'Are you understand?': Language barrier leads to playful exchange between S'porean tourist and waitress in China
A humorous exchange that arose from a language barrier between a Singaporean tourist and a waitress in Guangzhou, China, left the pair in stitches and delighted netizens.
Muhammad Rifqi Solihin Bin Muhammad Hairi, a 24-year-old travel content creator, told Stomp that it was his sixth time in China. He was there for a social media campaign and to meet some friends.
A video of the interaction, which took place at Tianhe Park Store restaurant in Guangzhou on Nov 1 at around 9pm, has garnered over 436,600 views and 20,100 likes as of press time.
Waitress and customer converse in broken Mandarin
In the clip, Mr Rifqi asks a waitress for a tissue after he had spilled sauce on his hands, showing her the question in Chinese on his phone.
Looking confused, the waitress asks another colleague to help with translation, and Mr Rifqi types "tissue" on his phone, in a bid to explain what he needed.
The waitress later rushes back to the table and holds up a box, gesturing that it had been there from the start and repeating: "This one". The video then cuts to an earlier clip, where she had already pointed out that the box on the table contained tissue paper.
"I don't know what she said, but yeah, I agree," Mr Rifqi says in the clip.
As the rest of his food arrives, the waitress jokingly presents the tissue box to him again, saying: "Are you understand?" in a mix of Mandarin and English, at which Mr Rifqi dissolves into laughter.
Later, the pair attempt another conversation, but the language barrier persists. The waitress eventually gives up, saying that it was "too troublesome".
"I think it's time for me to take up Chinese lessons," Mr Rifqi joked in the caption.
Customer was 'really happy'
In response to queries from Stomp, Mr Rifqi said he had told the staff members that he wasn't Chinese and could only speak a little Mandarin.
"I was actually really happy," he said as he described the interaction. "To be honest, I wasn't having the best time because of work and personal issues, so when I went to the restaurant, they really made my day."
He added that the waitresses tried to converse with him in broken English and were genuinely happy to chat, saying they were "just playing around and having fun".
"We even chatted for a bit, and she taught me a few words, like how to say 'beef' in Chinese," he said.
Mr Rifqi also recalled similar encounters with locals during his trip, saying that there was "never a dull moment".
Netizens amused
Netizens were equally amused at the exchange, calling the interaction "cute" and "playful", while some provided translations of what the waitress was saying.
"Not scold la she's just playing with you," one netizen commented.
"That smile on her face when she was scolding you," another chimed in.
