Good Customer Service

If there is an award for being the most pleasant canteen crew at NUS, I will definitely vote for the Middle Eastern stall team at The Terrace (Biz).  More than being efficient, I think their charm lies in their ability to make you feel that you’re not just another customer; rather, you’re THE CUSTOMER when they’re attending to you.  What do I mean?  Now that Im writing about it, I find it difficult to explain...

Maybe it’s the unhurried  way they talk to you?  The way they say Ma’am?  The way they engage in small talks?  The way they politely inform you that heating your bread will make it tough but if you insist, they will heat it for you and remind you to try eating it immediately before it becomes tough? Or the act of giving you a free falafel to try, perhaps?  Or maybe the smile they give you?  I don’t know.  I just know that buying from that stall is always a pleasant experience.

mao cai

So last Tuesday, I prepared this nice sandwich for lunch.  I put salami on a 6-inch baguette, toasted it and dumped brie cheese, mixed greens, tomato and avocado on it.  I also made a decent-tasting honey-mustard dressing to top it off.  It was good!  I was looking forward to having it for lunch.

So lunchtime came and we went to PGP.  My colleague went to one of the stalls to buy food while I went to find a seat.  It took her some time to come back and since I was already hungry, I had a bite or two of my sandwich.

When she came back, this is what she has.  A steaming bowl of noodles! (She said that they dont call it noodles. Ok, my bad.)  She let me try it and it was good!  A bit spicy but good! So, I kept my sandwich for afternoon snack and had this bowl of noodles too :)

mao cai at PGP canteen

Mai cai is a mixture of noodles, tofu, beancurd skin, bean sprouts, potato, seaweed, lotus root, cauliflower and food-whose-names-I-havent-heard-of, in soup.  The taste is a bit spicy and sour, if you put vinegar, which how my colleague does it.  At first, I think the combination of varying taste from the different ingredients makes it a bit confusing but after a few minutes of gulping the soup down, you can appreciate the cacophony of taste in your tongue.

Ely and my friends

Image from web

It started with a simple “Gi!!! J” from whatsapp.

In an instant, I knew there was something big going on in Manila.

This was followed by my friend telling me that I should be there, sharing the moment with them and asking me to sign in at Skype.

With that, the excitement crept in. What could it be?  Is it about lovelife? Did one of my friends decide on a date for her wedding? Did someone get engaged?  Did someone get a promotion? 

Upon seeing three of my friends in Skype, the usual high-pitched greetings came in. Damn, I miss them so much! I didn’t even ask how each one was.  I went straight to “So, what’s up? What’s the big deal?”

And they kind of swayed away and told me short stories about other things.  But I wanted to know what the emergency meeting was for!  They told me to look at the person at the end of the screen – which I thought was the one at the end of the table. But there was none. So I thought that maybe one of them had someone special with them, and she wanted to introduce him to me.  But there was none. 

Then the camera was passed to another friend who told me to look closely at the person sitting at the adjacent table.  But, bummer, the video quality was BAD.  So I couldn’t see who that person was. 

Finally, after many attempts, I learned that the person was Ely Buendia.

Fifteen years ago, I was head over heels in love over Ely Buendia and the Eraserheads.  Until now, I love the band. But I no longer go gaga over them. 

So my friends were surprised that I didn’t jump up and down upon knowing that it was him.  So I told them that I was really touched at their gesture, but I was more excited to see them than Ely.

The preceding days before that call, I was so down.  But that call made such a huge impact.  It highlighted the magic of presence and friends.  Just a simple act of thoughtfulness is heartmelting. And having a (probably) 15-minute chat is enough to refill my love tank.

It’s not Ely who uplifted my spirits. It was my friends.  I love them.

Intricacies

Last Tuesday, I dreamt about my father.  He was in the hospital (like how it is in a lot of me and my siblings' dreams).  He was complaining that he can't breathe so I looked for the doctor.  Two doctors came and explained that his veins in the stomach were intertwined.  The doctors then asked me what my father's name's spelling was.  Was it h-e-r-l-e? To which I replied h-e-r-l-y and suddenly realized that my father's name was neither of them so I looked at the paper they gave me.  And there, typewritten was the name of my mother and herlyn.  Upon seeing that name, it struck me, that it was our half-sister's name  so I looked at him (that was not actually her exact name.  and now i vaguely remember, those names were written under beneficiaries).  And then I saw him sobbing, saying sorry. I hugged him in return, cried with him, saying it's ok.  I woke up very very sad.  I think I was even crying.

I dont know what to make of that dream.  Initially, I took it as his way of telling me that he wants us to maintain a connection with our sister.  But I honestly am not very comfortable with me making the first move.  So I prayed that if that was what he really wanted, one FB message from her will do.

My family and friends have been helping me process that dream/experience.  One friend thought that it could be a form form of closure.  I agree.  It could be that too.  My family is not the type who openly talks about each other's feelings.  I guess our love language is more of service/presence, not words.  I knew he has been sorry for it.  And I hope that by looking after him, I was able to show that Ive forgiven him.

My mother told me not to feel guilty for not reaching out to our half-sister.  What happened was not my fault.  My sister said that I am entitled to my own feelings. My brother in-law said that we could try writing to the kid, telling her how my father was as a father because that may just be what she wants, to know him more. Meeting him is another story, because she is a kid.  He thinks that it will be better to wait a bit longer until she becomes an adult so that all of us could process this better.  I think I will do that.  I pray that it will help me get off that heavy feeling in my chest.

Another message I think was for me deal with things that I have been putting off for quite some time.

Dreams are really interesting.