Saturday, February 18, 2006
Hola! Me no Comprende!!
Self reminder: Gotta learn an extra language, fast.
Any language will do, Japanese, Spanish or even Mandarin. As a concierge i believe an extra foreign language would really be beneficial not only to me career-wise but also to enrich myself. In fact I have learnt some Japanese and even had 4 semesters of basic French in my Uni days, but due to lack of practice, it all went down the drain...
Recently, a cute middle-aged couple from Spain, Mr and Mrs Agreda approached the desk and they spoke very little English. We malays called the situation,literally translated: "like a duck speaking to a chicken" We had to communicate by using hand gestures, facial expressions and even drawings and a spatter of English here and there. Finally after a while (at this time there was already a queue at my desk behind this Spanish couple, as at that moment I was alone on duty, as my colleague was off on his dinner break)I finally got it, they wanted to know what's interesting to see in Kuala Lumpur! So I arranged for a Spanish-speaking tour guide to take them on a tour around the city for the next day. Mr Agreda was pleased that my guess was right, so they left smiling, and me a with a small tip in my hand, "to buy some beer" said Mr Agreda in his broken English.
The next day, I met them again, but this time Mr and Mrs Agreda was not smiling. He was complaining about something. After a few guesses, I concluded that they were not happy with the tour. From their gestures, he was saying that the tour guide's Spanish was so-so and his vehicle was run down. (Self note: not to use that tour guide again, unless in emergency) Mr Agreda was also complaining that they both just got back from the KL tower's restaurant, and had to wait 1 hour even though a booking was made through one of my colleagues. And they got fed up waiting so they just came back to the hotel - HUNGRY. So I apologized in the many foreign languages I know, (except Spanish) and quickly suggested our coffee house for dinner. They waved a big NO and gestured that they wanted somewhere classier, so i quickly escorted them to our award-winning french fine-dining restaurant. With the help of the maitre'd, I arranged for them to have a quick serviced meal, but not complimentary. On my way out I assured them that I shall personally talk to the Tower's restaurant manager and resolve the issue.
What was going on? Everything seemed not right for the couple. Had to do something..it was bad enough that I could not communicate smoothly with them, I could sense their frustration when I kept saying "No comprende" which i guessed and hoped meant "I don't understand". But finally, after a smooth Malacca tour, and a quick recovery through some quick simple Spanish words that I hastily copied off the Internet, they seemed more happy and the smiles flowed back.
The night before they were to fly back to Spain, they dropped by the desk again to say good bye and thanked me for everything. From what I can see, they were very appreciative of my efforts to help them throughout their stay. If only I knew a bit more Spanish...things might have been a lot smoother...
Now to watch more of those Spanish soap operas and to try undertand the language, instead of just staring at the gorgeous looking actresses...heheheh
Any language will do, Japanese, Spanish or even Mandarin. As a concierge i believe an extra foreign language would really be beneficial not only to me career-wise but also to enrich myself. In fact I have learnt some Japanese and even had 4 semesters of basic French in my Uni days, but due to lack of practice, it all went down the drain...
Recently, a cute middle-aged couple from Spain, Mr and Mrs Agreda approached the desk and they spoke very little English. We malays called the situation,literally translated: "like a duck speaking to a chicken" We had to communicate by using hand gestures, facial expressions and even drawings and a spatter of English here and there. Finally after a while (at this time there was already a queue at my desk behind this Spanish couple, as at that moment I was alone on duty, as my colleague was off on his dinner break)I finally got it, they wanted to know what's interesting to see in Kuala Lumpur! So I arranged for a Spanish-speaking tour guide to take them on a tour around the city for the next day. Mr Agreda was pleased that my guess was right, so they left smiling, and me a with a small tip in my hand, "to buy some beer" said Mr Agreda in his broken English.
The next day, I met them again, but this time Mr and Mrs Agreda was not smiling. He was complaining about something. After a few guesses, I concluded that they were not happy with the tour. From their gestures, he was saying that the tour guide's Spanish was so-so and his vehicle was run down. (Self note: not to use that tour guide again, unless in emergency) Mr Agreda was also complaining that they both just got back from the KL tower's restaurant, and had to wait 1 hour even though a booking was made through one of my colleagues. And they got fed up waiting so they just came back to the hotel - HUNGRY. So I apologized in the many foreign languages I know, (except Spanish) and quickly suggested our coffee house for dinner. They waved a big NO and gestured that they wanted somewhere classier, so i quickly escorted them to our award-winning french fine-dining restaurant. With the help of the maitre'd, I arranged for them to have a quick serviced meal, but not complimentary. On my way out I assured them that I shall personally talk to the Tower's restaurant manager and resolve the issue.
What was going on? Everything seemed not right for the couple. Had to do something..it was bad enough that I could not communicate smoothly with them, I could sense their frustration when I kept saying "No comprende" which i guessed and hoped meant "I don't understand". But finally, after a smooth Malacca tour, and a quick recovery through some quick simple Spanish words that I hastily copied off the Internet, they seemed more happy and the smiles flowed back.
