Beyond the Rhetoric

You don’t have too many options when it comes to late night eating. There are the fast food joints or greasy diners like 24-hour Denny’s, but sometimes you want something else. And that’s how I came to find The One Restaurant at 5908 Kingsway in Burnaby. It’s located near Imperial, about halfway between Metrotown and Highgate Village.

They’re not open 24 hours, but they are open to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays (1am the rest of the week). I went in with the expectation that this was yet another bubble tea place that happened to also serve a little bit of food, but it looks like The One is a legitimate Taiwanese restaurant, not unlike No. 1 Beef Noodle House or Ali Shan Taiwanese Restaurant. The difference is that it does feel more trendy, polished, and upscale with comfortable booths and plenty of mood lighting.

Yes, it’s a restaurant, but the bubble tea part of the menu will obviously garner quite a bit of attention. This is especially true when it comes to their slush drinks. What you see in the image above is actually just one slush drink. It’s served towering up through the glass on the far left and the server then slices down the top portion into the smaller second glass. All said, you’re getting about about a foot worth of slush.

It is a little pricier than some other places at $5-$6 (plus 50 cents for pearls), but you’re easily getting two portions worth. I’d recommend sharing one with a friend.

Going along with our late night dining adventure, we ordered the House Special Cold Meat Combo ($9.99). The platter — which includes pig ear, marinated beef, beef tripe, and bean curd — gets a generous slathering of sauce and cilantro. Considering that any one of these items would cost you about $2-3 at the supermarket, the $10 platter is a decent value.

The flavors and textures weren’t exactly enthralling, but they were hardly terrible either. They’re pretty much what you’d expect from a Chinese or Taiwanese style cold platter.

And here is “The One Sliced Beef in Pancake” ($6.75), which you may find on other menus simply as beef rolls. I was expecting the thinner, flakier green onion pancakes, but this version was actually a fair bit thicker and “doughier.” It was still nice and crispy on the outside, but I would have preferred a thinner pancake. Long’s Noodle House on Main Street serves a very good beef roll.

To be fair, I was only here for a late night snack, so it may not be completely representative of what The One has to offer. I’d like to go back and try their dumplings, Taiwanese beef noodle soup, and hot pots, for instance. From what I did experience, though, The One seems like a decent option for a midnight meal, especially if you get that giant slush.

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”

Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest basketball player to have ever hit the hardcourt. He led the Chicago Bulls to six world championships. He will forever be remembered for the “Repeat of the Three-peat” and his impact on youth culture in the 90s was undeniable. We all wanted to be like Mike.

What many people fail to realize is that the path to greatness is paved with all sorts of mistakes and disappointments. His Royal Airness, of all people, fully recognized that failure is inevitable, but that is precisely why he kept trying. And trying harder. And always putting in the hours to improve his skills, strategies and abilities. Even when he may have doubted himself, he wanted to have the ball in his hands.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

Success isn’t about never failing. Donald Trump has made more than his fair share of unfortunate business deals. Wayne Gretzky has lost his share of games. Bill Gates had more than a few unsuccessful product launches. You will fail. The key is learning from those failures, picking yourself back up, and having the tenacity to keep trying.

Far too many people get discouraged when they fail. That’s a normal human reaction to an unfortunate outcome. The people who are able to achieve great success still feel the pains of failure, but they don’t allow that pain to stagnate them. They use it as motivation. The failure invigorates and revitalizes them. They fall down, they miss, and they bleed, but they always get back up. And that’s exactly what Jordan did, time and time again.

“I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.”

Play the game because you love it, but always play to win. Even if you face an opponent who appears to be much greater than you, realize that impossible is nothing and play to win. You might lose, to be sure, but at least you can that you tried.

Some people may tell you that perfect grammar doesn’t really matter as long as you are understood. That may be true to a certain extent, but using the right words in the right order (and spelling them correctly) could mean the difference between getting your point across and having your meaning completely misconstrued. This is why you should be particularly careful when listing items.

In some ways, you could say that today’s Grammar 101 post is related to maintaining parallel structure, but that had to do with matching up the structure of the list items for consistency. Today, it’s more about making sure that you are conveying the right meaning.

The best way to illustrate the problem with list items is with an example that I found in a news article some time back.

Social factors such as social support, absence of corruption and personal freedoms are more important.

Do you see the problem? Strictly speaking, this sentence is grammatically correct, but it can lead some confusion and ambiguity. By using “absence of” in the second item, some readers may extend that to the third item. As such, a reader may understand the sentence to mean this:

Social factors such as social support, absence of corruption and absence of personal freedoms are more important.

Logically speaking, the “absence of personal freedoms” doesn’t make too much sense in this context. As I said, the sentence as it stands is technically correct, but the ambiguity can be easily alleviated by simply rearranging the items:

Social factors such as social support, personal freedoms, and absence of corruption are more important.

I added the Oxford comma there to further improve the understanding of the sentence, but it’s not really necessary.

