Toadlane - March 2015

MARCH 2015

toadlane

No2

WATERLOO CO-OPERATIVE RESIDENCE INCORPORATED

EDITOr VICTORIA STACEY

LAYOUT VICTORIA STACEY

ADVISOR HAYLEY PRESS

COVER VICTORIA STACEY

CONTRIBUTORS LAURA DOWNING, JES SEE NG, SUMIT BANSAL, CARLOS MEDINA, RACHEL LUI, ALEX KONISHI LU YANG, HEIDI FAN

toadlane issue 2, march 2015 3. Yum Cha Yu Lang 6. Five Things to Try in KW Victoria Stacey 7. Evolution Jes See Ng 9. Community Hacks Heidi Fan 11. Five Things I’d Tell My First Year Self Laura Downing 13. Food for Thought Anna Kan 15. Local Waterloo Tourism Heidi Fan 18. The Artist’s Corner Carlos Medina & Annoymous 20. Summer is Here Rachel Lui 21. The Cook Book Heidi Fan & Alex Konishi 23. The Lightfoot Mantra Sumit Bansal 24. A Simple Way to Say HELLO Jes See Ng 27. Tips for Travelling in the South Victoria Stacey 28. So You’re Graduating?

Victoria Stacey

LEtter from the editor + editorial policy Thank you for picking up a copy of the new toadlane magazine.

Members of the Waterloo Co-operative Residence Incorporated (WCRI) have worked to put together this entertaining and informative revival issue for your reading pleasure! Over the course of the last month, members have written poetry, recipes, short stories, and event recaps, have taken photos and created artwork for this issue to be a success.

All members of WCRI are encouraged to submit their work for this monthly publication. We are currently recruiting contributors for our next issue, which we anticipate will be even bigger (and better!) than this one.

For contributing to the magazine, you are given 5 pi bucks per submission, as decided on by the

Editor and Advisory team.

We appreciate all effort and work you submit to us, and every piece is carefully reviewed by our team. We do not accept offensive articles; we aim to be inclusive in all aspects of this magazine. All work must be original and created by the person(s) who submitted it. If your work does not adhere to the above, we will email you with the opportunity make changes or submit a new piece.

Don’t let this deter you from submitting your work however! We accept a variety of contributions. If you are unsure if your piece qualifies, send it to us and we can help set you on the right track!

Email toadlane@wcri.coop submit!

to

yum cha

BY YANG LU

Yum cha is a term in Cantonese, which refers to the Chinese tradition of drinking tea in the teahouses where dim sum is also served. In Cantonese speaking areas, like Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Macao, it is a tradition for the whole families to yum cha on weekend mornings; people gather to chat, eat dim sum while drinking Chinese tea. In the teahouse, servers always push the carts around the restaurant and customers can select various steamy baskets of dishes. Originally, the tea takes the most important part in yum cha. In the recent years, yum cha is becoming increasingly popular in other provinces in China and other countries. Most of the visitors show great interests in dim sum. So this article will introduce some popular kinds of dim sum dishes.

Dim sum is another Cantonese term referring to a variety of small dishes, which are usually served as three of four pieces in one portion. They have different names depends on how they look like and how they are made. Small and transparent ones are called “dumplings”, dishes made with fermented dough are called “buns”, and so on.

There are so many kinds of dim sum dishes. They can be roughly divided into savories and desserts; the majority are hot dishes while some are cold cuts. Dishes are usually steamed or fried.

Dumplings

Har gow / Shrimp dumping Shrimp dumpling is a traditional delicacy in teahouses, and it is one of the most famous dim sum dishes. The dumplings with good quality are transparent and smooth. In a sense, this dish shows the skill of a dim sum chef, because it is challenging to make pink, plump and juicy shrimps veiled in thin, stretchy and translucent wrapper.

Siu mai / Steamed Pork Dumplings Siu mai, a classic dim sum dumpling, it is normally filled with ground pork, chopped shrimp, pork fat and some other ingredients. It is wrapped in a thin sheet of dough. The top is often garnished with crab roe, or minced carrots.

There are also some other kinds of siu mai in the Jiangnan region of China. They are quite different from the Cantonese version. Shanghai siu mai is stuffed with glutinous rice and have a tougher and larger wrapper.

Wu Gok / Taro Dumplings Mashed taro is filled with pork, mushroom, and shrimp, and then it is deep fried. The outside is crispy and fluffy, while the soft taro batter inside is rich and juicy.

Buns

Cha siu bao / Steamed or Baked Pork Buns “Cha siu” refers to the barbecue-flavored pork filling; “bao” means bun. Like other types of steamed buns in China, the dough of Cha siu bao is made using yeast as leavening, so it is fine soft. The center of the bun is filling with diced, sweet pork tenderloin. It can also be baked with a light sugar glaze. If you ever tasted Cha siu, you will love the well-balanced savory taste.

Liu sha bao / Golden Lava Custard Bun Liu sha bao means flowing filling buns in Chinese. It is a variant of Lai wong bao, which has a firm custard filling. The creamy and running egg custard filling made from salted egg yolks and butter will flow out when the bun is opened.

