While the Malaysian Government has already implemented the “No Plastic Bags” rule on all Saturdays, it is still interesting to see how shoppers react with the realisation that they will not be getting plastic bags to put in their groceries.
We share a few funny quotes/incidents we have encountered.
#10 – (Lady at Tesco)“No plastic bags? Can I borrow some and return tomorrow instead?”
#9 – (Man buying some boxes of chocolates) “Can I have a rubber band instead?”
#8 – (Man at Cold Storage at Plaza Pelangi)“But I just bought some DVDs and those people can still give the black plastic bags to me!.”
DVD Plastic Bags - Probably the one kind you can get in Saturdays
#7 – (Man buying condoms at Guardian. Looks at cashier.) “.. can at least give me something to cover up?”
If you are used to the super duper speed of service in Singapore (especially at the McDonald’s branches in Singapore during peak hours), you could be running out of patience at the fast food chains in Johor Bahru.
While an average ordering time at the counter takes 20 seconds in Singapore, it takes an average of 35 seconds in Johor Bahru (based on my own estimates). While the average time for the food to be placed on the tray takes 30 seconds in Singapore, it takes twice the time at Malaysia!
I was at the McDonald’s Branch at Holiday Plaza 2 weeks ago and the customer at the front of the queue ordered various items totaling RM28.00. Time taken for the McDonald’s staff to take the order: 5 minutes!!!
McDonald's at Holiday Plaza, Johor Bahru
Queue forming up at McDonalds, Holiday Plaza, Johor Bahru
Naturally, I run out of patience and started looking over at the next counter for a possible switch. Unfortunately, the queue is equally slow.
It took another 5 minutes for the order to be served for the customer in front, and another 15 minutes to clear the next few people in front of me before it finally came to my turn. Makes me wonder if this is really FAST food.
Anyway, I ordered an Ayam Goreng set (2 piece chicken meal) and as I was ordering, I can clearly see one staff at the kitchen putting a piece of freshly cooked chicken nugget into his mouth (Mm.. it is ok for them to eat while cooking at the same time?). While waiting for the food to be placed onto my tray, I saw another sight. A McDonald’s delivery man came over to the fries counter, and with his motorbike jacket still on, he scooped the fries onto a paper basket, in preparation for his next delivery! Can delivery people handle food as well?
Fundamentally, there is a large gap in terms of the delivery processes at Fast Food chains across both sides of the causeway. At Johor Bahru, you have to manage your expectations a little and not expect the same speed of service and the stringent controls in place at Singapore.
I have another story to share. At the KFC restaurant (also at Holiday Plaza) in Johor Bahru recently, I Read on…
The following post is contributed by an anonymous reader.
Ever since I changed to a new job which gives me some flexibility in my working hours, I had been driving to work after peak hours (to save on ERP) and staying up late at night to clear my work. I like working late night (11pm – 1am) as it is the time I can focus on clearing my emails and create any necessary materials for meetings (PPT slides, Reports, Analytics etc). No phone calls to entertain, no noise from the neighbourhood and most importantly, a usually nice cool weather with the occasional breeze.
On late nights when there is no work to catch up on (or when there is simply no mood to do any work), I drive my vehicle to Johor Bahru, just to pump petrol.
I stay at Admiralty which is just 5km from the Woodlands Custom. If I start driving at 1am from my house, I will be able to make a round trip comfortably within 40 minutes. This includes the time spent at the petrol station in Johor Bahru. At this kind of hour, you do still see plenty of vehicles and avid cyclists but generally, traffic is smooth flowing. I like the solitary drive with Class 95FM turned on and of course, the objective of the trip is to save on Petrol, something which I calculated to save me about S$25/ trip.
The only inconvenience of this arrangement is ironically in Singapore itself – it is not easy to find a vacant car park once I am back in Singapore at this hour.
I have a few pointers which I will like to share with the readers here, based on my numerous trips to Johor Bahru during late night:
1. Police Road Block at Johor Bahru
This is getting more and more common Read on…
