Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

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  • Singapore Airlines vs Philippine Airlines

    In 2008 I had the opportunity to fly on Singapore Airlines and earlier this week I flew on Philippine Airlines.  I spent two years living in Singapore and am moving on to the Philippines, so I figured it’d be in keeping with this blog to do a comparison of the services offered by both airlines.  I’ll also be reposting this on my Philippines blog, Everything But Balot.

    Singapore Airlines:

    When I first flew to Singapore in June of 2008, I had some choices to make.  One was which airline I was going to take.  I made that decision the simplest way.  I took the one that was cheapest.  When you’re flying from the US to Singapore, the cost of the ticket can be pretty steep, especially if you’re flying during the summer, so the price point was my major choosing point.

    Somehow, Singapore Airlines wound up being the best priced fare at roughly 1400 USD for a one way ticket from New York City, with one layover in Frankfurt, Germany.  I have no idea how this happened, but I’m glad it did.

    To put it simply, Singapore Airlines is the best flight experience I’ve EVER had.  I think it completely enhanced the experience that I got onboard with absolutely no expectations or any knowledge of the airline.  With it being the cheapest ticket, I’d assumed it was some sort of low class airline that would get me where I wanted to go, but not necessarily in style.

    I was wrong.  Singapore Airlines is all about comfort and relaxation while in flight, even if you’re in the economy section.  I had a good seat too.  I’d booked early and chosen my seat, so I wound up on the aisle.  Someone begged me to switch with them, so they could sit next to their spouse, but I declined.  Their seat was dead center of the plain, with two seats on either side.  I have long legs, so I need the extra space, especially on a 22 hour flight.

    Shortly after getting on the plane I was handed a package by a stewardess.  I don’t remember if it was prior to take-off or just after the plane leveled out, but it doesn’t really matter.  I got it right away and it was a fantastic goodie bag!  It had slippers, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and I think some soap in it.  Right about then I knew I’d lucked up and gotten a good deal, but it only got better.

    A little while later, a stewardess came down the aisle and asked me if I’d like to have a glass of champagne.  Of course I accepted her offer and then got lost in the menus on the touch-screen TV on the back of the chair in front of me.  Oh, and I’d put on my comfy slippers by then too.  The TV on the back of the chair was loaded with on-demand movies, TV shows, music and even a few basic games.  It kept me thoroughly entertained for the duration of the flight.

    The meals I was served were top notch.  It was better than some of the things I’d eaten in restaurants.  The one meal that still stands out in my mind is the steak dinner I was served.  The meat was tender and it was real, rather than being some chopped and reformed meat patty.  The vegetables were still crisp.

    Between meals there was a steady flow of drinks and snacks, and most importantly, the stewardesses were very prompt and kept their eyes on the passengers to make sure everyone was as comfortable as possible.  I could really tell that I was a valued customer, even if I wasn’t in first class.

    If I ever make a long-haul flight from Asia to Europe, or back to the US, it will definitely be with Singapore Airlines.

    Philippine Airlines

    My trip on Philippine Airlines left a lot to be desired.  I flew from Singapore to Manila, in the Philippines.  It’s a pretty short flight, but even so I expected there to be a level of service offered in exchange for the premium price we paid to fly with their airline over Jetstar, or an even lower priced budget airline.  That wasn’t the case, at all.  I won’t go into the disaster with my cats here, but do take the time to read it, as that may have affected my opinion.  I’ll try to stick to specific examples here.

    When we first approached the boarding area, I was expecting to see a large, shiny plane waiting for us.  Instead, the plane looked a bit small and old.  I kept my hopes up for the interior, but was let down on boarding.  The seats were a bit cramped, there was no TV in the back of the chairs, and everything looked really old and worn down.  If it weren’t for the uniforms the stewardesses were wearing, it could’ve been a Tiger Airways plane.  Not that I have anything against Tiger Airways.  I’m just saying that you get what you pay for, and I paid for more than that.

