To tip or not to tip??

Monday, April 16, 2007

To Tip or Not to Tip?

“To Tip or Not to Tip?”Can be quite confusing. And if to tip, how little is acceptable? And how much is not too much?What about those restaurants which already include service charges, some as high as the cost of the main dish itself – do we pay tips then?I actually find Sinagpore hotels very customer friendly. Tipping is outright not allowed. There are notices at the lobby and in hotel rooms that tipping is not allowed. Now, that is easy. And if you do want to offer gratitude, then simply write a commendation letter / fill up a form and mention his or her name.There is no one answer – for as consultants like to say it – the answer is, it depends! It depends on where you are, and who are you faced with.While for example it is expected that you tip a waiter in the US, it is considered offensive to tip a stewardess in a flight anywhere – although the services they provide is almost the same.My first travel to the United States was way back in 1984, as a young engineer visiting the company HQ in Dallas Texas. And the first day after arrival, I went to a restaurant close by to the hotel for breakfast. As it was only breakfast, and all I ate was a brown toast and an omelet, the thought about tipping did not even cross my mind.Wrong!As I was making my way out after paying at the cashier, the waitress who had waited for me actually went after me at the exit and said some un-complimentary remarks.I learnt my lessons about tipping in the USA the hard way – that too after I got some tuition from my local colleagues at the office.Now I know that Americans are the most notorious when it comes to professional haggling for TiPs. I read somewhere that the word “TIP” stands for “To Insure Promptness”.But most of the time, I actually Tips because I wanted to say my gratitude after the service has been delivered rather than before – so the argument that Tips is to buy prompt service does not really hold true.The confusing bit is also when I feel pressured and harassed to tip. This normally happened at hotels when I check in. the bell-man rushes to help me with my bag, and I only normally carry a trolley bag anyway. The norm in Dubai, by the way, is about Dirham5 for up to 2 begs and if more than 2 begs, then you are expected to be more generous.However, I have not yet come across where people actually tips hotel recptionists.Another thing I feel not quite right is – the normal practice of tipping only in fancy places and almost never at warungs or food stalls, except for loose change left behind on the dining table.In my view the service at warungs is no less deserving of generous tips, so I try to live up my view – by offering tips to the Kakak at one of the warung counter. But I could sense that I have somehow embarrassed or offended her.One incident when I was nearly a receipient happened in Jeddah was when I was waiting for LiL to finish paying at the counter. An Arab came over and offered 5 riyal to me and gestured for me to push his trolley load of goods to his car. I was speechless, and could only smile sweetly and pointed to LiL.Susahkan……or do you have any tips?
posted by Idham @ Monday, April 16, 2007

26 Comments:

At 16 April, 2007, Mama Sarah said…
entry yang berakhir dgn soalan. hihi... anda telah 'menjawab'nya, 'it depends'...

At 16 April, 2007, aez82 said…
tips ?? i dont giv a damn..teruk kan.. ;)

At 16 April, 2007, Nour said…
id,is it true I heard in Saudi, the Arabs selalunye look down on Asians.. I banyak dengar cerita where perempuan Arab will cari gaduh dengan Asian women especially when they always have the mentality that perempuan Asians kat sana are maids?

At 16 April, 2007, Mama Rock said…
when i was in dubai i was treated very-very nice. yeah, i leave tips when i feel that he / she deserves it. well, in the US, whether they deserve or not, you still have to tip - ridiculous huh! so depends la. kalau taxi driver yang baik bawak i balik ke rumah tu i usually dont take the change. tu consider tip ke?

At 16 April, 2007, Futsalbabe said…
my mom cakap kan kita org malaysia ni tak bg tip bukan sebab kedekut tapi sebab bukan culture kita..tapi saya bg tips kalau waiter tu bukan org kita esp, org myamnar philipines sebab kesian la plus diaorg ni layan baik2 senyum manjang..ala bagi 2 ringgit je.tapi kalau kedai mamak pun tips haishh pelik tu.

