Sunday, June 19, 2005

Dining Matters


"Erm, where did they go?"

I've discovered that food is the magnet of friendships. Especially recently.

When over-worked schedules finally coincide, my friends and I gather over deliciously prepared cuisines to debate, laugh, and (always) bitch over our most recent adventures.

However, no matter how pleasant the conversations we indulge in, the air immediately changes when the bill arrives. For some reason, everyone feels more tense, while faces grow more serious. Because in everyone's mind, everyone wonders how should the bill be split.

We can all pay for our own share. Yes, but sad to say some forget to include in the service and government tax, so some tend to a pay a tad more. (This may come across a tad berkira, but hey, it's the truth.)

When food are shared, I thought it be best that the bill be divided into the number of people there. But, then again, some eat less, while some ate more. So, is this fair?

Bill time always reminds me of a Friends episode, where Joey, Rachel and Phoebee justified why the bill should not be divided into six, because "I just ate a leaf of lettuce," Rachel said.

So, low and behold, even after mastering the art of financial analysis, I still can't figure this one out...

17 Comments:

Blogger Dade Ghost said...

I always make it simple, up front decide how the bill is paid. If not, pay the bill myself. That is why, you dont catch me going to fancy restaurant! Hehehe.....

9:43 PM  
Blogger an0nymous-ign0ranus said...

when it comes to splitting the bill, i would usually tutup sebelah mata with them service and gomen taxes. kira sedekah kasi orang makan.

10:44 PM  
Blogger Pojan said...

Dont know why, for some reason, most of the times, I'm the one that my friends(some, not all) would pass the money to when it comes to paying. So,usually i ended up with the extra charge which is the service tax or whatever tax there is. Kalau sekali dua, ok la.But if 5-6 times, agak kopak la kan? But malas nak berkira sgt. After all, they are my friends.
Tapikan whenever I pass my money to others, the one that would deal with the cashier at the counter, I always give more than what it would cost. Lebih seringgit, dua. Hmm no wonder la I'm always broke. Next time, I'll just tapau the food and eat alone in the office. Yeah. And die as an old miser.

10:49 PM  
Blogger khaylis said...

alamak, is this in reference to dinner on saturday. heheheheheheh.

11:34 PM  
Blogger asm@di said...

My friends and I pay the price of what we ate. Then we split the service and govt tax evenly,unless a person ordered something insignificant (like soft-drinks only or something like that), then we only split it minus that person.

There's no hard and fast rules about this among us, we sorta know. I think it depends on the crowd la, if among good friends, paying for that extra charge is fine once in a while (altho kalau selalu sgt sah2 kopak)

11:45 PM  
Blogger BJ said...

usually either me and or someone else pays the bill first, go back and itemise the amount and equivalent taxes. Then email everybody to the exact two decimal amount, then get them to online transfer the amount to you....welcome to the cyber world

12:04 AM  
Blogger sumpit said...

totally agree with grease-bar!!
I do it all the time, even volunteer for it, especially when the amount is big, and a credit card's required... wht's good abt it is tht i lose nothing, and still gain some points... (and sometimes some extra cents when they round up the numbers..) ;)

2:24 AM  
Blogger Adu said...

Go to mamak stall. Nobody would order lettuce there! Paling mahal pon tandoori. tak samapi RM10. Heh heh.

2:26 AM  
Blogger shobshob said...

i think people should be more aware of the taxes, don't just simply buat dono... if everyone considers the taxes and change their mindset, i think all will be happy afterwards...

but then again, it's an ideal case.. takde harapan kot..

3:37 AM  
Blogger Muddy said...

Dade ghost :

Yeah, I wish I could avoid fancy restaurants, but I simply can't resist. Trying a new cuisine at "those" restaurants is like exploring a new land. It's exciting, and adds spice to boring dinners. So, since none of us can cook, we simply have to go there...

And paying the bill myself (especially with a gang consisting of 8++ peeps)? Wah, so kaya mah...ahahahahah...

Chick Arse :

Wow, really? You can't split? How stupid is that??? But then again, I can't judge. Westerners being westerners...

Anyway, yeah, I really dig how at mamaks we can pay asing-asing. You pay what you eat and drink: no confusion.

The babe :

Yeah, sometimes I too tutup mata sebelah, but you are making nuts and gaji belum lagi masuk, mata memang tak boleh tutup langsung. hehehe...wah, I sound so berkira, but hey, its the truth. :P

5:38 PM  
Blogger Muddy said...

Pojan :

hahahahah...you won't die as an old miser (how funny would that be?) ;P and yeah, I too would tend to chip in more money when the other person is dealing with the bill. If my meal costs RM35, I would pay RM40. It just feels right that way, for some unknown reason...

Khaylis : Muahahahahahahahahahah...yeah babe, I guess. ;P But you know what I mean, right?

Asmadi :

Hey pal, thanks for dropping by! :) And yeah, paying extra once in a while is no biggie, especially with friends. But if it involves people you barely know...maybe the situation is a tad different. Pay up! That's all I have to say...hahahaha

5:42 PM  
Blogger Muddy said...

Greasebar :

Hey pal, long time no see. :) And dude, talk about being advanced!!! Never really thought about it. Good idea, but the thing is, 50 percent of my friends are still studying/no credit cards, so I guess this can only apply with the other 50 percent of my friends...

Aeyya :

Hahahah...more money, more problems! I sooooo have to disagree. hehehehe...miss you babe. ;P

Sumpit :

Hey sumpit, thanks for dropping by! :) And yeah, also a great point. Collecting points seems like such a fun game...hahahahah....

5:49 PM  
Blogger Muddy said...

Foxybabe :

yeah, love, love, love the mamak. But sometimes, we just need to go for a change, and explore the fantastic restaurants available in KL. Lately, been addicted to trying out every damn restaurant touted, so yeah, will be broke from food...

oh yeah, takde ke lettuce di kedai mamak? hahahah...;P

Random girl :

Ok, remind me to tie you down to the seat next time we go dining at Alexis...hehehehehe...love you too, babe. ;P

Shobshob :

Takde harapan? Wahhhhh, sedih sedih...heheheh...

Pet Computer :

Huh???

5:53 PM  
Blogger Adu said...

Heheh. Mamak boring ek?
Solution no. 2:
Find rich friends to explore expensive restaurant.
how bout that? It'll be more fun!

12:09 AM  
Blogger Muddy said...

Lolita Lempicka :

Hey babe, how are you? ;) Cool blog name. Anyway, having one person pay the service and govt tax (especially when it amounts to that...) is not fair. Friends need to accomodate and be ethical, and therefore, pay up. hehehehe

Foxybabe :

Aiyo, trust me, even the rich ones can be kedekut. So, you got option 3? hehehehe...

6:36 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hey Muddy,

Sorry I couldn't make it, when's the next meetup?

When you say, "food is the magnet of friendships" are you saying that friendship automatically arranges itself around eating times?

7:46 PM  
Blogger Muddy said...

Han :

Nah, its okay. If you were there, you might have been suckered to pay all the service and govt tax as well. Muahahahah...

Next meet up? I was hoping that we could chill at Khaylis house this weekend, and go do a cook out. A tad broke here so might have to do a buget one...hehehe

hahahah...you can interpret it anyway you like pal! Cheers! :)

5:46 PM  

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