    I want to talk specifically about the entertainment services offered.  The TVs weren’t in the backs of the chairs, with each person having their own individual screen to suit their taste, but there were drop-down TVs.  Each one was set to serve about 3 rows.  The screens were small, but they were ok.  The movie selection wasn’t bad either.  They picked The Tooth Fairy, which I really enjoyed watching the first time around.  I got excited and plugged in the complimentary headphones provided by a stewardess.  I then found out that I couldn’t change the channel or the value through my armrest.  Also, each headphone was playing something from a different channel.  I had crappy music in one ear and even crappier music in the other ear.  So, I took off the headphones and just looked at the screen for a while.

    When the movie started, the stewardesses were distributing meals from their cart.  The food was actually pretty good.  I had a chicken dish that actually hit the spot, especially since it was accompanied by a Red Ribbon brownie.  Red Ribbon is a baking chain in the Philippines that really does it right.  I love getting cakes and other goodies from them.

    Unfortunately, that’s as far as I can go with the compliments.

    After the meal, I think we sat there for about 40 minutes with our empty trays, waiting for a stewardess to come by to collect them.  My wife had to use the restroom and couldn’t wait any longer, so we wound up stacking everything together into one tray that I could hold so she could climb out.  In the process, we spilled ice water in her lap and on her chair.  About 10 minutes later a stewardess finally came by to take the trays, and instead of offering me service, she told me I needed to put everything back on the individual trays before she would take it.  Then she moved on and I had to yell at her to get her to come back and take the damn trays I’d put back in order.  She should’ve taken the trays and done the work herself.  If she’d been more timely in her job it wouldn’t have been necessary to put them like that in the first place.

    Also, during the entire flight the cabin felt stuffy and warm.  I’m not sure if the air conditioning wasn’t working right, or if they just weren’t running it as often to save on fuel, but it was disappointing.  You know how you always think you’ll need a blanket on an airplane because it’s nice and cold?  I was wearing flip-flops, shorts and a t-shirt and I was still warm.

    I spent the rest of the flight furiously updating and arranging my e-book library on my laptop, looking forward to getting off the plane.  Instead of being a great experience like Singapore Airlines was, Philippine Airlines made the trip feel like a chore.  I don’t understand why I paid more for their tickets.  I get better service on Jetstar and the rates are a lot cheaper.

    To top it off, when the plane landed it almost veered off the runway.  Not sure what that was about, but it seemed a fitting end to an uncomfortable flight.

    Conclusion:

    I suppose I already said it above, but from now on it’ll be Singapore Airlines only for long-haul flights, if my budget permits of course!  Other than that, I’d rather take Jetstar than Philippine Airlines again.

  • Giant Billboards

    One of the first things you’ll notice as you leave NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport), besides the hellish traffic, are the gigantic billboards.  Ya, giant really isn’t even enough to describe these things.

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    Billboards aren’t anything new to me.  They’re all over the place in the US, especially along highways, but Manila takes it to a whole new level.  These things are about four times the size of the average billboard in the US.  They’re so big, in fact, that they pose a safety hazard during bad weather.  My wife was telling me that a few years ago there was a hurricane that caused a lot of the billboards to fall over.  They fell onto the highways, which had cars on them, and killed a few people.

    I think they’re pretty interesting to look at, but only because of how big they are!

  • Cat Export – Complete! But… Minor Disaster At The Airport!

    Cats in Changi Airport

    So, the great saga of exporting cats from Singapore is now complete, but it ended in near disaster.

    Everything was going great.  We got up on time.  We got to the airport on time.  The Philippine Airlines attendants saw us in the line and pulled us into the business class line to have the cats taken care of.  We wound up paying 330 SGD for the cats to get on the plane.  The rate was about 20.50 SGD per kilogram.

    Then, they were tagged and wheeled away in their carriers.  We were assured that they would be taken good care of.  I’m not sure where things went wrong, but I think it must have been with the ground crew that loads the planes.

