yes, one cherry is enough to loose a costumer, LIDL

It was only one piece of fresh cherry to taste for my little IC and there came a loud snarl behind us 'Oh nein, oder? Dass muss nicht sein! Sie mussen garnicht das kind eins geben!' (Oh no or? That should not be? You must not give a cherry to the child!')

IC who was a bit shocked, looked with large questioning eyes at me. I simply nodded and smiled at her. Since IC already took a bite in the cherry, I let her eat the rest. It is only one cherry, after all. Thinking the LIDL store personnel protested in fury because it is unhealthy, I let it go.

But while picking up more cherries for my basket, I felt something prickling on my mind. I needed to know why she snarled at us. Something isnt right here. I am saying snarled because she really sounded like she's snarling from her little corner there, she didnt even approach us, she hissed out those words.

So after packing some cherries for IC, I decided to approach her and asked, 'what are you really saying about the cherry? Is it because it is verboten?' And she almost hissed with her big eyes and yes, snarled at us again, 'yes, it is verboten. Because you must pay for it first!' After that 'oh so polite words,' I turned around because I was surprised with her vehemence.

I felt violated. There are, after all, more polite words that could be used. There are after all, direct ways to tell us about this. She snarled at us because giving a child a piece of cherry is verboten. Huh? I lost my energy to shop even though I have already a handful of items in my hands.

I have been doing my grocery shopping regularly in LIDL since I arrived in Germany almost 8 years now. I shop at LIDL at least twice, sometimes even thrice a week. I am a regular costumer. A few times, the kids have been given a grape or two, a cherry or two -- to taste; I have also seen some people pick a few fruits, too. Nobody went hysterical about it. And there was no notice or anything that indicated such things are verboten.

And now because we were caught with one cherry in the hand, we were made to feel like a low life? Is it fair to be treated that way?

I was violated. I was offended.

I approached another mom who was at that time also in the store and told her what happened. I simply needed to speak up. She said denying a child one piece of cherry is brutal; after all, we are buying those cherries, too. That's what I thought, too. Well that's that.

That decided it. I brought everything I have in my hands back to their proper places (yes, I even brought those items in their proper places even though I am so offended I am ready to burst) and went out of the store. IC was protesting but I told her that the service in that store is not good that is why we would not go back to LIDL.

And yes, that story would not end in my blog. I would write a letter to the LIDL store telling them of my experience. A copy of that letter I would send to the main headquarter. And I am writing my letter in English and not in Deutsch, I dont really care if they would even bother to translate them.

The thing is, with that letter, would also come my peace of mind. I dont know what should be done about that and am not waiting for any freebies nor any special treament.sa

And now I dont wonder why consumer confidence in Lidl is lower than in other discount stores here in Europe. Aside from these and other issues . I am sorry to hear that employees in LIDL are not having a great time in their company; but should that reflect their service, t00? I guess if you dont feel respected, you cannot respect back.

And then I told my husband about the story. You know what he said? That I should have asked the store personnel to weigh that piece of cherry and pay for it. Well, he's a genius. Why didnt I think of that! Tsk, tsk :D

You have lost one good costumer, LIDL.

P.S. And now I am thinking of going back simply because I sooo wanted to pay for that one piece of cherry. Or should I tack a zent into my letter? I am still so affected I am irritating myself :D

I'm 39

I turned 39 today. Nope, I am not afraid to tell everybody my age. I love birthdays and I love the added years and I love the life I am living and I love that I feel good!

I have three simple wishes for my birthday:
1. A dinner in a Mexican Restaurant
2. Some Pandora charms to add to my collection
3. And a plane ticket to the Philippines!

I got my first two wishes, we would have dinner this Saturday as tonight is parent-teacher meeting for the incoming grade ones. And I got my Pandora charms from hubby, IC and MC. As for the plane ticket to the Philippines... one could hope, right?

My in laws gave me their birthday gift last week and am thinking of buying books from the money I got or maybe a bag or a pair of shoes :D

Wine Tasting

Knowing that our guest is a wine lover, we decided to bring him to our favorite vineyard for a wine tasting. The last time we did this thing was when a friend and her sister came over for a vacation and that was in 2004 when I was pregnant with IC, meaning, I didnt get to enjoy it. Now, who could stop me from indulging a bit?

First stop, train station. We had to pick up my husband from the station and drove straight to Alsheim, around 45 mins away from out place, where Winegut Nibelungenhof is located. This photo is taken right in front of the door to the wine cellar.

And look, they've been there so long. And I hope they would keep it much, much longer, too. The vineyard has 8 hectares and 14 grape varieties.

Well, the kids got their 'kiddie wine' first. Here's MC showing off her wine glass. And she later asked when she would be allowed to taste her first wine (she was allowed to smell some of them) to which her papa replied 'you could celebrate your 18th birthday doing wine tasting if you want.'

IC cant wait anymore, she had to drink. She slept thru the whole ride and was real thirsty and hungry! And yes, we did get some bread and cheese during the whole program as going for a wine tasting in an empty stomache speaks only of disaster!

They look tired and not drunk, they got only grape juice :D

At first, the owner, Engr. Andrea Balz-Ries, was a bit hesitant when she started the wine tasting, as she said, her English is already rusty. But nope, she did well!

But first about wine tasting -- it is composed of three elements: color (swirl and watch the color of the wine); smell (swirl and really drive your nose in the wine glass for the best 'smell') and taste (sip slowly and let it settle in your mouth first).

That ceramic pitched in the middle of the table? That would be for the 'extra' wine in your glass, the rest that you dont want to drink anymore. Because you see, you are supposed to go for a wine tasting and not for a drunken evening :D
Here are the first bottles. We started with white wines first because the vineyard owner said the last drink we usually have are sweet such as cola, such that when we start with red wines, we wont be able to understand the taste of it at all.

Well, she must have her photo taken, too. The last bottle on the right side is the grape juice.

We took a break and decided to tour the wine cellar and went really underground.

The kids wanted to check it out, too, but decided to go up as it is really too cold down there! I was shivering!

Here's another wine cellar, not so deep like the other one.

And here we are back to the wine tasting stube; more wine bottles! I already stopped after the ten bottle but I cant resist the red wine that came later!

These are the best wines in the house! They only produced a few bottles of them because the grapes harvested for these wine are limited. The one with the red label is the 2006 Ortega dry berry selection.

Here we are with the husband and wife team.

We ended up with these bottles. I think that would be 19 wine assortments!

The husband and wine team, they really studied about grapes and vinery. And they are hands on on just about everything.

Of course we had to find out what their store room looks like! With more wines all over.

They are still waiting to be labeled.

We ended up buying wine enough to fill our basement wine stand :D Well, it was a heady experience, this wine tasting, not only because I got a bit drunk, hahahaha. (Oops, is that is not drunken laughter!)