Customer service facepalms

Customer service here in Singapore can be a real mixed bag: I have encountered situations where the staff went out of their way to help make our visit enjoyable and efficient, and we invariably spend more money than we intended although willingly. On the other hand, i recall a restaurant in NY where the waiter complained our tip was too low even though he had hardly served us and was quite grumpy but we were rushing for a broadway show so didn't quibble and paid more.

Some recent incidences led me to write this post about customer service-
(at an ifruit shop)
me: excuse me, what is the difference between these two power packs?
(one was labelled 4000 and the other 8000)
staff: oh, one is 4000 and the other is 8000.
me: er, yah, but in terms of use?
staff: i guess 8000 is bigger?
(quite evident from the transparent packaging)
me: *mutters to self* thanks for nothing, for a moment there i thought i was going illiterate and blind, but you confirmed that my eyesight is indeed working, and i still have my ability to read.

 (at a bar)
me: what brands of gin do you have?
staff: we have bombay......
me: erm, not really my thing, any others?
staff: yah, we have tonic.
me: you have tonic gin?? (wtf look from me)
staff: yah
me: i'll have a pint of beer please.

More soccer training

Another night, another training session, this time at a new venue with a new old turf (it was formerly used at a national pitch that had since been upgraded) but it was only 10v10 when we played a full pitch match. Had the chance to play as a striker with another like-minded player as the rest of the team already knew each other and had their positions sorted. Overall it was a really good game and the coach even declared it to be the best full pitch game he has seen since starting this training academy.

Had limited chances at goal as it was easier for me to support the attack by dropping back and playing the pass or laying the ball off for an oncoming runner to shoot. I did manage to intercept a wayward backpass at speed only to shoot wide while trying to lob the ball into empty goal (goalkeeper came out to challenge). Another opportunity came when after some good interplay, i played my strike partner into the box only for him to run in my direction and pass the ball to me, which meant the defender tracking continued his run and managed to get a block in. I really should have taken one more touch instead of shooting first time. Final chance came to me after i was released down the left and drew the last man before crossing the ball over for my strike partner in space, who controlled and then put the ball wide *facepalm*. Good session overall as i also managed a nutmeg in the rondo warmup. =)

Gender equality

Another night, another training session and the coaches remarked that we were getting better at our possession of the ball and learning to relax and be comfortable on the ball.

We did have a female footballer join us for training and it did spark some thoughts about gender equality while we were playing. It was triggered when she made one bad pass after another and was clearly unable to stop the ball, let alone play it along (the one time she did, she passed it straight to the opposition). A "wtf are you doing" statement was met with "but she's a girl!" from a teammate, and i realised that true gender equality had kicked in for me because i saw her as a football player rather than the weaker sex. I have played with girls who are good at soccer, and it is all basic stuff, as we should be doing, that they did well: passing, stopping the ball, passing (again), running into space, tracking the opponent with ball, etc. This particular specimen instead chose to hide behind the "I'm a girl you know" argument and refuse to acknowledge her failings on the pitch which garners no respect or sympathy from yours truly. Was made to play right back which was a tiring job, especially if one chooses to join in the attack by overlapping and playing people into space, but it was fun. More interestingly, J scored a beauty of a goal, rocketing the ball into the top right hand corner while in full stride, classic J. =)

Hide and seek hijinks

Being the festive season, our daughter had a chance to play with her cousins who were around her age and it was quite amusing to watch them all run around and have fun.

A moment of hilarity for the observing adults occurred when it was our daughter's turn to seek. Aside from short circuiting the counting to twenty: "one, two, ......, ten, twenty", she got abit excited about it and was a bit lost for the first few seconds and had to be reminded where the girls hid previously and to look there.

What followed when it was her second go at seeking was even funnier, because she finished her truncated numerals and then after a brief search of the living room, got distracted by the tv and sat down to watch the program. It was until someone ask "aren't you supposed to look for people?" that she went "oh yah" and ran off looking for them. And when she found them, she then forgot she was the seeker and hid with them. Funny thing was, due to the time lapse, they had forgotten too, and all were hiding (as usual) in the same place. It wasn't until after a while when the adults were wondering where the kids were that this confusion was sorted out. =) Great to see her playing well with the other kids.