    IMG_0055

    We were already on board and seated when we looked out the window and saw one of those baggage trucks with the cat carriers pulled up alongside the plane.  I even took a photo, thinking it was neat that we had such good seats for watching them get put on the plane.

    That’s when disaster struck.  We saw a guy holding up a broken carrier.  The carrier was broken in the middle.  I don’t know how they managed to do it, other than to think that maybe they put something too heavy on top of the carrier and it caused it to fall apart.  Why would they be putting something heavy on top of a cat carrier that has a live animal in it in the first place?

    A guy bolted out of view, presumably chasing Marble.

    I thought I was going to have a heart attack.  I put all that effort into securing my pet’s passage to the Philippines and she almost ran off into the airport somewhere, to meet who knows what kind of fate.  I ran back out of the plane and into the boarding area to ask the women there just what was going on.  I told them what the situation was, and that I saw the empty carrier and pressured them to get everything taken care of.

    My wife called me on my mobile from her seat in the plane and said that she saw them bringing the carrier back with Marble inside of it.  The attendant then talked to someone on her walkie-talkie and confirmed what my wife had said.  So, relieved, I went back down the boarding ramp and back to my seat.

    That wasn’t the end of the drama though.

    There was some banging around under the plane and I started to wonder just what the hell they were doing to my cats.  Then, about 5 minutes later they began to unload all of the cargo from the plane.  They had broken the carrier again and Marble was running amok under the plane.

    I offered to go under the plane myself and secure the carrier because I figured I’d have an easier time of it than they would, but they said that for security reasons they couldn’t let me do that.  So, we sat there.  Eventually the pilot made an announcement about why we were still sitting there 30 minutes after the plane was supposed to have taken off, and everyone got a good laugh out of it, but I didn’t think it was all that amusing.  I was worried about my cat.

    At about 11:30 AM, 45 minutes after the plane was supposed to take off, they finally had Marble secured in her carrier, the cargo reloaded and they were closing the plane doors.

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    I spent the entire flight worrying about how my cats were.  After a fiasco like that, I didn’t have much confidence in the airline’s ability to handle my pets properly.

    Thankfully, things went incredibly smoothly in Manila.  We rushed off the plane to the baggage area, but our cats still beat us to the baggage claim area.  It seems like NAIA knows what ‘Priority’ tags mean.  It means take care with these animals, and move them along quickly, rather than put heavy stuff on the carrier and crack it open.

    By the way, this is what the carrier looked like after the ‘fix’ at Changi Airport:

    IMG_0062

    Anyway, the paperwork was done in a matter of minutes.  We didn’t even have to take the cats anywhere.  The workers came to us and helped us get through the paperwork while I was pulling our luggage off the carousel.  That’s some good service!

    The cats were a little terrified, but when we got into the taxi the quiet and the air conditioning put them right to sleep, all the way to Antipolo.

    Stay tuned for more updates on how the cats are adjusting to their new home!

  • PX Goods in the Philippines

    My wife and I were having a conversation a few weeks ago that just popped back into my head.  She was telling me about how imported goods in the Philippines are sometimes called PX goods, but she doesn’t know why.  I could be absolutely wrong, but I have a theory about that!

    As you may or may not know I spent 8 years in the Army, and “PX” is an Army term.  It’s short for “Post Exchange”.  Almost every Army base has a post exchange on it, regardless of where it is in the world, with the exception being some in combat areas or when the post is just too small.  Even some of the camps in Kuwait have a PX.  The PX is like a big department store.  You can buy clothes, kitchen stuff, electronics, DVDs, music, games, and sporting equipment there, among other things.  A few even have sections for gardening.

    So, how does this tie in with the term being used in the Philippines?

    Well, there used to be a strong US military presence in the Philippines around the time of World War II, the Vietnam War, and even during the Cold War.  The first place that comes to mind (that’s still standing, albeit no longer under US control) is Clark Air Base in Pampanga.  It’s recently been given another name, but most Filipinos still know it by the old, American name.  I found the following information on Wikipedia:

    Clark Air Base was originally established as Fort Stotsenburg in Sapang Bato, Angeles City in 1903 under control of the U.S. Army.

