My World. My Life.

Monday, April 30, 2007

{*service in singapore*}

you know how the government has been actively campaigning for better service quality, most notably in the light of major events like the imf held a few months ago. retailers who are the face of the service sector and hence service standard (not exhaustive of hawkers, police force, etc) are encouraged to be more courteous, to offer a more comprehensive, quality service.

however, abstract as it may be, the shared new figures from the World Economic Forum (WEF) saw Singapore’s ranking in the world for service standards registering a drop from number 17 to number 26. more worrisome, the service sector seems to favour foreigners and therefore offer them preferential treatment. note that i am NOT making a generalisation here and accusing of the entire service sector of this. it is based on the experiences i have encountered.

in the past 3 days alone, i've been at the blunt of lousy service. and also, enjoyed surprisingly quality service from an unexpected source. will elaborate on the latter later.

i got my brakes changed the past saturday, at a certain "high-end" bicycle shop along bukit timah. sure, the one behind counter was patient with my questions about the price of the brakes. to be extra certain, i made 2 calls to the shop as i was cycling there and needed to carry sufficient cash/ensure sufficient funds in my credit hard. and sure, he was able to quote the sum of the prices of the cable, levers and brakes.

however his attitude was a turn-off. when he repeated the prices, he said in a irritated tone "din i tell you...?". now, i know it is tiresome standing behind a counter, servicing the endless bicycles, facing demanding customers and answering calls. trust me, i know how it feels. but it is not an excuse. you do not say that to a PAYING customer, even if he is 21 years of age. you do not say that to someone who decides the profits of your company in the short & long term. and i highly doubt he would behave the same way to a foreigner. and i was right.

i told him to give me a call when the bikes were ready. i even wrote down my name and hp number is a clear, very writable hand-writing. he did not do so. i had to call the shop again. and when i got to the shop, he completely ignored me. instead, he was completely focused on aiding a caucasian. no hello, no acknowledgement, no service at all. sure, he may be busy. but the way he behaved strongly illustrated the prejudiced quality of service to locals. his service was so bad to the extent that he did not even bother writing a receipt stating the break-down of the components and the prices. i walked off pissed, having to make do with just a simple cash receipt.

second example. a certain restaurant at bukit panjang plaza selling indonesian/halal food. i was there with my friend on a saturday night, after having changed the brakes. i approached the female waitress at the entrance and said, "table for two, do i have to wait?". i was neither rude or demanding - it was just a clear concise, simple question. she simply stared at me and continued to attend to a family behind me.

again, note that i was definitely audible, but not loud. i was very sure i did not jump thequeue and i wasnt being a least bit aggressive.

ahh now the good part : ) the local bike shop just below my house, opposite ten mile junction. the uncle was EXTREMELY accomodating when my family went to choose a new bike for my sister. and he was again, EXTREMELY patient when i asked him abt the prices of the many components for my mountain bike as well as a problem i was facing with my gear/chain cassette. note that it was part 9 pm - the closing time. yet he did not rush us, gave us a generous discount, changed the seat for free and even adjusted the position of the bars, saddle positions. all without any complaints.

now what is the use of say SPRING and GEMS when the service sector is deterioriating? when you expect good service at reputated outlets and instead get poor snobbish service?

singapore is a mixed economy, leaning towards a capitalist one. consumer sovereignity is one of the criteria determining how much of what is produced. goods and services are catered to our needs and wants. we are the final decision-makers of profit-seeking organisations and businesses. we vote in the marketplace with our dollars and cents. as such, the customer is ALWAYS right.

the service sector cannot simply be rude or display preferential treatment towards foreigners even though they may have deeper pockets. i cannot stress enough the importance of service quality and attitude. in a way, i have a reason for the supposed better service standard in the past - the community was smaller, the people were more sincere and the individuals more sensitive towards others' feelings.

a salute to the uncle at the bike shop. thumbs down to the bukit timah bike shop and restaurant at bpp.

to my readers, feel free to share your personal experiences!

Gabby | 3:43 PM

Thursday, April 26, 2007

{*oh gosh*}

woke up at 0700 to torrential rain. was supposed to go cycling at 0930..haha guess that idea will have to be put on hold till tmr at least, bad bad bad weather expected.

check out this picture i took. my sis says its nice, something rather unexpected for pics i take. i henceforth title it "a reflection of my inner self". look closely and you'll know why.

below is a badly-taken pic. it serves to prove what i said already earlier abt me taking lousy pics..at the same time, its intriguing - its clouds you see in the background..yet the pecular color and position of the clouds make you think one of the the houses has caught fire.

ahh okis im going back to sleep soon. no more cycling, no more fun, but more sleep haha. and rachael if you are reading this, pretty nails pls :D

Gabby | 7:09 AM

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

{*liews!*}

great just great. its gonna rain in the late morning and early afternoon for the next few days. and i've a cycling trip to sentosa on thursday. with my new bicycle tires lacking the quinessential gripping factor when wet, its gonna be a dangerous trip. sigh.

in case you guys are wondering, im no godsent weather-teller(you know, like fortune teller)..instead i reply on the somewhat reliable services of the meteorological agency in singapore. this is the link for the weather forecast for the next 3 days - an impt tool when planning outdoor activities.

