Cannot-La!

Last night Matt and I went to Esplanade with our friend Karthik to see the Afro-Cuban Allstars. It was an amazing show. But...before the show, there was some Singaporean ridiculousness.

I try not to complain too much about Singapore, because honestly it's a great place to live - clean, efficient, has lots of things to offer us, and generally we're happy here. But then things like last night happen, and I just want to do something drastic.

Karthik and I obviously needed some ice cream before the show. We went to Movenpick. Karthik knew that they had good chocolate. I love good vanilla, but I had bad vanilla. I asked if I could taste their vanilla. Here's how it went:

"Can I please taste your vanilla?"
"We don't do tasting"
"Well, I really like good vanilla, but I really don't like bad vanilla. Is there any way I could try just a tiny bit? I will for sure either get that or chocolate."
"Sorry. We don't do tastings."
"Ok. Can I please have 80 grams of chocolate?"
"Sure." (gets a cup and puts it on a SCALE. Yes, a scale.
"Actually, is there any way you can put about 78 grams of chocolate, and just put a tiny bit of vanilla on top? I just want to try it so I know if I can get it next time."
"If you want two flavors, you can get two scoops."
"I just want a tiny taste of vanilla - can you just put a tiny bit on top?"
"No - I will have to ask my manager."
"Seriously? You have to ask your manager to put 78 grams of chocolate and 2 grams of vanilla? Wow."

Then, today, I went to the grocery store near our house. I do love this grocery store. I needed two hot chilies in addition to some other things. In this store, you get all of your vegetables, and you have to go to a weigh station, and they weigh them, put prices on them, and then you take it all to the register. I wanted two chilies. I put two chilies in a bag (which kills me, because it's a huge waste of a plastic bag, but then we can use it for kitty poo, but that's another story...). The guy said (in Chinese, but I got the gist), "you need more, because this is below the minimum weight."
"I only want two chilies"
"I cannot put a price tag on unless you put more chilies in this bag." (again - not English, but this is basically what he was saying)
"I will pay whatever amount you want (what will it be? 30 cents??) - but I do not want more than two chilies, because I don't want to waste them."
"I cannot give you this few chilies."
Ok - so I go over and get another chili pepper, and I put it in the plastic bag, and he weighs it, and he prints out the sticker, and then I take out the chili and I put it back.

Some flexibility people!!! It would drive this country MILES forward. Or kilometers.