Riyadh, Al Jawal Network (1 SIM, 2 numbers!)

I have started keeping local SIM cards for all the places where I frequently travel to. This saves me on the roaming charges but of course I do miss out on a few calls or sms from people who try my HK phone. When I went to Riyadh on my first business trip, the first thing I wanted to do was buy a local SIM card. But soon after landing, I got a text message from Al Jawal, the local network: Get a local number without changing your sim, call … WOW! I immediately called the number and followed the recorded instructions; soon I heard, ‘your local number has been activated’, and the line went dead. I said, ‘wait a minute, what’s my local number, what do i do next???’ At that moment another text message came with my local number and instructions on calling and recharging. WOW!

For the next four days, I was able to use both my HK number and the local number at the same time. What’s more, after every call Al Jawal would send a message about the balance amount. Surely a WOW network!

iPhone - Somewhere in Between!

I had been happily using a Palm/Treo for about ten years. I ditched it last week when I finally succumbed to the temptations of iPhone. Being a Mac user and fan for a few years, I had very high expectations from the iPhone. I expected it to seamlessly sync with my mac’s Contacts, iCal, Mail, iPhoto and iTunes…which it did beautifully well with a touch of a button! It even copied my bookmarks from Safari! I finally browsed the Internet, logged into my blogs, checked the stats, looked at flight schedules, browsed the movies in local theaters, watched a couple of trailers and even booked movie tickets - none of which I’d ever do on any other handheld! Now I also open the attachments to email - even Excel looks pretty on iPhone! Plus other cool features like the intelligent keyboard, Mac-type widgets, scrolling and twitching and turning pages, are all WOW!

Now comes the SHIT part: It has blue tooth but only for headset; can’t transfer files! It has SMS but can’t do group SMS; plus there’s no outbox for unsent messages! There’s no copy, cut and paste function. So I can’t copy numbers or info from a text message to contacts or calendar - I need to have a PAPER and PEN! Notes in iPhone can’t sync with any application on Mac; so there’s no backup! And it doesn’t have multiple color-coded calendars like in Mac or Treo. No more red dots showing trips, or purple dots showing birthdays, or green dots for commitments with family or friends! I miss my Treo

While iPhone is way ahead in lot of things, it’s a step back for me in a lot of ways. So I say, it’s both WOW and SHIT, or somewhere in between! I should have listened to you, Hamza

Jakarta, Pizza Hut (entertaining kids!)

This is the Pizza Hut right after the tollgate on the highway to Bandung. And there’s something different about this one. Besides the fact that the staff is very happy and enthusiastic, they love to entertain kids by making balloon animals for them. There’s a huge basket in a corner which is filled with long balloon tubes. Kids come and select a color and one of the staff would make an animal or something for the kid. Kids love watching the transformation of balloon tubes into different shapes. And these balloons are easier to keep. It also makes their parents happy because the whole process keeps their kids away for a while. It seems to make the staff happy because they get to interact with different kids and spread some cheer in between taking orders and serving pizzas! The balloon hat in the picture is my contribution to the shapes now available ☺ What a simple idea! And so much WOW!

Caution against Remit2Home.com

My Fiancée lives in the Philippines and I live in America. I often send her money for some support, or to build up some savings for when I arrive there to live. I have used a few of the money transfer companies available on the internet, which I will not mention except Remit2Home.I had been happily using a company before Remit2Home started flooding the internet with their ads. They said their fee was less so I decided to try them out.

I signed up, and proceeded to send Elena some money. They did their test of my account sending me a small amount then taking it back. I then got a phone call from them wanting to know everything about me except maybe my blood type. One thing they did ask was the test transfer amount to prove I was the account holder. This all happened within 2 days after I signed up. Then we waited a week, nothing. Then 2 weeks, still nothing. They advertise 24/7 support. WHERE? Their phones are never answered and their Chat Live crashes or never works.

Oh, one time they answered the phone, and the girl said she would contact someone in the customer service department and have someone return my call. NEVER HAPPENED. I would send emails and 2 days later I would get a promise they are investigating. 2 days ago, I get an email saying the money has been deposited. Well, my fiancée went to her bank and NO, NOTHING THERE. Also now all I get is their auto-response email, but nothing more. It has been ONE MONTH and no money. BEYOND SHIT!

[Contributed by Bruce - http://filipinainamerica.com/?p=17]

Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific (from WOW to SHIT)

Cathay has been my favorite airline since 1997 when I first started traveling on it, up until recently when I finally made up my mind that I don’t like it any more. And it’s the little things that seem to be slowly disappearing – like the genuine smile at the check-in desk, the passion and enthusiasm of the cabin crew and the real care for the passenger.

I have had faulty AV systems on my seat twice in the last six months – they say, “Sorry sir, would you like to change your seat.” I don’t, because I am sitting on a first-row aisle seat – the only comfortable seat in the plane for someone who is tall and suffers from back pain.

Most cabin crew don’t hear English very well, so you almost always have to repeat yourself if you ask for anything other than water. People making cabin announcements often sound like kids who have just learnt how to read.

What peeves me the most is when you press the call button and nobody bothers. I have often had cabin crew pass by without stopping, even when they see the call light turned on above my seat. One of my colleagues often tells the attendants who show up after a long time, “If I had a heart attack, I’d be dead by now”. Most of them don’t seem to understand what he means by that.

