Excellent Customer Service

After my post on bad customer service, I have this post to balance my experience with two companies. One is Wireless Wave where we ended up upgrading our phones. As soon as we got to their kiosk on the second floor of West Edmonton Mall, we saw they do Fido phones. And we also saw that the phone is $400 which is what is on their website. The two guys right away asked what we wanted and upgraded our phones without any hassles and even saved us money on our plans. They also suggested tips on how we can request Fido to waive reconnection fees. All in all it was a pleasant experience. They even transferred my data to the new phone. We also got accessories for our new phones.
The other company where I get excellent customer service is Shaw Cable for our internet, phone and cable. Every time I call for some information or technical support I always get superb customer service. They are all patient, helpful and giving tips on how to save on my bundle. Just today I went to their store and picked up a new WiFi modem so we can get internet 150. When I got home I had problems with the modem and called and of course very helpful. I got all my devices connected to my WiFi as the guy asked me to try and do it all while he was on the phone with me. So now I am all set and now we have super fast internet.
Since I have not been blogging for a while, and have a new phone, I am relearning how to post my pictures. I have drafts of post waiting to upload my pictures and since this is a long weekend I will try to get that done. So bear with me with my no picture posts for a short while.
Thank you again to Wireless Wave and Shaw Cable for very excellent customer service.

Have a great long weekend every one. Thanks for stopping by.































































excellee

Kindle Fire HDX

This device really really sucks. I bought mine two months after it was released. Since it was fairly new, there was not a lot of reviews. It worked for a long time and then all of a sudden, started losing sound. I went on internet to look for solution and found a few that worked. Then nothing I do would solve the problem. I tried to find a number to call Amazon. Nothing, no phone number anywhere I looked at. Finally I emailed and it says there that they would reply on 24 - 48 hours. Now since this Kindle Fire is only good as ereader or checking my email, I will just blog about it and next would be Amazon depending on how they handle my complaints. I'm not buying anything from them, maybe just free books or games since those are the only things I can do with this now useless crappy device. So it will be back to using my laptop now.

Cafe Amore Bistro

My friend Carole took me to dinner for my birthday at this restaurant on Saturday. I didn't know where she was taking me until I got into her vehicle.

I read about this place from Avenue Magazine. So I came in knowing it would be good food and hoping the service will be as well.

We got there a bit behind our reservation time and was seated right away and greeted by the owner. Carole has been here before for lunch and it's my first time. We ordered bruschetta for appetizer and they were good. I had Amore Spritzer cocktail for my drink and it was good. 

For the main I ordered the special which was bone marrow with mushroom. It came and I started to eat and found it too salty. I tried to eat more but I just could not handle how salty it was. When the server asked how was it, I had to be honest and told her. She took it and asked the chef of they c.f. would make it a little less salty. In the end I just ordered a different pasta. They were really nice about it. They took it off our bill. I was ok with just another order but I admire them for handling it differently.

I still would go back just because of the service. They even said I put too much cheese but I know it was really salty in the first place. I'm not used to salty food because of my hypertension. I would rather that diners be able to add salt to the food.

Overall, very excellent service and the pasta I ordered later was very good. I would recommend it to my friends.

Lousy service....

Last Thursday, Janet and I decided we were going out for lunch and went to Central. We got there at 12:12pm and ordered the special.....steak sandwich. 

We have gone a lot of times when I used to work in the building. Always got good service except a few times which we complained.

Well this time, the food was ready at 12 minutes to 1:00pm. We have an hour lunch or an appointment. We did not eat the lunch. We had it packed and went back to work without lunch.

We complained and the chef said it's because one of us ordered medium well. The server told us there's a few big groups. It was not really acceptable. I have recommended this place before but not anymore. I don't think I will go back there. 

It's sad but I guess that's restaurant business. I'll find other spots. Just venting.

Sloppy Hoggs

Last Friday, my friend Carole and I went to try Sloppy Hoggs restaurant. I know about this restaurant because my youngest son works here. They were featured on Food Network's You Gotta Eat Here. I saw that episode as well.

