Complaining - That What We Do

My friend and fellow blogger, Boh Tong is blogging about The Ugly PPS passengers. The crews and ex-crews has a field day writing in the comments and expressing their frustrations and anger towards the passengers. Some also highlight great passengers especially the late Mrs. Lee Kuan Yew. I have written compliments to on the crews whenever I had a pleasant experience or notice a hardworking stewardess with a great attitude. Singapore Airlines acknowledges my feedback and also promised to forward my compliments to the appropriate crews. I love Singapore Airlines not just for the young and sweet looking stewardess (although this does help!) but for the service and positive disposition. It seems the cabin crews have lots of grievances and misgivings with their interactions with demanding passengers. No shortage of complaints there. Some highlights a few nice rich and famous personalities like movie stars.
Personally, I think most passengers are very regular i.e. they are neither nice or nasty. Crews being human remembers all the nasty incidents. I bet they don't remember any of nice compliments they get but remembers all the complaints. Complaints are easier to remember as it is negative and there is an action plan or change in behaviours required by the airline. Compliments? Well, it is expected and very quickly forgotten.
Boh Tong is an ex-crew, so he has the views of cabin crew. I am a passenger and so have the perspective of a Customer. Crews are some times not nice and Customers too! Most time, Crews are warm and courteous and Customers too!

Tap is off

2pm today, the rain finally stopped. It was raining non-stop since I landed at 6am Sunday. The reservoir is overflowing! Not really. The flood gates were opened and the water level is back to normal. We had continuous rain before but not heavy continously. This is my first experience. I understand from the wife this January, we received 4 times the average precipitation this month. What a wet Jan!

Pleasant Flight

I had a good flight from LA to home. I could not sleep and read all the newspapers from cover to cover. Then the magazines, Newsweek, Harvard Business Review, Economist and Businessweek. I ran out of reading material!! I watched a Chinese movie which is really really unusual for me. A week may be too long for me to be immerse in the Angmo culture as Chinese movies is not my "thing". I prefers cars chase, mindless violent and the hero get the girl theme(learn this from the movie, Megamind). So off to the kitchen and disturb the poor cabin crews who have to put up with a alert and talkative passenger. I guess I was lucky as the flight stewardesses were Malaysian. Malaysians are open and warm. Maybe because they are from small town. Chief Steward was excellent probably because he is my age group and we can talk at the same wavelength. The other steward is a Singaporean and just listened intently and did not talk much. He is a typical reticent Singapore boy only answers when the question is direct specifically to him. I am so glad to land after being cooped in a confined space for 18 hours. Time to adjust back to local time.

Reflections on my week in US

Writing is a good way to occupy myself while waiting for my flight. Right now I am in the lounge in Los Angeles Airport. I am making good use of the couple hours of dead time.
The Barnes and Noble is a disappointment. The books are selection are less then Borders or Kinokuniya in Singapore. Many old books on bargain price. The wind of change has happened. Asia is the happening place. I recalled when I first visited US in 1984, I spent hours at the bookstore. The selection was enormous. At that time, MPH was the flagship bookstore and has only tiny fraction of what Barnes and Noble or Borders offers. I was also amazed and impressed by all the English books on Buddhism, Oriental philosophy that were not available in Singapore. Today, quite clearly US is behind in the book retail business.
Even drinking Starbucks coffee is so much cheaper here than at home. It is really fun to travel when exchange rate is in our favor. The cost of lodging plus car for my trip here per day is actually lower than just the hotel cost in the cities of Asia. It is not an apple to apple comparison. Atlanta is not a top tier city like New York, Seoul, Shanghai or Tokyo. Still the balance definitely tilt to Asia.
I must say the security checks flow has improved a lot since I was last here maybe 5 years ago. The queues are not as long and the flow is relatively good although is not as efficient as those in Asia. Airports in China move a lot more people and at a much faster rate. Hey! it is still the first world compared the India's airports. The mood is also more relaxed and competent. After 9/11, America is just in a state of hysteria.
I am not sure if I am going to be back here again. The plan right now is Germany in October. Travelling 17hours is far better than 28hours.

Barnes and Noble

I saw Barnes and Noble on the way to dinner on Wednesday. I have a little free time this morning before I leave Altanta and will have the chance to do my favorite pastime. There is a Starbucks right beside. So it is perfect!