Other dishes

Cheong Fun / Steamed Rice noodles roll The rolls can be plain or filled with shrimp, pork, beef, vegetables, or other ingredients. The mixture of rice flour, tapioca flour and water are used to make the thin rice noodles sheets. This concoction gives noodles the flavor of rice as well as elasticity and springiness. This liquid mixture is polled into a flat pan and then steamed, then chef will add fillings onto it, and finally it is rolled up and added with soy

sauce right before serving. The rice roll itself does not have much flavor; most of the flavors come from the filling and sauce. A well-made rice noodles roll is really tasty, silky smooth, and slippery.

There is also another version of Cheong fun that has no fillings, and chef just rolls up the steamed noodles sheets immediately, which is called Chee cheong fun.

It is usually served with different kinds of sauces, or it can also be fried with other ingredients. One version of the sweet sauce is the combination of sesame paste and sweet flour sauce.

Luo mai gai / Steamed glutinous rice Steaming glutinous sticky rice, which is flavored with lots of fillings; usually contains chicken, salted egg yolk, dried shrimp or scallop, Chinese mushroom and sausage. Wrapped in a lotus leaf into a triangular or rectangular shape. It is a good idea to share this dish with friends, because it may fill you up.

Ma lai go / Cantonese-style Sponge Cake This Chinese steamed sponge cake commonly served in the dim sum restaurant. There are many version of Ma lai go, some are brownish and some are yellowish.

It is moister, soft, fluffy and spongy at the same time.

Other Meat-Based Dishes

Pai gwut / Steamd Spare Ribs Traditionally, the whole black bean or jarred black bean sauce are used in this dish. Tender and juicy spareribs coated with tasty and savory sauce makes this dish a classic dim sum dish.

Fung jow / Phoenix Talons / Fried Steamed Chicken Feet Maybe it sounds strange to eat chicken feet, but trust me, it is delicious. These chicken feet are deep fried until they become puffy, then marinated in sweet and savory sauce flavored with fermented soy beans, and finally steamed. They have a moist, tender and fluffy texture.

Ngao yuk kau / Meatballs Steamed beef meatballs, served on tofu skin, and usually flavored with soy and Worcestershire sauce.

Dessert

Egg Tart There are several different types of egg tarts.

Portuguese egg tarts, evolved from “pastel de natd”, a traditional Portuguese custard pastry, was created over 200 years ago. In the 1940s, it was introduced to Macau, and became popular in Hong Kong and Macao.

Hong Kong egg tarts are an adaption of “pastel de natd”. As one of the most popular desserts in Hong Kong, there are mainly two types of tarts shells, short-crust pastry or some called it cookie pastry-like, and the other one is puff pastry-like, the latter uses lard rather than butter. Perfect egg tarts feature silky egg yolk custard in crisp pastry shells.

Char siu sou / BBQ Pork Pastry The same filling as Char siu bao, but wrapped in a flaky pastry made with lard or shortening, and then baked for a crispy texture. Char siu is a common filling in this kind of pasties; Other fillings nowadays are also used for those pastries, such as durian. They are perfect served when they’re still hot.

-There are so many kinds of dim sum dishes in the teahouses and you may want to experience the mountains of little bamboo steamers spread on each tables. It will be a nice experience to go to yum cha with your family or friends and enjoy dim sum!

five things to try in KW

Thrift Shopping

Surprisingly, KW has a great thrift shopping scene. These pieces are great for DIYs. White Tiger in Kitchener is a great vintage shop that sells more expensive and ‘designer’ pieces.

Also in Kitchener is Thrift on Kent, a thrift store run by the region’s Mennonite Council. Recently re-branded Luster and Oak in Waterloo is a student favourite for trendy and affordable pieces.

Axe Throwing

With Bad Axe Throwing recently openning and BATL coming soon, axe throwing is becoming an increasingly popular social outing. With BYOB options, I forsee axe throwing to be a staple in every University student’s social circle.

Escape Rooms

Escape rooms are another increasingly popular social activity,

with Adventure Rooms openning last year in Kitchener. These are great for team building events, or to challenge your friends to see who is ‘smarter’. Can you escape?

Craft Breweries

These seem to be popping up everywhere. One of my fav craft beers in the region is from Block Three Brewing in St. Jacobs.

But there are so many more. Innocente Brewing has a variety of new flavours to try, and there is also the ever popular Waterloo Brewing Company. You can take a tour at Brick Brewery to taste their brews!

Museums

There are so many museums and galleries in the KW region.

Ones like KWAG (Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery) are free! Also be sure to check out the Waterloo Region Mueseum or The Museum downtown Kitchener.

EVOLUTION

BY JES SEE NG

The beginning of time was bleak and somber an endless night that grows longer and longer No light trespassed into that world of confinement always secluded from life and refinement The gracious darkness hid demons from the world with black holes around threatening to whirl To an endless universe filled with cryptic thoughts of damnable rumination that continued to rot Many a times there is an opening for light transforming this darkness into a shade that's bright with eyes half open one can finally see the sad deception it turned out to be.

