Darlo's World

Ok, let’s be honest, McDonalds isn’t synonymous with top Michellin Star restaurants of London in terms of customer service, but on the whole it’s not too bad. Generally when you go to a fast food restaurant you expect to be served relatively quickly (queue and time dependant of course) and be given your food also relatively quickly. This of course is under the assumption that you keep faff to a minimum by not ordering customised items (no mayo for one). Generally speaking this is the same for drive-throughs.

As a mystery shopper myself, I’d definately say that Leeds has one of the best McDonalds I’ve been to as far as customer service is concerned. The staff at the St John’s Centre branch are normally polite and I have at times had a couple of good conversations with staff members without holding up the queue. In fact one time I entered the restaurant in a foul mood and left with a smile on my face.

Donnington in Telford on the other hand is a bit of a different case however, at least today anyway. On the way back from shopping we decided to pop through the drive through to get some food. There was already a bit of a queue when we got there, and soon other cars also joined the queue behind us. The first problem came to be at Window 1 (this McDonalds drive-through having 3 windows). On arrival the window was closed and the only staff member visible seemed to be chatting to someone at Window 2. As we had to wait there in the queue for sometime anyway, we presumed the reason they hadn’t opened the window and served us was because service would begin at Window 2. Unfortunately the same thing happened at Window 2, and as I looked back to see the car behind being served at Window 1 I knew that we’d end up having to order at Window 3.

Normally the only action to take place at Window 3 is the collection of food, so when we arrived at the window I had to explain that the food laid out for collection wasn’t for us and that we still needed to place our order. A member of staff (seeming to wear a more senior member uniform) came over and asked if we were paying by cash or card, and that if we wanted to pay by card we’d either have to come in the store, or drive all the way around and rejoin the queue.

After agreeing to pay in cash he then proceeded to take our order … in his own special way. I can appreciate that there was a queue behind us getting longer, but making us rush with your face right next to the car window won’t make us speed up at all. And yes we told him that. This (possibly) senior member of staff had one of the worst attitudes I’d ever seen when dealing with customers, especially considering there was a young child in the car. We told him what we wanted and he tried to memorise it. I’m presuming here that he would have to ring the order in at another till. He recited our order back, but seemed to add menu items. For example, part of the order was a hamburger, medium fries and a small chocolate shake. He referred to this as a “burger meal”. When I asked what a burger meal was, he said it was like a Big Mac meal, but with a burger instead of a Big Mac. We then asked if they actually did a burger meal, to which he said “no”.

Eventually, he took the money over to the till and came back with our change, at which I asked his name. This member of (possibly) senior staff didn’t even wear a name badge, though claimed his name was “James”. I also asked what this particular branch number was, as I knew I’d want to take this further. Rather than give me this, he did say I could speak directly with the manager (though he didn’t make it apparent if this was the branch manager or duty manager, I doubt it would have been the franchisee).

The manager by contrast to “James” was completely sensitive to what was going on and listened to exactly what had happened and appologised. She said she would send me an email to let know the outcome of the situation, so I’ll let you know how that goes by when I get it.

To be honest, this experience hasn’t put me off McDonalds totally (especially as I’m going to head back to Leeds soon), but I know this has put me off the Donnington branch. Though I wouldn’t say the training at that branch needs more focus on customer service (because I’ve not worked there and don’t know how the training is done), if the same experience we had was also experienced by other customers, this could have a much more negative effect to the branch.

Still have no idea why we weren’t served at Window 1 though, if we had this could have never happened.

So I’ve been home a few days and it wasn’t until last night that I managed to actually see English night sky. Since landing I’d found myself getting tired around 7.30 to 8 ish, while it was still quite light out, and waking up naturally at about 7 o’clock the next morning. Quite nice really.

Um … not really much to talk about other than the fact that today I’ll be scouring the internet for a place to live next year. So if you’re in Leeds and have an extra room, get in touch.

Oh, I did have a hot in flight meal spilled on me on the plane by one staff member, but because it was an accident and the poor girl had clearly been having a really bad day I laughed the burningly warm sensation off rather than be “that guy”.

Time check … midnight, exactly. In roughly twelve hours time I will be leaving my dorm and beginning the long and arduous journey back to the UK. First off, here’s an appropriate tune by John Loeffler (not sure who sings it though), The Time Has Come.

Between trying to pack my life into various boxes and send things home via the Japanese post office (an expensive, time consuming and freakin’ heavy task by the way), I’ve tried to fit in a few more of my “When in Japan” wants and desires including making a few new ones which did kind of jump on me spur of the moment. So I guess now with my big ass hefty bag packed and my smaller hand luggage missing a few things (this laptop, my PSP and DS which are charging etc), I should tell you how I’ve spent my last week in the land of the rising sun.

First off I’ve not been able to go into university at all this week which was really gutting. As I keep banging on, at uni’s one of the few places I can meet up with Japanese friends who happen to live in a different prefecture from me. It was not that I physically couldn’t go, it’s that at the moment a lot of schools in Kansai have been closed down since the breakout of the Piggy Flu in Kobe, which in turn has spread to my own Osaka. Thankfully no one I know has been infected, though a couple are nursing regular colds.