Pitch Black

It is pitch black and cold outside. I have been awake for an hour now and writing my blog. Occupying myself until dawn. I can go for breakfast in an hour and half. Same food everyday - scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, wafers and American biscuits with gravy. The fruit section has my usual favorite, pineapple and something usually unavailable at home - raspberry, gooseberry and blueberry. The bread section is not exciting - the bagels are big but tasteless, other types of bread which do not look appealing to me. Americans are into quantity rather than quality. Bread selection is broad in Europe and each country have many different ways of making their bread. I am always thinking about food and worrying about my weight. I need a different mindset.

Catching up with Friends

Finally, I have a chance to have dinner with Kate and her husband. It is very nice to catch up with him. He is selling cardiovascular products, chest drains and synthetic blood vessels. Kate and I have a wonderful time talking shop and updating each other. The food was very good. I had a hamburger. I also ate up all the leftover cookies in my room. Man, I am so full now.

My First Dinner

Last night, I had my first dinner since I landed on US soil on Sunday night/Monday morning. I am glad I did not have regular meals as I usually gain too much weight with all the rich foods. We went to an all American resturant called The Cheesecake. It has a wonderful spread of cheesecake all at American size i.e. each slice is enough to feed my family of five. I order a petite filet steak and it was tender and succulent. Yes, I must always order my steaks medium in future.
Hooray! Today is my last day of meeting. So it will be time to hit the road and go back home for Chinese New Year.

Good Day

I had a good day. I was awake all the time...amazing! The meeting went well and I must say we do spend a lot time talking and talking. Go in a circle and talk again. The good thing is we bring out a lot of issues and discussed them. Whoa! no kidding. I am glad this kind of meetings happened on once or twice a year. Death by discussions. Life in a big bureaucracy. It is like politics. Plenty of robust discussions just to come out with policies. Well, I am glad to be back and sleeping soon. Goodnite, everyone. I will sleep tight.

TV for Company

I am up in the middle of the night with no one but the TV for company. This is the fun of travelling across time zones. Luckily, I have not ate much while letting my body adjust to the local time. Tomorrow will be different. I may be drinking plenty of calories just to keep awake. No weighing scale here. So I have no way of tracking my weight change.
TV programs in the US is just full of buy, buy, buy. Call now so that you do not missed this opportunity! It is consume, consume, consume. The Americans have too many companies promoting consumption in order to grow. This is the modern economy at work.

Aching Molar

My molar is aching. I have replaced the filling but it is sore. I may need to cap it to have a more permanent repair. Taking care of teeth is so important. B3 is only nine and he has decay in his permanent molar. I hope he will start to listen and inculcate the habit of brushing his teeth at least twice a day. I did not go to a primary school that has regular dental checkup and oral hygiene instructions. I munch too much on nuts, chips and cookies. Enjoy junk food and pay and pay.

Roswell, Georgia

USA - a long long way. 17 hours to LA then another 5 hours to Roswell. My original transit time was more than 6 hours. Luckily, I managed to get an earlier flight out after I clear immigration. So instead of arriving 6am Monday morning, I arrived 12 midnight. The drive from Atlanta to Roswell is one hour with no traffic. It is nice to drive in the middle of the night! I am glad I managed to switch to the earlier flight. Otherwise I will be fighting Monday morning rush hour.
I tried to nap but not successful. So I am up writing my blog.
I am starving. I had two warm chocolate chips cookies when I checked in. Yes, this is a nice warm welcome from the hotel. I first experience this hotel in San Diego and like it so much (with my sweet tooth!). I am glad the hotel in Roswell is converted to this chain as well. It was something different and every since our San Diego office was closed I did not get a chance to eat this warm chocolate chips cookies again until tonight. So things does go in a circle. San Diego office has been closed for maybe 7 years now. I loved the city. It is a great place to live and visit. I like the architecture and the weather. The food is ... as the Aussies put it, beautiful. Anyway, Roswell is a nice small town outside Atlanta.
The next few days are jammed packed with food and plenty of coffee to fight jetlag. My brain will go on overdrive with all the meetings. I hope I do not gain too much weight. My past records are no good as I loved American food deep fried everything, meats and giant portions. The motherland of extremely sweet Krispy Kreme donuts.

