Yoogane @ Westgate (Review)

Can't even hire good staff.   Don't hire airy-headed teenagers who can't even focus on the customer.

 
Bad customer interaction: 

1) Westgate Sat afternoon.  I see a big chicken/rooster (person inside) posing for photos with a few people on the ground floor. The name tag on the chicken said "Yoogane". I read it aloud "yoo ga ne".

One young Singaporean guy about 17~18 years years old appeared & gave me a round hard card with a small-printed chicken picture & a Facebook URL that told me nothing of what it is about.

"Want to take photos?"  (with the chicken) he asked.

"What's this about?" I asked.

"Today is our first day.  We have one at Bugis and now here. Korean chicken.". he said,  eyes already shifting away to search for other people.

"Oh. Like that Korean chicken..." I wanted to say 4 Fingers.

"But it's not fried." he said, turning to reply and turning to look elsewhere.

"Where is it?" I asked.

"Upstairs. 3rd floor. You want to take photos?"

I shook my head.  And his attention was already gone.  I emphasize there were only a few people around. So his impersonal & distracted attitude was minus points.

This is really bad for a shop/restaurant that has just opened on its first day.  Is taking photo with that chicken that important compared to directing the customer to the restaurant (which should be the target of their event)? 

First of all, that round hard card is useless.  The company & staff should provide the necessary information straightaway. 1) What is it.  2) Location of restaurant. Where is it near to? Or how to get there.


2) When bro & I went to the 3rd floor, the restaurant was nowhere in sight until we walked towards the left & bro saw the balloon decorations for their opening.

Seeing the standee of featured food, bro said "Unappetizing".

I noticed no one was at the menu stand to greet customers. One young waitress with pony tail about 17~19 years old, approached but turned & hung back looking behind at nothing, even though we were standing in front at the menu stand.

Looking at the menu, I considered trying their fried rice. "It is done by a Korean chef?". I asked.

"Yes, but we cook it." she replied just as I was stepping in.

I stopped, perplexed by what she meant. And asked again if it was cooked by a Korean chef in the kitchen.

"We cook it for you." she said.  "All of our staff are trained to cook for the customer. We cook it in front of you. Only for these... (she pointed at some items in the menu) are cooked in the kitchen.".

When she said they are all trained to cook for customers, I looked at the staff behind her.  All young, airy-headed girls like herself.   Very doubtful they can cook anything, and I would be very wary about letting them cook my food, let alone outside of the kitchen where there is no proper equipment except for a "stove" set in the table.

How hot can it get by "cooking" at the table?  Is the food going to be properly & thoroughly cooked? I don't want Pepper & Lunch type of "cooking".

The food should be cooked by real cooks, with a certain level of maturity and experience. Not by a waitress and certainly not by airy-headed staff who aren't even professional towards the customer.

Even while I was talking to her, it was obvious her attention was elsewhere.  Very distracted, very impersonal.  Same as that guy downstairs on the ground floor. Her dead-fish eyes and behavior tell me she is only here for the money. She don't care for the customer. And in fact, she don't care about the company or the food they are selling. She is not interested.  (From her voice, she is Singaporean).

She invited me to try the "new experience" of eating their cooking. I said, "Maybe some other time." and walked away.

I was reminded of the Yahoo article I read last night. "Why are fresh diploma grads still losing out?".... "due to lack of interpersonal skills".

Although I don't agree that employers hire based on interpersonal skills, it would seem that it's true young Singaporeans lack interpersonal skills in this Yoogane case.

Oddly, that yahoo article is gone.  Yahoo must have taken it down for some government-enforced reason.

I don't know why Korean restaurants are so poorly managed.  Bibigo@Raffles City & Kimchi @Suntec.

Coffee Significantly Raises Blood Pressure

Rarely do I drink coffee. Last night, just 1/2 cup of MacDonald's Caramel Macchiato (M size) at about 6.40pm.

At about 8pm (or between 7 & 8pm), systolic blood pressure was 103. At 12.25am, systolic became 132.  In just 4.5 hrs, blood pressure has significantly increased to prehypertension level. 

At both measurement times, diastolic pressure (bottom number) & heart rate no significant difference.

