I have been wanting to blog about this but I was not really in the mood to blog now and I don’t really have the time to blog anyway (don’t I?).
During my recent holiday, hundreds, if not more than a thousand pictures were taken during the course of the 3-week holiday. Too many, you say? I think so too but to justify it, we have not one but 3 cameras (two digital cameras and one of those high-tech high resolution bulky dslr camera), excluding our handphone cameras. Plus, the holiday was for 3 freakin’ weeks, and we went to so many places and there were 7 of us. Most of the time, we would take a family picture at a landmark or a tourist spot. And then each of us wanted to take pictures alone with the landmark in the background. So you do the math.
Anyway, what irks me is that, in certain places, they don’t allow us to take pictures. For instance, we were at McD’s in Lisbon. Guess what’s on the menu? Bacon, ham and pork burger. Yup, at McD’s. We have not much choice so we ordered the Fillete de Pescado (Fillet of Fish). I thought that I just have to take the picture of the menu so I took out my handphone and just when I was about to take the picture, one of the cashiers saw me and said something in their language which means “no taking pictures” complete with hand gestures and what not. Embarrassing? Yes. But do I care? Not really. I don’t even understand what she said and pretended to look innocent and went to sit down.
Another incident was when we were at Madrid de Barajas Airport, Spain. There was an information counter and the name of the airport was clearly written so I took a picture of my mum near the counter. I mean, it’s normal right when you go to a foreign country, you would want to take pictures near the name of the place or if you see something unique or unusual which can only be found there. Like, duhhhh. After I snapped the picture, the woman behind the counter stood up and called me, in her language of course. I was like, huh? She mumbled something and when I couldn’t understand her, she said in English, “You take picture? Show me the picture.” She looked pissed. WTF? So I showed her the picture and then she said, “You delete now.” Huhhh?? In protest, I showed her the picture right in front of her face and deleted the picture and said, “Nak sangat delete? Hah delete!! Puas hati??” Of course she didn’t understand me but I was just expressing my dissatisfaction. I also pressed the delete button extra hard and I did it right under her nose. Seriously, WTF? Shouldn’t she be proud that a tourist is in her country and took a picture there? All I want is the name of the airport. What’s the harm in that? What a great first impression, huh?
There was another time when sis and bil was fooling around in a souvenir shop in London, trying on the hats, the funky glasses and what not and got a sarcastic remark by the owner (who is probably a migrate). He said something like “Take photos only? No buying?” (yes, the English was broken). Somehow I think it is justified because they are not buying those stuffs but then we were not told off when we did so in a souvenir shop in Barcelona.
You see, I like taking pictures and I like my pictures being taken and I’m lucky to have a bf who likes to take pictures as well. Everytime we go out, especially to eat (which is probably the only thing we do anyway), he would be taking pictures with his camera phone. And he loves to take pictures of the foods and restaurants that we go to. So one day, we went to this restaurant in Desa Pandan and he started taking pictures when the waitress said “Excuse me, no photos please.” We were like, huh? And here I thought it only happens in overseas. If I were the restaurant owner, I would be more than happy to have customers taking pictures of my restaurant, my foods so that they can promote it in their blog, facebook etc. It is free advertisement, free promotion, no? I guess some people just don’t see it that way.
And no, I am not gonna tell you the name of the restaurant even though they serve nice foods, ala Cozy House in Great Eastern Mall and Cozy Corner in Ampang Park. Why should I?
During my recent holiday, hundreds, if not more than a thousand pictures were taken during the course of the 3-week holiday. Too many, you say? I think so too but to justify it, we have not one but 3 cameras (two digital cameras and one of those high-tech high resolution bulky dslr camera), excluding our handphone cameras. Plus, the holiday was for 3 freakin’ weeks, and we went to so many places and there were 7 of us. Most of the time, we would take a family picture at a landmark or a tourist spot. And then each of us wanted to take pictures alone with the landmark in the background. So you do the math.
Anyway, what irks me is that, in certain places, they don’t allow us to take pictures. For instance, we were at McD’s in Lisbon. Guess what’s on the menu? Bacon, ham and pork burger. Yup, at McD’s. We have not much choice so we ordered the Fillete de Pescado (Fillet of Fish). I thought that I just have to take the picture of the menu so I took out my handphone and just when I was about to take the picture, one of the cashiers saw me and said something in their language which means “no taking pictures” complete with hand gestures and what not. Embarrassing? Yes. But do I care? Not really. I don’t even understand what she said and pretended to look innocent and went to sit down.
Another incident was when we were at Madrid de Barajas Airport, Spain. There was an information counter and the name of the airport was clearly written so I took a picture of my mum near the counter. I mean, it’s normal right when you go to a foreign country, you would want to take pictures near the name of the place or if you see something unique or unusual which can only be found there. Like, duhhhh. After I snapped the picture, the woman behind the counter stood up and called me, in her language of course. I was like, huh? She mumbled something and when I couldn’t understand her, she said in English, “You take picture? Show me the picture.” She looked pissed. WTF? So I showed her the picture and then she said, “You delete now.” Huhhh?? In protest, I showed her the picture right in front of her face and deleted the picture and said, “Nak sangat delete? Hah delete!! Puas hati??” Of course she didn’t understand me but I was just expressing my dissatisfaction. I also pressed the delete button extra hard and I did it right under her nose. Seriously, WTF? Shouldn’t she be proud that a tourist is in her country and took a picture there? All I want is the name of the airport. What’s the harm in that? What a great first impression, huh?
There was another time when sis and bil was fooling around in a souvenir shop in London, trying on the hats, the funky glasses and what not and got a sarcastic remark by the owner (who is probably a migrate). He said something like “Take photos only? No buying?” (yes, the English was broken). Somehow I think it is justified because they are not buying those stuffs but then we were not told off when we did so in a souvenir shop in Barcelona.
You see, I like taking pictures and I like my pictures being taken and I’m lucky to have a bf who likes to take pictures as well. Everytime we go out, especially to eat (which is probably the only thing we do anyway), he would be taking pictures with his camera phone. And he loves to take pictures of the foods and restaurants that we go to. So one day, we went to this restaurant in Desa Pandan and he started taking pictures when the waitress said “Excuse me, no photos please.” We were like, huh? And here I thought it only happens in overseas. If I were the restaurant owner, I would be more than happy to have customers taking pictures of my restaurant, my foods so that they can promote it in their blog, facebook etc. It is free advertisement, free promotion, no? I guess some people just don’t see it that way.
And no, I am not gonna tell you the name of the restaurant even though they serve nice foods, ala Cozy House in Great Eastern Mall and Cozy Corner in Ampang Park. Why should I?
3 comments:
sejak bile pulak "no camera" everywhere ni babe? klw i pon..confirm dah maki hamun dah!!! bengang pulak dgr cite u ni! emo sekejap! hik hik
tah nye. i pun bengang ok. rugi lah tak amik gambar, kan? and kedai2 makan pun beriya tak bagi amik gambar kenapa?
tu la..die igt kite mcm senang2 je ke sebulan sekali nak ke sana..? bengong!
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