During the week I managed to get in a final trip back to Kyoto with two friends (European and Japanese). Between the three of us there were similar things we wanted to see, as well as our own individual interests to follow. Buying bus passes for 500 yen (£3.33) which gave us travel across the city, we set sail for 金閣寺 (kinkakuji, the Golden Pavillion Temple).

The only thing that was against us was the weather. It was warm, so definately t-shirts, but it rained. This meant that the nice views of the Golden Temple could have been spectacular views. Not only that but it’s a pain in the arse trying to take photographs holding a brolly. During our time in the park we came across an interesting vending machine which sold disposable cameras and film, though this was not the strangest vender of the day. Walking to the bus stop we passed a vending machine selling neck-ties (fair enough), and hoover bags. Yes … hoover bags. The thing you stick in a hoover.

Next on our group voyage was one for me, a visit to another one my Leeds based Japanese teacher’s universities, Doshisha University. Carrying on from my adventure in Hiroshima, this was the second of three universities on my list. After taking a video (where the sound didn’t record properly) we headed off for a quick lunch.

Altogether we then went onto the 銀閣寺 (Ginkakuji, the Silver Pavilion Temple). Although the building was under construction, well, renevation, the Silver Temple (though actually brown and woody) was still a nice site, and so was the park area that accompanied it. At this point we split up, and I headed Southward towards 清水寺 (kiyomizudera).

In English we have a saying about “taking a plunge”, in Japanese the equivalent is “jumping off the stage at Kiyomizudera”. An awesome temple that is supported by strong 13 meter high wooden columns, Kiyomizudera gave spectacular views and good photos despite the crappy rain.

Before going home I wondered the streets of Kyoto’s Kawaramachi area before eventually meeting a KFC Colonel Sanders (life size model) in a kimono and Happi coat.

On Wednesday we all got together again for a trip down the Hankyu line to the 中山寺 (Nakayamadera). Nakayamadera is a Buddhist temple in 宝塚 (Takarazuka), and is known as a temple to pray for an easy childbirth. Though none of us were expecting (wanting) kids anytime soon, the excellent weather compared to Kyoto made for a nice day out (and also this was the first temple I’d been to with an escalator). After a bout of karaoke, we then went our seperate ways.

Time Check … 02:08 … crap. Sodding distractions.

That night me and a guy from France went to the Speak Easy darts bar in Umeda for a final drink. Originally due to the fact I still had a lot of crap to sort out I’d only intended on stopping for one or two (much like how I intended on writing this entry a lot faster so I’d be in bed by now), but as one thing led to another we ended up staying until the bar closed at around 5 am; hello sunshine. It’s thanks to this darts bar that we’ve been able to practice spoken Japanese with native speakers outside uni (the bar staff), but also I’ve developed a taste for Soft-tip darts (though am still not very good at it).

So yesterday (Thursday) I managed to tick off two more things off my list. First of all I finally got around to going to a media cafe. Most of my fellow foreign students use these as a cheap(er) means of having somewhere to sleep when you miss the last train, but because I normally don’t venture far enough away that I couldn’t get back on Shank’s Pony I’ve yet to have the need to kip in one. Now I know that these vary from place to place and company to company, so I’ll just give a quick overview of the one I was in, Cats. Cats is a mens only cafe with shower facilities (at an extra charge I think). The room I got was small, but comfortable, with fast internet access, reclining leather seat and access to the plentiful DVD and Manga library. I wish I could say I nosed around a bit more, but I had something I needed to find online; the final university.

I was lucky in that my final teacher studied in Osaka, but I was unlucky that it was Osaka prefecture rather than Osaka city. I’d never taken the monorail here, but because it’s very similar (aka pretty much the same) to taking the regular train I didn’t have to worry. The Osaka University of Foreign Studies in the Minou area of Osaka, had merged with and became a part of the Osaka University in 2007, but remains in the same location.

After taking a video message at the university, as done for the others, I then walked the long way back to the train station exploring the countryside area. In a way it seemed to remind me a lot of various pictures of Shirakawa (Gifu) that I’d seen. I guess because I couldn’t get to Shirakawa this time around, Minou was a nice alternative. However for some reason every dog there seemed to get angry at me.

Which brings us to today (Friday), my last day. The time is currently 02:39.

First let me top up your background music. This is one of my favourites to do at karaoke, Anata by Akiko Kosaka.

Me and a couple of friends (the same 2 who I went to Kyoto with) had decided we’d head to Sushiro for lunch (sushi on conveyor belts). On the way we made an important stops though. I have a bank account here in Japan and since I’m leaving the country we (Konan exchange students) have been recommended to close them, unless we intend to return to Japan in which case we need to give the bank our home address. After a lot of explaining and mangled Japanese from me (and a lot of patience and understanding from the girl who served me) my address was changed and we headed off for lunch.