As Carole told me before getting inside the restaurant, we are here to pig out. As soon as we were seated, they realized I am the mother of one of the cooks. I was warned ahead of time that no matter what I order, I would not finish it. So we sat and decided what to order. Carole wanted ribs so we ordered one entree and shared. It came with smashed potatoes, spicy beans, corn bread. We ordered fries and coleslaw as additional sides and hush puppies for appetizers. It was generous servings.

Everything was good and service was excellent.  We would be coming back.



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Taste of Edmonton 2013...

Last Wednesday, the staff at work went to Taste of Edmonton, This was the first time I had gone to it at lunch time. I had usually gone after work because we do not have to worry about time and we can stay there for as long as we want.

This year I did not try a lot since that morning we had Tenant Appreciation breakfast and I had 3 pancakes and 2 sausages so by the time we got there I was not really hungry.

I got a glass of heavenly lemonade, then we tried spicy chicken, vegetable tempura, churros, sirloin with lemon grass sauce. I can't remember what else I had. Anyway I had leftover tickets and gave it to my son. They went on Friday and the only thing he talked about was the deep fried Mars bars. He ate 3 of them which could easily have been 1000 calories.

It was crowded and I still would have preferred to go after work. Coming  back from that, I heard that my cousin had passed away and so I did not go that night with two of my friends.

Hopefully it would be good again next year. I apologize it was hard to take pictures when you are standing holding your drink, a small plate and a purse. It was hard enough trying to eat.

Dining out....

I have gone out with friends or office mates for lunch or dinner but have not posted anything about it. So I will just list the different places I have gone out if I can remember it all.

There are no pictures as I usually forget and would remember it halfway and I don't like taking pictures of food I have half consumed.

C and I went for dinner at Niche which is just down half a block from my office so we just walked there. We decided to eat in the patio as it was such a nice day. I can't remember if we ordered appetizer but I think we did not as we wanted to have dessert.

I ordered the beef cheeks which is beef stroganoff. Nothing special about it except it costs $26.00. I do not mind paying that price but it was just regular stroganoff. There was nothing served with it, no garlic bread or a small side salad. C ordered lobster risotto and it was nothing special and that was $27.00. So we were there having conversation of how expensive it was and not much to say about the meal. We decided to have this chocolate dessert that was made of chocolate, the vesssel which was in the shape of a cup with chocolate mouse inside it and fruits on top. They pour some brandy or something and lit it and the chocolate cup started to melt. Since we were outside you can't even see the flame although when C took a video of it, you can a bit of the flame.

We will not go back to this one, although according to an advert in one of the magazines, it is supposed to be one of the top 20 restaurants in Canada. Really??

Next, some ladies at work and I went to Earl's for lunch. I ordered the dynamite crab roll and it was really good and at only $11.00. The others ordered lobster roll which was also good but was hard to eat. Then 2 of the ladies ordered dessert, chocolate concoction and I guess, that it was good.

One day, I forgot my lunch and I went to Central Social Hall which is on the main floor of our building. I know a lot of the staff there and since they have changed their lunch menu, I asked what is good and was told the fish tacos were really good. So I ordered it, and it was delicious. There was also anothertime when I forgot lunch and ordered mushroom salad with fried polenta and that was really good and reasonable price as well.

This will be it for now, I will do another review next time. I still have 2 places I have been to which I have not done a review.

Enjoy the rest of the week and thanks for stopping by.

Johnny Garlic's in San Jose...

Last time I was in San Jose, I wanted to try this restaurant owned by Guy Fieri of the Diners, Drive Ins and Dives fame on the Food Network.

But at that time, I believe it had just opened and a lot of people want to try it, so it was a bit busy and crowded. But this time we went for lunch with a friend of my sister and it was not busy at all. It was the Friday before the Memorial weekend.

We sat there and waited for her friend and we ordered Garlic potato chips. It was really garlicky with parmesan and finely chopped fresh garlic. It was really good but I did not have to worry about the garlic smell as we were shopping after that.

I was not really hungry so my sister and I shared sashimi wan tacos. It had sashimi grade ahi with mango jicama salsa and wasabi soy. It was really good.

Our friend ordered bison burger with garlic potato chips on the side. We all ordered iced tea with different flavours, I think mine was raspberry. I would go back here and try other stuff on their menu.
Service was really good.

