Vivo City's FOOD REPUBLIC is a Freakin' RipOFF !!

What is a RipoFF ? -- They Rip Money OFF you , get it ?

Went VivoCity with Ck , angel & Sunshine for dinner last night. true to its advertisements , it boasts of the largest shopping mall in Singapore , with many many many many many shops UNOPENED ..., retail , fashion , even a dental & GP clinic .. With only 30% Shops open ... many shops were left boarded up , awaiting final touchups ..The toilets were dirty , badly maintained .. CK & I couldnt help feel that the management of VivoCity wasnt that organised ? Everywhere was half-fuck-done .. messy .. and they were already letting shoppers in ..

Got hungry , Went for Dinner @ VivoCity's FOOD REPUBLIC .. its theme decor seemed to be the Olden Days chinese settlement Concept ... somehow the design didnt impress me that much , as I felt that the designer lost his direction in designing the place ... Confusing concept ..with loads of props thrown in ...

Being Typical Singaporeans , ( me included) , everyone went to visit the Half-Done Vivo city , thronging its malls, packing and filling its restaurants & Food court . The cleaners were kept busy clearing plates , and it seemed that they were struggling to keep up with the pace of clearing ..

There was a wide variety of local "famous delicacies" .. but we soon found out that Eating from "famous" stores came with a hefty price ...

1. Fried Carrot Cake -- Nothing Fantastic . Price = $4.00

2. "Famous" Bah Chor Mee & Apple+ Celery Juice ... I was tempted by the Bah Chor Mee .. But I was turned off by the price .. $5.00 a bowl .. and the amount of "Bah Chor" minced pork was so little .. What is "bah Chor Mee" with so little "bah Chor" and the taste wasnt that fantastic ... Apple+ Celery juice was worse !! $4.00 ..and it was charged as if the juice was from the heavenly fruit juice stall

Damage - $ 5.00 Bah Chor mee , $4.00 Fruit juice . WAH !!!

3. Pepsi Max -- This was the ultimate RipOFF . I paid $1.60 PER CAN of Pepsi ! NTUC was selling @ $0.60 per can .. Other Kopitiams selling @ $1.20 - $1.30 .. and Other FOODCOURTS @ $1.50. What's So Special about REPUBLIC FOOD COURT 's Pepsi that cost us $1.60? with $0.30 more .. I can get a 1 litre bottle !!

And I asked for another cup of ice ... the Cashier told me : "sure .. ANOTHER $0.30 " .. Immediately , I went : " HAR??!! WAH !! .. Then I Dont Want liao ... " ... This left 3 other customers behind me giggling ... I Juz felt it was ridiculous .. $0.30 for an additional cup of ice that was not even 3/4 full ?? They were already charging us exhorbitant prices for Pepsi , and still wanna charge us ridiculous prices for ice , when it is so damn hot in Singapore ? Fucking capitalists ! I know overheads and costs need to be covered .. but NOT @ ridiculous prices

4. Famous Fried Hokkien Mee -- Quite a popular stall , with another branch @ Orchard Republic FoodCourt. Misleading price list with only $6 / $9/$12 ... Until I heard the auntie asking me : Ah Dee .. Yours is $4 or $6 ??? Immediately I said $4 happily ... Only to find that they ran out of Sambal Chilli . What is Fried Hokkien Mee without Sambal Chilli ?? alamak ..

5. Fried Fish Beehoon soup -- CK said the fish was Not bad .. Damage = $4.00

In Summary , we didnt eat to our hearts contents , as most of our food wasnt even near average Foodcourt standard , and we paid much more for it , compared to other Foodcourts. And the portions were Not filling ... Its really a case of " Jia Buay Bah , Yao Buay Si" , Chi Bu Bao , Er Bu Si" ...

I Dont mind paying for good food .. But i guess the higher price should be justified by the taste of the food ...As Marketing Principles Say :

Definition of Customer Satisfaction - Products Perceived performance to match customer's expectation of it .

Not satisfied , Pay $$ eat liao also buay Song ... Good Food , Pay $$ , queue for very long , Eat liao also Song...

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Went up to Sky Garden , to admire an " otherwise beautiful & scenic view of Sentosa" , marred by the stupid haze .. But admittedly it was a beautiful Sky garden ..with large pools of water around it .. I think it is a very clever concept that serves many purposes .

Kids love the knee-deep pools , the pools of water also beautifies the Sky Garden... And One may not realise ... The Pools of Water actually serve a Good purpose of Cooling down Vivo City ! .. The pools of water can absorb the sweltering heat from the midday sun , juz like those gardens ontop of city buildings... This can help VivoCity save energy from the AirCons ... Smart Concept !

Left the place disappointed with the bad experiences from dinner and the Half-fuck-done shops ... Probably will give Vivo City another try when it is OFFICIALLY OPEN ... but FOOD REPUBLIC can kiss my arse .. I rather pay more and enjoy good food @ one of its many other restaurants ..

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Went to another Ghost-town mall ... Cathay The Cineplex @ Dhoby Ghaut ... Another Half-Fuck-Done mall .. with many shops still under renovation. And if I am not wrong ... Cathay OPENED MUCH EARLIER than Vivo !!

Watched SILK ... an interesting Horror movie that explained Ghosts in a Scientific way . Quite an interesting show as they really did follow some beliefs of ghosts ...

1. It is really believed by some that Ghosts are juz a form of energy that is trapped in that particular environment..and the ghosts are fated to juz repeat the routines that they did while they were alive.. and the cycle goes on .. until something/someone breaks the cycle.
2. Some Scientists did an experiment to weigh a person before and after death .. and they measured a minute difference of 0.0001gram ( i forgot the exact decimal place) .. Further pushing towards the belief of ghosts as a form of energy .

Very very interesting show ..with scary moments of course .. 4.5 stars out of 5 Stars ...

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Went for supper @ Xin Wang HK cafe again after the movie , thanks to the "Jia Buay Bah" dinner @ vivo ... chatted about weddings , Politics , China, taiwan , North & south Korea .. until it was really time to go home @ 3am++ ...

XiaoMaGe the CEO , Signing out ...