More gadget drool

Lately, my mind's been as dry as an old Chinese prune, hence the lack of updates on the site. But, there's hope for me, and it comes in the form of Sony's Vaio P (2nd Gen) Netbook Lifestyle PC!

I mean, how can one resist this gorgeous candy-coloured typing machine? Just one look has got my fingers twitching and my mind stirring up all sorts of potentially awesome texts (which will no doubt flow out of me once I touch the keyboard, of course)!

*gaaarrhhhhhh* Yes, that's the sound of me drooling over these beauties. I'd been thinking of getting a netbook for a while, just for simple writing on-the-go, but most netbooks have a pretty boring design that would surely stifle my creative side even more.

I got to play with a few P's in person when I was in Tokyo last weekend, and I honestly can't stop thinking about them. Their only downside is that they're so goddamn bloody expensive!! (Anyone out there feeling generous? ;) Sony!? I might very well be your last loyal customer!!) Haha...

Continue reading...

Fruit Fail

Each week, my company hands fruit out to us in the form of a couple of bananas, tasteless water pears, crater-faced oranges, battle-scarred plums and the like. Even though I don't usually enjoy being treated like a caged zoo animal, I've learned to start looking forward to the arrival of the mystery fruit each week on my desk.

Today was one of those days. I could hear the thunderous wheels of the trolley coming down the hall. My mouth started to salivate at the thought of sinking my teeth into a juicy apple, plum or pear. This time, it didn't matter as my stomach had been growling all morning. I watched in eager anticipation as the tea lady bent over the cardboard box, picked up a piece of fruit and walked over to my desk.

This is what she gave me (with a hearty cackle on the side):

I'm a fruit, eat me!

At first, I was slightly amused. It seemed to be some kind of Asian pear / orange wrapped up in a netted foam jacket. But then I proceeded to hold and touch the thing and it turned out to be a stupid-useless-waste of trees-post-it note-THING in the shape of an orange!!

I'M INEDIBLE, SUCKA!!

Surely, this was a joke right? What happened to the fruit? Does the company think this is funny? Srsly? And do we really need another stack of useless post-it notes (no matter how cute)?! The more I looked at it, the more I craved fruit, whether it was a sweet juicy orange or dried up plum. Sadly though, this was no joke, and the tea ladies cackled their way out of our office, on their way to disappoint (or delight?) the rest of the floor.

Continue reading...

How to lose a customer in 20 seconds

So the other day, I came across this fantastic little joint in Wanchai where they actually served healthy lunch options, like fresh salads, soups and made-to-order sandwiches. The best part was, even if it was close to 1PM and the sidewalks were completely packed with hungry office workers from around the area, there was never a lineup for this place.

I started going there regularly for lunch, and even took a few of my colleagues there to try it out. Not because the food was spectacular or anything, but what do you expect from a so-called 'healthy' place, right? Anyway, it didn't take long for me to realize why the place was usually empty, and to quickly boycott it from my future lunches.

What happened, you ask? Well here's how one sandwich shop pissed off a once-loyal, happy word of mouth customer:

1. The local boss lady bitch (BLB) who took our orders always replied in English even if we were speaking Cantonese to her
2. BLB hid the fact that drinks are not included in the set lunch and only told us after we drank them
3. When I tried to order delivery, BLB told me that there's a minimum order of $50, which is fine. Lunch sets are approximately $35 so I would have just added a drink or whatevs. Instead of letting me switch the rice for more veg, she secretly adds veggies to my meal as ANOTHER lunch set, totaling my bill to over $100! Of course, she does all this in a flat, monotone voice, and even asks me if I want to add soup or more salad to the order. WTF, woman!!! Of course, by now I was shouting, "HOW MUCH IS IT NOW? TELL ME HOW MUCH IT IS!!" before I finally said, 'FORGET IT!' and slammed down the phone.

And THAT, ladies and gentleman, is how you lose a customer in 20 seconds.

Continue reading...