I Met Gayles + Other Random Encounters

At times, I would call in one of my usual restaurants and order dinner. And at times, I would pay a visit to the mini-mart besides the restaurant to grab some beers. Last week I bumped onto Gayles on the following day after she was voted out of the Singapore Idol. At first I was wondering why this girl took so long to make payment via NETS (she was with 2 young kids and a friend of hers). When she turned around, I was petrified. Okay, she is not exactly a celebrity as per se. But still, she was on TV and I have voted for her episode after episode.

Inspired by how John Maxwell defines charisma, I tried to get the people around me to talk about themselves more. So this guy making my Latte asked me if I was a local (my accent gave it away?) and I got him to tell me more about coffee. Well, did you know that Latte is created at 75 degree – the optimal temperature for making coffee? Ha!

Today while I pumped petrol, this attendant talked to me in Mandarin and I was trying to talk to him in English. After a while, I gave up and talked in Cantonese. Turned out that his Cantonese is better than his Mandarin (not sure if I can say the same about my Cantonese). So he talked non-stop. I learned that both Mobil petrol station and the one opposite the road, Exxon, are owned by the same (erm … unpleasant) boss. A petrol attendant’s job scope includes cleaning of the actual petrol pumping station, cleaning of the mini-store, as well as the toilets. Anyway, another attendant pulled him away before he could tell me more. Perhaps next time.