Swensen's Yishun continued

We went to Swensen's Causeway Point yesterday, and I realised that the branch at Yishun is indeed horribly lousy. The waitress even got my sundae wrong. I told her I wanted a Ring-a-ding-a-ling, which looks like this:

but she gave me Coit Tower, which looks like this:

I actually wanted to retrieve the menu to check if I had really got it wrong because the sundae came with an order receipt which said 'Ding', and the waitress said,"Ring-a-ding." as she passed me the sundae. Moreover, I don't take fruits with ice-cream since I find them uncomplementary of each other, but the usual wet-blanket William insisted that it's indeed what I ordered.

I just took it as my mistake and downed it, but I was quietly sure that it was the waitress' mistake. After all, she got my order wrong twice before that.

So upon verification on the menu at Causeway Point branch, I confirm that the service at Swensen's Yishun indeed sucks.

And they had the cheek to keep the 10% service charge. Yeesh!

Lousy service at Swensens Yishun

Last night, I had the most unpleasant experience at Swensen's Yishun.

I had been going to Swensens to have my dinner a few times a week to relieve that pent-up frustration of needing to stay in school for long hours.

I have always preferred the branch at Causeway Point. For some reason, I always thought that they had the most generous serving of their baked rice, unlike other branches. Theirs are always filled up to the brim, always spilling over, and their service seems to be much better than other branches'. I remember when I was heavy in my pregnancy and queueing up for dinner, one of the waiters or managers brought me a chair so that I could sit down while waiting. I thought that was thoughtful.

Last night, the waitress kept getting our orders wrong.

Coco asked for '2' salmon baked rice. Only one came.

I thought perhaps this branch was unusual, so I waited for another 10 minutes before I felt something was amiss. I enquired with a lady in red, presumably to be the manager, if the slip given to us had indicated that it was only for 1 baked rice. She didn't answer my question. Instead, she asked,"What was your order?"

Without any apology, she went to key in my order of 1 more baked rice.

By the time my baked rice was there, 25 minutes had passed since we stepped into the restaurant and Baby was getting restless.

After our baked rice, Coco and I wanted a bowl of mushroom soup. We couldn't get anybody to attend to us despite Coco raising, and even waving her hand frantically. The waiters simply walked past us without looking at her. She ran up to the lady in red and asked for a bowl of mushroom soup. The lady in red asked,"2 bowls of mushroom soup?" Coco insisted,"No, 1. 1!"

When William came in, I ordered a bowl of Rodeo Wings and Prawn Dippers. When the order finally arrived, it wasn't Prawn Dippers. It was something with a 'Dip'.

The waitresses there don't ever write down your order, which apparently is the problem.

When we wanted to order something, we put up our hand like we do in a classroom to get a teacher's attention, but they could walk past you without noticing that, or they noticed it but just didn't want to attend to us.

I won't go back there for a long time to come. The one at Causeway Point is a better choice. Come to think about it, now I understand why the one at CWP is always packed and has long queues, while the one at Yishun never has a queue.

Baby's not talking

It had been a crazy 3 weeks of school.

I worked from 7am to 6pm just about every day in school alone. It's amazing how the management is able to think up of something to make you commit longer hours just in the premise. I'm pissed becos that leaves me, or any other teachers for that matter, with no energy or time to mark or do anything at all when we reach home.

It's ridiculous.

Today, I took child's MC to take Baby for her 15th month vaccination.

And I'm glad I did.

The doc commented a few times that Baby was quiet. When asked what the reason could be, he commented that it could be becos the caregiver doesn't speak to her much. I insisted that my mother does talk to her frequently.

However, a quick check with my mother reveals that she indeed doesn't talk much to Baby. I was with my mother and Baby at my 5th sister's place. Throughout the time there, my mother was mostly busy with the chores, preparing the feeds for the different kiddos and fetching my nephews from school. When I asked her if she speaks to Baby, she said she leaves the interacting part to my youngest nephew!

When I reflect on why I always get the impression that my mother is chatty with Baby, I realise she always speaks to her when I come by, asking her to call me 'mummy', telling her that her mummy is here.

I'm quite sure it's bcos my mother feels insecure that William is always threatening to let Baby be under the care of someone else ie. maid (who he is too poor to hire), childcare centre, or a baby-sitter near my place (who he is too poor to hire as well), so she tries to portray the image that she talks to Baby frequently to show us that she's close and affectionate towards Baby.

I feel so guilty towards Baby.

Usually I don't talk to Baby much as well. After a day of work, I'd be so tired I tell myself my mother would have talked to her and most of the time, I'd need to coach Coco in her work, or do work at home myself, so the instances of me talking to Baby is even more remote.

When I was pregnant, unlike when I was expecting Coco, I didn't speak to Baby much becos William was constantly threatening to divorce me and I often wept at work, or wailed when I was at home. It was difficult to tell Baby anything becos anything that came out of my mouth would be something bad about her father, naturally. The first four months when I was on maternity leave, I didn't talk to her much either bcos I didn't want to be too attached to her when William and I divorce. So the not-talking-much evolves into sort of a habit.

Someone says that the greatest gift a man can give to his children is to love their mother. That's so true, isn't it? A mother literally affects every aspect of a child's life. But William will never know this, bcos he's too self-centred to.

New Year's Resolutions

I want to:
1) get my weight down to 43 kg
2) do scrapbooking - target: Baby's first 12 months. One for each page.
3) buy a circular polariser and some prime lens ie. 35mm f1.8, and hopefully 50mm f1.4
4) change job environment