New King Fung Garden

Usually, I never talk about restaurants on this blog, but I couldn't not talk about this place, especially after today...

My friend Phu and I were in Boston's Chinatown to get dinner after a day of window-shopping, and walking through the rain.  Chinatown has a lot of places to eat, but there's only one place we love to go to consistently, and that place is New King Fung Garden.  I know the name sounds like a feng shui type of thing, but it's a restaurant, and it serves great, affordable food.  I had never heard of it before until my friend Phu took me there years ago, but ever since, we've made it one of our regular dining destinations whenever we're in Chinatown or just want to eat good food on the cheap.  Today was one of those days.

So we're walking in Chinatown, and we get to the location of the restaurant, when we walk in and see flowers on the outside, new tables, and people we've never seen before.  At first, I question if it's the same restaurant with just a different name, but my friend Phu realized it wasn't once he saw the food.  We were caught off guard by what we discovered, so we asked the people who are now at the current location if they knew where New King Fung Garden is?  They say they do, which is great, and give us directions, but that's where the day turns to frustration.  We followed the directions the people gave to us, yet we still got lost, and we walked around Chinatown for at least half an hour, but couldn't find it anywhere.  It was so disappointing, especially since we were both hungry and craving the place.  We didn't concede easily, but we eventually did for the day, going with our second option to eat, which was Sal's Pizza in Downtown Boston.  It was good, but it wasn't New King Fung Garden good with their giant scallion pancakes, real crab rangoons, etc.  But after the miserable day we had, I couldn't complain.

After reading this, I'm sure you're wondering why my friend and I would make such a fuss about one restaurant, especially in Chinatown where there are tons of places to eat?  I have several answers why that is the case.  One, the food at New King Fung Garden is affordable, delicious, and different than any other place I've been too.  Secondly, their service is good, and the ownership is family run.  Third, the place is a small business, so I always root for those places to succeed, especially in a place like Boston with the Back Bay and North End.  And lastly, I make a fuss about it because it's a place my friends and I can eat where we know what to expect.  That may not sound like a big deal, but since we're older, we've seen places we used to go to change, which has made it hard to find a new "place", but New King Fung Garden was one of those places, which is something that can't be replaced easily.  I know it the place isn't gone, but since my friend and I can't find it for now, like they say near the end of "Gone With The Wind", "Where shall we go?  What shall we do"?  Well, for now, I don't know, but we'll figure it out. 

Infomercials

When it's late at night like it is right now, the only thing on TV are repeats of shows and infomercials.  And while I enjoy repeats of TV shows, I can't stand infomercials!  Yes, some of their products are intriguing, and some of them even work (such as the Magic Bullet), but there are so many negatives to them.  First off, most products on infomercials don't work, or aren't what they seem, which I can tell from people who have ordered off them firsthand.  Secondly, they deceive people by saying 4 payments of $49.95, which sounds like you're saving money, but it's still $200.  Lastly, the products may seem trustworthy because of the people on them, but when you see the same person selling different products for different companies, just walk away.  You know you can't trust them because most likely, they're just being paid to use it.  I'm not saying this for everyone on infomercials, just for some of them.  And I'm not telling you not to buy from them, because I'm sure there are some products that work, but when it comes to buying something on TV or giving out information, a person should always be careful.

Finding Forrester

Finding Forrester (PG-13)

Grade: B+

• Directed by: Gus Vant Sant
• Produced by: Sean Connery and Laurence Mark
• Screenplay by: Mike Rich
• Starring: Sean Connery (William Forrester), Rob Brown (Jamal Wallace), F. Murray Abraham (Professor Robert Crawford), Anna Paquin (Claire), Busta Rhymes (Terrel), April Grace (Ms. Joyce)
• Cinematographer: Harris Savides
• Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
• Released: December 19, 2000
• Running Time: 136 minutes/2 hours and 16 minutes
• Language: English

 "Not exactly a soup question, now is it?"

-Jamal Wallace

To some, writing may just be words on a page, but to others who take it seriously, it's much more than that.  Writing can be the key to a person's future or their escape, which is the case with Jamal Wallace, the main character in the film "Finding Forrester".  The film may be simple with its presentation, and the plot may be something we've all seen before, but it's still touching for me, as an aspiring writer who has never been able to fit in with my surroundings well.

"Finding Forrester" begins with 16 year old Jamal Wallace being awakened by his mother to go play basketball with the friends he's grown up with his whole life.  He's so good that he breaks his friend's ankles on a daily basis.  But that's not the only thing that happens daily.  Jamal and his friends are constantly watched by a presence called "The Window' from an upstairs apartment.  No one knows who he is, but there are crazy stories going around about him.  Jamal's friends are scared, but he isn't, so he's dared to break into the apartment.  Problem is, that "The Window" finds him, and chases him off, causing Jamal to run and leave his book bag.  When he gets it back, we find out that he's really a writer at heart, not a baller, and "The Window" has more of a reputation than what Jamal's friend's say.  What happens from there helps jump start the film.   

The film's strength starts with the chemistry of the cast.  Sean Connery is a master and pro, but he gets along so well with newcomer Rob Brown, which I found particularly surprising, since I've seen so many young actors struggle with well-known actors, but Brown held up his demeanor well with Connery, and all the other cast members.  The film, with a mentor-student plot, is something familiar, especially when talking about Gus Vant Sant, but for me, it's reassuring since very few films like this can be made now without it being stale. 

