Thai House

Thai House, Bloomington, IL

805 Morrissey Dr. Bloomington, IL

It was stomach full evening. The heavy lunch was not yet drained by peptic juices. We knew that the situation gonna change and we will feel hunger in at night. So we decided to go visit some restaurant which we never visit. Thai House was in 2 mile.

Sometime before we were there but that day they closed early. This time they were open. It was a nice setup and authentic Thai touch was everywhere.

There was no one at door but a good crowd grabs almost all the table. This was the first visit and I saw most of the servers are white girls. That didn’t made me happy as I have really bad experience with Noodles and company, Pad Thai  

A white lady cladded with Thai traditional dress came and told us to sit with a nice smile. The menu was almost same as other Thai restaurant. I was trying to searching at least one item in the menu which can make any difference.

So we ordered:

·         Tom Yum Shrimp soup

·         Chicken Pad Thai.

·         Fried rice with --- Crab, basil, scallop, cucumber, cilantro, lime(that days special)

·         Pad Prik Bamboo.

Tom yum Soup was excellent except they added lime juice with lime leaf. It was much sour as it normally goes. But we enjoyed as the hotness and amount of sault was perfect for an Indian taste bud.

Chicken pad Thai was looked something different than other Pad Thai I tasted. It was not the flat noodles. It was normal rice noodle with all the spices. The taste was mind blowing and all blend well.

The fried rice we ordered without scallops but they didn’t remove that. But it’s okay. The taste was really awesome and people who don’t love sticky rice’s in oriental restaurants this was the best nonstick Thai fried rice I ever had.

 At last the Pad Prik. I never heard this name but a little research in internet got me understand that Pad prik are stir fry. But what I had was with Brown sauce or gravy. But whatever the name is the dish was fabulous. I want to return back only for that dish. It was some piece of bamboo sautéed in an oyster sauce with basils.

Last but not least the check came with two small pieces of cheese cake and a Fortune roll (Not fortune cookie) and also that tastes fabulous. Whatever the fortune roll told is really don’t matter as they never let you down.

So my overall rating is 8 out of 10.

Let’s see the break up:

Food	10
Hospitality	8
Thai  flavor	8
What you saw what you eat	6
Environment	6
Total	38/5=7.6

   

Comcast Xfinity Internet

Should we start with the negative points? I think it is not good to serve you the lime before donut. So let me start with the wonderful service I am receiving from Comcast Xfinity internet.

The name of the internet is really weird. Xfinity… why? Don’t have time to read. May be extream inifinity. If it is so then you will feel the warmth when you browse the internet with a great rapid speed in cheap price which is more important than anything.

My wife just moved to Bloomington,IL and we were trying to find a decent internet connection there. I am using AT & T U-verse and not completely satisfied by the pricing. But okay that time Comcast was costly and AT & T gave some discount. I also have some bitter experience when I first install the u-verse internet. I am not going into that.

So we were definite to have the internet connection except going to AT & T. We went to the shop fill out the form and wallah they said that the connection is already in the building and you only need to buy a modem. Fortunately I had a modem and that worked well. Aligning that modem with her account was really fast.

And just in an hour we saw the deadly speed of optical fiber. My god downloading a 500mb file took just 10 minute. There was the promotional offer and we chose 20Mbps connection in only 40$/month. I know the 20Mbps speed is always a great speed but really download and upload speed in this internet, I never saw before.

The representative was saying that there is no contract and any time you can revoke it as after 6 month the cost will rise to 60+. But six month is late enough to think about that.

 Now let me share the pain I took for setting up the internet.

I was looking for other ISP in Bloomington when I was in Michigan. I went by the review and chose Comcast first. To test their service I logged into their website and push the live chat button.

I am pausing now. Read the transcript of the chat:

Reference Number 757538015805420772

Your chat transcript

This is an automated email. Please do not respond to this email address as it does not accept incoming email.

Chris: Thank you for visiting Comcast. What questions can I answer for you today?

You: hi

Chris: How may I help you today?

You: I want to apply for a new connection

Chris: I'd be happy to assist you in setting up new services.

Chris: So that we don't lose connection, can you please click on the orange ‘Move chat window’ button to make it a window of its own. That way, you'll still see this web page while we chat.