Not really much to report on as far as food goes in comparison to last time we went, except this time we got the worst table at the very end of the conveyor belt, meaning every other buggar got the best choice. Should I make a dorm/homestay comparison I wonder?

After lunch we popped into Softbank so that I could cancel my phone contract. Doing this early meant that I had to pay for the remaining period of time on there, but since I was quite smart at the start (smarmy buggar aren’t I) it was only a few thousand yen. From the sound of some of my friends because they went for more expensive contracts (some as long as 2 years, as well as actually costing more) they’ve had to pay up to £200 to get out of their contracts early. Now what to do with my Japanese handset. Ebay?

We headed back to Umeda for a wander around and ended up eating a crepe; mine being banana chocolate & strawberry, but soon parted ways with some tears.

Right … tonight … nearly done. Pachinko is a funny ol’ game isn’t it. Me and a European friend finally had a go on the game that holds it’s own popularity in Japan. Now because of the fact neither of us had a clue on what we were to do or how to play (other than the fact it used tiny balls pinging into a machine), we found a pachinko parlour that seemed to be quite empty and had a staff member easily visible (for when we cocked up). Splitting a bucket of balls between us we cracked on and after wasting at least half of them found out what to do (thanks to sed staff member). Our 1000 yen (£6.64) bucket was soon gone (after about 10 minutes), so we headed off. I guess once you know how to play and learn how to work the machine, you’re bound to get better.

For dinner a few of us went to our local 鳥貴族 (torikizoku, the 280 place) where after eating my usual Chicken Heart and drinking my huge glass of beer, I tried a black ice-cream. It tasted like burned bread.

We ended the day with a trip to a games arcade where I held my own in Virtua Fighter 5, but got my ass handed to me in both Tekken 6 and some tennis game.

So I guess this is it. The next time I write on this blog I’ll more than likely be in a different country and will have left the land that I have come to love. I want to thank every one that’s made this year possible (except for the jerks … you know who you are (if you’re reading this, you’re probably not one, so rest easy)) and really mean it when I say that I will come back if it’s the last thing I do; didn’t fancy quoting the Terminator.

So to sing us out, here’s Vera Lynn with We’ll Meet Again. T_T (finished @ 3:34 am)

Right you ‘orrible lot, this doesn’t happen very often but today I’m going to write about what a good day it’s been, generally speaking. So if you’re in a bad mood and don’t want to hear about it, you might want to naff off and come back tomorrow.

To be honest when I crawled out of bed with a stiff neck at about 6:30 this morning with a stiff neck, I thought I was in for one of those days, but around 15 minutes later I found I suddenly a nice bout of energy. Breakfast wasn’t fantastic, fried egg with ham slices and salad, but the egg had a hard yolk (just the way i like it) and best of all, NO MAYO!

Setting off we soon encountered something we hadn’t in a good few months. The weather was nice. It was sunny, with a very gentle breeze and a temperature that was neither a sweltering heat wave, nor it a Japanese version of the North Pole. It was just … nice. This good weather lasting pretty much until I got back in through the door tonight.

Nothing particularly special at uni today. I had my usual tutoring session, being a Tuesday, so this accounted to my one time to really practice Japanese out of class I usually get a day. The conversation was good, it was funny and entertaining, and I managed to use some of the new grammar points we’d covered on class.

I left campus much earlier than usual today, mainly due to the fact that there were even less Japanese students about than usual. However, the Spring Break will end soon and speaking practice will resume. Leaving early meant that I got to enjoy sitting down on the trains back to Osaka instead of standing.

This day, and this feeling, could only have been made better if we had curry rice for dinner.

And so we did (pork curry rice!!! EPIC!). My simply perfect day (ish) has been complete. And so to leave you with a video clip. Here’s the opening sequence to Baccano. Even though it’s just the intro, it’s still pretty intense, so I hope you enjoy it.

Feeling rougher than usual this morning I decided to take the day off and catch up on a bit of rest, after breakfast of course. Waking up for a second time at about half two in the afternoon, I venture out on a search for food. Easily I could have went to Matsuya or McDonalds, but I didn’t feel like a curry or a burger.

Instead I took a walk towards Umeda where under a railway bridge was a very small udon place. From the outside it was really noisy with trains going by every ten seconds or so, traffic blaring (as it was also a busy crossroad), and the very common sound of ambulance and paramedic sirens. I figured that inside wouldn’t be quiet due to these factors but I was shocked to discover how wrong I was.

When I closed the door everything seemed to go quiet, the only real breaking point to the silence was when the woman behind the counter greeted me “いらっしゃいませ”. I ordered 肉うどん (niku udon, beef udon) from the vending machine, handed my ticket to the cashier and took a seat, stopping on the way to pick up a glass for some water. To give you an idea of how small the place was, I was the only customer and was taking up 10% of the occupancy.

My meal was 400 yen (£2.92), which is quite a bit more than I normally spend on lunch, but it was definately worth it for it’s flavour and size. Good grub! Speaking of good grub, here’s a dog trying (and failing) to eat food off his nose on command.