At 16 April, 2007, kc said…
i think we m'sians are still not into this tipping thingy. maybe bcoz we're stingy people too. we simply dont give tips to them bcoz they never gave good service to us. so its a win win situation....hahahah

At 17 April, 2007, dlt said…
tips? jarang kot. not our culture lah gitu. kalu kita makan dah kena charge segala mak nenek tax sampai kengkadang tu up to 10%, takkan nak bagi tips lagi kot. kedai mamak tak de kena tax apa pun, tak mintak tips gak. tapi tu semua actually depends on ourselves la. pentingnya, ikhlas, kan abe id?

At 17 April, 2007, sYaNa said…
My mom always wonders the same thing. I always tell her to look at the gov.tax & serv.tax. If she thinks it's too much, then don't tip or vice versa. Betul kata Abe Id, it depends hehehe ...

At 17 April, 2007, Idham said…
:) hehehehe....betul tu...it depends.-aez82...aha..teruk tu hehehe...kemut betul ek..:)--Idham

At 17 April, 2007, Idham said…
nour..that is true...:)and yes, kalau perempuan di sangkan mereka as maids...dan kalau lelaki memang depa ingat kuli la....but but, with so many foreign labour here....depa confused la...:)-mamasarah....keep the change to kira tips dah tu...nak pulak kalau duit tu rm50 dan tambang teksi cuma rm30 kan kan...;)--Idham

At 17 April, 2007, Idham said…
futsalbabe...memang bukan cultue kita...itu sbb bila kita travel dan ada cross culture...kita boleh jadi confuse...seronoknya bila tips dan dpt lihat betapa happy nye mereka kan ...:)--k.c....wah....ur definition of WIN - WIN very original tu....in USA kan..the americans never walk around with coins, bcoz they left all coins as tips. Kalau nampak ada tourist kat USA dgn poket2 penuh coins tu ada kemungkinan mereka dtg from Malaysia...hehehe...-Idham

At 17 April, 2007, Idham said…
dlt....tang ihlas tu memang betul...culture kita ni kalau salah2 tips kan..ada yg tersinggung...so serba salah la jugak..but to leave behind teh change i think is ok la...more natural...--syana....'it depends' is always a good answer...kan kan...:)-Idham

At 17 April, 2007, Manal said…
I rather kasi tips then kena tip-u.1000rupiah makes a nice tip in bandung.Yea u r right, bro, keep the change tu dah kira tips.

At 17 April, 2007, Idham said…
:) i like ur wuick wit there...kasik tip better than kena tip-u....hehehekenapa kita bayar duit kat budak jaga kereta? itu tip ka rasuah ka atau becoz...kita mangsa harassment?heheheidham

At 17 April, 2007, Sienna said…
Idham, what a wonderful blog and writings, it is a great thing to be able to share a small part of other peoples world and glimpses of life...best wishes to you and your family from a small rural part of Australia.Pam

At 17 April, 2007, loveujordan said…
tips dah macam "a must give " habit ..... tak bagi rasa kesian pulak ...taklah bagi banyak mana pun especially kedai yang ditaxed sampai 16 - 20 %.

At 17 April, 2007, loveujordan said…
This post has been removed by the author.

At 19 April, 2007, david santos said…
Here I am again for seeing your work, thanked

At 19 April, 2007, Arif a.k.a Idham said…
sienna...thanks...i really like ur blog and pics too...:)-idham

At 19 April, 2007, Arif a.k.a Idham said…
loveujordan...yea...tips bila rasa terpaksa tu yg tak best tu...siap dah nak bagi pun rasa mcm nak simpan balek duit tu...heheheidham

At 19 April, 2007, Arif a.k.a Idham said…
sir david..tQ...idham

At 22 April, 2007, Lady Patsy said…
I must confess that I normally tip our local taxi drivers especially when I have to travel at night. I guess its my way of saying "Thank you for dropping me safely at home". Whereas in restaurants, I pay the exact amount coz they are already stiffing us on the service charge even if it happens to be a self-service joint ... so apa nak tip-tip lagi?

