Day 19 – Back in Business With Loaner Camera (updated with pics)

Hurray!! Dan’s parents friends loaned us the camera – not a little soap dish we had but an SLR no less. So we are back in business. Incidentally we got it at night on 18 - which is what this blog entry covers so we have just a 2 pictures on that day.

The morning started as usual. Then Georgia had lunch at the kindergarten again. It tastes good and is a balanced 3-course meal. The teachers were playing train around the tables to keep the kids away while the food is being distributed. All the kids were together still but in one of the main kiddy rooms. Tomorrow they are said to be splitting. One of the teachers (maybe she is the nanny), elderly lady, seems very kind and attentive. Everyone calls her grandma. Georgia has already monopolized her and gets uncomfortable when she gets out of the room. Teachers are supposed to have their meal with the kids but they down their food in minutes and spend their time walking around and keeping the peace.

We met up with Dan and went to Woo restaurant for lunch. Quick preview: Woo restaurant in Vilnius SUCKS!! Read further only if you have eaten very recently…

It is supposed to be casual Asian-fusion. In the basement there are 2 waitresses and a waiter. We waited for 10 minutes. Finally I approached one of the waitresses and startled her because she was on a programmed cycle to set the table: “Bring one fork, think, stare, bring one knife, think, stare, bring one table mat, think, stare, find a second placement on the same table, think, stare, bring one fork… She called the second waitress apparently assigned to our table. We asked “English or Russian.” She said confidently “English,” then looked at us and said “Russian.” She hardly knew either. We pointed to the items we wanted on the menu and waited for 15 minutes. During that time she and the first waitress went through the table setting cycle and completed one table. There were two more tables to clear so they had their afternoon full. Our waitress brought us coffee and cider. We waited for another 20 minutes, watched another table being set, paid for our drinks, and left. She caught us on the street and said that our food was ready. A little too late.

So, once again, for spidering purposes: Woo restaurant in Vilnius SUCKS! Yes, indeed: Woo restaurant in Vilnius SUCKS.

We walked around old town in the evening waiting for Dan’s parents friends to come. Tried to go to Medinikai but they were full serving a group of German tourists. So we went across the street to the Chinese restaurant set in the old building. The room was very nice and comfortable with red velvety tablecloths and Chinese knickknacks. The waitress set our expectations low early on – they only have 1 cook, so dishes will be sequential and the wait time is 30 minutes. But they overdelivered on the time. The food looked Chinese but was a bit bland. Having read the latest copy of Vilnius in your pocket (VIYP), I tend to agree with authors that service is a great part of the experience and it is OK to come back to a place with great service and “so so” food for a possibly better chance than to come back to a joint with shitty service (does not hold true when the food is truly exceptional like in Csarda).

To be fair, there is little in a way of a culture of tipping here. People leave insultingly low tips like a few cents after a meal worth $40-50. So hardly anyone wants to do this job and they either recruit people from villages and don't train them or keep the same perpetually disgruntled staff. I agree with VIYP guide that the culture has to be developed by the customers who should appropriately tip when the service is good and leave nothing when it is not.

Quick note on piles of bottles and trash in the backyards and on grass and just about everywhere. These may look bad to visitor, but they have a pretty dynamic character. For example, almost every morning I pass by the big white building on top of Tauro hill. The piles of trash behind the cars on the parking lot are different every time.

There are street sweepers responsible for most of the areas in the city and they take care of the desolation from a day before. I think the fact that someone exists to clean up the trash develops mentality that it is OK to not take care of your crap because someone else will. It also would not hurt to charge extra for plastic (beer) bottles used mainly by kids and alcoholics so that they could be returned to the store. On a positive note there are far more paper/bottle recycling containers than at home.

A question for fish experts out there. I bought this thing that in big letters said Syomga and did not notice the small print "made from salmon." It looks like salmon, tastes like salmon. I am feeling it is salmon, but I am not completely sure.