Garlic potato chips

 

Sashimi Won Tacos



Restaurants....food

While visiting my sister, we always go to places/restaurants I want to try or just food I have not tried yet. Before I get there I would google places and see if I have a place I am interested in going.

Sometimes it is an ad on tv that I remember I want to try. This time I wanted to go to Sonic and so after our trip to the Artichoke Festival we passed by a Sonic location and tried their food.

I ordered cheeseburger with onion rings and pineapple milk shake, my brother-in-law ordered the chili dog with sweet potato fries. I think my sister also ordered a burger with something else. The burger was big and the onion rings were good. I like the milkshake as it was quite thick and had  really pineapple you can taste.

These are all the flavours of the drink you can order from tea to smoothies.

Sorry about the imperfect bun but I just wanted to show how big the burgers are and they are a lot better than the one from the very well known arch.

 

The chili dog, as you can see it was a drive in and it was hard to take pictures of the food.

 

While shoppping at a Mexican grocery store, we decided to eat there as they also serve cooked food to stay or take out. I ordered the Mexican version of poutine.

The fries under the carne asada with sour cream and guacamole. I could not have salsa or pico de gallo as I do not like cilantro. As usual I could not finish as it was too much.

 

And for my sister's birthday, I cooked a big pot of jambalaya which turned out well.

 

 

 

 

 



Cache Creek Casino in Northern California.....

I have gone to different casinos, here in Alberta, Ontario, Nevada, California even in the Dominican Republic and they are ok or great.

When I was visiting my sister, we decided to go to a casino resort...Cache Creek Casino. She did not want to drive so to make it relaxing, we took the tour bus to the casino. So I was expecting a nice drive, until we got on the bus and it was one of those older tour buses. Then the driver started the engine and we were sitting very close to it and it was awfully noisy.

I guess that was a sign of bad things to come. Then we heard that the washroom is not really working and only for emergency.  I took my sister's Kindle Fire and started reading and it was good as it made the ride go faster and less boring. My sister was taking a nap and has head phone so she could sleep.

Arriving at the casino, we had to get to the washroom and when we registered, the CSR commented that we should have registered right away and this was done in a very rude and unfriendly manner.
By this time I was not looking forward to anything and then realized there was smoking and a little area that was non smoking.

I played for a while and soon was winning and if I was at home, I would have cashed out and gone home but since we have to be here for 5 hours, I walked around and then played some more until I had lost my winnings and then I found a machine out of order and decided to sit there and took out the Kindle Fire and read until it was time to go home.

All in all.... I would not ever, ever going back.....

Famoso pizza.....

This is supposedly one of the best pizza places in Edmonton. There was a lot of buzz when it opened and I guess they lived up to that reputation.

So tonight, some of us friends and a family member decided to order as they were saying as well that is what they all heard about this place. So we ordered their pepperoni and roasted mushroom with additional smoked mozarella, capriciosa which has artichokes, Italian ham, olives, mushroom and something else and an order of mozza balls. We only had to wait 10 minutes and order was ready.

So we went to pick pizza and one opened the box and it smells good. When we got home, we got ready to eat and each took a piece and one mozza ball. When we started eating the center part, a big part of the pizza was so dought, it was not even edible. Everyone complained how bad it was and we also started to watch a movie on demand and nobody was watching the movie as we were all busy complaining and givine comments of how bad it was and it was the worst pizza ever.

I have taken pictures to capture but it did not do it justice.

That is the top of the box...which says what you can see there. Well, this one did not last long as it went to the garbage right away after we took photos.

 

That was the first were two people took slices and this was moved to a pie pan to see if we could get it in the oven to save it so we could eat it. But everyone decided it was not worth saving.

 



This is the other pizza where I took my one slice and it went to the garbage like this. The only edible part was the 1 1/2 inch of the edge. They were supposed to be thin so you would think it would be cooked and not like raw dough.

This was my plate with just the edge eaten and the topping.

Most of the other plates were almost the same maybe a bit worse as they just left most of it uneaten. It was not even worth it to drive back to return and show them.

 

I was so upset that we talked of doing reviews on Yelp, Urban Spoon and all the other on line review sites but I was thinking they, the management would not see it.