Caffeine constricts not only blood vessels, but also the heart muscle. Very bad. I only wanted it because ALT Pizza coffee was like water (some days back) & made me crave for the taste of Caramel Macchiato.

Bro and I talked about this before. That if a person consistently drinks coffee, it is possible that person will develop high blood pressure without knowing it.

At the moment, the caffeine is making me rather ill.  Because I didn't eat well before the coffee (caffeine irritates the stomach).

Only had 2 boiled eggs at about 11.30am, then went swimming & basketball & drank coconut Mogu Mogu in between. Returning home, I ate 2 oranges & 1 large persimmon. By then it was about 5.30pm. Dinner was at about 6.15pm, too late.  

While my heart rate was 77 at 12.25am, I felt (and am still feeling) rather strange, as if it's beating oddly (that's why I measured it).

In fact, a lot of soft drinks contain caffeine. And these drinks are easily available to kids at the supermarket. Women are always worrying about the sugar content. But actually, it should be the caffeine and phosphoric acid that they should be worrying about. (I don't drink soft drinks/soda, never liked them.).

Not only does caffeine raise blood pressure, it prevents absorption of many minerals & vitamins needed by the body. Example, iron. Very bad for women as many are anemic without knowing it.

Many people including (clueless) doctors underestimate coffee.

I Love the Smiles of Kobe Bryant & Michael Jordan

^__^ Such handsome men. So focused. So quick to react even under heavy pressure in the game. Love their fast reflexes. Amazing.





What's more amazing is ... this guy Skywalker who plays street basketball & can jump over 5 ft 4 inches (1.6m).

Why does 2014 FIBA Basketball Look Tame Compared to NBA?

Boring passes. No dunks, hanging or not. No crazy crowds? On Best behavior? No wild shots? No taking risks? Tame. Where's the hot fun passion? The flair?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YY3rtqBzpI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMAeQuV30Hw



Who's the guy with the beard? SO uncool. Where are the famous NBA players? They don't play World Cup? Where's Kobe Bryant?

ALT Pizza Suntec (Review)

Service excellent.   But...

While walking out the 2nd time we ate there... Thurs night. 

Me:  Ok. that's it. We won't be going back. This is the 2nd chance.
Bro (surprised): Not going back?
Me: No. Already 2nd chance. How many points you give?
Bro: 3.
Me: Even less than yesterday. Yesterday you gave 4. Yeah, this time is worse. Yesterday I gave 3, today they fail.

Never get a boy to do a man's job in making pizzas.

1) Nobody in the online reviews mentioned that the pizzas have burnt bottoms. Not totally burnt but there are burnt areas that I needed to scrape off.  Annoying.

2) I haven't come across a pizza that has ingredients to match the area of dough. ALT is no different.  Too few ingredients spread over the pizza. Too dry. I taste more dry dough than the ingredients. For pizza, you cannot stinge on the amount of ingredients.

3) The pizzas became cold very fast after only the 1st piece.


Wed about 6.20pm: C-food Pie pizza with add-on Chipotle Chicken + Cappucino + 8 pc wings = $49.45.

Thurs night about 8.15pm: Truffle Shuffle pizza + 1 Chamomile cup. $21.06.  

Bro said the cappucino was weak. "illy" brand of cup. "illy" brand of coffee? I took a sip. Yeah, it's like water. Worse than MacD's caramel macchiato (that I always complain tastes burnt at ARC).

The 8 pc wings. Bro said so damn salty. I agree. I think they were marinated with BBQ sauce, too much and for too long?  No special taste. Just... wings with a too strong & salty smoky BBQ flavor. The staff was generous with the 2 dip sauces that came with it. Mayo & a tangy chilli. The latter went better with the smoky BBQ flavor of the wings. The dips were actually useless with wings that tasted too strong on their own.

As mentioned in the points above, the C-food Pie pizza was somewhat burnt beneath. The shrimp was fresh & bouncy. Overall passable. Other than the shrimp, there didn't seem to be anything else significant to the taste buds.

The next day, we returned at night (Thurs) because I was craving for ALT pizza when I saw the lousy-looking Pizza Hut pizzas that people were eating at KFC. After eating chicken at KFC, we went home, dressed then came out again to Suntec.