The twisted soul can no longer fly darkness rips at blinding eyes once more confined in the life of destruction who would have thought you expedient construction You were like a surge of light a cosmic boom that blinded sight your enigmatic personality was the solution that aroused the start of the evolution Still with doubt afraid of the change, Still with debt, Paid full in change Running away from the fear of fire the burning tortures of ceaseless desire repelling warmth from your embrace terrified of the change you were bound to make Yet, you persisted past resistance expanding the world from endless existence and although this encounter will perish as quickly as it began, our story will always be engrained in the sand You unexpectedly triggered a foreign emotion that irrevocably placed life, in motion So now I finally see what fear brought out in me a world invested with ghastly pollution limiting me from embarking on my evolution

Community Hacks

by Heidi Fan

There are many ways to find free food in Waterloo as a student. In fact some of them are so easy to find and are so convenient and close to the university.

One of them is to go to SLC's food bank.

The SLC food bank is run by the feds which if you hold a valid uWaterloo student ID card, then you can just show your ID card to the volunteer on shift, with no questions asked and just simply grab a bag and weigh 10 pounds worth of nonperishables. The volunteers don't record your name so you can go every day or perhaps twice a day if you're really in need of food. And if there is no volunteer on shift during that time, you should proceed to SLC turnkey to chain of pre-made hamper of food, having also a vegetarian option, which also need your student ID card to validate.

A second way of finding free food is through the Waterloo Pentecostal church (located on King and Columbia) on Thursday nights from 5:30 to 6:30 PM, in which the church serves food to students in the area who drop in and have a meal. It acts as a soup kitchen for students, which also acts as a great place to meet new students, whether they are from Laurier,

Waterloo or Conestoga college. The church is very friendly and hospitable to students. It would be also very nice to volunteer with the cooking and washing of community program.

And a third way, in which I find is the most meaningful, is to go to the St. John's soup kitchen down in Kitchener downtown.

They are open Monday to Friday from morning to around 2 PM, depending on how many people drop in. They are always in need of help from volunteers to cook, wash, prep food, and most importantly mingle with the people who drop into the soup kitchen. In my opinion, it's a great way to get a free meal but also help out in the community, and also perhaps listen to someone else's story while talking to them because that might just make their day.

Don't judge the people who drop in until you have met them and heard their story because these people are just like us but have fun into circumstances that brought them to the soup kitchen, so I really encourage you if you ever drop by the soup kitchen to volunteer and also befriend and listen to these stories of the people. I guarantee you it will change your perspective of life.

5 Things I’d Tell My First Year Self

BY LAURA DOWNING

With my last term coming up this spring and many of my friends graduating this term, there has been a lot of talk about the future and the past. Here are a few of the things I would tell myself in 2010/2011 during my first year of university.

If you don’t like what you are doing, change it

It took me two co-op terms and four study terms to transfer programs, when I probably knew my first program wasn't for me in the first or second term of university.

Eat at Ron Eydt Village more often Mix it up sometimes.

Go to orientation week

I was so homesick during the first week of university that I ended up going back home until classes started. I ended up missing orientation week, and the opportunity to make new friends.

Don’t expect the same grades as high school

I quickly realized that the grades that I got in high school would not continue into university, especially when I had to adjust to a whole new environment at the same time.

Study at the library

With Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and food at home, it’s easy to get distracted.

Food For Thought

BY ANNA KAN

One of my most interesting, difficult and favourite co-op placements was at “L’Arche” a home for people with intellectual disabilities. Through living and working there by supporting those in need I learned a lot about myself. I met many people and some interesting characters.

One member that I supported had a close relationship with food. It was always the main focus, and during meal times, there would never be conversation. Their eyes were ready and set on analyzing each item before consuming it in a particular order. Second helpings were demanded and often; we got into many frustrating arguments over limiting food intake.

Although supporting this member was challenging, it later provoked me to think about my own food habits.

Food. it is crucial to life. It’s in our culture. Displayed though fancy restaurants, TV shows, websites and apps. We savour different textures and flavours. Millions are put into marketing, advertisements and pictures everywhere! Despite food being critical for our existence, is there an oversaturated emphasis in our society? Is what the media displays skewed?

In reflection of my deepest, darkest, inner food habits...I enjoy saving the best for last, having only desserts. I have played with my food, thought of my food and taken more food than needed from the fridge. In emotion, I have turned to “comfort food”. I do clean off my plate, “sample” before a meal and cherish the taste...this led to some questions: So ...why is it common to feel guilty when an extra slice of pizza is eaten? Why are most driven to exercise the next day?

Why does the results of exercise promote a feeling of productivity and health but allow for a dangerous mindset to be rewarded with food again? “i’ll just burn it off”, “I have a high metabolism”, “it’s now or never”. And what about the days when everything is eaten in sight? “I want to eat.” “I want to devour”, “I want to consume”. It’s an endless cycle of eating again.

I do believe that this physical food struggle is the lack of a “spiritual food”. Perhaps we hunger for something deeper than physical food...Perhaps our cravings are beyond what is seen ... but then again…this is just some food for thought.

Local Waterloo Tourism

BY HEIDI FAN

Tourist attractions are defined as features of places that are of significance and interest to tourists with a pull factor of the destination. Attractions can vary between places and things to be seen, activities to be done, and experiences or food to be had. The two attractions that I have chosen to visit are significantly important to the community socially, economically, and environmentally. The local produce that the St. Jacob’s Farmers Market provides benefits the community, since having the same local customers come through the market helps build the community socially through local connections. The Farmers Market is also significant economically for the sellers, since it is their stable income. Selling locally grown products in the market to local consumers helps reduce leakage in the local economy. Since the produce is all locally grown, it reduces the impact on the environment, as transport of the produce uses less gas compared to international transport, which is proven to be a sustainable practice in the local organic produce networks. As for the Waterloo Community Arts Centre, which is also known as The Button Factory, it is significant to the community socially and economically because the display of locally created artworks by local artists attract an audience that is usually also local, with an open donation entrance fee, which helps the local artist display their art freely. The centre also holds art classes for locals to go and learn how to paint, building a sense of community growing.

