We started waiting near the stage at around 6.30pm. There were already a lot of kids and parents waiting at that time. The area right in front of the stage was reserved for kids and their parents so i could only stand further from the stage. I jokingly told 贝 that we should rent a kid from somewhere so that i could get a better view.
Kids and parents sitting in front of the stage waiting for the show to start
The show started at about 7.05pm. The host came up to the stage and tried to pump the kids up for the show. After talking for like 10 minutes or so, the music finally started and everyone was filled with enthusiasm to meet Snoopy. To my disappointment, the first performers were two female dancers who gave some silly dance moves and almost had me mistaken that i was watching the show for the Chinese Ghost Month (七月歌台, qi yue ge tai).
And for the rest of the show, these two dancers were also there dancing with the other characters.
Charlie Brown with the dancers
Lucy with the dancers
Snoopy dressing up as Rudolph the red nose reindeer, with the dancers
The grand ending of the dance by the three characters, and yes, you've guessed it, with the dancers... ARGH!!!!!
I love this classic scene where Lucy fooled Charlie Brown in kicking the football -- WITHOUT the dancers (thank God!)
To a die-hard Peanuts fan like myself, i considered this a blasphemy! C'mon, Charles Schulz had made it a point that no adult character had ever appeared in any of the Peanuts comic strips, so i don't understand why a musical titled "Snoopy & Friends" would have adult dancers in it. I couldn't recall Snoopy ever had adult dancers as his friends.
Furthermore, was this musical supposed to be a show for children or adults? I seriously doubt that the kids (or any Peanuts fan) would appreciate the performance of these two dancers. After all, we were there for the Peanuts characters, not some gratuitous performance by some flashy dancers.
The dancers aside, the show itself wasn't that good either. Charlie Brown, Lucy and Snoopy were just dancing around with the music. Since all the conversation between the characters were recording played back through the loud speakers, all the performers did were just making some gestures showing that they were talking but with their mouths still stuck with a smiling expression. And i'm not even gonna talk about how Snoopy was out of proportion with a head too small and a body too big.
I have nothing against the dancers or the people dressed up in the costumes. After all, they were just doing their job. It was the organizer or whoever planned for the show who was doing this all wrong.
It was a disappointing show indeed.
* ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ *
After the show, which lasted about 30 minutes, we had dinner at Pizza Hut. We ordered the Pasta meal that came with Soup of the Day, a choice of pasta, and Cinnamon 'n' Sesame Breadstix. We also ordered an appetizer of Salsa Fiesta Criss Cross Fries.
The restaurant wasn't full that evening, with about 70% occupancy. The waitress who took our order was a young girl who didn't need to jot down our order but memorize it by heart. In fact, almost all the waiters/waitresses were youngsters whom i presumed were doing their holiday job there.
We were given two empty bowls to get the soup on our own at the salad bar. The pasta was also served within a few minutes time. As for the taste, well, let's just say that we should have ordered their specialty, pizza, instead of pasta.
After we finished eating the pasta, we sat there for more than 15 minutes waiting for the Breadstix and fries to be served, which were supposed to be appetizers and served BEFORE the main course. We were concerned that maybe they had missed out our orders and so i asked one of the waitresses to check for us.
As i was sitting facing the kitchen, i saw that a lot of dishes were ready and sat at the kitchen counter for a long time. I could see that the people in the kitchen had rung the bell several times signaling the waiters/waitresses to serve the food to the tables but no one came and the dishes were just left sitting there getting cold.
I looked around and saw that the waiters/waitresses were like chickens with their heads cut off walking around the tables don't know doing what. Some of them went to the kitchen counter and seemed not sure of to which table the food was supposed to be served. For the whole time we were there, i didn't see any manager or at least someone who appeared to be giving instructions to these kids.
We waited for another 10 minutes or so before the Breadstix was finally served.
Appetizer served AFTER we'd finished the main course
We ate the Breadstix slowly while waiting for the fries to be served. After we've finished the Breadstix and waited for another 15 minutes more, there was still no sign of our last appetizer, nor anyone who bothered to come over and clear our plates or check if we still needed anything more.
I was really pissed with their service so i did something really nasty. I switched to my bitchy mode and called for an unlucky waitress who happened to glance at our direction.
Clueless waitress: "Yes, may i help you?"
Bitchy PinPin: *pointed to the two empty plates* "Do you know what are these?"
Clueless waitress: *looked doubtful* "Errr, yes, pasta?"
Bitchy PinPin: *gave a "black face"* "Yes, pasta that we've finished eating, and pasta is supposed to be the main course. We've finished the main course and sitting here for more than like what, 20 minutes or more, for the appetizer to be served?!"
Clueless waitress: *looked panicky* "Oh, i'm so sorry..."
Bitchy PinPin: *looked extremely pissed* "I'm not gonna wait anymore. I wanna cancel the fries."
Clueless waitress: "Ok, sure. I'll change the bill for you." *took the bill on the table and walked off quickly*
And i swear that i heard a silent shriek of "f*cking whiny bitch" as she turned and walked away... or maybe it was the voice in my head that did the yelling.
Ok, i know that was really nasty and uncalled for. I guess being angry was never an excuse of behaving like a bitch to this young girl who was just doing a part-time job during her school holidays. But well, as the saying goes, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do"; this was what one should do in Singapore, not only to uphold their pride superior customer service, but also to get this:
A 10% discount given for the bad service
Seriously, it wasn't my intention to get a discount or something. After all, it was just a puny $1.79 that wasn't even enough for the parking fee. I was just so fed-up that i wanna express my dissatisfaction and hopefully they could improve on that. They could have split the waiters/waitresses into teams and each team was to in charge of a few tables. If the orders were taken by a particular person, then he/she should follow through and ensure that this table was served correctly right till the billing. Not like what we had experienced -- we had not talked to the same person twice; we had different people to take our order, to serve the pasta, to serve the breadstix, to be enquired about the orders by me the first time, and to get a piece of my mind the second time.
I have nothing against those young waiters/waitresses. After all, this may be the very first working experience for those kids. It was the management who didn't properly train the staff or organize the customer service team.
It was a disappointing dinner indeed.
Labels: rant
