It was the Best of Times, It was the Worst of Times

Yesterday was Minji Choi's last day in Provo before she left on her Asia business study abroad. She'll be back in August but by that time I'll be gone. The last two weeks we were able to hang out together and it was a blast! I am going to miss her.

I am going to start off with Friday's events. Minji and I went to a new Thai restaurant on 410 N and University Avenue called Thai Village Provo. It's family owned and the food is super good. I didn't get  a chance to try their mango over sticky rice so I will have to report back on that. It's something I usually get when I go to a Thai restaurant. Afterwards we decided to go get boba at E! Cafe. When Dew closed I thought there weren't any restaurants in Provo that served boba. The owner is really nice and the boba are delicious. Though, when we arrived there at 1:30 we discovered that it doesn't open until 2. So we decided to hang out at the mall until it opened.

We bought some cute clothes at Forever XXI because there was a sale going on. While Minji and I were waiting to make our purchases we were commenting on how cute some headphones were in Japanese. (They had strawberries for the ear buds), then the cashier who was ringing me up replied "Katte mo ii."
We were both very surprised. We talked a little and found out he had served his mission in Japan and that Shinsuke had taught him in the MTC. His name was Scott Metts. Minji, make sure you look him up when you get back because I think he was flirting with you a little.

Anyway, after getting boba and dropping off Minji so she could get her hair fixed* I went back to my apartment for the Twilight Extravaganza. Hana, her friend Ashley, Whitney, and I all watched Twilight RiffTrax. It's like Mystery Science Theater 3000 with recent movies. We also made dorayaki which were very yummy. When everyone went home I decided to put away the clothes that I had bought from Forever XXI only to discover two shirts were missing. They were on my receipt so I had paid for them.

That was Friday. After working a surprising fun morning shift Saturday morning, Erika, Minji, and I went to  get professional massages! Minji's host mom's sister lives in Provo and is a professional masseuse. We went to her apartment because it is cheaper than to get them done at her workplace. It was only $40 for an hour! I wasn't particularly hurting anywhere but after the massage I felt so much better. I hadn't realized how tense I had been. I am definitely going at least one more time.

After the massage Minji and I stopped by the mall so I could see if I could get the shirts I had purchased but had not made it home with me. Luckily the same cashier from yesterday was there and he recognized us. He was very understanding and even remembered two shirts being left on the counter at the end of the day.

Minji had heard of a really good pho (a Vietnamese noodle dish) restaurant called Rice King Noodle and we decided to go there for lunch after I had gotten my shirts back. Cilantro isn't an authentic ingredient in pho, but the restaurants in Provo put it in. Minji really doesn't like the taste of cilantro to the point she can't eat it if the flavor is really strong. When we ordered she asked the waitress specifically for no cilantro. When she brought out our food there was cilantro in both the soups. Minji pointed this out to the waitress and she responded, "Oh." Minji had to ask her to get a new one. The waitress brought a "new" one back but you could tell that they had just tried to scoop it out. Minji ate as much as she could but there was still a ton of cilantro stuck to the noodles and at the bottom of the dish. Minji couldn't enjoy or even finish her food.

She got the attention of the waitress again and explained the situation. The only thing the waitress said was, "That's the cook's fault," and walked away. So she then got the attention of the other waiter who was working there and he told us that they had tried to get it all out and then dropped the bill on our table. So Minji asked to talk to the cook. He explained that it wasn't specified on the order for there to be no cilantro so that is why he had put it in. He apologized and said he would get Minji a pho to go with no cilantro, free of charge. It hadn't been the cook's fault at all, but the waitresses fault because she hadn't been doing her job.

We went to pay for our food once Minji had gotten her pho with no cilantro. We both didn't write a tip on the receipt because we both felt that the waitress didn't deserve one. Isn't it part of a waitresses job to apologize for a mistake and do what she can to fix it? She didn't sorry and only shifted the blame to someone else. When we both handed our receipt back to the waiter he asked, "Is the tip on the table?" and we said no, so he asked, "So, you're not going to tip us?" I asked him if any of the tips went to the cook and he said that they only go to the servers. Then I explained that we felt the waitress had been rude to us. I didn't mention that him asking for a tip seemed rude as well. We left after that.

This was the first time that I didn't tip at a restaurant. The mistake of not specifying no cilantro in Minji's order and even not bringing back a new one wasn't the reason why I didn't leave a tip. It was the fact that the waitress wasn't apologetic and didn't try to fix the situation. Minji had to ask her to get a new one after pointing out there was cilantro in her soup. Maybe we should have left a tip, but I felt that both the waitress and waiter weren't doing their jobs. At least the food was good and the cook was very accommodating.




*One of Minji's friends tried to cut her hair and ended up cutting one side too short. Minji was leaving for a business study abroad and internship in Korea in less than a week so she needed to get it fixed so she could look professional. I dyed her hair back to a dark brown color (blonde hair is seen as rebellious in most Asian countries) and then she got extensions put in as well as a haircut by a professional. It looks so cute now!