At 22 April, 2007, Arif a.k.a Idham said…
lady patsy....me too ...especially of the taxi driver tu polite, and did not even hinted that he expects any extras...then i give even more...:)like to feel that i am doing it sincerely rather than being coerced into it.arif

At 23 April, 2007, atehlaila said…
Hi..first time menjengah..masa kat Indon dulu, memang tips tu kira wajib lah..tapi, okeylah..sebab di layan bagus sekali...

At 25 April, 2007, J.T. said…
Our shock into tipping was in the States. It was from a man who drove the shuttle van to the airport and dutifully unloaded our luggage bags. Before we could take two steps away, to arrange our bags in order, he quickly said, "I work for tips". Needless to say we were embarassed into giving even though I don't think he deserved it. He said no word or a smile during our drive there. He had a sulky face and mumbled something incoherent when he put out bags in the van.A tip is to be given when we are pleased with the service.

At 16 May, 2007, datin said…
Ckp pasal tip ni abg Id...sy pun ada pengalaman gak kat USA tulah...eh bkn sy suami...diakan keje kat restoran jepun masa tu...kayaaaaa..boleh idup atas tip je tau...best...

Honey, did you shrink my trousers??

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Honey, did u shrink my trousers?
.the title has been edited from something snapped! to Honey, did you shrink my trousers!, following a creative suggestion in my comment box from RAD.I came out of the bathroom this morning humming my favourite tune ..."wajah kesayangan hamba". As always, LiL has laid out my trousers, shirt, boxer and vest on the bed. I looked into the mirror - naked. I found myself looking at a face which is good looking enough for me to smile to myself. I tried to see a reflection of the top of my head - checking on what the Palestinian hairdresser claimed to be thinning away. Ah, I cant see anything wrong - my hair is as good as it has always been except for strays of silver which added to my character to a good measure.Shifted my focus to my belly - inhaled hard and held my breath - ah, not bad - no visible spare tyre ....I could only see a macho man ....almost a perfect V.
I have moved on to humming Bee Gees "How deep is your love" when I was putting on my cloth.-100% cotton vest on - checked!- Nike boxer on - checked!- White Long sleeve 100% cotton Ralph Laurent shirt- neatly pressed- on. Checked!- My favourite tailored blue Italian wool trousers on - *inhaled hard to hook the button on*Not checked!*In-haled even harder - red faced, and difficult to breath*Checked!*Smile with satisfaction - did it at last!*Snapped!*Darnnn!*"Sayangggggggggggggggggg! please come up........" sounded desperate and annoyed."Yes abanggg, naper?"Lil appeared with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in each hand.
"Look, my trousers hook came off! Did you wash it? You know right it must be dry cleaned! It has shrunk ka?"*LiL gelak guling guling......and she had to put down the glasses to stop them from spilling the orange juice*"Maybe abang yang dah expand kut...." came her killer blow.I stopped humming Bee Gees and went into a rap song....with a string of un-printable words - explaining, denying, justifying......!How could I not, only yesterday the Palestinian at the hairdresser told me about the thinning top - and this morning LiL said I have expanded!I still think there is nothing wrong with my hair and that my trousers have shrunk, at least by two inches!
Labels: laughter is the best medicine
posted by Idham @ Wednesday, January 24, 2007

25 Comments:

At 24 January, 2007, k.d said…
Gosh..what to say...Emmm1. Gendang gendut tali kecapiKenyang perut suka hati2. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. So I guess K.Lil is doing a good job...Hehehe..don't worry lah...I think you're right..the pants shrunk!!

At 24 January, 2007, norabella said…
Err.. I thought you look thinner ... gambar yang kat sebelah Mrs Trump tu! The hook tu yang tak function betul lah...

At 24 January, 2007, Anonymous said…
Alahai...LOL! -rad-Suggested titles:Honey, did you shrunk the pants?Next,Honey, did you shrunk everything else? Hardehar!!

