Wednesday 10 February 2016
Would you pay $4.80 for teh during Chinese New Year? It seems I would
Yesterday, after jogging, I went to one of the few coffeeshops open during Chinese New Year to order a packet of "teh".
I spoke in Hokkien. The woman couldn't understand me. So I repeated my order in Mandarin. This time, she heard me and started making the tea.
Another woman came to collect my payment and she asked the first woman what I ordered. Both spoke in Mandarin.
I gave the second woman a $10 note. She gave me back $5.20 in change.
Wait, my tea cost $4.80?
What is this? Starbucks?
I gave the woman a surprised look. She smiled and said the price was increased because of Chinese New Year.
Sure, I expected that, but I'm used to an increase of maybe 10 cents or 20 cents. I certainly didn't expect the price of tea to jump from $1 to $4.80.
I was stunned. But since I had given the money and my tea was already being made, I felt I was committed. I just reminded myself never to buy tea during CNY again.
I couldn't believe I was paying $4.80 for a packet of tea at a neighbourhood coffeeshop.
Then I noticed something. The first woman was making a lot of tea and I was the only customer there.
Could it be...?
That was when it hit me. Somehow the first woman misheard my order and thought I ordered four packets of tea.
That was why I was charged $4.80. Each packet cost $1.20.
So the CNY incease was only 20 cents, not $3.80 as I feared. That's a pretty big difference.
True enough, I was handed four packets of tea.
On the one hand, I was relieved I didn't pay $4.80 for a packet of tea. On the other hand, I was now stuck with four packets of tea.
The picture shows only three packets because I drank one on the way home as I was very thirsty after my jog. I figured there was plenty where that came from.
I managed to finish three packets yesterday and saved one for today by putting it in the fridge.
Looking back, I'm amazed that I was willing to be overcharged four times for something just because it was Chinese New Year.
I'm a con man's dream.
TRENDING POSTS OF THE WEEK
-
So I was shooting the breeze with this ladyboy I met at a bar in the beach resort town of Pattaya , Thailand, while on shore leave. I wi...
-
Dear producers of Code Of Law , My condolences on your new Channel 5 drama series. As a former TV producer for Channel 5 myself, I sympath...
-
I first met Darryl David at Gurmit Singh's wedding dinner in 1995. David's date was a woman named Lynette Pang , who was a stag...
-
There will be no Today tomorrow. At least in print form. On Friday, Mediacorp published the final print edition of Today newspaper and S...
-
When I learnt that Vernetta Lopez ’s autobiography Memoirs Of A DJ: Life In Progress was published last week, I rushed to the nearest major...
-
A few days ago, my former employer, MediaCorp, announced the surprise resignation of its chief executive officer, Lucas Chow. So what ...
-
Zoe Tay said she was “just sexy”, and that men love her and women hate her. I can’t speak for women, but as a man, I don’t exactly love...
-
Lately, I've been noticing the recurring use of an unfamiliar word on social media. Aisey. Posted by SMRT Ltd (Feedback) on Wedne...
-
Okay, I surrender. I admit it. I was wrong. In April last year, I wrote a column called “ So is Joanne Peh really going out with Qi Yuwu? ...
-
You may have read about De Beers Wong, who pretended to be an agent for rich "sugar daddies" and duped at least 11 women into havi...