The pensieve - daily musingsDecember 2, 2006 6:00 am

It’s 6am! And even my hair is feeling a bit frazzled, like how it gets during calls… I still remember how I frantically spend 10min brushing teeth and combing hair into something less like Oscar fr Sesame Street (who lives in a trash can)! haha…

Dunno why can’t sleep, my sleeping hours are so screwed up! ARGH.

Facing a dilemna now… My trusty Toshiba Tecra 9100 which has been through thick and thin with me for almost 5 years is now in the geriatric department. It’s gone thru multi-organ failure, and been hospitalised numerous times… Now, the fan is sort of breaking down, and I dun have any more ‘medisave/medishield/elder shield’ to pay for meds and transplants :(

Plus, it’s getting a bit edentulous (some keys fell off and I can’t replace them… hahaha…)

Will probably be getting a desktop tomorrow. But then, if this notebook doesn’t break down, I just won’t feel like using the new computer! I can’t believe I actually feel sad to ‘let this notebook’ go… Haha… Maybe I do hoard old stuff. Lolz, I think I do hoard stuff from years ago that I think is worth it, like those chocolate and mooncake boxes of letters and trinklets from my best pals, but yet, I can and have mercilessly erased memories or thrown away things that have ceased to have any value.

Can’t afford to have junk clogging up my precious memories. A bit like plaques clogging up one’s arteries, no?

Sustenance 12:47 am

I never really appreciated the efficiency and capability of our local restaurants, heck, even just local cafes… until I met the staff and service at this Ah Yat Forum Restaurant, the branch at First World Plaza, Genting. I hope they close it down until the staff can be retrained and maybe the kitchen can be upgraded so they have more efficient steamers, or watever.

It’s not like I’m very perfectionistic abt restaurant service, or that I’m exaggerating, but I can quote 4 separate incidents that show just how awful the experience was!

ONE: There was a host of moans and grumbles from the table at our 12 o’clock because the food was taking ages to arrive, and, they had to rush off for their departing bus.

TWO: There were really glum faces at the table at our 6 o’clock because they too were running late for their bus (thankfully, we had set aside 2hrs+ for lunch!) In the end, they decided to leave because it was already 35min and NO food had arrived! The waitress came with their bill which conveniently billed them for EVERYTHING that they had ordered! Oooh, they got soooo pissed (especially when the waitress insisted that indeed they HAD ordered the food). The guy said: You not awake yet huh, see any food on our table or not? Then he proceeded to throw 20RM at the manager and they left in a huff. (COOL DUDE!)

THREE: The table of 3 at our 3 o’clock also had to leave after eating only some yam puffs and custards cuz the rest of the food was like… erm… dunno where all the food went to cuz many tables were just waiting and surviving on tea and peanuts. -_-

Finally, the ones who persevered…. US!

WA lao, hardly ate much there cuz one, a lot of items weren’t available, and two, 气饱了!
We’d finished our order pretty early, at at ard 30min waiting time, they came to tell us that 4 items from our list were unavailable… (and those were staple items like charsiew bao and congee!!!) Then we had to re-order a few items and… after like 50min, they told us some of those re-ordered items had run out too! PENGZ. And then the coup de grace (not sure if I used this correctly… probably signifies something gd.. but this isn’t)

When the bill came…

Me: Er, you charged us two items extra?
Waitress: sure or not> (frowns like super irritated with me)
Me: Yea, dun have 7 items costing 5.50… only 5 wat.
(she bustles off with the bill while everyone else at the table gives each other the ‘i-knew-it-look’)
10min later…
Waitress: (hands me the bill, it’s the same bill…) Oh it’s correct, we checked.
Me: Sigh, (I take the bill, and the original order form), 你看好,一,二,三,。。。 you can count rite? Wrong mah!
Waitress: (snaps the book shut, face looks like she ate something sour, walks off again)
5 min later…
She comes by to retrieve our copy of the original order form.
5 min later…
Waitress: It’s correct, actually your 2 extra 5.50 dish = one bigger dish u ordered?
Me: HUH? Nothing on our menu adds up to 11 dollars, u can count or not???
(seriously, it’s not the money, it’s just the principle!)
Finally, she brings back the bill, they took off the item (but they took off the wrong item…)
Anyway, by then, I really can’t be bothered to continue ‘playing’ with them… Just paid and zao lor liao!

What a nightmare!