The Moley Prophet

I was filled with anguish when I saw a report on Lenovo removing the IBM name early by two years. Not that I disapprove of that. Lenovo should continue making their cheapo computers with their own name. What I was angry was, the report said something like, "Lenovo was able to place itself as a premium brand with good reviews."

Bullshit. Whoever who believes the reviews, please wake up. Listen here. I have been using an IBM designed, Lenovo made laptop for the past year. It has been good. Why? Because, when I bought the laptop, Lenovo has just taken over IBM PC. And nothing much has been changed. It still looks exactly the same, feels exactly the same, and as good as my dad's IBM.

HOWEVER, when I got hold of my second IBM laptop this year, it was a disastrous little ass crap product. The wireless card was lousy, the battery wasn't fitting, the software were crappy, and the design - GOSH! UGLY! When I sent it back to Lenovo, guess what they told me? "Oh, it's designed like that. The other sets I have here are the same. We can't fix it."

Is that not enough proof that Lenovo is sucky? My cousin who helps his dad doing computer repairs and such, told me about this. There was this customer who bought a Lenovo from China. What happened to this fella? Very nice things. Parts spoiled, something wrong with operating system. Lenovo in Singapore couldn't fix it because they don't have the parts. What was worse? The laptop does not have a proper Windows license. Illegal software installed!

The name ThinkPads and ThinkCenters should be removed from the division as well. It's an insult to the IBM Quality products. Who says Lenovo is a premium product? Its just el-cheapo IBM in disguise. Even Acer would be proud to say they have better products.

Has anyone not heard of the story about a King, a commoner and a seed? I'm sure all those who studied in Singapore knew about it. The story goes like this:

There was once a King who had no children (kind of impossible, which king would pass on to a son who is infertile?) He was a wise ruler (always goes like this in stories) and he is really old. So, he wanted someone to take over his position when he dies. That person has to be an honest man. One day, he gave out a notice to tell his people that he was going to choose a boy to be the next ruler. All boys in the country are eligible. So they made their way to the palace. At the palace, they were each given a seed to plant and when it is time for the flower to boom, the king will select the one that he thinks is the best and let the owner be his heir.

On the day of selection, everyone came with bright and beatiful flowers (The King sure knows how to boost the economy) The King was disappointed at this. However, he beamed with delight when he saw a kid with a pot without a flower. The King questioned him about the empty pot. The boy then replied crying, "I tried changing the soil, the pot and the fertilizer but the flower will not bloom" (What an idiot, for what reason did he change the pot?) The delighted King then announced that the boy with the empty pot is the chosen one and will be the heir to the throne. He moved on to explain that the seed was fried and will not bloom. Those who had the flowers must be cheating (I told you! He made them go buy the flowers to boost the flower trade!)

What this story tells us is that we should not have a stupid and infertile King. What crap? I wouldn't choose to have a boy who did not even know that he got a seed which will not flower. What's worse, he tried changing pots to make it grow.

The story should be about a boy who took the seed which could not grow and on the selection day informing the King about it. A smart and honest example, instead of a stupid kid should be the way we teach our children to be.

Finally! After two days of lack of sleep and occasionally dozing off during talks, I could finally sleep well. But first, I would like to apologize to those waiting for the Fast Food Hunt. Cos, the new releases are not going to be out so soon, as I ate too much at the Wired Travel Asia and has too dig extra tunnels to burn the fats before I can start on fast-food again.

Yes! The food at Wired was great! Well, not just great, but superbly good! Mind blowing Asian and European Cuisine for Breakfast, Morning Tea, Lunch, Afternoon Tea. See why I have to cut down on food? The smoked salmon and the deserts were heavenly (First day). The second day was even better. Morning Tea: Seaweed wrap Salmon, with these yellow sauce at the bottom, which none of us know what it is, and, and and, (!!!) Ebikos the size of pellets! Estimate to be around 0.3cm per Ebiko! Lunch was Asian Cuisine at one side and French at another. Renhao and Hans could probably swallow the whole buffet. Haha. Just kidding, my friends. Now to afternoon tea. Theres this innocent looking chocolate. 4 colors. Each with a different liquor. Gosh. For those who like hard liquor, its nice. For me, urghs. One of them contained XO. But it was okay. Then theres this fried prawn. Couldn't stop eating. I guess my allergy gonna kick start again.

So with all the food, it makes today the third continuous day that I had alcohol. SRC TM on Wednesday - they forced me to drink two glasses of wine, I didn't want to Wired Idol on Thursday at MOX - It's a pub, have to drink right? Already breathing in the second hand smoke which I didn't want, what more harm could there be? And lastly those chocolates.