Transportation

Recreation and Entertainment

As for the Farmers Market, it has a hotel situated right next to the Outlet Mall for travelers to stay at and the St. Jacob’s village a few minutes’ drive away to explore the heritage of the Mennonites, which is a very unique little village with a really good bakery! The Arts Centre is situated at the heart of Uptown Waterloo, where many little shops and restaurants are located, to entertain and educate travelers of Waterloo, which also has a small hotel on King St. for travelers to stay overnight.

As mentioned earlier, locals are the types of travelers drawn to both attractions, since it probably is only well known locally. In addition to local travelers, I know of many parents who live in Toronto that have sent their children to the University of Waterloo or Laurier for school that come visit on Saturdays and also go to the St. Jacob’s Farmers Market for great produce deals, deals that are at a very reasonable rate. Not only do the parents come to travel for local produce, they also stop by the St. Jacob’s Outlet Mall located across the street, which stays open till later on in the day, accomplishing the grocery and mall shopping lists of the parents all in one day and location, along with the bonus of visiting their children, of course. In comparison, the Waterloo Community Arts Centre has a more niche demographic of visitors, travelers who are interested in particularly arts and potentially the history of buttons, as derived from the alternate name of The Button Factory. Throughout the year, the City of Waterloo holds different kinds of festivals within Uptown Waterloo, which also sometimes features The Button Factory, such as the past Cultural Lights Festival in the summer.

In order for my friends and me to travel to St. Jacob’s Farmers Market, one of my friends had to drive us to the attraction; otherwise it would take us a long time to bus, changing busses at Conestoga Mall to the Farmers Market, taking any bus to Conestoga from campus, then after taking bus 21 to Elmira. The lack of convenient transportation (we however did not consider taking the train as an option because that’s pretty expensive) definitely detracts tourists to the destination without a vehicle. Alternatively, students travelling with a vehicle to the Farmers Market from the university is very convenient and fast. On the other hand, the Waterloo Community Arts Centre is very accessible to anyone that can get to Uptown Waterloo, a very central and convenient area to travel to by GRT bus, GO bus, on foot, bike, or car. Hence the visitors of the Arts Centre may most likely come across by chance, rather than a planned visit. It’s not very obvious of where the centre because it’s right beside the parking lot garage/parkade, which is right in front of the Uptown Waterloo Square. Furthermore, at the Farmers Market, there are accessible accommodations for people with disabilities, with ramps and automatic doors, hoping for everyone to enjoy the Market equally, as accessibility should not get into the way of visitation.

Even though the Arts Centre is not a very big site, it has an accessibility ramp for people who are in need of a ramp to enter the building.

Accommodation

Food and Beverage

At the Farmers Market, there are many types of food and beverage available for travelers, ranging from British foods to local famous Apple Fritters. Throughout the market (in the blocked off parking lot area), there are many food trucks that sell food such as hot dogs, turkey drumsticks, Schnitzels, doner kabobs, bread, pumpkins, apples, candies, Canadian maple syrup, honey, and drinks like freshly squeezed lemonade. The indoor parts of the market has mini food courts for travelers to try, as well, there is a Canadian fast food restaurant across the street, attached to the Antiques Market building, which serves very authentic Canadian poutines. I really recommend this restaurant because it’s very reasonable and their poutines are delicious, such as curry goat cheese poutine, then afterwards I

would also recommend going to the antique market right beside to check out some really neat antiques.

As the Famers Market has their food and beverage all situated in the surrounding area of the attraction, the Arts Centre does not have any food and beverage options available within the centre because it only features artwork, although the closest main street, King Street, has many different types of local food and restaurants such as Famoso, Beertown, The Bauer’s Kitchen, Huether’s Hotel, The Works, Crystal Palace, Zoup; and local cafes and bakeries. Very convenient for whatever your cravings feel like.

Challenges and Opportunities Challenges

If my friend did not have a car to travel to St. Jacob’s Farmers Market, we would have been taking the local transit to the market for around an hour in order to get to our destination, and taking another hour to get back to Uptown Waterloo. As part of our tuition, our student cards act as our bus pass (use it!), but if I did not have that privilege, I would definitely be less attracted to check out any of the local attractions. For both attractions that I went to, admission was free, which was a pull factor, as a few other attractions had admission fees, which is the strategy that museums in Washington D.C. use, sponsored by the government to attract more visitors. As for the cost of food, the Farmers Market has very reasonable prices for food and produce; hence I think this attraction is successful from its non-retail prices and also how the local dollar stays in the local economy, as keeping good local economic development practices also help reduce local poverty. If you go really early or near closing time of the Farmers Market, you can get pretty good deals! I’ve gotten 8 boxes of blueberries for $5 at closing time before, same with strawberries.

