A tale of 2 cities

Will be leaving for Hong Kong/San Francisco this evening. There are some places that one flies to so often that when you check in all you wanna do is to stay in the room and veg out with room service and watch cable tv. These 2 places are not like that.

I can't remember the last time I visited Hong Kong. The streets are always bustling, people are always rushing from place to place, great food is always round every corner. Other than the electronics shop operated by unscrupulous salesmen(one should never buy anything electronic from Hong Kong, our island has the best deals, really), most retail shops are ran by friendly, courteous staff that greets you when you enter, dig through piles of clothes to find the size you want, and if they don't have it, ring up the closest branch to check for you without you asking. If you were to leave empty handed they'll still wish you a good evening and ask that you come back again. Many think that the Japanese standard is the penultimate when it comes to customer service, but I find it quite robotic and frankly I don't understand much of what they saying most times la. Hong-Kongers make you feel like you walking into a place ran by your friend; asking whether you have eaten, talk about the latest movie/weather, even going as far as to compliment the way you wear your outfit. Now that's what I call service that warms the heart... And what do you know, we have set up a task force(again) to up our service standard here in Singapore(again)!

Amongst the 3 US cities I travel to for work(the other 2 being New York and Los Angeles), San Francisco rates as one of the more touristy in my books. There's always a queue for the expensive cable car ride to Fishermen's Wharf, when you can actually be like the locals and hop onto a public bus to reach there. I've taken the cruise around San Francisco Bay 3 times already, each time bringing some wide-eyed junior crew there. Those who just watched the deliriously delicious Charlie & the Chocolate Factory will not wanna miss Ghiradellis chocolates while in the Bay area. Food wise I'm not fussy, preferring to just gobble down the nearest burger or slice pizza I can lay my hands on, though some of my colleagues swear by THAT Thai or Japanese restaurant and simply must walk a couple of streets to get there. The movie theatre experience is also different; here I buy a ticket for one movie, but sneak into another theatre after taking a toilet break. I haven't got caught yet, since most times it's a weekday and there's a thin crowd. It's a nice way to stay awake to beat the jet lag coming in from Hong Kong.

I will be going away after for a short trip to KL after my flight. Taking a bus there at 11pm, I should get into KL city by morning. Did some research and hope it comes in handy when I get there. I don't recall much about KL, except that it looks and feels just like Orchard Road. Hopefully I can gain a new perspective of the city during my jaunt there.