Gabby | 12:00 AM

Monday, April 16, 2007

{*bloody ear*}

i discovered a pimple directly below my top ear hole and burst it with a toothpick. clean one of cos. and the blood just BURST out..very much like a fountain. i freaked out even though i felt no pain. sooo i had to sterilise the area and apply some tropical cream.

the main gist of the whole paragraph - i hate seeing blood!

the 1st ear hole i did was disasterous. i had to remove the ear-ring a few days after the piercing and it was really painful. inserting the plastic ear stick wasnt easy either. and whenever i used the plastic ear stick and slept..i found my ear a bloody mess the next day - the ear stick is always yanked out by yours truly when i was sleeping. GRR.

so yeah no blood for me.

Gabby | 11:05 PM

Sunday, April 15, 2007

{*new tires or tyres*}

check out what happened today.

at ard 11 am i was prepared to replace the punctured tires on my 2 full-suspension mountain bikes. my dad surprised me once again, by his geniousity - he managed to remove the 2 tires. its not easy im telling you! with all the gear, chain and stand attached to the back tire, its anything but.

so anyways, i carried the 2 tires to the nearest bike shop which involved a short flight of steps, across a minor road, down a long flight of steps and around 100-200m walk. damn things got so heavy after a while -.- but but but -here comes the good part- the bike shop was closed!!! so i carried the tires back home while my family went for bfast/lunch.

meanwhile i spent the time researching on a change of tire type/width and decided on changing the original tires from a 2.1" width to small ones. less width, less rolling resistance, more speed i figured.

considering into account the severity of the puncture, my dad and i were pretty reluctant to take the bikes out to a bicycle shop at keat hong to get the tires replaced. but throwing all caution to the wind and armed with a hand-pump, we made our way to keat hong. what a mistake. less than 1 km into the journey, the back tire of my dad's bike gave and we couldnt salvage it. sooo we practically pushed the bikes the remainder of the 2.4 km..i did not want my dad to overexert himself, so he took and rode my bike for some distance.

so we finally made it to the bike shop. they offered, upfront, Kenda Klimaxlitetires, 345grams, 26X1.95" at 43 bucks apiece. we took the offer and all was well until we took to the pavement - there was still wax on the tires and it was extremely slippy. my dad slipped :( luckily he was going slowly and sustained superficial wounds to his knee and toe. but if i were him, i'd probably be brawling. my brave daddy!

so anyways we got back w/o any further incidents and i just found out from the reviews online, the tires are extremely thin and lack traction on wet/loose surfaces. so there you are, a flaw in my equation. less width, less roll resistance, more speed and LESS traction. really dangerous.. considering singapore's wet weather. scared as i am, im looking forward to the next trip out on the bikes. gotta be careful tho.

here are some pics. oh and did i mention i did all this at the expense of meeting up with flo and gang? they are having fun at her place now :(

fat 2.1" tires. whole lot of resistance when it comes to acceleration and top speed. ie everything haha. but its compensated by its brilliant grip.

Kenda Klimaxlite 345g! felt like ice-skating when cycling in wet weather.

claims to be 1.95" but its like 1.65" max, somewhat like a slick.

Gabby | 8:36 PM

Thursday, April 12, 2007

{*oh gosh*}

ok it has been 9 days since the last post..since then lots of things have happened. cant really remember much but it involved lots of running, cycling and very little swimming.

hahha and did i mention my sis's exams are finally over? that means undivided attention from her LOL. in case you guys dinno, im an attention seeker at home..as it gets really boring?

in any case, some interesting highlights in my life. again, summarised in terms, not continuous sentences. cycling to ecp w wei ze and jefri. rashes. back tyre of 1 bike flat. front tyre of my bike flat. 80+ km haha. major out-break of rashes on my shoulders,chest and back. eczema. reading april's men's health. tried the chest exercises. NICE.

did you guys know that the avg chest size of a guy's..is 104 cm? and an avg guy can only do 27 push-ups? got it off mh : )

okis gotta go..take care pple.
jia mei, have fun in sentosa!
flo, will try to make it ok? :P
serina, stay happy as usual!

Gabby | 12:34 AM

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

{*mASSage*}

no, this is not a post about lep-sup or dirty massage parlours. rather, it is to complain about my butt!!! it hurts like crazy, along with my lower back, after having cycled today. my legs will follow suit, i believe, in a few hours. hahha.

actually, the whole cycling thing was fun. here's fragments of what happened. im too tired to type an essay.

caught in rain. drenched. singlet stained with mud from the tyres. got drenched again by an inconsiderate lorry driver which drove over a huge puddle. cck, bukit batok, jurong, clementi. went ghim moh for lunch. katong laksa, ju gui. queensway. people's park. tanglin. bukit timah. past sim, np. sim babes. and back home!

thanks wei ze and jefri, for an enjoyable time. and yes we are like some mad japanese guys! pushing on and on, through the pain and fatigue. and the numerous times we all skidded lol. and thanks for helping me wash the mud away jefri : D happy belated birthday, i did not forget it!

rock on pple, till next time. and btw, lets all join our hands in welcoming jia mei back to singapore :D and oooh candace, cycling yeah!

Gabby | 6:05 PM

Monday, April 02, 2007

{*a call for cyclists!*}

ok, here's the deal. are there ANY cyclists (whom own their own bikes)out there who wanna cycle any day of the week? do drop me a tag, we can go on adventures :D

hahah i always wanted to join like this huge group of cyclists, conquering the hills and roads..!!

cheers.

Gabby | 11:36 PM