Opportunities

Transportation to the Farmers Market was very efficient by car, but if it were by public transit, it would not be very efficient, having to change busses at Conestoga Mall towards Elmira. While transportation to the Arts Centre would be very efficient, since it is at the heart of Uptown Waterloo, where everyone passes by. Since the Waterloo Community Arts Centre is not advertised as much as St. Jacob’s Farmers Market, finding the location was not very obvious.

It would help if the Arts Centre had signs around the streets pointing towards the location, along with promoting and making people aware of this centre. On the contrary, marketing for the St. Jacob’s Farmers Market is successful through the strategy of “word-of-mouth” between friends and local communities; this is seen especially with the parents of students, coming to visit their

children, bringing along other interested travelers to find great local produce deals. Rather than having the owners of the Market spend lots of money marketing, focusing on one particular type of demographic, such as students would have a more effective result. Students can tell other students and network through the school, then afterwards bring their parents to the Market since most students do not have cars to casually use.

Conclusion

Although St. Jacob’s Farmers Market does not have very convenient transportation routes to the attraction, the Market still gets many visitors due to old-fashioned “word-of-mouth”, plus the attraction has many food and beverage options for visitors to experience. Contrastingly, the Waterloo Community Arts Centre is very convenient for all visitors with any type of transportation to reach, but because of the lack of marketing and interest for the centre, not many visitors know or visit. Those that do visit also have the opportunity to explore the rest of Uptown Waterloo, whether it is supporting local retail business or restaurants. Both these locations prove that with the right amount of convenient transportation, accommodations, amenities, food and beverage options, and marketing, attractions can have booming amounts of visitors, but of course not too many to overwhelm the hosts.

Individually, both attractions had the right amount of emphasis on focusing to attract visitors.

Register Black Carlos Medina

Suppose patterns had no hand that wove them; out from somewhere 'neith the sun they merely appeared. Sunlit between two palm trees my eye caught them.

My curiosity was their register; black space between two palms in my brain’s everything.

How does one develop this image of “new”?

I puzzle-piece together some blues; I invoke the palm leaf and the wrinkles my skin makes. I imagine the sensation of it on my face and I presume and presume to it's nature; and now I’ve ruined it in my head and can no longer see it.

I see a cross-thought image. I've blundered heaven space by naming it for my earthen want to know; It's the Midas touch if knowledge is gold. The more I think about it the more saddened I grow. I rain upon me and us these accusations: Where have I landed in your enlightened thoughts between these palms?? A palm is a palm, but me, I am an uncatchable dream! Now, where have you placed me? What pattern have your hands, unawares, machined; and what cross-thought image, what names have you uttered, doubtlessly, ruining me?

Put us back between the palms. I want to register black and let the sun heat me. Let me absorb my purposes, and be thus.

the Artist’s Corner THE TALENTED artists of WCRI

I'd like to register you; black. When the sun has heated the thing you are, I'll know you as you act on me.

UntitleD (Drunk in Varadero)

I'll register black and I'll feel from a spot ‘tween the palms a heat like that of the sun arranging my threads and governing me.

Carlos Medina

I'll know who we are when we register black and our unspeakable silks catch to spark, not formulate, the common new nothing of the ever present black patterns our golden hands have yet to breach.

I’m not a romantic; people get the wrong idea. I’m not romanticising, as if this were the old Cuba and I’m smoking an aromatic Splendido, drinking ron aňejo in La Havana at night amongst the smoke and lights and music driven fervor of a populated plaza.

As The Wheel Turns Us

It’s early afternoon, I’m on the lobby terrace overlooking the paradisic grounds of my Varadero all-inclusive, carelessly drinking Campari on rocks, smoking blue Hollywoods, thumbing my curious lines into my Nexus. Its the future and I’m older; its 2014. I catch myself talking to my younger self, knowing I can’t reach him, but feeling less capable of speaking purposefully to the “I” who is to come.

Carlos Medina As we lose the grain of earthiness As we peel away from dust covered beings As we sterilize our surfaces and push into new grounds As we breath designed air As manufactured becomes our natural As we too become designed As the Earth begins to constrain us like a nagging mother As we eliminate the other life forms As we acclimate the Earth to our desires As we play with celestial fires As we leave some men behind As we become less physical

There’s no reason to be sober currently, and I’m not. Sober life is too slow, and here there are nothing but futures.

This Little Light in Me Annoymous

This little light in me, So young, so naïve, so free Living so easy, so fun, so carefree, I will forever cherish this light in me.

This little light in me, Struggling to light up the world I want it to be Yet the darkness of the world starts to circle around,, Making it hard to see.

This little light in me, Only a glimpse of light is seen, Trying to shine so bright that I may finally see, That life is worth living, everything will be okay But no.

Days went by, failure after failure The light that once shone so brightly Now only a distant memory It surrounded everything I knew Darkness replaced what I thought was “me” I guess I just was not meant to be.

This little light in me, Overcome by the darkness of life, Confusion.

Disappointment…

DESTRUCTION. It is absolutely unbearable to see.

This little light in me, Just a glimpse reaching out through the darkness.

Only a small crack, so faint, so subtle, But it forces itself up so strongly Yet so persistent It. Does.

Not. Give.

Up. This little light in me, Flickering so persistently, Awaiting to be fed, desiring to shine once again To win the battle against the stubborn darkness And DESTROY it.

