Lunch Buddies’ Dinner

San organized dinner for the lunch buddies on Thursday. Unfortunately it had to be at MBS because Dr Teo was having a seminar there.

San also likes teochew food and so the venue was at Imperial Treasure teochew restaurant.

It was good meeting them as a group again. We haven’t met for sometime. Much of the conversation centered on medical services in Singapore, especially the long waits at A and E at government hospitals here. For non heart related cases, someone was told the wait at A and E to see a doctor was 8 hours. This coupled with the fact that it is difficult to get a hospital bed once admitted. Another person told me they had to wait 48 hours to be moved from the waiting area in A and E to a ward. Strange how Singaporeans don’t seem to be bothered by this and discuss such issues. Until it affects them personally.

Anyway my biggest gripe that night was with the food. The food there sucks. It was so salty that we had to send 2 dishes back. And the other dishes were not much better. San was apologizing to us for a poor choice of restaurant. My second consecutive bad experience at Imperial Treasure.

I really do think restaurants here need to wake up. I, for one, think we getting very poor quality food with poor prices for the amount of money we end up paying. Malaysia is miles ahead in terms of better value/quality for food and service.

I will have absolutely no sympathy when eventually these places shut down because people prefer to take a train to JB to have their meals there. Just like what is happening to the restaurants in HK. People in HK are going to Shenzen to have their meals.

The restaurants in MBS, such as this one, are surviving because of the tourists, the gamblers and shoppers who clock up points on their expenditure there and need to redeem those points.