In Hawaii at the moment. Only problem with hawaii is that there are too many Americans here. This 15% tipping is total bullshit.
Weather is awesome, shopping is better and food is ok at the right restaurants. Don’t undrstand how Americans can get coffee so wrong!!!
all i heard in Hawaii last month was Aussies complaining about tipping.
all i heard in Hawaii last month was Aussies complaining about tipping.I don't mind it if the service is good (like I got tonight) or the food is cheap but that's not the case. I find the hawaii - Americans (natives I guess) are real friendly but the white Americans are ■■■■■.
I'm heading off to Singapore with my 19yo daughter next month.What are the must do things while we’re there?
How long you there for?
Singapore Zoo is cool, plenty of other nature parks like the Botanic gardens and underwater world. Singapore flyer is a must as is a walk around marina bay. The shopping is fantastic. Universal studios and Sentosa Island are worth a look. Plenty of nightclubs and the food is a delight. Take a night river cruise and have dinner at one of the many restaurants at Clarke Quay. Definately have Chilli Crab at some stage and the hawker food in Chinatown is awesome. Easy city to walk around and the MRT is very efficient. One of my favourite Cities, we have been dozens of times and love it. Probably isnt enough to stay more than a few days but great for a couple of days stop over
We’ll be there for five days so thanks for all the above tips.
Consider an overnight trip to Malacca on the west coast of Malaysia. Only about 120 km. World heritage site, plenty of Portuguese influence mixed in with Malay, Chinese and Indian.
In Hawaii at the moment. Only problem with hawaii is that there are too many Americans here. This 15% tipping is total bullshit. Weather is awesome, shopping is better and food is ok at the right restaurants. Don't undrstand how Americans can get coffee so wrong!!!
If you don’t like ripping then don’t visit lol
The people you’re meant to tip genuinely depend on them to make ends meet
There are many different Smithsonian museums! We did air and space and American History. There's natural history as well but that doesn't interest us. We did the tourist bikes to get around the monuments. Quite cheap as the first 30min of any trip is free and you just park at each monument and wander around, most monme TS you can get to without needing to ride on the road with cars as well. If you're super into air and space theres another Smithsonian in Arlington with the Enola Gay and stuff but it's quite far out so we did t make it (much to bugman disappointment)
The second museum is in Dulles next to the airport! And I made it there haha!
In Hawaii at the moment. Only problem with hawaii is that there are too many Americans here. This 15% tipping is total bullshit. Weather is awesome, shopping is better and food is ok at the right restaurants. Don't undrstand how Americans can get coffee so wrong!!!If you don’t like ripping then don’t visit lol
The people you’re meant to tip genuinely depend on them to make ends meet
wages are atrocious.
I visit USA every year, service is always far better than here.
In Hawaii at the moment. Only problem with hawaii is that there are too many Americans here. This 15% tipping is total bullshit. Weather is awesome, shopping is better and food is ok at the right restaurants. Don't undrstand how Americans can get coffee so wrong!!!If you don’t like ripping then don’t visit lol
The people you’re meant to tip genuinely depend on them to make ends meetwages are atrocious.
I visit USA every year, service is always far better than here.
I met a waitor from I think Texas - doesn’t even get a wage. Tips or nothing
In Hawaii at the moment. Only problem with hawaii is that there are too many Americans here. This 15% tipping is total bullshit. Weather is awesome, shopping is better and food is ok at the right restaurants. Don't undrstand how Americans can get coffee so wrong!!!If you don’t like ripping then don’t visit lol
The people you’re meant to tip genuinely depend on them to make ends meetwages are atrocious.
I visit USA every year, service is always far better than here.
This is correct.
Just leaving Niagara now The falls are pretty spectacular, unfortunately the friends of the friend I was meeting were unbearably disorganised and slow so I didn't quite get a chance to do everything (including the big one which was to go over to the Canadian side) For future reference; you could definitely do everything in one full day (at least from the U.S. Side)
If you could ever do it from the Canadian side do it. It’s the best!
In Hawaii at the moment. Only problem with hawaii is that there are too many Americans here. This 15% tipping is total bullshit. Weather is awesome, shopping is better and food is ok at the right restaurants. Don't undrstand how Americans can get coffee so wrong!!!If you don’t like ripping then don’t visit lol
The people you’re meant to tip genuinely depend on them to make ends meet
I was supposed to add that once upon a time the wages were ■■■■ but the food was cheap. Now the wages are atrocious but the food is as expensive as Australia and about half as good. And the service is lacking a fair bit now too. Almost like we have to pay for the wages and the owners keep making more money and the 15% is just an entitlement not a reward.
Do you guys go to many restaurants in Melbourne because I reckon the service is not bad? Had some real good ones here in Hawaii and some real dumb ones too, similar to Melbourne.