At 24 January, 2007, ~ GAB ~ said…
Wahahaha expanding sideways such a norm as well. Again... the successful people that I see mostly never experienced seeing their expensive shoes when standing up straight on their backs.

At 24 January, 2007, actually-i-am-ur-fan! said…
echo'ing RAD....to IDHAM,suggested title; "mirror mirror on da wall, who is the ensemest of them all"echo'ing K D to Idham,gendang gendut tali kecapimemang tak gendut, ensem lagi!my own to IDHAM,i think u rock la brudder! .

At 24 January, 2007, Ida said…
Abg Id,Ha..ha..you so funny la..and you always make me smile..:DTanda2 tu dah start tu bang Id..carefullll...Ida tengok gambar abang Id pun la ni makin chomel..aww..tak sayang mulut lak Ida nie..he..he..Ape2pun yang penting sihat ek..:) IdaPS: Ofis dah tutup like I told you,la ni kerja kontrak 3 months aje..nnt kita criter lagi..

At 24 January, 2007, Leeds Al-Malique said…
abg id, menteeeeeeeeeeeen!!!!!!!keep smiling,OK? don worry much..:)

At 24 January, 2007, Idham said…
k.d...hehehe, tenkiu.....u gave me a good start to the day!mmg suar yg shrunk....--norabella...:)woww...wow...ye ka i looked thinner....wow wow..jap nak gi tenguk cermin sekali lagik....i think u r right kut..:)--IDHAM

At 24 January, 2007, Idham said…
rad....:)u know what...i changed the title oredi....sounded better kan..TQ ! :)--GAB...:)We can really be bestest of frens...u rellay know the decorum of making remarks about physical changes in people in 'my age gorup' laa hehehhe...kawae suko ko demoe ! ahaks--IDHAM

At 24 January, 2007, Idham said…
i-am-ur-fan...:)waalalalalaa...dah kata fan tu haruslah nampak abg id mcm mentenn ok jer kan..*wink*---ida...:)lama tak nampak....alaaa nak cerita2 laa ...dah tak kerja ka? study dah abish ka? ermmm...yg kat atas tu, comment dari usha ka? *wink* heehhehe...kerem salam ek kat dier...--IDHAM

At 24 January, 2007, Idham said…
leeds....:) terimakacihhh....abg id menten kan kan kan...anyway....nak exercise byk2 nie...semangat nie...hup hap hup hap hup......buat push up pagi2 dlm bilek tadi...anak2 cepat ketuk pintu ingat kan i dah torture mama depa...hehehhe...*smiling*ABG ID.

At 25 January, 2007, Anonymous said…
*** tutup mata sebab Id naked *** hehe, no need to tell lah!Anyway, what you need is not hair transplant or unshrinkable trousers, but a dose of ego-boosting experience :-) Alaaaa ... you don't look half the size of the prosperous Arabs, so why worry.

At 25 January, 2007, Arena said…
hahaha ye lah tu, salahkan seluar..hehhehehe

At 25 January, 2007, Anonymous said…
let's blame it on all the good food and good company of ALL those wonderful trips you have been taking for the past month or two! time to get on the treadmill, bro!

At 25 January, 2007, simah said…
middle aged life fact.. hard to swallo eh idham? *chuckles*

At 25 January, 2007, Idham said…
Queen....hehehe...tercakap pulak ek...tenkiu queen sbb *** tutup mata sebab Id naked *** kita pun malu jugak kalau ada yg nampak..:)hehehe...what is wrote is quite ego boosting...-- Arena .. hehehe...masih salahkan suar nie...semalam tu pakai suar yg sama gak, tapi jerut dengan belt jer...kat hook tu terbuka dlm 2 inci hehehe...:)--D .. i think u r right...treadmill time....:)adesssss, malassssssnyaa!!--simah ... memang hard to swallow la simah...heheheinikah yg di kata kan syndrome menopause itew? lelaki ada menopause ka ek?--IDHAM

At 25 January, 2007, Anonymous said…
oh oh the signs are there first the thinning of hair and now the middle spread and whats nexttttttttt?I'm counting....I'm counting....