The night before they were to fly back to Spain, they dropped by the desk again to say good bye and thanked me for everything. From what I can see, they were very appreciative of my efforts to help them throughout their stay. If only I knew a bit more Spanish...things might have been a lot smoother...
Now to watch more of those Spanish soap operas and to try undertand the language, instead of just staring at the gorgeous looking actresses...heheheh
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Valentine's - schmalentine's
I had a great v-day...the past two days (13 and 14 Feb) I was sort of playing the role of Eros a.k.a Cupid for some of my guests who at the very last minute realised that its Valentine's Day....Due to the high demand on for just that ONE red day, somehow my hotel's florists ran out of red roses...so, who do you call? Who else but the ever smiling-never-say-no Concierge..As the only nearest late opening florists are all open in China town, I had to dash to and from a couple of times to get dozens of red roses and also greeting cards for the guest to impress their loved ones..and of course for a price! Hehehehe...
Just so happens, that it had to rain really hard on 14 feb, so there I was stuck in the all-famous KL traffic in a car full of red roses (luckily I wasn't allergic to them)..and suddenly my mobile phone rang, the hotel was already calling me saying that one of the hotel guests has been grumbling to the Duty Manager and the Chef Concierge on the delay of his roses delivery...so, since the traffic was not moving, I had to arrange for one of the valet boys to come to me on his scooter, so he could collect the particular bouquet from me and weave through the traffic back to the hotel...so there I was left in a sea of cars and buses, trapped in traffic with 2 more bouquet of roses in my back seat...
What a day....
Just so happens, that it had to rain really hard on 14 feb, so there I was stuck in the all-famous KL traffic in a car full of red roses (luckily I wasn't allergic to them)..and suddenly my mobile phone rang, the hotel was already calling me saying that one of the hotel guests has been grumbling to the Duty Manager and the Chef Concierge on the delay of his roses delivery...so, since the traffic was not moving, I had to arrange for one of the valet boys to come to me on his scooter, so he could collect the particular bouquet from me and weave through the traffic back to the hotel...so there I was left in a sea of cars and buses, trapped in traffic with 2 more bouquet of roses in my back seat...
What a day....
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
How may I help you today?
"Greetings, how may I help you today?"
The standard phrase I use, day in and day out when a guest approaches my desk...(actually its not really a desk, more of a counter). This means I am prepared or rather trying to guess and anticipate what the guest will ask or request for. Now this is the fun part of my job as a Concierge in a 5-star hotel in downtown, Kuala Lumpur. Not knowing what is in store for me everytime a guest pokes his or her head over the counter.
Usually it will be a request for a city map or directions/queries on what to do and see in Kuala Lumpur...that's sort of routine...but it gets interesting when the request is not mundane, maybe like a request to have a hot air balloon ride to view the city, or a horseback tour in the rainforest reserve area...Now that's when you get excited and you feel a rush going thru you...MUST FIND OUT A SOLUTION OR SOURCE!!
You see, Kuala Lumpur may be a developing city, in fact to some say it IS already a very developed city, with skyscrapers (we have the Petronas Twin Towers!), modern buildings, latest cars, highways here and there and also up-to-date shopping facilities and goods, but in some ways, there are a lot of things that are not there yet compared to other countries like in Europe or the Americas...this could be due to the demgoraphics, weather, culture and probably the citizens' needs and wants...So, with visitors coming in from all over the world, sometimes their request could be common to them but VERY FOREIGN to a Malaysian..so, it becomes a challenge.
This is what makes the life as a Concierge in a 5-star hotel in a so-called 3rd world developing city really fun and challenging. Everyday is a NEW day...
The standard phrase I use, day in and day out when a guest approaches my desk...(actually its not really a desk, more of a counter). This means I am prepared or rather trying to guess and anticipate what the guest will ask or request for. Now this is the fun part of my job as a Concierge in a 5-star hotel in downtown, Kuala Lumpur. Not knowing what is in store for me everytime a guest pokes his or her head over the counter.
Usually it will be a request for a city map or directions/queries on what to do and see in Kuala Lumpur...that's sort of routine...but it gets interesting when the request is not mundane, maybe like a request to have a hot air balloon ride to view the city, or a horseback tour in the rainforest reserve area...Now that's when you get excited and you feel a rush going thru you...MUST FIND OUT A SOLUTION OR SOURCE!!
You see, Kuala Lumpur may be a developing city, in fact to some say it IS already a very developed city, with skyscrapers (we have the Petronas Twin Towers!), modern buildings, latest cars, highways here and there and also up-to-date shopping facilities and goods, but in some ways, there are a lot of things that are not there yet compared to other countries like in Europe or the Americas...this could be due to the demgoraphics, weather, culture and probably the citizens' needs and wants...So, with visitors coming in from all over the world, sometimes their request could be common to them but VERY FOREIGN to a Malaysian..so, it becomes a challenge.
This is what makes the life as a Concierge in a 5-star hotel in a so-called 3rd world developing city really fun and challenging. Everyday is a NEW day...
