Thai Concepts: Following Directions, Saving Face

I sent Pui to Fuji Restaurant to pick up some lunch for me. I gave her a really good description of what I wanted: "It's called Koni Oshi. It is a square block of orange rice with a slice of crab meat on top. There is a piece of aspargus in the middle of the rice. It costs 80 baht." I even drew her a picture with the name written above it, and tried to hand her the piece of paper. "No, no," she said, "I not forget."

And off she went. (Did I mention that the Fuji menu has pictures of all the dishes next to the names?)

She went to Fuji and ordered the first thing on the menu that she found which cost 80 baht and had asparagus in it, and came home. It was asparagus wrapped in fried dough. No rice, no crab, not square, and definitely not called Koni Oshi.

Would you believe that she tried to refuse the drawing for a second time when she was sent back to Fuji to try again? She actually seemed indignant when I insisted she take the drawing with the name "Koni Oshi" above it.

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MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:

Pui returned with the correct dish. To save face, she told me that the reason she got my order wrong was because this dish doesn't have crab on top of the rice, but fake crab instead. If I had said fake crab, she of course would have gotten the order completely right. In turn, I give her my sincerest and most heartfelt apologies for misleading her in my lunch order, and now we are both happy again.