Perfect grammar, good writing, and clear understanding do not always go hand-in-hand-in-hand. It’s wonderful when you are able to have all three, but realize that even if your sentence is grammatically correct, it may not be the best sentence for its intended purpose.

Last month, Meg Fowler wrote a post that listed her reverse bucket list. Whereas a regular bucket list would describe the many things that you want to see, do, or accomplish before you die, a reverse bucket list describes the things that you have already done and, looking back, make you smile.

It is true that we can spend a lot of time daydreaming when it comes to our bucket lists and this can help to motivate us, pushing us toward making plans, taking risks, and getting those things done. At the same time, we have to remember to look back too, recognizing the accomplishments that we have already achieved. This really helps to put things into perspective.

So, what have I done?

Experience the Australian Outback

This was one of the items on my international travel bucket list. Ever since I was little, I wanted to travel to Australia and I was able to do that last year. While there, I had the opportunity to hold a koala (see above), hand-feed wallabies and koalas, and visit the Australia Zoo made famous by “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin. Hiking through the Outback was exhausting, particularly with the early morning wakeup calls, but it was an experience I’ll never forget.

Publish a Book

There is a definite sense of accomplishment and an air of legitimacy when a writer can say that he is a published author. I achieved that milestone two years ago when Make Money Online, a book a co-authored with John Chow, was officially released. I still have some signed copies, if anyone is interested.

Be a Featured Speaker

Related to the launch of the book, I was invited (along with John) to be a featured speaker at Freelance Camp. We talked about why blogging is important to all freelancers, as well as how to make money–both directly and indirectly–from having a blog. I’m generally not one for public speaking, but again, this was an experience upon which I can look back with pride.

Eat Live Lobster Sashimi

I like food. I like trying new food. I’ve had a $60 foie gras burger, just as I’ve had great ramen from a Japanese truck stop. One unique culinary delight was when I ate live lobster sashimi at Dai Masu in Vancouver. The meat was still twitching a little and the feelers on the head moved ever so slightly. Some people may say this is cruel, but my guess is that the lobster wasn’t really “alive” by the time it reached the table.

Watch an NFL Football Game in Person

I’ve been to Canucks games and I attended a couple Grizzlies games while they were still in Vancouver, but none of those had the same kind of crazy atmosphere as seeing a live NFL game. The constant roar of the Seattle Seahawks fans at Qwest Field (now CenturyLink Field) is incredible. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to go to the Super Bowl.

Volunteer at a Hospital

Making money, going out, and eating fine food are all well and good, but it’s also important to consider the needs of your fellow man and the rest of society. That’s why it was so rewarding to volunteer at Mount St. Joseph’s Hospital one summer, helping with the physical therapist in the extended care unit. I like to think that I made a difference, however small it may have been.

Run My Own Business

If I were the same person even a couple of decades ago, I don’t think that I would have been able to establish my freelance writing business the way that I have. It’s much more likely that I would have taken a more conventional career path, rather than taking the chance on self-employment. The rise of the Internet was easily one of the biggest factors that facilitated this opportunity. I am proud to be an entrepreneur.

Buy My First Home

This was a long time coming, as was my marriage, but now I can mark off two of the biggest milestones that someone can have in his or her life. It’s not free and clear just yet, since I do have a mortgage, but we’re prepared to tackle this one step at a time.

What about you? What do you feel are the biggest milestones and accomplishments on your reverse bucket list?

And so, here we are at another Wednesday and the tradition continues with a hump day speedlink. I’ve gathered together quite the varied selection of blog posts from around the web and put them together in this weekly digest form. Enjoy!

We start with Jennie Yuen who shares ten tips from dermatologist Dr. Howard Murad. He reminds you of the basics, like high SPF sunscreen, but he also has some more unconventional advice like telling us to eat more eggs and to discover botanicals to reduce cellulite. Whether you’re staying at an all-inclusive resort or you’re simply spending a day at a local beach, be sure to good care of your body.

Next up, we travel all the way to Japan to visit with Melody Fury. She’s showing off some of the best late night restaurants in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. From yakiniku to yakitori, ramen to oden, Shinjuku has plenty of culinary delights even in the middle of the night and into the morning hours.

What about those of us who earn our living on the Internet? Alan Medina describes his three favorite Chrome extensions for search engine optimization. These handy tools let you see the number of indexed pages, consider social factors, determine PageRank, and even overlay the SERPs with information about page authority and domain authority.

Continuing on the subject of the online world, Melissa Cameron has three WordPress plugins to promote your Facebook page. The Facebook Like Box is probably one of the simplest, yet it may also be one of the most effective. Both Beyond the Rhetoric and my freelance writing business have Facebook pages, so be sure to check those out and give them a like too!

Last but not least, we have The Network Hub. Even though it may be known as one of the most prominent coworking spaces in Vancouver, “the Hub” also supports local non-profits. For instance, it sponsored the SFU Intercollegiate Marketing Competition, which is designed to facilitate the growth of undergraduate business students. They are the future!