I have been robbed twice!

Incident One
It happened when I received the bill for my income tax earlier this month. The amount due from me was more than my my whole month's salary??!?!?!! So I quickly called the relevant Authority knowing that I would be imposed with a penalty of 5% on any unpaid tax and additional penalty of 1% up to max of 12% on any unpaid tax for each month that the tax remains unpaid. I was certainly eager to settle the payment but unable to because of its inaccuracy. To my disappointment, they do not handle queries by phone. They asked me to fax in my relevant documents with a letter explaining my query.

2 days later, nobody called. That is despite putting an "URGENT" Font Tahoma Size 26 on my cover page. A friend suggested I should refax and state "2nd reminder" under the word "URGENT". And I did. And still nobody called.

As anxious as I already was, I called the said Authority again. They said they won't be able to check and I should just wait as the process would usually take 3 weeks.

So done. I don't even know if they have received my fax. Shouldn't they at least acknowledge receipt and inform me that my request is being processed?? Now, if I should ever get fined for being late in payment, all of you shall be my witness!

Incident Two.
Remember Dotty Cafe? I visited them again on 22 Aug 06 with my brother, Kiem. He was craving for chili crab and the cafe's chili crab was supposedly a MUST-TRY. Also, I have been wanting to return there to eat the delicious grilled parrot fish (See previous entry for picture) So there we were... Hungry and excited.

We were careful not to be conned with the S$5/glass watermelon juice this time. We ordered a bottle of mineral water for S$2. It's confirmed. They don't provide drinks menu. Instead they will introduce verbally what they have. Lime juice, watermelon juice, beer... Unsuspecting diners would merrily order and be shocked later when the bill arrives. Having prior bad experience, we had successfully avoided this booby trap.

Since it was just 2 of us, we ordered only 2 dishes. A medium size chili crab and BBQ sting ray. And not forgetting a plate of mantou to deep into the chili crab gravy. The parrot fish was not available that night.

Crab was quite delicious I must say. Except for a few red ants that kept coming near my plate to share the gravy, I must say the crab was fresh and mouth-watering. Sting ray tasted entirely like a piece of rubber. Major disappointment. We suspect it was probably because business had been quiet and the ray had hence been kept frozen for quite a while. Totally unfresh, dry and overcooked.

However, the crab certainly made up for it.

We asked for the bill. In the mean time, we played 'guess the bill'. Kiem guessed S$60. I said can't be so expensive. Around S$45 I guessed. Winner will get S$5 rebate we agreed. And the bill came. It was dark so we had quite a difficulty figuring out how much it was. When we finally digested the bill, we almost flipped and died on the spot. That simple dinner, and mind you it was without watermelon juices, was S$95++!!!!

Here's the breakdown:
1. ONE gold-plated diamond-laced and probably almost extinct Crab $65
2. BBQ Rubber $12
3. Mantou $4
4. Mineral Water $2
5. Ikan Bilis starter, napkin, GST, service charge $12++

The bloody crab was S$50/kg??? Totally unheard off.

When we made our payment, I commented:
"Wah Aunty, your crab is very expensive you know. I know average ranges from $25-$33 but I have never heard of $50/kg"

She just looked at me and said nothing.

We settled the bill and swore never to eat there for a long long time...
And I would have to downgrade their rating to ***

...the one who couldn't keep the golden crab in my system for longer than an hour!