Thank you, Azli

Azli and me

Over the years, I have been very fortunate to receive all of kinds of souvenirs from the event organisers for giving talks, speeches and conducting workshops. Some of the souvenirs that I have received are plaques, a hand crafted piece of glass, framed poster of the event, pen, USB thumb drive, paper weight and a mouse pad. Most recently, I received food vouchers for my participation in a conference. According to the event organiser, food vouchers are better than tangible gifts as the speakers have probably too many plaques and pens in their house or office anyway. For me, personally, I would prefer a plaque or something that I can keep to remind me of the event which I participated and contributed.

Anyway, I was given two food vouchers to be used in a restaurant called “Flavors” at the Swiss Garden Hotel. I decided to utilise the vouchers on a Saturday evening. Jennifer and I brought along Ashley and Douglas to the restaurant. The adults would eat for free while for the children, we only need to pay half price. We were at the restaurant, “Flavors” rather early and therefore, we had an early start of the buffet dinner. Except for the grilled food, the buffet was just average, nothing to shout about. The grilled food was done on the spot. You just need to select whatever you want - prawns, crab, beef, chicken, clams and the chef will cook it or grill it for you right then and there. To complement the grilled food, there were a variety of sauces to choose ranging from  “assam pedas” (hot and sour sauce), chilli sauce, tomato sauce, mustard, sambal belacan (hot prawn paste) and chilly with soy sauce.

At Flavors, I met a rather hard working waiter by the name of Azli. He was a rather attentive waiter. When I helped myself to a cup of coffee, he immediately came to me and checked if the coffee was warm enough to my liking. He would ensure that our glasses were filled with water whenever the level in our glasses go down. As the food wasn’t that great for our kids, we decided to leave after a short while. There were a number of well dressed staff (in suits) in Flavors but to be frank, I don’t really know what are their duties. When I approached one of them at the payment counter, he immediately summoned Azli to come to the payment counter to prepare the bill and to take care of me. So, Azli was not only a waiter but a cashier as well! This waiter definitely had his hands full! When I gave my vouchers to Azli and informed him that I would be paying for my kids’ meals, Azli told me I couldn’t use the complimentary vouchers given by the event organiser. Apparently, the food vouchers given by the event organiser have a lower value and can only be utilised during weeknights. As I was about to reach for my wallet, Azli quickly added that since we have already eaten, he asked me not to worry about it. I thanked Azli for his great service and very kind gesture. I must say that it is people like Azli that help me to shape my idea of good and courteous service in a restaurant. All we need are good waiters rather than well dressed people who walked around and giving instructions.