So yeah, Cathay is consistently moving from WOW to SHIT on my scale. So why do I still travel Cathay? For it’s convenient connections from Hong Kong, where I (mostly) live. And for crew like Athens, who still care and love what they do. Today he recognized me and remembered that few months ago, I had given away my favorite seat so a mom and child could sit together. He treated me really well today.
[Written during a Cathay flight from Hong Kong to Karachi on Oct 19, 2007]

Western Union (10-minute fund transfer!)

Here we are waiting for our new domestic helper to arrive in Hong Kong, and she is stuck in Kerala due to insufficient funds to buy a ticket. No, she does not have any bank account; plus it’s Friday so most banks have the excuse of non-processing day garbage. Let’s face it, the world is global, fast paced and at least the big companies should (and can) cater for the poor individuals who only get time to clean up their act on weekends. Yes, planning is important, but if you don’t have unplanned emergencies in your life you must be lying or simply not living!

Back to my story… I decided to try Western Union. I went to their office in Central. I paid cash; they charged a small commission; provided me with a code which I sent through text message to the receiver in Kerala. She went to the Western Union office; provided the code and got cash. All in less than 10 minutes! There may not be an ATM or even a bank in some villages in Kerala, but fortunately there is Western Union. WOW!

[Contributed by Altaf, Hong Kong - Oct 2007]

Dubai, UAE Exchange (customer surprise!)

Last week I transferred some money to India through UAE Exchange, a money transfer service that promises any transfer in three days or less! This time I got a text message on my mobile phone on the third day that read: ‘Your account in India has been credited with INR…’ WOW, that was such a pleasant surprise! I realized that over the years I’ve slowly moved all my money transfers through UAE Exchange despite the many other choices available – perhaps because every now and then they surprise me by delivering more than they promise. WOW!
[Contributed by Jamal, UAE]

Red light = Pick up your noodle!

The Cathay Lounge at the Hong Kong Airport has a Noodle Bar that is always crowded, and for good reason. I finally decided to try it out today. The lady took my order, handed me a green thingy and said, “Come back when is red”. Call me stupid, but I had never seen anything like this before. I walked away from the bar with excitement; sat down at a nearby table and started looking at in awe. It read in English and Chinese: Your favorite noodle is ready for you to collect if the light is on or vibrates. I didn’t take my eyes off it so as not to miss the spectacle. Sure enough, in a couple of minutes the red lights around the edge of the circle start blinking – quietly announcing that my noodle is ready. WOW, what an innovative product/idea!

I wonder why this thingy hasn’t become more popular in clinics, hospitals, banks or wherever you take a number and wait for the number to be called. And the number is only called when you take a toilet break

HP Customer Service… You is Awwwright.

I have had the fortunate luck to have to call HP customer service a couple of times here at my job, and I can honestly say that they have the best customer service of anyone I have ever dealt with. With today’s exception of a long wait on hold, I can’t say anything bad about their service… even the holding. Here’s why:

 

1. Voice Driven Menu System – When you first call, you’re greeted by a (for me, at least) humorous sounding woman who guides you through your service experience. However, if you’ve been through this before and know how it works, you can just cut her off and say what you’re after. Best part: She doesn’t get mad when you do it, and actually encourages it. Not to mention the menu system is only long enough to place you in the lap of the right initial operator, not like some others where you have to punch in a billion digits to get somewhere..

2. The initial people that you talk to are the friendliest sounding people I’ve ever talked to. They appear as if they want to take your call; reality says they don’t and probably hate their job, but at least they’re good at feigning interest in your broken printer.

3. When they put you on hold, the music is awesome. One time when I called there, ragtime piano. The other, light rock. This time, jazz. I actually don’t mind putting the phone down on speaker and continuing my work while I wait. Let’s face it, you can only hear “It’s Hip to be a Square” by Huey Lewis before it gets boring.
4. When you get to the service tech, all the ones I’ve talked to have come from Canada. You can understand them, but they have enough accent to still be charming, eh? Microsoft could take a hint. I mean, there’s people in Idaho who won’t work a drive-through because it doesn’t pay enough, not even at $12.15; there, now we know where to get people who can actually speak something you understand, domestically grown.

 

 

I’m also a little biased because I own an HP laptop, but I really like it as well, and they have a really good including-third-party computer recycling program. Hewlett-Packard, will you marry me?
You can read other tech-related stories on my blog, /life.

Macau, Fernando’s (send us a check!)

Its getting to the end of our fantastic family vacation in Macau. We plan to checkout and lunch at the highly recommended Fernando’s on Hac Sa Beach on the Coloane side. After the cab zipped us by the bridge, we finally reached the beach side restaurant with a very homely atmosphere, breezy backyard and friendly and wonderful cast around us. We had delicious finger-licking curry and friend king prawns. When we produced our credit card to pay for the meal, we were told, “Cash only”. Oops, we didn’t have enough. The manager said, “no problem, take the bill, mail us a check.” We couldn’t believe what we were hearing! There are actually people and places like that today? WOW!

[We did mail the check as soon as we got back to Hong Kong ]

[Contributed by Altaf, Hong Kong]