    That article goes on to say that Clark Air Base had a “base exchange”, which is the Air Force term for a post exchange, but I think that initially it had a post exchange, like all Army posts do, and that word stuck in the minds of the local population.

    Regardless of where you are in the world, a PX carries the same variety of goods which are mostly things from the US.  These goods would eventually make it into the local population by resale from troops trying to turn a buck on people wanting genuine American items.  So, in the Philippines, these items would be seen as imported goods.

    So, long story short, I think the term “PX goods” is used to describe imported items because PX goods from the US military PXs that used to be in the Philippines were all imported items from the US.  Again, this is just a theory and it could be something else entirely, but this just fit so well with what I know!

  • Cat Export Preparations Update #7

    Monday night the AVA health certification was approved, so I immediately got online and made my payment.  I didn’t want to run into any hang-ups with my card not working properly in some scanner at a government office.  I didn’t have time to take chances.

    I did have time to sleep in a bit though.  Not intentionally of course, but I’ve been so exhausted from running around preparing for this move and from stress that I just slept for about 12 hours straight that night.  When I finally got out of the house it was around 2 PM already.  I went directly to Tanjong Pagar to pick up the certification.

    I was expecting it to be pretty hard to find.  I actually had my iPhone out with the Maps application running.  It was kind of ridiculous though because there I was, walking down the street with my face glued to my phone, trying to figure out when I’d be close to the Ministry of National Development building.  The thing wasn’t reading quite right because when I looked up, there it was right in front of me.

    Mobile Photo 05-May-2010 PM 07 01 36

    It’s a pretty massive building that’s hard to miss.  I could’ve seen it from the MRT station if I wasn’t so busy trying to use my iPhone’s Maps.

    The process of picking up the health certification was painless.  I was in and out of the office in about 10 minutes.

    It took a little more effort to find the Philippines Airlines office at Parklane Mall.  You have to show them your documents at least two days before your flight so they can fax them to the terminal office and, presumably, have proper arrangements made on the aircraft.

    I’d never been to, or even heard of, Parklane Mall before so I had looked it up on Google Maps before leaving the house and, once again, I was walking with my face glued to my iPhone screen.  And… once again, I was standing there looking at that screen, trying to figure out where I was in relation to the mall when I looked up and was staring at the entrance.  In my defense, the entrance to Parklane Mall is kind of hard to pick out from the rest of the storefronts in that area.

    Mobile Photo 05-May-2010 PM 07 33 47

    The entrance is between the DBS and McDonald’s signs in this picture.  Hardly the average mall entrance in Singapore.

    Anyhow, I wasn’t quite prepared for what all the agent wanted to know at the office there.  He wanted to know the dimensions of the carrier, if it was IATA approved, its weight and the weight of my cats.  He wanted to see the credit card I’d used and of course he wanted to see the documentation.  He made copies of the export permit, import permit, and AVA health certification.

    I wound up leaving their office at 5 minutes to 5 PM, which is when they close, so I made it, but barely.

    If I could go back in time and reschedule this all, I would set it up so that my flight was on a Sunday.  Having that weekend, a holiday weekend no less, in the middle of the 7 days leading up to our flight, cramped our available time for getting things done for the cats.  Everything has to be done within a certain amount of time leading up to the flight.  Some of the documents are only good for 7 or 10 days.

    Anyway, I’m glad that stress is over.  Now we just need to show up at the airport with them in the morning.

    The next post you see on this blog will be published from the Philippines.  Hopefully I’ll have a happy tale to tell about our cats’ first trip on an airplane.  By then I’ll have all the information I need to complete my step-by-step guide on importing cats to the Philippines from Singapore as well.  I’ll be publishing that on my ‘Philippines’ blog.  You can find the link to it at the bottom of the sidebar.  I got it going but haven’t posted much to it yet.

