Whenever we arrive in Singapore, it is more beautiful than ever. Changi airport alone is a tourist spot on its own, that's why everytime we go back home we make sure to be at the airport earlier to give time for a meal and sight-seeing around.
When we arrived three days ago, we found the trek to the immigration counters took longer, they made some changes to the route due to yet another renovation. We didn't mind though, the sights along the way was colorful.
The tarmac has a thick, new carpet and the wall is artistically designed with lights. Even the airport-pick-up guy my son always call on to get us was on time holding up his iPad where Jim's name was boldly written. Thanks to my son, we don't have to queue for a cab, if he had no work, he usually comes to get us.
When my son was in Manila two weeks ago, he told me to research where we want to go to during our next visit. The last time we were in Singapore, we visited gardens and ate at Artichoke Cafe. This time, I couldn't find a garden restaurant with good reviews so I gave up my search. On the plane coming to Singapore, I happened to browse through Mabuhay magazine, the Philippine Air Lines in-flight magazine. There was an article about robots' possible participation in the F & B indunstry and the Rong Heng Seafood restaurant was mentioned having acquired robots as part of their service crew.
"Where do you want to go and what do you need to shop?", my son asked on the day we arrived.
"I want to get a wristband for my Fitbit zip, then drop by H&M to pick up two blouses for my granddaughter. But if it's ok, I want to see the robots serving food at Rong Heng Seafood restaurant".
The area looks deserted and the buildings look like old warehouses; I learned later that the place is busy in the evenings. We saw a robot with a red apron at the entrance while the manager welcomed and ushered us in.
We ordered our meal and it was served immediately. First a robot wearing a colorful scarf named Mary, brought our crispy squid appetizer. The robot said in Mandarin:
"Your food is here, please enjoy".
Then a human waitress transferred our food to the table.
Shortly after, came Robot Lucy with our chicken fried rice with salted fish.
Later, robot Mary brought the steamed bamboo clams
Next is the steamed garopa was brought by robot Lucy.
And finally, our kailan prepared two-way; one way is crispy with dried anchovy while the stalks were sautéed in oyster sauce.
When I search on line for the Rong Heng Seafood a write up mentioned that the owner thought using the robots saves him from hiring more staff, the robots can do a 24-hour shift, they don't take vacation and medical leaves; they don't demand days off and over-time pay. One robot cost about $15,000, while a waiter's annual salary is about twice as much. These robots are manufactured in China using Japanese technology.
Aside from the help the robots provide, their main role as I see it is to attract customers for the novelty of it. But I thank my son just the same for bringing us there. With the exception of the crispy squid which tasted like they just sautéed the commercially preserved ones; the steamed fish and bamboo clams both in soy couldn't be fresher. Would I go back there? I doubt it, there are other seafood restaurants where I can get more value for money, but definitely by word of mouth, many will go and see the robots since this was just started in February this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment