♥The Cantonese Land IV (Wednesday, December 16, 2009 / 10:03 am)
Day 4It’s the Shopping Day for us. We had our breakfast at the Dim Sum restaurant next to our hotel.
It’s pretty well known and it’s super crowded. We had to share the table with some people. When we reached there, we were at a loss how to order until an old man who was sitting across us at the same table threw a pencil to us, then we realise that we must make the order ourselves on a paper and pass it to some waitress who will always be hurrying.
And then, they will give you a big bowl, one pot of tea, 2 cups and 2 small bowls. I knew beforehand that we were supposed the pot of tea is used to cleanse the cups and pour into the big bowl. But actually, we are supposed to put the 2 small bowls, cups, spoons and chopsticks into the big bowl and pour the tea.
Reason, the tea is not only to cleanse the utensils but also so that these utensils will have the tea smell and will complement the dim sum eating.
But because mummy and I didn’t do like the locals did, everyone knew we were foreigners and yes, the staring began again….
I was so paiseh that I didn’t take out my camera to take pictures of the dim sum lor.
Btw, they were delicious. Total cost: HKD 104 (6 dishes + tea + service charge. Approx. $18 for 2 pax)
I didn’t take pictures for the day because I was busy shopping. I went to Argyle Shopping Centre which was like our Far East Plaza but so much cheaper. I regretted not bringing more $$ because there were so many things I wanted to buy but didn’t.
I brought my debit card there…but dun really want to waste it on exchange admin fee etc.
And I went to Fa Yuen Street and saw many many pretty sport shoes. They are of Nike, Adidas brand and they were so specially designed. They are authentic goods by the way and surprisingly they are $10-$20 cheaper than what you will pay in Singapore. Amazing.
So here are my loots for the trip.
I bought 6 boxes of Wife biscuits too.
Before I end off with this entry, I wanna talk about an incident with one of the staff at Café De Coral at Argyle Centre. It totally pissed me off and ruined my mood for dinner.
I was ordering for my dinner, Soy chicken rice. Here was our conversation.
Me: Can I have 2 plates of Soy chicken rice? (in English)
Staff 1: arh? (blank look)
Me: Soy Chicken Rice (in English)
Staff 1: … (blank look)
Me: Soy Chicken Rice, 2 plates (in Cantonese)
Staff 1: Oh…. (smiled but not keying in the order)
Staff 2: Wei, why aren’t you keying in the order. She said Soy Chicken Rice (in Cantonese to Staff 1)
Staff 1: Ya, I know she wants Soy Chicken Rice. She didn’t pronounce it properly enough. I want her to pronounce till it’s right. (in Cantonese to Staff 2)
Can you imagine my blood was boiling already upon hearing this because they thought I did not understand what they were talking about!!!
I wanted to insist talking to her in English since she was like purposely wanting me to pronounce in Cantonese according to her accent. My mummy didn’t know what was happening but was wondering how come I took so long to order. So she walked over and spoke to that waiter exactly what I said in Cantonese. Maybe the waitress realised that the fun was over when my mum came over, so she grumpily keyed in the order.
When my mum went off, she said to Staff 2 while she generated my receipt to collect my meal.
Staff 1: Ok, I’ll talk to her in English. (in Cantonese to Staff 2)
Staff 1: You stay here? (in English to me)
Me: What do you mean?
Staff 1: Eating.
Me: Oh…you mean am I having my meal here?
Staff 1: Do you stay here? Eating.
Me: I’m having my meal here.
Staff 1: Do you stay here?
Me: Please, I don’t stay here but I want to have my meal here…. Having here!
Then, she went crestfallen.
Gosh…It was so frustrating. Her English was pretty bad lah….but I know the whole incident, she wanted to mock at me lor.
Before I went off…
Staff 1: Can you pronounce after me….Soy …chicken……. Rice….. (in Cantonese)
Me: Soy chicken rice!!! (in Cantonese sarcastically) and please go and learn your English properly!!! (in English).
So this episode totally ruined my mood for dinner, totally revealed their bad customer service and poor manners. I believe I wasn’t that bad in my Cantonese pronunciation. I spoke to other people like the bus drivers in Cantonese, asked for directions to some passerby in Cantonese. They understood what I said lor. It’s probably I just din speak with their Hong Kong accent.
My loot for the day....
Day 5My mum encountered similar reaction from a staff at airport’s eatery the next day before we left. The staff wanted to save her time to and fro to the kitchen to take the food so she said those who want to order mai gai, please tell her now. We didn’t noe that lotus rice is the same category as mai gai so we only told her we wanted this after she returned from the kitchen. She immediately blew up her temper and blamed my mum for wasting her time. How can you blame your customer? And you are a staff working in an airport!!!!! Where can you find a staff with such bad customer service? Yes, only in Hong Kong.
Seriously, I mean as compared to Japan, who equally has language barrier. Even if they know you can’t speak Japanese, they are generally very tolerant of foreigners and tourists. They will still smile at you; use body language to find out how they can serve you better. They do not humiliate you upfront or pass any rude remarks lor. Maybe you can say they are good hypocrites but trust me, at least it was a pleasant experience interacting with the people there.
And for once, I think Singapore’s customer service is GREAT too!!!!
-The lotus rice we ordered…
-The shop with super rude service crew...
-Our luggages and the airport-
Hong Kong airport was huge and well furnished. We reached the departure gates early because we always hear stories about people missing flights due to long queues at the departure halls for immigration clearance.
In the last 15 minutes of our flight, our plane encountered air turbulence. The plane shook like hell and it was quite scary.
Nevertheless, we touched down safety at Changi International Airport.
I still love Singapore very much though it’s boring!
Well…I like Hong Kong because of its food and shopping. I will go back there for shopping and perhaps a trip to Macau next time and try to close one eye for its poor customer service.
On a sidenote, I received this email from Nathan Hotel.
Actually, I had filled in their feedback form before I left the hotel. I gave them pretty good ratings because I was really satisfied with them (except that the air con was too cold despite raising the temperature to 34 degrees!)
If I were to travel to Hong Kong, I guess I will pick Nathan Hotel again.
See? It makes customers happy when you give good customer service.
