Far From the Maddening Crowd

I was at the Ritz-Carlton hotel yesterday for a morning training cum seminar. I'd normally dismissed working on the weekends with believable excuses but since it was already agreed that each of us had to attend at least one time - so that settled it.

The night before I stayed up late surfing and MSNing so it was only natural that when I reached the hotel I was still nursing a sleepy head. Plus taxi rides in the morning are as good as extended bed hours. But geez, Ritz-Carlton really floored me with its finesse in service - that woke me.

Now I'm not the demanding type but what I noticed is that its staff anticipate your needs very well. It's the small little things I appreciate such as serving you freshly baked muffins at your table, setting up an extra chair or even walking a few steps to direct you to the gents. You don't get that 'aura' at any other hotels. Then again I recalled the hotel's credo of, "We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen." How true.

That simple statement says volumes about the passion each staff enthuses. In Singapore most of us treat service providers like nothings. So how can we deserved to be served? And don't give me that fossil crap "Customer is always right or king." Is it no wonder that many still complain that ''foreigners' especially angmohs get better treatment, [unfair, racist some may claim] when they are the ones who'd tend to look and treat a humble waiter with dignity as compare to the locals who are simply unappreciative and unsophisticated? It takes two to tango.

I left the hotel at about 12.30pm and got in a taxi. As it drove along the road between Esplanade and Marina I saw heavy traffic milling around Suntec and that reminded me of the Comex show. Urgh... people congestion puts me off, but at that crucial time too, I also remembered a friend had bought a 1GB SD card for $95. Hey I need that too!

So I asked the driver to drop me near Suntec. I could sense he wasn't too pleased upon hearing my instruction. Who wouldn't, right? I mean, imagine losing out 'Marina to Woodlands' taxi fee in a matter of minutes. Anways that's another example of my impulsive contribution to the economy.

Lol ~ Why I bothered to be there, I really had no idea. I told myself it cannot be for that SD card alone right? The crowd and 'my being in it situation' was getting to me. You know I'm at my irritable best when I give a disinterested look to all who tried to give me flyers and handouts and to the occasional credit card promoters. Poor fellas, they were just trying to make a living!

Finally after about 10 minutes I saw the booth. I got the SD card and made my way out from the maddening crowd.