The Thinking Chore

Haiz. All these dishes to clean. Isn't thinking about it more painful than the doing? Suffering comes from the thinking.

A Happy Party

I was invited to a party last Saturday.

Everyone there was so happy and smiling. They even lined up to greet me. What a lovely reception!

Some may have disappeared into the background, but still smiling and always maintaining eye contact. Not a moment were they busy on the phone or sending smses.

There are some cute little baby ones like this...

... or famous ones like Elmo.

Minnie Mouse was also there. She was searching for Mickey...

Mickey had the cheek to show us how much he ate...

... but not as much as Winnie... he helped himself thoroughly.

There is also a sexy one lurking by the couch...

... watching me...

... hmmmm...

... and finally, the birthday cake! A labour of love!

Yum!

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Visit Vacuum State, click here.

A Tale of Two Indians

The Roti Prata shop two doors away from our regular table has closed itself from business. It used to our regular Prata shop.

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Their final closure is not a surprise. When we used to frequent that shop, it was beaming with business. Often, we had to wait for a seat. The food was okay, but the service was virtually absent. There were two waiters, but they seem to develop a skill of standing in front of the shop staring into space. No frantic waving for them would get their notice. In other words, they conveniently choose not to see us.

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Then one day, as we could not get a seat, we wandered over to a similar shop two doors away. There, we were instantly greeted by a smiling waiter. The food was great and after we finished, they thanked us and told us they hope to see us again. It was a huge contrast in service, and since then it has become our regular Prata shop.

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Then over the weeks we saw the number of customers in our newly adopted Prata shop increasing, while the other shop that we frequent previously dwindling. By then, we were treated like 'members', as the waiters even remember our names and our choices for their dishes. Each time we went we were always greeted with "How are you today Sir?" Many a times, we made even unusual requests, like shifting our table into the open air, asking for fish curry instead of the usual lentil curry,...etc, and got promptly served. Nothing seemed too difficult.

As time goes by, about two years, we saw the previous shop we frequented gone worse and worse, and eventually, closing for business.

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The two shop sold almost identical dishes. Quality of food is about the same. The difference is in the service. The second shop showed they care - and that's what made more customers coming back.

Teamwork

The Japanese has such great teamwork. The other day as I queried about my credit card refund with the hotel receptionist, her colleague at the far end came over instantly with the documents without her prompting. It is as if they are telepathic.

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Teamwork is natural to the Japanese as they spend countless hours in 'group-work'. Hardly any work gets done without first having a group discussion and consensus. This however, takes a lot of time. Something which typically takes 30 minutes to complete may extend to 6 hours in a group. But to them, it is not a drag. This is the way things have been done and it is the way it is. To an outsider like myself, I find that difficult to understand.

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There is no absolute answer as to whether individually completed work or group work is better. I feel that sometimes, we should honour individual work, and at other times, group work -depending on the context and urgency. Group work takes up more time and not always better quality work. Also, work-life balance is also important. It is senseless to have strong teamwork in the company and broken relationships in the family.

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Respect and Honour Your Guests

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The Japanese is probably the most polite people in the world and a culture that offers the best customer service.

A Japanese host upon seeing anyone coming near their shop would instantly bow, greet the person, and say "please come in".

A Chinese host would normally wait for the customer to enter the shop before talking to the customer. Those that do come out, usually do so to ask what the customer wants. Some of the more zealous ones will go further to suggest what the customer should have.

I would feel more comfortable entering a Japanese shop, as I feel honored and pampered to examine what they have to offer at my liberty, without obligations.

In a Chinese shop, I would feel pressured to buy, as an expectation is already set.

For all else being equal, many of us would rather enter the Japanese shop than the Chinese shop, as the former offers us the comfort and liberty to do so.

The crux of it happens in the first three seconds when anyone is seen near the shop. For the Japanese, it is a reflex to honour and respect the other person. Applied to business, it not only win over the customers' hearts, but even win against the hungrier,leaner and arguably more efficient Chinese.

Taking longer than three seconds to react to the presence of the customer will not have the same effect, as it will turn out choreographed or orchestrated. Just like the many smiles and "Good morning sir" greetings from American fast food chains, they don't produce the same results.

This crucial three seconds, however took a lifetime to develop. A lifetime to make it one's second nature. The irony is that the Japanese culture of honorific greetings and bowing was originally imported entirely from China!

This comparison between the Japanese and Chinese is a case of culture winning over brute force. It also demonstrates that 'copies' can be refined to a quality higher than the original.

In history, the superior culture eventually emerged the victor.

In 371 BC, the Spartans lost the war against the Athenians, although the former had a superior record in military might. The Athenians rose to become influential figures in economics and politics in the territories they lost to the Spartans and corroded the defensive brute force Spartan shell.

Similarly, after the Mongols had invaded China in 1271, Kublai Khan adopted legal systems of the Han Chinese and established political systems, radicated politics of centralized state power, resumed normal ruling orders, and also, created the system of administrative province.

Vacuum State

Sorry, having a break from Vacuum State in Japan for the moment. Visited lots of places here and lots more to write and share later. Keep tuning in...

A Child's Prayer

Prayer for Dad

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Dear God,

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Please send clothes for all those poor ladies on Dad's computer.

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Amen

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[Sent to me by a friend. Author unknown, but thanks for such refreshing humour.]