, touch wood!!!

Even then, the guy does not even want it. He does not want to put it down on paper, even though I was not going to ask him to pay that token some as long as I am healthy and well. Even though, the alimony shit was to become void if I ever got married again. Ha!

"It's funny how our concerns for each other have come down to this: dollars and cents". This is what I wrote to him, but it's just reality, isn't it?

All this pain and dignity-throwing shit will be over soon. It will be over soon. Oh. I am actually excited about appearing in court. HA!

Tiring but happy day

Yesterday was a day of impossibles for me. Well, to me at least. I woke up at 5am to reach work by 7am and at about 3.30pm, went to my cousin's place and played mahjong till about 1.30am in the morning.

I think only mahjong is able to keep me going for so long. I almost did not want to go to work. I was not supposed to work on Saturdays, but because it was a closure day, all permanent staff, working or not working on that day, had to go back. I am paid OT of course.

It was tiring but it was worth it as we had good family bonding time again, not only with mahjong but with intermittently good food breaks as well. Plus, I got to see my cute little nephew who is growing up ever so fast and looks different from the last time I saw him. He is a little picky with who carries him, but I am glad that I am one of his approved carriers :P