Declining Service?

[zzm9980]

after frequenting the starbucks in orchard and some parts of singapore i have to say that the s'bucks vivocity and raffles city are the friendliest. the rest they are a bit blur sotong

The crew at Big Splash are pretty pro, except on Sunday mornings when they seem to have all different people who normally don't work at that location.

[zzm9980]

How can you put ten things in coffee? Coffee and water. Maybe sugar and milk if you are a big baby. But that's only four. Six straws?

It's not how many things you're putting in, it's just describing how you want your drink made. For example, at Starbucks I order this:

Iced triple grande non-fat 1 pump mocha

As opposed to the normal Iced Mocha, it is a triple (extra shot of espresso), 1-pump (as opposed to four pumps - how much chocolate they put inside. 4 pumps tastes like a chocolate bar) of Mocha, and non-fat milk.

Most places I just order an iced latte, but this tastes like shit at Starbucks and needs that 1 pump of mocha to hide the shit taste. Most people would just got to real coffee shop and order the drink they like where it tastes good. But in Singapore, the good coffee shops seem to have bankers hours and/or are in inconvenient spots. The closest good place to my house opens at 8:30am and closes at 6pm most days. Closed Mondays. Hard to get to while working a real job. The best coffee shop in Singapore is next to Jalan Besar stadium. Who the hell lives or works over there? Just hipsters and Australian backpackers in hostels. The only saving grace is that the second best coffee in Singapore now has a second location in Raffles City, so I can make it there now a couple of times a week.

[AngMoG]

Huh, reminds me of my many attempts to get a decent Iced Americano in Singapore. This needs decent coffee, so Starbucks is out.

You'd think it was simple, but you'd be surprised at how people can mess this up. For example, by putting first ice, then water, and then surprised that the coffee doesn't quite fit... *facepalm*

Then there's shops that don't have sugar syrup (sugar doesn't dissolve in iced coffee), and the best one was the cafe previously at my workplace that had the sugar syrup behind the counter... apparently didn't trust customers to use it.

[movingtospore]

Here is the opposite side...last time I was in the US I realized that I have been in Singers, with it's bad service, too long. I'd forgotten how to shop in a place where they're actually trying to sell you stuff. (ie, how to not buy a bunch of things I don't need). I dragged my sorry, jet lagged a$$ into a department store to get some shampoo or something I forgot...and ended up coming back to the hotel with a pile of stuff that I later looked at and said WTF...

[Hannieroo]

I just have black coffee, never from Starbucks. I'm missing out.

[x9200]

Expresso is drinkable. Or better say, same sh*t as in any other place around.
For someone drinking black only the very local kopi is a true challenge. I guess it is not designed to be taken without milk and sugar.

[the lynx]

Expresso is drinkable. Or better say, same sh*t as in any other place around.
For someone drinking black only the very local kopi is a true challenge. I guess it is not designed to be taken without milk and sugar.

Kopi Kosong!

[x9200]

No lah. It is like kopi-o with no sugar so the standard one served by all sorts of catering. It is bad enough and calling it kopi kosong won't hep.
But I had once something on the way from Mersing tasting like a product of petrochemical industry. For the first time I put sugar and milk in it and I could drink it. I am not saying it became delicious but the transformation was pretty amazing.

[Steve1960]

Only place I have problems is our occasional visits to McDonald's but I think that is a worldwide problem! I often don't get what I think I ordered due to the language difficulties and they are painfully slow these days. I remember when it used to be called 'fast food' and it actually was.

Customers don't help. How many times have I seen someone take ages to order a truck load of food for their family only to have the credit / debit card declined

After last Saturday I told my wife we are not going back to our local McDonalds ever again. Stress reduced and diet improved

[zzm9980]

Expresso is drinkable. Or better say, same sh*t as in any other place around.
For someone drinking black only the very local kopi is a true challenge. I guess it is not designed to be taken without milk and sugar.

Kopi Kosong!

I used that poster when I first got here. I want Kopi Peng Gau. People look at me half the time and just give me regular Kopi Peng.

Maybe I'm saying it wrong. Is Gau the same as 高 ? How does the pronunciation differ from the åÂ

[the lynx]

I used that poster when I first got here. I want Kopi Peng Gau. People look at me half the time and just give me regular Kopi Peng.

Maybe I'm saying it wrong. Is Gau the same as 高? How does the pronunciation differ from the 华文­ version?

Oh this Gao is in local Hokkien dialect for 'thick'. The Putonghua equivalent is 普通话, which normally the locals wouldn't use when placing order.

And yes, you were right to use Kopi Peng Gau for stronger iced coffee but remember also that most of the coffee shop helpers are from China and would be useless to take orders different from the 'standard' menu, like mentioned above. You have better luck dealing with local coffee shop 'uncles' who truly speak local Hokkien dialect well.

Note: I'm useless in Putonghua. Had to Google to double check what I wrote. You can count on me for Hokkien though.

[zzm9980]

Thank you Lynx. This is a new word for me:

普通话

I'll try that next time, it may work better

[Hidy Ho]

How do you order Kopi Gau + Kopi Siew Dai (less sweet?)??? Basically, I likely it stronger with less condensed milk.

[the lynx]

How do you order Kopi Gau + Kopi Siew Dai (less sweet?)??? Basically, I likely it stronger with less condensed milk.

So you want less sugar (siew dai) or less condensed milk?

[the lynx]

Thank you Lynx. This is a new word for me:

普通话

I'll try that next time, it may work better