The Truffle Shuffle was highly recommended by online reviewers. Since there wasn't much on the menu to try, I ordered this.   Result was even worse than previous day. Dry. Few ingredients. Nothing special. Again burnt parts on the bottom, and this time burnt/black onion strips on top. Disappointment. A young man (boy) with black-rimmed glasses was at the wood oven. If he made this, he should be fired or trained to make better pizzas.

The only thing good, was the Chamomile tea. And I didn't finish it because I've tasted better at Lady M that serves in a pot.

Therefore, ALT "ah gui, ah bo ho jia" (expensive and not nice. Expensive when it's not nice.).

I don't know how all the reviewers can say that it's so great. They went there for the beer, right? And were somewhat drunk and unable to discern. Or rather, everything's good as long as there's alcohol (just like Qusumi-san in Kodoku no gurume Japanese food episodes).


In terms of service, ALT is very warm (although the staff don't say much) & considerate.

Memorable: 

There were 2 spare plates stacked at the side of the table. 

On Wed evening, Bro took a plate & removed froth from his cappucino onto it. A staff later saw the plate, removed & replaced it with a clean one.  I like.

On Thurs night, when the bald man brought the pizza, he very attentively took the top plate and put it on my side before putting the other plate at my bro's side. Very nice initiative. I like.  He's the manager or supervisor? He was there on both days. I like his soft way of speaking, his tone of voice.  He speaks softly and yet strong enough to be heard above the oldies music (sound level just right).  Very professional.  When I speak, he looks at me.   But I think he's not local. There's some slight accent to his words?

The staff are very polite, friendly, observant, attentive where it matters & unobtrusive. I don't think the customers who were laughing & drinking realize this. This type of service is almost impossible to find in Singapore.

If only their pizzas were better. 

Gintama Anime

Currently watching this. So silly. Watching it for the voice/seiyuu (Kazuya Nakai) of Imayoshi in Kuroko no Basuke (Kuroko's Basketball).  Imayoshi (captain of the Touou Gakuen Basketball team) has a Very sexy dialect accent to his Very sexy & intimidating voice. What accent is it? Okinawa? Sounds like the characters from the anime Barakamon.

In Gintama, the seiyuu has lost the Imayoshi accent but his voice is still sexy. Unfortunately, his voice doesn't fit the role. The drawing and his voice don't match. He voices Hijikata Toshizo of the Shinsengumi.

Another unfortunate point about Gintama, is the drawing. Not attractive. No bishounen & no pretty girls. It's just silly humor that is sometimes so inane that I have to skip forwards.

Certain segments are good. Example at the end of Ep 5. Classroom with Gin-san & Hijikata (Imayoshi) over Gin-san smoking a cigarette while teaching when it's actually really, a lolly.  I giggled.

So hard to find good anime these days. Gintama is not it. Kuroko's Basketball... I watched it & re-watched it already.  So I watched the whole thing twice.  Waiting for next year March 2015 for Season 3.  -.- Long wait.

Wonder if the seiyuu for Imayoshi really speaks that dialect accent? Coz he sounds very natural. Is Nakai an Okinawan surname?

I saw Google images of Gin-san & Hijikata yaoi together... Curious & watching the Gintama anime to see any aspects that suggest so. 

In Ep 5, they meet each other for the first time. Hijikata tries to kill Gin-san with his sword. Gin-san dodges. Nothing yaoi there.

The moment I heard Katsura's/Zura's voice in Gintama, I knew it was Ishida Akira.  Sexy in a deep, heavy way. This time,  at one point he sounds a little like the seiyuu... Shiozawa Kaneto who died many years ago (voiced the sexy & cold hard-voiced blond Iason Mink in the yaoi anime Ai no Kusabi).

Can't believe Gintama can run into so many episodes when it's so silly.  200 over episodes. Just nuts. (brings to mind Naruto).

Had to skip the entire Ep 5. If it continues this way, I'm going to have to stop watching completely, Imayoshi's voice or not. I'll just have to search for more of his voice in other anime. Or ... re-watch his parts in Kuroko's Basketball.


 

China Men Squatting Outside Our HDB Flats

Was walking home with bro after a night out. Saw a China man squatting along the walkway watching an iphone in his hand.

