An Open Letter to Karate Kid: Where’s My Unli Rice?

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Dear Karate Kid,

First of all, I wanted to say that I intended this to be a normal blog post about your shop. My Beloved Wife Lei and I dined at your place in Lucky Chinatown Mall two or three weeks ago and we had no problem with anything. We actually enjoyed your Beef Teppanyaki and veggie meal. In fact, we availed of the one-time refill of rice and red iced tea.

What prompted me to write this open letter is the great loss that I felt when I read the receipt of our meal:

It said: “Beef Teppanyaki w/ unliric D”

It is clear as the clearest bottled water. We can get unlimited servings of rice from the meal that we bought.

I felt so devastated. Imagine how much calories those unlimited rice will add to my belly.

But don’t worry Karate Kid. We didn’t push the issue to your crew. I don’t want them to feel devastated as I was.

My only request is that I get more rice the next time I visit your restaurant. Don’t worry, I only eat up to 4 cups of rice.

Thank you very much and I am hoping for your quick action.

Regards,

Ishmael F. Ahab
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My Last First Friday in the Philippines

I spent my last first Friday night in the Philippines by attending a Mass at Don Bosco Church in Makati City. Some of you might ask, “last first Friday?” I know it is confusing. First Friday means that it is the first Friday of the month. I consider this a special day because it is offered by the Church to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

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Don Bosco Church

I am quite sad during that Friday because of my impending departure to Thailand. I will miss a lot of things, especially my family and of course my Beloved. That's why I was glad that she went out of the office early to be with me during the Mass.

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We went to the nearby Walter Mart to eat dinner. We chose to eat at Karate Kid, which is a Japanese fast food restaurant.

My Beloved ordered the Chicken Teriyaki.

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I abstain from eating meat during Fridays so I ordered Fish Katsu.

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Our dinner was good. What I cherished the most is our conversation. We talked about our work, thoughts and other things that we encountered during the day. Even mundane things stopped being mundane when we talked about it. Face-to-face conversation can never be replaced by video chatting.

Karate Kid is the last restaurant that I have dined in the Philippines. I haven't visited any fast food restaurant yet here in Thailand. I kind of miss the local Filipino restaurants like Jollibee and Mang Inasal. I also miss going to First Friday Mass and adoring the Eucharistic Lord.

I already miss my country. I feel that I am an exile in a foreign land, which reminded me of this poem:

Thou shalt abandon everything beloved

Most tenderly, and this the arrow is

Which first the bow of banishment shoots forth.

Thou shalt have proof how savoureth of salt

The bread of others, and how hard a road

The going down and up another’s stairs.

Read more about this poem in this blog post of Father Z.

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This would be my last post about the events that occurred in the Philippines. Next posts will be about my adventures here in Thailand.