This little light in me, Growing so persistently like a newly planted tree Glowing so brightly, I can finally see, The hope of life in me.

summer is here

BY RACHEL LUI

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

– Theodore Roosevelt

This picture is one I took last summer and recently stumbled upon. Summer is definitely one of the highlights in my year (other than the geese of course). Seeing this picture in itself brought back many memories of last summer: spending time with friends, playing football in the courtyard, being outdoors when the sun was still shining at 9pm. For many, the simple thought of summer provokes a positive response.

Often, summer is a time to begin thinking of trying something new or continuing on something that has been put aside for too long. It seems (alike New Year’s resolutions!) that midway through the summer, certain factors get in the way and the intent decreases until it is no longer there. Often these factors are ones that we put on ourselves; phrases like “I don’t have

time”, “It’s too much work”, “I can’t do it”, and “I’ll wait for more ideal circumstances before continuing”. I’m sure that you have caught yourself asking yourself that question at one time or another. Fact is, most of the time, it is ourselves putting barriers up in our minds that prevent us from achieving these goals.

We often are blinded to the fact that we can achieve our goals, or even try new things. If it means enough for you, you will need to work for it. Don’t let yourself be in the way of achieving great things. If anything, when you look back at it, you may regret the opportunities you didn’t take, but you will not regret trying! “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

THE COOK BOOK BiSQUICK CREATIONS heidi fan I had a few things at home lying around that I wanted to use up, and decided to make a savoury and unique muffin. This Bisquick mix is pretty amazing. I've made chicken pot pie with it before, waffles, pancakes, dinner rolls, and I believe there's many other recipes that you can find off it's website.

For this particular muffin, I used a handful of spinach, a handful of frozen corn, 3 pieces of crabmeat (which I microwaved and ripped into chunks with a fork), 1 chicken breast (cut into pieces to cook on a pan), 1 onion (diced), and Bisquick mix (2 cups mixed with water..the same ratio amount as the dinner rolls on the box).

I had everything prepared raw except for the chicken pieces, I cooked it slightly to make sure it was cooked. Mixing the mixture together first, and then mixing in the ingredients. I slightly greased the muffin pan beforehand to prevent the muffins sticking to the pan. After, pour the mixed mixture into muffin tray and bake at 350-375 degrees F, depending on the type of muffin pan you have, the darker the pan, the lower the temperature, but also depends on how thick your pan it.

Experiment! Enjoy!

GARLIC BUTTER PASTA heidi fan

Sometimes I just don't have pasta sauce ready at home, or I choose to not eat from the cans, so I make my own simple butter garlic pasta sauce to mix with my pasta.

It's super simple. Here I cooked a portion of pasta for me, you can really choose any kind. Then in another pan, I melted 1/8 cup of salted butter, and added in 3 minced cloves of garlic, added a thawed piece of basa fillet, then seared each side for about 5-7 mins, depending on how thoroughly thawed it is. After straining the pasta in cold water, put it in the pan with the fillet, there should be extra butter still left in the pan, if not, just melt more. Now it's ready to serve.

There's different options you can put with the sauce, such as spinach and pesto.

Enjoy!

STORE BOUGHT PASTA SAUCE heidi fan

At first, I did not have high hopes for trying some of President's Choice, at least not having as high expectations for the same item as a marketed brand of choice. I have to say after trying this pasta sauce, never judge pasta sauce by it's generic brand.

This is one of the pasta sauces that I really like that are not as well known as the Classico pasta sauces in a jar, where probably the prices are also marked up a little than generic brands. President's Choice, or better known as PC, has done a really good job at making this pasta sauce. It's extremely flavorful meaning I don't have to add salt to it or any kind of flavour. I have not tried the other types of flavors that PC holds for this type of pasta sauce, but this pasta sauce is very very suitable for my palette. Normally for a jar of Classico pasta sauce I would have to add extra salt and extra meat to give it more flavour. For this pasta sauce I did not have to add anything else but just the pasta to the sauce, as the sauce has full flavour and mouth watering taste.

Although I'm not a big fan of anchovies, the ones in the sauce go really well for the flavouring. Initially I did not see the specific ingredients for the sauce, but once I tasted the sauce with my pasta, I was very surprised about the taste, then looked at the ingredients. I guess I do like anchovies, especially in this pasta combination. But if you are one of those people who do not like the smell of anchovies, this pasta sauce has no initial fragrance for the delicacy. The smell and taste are both very subtle, and the taste is not only sweet, but complimented very well with the anchovies.

So next time you go to the grocery store to get some pasta sauce, go to a Loblaws affiliated grocery store and try their PC brand pasta sauce, this featured one is called the Puttanesca, I guess it is Italian. I guarantee it would not disappoint you. Compared to Classico, I would say Classico is something I can forge and make at home from scratch, given that I have to further add flavouring, but I would consider the PC Puttanesca as a premium type of pasta sauce, where I will never know how to start from scratch to make the same flavouring. But then again, I'm not that good at cooking, so be my guest and try the sauce and make it from scratch.

EASY GUAC COMBO heidi fan

Sometimes you might buy the avocados and forget to buy Tostitos chips with it, here is an healthy and easy solution, SkyFlakes crackers!

