At the risk of sounding like a broken record, months after the dust have settled, the new University Heights Mall is shaping up to be an ok hub for some operations to exist. As an area where nearly all the banks are represented, I can respect that. Folks with multiple accounts at different banks can simply walk across the street. The food scene remains the same: corporate and sad, and as for who else will occupy the space opposite this expansion, only time will tell.
There’s a pit where the former library used to be, the other strip mall is under construction, and the rest? They are hardly 100% done. I even sounded off on my what I thought during an interview on Kathryn Marlow’s This is Vancouver Island a few years back. Although that segment didn’t make the final cut, I was glad to get that off my chest, and instead we focused on was What Else Is As Iconic As London Drugs? (courtesy of CBC Radio).
And we were talking about what makes British Columbia unique, and not just the island. No, I’m not talking about wanting to be stuck in the same era where every adventure on Netflix’s Stranger Things must happen (because the old digs were reputed to be haunted!), but small is better than big.
When news broke that the block occupied by this shopping complex had been sold to an American firm, my heart sank. There used to be smaller brunch places and more of a sense of community here, back when Gauntlet Games occupied the space. They moved to another mall, which at least can’t be rebuilt from the ground up. For the mall I can walk to that’s five blocks away, it was home. There was a comic book shop, an arcade, a gym, a video game rental store, a poster framing place, and even a place to file your income tax!
It’s December 31st, and after eating all that turkey, we at twohungryblokes have certainly stretched our waistlines. For better or worse, there are still leftovers. Well, maybe. That depends on whether the cook in the family wants to turn what’s remaining into ground meat for tacos, or something else. But on the day to have a pre-New Year’s Feast, there’ are plenty of other options which seem traditional for today.
Here’s the thing. For those without the allergy, we love lobster. It’s fancy, it’s buttery, and it makes you look like a high-roller. I love them, but since they are not legally available to fish, the only way around is to be stranded on a desert island or go live in New Zealand. Restrictions aside, there are individuals who can go getting them, but they are indigenous people or from cultures that have no fears. In other countries, especially Austria, and the Southern United States, folklore experts (and very superstitious grandmothers) say eating lobster at midnight is a one-way ticket to a rubbish year.
With H-Mart still the talk of the town in Victoria and a place I regularly visit, the first thing that always catches my eye is the sheer variety of flavoured fish skins now lining the shelves. Although they’ve been around for ages, seeing them in local markets still feels novel. Before, you’d have to trek to your friendly neighbourhood international district or a mom-and-pop shop that specialised in snacks from “back home” rather than ones made in America. Even Fairways dabbled in selling them once, but they never quite took off—probably because they’re an acquired taste. And considering they don’t come cheap (which is ironic, really, for what was once a throwaway part of the fish), not everyone’s going to take kindly to snacking on this particular piece of flesh.
Dave Letford
Plays with the Feature Film, Come Back Anytime
By Ed Sum
