Having just gone overseas, the things that make Singapore where she is today becomes apparent. As my sister said once we re-entered this sunny island, "You can feel the efficiency." This overseas break has truly led me to believe that the IRs in Singapore will be quite a hit with the region since the only other alternative would be Macau.
This mountain resort that I went to is a rather popular destination and one that I've been to quite a few times. Maybe it's because I'm older now so I notice certain things or maybe it's just wear and tear over the years but the place certainly looks much older and not very well maintained. The first thing that struck me was the cigarette smoke in indoor areas which did not go down very well since I'm quite sensitive to it. That aside, the efficiency of most eateries is simply horrendous. At this one buffet breakfast at the hotel, I was aghast to see tables uncleared for at least 10min after the people had left, a very long queue for the food with everyone holding a plate in their hands! They had run out of clean plates for use. The food wasn't fantastic and it certainly was not a very good start to the day. At this one cafe, 2 waiters dropped 2 different things on us! The first was a saucer of sauce which splattered on the table with a bit ending up on me and the first was dropping a chopstick all over the place while he was clearing the table. Clearing the table isn't really a job that requires much intelligence. All the rubbish goes into one bowl and all the other plates or bowls of the same type go together. And if there's chopsticks around, is it not common sense to hold the chopsticks as you attempt to leave the table? The service is really bad as well. Most waiters or waitresses don't bother much about you until you keep calling them. The sights that you see also aren't very pleasing to the eye. You have workers sitting on the stairs, ugly boxes in eateries, and a crowd that isn't very desirable.
Maybe I've just been living in Singapore for too long. Maybe the things that we have grown accustomed to aren't that easy to attain. But for a popular regional hot spot for tourists, I don't think that I'm expecting too much. As you see things, you naturally tend to compare and I guess in this trip my hopes for the promise of the IRs have grown. Hopefully, it'll give a much better experience to the future guests of the resort.
And now, onto the Bus of Disaster. On the trip back, a whole string of disasters occurred. It was a 26-seater bus and this man was given seat no. 28. So he got on the bus and couldn't find his seat! It was only at the next stop that he switched buses. Then, at the first stop, the bus left when there were still 3 people who hadn't boarded the bus. This was despite pleas from the friends to stop the bus. After a big hoo-ha the bus finally stopped along the highway and waited for the bus that the 3 stranded sheep had taken to catch up with the original bus. Then they didn't bother playing more than 3/4 of a VCD. At the 2nd stop, it was supposed to be a 20min break and after the fiasco of the previous stop, everyone got back extra early, but where was the bus driver? He took another 15-20min to arrive. Have you ever seen an entire bus wait for the driver on a stop along the route? Then for some weird reason the bus doesn't go on the highway much but rather taking smaller roads. Could it be to avoid the tolls? Maybe. And there were 2 buses from the similar company (a foreign company) which seemingly HAD to wait for each other for whatever reason unknown to us. The final straw was that it left us at Woodlands Checkpoint rather than driving us to Lavender as promised, giving some lame excuse that there was a jam somewhere, when in fact there was none.
How is a country supposed to boost tourism when basic services such as transport cannot be dealt with properly. Will tourists still return after a bad experience? It's quite sad how the service industry isn't really about service. I can see what the GEMS campaign is trying to do, trying to improve the service in Singapore. After this trip I think I can finally understand why. Should the service in Singapore ever deteriorate to such a standard, we can probably all pack our bags and leave.
Word of the day: pro bono - done or donated without charge; free: pro bono legal services.
This mountain resort that I went to is a rather popular destination and one that I've been to quite a few times. Maybe it's because I'm older now so I notice certain things or maybe it's just wear and tear over the years but the place certainly looks much older and not very well maintained. The first thing that struck me was the cigarette smoke in indoor areas which did not go down very well since I'm quite sensitive to it. That aside, the efficiency of most eateries is simply horrendous. At this one buffet breakfast at the hotel, I was aghast to see tables uncleared for at least 10min after the people had left, a very long queue for the food with everyone holding a plate in their hands! They had run out of clean plates for use. The food wasn't fantastic and it certainly was not a very good start to the day. At this one cafe, 2 waiters dropped 2 different things on us! The first was a saucer of sauce which splattered on the table with a bit ending up on me and the first was dropping a chopstick all over the place while he was clearing the table. Clearing the table isn't really a job that requires much intelligence. All the rubbish goes into one bowl and all the other plates or bowls of the same type go together. And if there's chopsticks around, is it not common sense to hold the chopsticks as you attempt to leave the table? The service is really bad as well. Most waiters or waitresses don't bother much about you until you keep calling them. The sights that you see also aren't very pleasing to the eye. You have workers sitting on the stairs, ugly boxes in eateries, and a crowd that isn't very desirable.
Maybe I've just been living in Singapore for too long. Maybe the things that we have grown accustomed to aren't that easy to attain. But for a popular regional hot spot for tourists, I don't think that I'm expecting too much. As you see things, you naturally tend to compare and I guess in this trip my hopes for the promise of the IRs have grown. Hopefully, it'll give a much better experience to the future guests of the resort.
And now, onto the Bus of Disaster. On the trip back, a whole string of disasters occurred. It was a 26-seater bus and this man was given seat no. 28. So he got on the bus and couldn't find his seat! It was only at the next stop that he switched buses. Then, at the first stop, the bus left when there were still 3 people who hadn't boarded the bus. This was despite pleas from the friends to stop the bus. After a big hoo-ha the bus finally stopped along the highway and waited for the bus that the 3 stranded sheep had taken to catch up with the original bus. Then they didn't bother playing more than 3/4 of a VCD. At the 2nd stop, it was supposed to be a 20min break and after the fiasco of the previous stop, everyone got back extra early, but where was the bus driver? He took another 15-20min to arrive. Have you ever seen an entire bus wait for the driver on a stop along the route? Then for some weird reason the bus doesn't go on the highway much but rather taking smaller roads. Could it be to avoid the tolls? Maybe. And there were 2 buses from the similar company (a foreign company) which seemingly HAD to wait for each other for whatever reason unknown to us. The final straw was that it left us at Woodlands Checkpoint rather than driving us to Lavender as promised, giving some lame excuse that there was a jam somewhere, when in fact there was none.
How is a country supposed to boost tourism when basic services such as transport cannot be dealt with properly. Will tourists still return after a bad experience? It's quite sad how the service industry isn't really about service. I can see what the GEMS campaign is trying to do, trying to improve the service in Singapore. After this trip I think I can finally understand why. Should the service in Singapore ever deteriorate to such a standard, we can probably all pack our bags and leave.
Word of the day: pro bono - done or donated without charge; free: pro bono legal services.