Today I went for my first match support for IHG 2014. The TH floorball males were playing against Sheares. Screamed, shouted and cheered. And it all came back. Just last academic year, I was there in MPSH, screaming and cheering for my team at the benches. That was me, in my very first ever (if you excluded those from primary school) sports competition.That place held a lot of memories for me, and I felt a wave of nostalgia sweep past me just watching the floorball team play today. Some of those basic tactics that they used, the exhilaration I felt the first time I ran through the court to just have a go at the ball, the feeling I got when my fellow hall mates shouted my name... those memories all started coming back.

I remembered being at the benches most of the time, passing water to my team members and all when they swapped players, for that was the most I could help them with. A big part of me was hoping very earnestly that I would be put on court to play, even if it was just a little while. But a small part of me was afraid that I would drag the team down for I had not been attending the holiday trainings and I wasn't skillful enough. I remembered very vividly the first time I actually stepped into the court was also during the match with sheares. Somewhere near the end of the match, jheng had came over and said when xx comes out, you'll substitute her. I had felt really really excited even though there was only seven seconds left to the end of the game and I knew that all I had to do was just to try to get possession of the ball. And I actually did, which I felt was a teeny achievement for a beginner like me.

The second time I went into court was for another some other match, probably against KE7 or something. This time I was in it for a longer period of time and really felt the strain on my weak legs, tired from not running in ages and not working on my stamina during the holidays. At that moment I really admired how the seniors could hold out a whole match on their own even though they were really tired and all, and the amount of effort and training they had to put in to achieve that sort of stamina. I remembered straining to listen to Janelle (for I was in her line up) amidst all the shoutings and my bad dribbling. I could still remember her expression when she passed the ball to me, thinking that I would try to take a shot since I was in the middle and in front of the goalpost and then expression of frustration as she came back for the ball because I had stopped the ball to try to shoot it (due to once again, my lousy skills). Looking back, I kind of wished I had tried harder to score my first goal. Such opportunities lost would never return again.

My team, they really wanted to win so badly. There was so much frustration and disappointment when we lost the match against Eusoff then they had said then that next year they would win the title of being first back. And I'm sure they probably would stand a chance to actually clinch the title this year. I remembered trainings - all those drills, passing exercises and even the one time that we were doing some PT thing and singing twinkle twinkle little star at the place known as Butterfly gardens today. Most of the seniors were really patient, giving me loads of advice on how to correct my stickwork and shoot properly, while some of the seniors would seem rather fierce at times. But I understood that they really wanted the best for the team and I was genuinely happy to have been able to learn from the best.

For someone who has never been any sports CCA before and who knows that she probably wouldn't fit in well with the sports culture, moving a step away from the cultural side, joining floorball and learning everything from scratch was a challenge which really involved some amount of courage to have to interact with sportsmen with really different mindset, interests and personalities. But I'm glad to say that I've tried. I'm glad I took the first step, and these memories I would hold dear.
Just within a span of one week, I met two different types service staff at two different restaurants.

 The first, was not very literate, and hence requested for us to "wait awhile for him" while he took down our orders using pen and paper by copying the orders from the menu. He offered us plain water even though our set meals already came with drinks (perhaps this was company's policy). His politeness and willingness to learn made up for his lack of education, and this attitude was something that I admired.

I however felt disgusted at the second. I might be biased, I might be extreme in my views. She may be a good staff on a normal basis who just happened to make a mistake but it ruined my dining experience. She was not very observant and talking to her colleague when my dad and I were requesting to make orders. She took our orders and asked us if we wanted to order drinks (which we declined) only when my dad commented that the meal did not come with drinks. They didn't have veg for the day so we had to make deal with carbs for the side dishes. The meal came. The portion was small, the chicken skin was burnt, like literally black. I was already unhappy with the meal. The infuriating part only came when my dad and I were making payment at the counter and I spotted some leaflets at the counter which featured what my dad and I just ate under the All Day Meals, only that this was cheaper and came with drinks. I showed my dad and we stormed out after making payment and confronting the staff for not even bothering to introduce the offer sets though she hurriedly apologized for it.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not angry that I didn't managed to save like a dollar or so from missing out on the all day meal offer. I was just really angry that the staff didn't bother to introduce it to us when we were making our order, ESPECIALLY when those were the very same items on the menu and they were charging us at a higher price than the set with drinks. Incredulous, lost for words, cheated was totally how I felt then.

To me, customer service means to consider the interests of your customers AT ALL TIMES, no matter how long your day had been or how tired you were, not just being friendly at the door or taking orders dutifully. Those are part of the job scope but, the essence of customer service comes from treating everyone who walks into those doors with the intent and passion that you want to serve them better and you want the best for them, not just a smile for the sake of a smile. Yes, you do want to make money for the company, but in most cases successful companies are only successful because their clients know that they will receive the good and reliable services from them and hence continue to return to employ their services.Similarly, to me restaurants are only successful if 1)Food is really that fantastic that people do not mind paying a higher price for it, 2) Food is good so customers return or customer base increase by word of mouth,  3) Food is so-so but average or above average services redeems the fact that your food is just average... Well, you get the idea. The key is to impress customers (with food, service, environment etc...) to get them coming back for more, which in this case, I'm sorry but you failed miserably, both in terms of food (which was just so-so) and service (which we felt cheated after the meal). If you continue to use such a tactic, you probably wouldn't be seeing most of your customers a second time. Well at least for me, you wouldn't be seeing me for a long time.
Happy Valentine's Day!

So much has happened throughout the past one year.
And although I didn't really express it then, I am thankful that on this very day last year, someone actually managed to make me feel special inside. Thank you so much for that.

On a second note, I do hope I find someone to spend v day with next year. It's getting a little lonely inside. Just a teeny weeny little bit. Mini confession over here, despite my supposed nonchalance about my single status.

"If you don't need a special day to love, then I guess vday serves as a reminder to love everyday."