    Take care, and see you on the other side!

  • The Soup Spoon @ Bugis Junction

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    My wife and I are constantly finding and trying new restaurants and I’m kinda sad that this one slipped our notice until just two days before I leave Singapore.  The Soup Spoon has some GREAT food.

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    My wife ordered the Simon & Garfunkel Ragout (pronounced ‘ra-goo’).  I had a little taste of it and it was delicious.  I don’t know how close to original the ragout recipe is, but it was great on its own.

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    I had the Velvety Mushroom Stroganoff.  Ever since I got to experience the mushroom soup at Say Cheeze in Tampines 1 I’m always on the lookout for a chance to try a new recipe.  I never realized mushroom soup could be so good, because in the US plain ‘cream of’ soups aren’t that popular and the ones that come in the cans are really bland.  The mushroom soup at The Soup Spoon is really excellent.  It’s thick and the chunks of mushroom are big enough to sink your teeth into.

    The soups could be a meal by themselves, especially with the bread roll that comes with it, but they had a set meal offer that we took advantage of.

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    My wife tried their Garden Green salad.  She said it was nice.

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    I had the Chicken Tikka half-wrap.  It was ok.  I think I’d have enjoyed it more but it didn’t really go well with the soup I chose.  The taste was tart and sour, which was an abrupt change after the smooth, mellow tastes of the soup.  Oh, and the stuff on the side that you can see in the picture above?  It tasted just a bit south of foul.  I left that alone.

    Overall, the meal was very satisfying and very filling and, surprisingly, very affordable at only 22 bucks for both of us.

    I’m just sad that I’ll probably never eat at this place again.  It would’ve been a regular stop for me if I’d known about it earlier.

  • Cat Export Preparations Update #6

    Things are going right on schedule.  We had kind of a hang-up on Saturday with taking the cats to the vet because it was a public holiday.  I didn’t even realize it!  The vet was closed.  Someone let me know on Friday night.  Coincidentally, it was the person that recognized me from my blog at Teadot.  She noticed the blog post and contacted me on Twitter.  Apparently, we’d chatted a bit on Plurk before I stopped actively using the service.  I guess social media paid off for me this weekend, because it saved me a wasted trip to a closed vet.

    Thanks @_rasyidah!

    It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  The vet we were going to take the cats to wanted 104 per cat for the rabies shot and health certificate, but when we called around we wound up finding a vet that would perform the same service, including an application of Frontline to meet the “treated for external parasites” requirement for import to the Philippines, for only 84 dollars per cat.  That’s 60 bucks in savings.  Plus, the clinic was closer so we saved on taxi fare too.

    I’ll list the places we went in my “roll-up” post on how to import cats to the Philippines from Singapore later, on my Philippines blog.

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    We really had to get the cats to the vet over the weekend to fit our timeline.  Immediately after returning home from the vet, I filled out the online form with AVA to have the certificates converted to AVA certified versions.  That included scanning them and uploading them along with the application.

    So, after this I still have to go pick up the certificates from the AVA, which will hopefully be available by tomorrow afternoon, and then take them to the Philippines Airlines office to present to the customer service officers there.  They require that you show them the paperwork before they allow you to board their planes with pets.  I suppose it’s a good policy, but it adds a bit more stress.  The health certificates have to be obtained within 7 days of arrival at your destination and you have to show it to the PAL office no later than two days before the flight.  It creates a sort of time-crunch that we’ll hopefully get over without issue.

    As for the cats themselves, this trip was a little less traumatizing for them I think.  On their last trip to the vet we were in a much noisier area, with a lot of traffic and then to cap things off we got caught in one of Singapore’s flash rainstorms that left us pretty drenched.  They did panic a bit when a dog the size of Marmaduke came into the vet, but I don’t blame them.  That thing kinda worried me too.  I’m sure it outweighed me by about 30 pounds.  It was HUGE.

    So, that’s it for now!