Spring Cleaning

We are putting on a fresh coat of paint on our home. We have to move our furniture and shelves out for the painters to do their work. As we put back our paraphenalia, we took the opportunity to clear up all our unwanted stuff. The boys are not interested. They only help out when asked. Even with repeated reminders, they do not wish to clear their stuff. I am glad to finally decide to get rid of a lot of my R/C helicopters and airplanes. They are not the serious hobbyist type but made in China toys for kids.
I have lots of magazines like National Geographic, Harvard Business Review and Reader's Digest that I am still keeping. I am glad I did not subscribe to the periodicals as my library will be overflowing in no time. My collection of books have grown but I am keeping them for reference. Clearing up gives me a nice refreshing feel in my home office and with the clutter gone, my place now feel so Zen!

Trepidation

It has been more than 3 years since I last visited US. I am a little stressed by the recent snowstorms that my destination city experienced. I have not driven in snow for long time. Probably since I left Toronto. Driving in snow is so demand and I am worried as the drive will be long and arduous. I do not fancy a challenging drive after 36 hours of air travel. I am going to land on Monday morning, start of the rush hour. The schedule is not good. I would have landed on Sunday night if I go via New York but the snow storm disrupted all flights in La Guardia and Kennedy airport a couple weeks ago. So I take the less disruptive but not as good a connection via LA.

Tooth Cracked!

The filling of my last molar just cracked! Terrible thing to happen on a Friday night and I am leaving for US on Sunday. I have to seek emergency treatment. Luckily, my wife has the telephone number of a dental clinic nearby and she managed to secure an appointment for me tomorrow morning. I was told by my new dentist in NUH that the filling has crack last month and I thought I can hold off the treatment for a few months... dental treatments are expensive. Now I am in desperate straits. Hopefully, I can get it fixed for at least until Chinese New Year is over tomorrow.
Angels, please look after me.

Superstitious?

Last night, I did not sleep well. My eyes was itchy and painful. When I woke up, my right eye was swollen. It must be bacteria infection as bad smell emanate from my eyes when I rubbed them vigorously. I went to an Eye Doctor and there were two pus sac on my right eye and one much bigger pus sac on my left eye. The doctor removed the pus sacs and prescribed two different type of eye drops and a cream for my swollen lid.
Then in the afternoon when I ride my bike into the PCN, I was putting my phone into my pocket and riding handsfree, I lost my balance and almost go into the reservoir. I managed to brake and recover by putting my foot on the green fence. Phew! I thanked angels for protecting me.
On the way home, on the up slope, I shifted to a lower gear to make it easier to climb the gradient. The chain jammed. I have to stop to release it. After that, as I ride, I tried to reverse pedal and lost my balance and fell. I have deep scratches on my left elbow and left knee. Luckily, I was wearing my gloves and my palms which I used to break my fall is just bruised rather than having the skin torn off.
Is today my unlucky day? I am glad it is the end of the day.

Done!

My feedback to NParks works! The lights are working now. I have left ST a voicemail to let her know they are turned on. This is effective government at work. I am officially impressed. Kudos to NParks.

Chance Meeting with NParks

I was cycling on my favorite PCN when I met NParks officials. They are warm and solicited my feedback on the PCN. I was shocked! Government staff asking for feedback? This is really incredible to me. No wonder Singapore is a city in a Garden. No wonder we are one of the happiest country in the world.
I gave feedback to the super nice lady who was in-charge but there to handover over her PCN project to another colleague. I am very pleased with the PCN. Half the lights along a stretch of the PCN near Pei Hwa Secondary are not working. She immediately called over the contractor and asked him to get it fixed right away. She expected the lights to be back on by tonight. On top of this she also introduced herself and gave me her office number so that I can become
"Friends of NParks" and give her feedback NParks' projects. Soliciting the users in giving constructive feedbacks and acting on them, NParks is an organisation that has modernise its methods and management. I am impressed! Keep up the excellent work, NParks.

Happy

I have an excellent day today! I made a few people happy and I love it! I get a kick out of making others happy.

Record Cold

The La Nina is causing record low temperature in Singapore. It is wonderfully cool. I love it! How I wish we have this kind of temperature all year round. This weather reminds me of winter in Perth. It is cool and allows me to jog for long time. I busted my knees a long time ago. So it is swimming and now cycling.
My colleagues are sharing the snowstorms they had. London, Atlanta and somewhere else in Europe experienced snows like never before. It is fun for the kids and frustrations for the adults. Welcome to the new world.