Oktoberfest fiasco

This week passed very fast. Mainly because I took MC on wed, and I was in pain throughout the week, suffering from something that basically caused me great pain and discomfort at ALL times. I especially had problem walking and sitting, and had to settle for waddling around like a pregnant woman which is extremely mortifying, not to mention agonizingly painful.

But actually the main rant of my entry is against journalists. Yes, I know my job requires me to make friends with them. But I am just very against them at the moment, or one journalist in particular.

To cut the story short, this particular journalist from a particular newspaper (whom we all know and 'love') wrote an article on Oktoberfest, among which one of my restaurants was listed. This fellow went on to quote the price of our sausage platter and pork knuckles being $6. The correct pricing of it was actually 6 coupons during the Oktoberfest period, 1 coupon being $5.

To us, it is a big deal as we can't have everyone coming up to us and requesting for a $6 pork knuckles. So I rang up the newspaper. The journalist who wrote the article happened to be out of town, so someone else followed up on his behalf and wrote a retraction article the following day. A brief one, right at the end of the page, hidden in one small litle corner few would spot, apologizing for their error. Ok fine. Matter forgiven as we want to maintain the good relationship yeah?

Then today, I received an email from the journalist in question, back from his holiday, accusing us of not mentioning that prices were in coupons, and accusing us of changing the menu that was in the website which differed from the one I later sent. Therefore he had gotten the 'incorrect' menu, and therefore it was not his fault. It was ours. In other words, he was pushing the blame back to us. Whoa, that really raised my hackles, i can tell you. If one is incompetent, fine. But the last straw is when an incompetent person can't even own up to his mistakes.

Firsly, which idiot would believe that a damn pork knuckles cost only $6 when it would at least cost $20 in Zi char places not to mention restaurants. And for that matter, shouldn't a journalist check his sources and his facts before publishing his article if he is unclear? And thirdly, he accused us unfairly of changing the menu when all along it was the same damn menu that we used for that Oktoberfest period.

Worst of all, I can't send an email back to this inept fellow telling him point blank what I think of him because that would strain the pleasant relationships we want to maintain. And I don't think he can swallow the truth when it is thrown back at him. Sheesh my blood is still boiling when I think about it. I will have to think up an email that is suitably polite while subtly hinting at his incompetence. I believe that will give me slight pleasure in doing so, since I cant give him a piece of my mind, I would have to settle for this.

On a happier note, I might be posting some pictures later on when I feel like it..heh. So glad it is friday tmr...ahhh

I get real work finally

It was quite a good day today because I finally got real work to do today, in the form of writing articles for a client. I got to talk to big boss herself. I find her very intimidating and also awe-inspiring. I wouldn't deny that I was quaking in my sandals prior to meeting her because I was so nervous. And no, she didn't eat me up. But I sure wouldn't find to find out the consequences of screwing up what she tells me to do. Thus, I face great stress indeed.

We had lunch at QQ Noodle House at Park Mall. The QQ specialty noodles is indeed rave-worthy. The noodles were springy and each strand was coated with their special seaoning and shallot oil, which is probably what makes it so unforgettable. It is not very waist-friendly though, I suppose. One major complain is the $3 portion is too small. Mine was gone in a matter of minutes. I really do regret that I don't have any pictures to post. But somehow I seem to have lost the habit of taking pictures of my food. That is probably because I get very self-conscious of taking pictures of my food nowadays.

For the next three days, I predict I would be kept busy, very busy indeed. I am not sure whether I like that.

The company lunch that beat Monday blues

My Monday blues are over. The day passed so quickly without me realizing it. I spent the better part of the morning uprooting from the room I have been occupying for a month, to another place where I had problems accessing the network drive, then back to my old room, then to another workstation whose occupant is on leave for one week. Two hours was wasted just like that.

It was the Senior VP M's birthday and she treated us all to "pub grub" at Stumps at The Cricket Club. It was quite a nice and atas place, full of seemingly leisurely men lounging around. Lucky M who was on leave that day had countless glasses of frozen magaritas while the rest of us who had to go back to work could only look on enviously while sipping our juices. We shared casear salad for starters, and the table of 12 women all ordered beer battered fish & chips, except for one who ordered chicken. The portion of it was HUGE and the fish was very fresh, though it was nothing to rave about. I feel that Fish & Co's fish and chips are undisputedly the best I have ever tasted. That being said, there are many other restaurants I have not tried, Greenwood Fish market & bistro being one of which, thus I shall reserve my comments.

Then came desserts. M was very generous, and ordered one of everything. Everyone was very full by then, and I was one of the few who gamely went for more. Three hours was gone by the time we headed back to office. A very satisfying lunch indeed.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a whirl and I was kept so busy that by the time I left work, I was very stoned. And so the cycle continues...