For the guac: Mash your desired amount of ripe avocados with pinches of lemon juice (I usually use 2 avocados). Make sure you don't put too much lemon juice, it'll make it sour. Add a few pinches of salt for flavour.

Now you're ready to eat it with your prepackaged SkyFlakes crackers!! :D

honey CHICKEN alex konishi INGREDIENTS ½ Cup vegetable oil 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup buttermilk SAUCE 1 tablespoon cornstarch ½ cup honey 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon sesame oil ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes DIRECTIONS Heat vegetable oil in large skillet over medium heat Cover chicken chunks with flour, then dip in buttermilk and cover in flour again Cook 3-5 pieces at a time until golden brown and crispy on all sides Transfer to a plate with paper towel on it to absorb excess oil In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water. Put aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine honey, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, sesame oil and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil and stir in cornstarch mixture for about 2.5 minutes Glaze chicken with sauce immediately Serves 4

CHICKEN POT PIE heidi fan

1 can (540 mL).........Campbell's Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder (or any othe cream based) 1 can (10 oz fl/284 mL).......cream of mushroom soup 2 cup (500 mL).........Bisquick mix 1 cup (250 mL).........milk or water 2.............................eggs DIRECTIONS Heat Oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) Stir can of chunky chicken and cream of mushroom soup together in an ungreased 9-inch (23cm) pie plate or square pan (or a casserole dish) Stir Bisquick mix, milk and egg until blended.

Pour the Bisquick mixture over the chicken mixture.

Bake for 30-40 mins or until golden brown Serving: 6

OREO POPS rachel lui

This recipe is great for getting in the right mood for summer, and its super easy too! Feel free to be creative in decorating!

INGREDIENTS 10 Oreos 10 long lollipop sticks 1 cup of white chocolate (wafer, chips, any kind works) Rainbow sprinkles (or whatever you want to decorate with!)

Tray that can fit in freezer/fridge INSTRUCTIONS Melt the chocolate either in the microwave, or double boil.

Take apart the Oreos – leave one side with the filling on it. Proceed to take one of the sticks, dip it into the chocolate and stick it towards the middle of the Oreo.

Use the other half to “sandwich” the lollipop stick in Put in freezer to harden for about 10-15 minutes Take out from freezer and carefully dip each Oreo in the chocolate, then decorate! **Place it on tray and wait for the chocolate to set. If needed, put in the fridge for 5 minutes. **Do not put it right into the fridge after coating with chocolate as the quick change in temperature may cause the chocolate to crack

THE LIGHTFOOT MANTRA by sumit bansal I ate my first Thanksgiving dinner on October 14th of 2013 with Donald’s family (The Lightfoots). He was my roommate during the 8 months I spent in Toronto for Co-op.

Everyone at the table contributed their fair share to the meal. I was in charge of 2 vegetable dishes (Recipe’s for which will be published soon), the other couple living with us made some calamari, Don was in charge of the Turkey (obviously), his older brother brought some sweets along with a lot of booze, and his mother made a sweet potato casserole. Growing up in Kuwait, I guessed that the turkey was the most important part of the meal but the Lightfoots put this simply mysterious casserole on a pedestal. The meal was accompanied with a lots of reminiscent conversations that the family shared with the rest of us. Donald told us about the casserole and how the family has eaten it every thanksgiving even before his birth. It was clear that the dish was a childhood favourite since we could see the two brothers rushing through the main course. Each bite was followed by a glance at the casserole, flaring the spark in their eyes.

An hour into the meal, everyone’s plates were empty and the moment of truth was finally here as Mama Lightfoot served the casserole. Just before I devoured my first spoonful I felt as if I would be a little disappointed because they set my expectations too high but to my surprise, it literally was the best thing you could make with a sweet potato. I

have felt the need to spread this experience ever since and enlighten others the way Donald enlightened me.

Hence, I emailed Mama Lightfoot begging her to send me the mantra that leads to the Nirvana of all taste. My prayers were answered and I successfully recreated the epic dish on Valentine’s Day 2015. Now I share my knowledge with WCRI.

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE mama lightfoot INGREDIENTS 2 1/2 lbs Sweet Potatoes, peeled 1/4 cup butter 1 tbsp white sugar 1 egg, beaten 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

TOPPING INGREDIENTS 1 Cup brown sugar 1/2 cup whipping cream 1/4 cup butter

DIRECTIONS Peel potatoes and cut into chunks. Cook in salted water until tender. Drain well. You should have about 4 cups.

Add butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Mash well. Pack into 3 quart (4L) casserole dish. Set aside.

TOPPING DIRECTIONS In a small, heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar and whipping cream.

Stir. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until soft ball stage is reached on candy thermometer or until a droplet of topping in very cold water, forms a soft ball. Remove from heat.

Stir in butter. Spread over the sweet potatoes.

Bake in a 350 F (180 degree C) oven until heated through and topping starts to brown, about 30 minutes. Serves 8.