    Total damages so far: 1075 SGD

    Total to go (approx.): 260 SGD

  • Cat Export Preparations Update #5

    It’s almost time to go and rather than winding down, things are winding up, especially our stress level.  There are only a few things left to do, in regards to the cats, but it’s still troublesome.

    On the 28th, the carriers showed up as scheduled, which was a relief.  It’d be time consuming to try to get a refund and then go elsewhere.  The cats don’t seem to mind them.  In fact, as soon as I put them in the room, they wanted to investigate.  I read that it’s best to let your cats get comfortable with the carriers so they’re more at ease during the trip.

    So, what’s left?  Tomorrow I have to take the cats to get their rabies shots and health certificates.  Immediately afterwards I need to file those health certificates along with an application to have them converted to AVA health certificates.  Those should be ready to pick up on Monday.  Immediately after picking them up I have to go to the Philippines Airlines office and present the documentation to them.  They won’t let the cats on the plane without me performing that step first.  They want to verify the documents and make sure everything’s legal.

    My stack of paperwork involving the flight and these cats is growing…

    Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow!

  • Why The Philippines?

    Philippines SEP 08 - 0025

    This is a question my wife has asked me on more than one occasion.  It seems to boggle her mind that I would really look forward to moving there.  The Philippines is a ‘poor’ country and many Filipinos strive to find ways to leave and find what they consider a better life abroad.  There’s something of a joke that the primary export of the Philippines is human beings, as a labor force.  With so many of her countrymen trying to get out of the Philippines she finds it curious and a bit odd that I’m so excited about moving there.

    Just to clarify, I’m not going there with some wealthy expat package lined up.  I’m moving there for other reasons, which I’ll get into later in this post.  But, for all intents and purposes, when I move to the Philippines I’ll be living pretty much as the average Filipino does.  That will have both its ups and downs, but I look at this as a great opportunity rather than a disadvantage.  The easy answer is that I’m moving to Manila to go to college, but there’s more to it than that.

    I spent the first part of my life in the US Army.  I was actually enlisted in the US Army Reserves before I even finished high school and shortly after I applied for and was accepted to active duty.  During that time I had a few odd jobs on the side, but my service in the Army was the only ‘real’ job I’ve held.  I wouldn’t call service in the Army a waste of time, but it can seriously set you back if you don’t intend to see it all the way through, or if you later decide that you’ve had enough and don’t want to do 20 years for a retirement.  I didn’t completely gimp myself.  During the last year and a half I was in, I realized I wasn’t going to make a career of it after all and managed to squeeze in almost 2 years worth the college credit hours through CLEP tests, sit down courses and online courses through Park University and the University of Maryland UC.  Those college credits paid off by giving me enough points to get promoted to Sergeant before getting out, and by giving me a leg up on getting a degree.  I earned a scholarship while in the Army that will pay 100% of my tuition.  There’s a time limit on it, and it’s hard to go to school full time and still make it financially, but I’m in a position to make it happen now and I want to take advantage of this opportunity, because it may never come again.

    In the US, it’s possible to get a decent job based on military service alone, but outside of the US that’s nearly impossible.  I’ve found that out the hard way.  Having a degree on top of my military service would make me look real good though, both to peers and to potential employers.  It’s a nice thing to be able to say you have a tertiary education and a piece of paper to prove it.  I want that.  I am by no means an idiot, but just saying you’re smart or good at something isn’t going to win you a job interview or a high paying executive position.  People want proof.  They want evidence that you’ll be a good, solid investment.  Even if your degree isn’t necessarily applicable, it will show that you’re at least smart enough to learn.

    Eventually I’ll make my way back to the US, and I think that having lived abroad for a number of years and having a degree from a foreign, but US accredited university, will give me an advantage.  The work climate in the US right now seems to be focused on finding people that can interact in multiracial groups of people from diverse backgrounds, and having lived abroad and having gone to school abroad would be a clear indicator that I at least have experience with getting along with people who are different than I am.  That’s also something you learn in the Army, though to a lesser degree.