Me: Look at that China man squatting there. The only illumination on his face from his phone.
Bro (glancing up): Looks like he discovered light.
Me (glancing up to look again & sees that it matches the China man's caveman posture exactly with that light on his face): Heeheeehee...

These days, ever since the Singapore government allowed in all these foreigners, China men have entered/invaded our heartlands & squat along our walkways.  China men love squatting. They have this mentality that since it's a public space, they can just sit around. Same mentality as Filipinos, India Indians and Indonesians.  It's very strange. I can only imagine that their countries must be a mess with everyone just doing whatever they like in public places.

That's why foreigners have no place anywhere. They come with their own ideas, own rules of their own game plan with no regard for their host country. It is detrimental to have them, rather than beneficial. They mess everything up and become an eyesore.

Foreign Workers Simulation Riot SG

1) Practice using our own SG people so that these foreigners don't know what we are practicing. Don't let them know how we are doing it.

2) Get the names of those NGOs rights groups people who are whining over this.  When the next riot comes, put them on the front line. We'll have fun seeing what happens next.

Useless to use real India Indians for show in pretend riot practice. Use SG people with real plans and real strategies.   First of all, you don't have enough manpower.  And what you have, are not trained.

Next time, it may not be India Indians who riot. And it may be bigger. If they all band together and riot at the same time island-wide, you're finished. Just around 400 previously and the police couldn't even handle.

Police chief at Little India admitted they can't cope every weekend. That riot was waiting to happen. Local Indians advise their friends against going to Little India. No longer safe. 

Interview with previous old policeman back in the days where they did everything, he said in those days, those foreigners would never have been able to touch the police cars let alone overturn these vehicles.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/simulation-exercise-involving-foreign-workers-dehumanizing--say-rights-groups-033241404.html

Now I Know Why NBA players look like Crooks

That's because they are.  My analysis of faces has not been wrong so far.

(If you show me a photo of the man/woman you're going to marry, I would be able to tell you what to expect. If you're having trust issues with someone and show me his/her photo, I would be able to tell you whether to trust this person or not.).

I'm watching a video on Kobe Bryant giving a free lesson (tips) to a Time interviewer on the court.  And one of the tips Kobe gives is to pin the interviewer's left (strong) hand with his own so that the ball slips off the interviewer's weaker (right) hand and Kobe then grabs it.

When the interviewer asks how Kobe gets away with it, Kobe says "it's too fast" "too quick" (to be seen by the referee).  Bloody hell. Dirty tricks. What fair play?

My question is, why don't the opponent inform the referee?  With the tip off, will the referee then watch more closely and stop this?

Turns out the anime Kuroko no Basuke is true to life. Wow. These people really do such things. As long as the referee doesn't see...

I don't know how a person can be completely happy and proud winning by such methods.  That win is tainted.

I swear that I don't know who Kobe Bryant is until I watched videos of him shooting and then a documentary.  I've only been into basketball these few days.  I only know the name Michael Jordan but it's only now that I take a good look at his face.

First impression of Kobe Bryant's face when I first had a good look on screen (before that Time video):  A clean/honest-looking face, symmetrical (attractive like Michael Jordan), his eyes seem honest. But there is something behind that face and those eyes that you might want to hold back on. However, it is still possible to risk putting a trust in him to test him out (for say, maybe you need him to do something for you).

First impression of Michael Jordan when I first had a good look on screen just now:  The face of a brute. Handsome. But a bad face. Not someone to be trifled with.  Like a drunk that sees only red. Not someone I would like to meet.  Aggression is written on his face. Low tolerance.  Bad temper and liable to be violent.   Based on an instructional video, he is definitely very calculative in his manoeuvres, more so than Kobe Bryant.  I would say he is a more forceful and stricter personality than Kobe Bryant. I don't know if he also uses dirty tricks to score but I won't be surprised if he doesn't (his face is a predominantly brutish face with no apparent undercurrent of underhandedness.). 

The NBA DUNK! Truth & Facts *smiles* *and smiling*...

I love this video. Thanks to Kuroko no Basuke (anime),  I'm into basketball these days & I thought dunks are one of the important things to learn or excel at. Watching the NBA dunk contest (where one of them even blew out the candle on a small cake on the seat of the hoop while dunking) affirmed it.  