Do you guys go to many restaurants in Melbourne because I reckon the service is not bad? Had some real good ones here in Hawaii and some real dumb ones too, similar to Melbourne.Agree. Other than at some of those atrocious wannabe bogan central "modern Australian" joints which tend to be next to suburban shopping centres (missus' family are English, and apparently that makes them completely allergic to good food), and a couple of dirt cheap Asian joints where they clearly have to serve 900 tables an hour. Had maybe 1 or 2 bad experiences, all up. Never at anywhere half decent.
Otherwise found you get what you expect/pay for.
In Hawaii at the moment. Only problem with hawaii is that there are too many Americans here. This 15% tipping is total bullshit. Weather is awesome, shopping is better and food is ok at the right restaurants. Don't undrstand how Americans can get coffee so wrong!!!If you don’t like ripping then don’t visit lol
The people you’re meant to tip genuinely depend on them to make ends meetwages are atrocious.
I visit USA every year, service is always far better than here.
Agree. I had no problem tipping $10-20, they fawned all over us. Was awesome.
people implying ‘better service’ = ‘all other service is bad’ have missed the point.
I’ve only been to NY, last year, but having read about the “marvelous” restaurant service I have to say I was underwhelmed. One waiter we encountered in Little Italy, who admittedly did look like an extra from the Godfather, was a snide prick until we ordered a bottle of wine and then he started the fawning crap, which I happen to hate. As far as I’m concerned take the friggin’ order and then ■■■■ off till you bring the meal and then ■■■■ off again till we ask for the bill. Why is that so hard to do in a spaghetti restaurant?
One other waiter at a reasonably flash restaurant near the Empire State section basically refused to replace a seriously corked wine because he thought it “just needed air”. We just rolled our eyes and then caved in rather than make a scene. BUT I KNOW BADLY CORKED WHEN I DRINK IT. My experience is that neither incident would have happened in an equivalent Melbourne restaurant.
I tipped in both cases but I wish I hadn’t had to, but when you know they’re not getting a decent basic wage I think you do have to. But I don’t like “having to do things” when I’m on holiday.
The other restaurants we visited were fine but I seriously cannot see what “special” service they provide. Maybe I missed something and someone can elucidate.
My New York hotel manager told me that tipping is out of control in New York when I asked him how much to leave the maid as a tip. He said maids were paid adequately in his establishment and that a small gratuity would suffice if I wished but that hotels nearby basically treated them as slave labour.
Some of the biggest critics of tipping in New York are actually New Yorkers and the NY Times ran a series of articles recently that were critical of the tipping culture primarily because of the way it reduces workers to a beggar status. They also ran one disturbing article about the links between increased sexual harassment of female wait staff and the tipping culture where some pigs take extra liberties because they feel they are owed “something extra”. “90 percent of female restaurant workers experienced sexual harassment, with more than half reporting incidents on a weekly basis. Although the restaurant industry employs only 7 percent of American women, the sector is responsible for 37 percent of sexual harassment claims” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/nyregion/when-living-on-tips-means-putting-up-with-harassment.html
One thing I liked about China was that tipping is not only discouraged, it is actually illegal to accept a tip and in one case a waitress chased us down the road to return a few yuan I’d left because I didn’t want to wait for small change and on two occasions taxi drivers, who had gone out of their way for us, refused to take tips I tried to get them to take. Go figure?
Bundle of nerves, leave Oz on Sunday for our trip to England, why the hell do I work myself up so much, just not worth it!! Sometimes wish I could be one of these “fly by the seat of my pants” types. Glad we are not in the finals, so don’t miss out on anything, so ■■■■■■ hell NEXT YEAR hopefully. Luckily Mr BM has even less chance than we do
Bundle of nerves, leave Oz on Sunday for our trip to England, why the hell do I work myself up so much, just not worth it!! Sometimes wish I could be one of these "fly by the seat of my pants" types. Glad we are not in the finals, so don't miss out on anything, so ■■■■■■ hell NEXT YEAR hopefully. Luckily Mr BM has even less chance than we do
Going anywhere else in Europe BM, or just England?
Just England this time. Went to Italy a couple of years ago, the most magical place ever. Arrive in London and going to Notting Hill/Portabello Rd. but have discovered there is a huge carnival happening there, so rail to Cambridge, pick up car, off to Cheltenham & surrounds, onto Bath/ surrounds. Falmouth etc. Mevagissey, Dartmouth/surrounds for a few nights. Drop car off at Exeter, back to London for another 7 nights. Was born in England and used to spend summer holidays in Cornwall., but haven’t’ been back in 40+ years, so it will be like a new country
Honestly found no difference between the service in Hawaii and the service in Australia.
Unless, you consider ‘Hi, how are you guys doing today? That’s awesome!’ worth money.
I tipped and didn’t mind because…you know…it’s their country, but eh.