Endoh’s Dungeon

It’s been a month or so I have been using wordpress. I must admit there were some frustrations among the majority of happiness ever since I switched over from Blogger.

Choosing this theme alone was quite a headache. However, after surfing around I realised it’s quite easy to spot others with the very same exact theme. This is precisely why I tried to customise it as much as possible. I’m still not quite sure what other things I can or should do, but shamefully I have been procrastinating too much.

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While waiting for my client earlier on, I decided to grab a cup of coffee to cure my caffeine fix. I know fast-food coffee are utterly hopeless, therefore I decided to hit the food court to get myself a better one.

I deserve at least a cup of good coffee for travelling all the way from Woodlands to Singapore Expo specially, isn’t it? And so, I did.

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Alright, I need to rant this off my chest seriously. I have had enough of Starhub and Linksys!!! The reason why I named both is because they LOVE to PUSH the RESPONSIBILITY to one another whenever the connection is screwed!Ever since the maintenance that early morning which affects the Northern connection, I am facing more frequent disconnections than ever before. When I say more frequent, the figure stands at more than 30 times in a single day. I was disconnected 5 times during a 30min conversation with Lenne earlier on, and that poor gal watched me disconnected again and again!

I am fine with 1 to 3 disconnections per day on a regular basis, I could close one eye to that. I think I am fairly tolerant compared to others who cannot even stand one single disconnection! More than 30 times a day? Yes, I actually took all the timings down since I am not sure whether the problem resides in the router or the internet connection. Just that it is by coincidence I am only looking at such a high disconnection rate straight after that maintenance. Why am I not calling them again? My reason is simple.

I have called so many times, their only commitment to assist in helping to resolve this issue is… “Sir, can you follow my steps and uninstall the connection and we will go through it step by step again.” Hello… I have gone through this step from my first call to the most recent call. How many times do you want to repeat the same setup all over again? That’s so much for Linksys, and who the hell do you employ seriously? Can you guys stop speaking in that damn fake British accent? It’s irritating when you try to slur the words… and yes, I AM ONE CUSTOMER WHO HATES THE WAY YOU GUYS SPEAK OVER THE PHONE!

10 out of 10 times, I am thrown back to Starhub… “Sir, you might want to call up with Starhub because after resetting the wireless setup, the problem apparently do not lies in the hardware.” Fine, Starhub I will call.

One thing that all customers should be accustomed to by now, whatever Starhub cannot solve they will always end up with “Sir, I suggest you take off your wireless and try out a direct connection with the modem instead of going through the router.” Again, this sentence comes out 10 out of 10 times I call Starhub. I eventually tried once… and I had to move my entire workstation out into the living room to test the connection. The same issue happened, and not least to mention… how the hell do you expect me to leave my PC out in the living room? If I had to do that, why would I even want a wireless solution in the first place?

A call recently… I actually asked the Starhub operator, “So is Starhub or Linksys going to send a staff to my place and help me shift the entire workstation?” Oh, I forgotten to mention… if you wish to extend a cable from the modem into your room for direct connection, it will be at your own cost when it is actually no fault of yours.

A very sad statistics, until today, there isn’t a single call I put to them that they would not refer me to the other party. So who is going to solve the problem now? Starhub? Linksys? Or should I call a Singtel technician to help fix my Starhub connection? I am sorry… your customer service is out of the world. First class indeed!!!

What the hell is wrong with Starhub and Linksys? Do you guys know you provide one of the suckiest customer service I have ever seen?

Until today, none of them offer to send a technician to my place and attempt to track what the exact problem is.

We hear alot of complaints about lousy customer service in Singapore, but this is definitely one that is worth some commendation.I called the McDelivery hotline at about 5.55am and placed my order for my beloved big breakfast. After all the yadaa-yadaa, I was informed the waiting time would be around 45mins. Well, hardly! I heard the doorbell went off at about 6.15am and standing at my doorsteps was the delivery rider for my food. He greeted me “Good Morning” brightly and had my food already in his hands. I am sure some of you had experienced a delivery rider knocking on your door, and yet you still have to wait for him to slowly retrieve your order for you. Not quite for me. The very moment I opened my door, he had the paperbag right infront of me.

I took over the food, and paid. As he turned around to get my change, I observed that he was pretty drenched. It’s weird, because having a raincoat with him doesn’t quite amount to that. Out of curiosity, I asked why was he so drenched. He replied, that the zip on the bag somehow malfunctioned and so he used his jacket to cover the bag in case the food are soaked. Somehow, it was my instinct that I told him… it’s ok, keep the change. The change was slightly below $3.00 anyway. It’s not alot, but I am sure that amount is somewhat sufficient for a decent breakfast like a packet of nasi lemak or prata. A hot coffee on a cold morning for himself perhaps?

