HWA Day

We (Roentgen, Junie, Charlotte & me), the GO THE EXTRA MILE For HWA Organising Committee, have been distributing the donation pledge cards to the HWA runners for over a month already and there were still about 20+ who had yet to collect their cards. Hence, Roentgen suggested to organise a special pledge cards pickup just so that these runners could pick up their cards and start helping to canvass for funds. The earlier the cards are out to them, the earlier they can start canvassing for funds for HWA.

As the collection pick up time was between 3 to 5 pm, Roentgen suggested a lunch meeting to touch base, update on the progress of this charity fund drive and also what follow-up actions need to be done by the team. We hence decided to have lunch at Purvis Street (near to the Raffles City where the pledge card collection would be). Purvis Street was chosen thanks to some food blog which recommended several yumz yumz eating outlets there (hehe). Junie last minute couldn't make it due to her LSD in the morning, so the three remaining hungry piggies started our food hunt at Purvis Street.

We passed several outlets, even took a look at the Ms Clarity menu (we already decided before hand - thanks to the food blog) to try their Bread Pudding there. We wanted to look see somemore before deciding on what to eat and finally decided on this Hainanese coffeeshop when all 3 of us got soooo excited about the fish head curry that they sell. Food there was EXCELLENT! The hot plate doufu was yummilicious (I thought I tasted the bean paste - like wat my mommy will cook with ! yumz yumz! I miss home cook food!!!) and the curry was not too bad. I wun say that's the best I have tasted but hey, at least the gravy is the THICK kind. I like!! The ladies fingers were a tad tooo hard though ... Too raw liao, must be because they hadn't cooked it long enough and we were prolly after all the first customer to order fish head curry ? :P Full details can be found here.

Next we had our dessert at Ms Clarity (Junie joined us after we were done at the Hainanese lunch). I have to say I am very very happy with their desert there! We ordered a Fudgy Pudgy (i think that's how it is spelt), Bread Pudding and a Mud Ooze. They all tasted simply delicious! Just the tot of it now just makes me drooool ... the mud ooze is served in a cup with 1 scoop of ice cream on top of this thin layer of chocolate that holds the melted/watery chocolate together. Once you dip your spoon into this thin layer, you dig into this yummy looking chocolate that oozes out and fills your spoon. The taste and texture .... mmmmmmmm just delicious! :) Gotto try it !

(Someone eating snake .. hehe)
Ok, enough about my ramblings on food. Now to the serious business of pledge cards donation. We (less Junie who had prior engagements) plonked ourselves down at Raffles City Starbucks and started our wait for the runners to turn up. Of course prior to Saturday we have already sent out email blasts about the pledge cards collection on Sat and also sms them to check their emails. Out of the 30-ish people that we sent to, unfortunately only a handful (less than 5) replied. Got to even sms them to try and get a response from them, some even got to call. There were about 10-ish that agreed to turn up to collect the pledge cards, so we stationed ourselves at the Starbucks (we figured somewhere central will be most convenient).

In the 2 hours that we were there, we just met so many kinds of people. I will just summarise the negative feelings I get from some of these runners below:

1. People who said that they will turn up but never did. And don't even bother to call to inform that they wouldn't be able to make it.
   
2. From the group above, I had to text them to ask whether they were coming. Only a handful of the above replied to say that they are caught at work, unable to make it for some other reasons. Well, the decent thing would at least be to call to inform that they cannot make it ?
3. Some (from group 1 above) did not even bother to reply to my sms ! I had to call them and ask them whether they are coming, that WE were waiting there for them (30mins after the stated time!) and they just gave some lame excuses.

Of course, I'm heartened to see others in the totally the other extreme end of the spectrum who turned up as promised. Who are polite and friendly. We made a few friends, in particular with these 2 dragon boat gals who came with their dragon boat oars. One of them was accompanying the other to collect the pledge cards and after hearing out Roentgen explained about the charity drive and the instructions on what can/cannot be done with the pledge cards, the other gal was convinced enough to sign up with us on the spot! They were very friendly and even invited me and Charlotte (we were both keen on trying out dragonboating) to join them in their training. The gal who just signed up with us (a very pretty young lady if I may add) even politely asked for our numbers so that we can keep in contact and meet up for the dragonboat training. (She later sms-ed us so that we have her number too) Hooray! I got to know another friend through this! *BIG SMILE*

The biggest positive experience I had on Sat was from this runner (Samuel Lim) whom none of us know. He texted me at 2pm to ask whether he could collect his cards earlier (as he had to attend a play at 3pm). As I was still having lunch in Purvis Street, I told him I couldn't make it back in time. I even called to ensure he could still meet up with us and found out that he would be at Esplanade watching The Forbidden City at 3pm. I agreed to wait for him after 5pm if his play ended in 2 hours. He texted me shortly after to thank me for agreeing to wait and that coffee is on him (what a polite guy!). At about 3+pm, Samuel turned up ! Apparently he ran from Esplanade to RC Starbucks to collect his cards during his play intermission! *RESPECT* He said that he was afraid to make us wait for him so he took the time during intermission to rush down to collect. Wow! we were all VERY impressed with his considerate nature!! This super fit looking young man is really very polite and considerate! Young gers, watch out for this guy! :)
Shortly after, I texted him to just thank him on behalf of the committee for being so considerate and to rush down to collect the cards and here is his reply:

Hey, the pleasure is all mine. Thank you all for spending the weekend out here waiting for the rest of the ppl. N thank you for all the hardwork in the organisation. I wish u a wonderful n pleasant weekend. Cheerio! :)

Its people like Samuel that makes this worthwhile. :)

As you can see, for the same task (of collecting pledge cards), you can see the attitude of people. Some couldn't be bothered and wouldn't bat an eyelid about not turning up for something that they have promised. While others would make the extra effort and even appreciate the effort that was put in. We need more people of the latter, to make this world a better place. I, for one, will also want to learn from Samuel and be reminded that we have to be considerate to others, and to appreciate what others do for us.

Taz & Divey joined us while we were at Starbucks (Thanks for the company folks!!). THANKS to sweet Divey for buying curry puff for us!!! Divey is one considerate and sweet gal too! She remembered I mentioned about A1 curry puff at Marina Square and she actually bought if for us! You are such a doll, Divey! :)

(Eggplant dish with chicken pieces)
Junie re-joined us later and she, Divey, me and Roentgen went to have dinner at Ichiban Boshi in Novena Square (Taz got to meet wifey, Charlotte got to meet up with the cyclohunt buddies for dinner). We had our fill of sushi and stuff, even had this very interesting eggplant dish with chicken pieces. The company was, as usual, great! Had loads of fun with Roentgen (as usual) cracking lots of jokes (and not forgetting, teasing me!!! -__-"). He later dropped Divey off at her friend's BBQ party before sending Junie & me home. THANKS Roentgen!!

All in all a wonderful Saturday. Managed to have so many good meals with great friends, and also managed to distribute more pledge cards. Very fruitful day! :)

PleasedJazzy