Non comprendes? it will seem that most malaysians do not understand this concept as well. RSVP - four simple alphabets requesting invitees to reply their intention to attend. I really can't seem to understand how they fail to understand that simple request. will it be better if it was in english? (simply translated to be: please respond, damn it. how are we suppose to confirm with caterers if we don't know how many will turn up? hmmmmm.....too lengthy a translation, i suppose)
kor-kor is having a birthday party this coming weekend and i have distributed the invitations first thing monday morning. ah ha! there is a skill involved in determining the timing of distributing invitations. bet you think it was as simple as writing them up and passing them to the relevant parties, right? nooooooo. if you hand it to the invitees too early, they will be bound to put it aside and forget all about it (you think it's because they are so busy or i am too insignificant?) by which time you have to call personally nearer to the deadline to remind them and get their reply. now, if you hand it too late to them, they don't have time to practice their wishy-washy ritual: should i go? should i not? should i go? should i not? let's throw a dice to decide. what will i wear? who will be there? of my god, all these decisions!
the funniest part is nobody bothers to read beyond the date, time, venue. you know, the little part at the bottom which writes "RSVP by when, to whom. it's like written in invisible ink. this recent invitation that i sent out was really good. The RSVP part took up a larger section than the other details. but still...........i received no reply. sigh! granted, i gave them only three days to think about it but i thought a decision on something so minor can be reached in 3 minutes! i mean, you don't have to "chim poke" or go look for a fortune teller (sifu ah, this sunday you think i can attend a party ah? will it clash with my luck for the whole year ah?will it eliminate my whole family and 18 levels of ancestors ah?) either you are free or you are not. either you will like to join in the fun or want to run 10miles at the mere sight of my face. so, we have to call them for their reply. (i think we spoil them, that's why. they are used to people calling them personally for their replies so they just don't bother) it's a lose-lose situation. send early, they don't reply. send late, they also can't be bothered to reply. it's simple manners, i think. if you put yourself in your hostess' (beautiful one this is, by the way) shoes, how can we confirm with caterers if we have absolutely no idea how many will turn up. all the food will go to waste if we order too much and if there is too little food, a riot a'la prison camp style may break out. worse, hungry people may turn cannibalistic and start eyeing others' fat drumstick thighs....or even yummier, breasts *drool*. sorry, that topic is for another day. don't want to get you guys so horny this early in the morning.
so, we move on to the next part. the 'discussion' with the party organisers. this year we are having it at that big funland in the biggest shopping centre in Malaysia (or so they claim). economy must not be doing very good for this wonderful place has turned into a money-grabbing, wallet-eating monster. you want cake ah? must add money hor. you want nice picture ah? must add money hor. you want utensils to eat with ah? must add money hor. you want chairs to seat on ah? must add money hor. you want to breath air ah? must add money hor. ok, maybe i am exagerating towards the end but they were really bad. for a pax of 20 adults, the minimum order for onde-onde alone must be 70pieces! helloooooo! was is this? celebration of the re-birth of onde-onde ah? i haven't even come to the nuggets, chicken wings and hotdogs. i will end up with enough food to feed an army!
more on their $$$$ hungry tactics: kor-kor wants to have a batman themed party. soooo, we had to ask for their themed party sets which included invitations, plates, cups, napkins, cutleries. all for............are you ready for this? $15.00 per pax! oi! you can cater for that amount already lah. ok, ok. it was imported, so i was told. but i bet they took a reallllllly big margin. anyway, sigh! since we have promised kor-kor, gulp! we.....sob! sob! went on with it. but this money-besotted place wouldn't stop at that. they said that since we didn't go for the complete theme party thing, our set does not include the batman invitations and cutleries. Arghhhhhh! i am sure many would have walked out at this stage. but i was too tired to fight. so, fine. bloody hell, but fine, give me normal invitations and keep your bloody cutleries. for the same price! we got 2 sets, which worked out to be for 16 pax only, making it a total of $120 per set.
however, after i have managed to chase down the invitees (some of them were still putting up a fight, even after holding them down to the floor and kicking them good a few times) i realised i have 22pax. so, back i go to the monster. hi, i need to add 1 more set for another 6 pax lah. more people are turning up than i expected. like that ah, my boss says hor that i can't sell separately. i must sell one set (hello, i thought i was buying it in sets!) and the price is $240 but we include the invitations and cutleries. badaboom! that was me exploding! why the hell do i need the invitations now?? i have used your normal invitations and distributed them out. who am i suppose to send the batman invitations to?????? and why the price hike?! 100% leh. haiyoh! these places must come with health warning : those with weak heart, please stay away. detrimental to health and sanity. but let me teach you people out there something. if you are weak and soft, people will always try to bully you. if you come out in horns and quills, people will back down. sooooo, off came my sweet-sweet and "suk lui" (lady-like) hide and out came the par-cah si-lai warrior. apa-lah these people! i shall not go on but big managements always win in the end. what can you do? don't like ah? don't come lor.
must go now. for the follow-up on what goes on in the party, please tune in on sunday.
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