The first thing was, my food was delivered to me in the rain - piping hot. How can I not be thankful? He was polite and courteous. In fact, I haven’t heard such a refreshing greeting in the morning for ages. Most of which, gave me a weary “Good… Morn…ing… Sir…”

What really impressed me, was that he actually got himself drenched trying to shield the food. Maybe some peeps will go exclaiming, that is their job anyway, what’s the big deal? But look, he’s trying to do his job in the best way he can to make sure my food comes intact, even at the expense of getting drenched and who knows, he might just fall ill? I know we have alot of complaints how dangerously they rode their bikes, but to deliver my food fast and piping hot is certainly impressive. It’s only a normal delivery that probably half the population of Singapore had experienced. What sets him apart though, is that extra “personal touch” in his delivery.

I hope he’s already under good shelter because the rain suddenly turned extremely heavy after he left. (Shelly said I sounded as though I am in love with him. LOL!)

I can’t help it. After finishing my breakfast and being a satisfied customer, I got down immediately to send an email citing the branch and transaction ID to offer further commendation. It slipped my mind at that point to get his name, so hopefully they can track the correct rider and inform him about my appreciation. How can we ignore good service when they come knocking on our doors, but yet end up complaining about lousy service?

A big breakfast that costs me $10 with such service, I don’t feel a single bit of pain.

Hungry? You know who to call… 6777 3777

I seemed to have inherited my late granny’s habit of appreciating Hindi films. If you are falling off your chair now, don’t worry. You are not my first friend who flipped over when I told them - yes, I do watch Hindi films. I’m going to introduce two Hindi films to you, and I am pretty sure you will be impressed after watching them.

It wasn’t that obvious when granny passed away, but as I grew older, it’s natural that I begin to learn about life better. It is this, which eventually drawn me into Hindi films. It’s easy to stereotype Hindi films with all those dancing and music (which some of us can’t stand) but it’s not those that fascinated me the most. Compared to cheesy Mandarin movies we’ve watched, it’s the way these Hindi films progressed and related the story that really strikes one in the heart. No doubt these two films are pretty predictable in the manner they ended, it is the emotional tension which made them such worthy films to watch.Both films starred Amitabh Bachchan as the father. Amitabh is like Chen Shu Cheng of our local TV station, always extremely fitting in the role as a father. It is this fatherly charisma in him that made these two films so lasting in impression.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001)
[Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sorrow]

One of my favourites of all time is this film. The story tells of a wealthy family of four comprising of two aged parents (Raichand & Nadini) and two sons, Rahul & Rohan. Rahul was the adopted son, and Rohan was their natural son. There were little differences in the way they were brought up, because both parents treated Rahul like their own. The breaking point came when Rahul decided to marry a girl of a lower social status, much to the displeasure of his father Raichand. Refusing to marry the girl his father chose, Rahul left the family and relocated in London to marry the girl he loved.

Rohan came home only to realise his father, whom had decided to shower all his attention on his natural son, had no interest of bringing Rahul back into the family. It was also Rohan’s mother’s wish to reunite the family. What’s worst, when Rahul was merely an adopted son.

Hence, Rohan put in extensive efforts in an attempt to convince Rahul to return home. Things were not as easy as it seemed, due to the adoptive status. This film has brought out the best of this emotional tension between Rahul with his adoptive family, and this was what made this film so alluring. Will Rahul return home? I’ll leave it to you to watch it for yourself. For the guys, you might want to prepare enough beer and for the girls, plenty of tissue please.

A little more tips for you though, this film is even longer than Titanic at close to 4hrs. However, it will be less chessy than Titanic so this time will be nothing but all well spent.

Viruddh - Family Comes First (2005)

A story of a middle-class family whose son, Amar, had returned from overseas with his fiance Jenny, a British citizen. All seemed well for Amar’s parents, Patwardhan (father) & Sumitra (mother) until one night, Amar was killed by a minister’s son. It was his righteousness after witnessing the minister’s son shooting another pregnant lady, which also cost him his life.

In a corrupted legal system, the minister’s son was acquitted of any wrong-doings due to bribes and threatening of witnesses. In a dramatic twist of events, Amar and Jenny were projected as drug dealers in a bid to cover the case. Unhappy with the injustice done on his son, Patwardhan did what any father would do for their children, to clear his son’s name at all costs. With that sole intention, he challenged those who holds power in public offices, even toying with death.

I like the way the story was told, as if Amar was speaking to us. Watch the film and you will know why I said this. Amar brings us into the story, as though we were part of the plot. There were so many meaningful quotes that deserved mentioning, like; “what kind of father will I show my son at home?”

Don’t worry about language, because both films contain bilingual dialogues. It is also this part which made these two films so well accepted internationally. If you are worrying that you may end up watching dances in the traditional Hindi films, not to worry too. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham only has a little bit of that, and for Viruddh - none.

All along we have watched alot of Hollywood and Hong Kong movies, it is worthy to mention that not many mainstream movies have been able to capture and project human relations better than the films above. Human relations are often very intriguing and not easy to project on screen. However, these Bollywood films made it seemed so easy. It’s not the production wealth that makes a good movie, but rather it’s the content and storyboard. That’s what I am looking for.

If you decide to watch them, good for you. I am sure you will be a very satisfied audience.