So I called them up and complained and told them I do not want anything from them but that I did not want any other customers to have the same experience. The manager asked for my name and I gave it to her and she told me there will be a certificate waiting for me there. I can tell you now, that certificate will remain unclaimed and that would be my last and I will never ever ever (just like that Taylor Swift song) go back there. And all of us have said when we hear about that place again, we will mention our experience. The worst so far and I have been to a lot of restaurants here and abroad and my gosh that was on the top of the list of the worst ones.

Two thumbs down.



Dinner out with a friend.....

Every few weeks when we both have free Friday night, C and I go out to dinner and it has been our way of connecting and chatting of what has gone on in our lives.

When we go out, we always look for and try new places to eat and this time we went to Smokehouse BBQ which was closed because of fire when we went to try it a few weeks ago. This last Friday, they had reopened.

The place was clean and decorated simply. The menu has all kinds of smoked meat. C tried the Works which is a sandwich made with all kinds of smoked meat, pork, beef and chicken. It was presented well and it had the deep fried pickle on top of the bun. I tried the smoked chicken wings with just salt and pepper. There are 4 different sauces you can pick.

The service was good and as usual we always have dessert and this time it was presented in a very different way. We had lemon pie in a jar.



This was real lemony and you can taste the lemon rind.

I will go back to this place.

Lunch time.......

There were 3 staff members who left our office in the last two weeks. All three I worked with closely and all three I consider great workers.

Since I started, there have been a lot of staff who have left the company and it had been a tradition to take them out for lunch. I am in charge of our petty cash and so I am in charge of taking them out. It used to be I invite everyone.

But this time, the staff leaving just wanted a few people so it was almost like a covert operation. The first lunch was at a Malaysian restaurant. I have been going to Tropika for a long time and it has never disappointed me yet. There might be one or two dishes I do not like but most of the time, they are all good.

The second one we went to was buffet at New Asian Village which is Indian restaurant. I have East Indian friends and I have eaten a lot of Indian dishes but the selection here was not so good. I enjoyed the naan bread, lamb curry, and another stew like dish. I did not even like the tandoori chicken here.

Then we went to Trang Tien which is Vietnamese. It is always good here and the servings are very generous, sometimes I think it is too generous, most people can't finish them. I like the calamari here and beef hot plate.

I hope nobody leaves the company in the next while. I have gone to a lot of lunches. And with me trying to lose weight, it is not easy. They went again on Friday to another Vietnamese place where they only serve  pho and I did not even go, besides I had a report to finish that afternoon.

I hope you enjoyed the weekend.

Central Social Hall.......

There is this new restaurant/pub that opened in our building jusst before Christmas and it is another addition to the many that are in that intersection of downtown and 109 Street.

I was invited to the soft opening and I brought a friend with me. They served samples of their menu fare and most of the ones I tried were good. The one I liked the best is the mini burgers/sliders which came moist and very tasty. Their nachos was good as well and the chicken wings.

I have come back there a few times and what I like the best is their service. I have tried different items and have not been disappointed yet. But as usual I have forgotten to take pictures.

Usually, I order the mango margarita for drinks and at lunch I order iced tea which is not too sweet. I was there with a former officemate and her comment was that it was a bit expensive for lunch which I will agree.

You can check out their menu at their website.

Chianti Restaurant...

On New Year's eve, I had my niece's children in Edmonton and we went to White Avenue. While there we decided to have dinner and since the kids were teens, there was only this restaurant where we could eat.

One of them ordered spaghetti a la carbonara. Before we got served, they had the usual bread and they were warm and good. When the carbonara was served, my nephew started to eat and then saw all these partly scrambled eggs and was wondering why it was like that.

So we asked the server and he told us that is how they do it, scramble the egg and add alfredo sauce and that is carbonara.

I have eaten carbonara a lot of times and in different restaurant and never did I get it with scrambled eggs. I have watched chefs on tv make it and it is not like that. Before I posted this, I also googled it and never saw one where there is pieces of scrambled eggs.

We should have taken a picture of it. To their credit, they asked if he wanted something else and he told them yes and they served him another pasta dish.

It was just a big disappointment and I almost ordered it myself. I am glad I changed my mind and ordered something else.

San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles....

This is the one place I was excited about to see while in San Jose. So we went to see and it is located in downtown San Jose.