At 25 January, 2007, Idham said…
kak elle....hehehe...oh ho ho...i am paranoid nie...what is next what is next....menopause agaknya saya nie ye...huhuhu...:)idham

At 25 January, 2007, Anonymous said…
hehe....men don't menopause they endropause....so watch it huh all the sign and symptoms.......:))

At 25 January, 2007, Anonymous said…
If Lil was responsible for shrinking your trousers, why not ask her to shrink you?! The same method she has shrunk the trousers. Tak payah treadmill ;)

At 25 January, 2007, Idham said…
kak elle...:)ys yes, i'll be very watchful.....is having extra appetite for certain female types a form of symptons too? hehehe...gurau je...:)--mamasarah..betul gak tu...actually, LiL belikan byk nya baby carrots tadi masa pergi supermarket, dia kata for me to snacking in place of sweets and nuts....better for health tu kan.also, no more fried food for a while, semua stim stim jer...and staying away from red-meat...uhuhuhuhu...there goes my lamb chop!--IDHAM

At 25 January, 2007, Anonymous said…
she lays out your clothes for you?t.thistle

At 25 January, 2007, Idham said…
anonymoues - t thistle.:) yesssss.....she does, every morning!a good thing to do. and even better, she does get the colour coordination right too...IDHAM

At 25 January, 2007, Mama Rock said…
oh, tata is my favourite phase when i need to go shopping...most of my clothes have shrunk in the wardrobe :)

At 25 January, 2007, Idham said…
:) mama rock...look at it a an opportinuty la kan...to renew our wardrobe...to shop for new clothes..maybe to even change our fashion sense...heheheh:)idham

sorry....

This entry was first posted 31st May 2006. I am reproducing

- as it is timely appropriate.

Here I want to say "I am sorry"
..
Ada waktunya nadi berdenyut mengikut
nafsu membuak rasa rentak songsang
suara sumbang
irama nyanyian tidak di tepuk gemuruh namun
nyaring salakan itu kau kagum terpaku
maka aku terpinggir di tepi belantara fitnah nusta
semakin buas dan ganas
percikan prasangka melewati batas susila
namun biarlah aku yang memohon maaf
sebelum kau lebih rimas
dan aku terbenam lemas
kehidupan ini hanyalah pinjaman sementara bernafas
usahlah di panjangkan melawan arus berhempas pulas
lalu dengan penuh keinsafan aku memohon maaf
insaf yang aku ini hanyalah pipit
meniti ranting sebelum tersepit
dan kau merak kayangan
melayari mercu keagungan
di damba satu belantara
maafkan aku,
walaupun kau bukan kekasih yang terpedaya
maafkan aku,
walaupun kau bukan saudara yang aku lupa
maafkan aku,
kerana aku tersalah kata-kata
maafkan aku, kerana landasan kita berbedza.

Sungguh berbedza.
Usah terlalu yakin dengan keindahan di cermin peribadi
Yang berseri mungkin mainan riak hati
kegelapan malam mungkin bukan kerana gerhana bulan
fikirkan satu kemungkinan
wajahmu di selubungi sekeping hati menyimpan dendam!
Namun, biarlah aku yang memohon maaf...
and I will say it again in a language you know best
"I am so sorry....I tried to be your friend, but I failed the test".
..
idham, may31st2006, jeddah.
.....................................................
hanyalah nukilan rasa dari hati seni seorang insan terpinggir
tiada kena mengena dengan watak2 dalam cerekarama pentas dunia
aku perantau mencari jalan lurus dan rata di celah2 batu kelikir
tidak berupaya aku mengikut rentak tarian dan lakunan sebuah sendiwara.
biarkan aku berlalu
sebagai insan yang buta , tuli dan bisu!.