Heaven's too Short
August 12, 2008
I've been back from my vacation more than a week ago but I've been too lazy to do anything else. I've only been back to work for a week but I am ready for my next vacation.
I had a semi-good time. Vancouver was fun. Radwin and I stayed at his cousin's basement suite in West Vancouver so we were quite close to where we needed to go. We did a bit of shopping on Robson, at Metrotown, in Richmond and wherever else. We saw a bit of the Celebration of Lights on the 26th of July, and had a great time chowing down at the Richmond Night Market. All in all, it was great but the real fun didn't start until the following Monday.
Radwin and I showed up at the Vancouver airport 90 minutes prior to our flight to San Francisco. We stood in the Air Canada line for more than 45 minutes for check-in. There were two lines; one for passengers with boarding passes (from web check-in), and one for passengers without boarding passes. We were standing in the without line. There was about seven Air Canada agents at the counter, but only one was assisting the without boarding pass line, even the length of the line up was more than three times longer than the other. By the time we got to the counter, the Air Canada agent told us that we've passed our check-in baggage cut off. I raved! It was not our fault that Air Canada does not have any management skills to better organize their front-line staff, and it was definitely not our fault about the wait time. We followed all the rules accordingly. Eventually, we got checked-in but were also told not to have high hopes because there was a huge chance we were going to miss our flight.
Then guess what? The line for customs/immigration was a mile long. I tried asking politely if we could go ahead because our flight was going to leave in half an hour, but the security bitch told us to get to the back of the line. We spent another 45 minutes in this line. By the time we got through security, dropped off our luggage, and got to our boarding gate, it was 11:05 A.M. The flight left at 11:00 A.M. It left without us and 10 other passengers. Air Canada knew they had extra passengers who were stuck in immigrations, but refused to wait an additional 10 to 15 minutes. The airline has a responsibility for their passengers, who paid for the services, and screw the air schedules.
Air Canada ended up confirming us for a later flight that evening at 8:30 P.M. but there was no way I was going to stick around the airport that long. Fortunately, Radwin and I were on standby for the 3:00 P.M. flight. By the time we arrived in SF, went through security, pick up our luggage and checked in at the hotel, it was really late. That was a whole day wasted. I have filed a complaint with Air Canada a few days ago. Let's see what I get in return.
What did we do in San Francisco? Shopping and sightseeing. We accomplished the Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Golden Gate Park, Twin Peaks, the house where Full House was filmed, and the house of Mrs. Doubtfire all on a morning city tour. The tour guide kept circling to all the residential areas that were considered to be "unique" due to its architecture, and gave us a two hour history lesson on the big earthquake and fire in the 19-something. As you can tell, I wasn't really listening. Radwin and I also did an hour bay cruise where it took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. I got a little seasick, but was able to hold down my lunch.
We shopped at Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square. We also visited Chinatown and Japantown which were both disappointments. Other than a few miscellaneous gift shops and counterfeit DVD stores in Chinatown, the rest were supermarkets. Japantown is actually a Japan Centre that has over 20 restaurants, a two-story bookstore and maybe another six or so miscellaneous shops that either don't really have anything to sell or were extremely overpriced. The online description of Japantown lied!
My cousin from San Jose drove to SF on Friday with a friend to take us around. It consisted of a drive down Crooked Street, a walk through Castro Street (dubbed the "gay" street), a quick short tour of the Stanford University, and a visit to my aunt. I felt that we didn't get to see as much on this trip. I guess that is to be expected since we had to taxi everywhere, and SF is a place where you should be tucked safely inside by 8:00 P.M. if you stay within the downtown district. Getting caught in the middle of a drug deal go wrong or freezing our butts off in the middle of summer is not part of any vacation plan. I never knew SF could be that windy! How did the Charmed ones go about in a skirt and a halter top??
There were a couple of incidents where I have never experienced such ignorant and poor customer service before. We had airport to hotel shuttle service on our arrival, which was late. When we got to the hotel, the driver helped with our luggage before holding out his hands to demand, "where's my tip?". We were so shocked. Firstly, we pre-paid for the shuttle service prior to the trip. Secondly, although we understand the service does not include gratuity, it should be given based on the level of service we received. The drive was only 20 minutes and the driver didn't do anything more than drive (he had to help with our luggage because it was underneath a pile of luggage from other passengers). Thirdly, we just arrived in the country; what are the chances we would have spare change? Luckily, I had $37 left from my trip last year and gave the driver $2. He told us that it wasn't enough. At this point, we were appalled. The driver asked us where we were from. We told him Canada, and he informed us that he also takes Canadian currency. We had to dig out another $2.25 (the last of my change) for the fudging driver before he would leave, and he still wasn't too happy.
Two mornings later, we woke up late and realized we didn't have enough time to make it down to the restaurant for breakfast so we ordered room service. It clearly indicated on the menu that the bill will include a $3 room service, 17% gratuity and taxes. I understand the room service, but I can't get my head over the gratuity. Gratuity in Canada is based on the level and quality of service we receive, and it averages around 10-15%. If the service is exceptionally well, it might go up to 20%. But to ask for 17% prior to providing service (on top of room service charges) is ridiculous. All room service had to do was drop off the food!
So the room service dude gave us our food 10 minutes later than what we were told, and tried to rip $5 of us. The top section of the bill listed what we ordered, the room service charge and gratuity. The subtotal was further down the bill, followed by taxes and another gratuity charge. We argued for nearly 10 minutes with the room service dude to make him understand that we were being double charged for gratuity, and there was no way I was going to let the hotel rip me off. The dude finally apologizes and offered to correct the bill after I sign the bill. I was so peeved. I demanded for him to correct the bill first and then I'll consider signing it. He didn't even try to hide the fact that he was angry at my refusal. When he came back in less than three minutes (we were on the 6th floor), he shoved the bill towards me with a pen then walked off without a word.
I have met a fair share of extremely rude people everywhere, but this tops the list so I am going to be discriminatory and say fudging Americans. This is not to offend everyone (other than the people from my experience) and especially not American friends of mine. I realize not all but a good percentage of African-Americans and White-Americans are too arrogant for their own good and obviously have their head too far up their arses. How can these people work in the service industry, and why do employers hire them when they obviously don't have the people skills to do their job? I still can't wrap my head around it. So much for a four-star hotel.
Otherwise, all else was well. I had the whole house to myself for nearly a week since my parents, along with my brother and sister, left for Hawaii two days before my return. The space and silence was extremely nice, and I was just as bored. I was always fighting for the television remote, but when I didn't have to fight over it, there was nothing to watch. Now that my parents are back, the house is back to its original crowd and noise level. And I received souvenirs: a ukulele, a sarong, an anklet, a bracelet, and a shirt. Now all I need is the tan that make me look like I was in Hawaii.