I have made a small quilt before and I am really interested in the different designs and how they coordinate the fabrics with the design.

There was an entrance fee of $8.00 per person which is not bad but after we got in and saw the displays.....what a great disappointment. I am sure there must be only 25 on display and textiles was not really much. I would not recommend this one. Give this one a pass....go somewhere else.

I did take pictures especially when I found out the number of quilts on display was not a lot. I think if they charge only $5.00, there will be more people who would see it or display more quilts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those are probably half of the display, maybe whne I run of things to post, I will post more pictures and that will the whole display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



bj's - Livermore

When one is on , you want to try to eat at different restaurants especially the ones you do not have at home.

Just before the US Thanksgiving, my sister and her hubby and I wanted to check out the new Paragon Outlet at Livermore. It was crowded and we did not stay long. We were getting hungry and decided to try bj's in Livermore.

The place was crowded and the menu looks good. We just ordered appetizers and drinks. I ordered calamari, sister order the lettuce wraps and my borther-in-law ordered chicken wings.

I love calamari and would order it if I hear the place had good calamari. Well, when the calamari arrived, it was mostly tentacles. Unfortunately, we did not take pictures. I have never had this kind, there were probably only 5 or 6 at the most of squid rings. We kind of complained but they said that is how the calamaris come.

If I am not mistaken, a squid only has a set of tentacles and out of it you can have maybe 6 or 7 rings so I do not understand the explanation at all. We ate it but was not too happy. In most restaurants, you may get 3 tentacles and the rest are rings. Go figure.....

Not going back there......a big disappointment!!!! Will not recommend it to friends who are going on vacation in California.

Glenora Bistro...

It was stressful at work on Wednesday so an officemate and I went out to have lunch to relieve the stress. We were going to Red Robin but found out it was under renovation. We decided to go to the Elm which has the reputataion of having one of the best sandwiches in downtown but we could not get parking.

We ended up at the Glenora Bistro and hoped for the best. We were seated right away and the place was not busy. I was not sure what to order but the server explained their specials and we chose to have the fish special which is salmon and halibut with rice and vegetables.

It was well cooked and good flavour and big serving. We both ordered the same and thoroughly enjoyed the meal. I am sure to go back there. Good food, good service and good atmosphere. And the price of the meal is not bad either.

So I highly recommend it and I will try brunch/breakfast there soon and I wish I can remember to take pictures next time. Anyone can google it.

It is close to the weekend, after a stressful few days, I am really looking forward to the 2 days of not being in a stressful environment.

CIBO.....

I do not do a lot of reviews especially if I have not even eaten at this place.

An office mate went to have lunch here last week and raved about the seafood chowder. I love chowders. So a friend and I went there last Friday to try the chowder. It was still early and we found the place.

They probably just opened the doors for dinner. We went in and was asked if we had reservations. The place was empty and we wondered about the question. They asked if it was table for two and they seated us. The server gave us the menu and went to get us water.

I might add that even before going in, I told my friend we are only here for the chowder. While looking at the menu, we found out they were not serving the chowder and it was only at lunch.

We started to stand up to leave the place and told them, we were only there for the chowder. The server was a bit upset and told us "Well, good luck finding seafood chowder". Well, being Friday we actually found a place with clam chowder and it was good.

I was going to say something but decided to just leave the place. Well, this is one restaurant I will tell people not to go even if someone had mentioned how good the seafood chowder is there.

That service was awful to say the least. CIBO -- two thumbs down!!! I can make my own sseafood chowder and it will probably better than yours.

The winner is.....

I said the winner would be Chris or Jermaine. And Jermaine won. I think his performance last week is what made people vote for him. I chose Javier last year too.

Now I would have Monday nights free unless America's Got Talent works out to be good. But I do not like Howard Stern at all and can't stand him so I will most likely not watch it this time.

I would rather go for a walk or do laundry than watch him.

It is almost midweek, how time flies. It was another warm day and a bit cooler than yesterday. I almost wanted to stop by Ssecond Cup to get a cold drink and sip it while walking home.

I just noticed that there is a noodle house opening 3 blocks from me and they would be selling bubble tea. That would be a place I would frequent to try different flavours. I hope they open soon.

The performances of the two singers I like.