So what did I learn during Wired? Something about the tourism industry I didn't know before. And most important of all - Marketing and Branding. It was what I was most interested about during the whole event. Jon was interested in some girl from TP I guess

The second fast-food joint goes under review… And it is… Long John Silvers! Famed for its Fish-and-Chips, the joint has gone on some renewal work to improve itself and be on par with the major fast-food joints. Well at least it shows on the cover…

Long John Silvers

Date visited: 20 October 2006
Time visited: 1:55PM
Outlet: Choa Chu Kang Lot 1
Queue: 3 to 4 people
Food ordered: Fish treasure meal, Potato Chips with Salsa Cheese, Upgrade to medium ice-lemon tea
Price:$3.50 (Promotion), $1.50 (Promotion), $0.60 = $5.60

Time for food to arrive: 2-3 minutes (7/10)
Not that slow but needs some catching up to do since the food I ordered were on promotion and should have been prepared in advance. Some people were waiting for their food to be delivered. Compared to McDonald's they are of average standard.

Food quality: Average (5/10)
The fish treasure meal tastes weird. Two small pieces of fish fillet, some vegetables and rice at the bottom. The rice is totally tasteless without the black pepper sauce which was topped on the fish. What a weird combination! Black-pepper sauce has to go with meat that are a bit salty, not with fish. The potato chips are kind of difficult to eat as they just pour the salsa cheese all over the top and you get dirtied easily trying to eat them. Those at the bottom are plain and tasteless if you finish the salsa cheese at the top. Besides, the chips are quite thick and some of them tastes like it has been left in the open for some time. Soft.. Urghs..

Satiety: (8/10)
The meal is quite small in size, but considering the price its quite alright.

Value: (7/10)
Though not really able to fill the stomach well, it is still acceptable. However, they should not try cutting costs by constantly reducing the size of the fillet or the chicken. I saw someone on the net complaining that its about the size of Chicken McNuggets.

Packaging: (6/10)
The lid of the potato chips packaging could not close properly. There isn't any cover for the drink. Although they did try to make an effort to use better quality plates and bowls. However, the forks and spoons were so tiny. It was difficult to get the rice out from under those fillets.

Ambience: (8/10)
Not very clean but the lighting and all are quite alright.

Overall: (6.8/10)
Ah! Our new candidate has lost to the very first one. An unexpected turn for the longer established chain. Seems like the problem lies with the food. There is also a need for more promotion and also lesser of budget ways to get around these promotions. There is a need for them to get the best price a consumer is willing to pay and also the right amount.

From today, I am going to visit each of the different fast food joints in Singapore and do a review on them. Although fast food joints are deemed unhealthy, they are still a favorite haunt of the young and an occasional break for the working adults.

Mos Burger

Date visited: 17 October 2006, Tuesday
Time visited: 2:00PM
Outlet: Jurong East IMM
Queue: Empty
Food ordered: Yakiniku Rice Burger Meal
Price: $6.80

Time for food to arrive: Around 6 minutes (4/10)
As usual for Mos Burger, it takes years for them to prepare the burger while the hungry patron like me waits at a side, either standing or at a free seat in the small restaurant.

Food Quality: Fantastic (10/10)
The rice burger was prepared at the right timing and the fries were well done. The fries are not too salty, neither are they too bland. Also, something which deserves mentioning, the fries are of better quality than what competitors offer. Thick and full of potato. The beef was well cooked too. There is a need for improvement when it comes to putting the beef into the burger though. When I am still left with quite a bit of rice, the beef has all been finished leaving some vegetable which were place at the back.

Satiety: (5/10)
I am still quite hungry now, although I finished everything including the cup of coke.

Value: (6/10)
As mentioned, it could not fill up my stomach at one go, not to mention that it costs $6.80. The cup of coke from the meal is just about the regular (smallest) size given at other restaurants. The burger is about the size of a cheeseburger from MacDonald's. The chili given was as usual in many other fast food joints, pathetic compared to MacDonald's. Most of the money may have gone into the packaging and food quality though.

Packaging: Very neat(9/10)
I asked for a takeaway and it came nicely packed in a small paper bag, with lots of serviette to cushion the burger. The burger itself was wrapped in a styrofoam type of paper, taped neatly to fasten. The small paper bag was then placed in a small carrier for easy carrying. There was even a small plate for the sauces. Much thought has been put into these.

Ambience: (10/10)
This is a newly opened outlet, so I guess that the surroundings would be much better than the other outlets. But nevertheless, they are about the same. Although it maybe a little small, ambience at Mos Burger definitely makes you feel better.

Overall: (7.3/10)
Mos Burger would be more of a quality restaurant in the clothes of a fast-food chain to me. They seem to emphasize more on food quality and packaging of the restaurant itself. If it wants to continue and reap more profits in the fast food industry, it should further improve its waiting time and size of the restaurant itself.

And the hunt goes on for the best fast-food joint in Singapore…