But here in this video, I'm happy to know that dunks are actually ... for players who can't shoot even when it's a free throw and they are tall and big. It's a total bummer just watching them miss and they feel the same way too. Indeed, it's Inconceivable.  (I love Princess Bride also).

While watching, I wondered if this person was jealous of people who can dunk? A case of sour grapes?  As I watched the end where he shows the proof of dunkers being bad at free throws... I think I believe him.  (Why didn't he mention Michael Jordan? Did I miss it?)

Nevertheless, it's nice to be able to dunk even if it's like spinning the ball on your finger -- just for showing off.

Incidentally, why do basketball players look like crooks? They have very bad faces.

(I was looking for how to increase jump height. Little educational info so far until I came upon this video).

Sim Lim Square Tourist Vietnamese Man Refund

What a farce!

A man walks into a shop of his own free will. Attempts to buy an iphone and is conned. So?

Does this mean that every time a man or woman walks into a shop and gets conned, he/she gets crowdfunded???

Then might as well crowdfund for those aunties and uncles who also got conned buying fake jade from roadside stalls or got conned giving money to suspicious persons!

He was scammed, not robbed. Know the difference. Scammed means he had time to think through his options before deciding to part with his money. The choice was his own.  How can other people compensate him for a decision that he made poorly?

Even if he was robbed, there is also no need to raise funds for him.  

It's an iphone for shit's sake. A luxury item. A gift for that Vietnamese man to impress his girlfriend. You want to help such a wimpy and stupid man impress his girlfriend who will be breaking up with him anyway?

A man (or woman) who kneels has no pride.  For money (and just some few hundreds), he threw away his pride so easily and begged on his knees. On top of that, he's stupid.  That's why the Sim Lim shop owner/s laughed at him. In a war, such a wimpy begging man will be shot point-blank or beheaded. 

If foreigners had donated $15,000 to that Vietnamese man, I don't care. But if Singaporeans donated, then Singaporeans are mad & stupid.

Instead of helping your own SG people with the money, you give to foreigner. 

So many poor Singaporeans don't even have enough food to eat, no place to stay.  Singaporeans who need medical help but can't pay.   (When I say "Singaporeans", I mean the true blue ones. Not those new citizen or foreigner-I-was-born-here shit.).

Yet here is this so-called Singaporean who gives this foreigner an iphone6! And when that foreigner declines,  Kang Kang says $15,000 is all expenses paid trip in Singapore!

And that $15,000 is not even his to give. It's other people's money through crowdfunding.  This is the greatest fool of a Singaporean man I have ever read. If he is even Singaporean with a surname like that. Gabriel Kang. "Kang Kang" (empty in Hokkien). https://sg.news.yahoo.com/campaign-raises-almost-15-000-090243409.html

Real democratic countries know that SG is fake. So what "damage" to SG's image is there with Sim Lim Square? Tourists just won't go there. Simple. What for crowdfund to help a foreigner? All for show. Can't even think for yourselves.  Can't even help yourselves. And want to show off by helping a foreigner.

Why don't you crowdfund for me? I was robbed $100 by a foreigner.

Based on recent articles, the Vietnamese are actually even more patriotic & united than Singaporeans when it comes to going against foreigners. China & Japan are also more patriotic & united than Singaporeans. Even Hong Kong is more united than Singaporeans.

Singaporeans are an embarrassment.  They treat their own people badly whether in the office or elsewhere.  I don't know if Singaporeans have always been like this many years ago or a recent thing.  But many bad attitudes that I have come across as a Singaporean, have been from other Singaporeans.

It seems natural to assume that Singaporeans should treat other Singaporeans well, but that's not the case. In fact, it's the opposite.

Singaporeans "pity" foreigners very well.  But when it comes to interacting with their own people, Singaporeans show their really ugly side.  Proof?  One is right here! => Woman with guide dog injured after taxi driver refuses to ferry them  (This poor woman has been suffering the ugly side of Singaporeans so many times).

I used to be angry that Singaporeans are being "bullied" by foreigners & the government. By as I realize, I can't side with Singaporeans anymore. Singaporeans are more and more stupidly ridiculous. Too much iphone??