    The time I spend in the Philippines will also be an opportunity for me to enrich myself on a personal level by gaining a greater understanding of the world around me.  The Philippines is a place rich with history and culture in a way the US can’t quite match, now or in hundreds of more years.  The US is a melting pot of cultures and while that has its advantages, it causes the US to lack any sort of distinctiveness, politics and war aside.  So, it’s a very thrilling prospect for me to live in a country that has so much history behind it, to learn about the people living there and to experience it all first hand.

    It’s also an opportunity to connect with my wife’s family in a way that a short visit just can’t accommodate.  My wife is from the Philippines and we’ve visited a few times but the visits are brief and while we try to mix in sight-seeing with visiting time with her folks, the whole thing always feels rushed.  Living there will give me more time to hang out with them and get to know them.  It’ll also give my wife an opportunity to reconnect with her family before we move on to other things and other places.  I’m also hoping she’ll be able to finish her second degree, a master’s degree, or medical school while we’re there.

    So, moving to Manila and going to college will provide me with a lot of advantages in terms of future employment when I return to the US, as well as being personally enriching for both my wife and I.  I think both reasons have equal value because living life isn’t just about the job you hold or your income; it’s about family, experiencing the world, learning, progressing, understanding and eventually contributing to society.  This move will be a win-win situation all around.

    The focus of this blog will be whether or not we achieve these goals, how we make it happen or how we fail, and the adventures we encounter along the way.

  • Japanese Sesson Grill at Manpuku, Tampines 1

    We’ve gone to Manpuku quite a few times, but we still haven’t tried everything the place has to offer.  That’s not so much for lack of opportunity, but lack of desire.  You see, Manpuku as an establishment has slowly been going downhill.

    Tampines 1 Opening - 009

    When Manpuku first opened, the place was packed all the time.  It was fresh, it was clean, the decor was awesome and the food was a novelty.  Unfortunately, most of the choices weren’t anything to get excited about, especially for the prices they were charging.  Most of it is little better than hawker food.

    A few months ago, I’m not sure exactly when, Manpuku’s customer base shrunk to the point that they did away with the charge card system.  It used to be that when you arrived you would queue up to wait for seating and to get a charge card.  You would use the card to pay for the items you wanted from the various booths inside.  Then, before leaving you went through a register check-out lane, kinda like in a grocery store.  That’s where you settled your bill.  Now, you just walk in and pay at the specific booth you want to eat from, either cash or NETS.  If you want to use a credit card you still use the original charge card system.  I suppose that system became more of a hassle than it was worth in regards to having extra employees just to ring up the bills and the owner realized it would be more cost effective to have individual booth workers handle their own cash payments.

    With the lower patronage comes lower standards it seems.  The trays are usually covered in a white grime and the eating utensils still have residue on them when you pick them up.  It makes me wonder if they even use washing soap or if they just rinse them with water.  I’ve also had trouble communicating with some of the employees lately.

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    Despite these issues, there are still a few gems to be found there.  The ramen from Aoba Hokkaido Ramen is pretty good but we wanted to try something different, so we went to Japanese Sesson Grill, which is in the corner near the MRT tracks.

    The food is a bit pricey.  Individual kabobs were between 2.50 and 3 bucks apiece, which seems expensive given their size.  We settled on having a set meal that came with five skewers, rice and miso soup for 13 SGD.  It seemed a fair enough price to pay for what we were getting.

    Mobile Photo 28-Apr-2010 PM 09 12 57

    One good thing about Manpuku falling out of public favor is that it’s less crowded and you can actually have a quiet sort of meal there.  We went to the very corner, overlooking the MRT station area.  It was even a bit cozy feeling there.

    Mobile Photo 28-Apr-2010 PM 09 13 36

    The food itself was better than I hoped it would be.  It’s nothing to get too excited about but I definitely felt that I’d gotten what I paid for and left satisfied.