Chris: Thank you for moving the chat.

Chris: Do you mind if I ask a few questions to make sure we get the ideal package that best suits your needs?

You: ya sure... but better you check that are you availble in this site

You: address: <Address Removed intentionally>

You: bloomingon, il

You: 61704

Chris: Thank you for providing your complete address.

Chris: One moment please as I get information for you.

You: ok

Chris: Thank you for waiting.

You: its okay

Chris: Before we proceed, may I ask you to please verify your complete address again? Our system can't find an exact match for the address you provided me.

You: <Address Removed intentionally>

You: bloomingon, il

You: 61704

You: city name is Bloomington

Chris: Thank you for verifying your complete address.

Chris: Just to check before we move on, are you a current Comcast customer or have you had Comcast service in your name within the last 120 days?

You: no

Chris: Thank you for considering Comcast!

Chris: May I ask what services are you interested in?

You: only internet

Chris: May I ask what do you find yourself doing online the most so I can check the best internet plan that suits your needs?

You: but is the serivce availble in that address

Chris: As I have checked, packages appeared when I entered your address. However, we can verify its availability on the last step of the order process before you commit to anything.

You: okay

Chris: Going back with internet, what do you find yourself doing online the most so I can check the best internet plan that suits your needs?

You: I want the 20mbps package

Chris: It is nice to hear that you already have a package in mind.

Chris: Performance internet has download speeds up to 20 Mbps and uploads up to 4 Mbps with PowerBoost. It costs $29.99/month for the first 6 months and $44.99/month for months 7-12. After 12 months, regular charges apply which is around $62.95/month.

Chris: How does this sound to you?

You: too costly

You: any cheaper option is there :)

Chris: I can see where you're coming from.

Chris: Comcast Internet services are powered by an enhanced fiber-optic network, it’s faster than any other internet provider and we have the most reliable speed. You'll surely get your money's worth.

Chris: And the good thing is that there is no term agreement or obligation period with this package, so you do have the freedom and flexibility to change to any other regular priced option any time.

You: okay ... I got it... but i thought that the it is 40$/month for a year

You: anyway

You: do you have any cheaper plan with less speed

You: and I am a state farm employee so any discount

Chris: For the next tier lower than Performance, we have Performance Starter which has download speeds up to 6 Mbps and upload speeds up to 1 Mbps. This package costs around $49.95/month, non-promotional price.

Chris: How does this one sound to you?

You: okay

You: choose the first one

You: that is better

Chris: I know you are considering specific services; however, right now we have Triple Play Bundles for as little as $99/month that may save you even more money! I'd be happy to give you more information on those.

You: no

You: just now verify that if the service is avalible there

Chris: Thank you for letting me know this information. I was just letting you know of our Triple Play packages.

Chris: We can check if your area is serviceable once we reach the last step of the order process before you commit to anything.

Chris: Going back with Performance Internet, I'd be happy to help you through the next few pages of your order!

Chris: Do you have additional questions before we proceed?

You: no

You: please go ahead

Chris: Let's go ahead and get you started!

Chris: Is Performance internet already on your cart?

You: I just want to know that if the service is availble in my area or not

You: i think i spent too much time

Chris: I can see where you're coming from.

Chris: The good thing about ordering online is that it only takes approximately 5 - 10 minutes of your time.

Chris: Are you ready to continue?

You: I am not ordering right now

You: I am just asking

You: if you dont have the service in my area

You: anyway good night

Chris: Yes, however if you go through the order process, on the last step we can check service availability before you commit to order.

You: thank you very much I will contact att & t

You: bye

If you read the whole transcript then I believe definitely you feel the pain in my ass. The customer service was ridiculously taking time to search a simple question to be answered if the service is available in the address.

I am giving 10 out of 10 to that guy if I am the manager of Comcast Infinity. I don’t know if they have sales target or not. I am sure that guy was far behind the target and pushing me to reduce a number from the list. But whatever it is I can’t believe how much a person nowadays suffers to get simple information. The experience was not unique I know and At&t is much horrible than that.

Let’s conclude.

EEEEEWWWW experience with customer service but awesome experience with the internet speed. So if you can dodge the mirage you will definitely get the oasis. So walk….. My rating to Comcast Internet is 8 out of 10.