Although I have my praise, there are a few minor things I thought took away from the film.  I liked most of the characters, but there were some, such as Claire that I thought served no purpose.  Sure, she's supposed to be the love interest of Jamal, but their time together is never expanded on, which I wanted to see out of her and other characters.  Also, the film felt like it dragged on, which may help for a film like this, but for someone who isn't patient, 136 minutes is a lot to ask for.  Lastly, I thought this film reminded me too much of "Good Will Hunting", which isn't a bad thing, but if you're director Gus Vant Sant, you should try to make two of your films as completely different as possible.  Otherwise, that seems like lazy film-making. 

In the end, "Finding Forrester" has more cons than pros, which may have you on the fence of seeing this film or not.  To me though, you should see this film because it accurately depicts life.  I'm not talking about how it depicts urban life.  I'm talking about how it shows the struggle young people have making decisions in life.  Whether or not they should leave their friends for a better life or whether or not they should follow their dreams?  These are all problems we must deal with eventually, and I think this film gives an honest depiction with it.  Along with that, since I'm an aspiring writer, it's nice to see a film about us that makes us seem human for once.  Everyone sometimes thinks writers are special people, but we're regular people just like everyone else trying to make it in the world.  We just talk and write more.  

Just Good Enough

I know the calender may not say 3 days have passed, or even occurred, but it's been 3 days if you count Monday.  Regardless, I've taken my final for my online class and have the results to boot.

I got a B on my final for my online class, which is fantastic considering how things were after my first quiz weeks back, when I got a C-.  I was so crushed because I felt as though I studied hard enough, and the questions weren't that difficult, yet I made stupid mistakes, such as not fully reading all the questions.  Despite how I felt, I was determined to do better, and it happened.  I got a B on my midterm, and an A- on my next quiz, but none of that would matter if I did bad on my final.  Luckily, it didn't happen.

Of course, I know it wasn't all luck that I did well.  Most of it is because of the hard work I put into studying.  It's just hard to give credit to myself because usually I fall so short of being just good enough (which is usually what a B is).  In the past, I've gotten C's or worse, so it feels satisfying to know I really accomplished this.  It's given me a self-esteem boost, and makes me think that whatever life is going to throw next at me, will be no problem as long as I believe in myself and work hard.  I know it's cliche to say that, but it's something I haven't really believed in myself until recently.  Hopefully, it pays off, but in many ways, it already has. 

These Next 3 Days

For the next 3 days, I will be attempting to study for final for my online class on Wednesday.  Because of that, I will have no time to blog about anything new.  Sorry for this break again, especially when I said I was back last week, but duty calls, and I think school counts as one of them.  Talk to you all again in a few days.

My Day In Maine

Maine is known for a few things around the globe; it's bright blue waters, it's fresh seafood, and for today, I saw first hand whether it was really worth the hype.  Now don't get me wrong, I didn't go to Maine just to see this firsthand.  I went to Maine because my eldest sister has always been one of those people who always wants to do family events together.  We had meant to do this trip for awhile, but other things always messed it up until now.  With a plan in motion, and everything coming to fruition, I went to Maine for the first time today, and came away happier than when I left.

The trip up to Maine was tiresome, but surprisingly, it felt longer than my trip to New Hampshire, which is closer to Boston.  My sisters and brother wanted to go to the beach, so we went to Orchard Hill Beach because it had a little bit of everything: beach, rides, games, food.  The beach was bigger than anything I had seen in Boston, and it was more crowded, meaning there were parts that were more disgusting, like the bathrooms.  Ugh, you have to pay 50 cents just to pee there.  What a ripoff!  Because I hated the beach, I wandered off with my sister until everyone was done swimming and tanning.  Afterward, we went on one ride there, called the Superstar, which spins people in moveable carts in mid-air.  The ride itself wasn't bad, but it was scary at times because of height, and the fact it didn't seem that safe.  My brother and I enjoyed the ride, but it's safe to say that my sisters were traumatized and we were done with rides for the day.

That one ride was tough, but we made up for it by spending a lot of time and money at the arcade there.  It was a bit childish, but because Boston doesn't have an arcade, and that's the only one around for miles, I didn't complain.  I used $7 and tried my hands at games like the crane machine and pinball, but didn't win anything.  One thing I was good at though was Skeeball and Whack-A-Alligator, so it wasn't all a complete failure.  My siblings and I won 350 tickets and tried to get my dad a souvenir with it, but we didn't have enough, so we just used the tickets on something we wanted, and bought him numerous souvenirs at the many gift shops they have there.

Maine had a lot of things I like compared to Boston so far, like an arcade and cheaper prices on items like DVDs, but where they really impressed me was the restaurants and shops they had there.  The restaurant we went to called The White Cap Grille wasn't our first choice because other places we wanted to go to were packed or closed, but the service was fantastic, and the food was great.  I didn't get seafood, which is Maine's staple, since it was too expensive, but I did pick some off my sibling's plate, which I enjoyed.  After eating a great meal there, we went to a popcorn store, toy store, and clothing store before heading home satisfied with everything we bought and experienced.

So all in all, I loved Maine and what it had to offer to me.  It will never be Boston because no place could be, but I would love to visit there again.  And since I've been there once, now I know what to expect.