Been and back!

As usual, my leave and holiday was way too short and it went past in a flash! It was a good leave though...

Had a great trip with my 2 sistas (or so they called us on the china trip... "San1 Jie3 Mei4")... Must recommend Chan Brothers to everyone! think the trip was good! We had a responsible tour guide who told us lots abt the history and meaning behind those monuments and buildings in beijing. He was very patient and nice throughout the trip!

The food was generally not bad... No dubious-looking food or places with regards to hygiene. Could name quite a few which we all enjoyed with no complaints. Pretty fruitful trip... did our fair-share of things like sight-seeing, shopping, foot reflexology, tea appreciation, watching acrobatic show and kungfu show, etc.

BUT... I have LOTS to say abt Air China. Lots of unhappy things... The trip would've been totally wonderful if not for the return flight. The flight was delayed for 7 hours and 35 min!! At the check-in counter, the staff was totally unfriendly and unhelpful. She did not even give us any proper explanation for the delay or instructions as to where to go while waiting for the flight. Initially they said the flight was delayed from 1525hr to 2000hr. They took 2 hours to arrange for us to stay at a secluded (smelly and spooky too!) 1-star hotel and then told us the flight may be delayed even later than 2000hr. NO airline crew accompanied us at the hotel to give us updates on the situation. We were made to wait indefinitely as the airline staff could not give the hotel receptionist an answer as to when the plane is flying either.

Liling and I were so desperate we tried calling the Air China headquarters to get some updates or change airline if possible. The customer service officer had absolutely no clue about the flight delay and could not provide us with any information either. Headquarters leh!! tsktsk... At 2000hr, there was still no answer nor transport to bring us back to the airport. We demanded to call a cab back to the airport but the hotel receptionist claimed that there was no such service.
In the end, we called our tour guide (our only hope then) and told him the situation. He suggested we leave the hotel immediately and told us to demand for the taxi number from the hotel staff cos apparently different areas have different numbers to call.

Well, they refused again and claimed that the transportation is coming soon. Super angry lor! Almost demanded for the number to call the police for illegal detaining of passengers! We finally reached the airport again at 2130hr. We demanded to see their manager for a proper explanation but no higher authority turned up at all. Shame on their higher officials!! They obviously had something to hide!! They did give us some monetary compensation but please lor... they are totally missing the point. What we wanted was some explanation and a proper management in terms of service recovery. Eventually the flight took off at 2300hr.

Sigh... Everyone was disgusted with the nonchalance and poor attitude of all the staff. Everyone shirked responsibility and said the matter was not under their area of concern. Night shift people shirked responsibility and said they were not informed about the delay and what happened in the afternoon.

After the horrible experience, I will definitely boycott Air China from now on and advise ALL friends and family NEVER to take Air China.

I suppose I needed such a horrible experience to realize there's really no place better than home where things are efficient and ppl take pride in getting things done. As i pulled my luggage along the beautiful carpetted floor of changi airport and tapping my passport and thumb through those electronic immigration gates, i was definitely beaming with pride. In my heart, i felt like shouting to all the foreigners who went through all the above with us "HA! check this out! This is my beautiful and efficient country!"

It's always fun to visit other countries and open up our horizons but ultimately, especially at this point in time, my heart will always remain here. It does not mean everything in Singapore is perfect. But sometimes the negative experience in other countries really strengthens my belief that Singapore is the best place to be... for me that is.