BOYCOTT - Ai Yi Ping Seaweed Jelly!!!

You know how the "pasar malam"s (night markets) in Malaysia (or maybe Selangor, I don't know) usually have the same vendors, rotating to different locations on different days of the week? Well, there was this one incident that occured with one of those vendors maybe 4-5 years ago which I've never forgotten, leading to this post.

There is this one particular stall that sells maybe the best tasting "ai yi ping" lime flavoured seaweed jelly drink around. I've been searching all over the net for at least a picture of the stall, but either there isn't one available, or my Googling skills are awful.

Anyway, back to the story and the reason for my boycott.

One fine day, my family and I were walking around the SS13, Subang Jaya pasar malam, and as usual we wanted to get our jelly fix. Now this stall sells their drinks in styrofoam bowls only, and not in cups (do you know which one yet?) as they say you can't enjoy it as much by slurping it through a straw, something about not getting the right amount of each ingredient in each sip.

So my mum orders two bowls, from a man that was working there. Maybe a relative or the husband of the lady that's usually there.

Then my mum looks up and sees their sign, with all their prices on it, "Wait! There's an option to have it in a cup!" so she asks the guy to change the order to just one cup, easier to bring away and drink. However, in fine print, it says that the cup is for "Green tea flavoured seaweed jelly".

I pointed this out to mum, who obviously doesn't want green tea flavoured, as we came for the original, told the guy to change back to the original order.

With that, the guy threw a bloody tantrum. He said my mum was being difficult, REFUSED to serve her and asked her to get lost.

Being young and naive (and very timid during that time), I did nothing. I wish I had said something to him at that time, I wish I had made a big fuss in front of every single one of their customers back then. But I didn't, and I regret that.

Obviously, we both were pissed. Here was this stupid, fat man, waving his finger rudely at my mum, red-faced and telling her to go away. The lady boss quietly asked the man to not be so angry, but besides that, she did nothing.

Thus, the reason for my boycott. If you know which stall this is, PLEASE do not buy your drinks from them (they are the ones that sell the green tea ones in the cup!)

Being in my line of business, I know how important it is to keep a good reputation. Customers are always right. What on EARTH was this man doing? Who did he think he was? There was a long queue behind us, for goodness sakes, if we didn't want what he had already made, then someone else would have wanted it - no wastage involved.

I feel that my mum was not in the wrong - she was merely trying to order something that she wanted. Isn't that a consumers' right?

MAS Stewardess - The Stereotype

Over the past few years, I have seriously made a conscious effort to not judge people based on their stereotype, nor their looks. I have realized that stereotyping all blondes as "dumb" is dumb in itself (not like many Malaysians are blonde, but oh well I hope you get my drift) as many gorgeous and well-groomed people out there tend to smart and successful as well.

Anyway, back on topic. The MAS Stewardess stereotype - in my experience, the common thing that happens when they are mentioned, is "Oh. Pretty girls looking for a rich husband, get paid to travel & love bonking the pilot". Probably because of all the sex scandal stories which had been circulated about the MAS cabin crew. Huge detriment to their image, eh.

I don't get to travel much, but over the past year or so I did my bit of business travels. I had always found most of the stewardesses of the airlines I used pretty much friendly and willing to assist - as well as being pretty strict when it comes to adhering to airline safety upon take off and landing. Which is definitely what you want in an employee. Plus, there never seemed to be any extra special attention thrown on the obviously rich businessmen.

So far so good, I felt proud of myself that I didn't subconsciously label the stewardesses as air-headed gold diggers. To be frank, I had heard that to be selected as a stewardess, you had to go through a pretty rigorous selection process, so not everyone would be able to make the cut.

But seriously, it only took one flight to change my mind.

I was on a short flight back from Jakarta one day, sitting at the aisle, next to some middle aged European guy (I do not know of what nationality, it really did not matter). He was trying to be friendly and tried to make casual conversation, as most people sitting next to you on a plane do.

However, his conversation turned towards his "conquests". He was telling me about all the girls he meets on his business trips, and how he had some really sweet girls in Malaysia. How one of the sweet girls cried when he left, and wrote him a really touching note, which in turned made him cry. And of their travels to beautiful islands such as Redang together.

It was all getting a little uncomfortable, and as I usually do, I avoid further conversation by turning my head away, plugging in my earphones and pretending to sleep. The only times I ever got disturbed by this guy after that was when he got out of his seat.

He only came back just as the plane was about to land - seriously, when the wheels were extended and it was just less than 5 minutes to landing. He probably violated all the safety measures possible then and there:

1. Chair reclined.
2. Tray table down, with cup of red wine still sitting on it.
3. Not wearing seat belt.
4. Stands up every few seconds to look out the window.
5. Messes with his handphone / PDA.

So this stewardess came over. "Great, PLEASE give this guy a warning," I was thinking to myself. The red wine on the tray table next to me was making me nervous, ok. I didn't want the damned thing spilling on me! Well the guy picked up his drink (phew!) and smiled at the stewardess.

"Hah! He's going to get it!" <--- yes, me again. So she stones for awhile, standing on the aisle, then reaches her arm past me, and strokes this man's arm and purred, "Nice meeting you, sir. You have my number; keep in touch." Then walks off. Just. Like. That.

All credibility. All assurance that we will be kept safe from harm. Baboom!! Bye bye. Out the bloody window, never to be seen again.

And I really did try hard to disprove the stereotype. Honest.

I am such a noob...

My switch from my previous Blogdrive to Blogger, has taken some getting used to. It has taken me two whole days to figure out how this thing works, find a relatively simple template to use without all the fancy - schmancy tabs which I will never for the life of me, be able to edit or personalize. Can someone please tell me how do I remove the "Contact Me" link from the top of the page? And how on Earth do I underline stuff? I am so confused.

And I haven't even begun to personalize it yet. +_+ <---(What?! No smilies? Where can I get me some smilies?)