Better Options

Dome in KLCC has got the dubious honor of being the only place repeatedly mentioned here (see: here and here).  You could accuse me of being an utter moron for going back to a place that is that certifiably bad, however, they do have quite a nice location outside KLCC overlooking the park and well in my defense, I have never before been there at breakfast time.

Their menu advertised a "Big Breakfast" for RM 25.  One thing I noticed is that while it seems fairly cheap in fact this does not include coffee or juice.  Most outlets in KL is serving a big breakfast including coffee and juice for around RM 30++.  In reality Dome's offer would come up to RM 40 or so - if coffee and juice was to be included.  The "Big Breakfast" included "Eggs as you like" and other stuff, so I went ahead and ordered one.  When we got around to the eggs, I asked - as I always do - to have them made as an omelet.  This caused some confusion and the waiter explained: "we only serve eggs as sunny side up or scrambled".  I explained that I don't like that, but really wanted my eggs made as an omelet, and the waiter went to fetch the manager.  A few minutes later the manager arrived and explained to me that their customers only "liked" either scrambled eggs or sunny side up.  He also explained that in the past they had customers who liked omelets but that was years back and definitely not possible any longer.

This may not seems like a bit deal, but think about it.  Why would they not want to serve an omelet?  There can really only be 2 or 3 possibilities:

1. They train monkeys to do the "cooking" - not qualified kitchen staff

2. They prepare everything in advance and nothing is actually cooked when ordered

3. They couldn't care less about what the customers want

Needless to say that I decided to walk to the next outlet (that is probably less than 30 meters) and have my breakfast at Chinoz (I think the full name is "Chinoz on the Park").

Chinoz is actually quite a nice place.  They had a breakfast buffet (various bread, cereals + some local Malaysian favorites) with coffee and juice included for RM 23, and for RM 33 an item from the a la carte menu could be included - for example - an omelet.  In other words, Chinoz was not only cheaper than Dome, but also had a significant better choice, and more to the point - they was able to serve the eggs as I like them not as they dictate their customers ought to like them.

But that is not all really.  The staff at Chinoz are, and have always been, quite switched on.  They are attentive, courteous and generally seem to enjoy working there - which is in sharp contrast to Dome where nobody - from manager down seem to give a hoot about the place or their customers and all the staff seem more busy chit chatting than actually paying attention to their customers (in fact, they have taken "ignoring customers" to a completely different level).  Also Chinoz actually leave so much space around their tables that you can walk to them without bumping into 10 people on the way, whereas Dome have squeezed so many tables in that it is quite impossible to reach them without annoying the other guests.

It is beyond me why anybody would spend a single Ringgit at Dome when Chinoz is right next to it.  Both offer the same view of the park, Chinoz pretty much serve everything Dome can come up with and then some.  But most important - as a customer at Chinoz I have always felt quite welcome, whereas the few times I have visited Dome I mostly had a feeling they would prefer if I left as soon as possible.  Well, no worries - I have in fact walked out the last couple of times I have been there, I did walk out this time and I will do so in the future.

Those Bozos Probably Can't Read Anyway

Exciting announcement from Amazon.  They now ship their Kindle internationally as prominently displayed on their frontpage:

 

Now, I couldn't help myself investigating what Amazon means by "Internationally".  Let's pick a poor small European country - Albania.

 

Ok - mildly surprised there, but even if piss poor, Albania still is a European country, let's check a really tiny places:

Hell, I myself wouldn't want to locate Wallis and Futuna on a map.  How about Africa?

South America then?

OK - need to up the ante a bit.  Surely a patriotic American company such as Amazon wouldn't ship to communist countries - ahem - sorry - democratic republics that is:

I stand corrected.  Lao is in South-East Asia, let's check other South-East Asian countries.  Cambodia?

No problem, Thailand?

No problem.  Philippines?

Also no problem.  Finally back to a communist country:

No problem. Now, what about Malaysia?

Still no go.  And for some bizarre reason:

Odd!  Why on earth would Amazon ship to places like Burma, Kiribati, Lao but not to Singapore and/or Malaysia?

Final note - OK - I wanted to prove a point here and I admit I did hand pick oddities a bit.  There were other countries to which Amazon refused to ship - Indonesia and most of the former Soviet republics for example.