Kuan Yin’s mantra – Om mani padme hum

When Rinpoche asks Tony if he did any special visualisation or meditation, Tony said he did not do anything at all; just place the water and lead in the chanting. After chanting, he distributes the water. Both he and his patients have strong faith that the water has been blessed, though those cured are not necessarily Buddhist. Tony tells many stories of seriously ill people who immediately start to feel better after chanting the mantra and drinking the water. Some even recover completely by the next day. Someone with cancer will come in one day supported by two people because they are unable to walk. The next day, after drinking the blessed water, the person will walk into the office unassisted. Tony has witnessed many such miracle cures.

- To find soulmate/s

On a lighter note, here are hilarious 2011 resolutions by Twitter, Microsoft, Facebook and the  other  big boys of the internet (courtesy of @ladyxtel ):

Have a great start, ya’all !

I ordered a set of Minced Meat Sauce Noodles and Mushroom Wontons which was $7.90.  I had wanted to order Xiao Long Bao (one of my favourite chinese snack) but to my disappointment, they were not available that day. I was asked to have a seat while they would serve me.  I waited for about 20 minutes, even though there were maybe only 6 tables and almost all of the diners were already having their food. I also notice there were probably 4-5 service staff in the little counter/kitchen. When my order finally arrived, I was really truly shocked. 

Firstly, they were served in small paper bowls. Even the stalls in air-conditioned food courts serve piping hot noodles in big melamine bowls. Secondly, the portion for the minced pork noodles was so little that it was definitely lesser than a packet of instant noodles! The minced pork on top was also little (about the size of a tablespoon!). The real thing did not go in line with the description in their website “generous helping of minced pork and garnishes”. The noodles were a little soggy. I finished the noodles in 3-4 mouthfuls. Thirdly, it’s all about packaging. Even if paper bowls are acceptable, the portion of noodles was so miserably little inside the small paper bowl, it was about 1/4 of the bowl. If it was served in a paper /plastic PLATE, it would not have looked as pathetic. The mushroom wonton soup on the other hand, was about half full. The size of the wonton was small (teaspoon size) and there were about 4 wontons in the serving. The soup tasted bland.

The entire dining experience left much to be desired, I felt quite disappointed and short changed for the $7.90 I forked out. And I was still hungry afterwards.

In the end, I had to buy a bowl of $3.00 Taiwan Mee Sua (which came filled to the brim) from a nearby take-away counter, Taiwan Shihlin Snacks. The experience in Wonton Story was the first time I felt paying $7.90 was not justified, for the food, the presentation, the food portion, the waiting time etc..  And making it worse, when I compare what I had in Wonton Story to what I can get elsewhere for $7.90 or less, it is even more frustrating. Let’s see what alternatives I found and they are each delicious in their own right…..

At Soup Spoon, for between $5.60 – $6.90, you get Regular size big bowl of say, Clam Chowder which comes with a bun.  The soup portion is sizable, and generous with loads of chunky ingredients. At least it is filling even though it is just soup.

 

Even at Blue Mountain Cafe Restaurant in Iluma Shopping Mall, their ala carte dishes for say, their Rosemary Chicken is about $7+. In a set meal, it is priced less than $10. Each main entree comes with a bowl of soup and a drink.

I bought the ready-made salad from Mediya Supermarket in Liang Court. The Salmon Salad costs $4.50 while an additional Potato Salad costs $2.90. Total  cost was $7.80 and it fed about 1.5 persons.

I am not even talking about comparing it with hawker or cheaper food.  There are obviously many other choices which cost $7.90 or less to fill the stomach.

Operating a food business is not easy, especially in Singapore where the competition is stiff and the wide variety of cuisines available. Singaporeans are spoilt for choice when it comes to food. Hence for a food operator to survive(succeed), it is not rocket science that the followings are critical:

1. Food must at least be averagely delicious, or has one or two specialties (and make sure that it is not out of stock). Otherwise, why would diners keep coming back?

2. Price must be reasonable. If retailers want to charge high, make sure the dish is unique and very delectably delicious, or at least be more generous with the portion. Singaporeans generally do not mind paying for food if what they are getting in return is, by perception, “worth it”.

3. Presentation counts. Would you pay premium price for say, an abalone served on a paper plate? Take a leaf out of the Japanese’ book. Even for a simple bowl of 450yen (S$7.00) ramen at the most humble and lowest-priced shop in Japan, the dish is served hot, in a nice bowl, with a generous amount of soup, condiments, free green tea and clean napkins.

4. Service must be friendly at the very basic. Generally speaking, nowadays, while diners get served by many foreign service staff whom they do not understand or can communicate properly with, they are also faced with many local staff who do not know what is “service with a smile”.  Diners tend to be more forgiving when not greeted with a grumpy black face or a blur look. 

5. Last but not least, retailers should not be confused about how to position themselves, with the right and balanced mix of the above points.

6. When somebody whom I have benefited and in whom I have great hopes gives me terrible harm, I shall regard that person as my holy guru.

Enjoy this beautiful piano piece, Kiss The Rain. It sums up my quiet 2010. I know 2011 will be a better year. May you be blessed too.