Tag Archives: family

Katsu San

During the pandemic, I remember all of us being sick of everything. We were having the same routine, food, and work every day and it felt good to do something different. One night I organized a fancy dinner, an excuse for us to get out of the house and go for a walk, dress up out of our PJs, and eat food other than what we usually were having. It was something to do in a time of nothingness.

When Katsu San opened up they were only doing take-out at the time, no dine-in (I mean no restaurant was doing dine-in, it was still the peak of covid). My dad had talked about this new place opening up and was very eager to order it. When placing our order we had no idea it would be SO busy, to pick it up there were tons of people outside waiting for their katsu sets. In their take-out options, you could either get Tonkatsu or Chicken Katsu, so pork or chicken katsu. Either of the options come with rice, cabbage, pickled vegetables, and miso soup almost all in compact packaging.

It’s funny, it doesn’t matter if it’s just me, just my brother, or even with the both of us, if our dad is left alone with us and doesn’t want to cook he always says “Let’s go to Katsu”. So, when our mom was headed on a flight to Manitoba for work, my dad texted me saying we are going to Katsu once I was done working. With some miscommunication, I ended up meeting the two of them at Katsu and waited about 30 to 40 minutes for a table for three. There were so many people inside and other people on the waiting list that every time a table was cleared, we thought it was for us (unfortunately it was not).

Once getting a table, we already knew what we were going to get. Aidan got the Chicken Katsu set, my dad the Tonkatsu set, and myself the Cheese Katsu Set. For reference, it is what we get every time (except for me because they don’t allow the Cheese Katsu Set for takeout I get the Tonkatsu set then). All orders, in person, come with miso soup, pickled vegetables as well as unlimited rice and cabbage. Since we had arrived and were seated pretty late, they did the last call for anything and my dad got extra cabbage.

Cheese Katsu Set with rice, miso soup, & cabbage

The actual food is so good, I love katsu. It’s basically just breaded meat like chicken nuggets or anything, but much better. I think it’s cause it actually tastes like meat rather than chicken nuggets that taste fake (as good as they are). Along with how almost everything else is unlimited it is great, you can snack on some cabbage and rice along with your meal. The Cheese Katsu is to DIE FOR, I absolutely love it. Being lactose intolerant, who doesn’t love cheese? Of course, something they can do is add more meat to the set so that the ratio of meat:cheese is perfect, but nonetheless it is still amazing. I give Katsu San a 5/5.

Life in Quarantine

Over a month ago, when COVID-19 ramped up significantly and caused my classes to go online and my jobs to close, I made the decision to go back to my hometown and quarantine with my family. I’m so glad I made that decision, as I can’t imagine how I’d be feeling if I was alone in my apartment right now.

Temporarily moving back home has been pretty weird. The first few days, I just worried about everything going on, but I slowly calmed down and tried to be more positive. I started adjusting to my new normal, and now I’m completely used to living here. I truly never thought I would live with my parents again, but this is a pretty unusual situation, and at the end of all this I will be heading back to Vancouver, although being there will surely feel different.

My initial plan while staying here was to be extremely productive and do everything I’ve never had the time to do before, but I quickly realized that that was not going to happen, and that’s okay. I needed to relax and focus on my mental health for the first little while before I could think about doing “productive” stuff. I watched movies and tv shows, I spent hours on reddit, I talked to friends constantly. It was actually really nice to have a break – I think I needed it. Life has been pretty crazy, with COVID-19, me finishing my last semester of university, and my post-graduation plans being thrown out the window, at least for the time being. I needed to just unwind and take a break.

Now that I feel sufficiently relaxed, I’m ready to start being productive. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself – I initially planned to write an entire novel while in quarantine, but the pressure to do so caused a lot of anxiety that led to me being too scared to even start. I’ve since made my goals a little more realistic, and have subsequently started working out, started reading again, and started writing blog posts again (guess I’m doing pretty well so far). There are a few more things I’d like to do, including video chatting with friends, as I’ve done this once so far and found it much more enjoyable than talking over text, plus I would really like to talk to people other than my immediate family. I would also like to do some creative writing, but this time, I’m not going to put as much pressure on myself – I don’t need to write an entire novel, I can write short stories or slowly start writing a novel without pressuring myself to get it done right away. I think if you put too much pressure on yourself, it impedes your ability to actually get things done (or maybe that’s just me).

Apparently, we have at least another month of social distancing left until things go back to “normal”, and in a weird way I am grateful for that, as it means more time with my family and more time (hopefully) being somewhat productive while I actually have time to do everything I want to do. Nobody knows how long this will last, but it’s important that we all take care of ourselves and our mental health right now and do what is best for us, whether that be accomplishing nothing at all or being super productive. We also need to show empathy to others, as not everyone is lucky enough to relax at home and not have to worry about their loved ones. These are truly extraordinary times, and hopefully when everything is said and done, we can work to make this world a better place.

Stay safe, everybody.

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Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (2018): Just Another Useless Remake (40%)

The 2018 reboot of The Grinch felt like nothing more than another thoughtless Hollywood remake created with the intentions of capitalizing on an already popular story. The original adaptation, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, was an animated TV special released in 1966. Since it was a TV special, the runtime was approximately 20 minutes and the film was basically just an animated version of the book. It’s a great 20minute episode (my family still watches it almost every year). The live-action version starring Jim Carrey was released in 2000, and it has got to be one of the best Christmas movies to this day! The jokes are hysterical, the costumes are amazing, and the sets and props are surreal! I was super excited about the new film because I love both of the other adaptations, but it was incredibly disappointing.

Unfortunately, the new animated adaptation of The Grinch had very little to offer. It felt like they simply took the extended storyline of the live-action version and stripped out most of the jokes. One of the slight alterations made to the plot was that Cindy Lou wanted to deliver a letter to Santa asking for help for her mother. Her mother is depicted as an overworked and exhausted single parent trying to take care of three children while also working night shifts. In the end, the mother’s struggles feel unresolved and the focus remains on the Grinch and his feeling of belonging.

The new movie had several well-known actors, yet the voice actors didn’t add anything special to the film. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the Grinch, but the film may have been more entertaining if they had cast a comedian for the role. Steve Carell, for example, would’ve been a great pick. Carell actually alters his voice dramatically to make exciting characters (example: Gru from Despicable Me).

There were a couple of laughs throughout the movie, but on the whole there just wasn’t anything special or new. Children might enjoy The Grinch, but I don’t think it’s worth the admission rate. Save your money for better holiday movies coming soon to theatres.

“Hate, hate, hate. Hate, hate, hate. Double hate. LOATHE ENTIRELY!” -How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)