I Know King Food

In previous years, Groundhog Day was a day for nostalgia. There was no such dinner plans in 2021 but there were "I've seen this script before" situations. First, my company had an all-hands meeting. Various C-level execs were promising yet again bright futures despite a rough period including 50% with-held salary in 2019 (finally paid the next year), a 4-day work-week (i.e., 20% paycut) in 2020 and 2021 (though I was one of the few that went back to 5 days in 2021), and a mass exodus of people. I noticed that no mention was made of the revolving door of execs. Last year, there was a continuation of breathless announcements when new execs came in with "laudatory" experiences and big goals, only for them to quietly leave a few months later amid company silence. For me, it was the departure of yet another long-time colleague just before Christmas that was a downer.

To clear my head, I went to see an afternoon matinee since movie theatres had re-opened on Monday. Appropriately enough, it was Matrix Resurrections, a film steeped in nostalgia and callbacks, many of which was acknowledged within the movie itself in numerous meta ways. This has been a box-office bomb because probably audiences wanted more whiz-bang fight scenes and CGI. I actually enjoyed everything but the derivative and muddled fighting and the post-apocalyptic scenes. I wished they had leaned more into all the "talky" bits inside The Matrix and made it a straight-up drama. It would be even more box-office poison but at least this would be chutzpah.

Afterward, I remembered from my lunch at the restaurant La Bonita nearby that its next-door neighbour was a Chinese take-out joint called Lucky King. I stopped by and ordered for dinner some Szechuan Spicy Beef ($16.20) and Shrimp with Mixed Vegetables ($16.80). Lucky King may not look like much, and honestly its food was what you'd expect from these places, but it did brisk business. During my 20-minute wait, close to 10 customers came for their orders. Toronto don't have these once ubiquitous eateries anymore, but I suppose Ottawa is always behind Toronto in all aspects, even gentrification.