A Simple Way to Expand Your World - By Saying HELLO By: Ng Jes See | G-17 | 20592173 There is no denying that the WCRI community consists of people from all over the world; different backgrounds, histories, nationalities and mother tongues. It can be intimidating at first interacting with people who has a different world view from yours but it can be exhilarating too. However, it can be tough getting that initial conversation to begin. A simple "Hello" in English might not be enough since it could turn into boring ol' small talk. So try learning to say hello in all sorts of languages... and I assure you, that barrier will drop immediately and they would appreciate your effort in learning that simple word. Here are a few examples for you to practice with: How to say "hello" in

Pronounced

Notes:

Albanian:

"toon-jah-TYEH-

Tungjatjeta

tah,"

Bosnian: dobar dan

"DOH-bahr

More informal ways to say hello are

dahn"

zdravo, pronounced "ZDRAH-voh"

"Ni Hao"

In Cantonese this is pronounced as

Chinese: 你好

literally means "have a long life."

"lay ho" Danish: hallo

"ha-lo"

informally hej, pronounced "hi"

How to say "hello" in Estonian: tere

Pronounced "TEHR-reh".

Notes: Estonian is a Finno-Ugric language spoken in Estonia. It is closely related to Finnish.

French: bonjour

"bohn-ZHOOR"

A more informal way to say hello is salut, pronounced "sah-LUU".

Greek: Γεια σας

"YAH sahss"

literally means "health to you".

Hungarian: jó napot

"yoe naupote"

The Hungarian language is also referred to as "Magyar".

Italian: buon giorno

"bwohn geeornoh" A more informal way to say hello is ciào, pronounced chow.

Japanese: こんにち

"ko-n-ni-chi-wa"

は konnichi ha

You can also use doumo, pronounced "doh-moh" which is an informal way of thanking/greeting.

Korean: 안녕하세요

"ahn nyeong ha se

You can also use 안녕, pronounced

yo"

ahn nyeong which is more informal and can also be used to say goodbye.

Luxembourgish:

"MOY-en"

moïen Malaysian: apa

It is the official language of Luxembourg

"a-pa ka-bar"

which can also mean "how are you"

"na-ma-si-tay"

A more informal way to say hello is k

khabar Nepali: namaste

cha or kasto cha.

Polish: dzień dobry

"jeyn dob-ry"

A more informal way to say hello is cześć, pronounced "cheshch".

Russian:

"ZDRA-stvooy-

A more informal way to say hello is

zdravstvuyte

tyeh"

privet!, pronounced "pree-vyet".

How to say "hello" in Spanish: hola

Pronounced "o-la"

Notes: QuĂŠ pasa is a phrase used in Spain meaing "what's up"

Turkish: merhaba

"mehr hah bah"

A more informal way to say hello is selam, pronounced "sell um".

Ukrainian: dobriy

"DOH-brihy

A more informal way to say hello is

den

dehn"

pryvit, pronounced "prih-VEET".

Welsh: shwmae

"shoe-my"

shwmae (used in South Wales) and sut mae, pronounced "sit my" (used in North Wales).

So what are you waiting for? Go say "hello" to someone random right now. Expand your world through the WCRI community, extend your comfort zone and make new friends. You never know, you might just make life-long friends or even meet the love of your life.

tips for

travelling south Pack Light

The only things you really need for a vacation in the Carribean is a bathing suit (or two), a few books, undergarments, beach attire, one or two casual outfits and one fancy one. Packing light will make it easier to carry-on your luggage and not have to worry about stolen or lost luggage. You can head straight to the beach!

Bring Large Mugs

My friends and I recently purchased 52oz ‘Bubba Kegs’ for our trip. The portion size for drinks are very small, which means you’ll have to leave your spot on the beach more often. No fun! Plus, you can’t drink tap water in the South, so this allows you to bring back more clean water from the lobby.

Tip Well & Be Rewarded

Tipping goes far in Canada, but even farther down South.

Make sure to bring Canadian cash/coins or exchange your money into the local currency for tips. Some people like to bring trinkets from home to leave for the wait staff and housekeepers. Generally, if you give, they’ll give back. Extra drinks, more water, and fun towel designs in your room.

Explore!

It can be scary (and expensive), but try and explore off the resort. What at the surface may seem like a resort area actually has a lot of history. But, be safe!

Bring Snacks & Condiments

The food can sometimes be hit or miss, especially in Cuba. So make sure to bring a handful of non-perishable snacks just in case. Also, ketchup and other condiments can either be nonexistent, or very different from what you are used to. Try and save packets from your take out meals to bring with you!

So, you're

graduating?

VICTORIA STACEY

With the end of the term soon approaching, many of us are getting ready to leave our undergraduate lives behind. But, what’s next? Some will continue with their students, pursuing master programs, college degrees or post-graduate studies. But what about those of us being trust into the workforce? Finding a job can be terrfiying, so here are a few tips I’ve found to be helpful in my own search. These can be applied to part-time jobs, full-time careers or even co-op placements!

Be Creative!

Try and make your resume and your personality standout.

This could include sparking up your resume with a cool header, catchy tagline or amazing adjectives. Resumes are the first thing people see of you when you apply for a position, so try and make yourself seem attractive from the get-go.

Look Everywhere for Postings

You would be surprised where you can find job postings! I have seen media job postings on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Also remember that over 60% of jobs aren’t posted! That means your network is more important than ever. Reach out to friends, family and that person you met in first year who had a sweet co-op job somewhere you’d love to work. Invite people, co-workers or mentors out to coffee to catch up and see how you can mutually help each other. You never know where a cup of coffee can lead.

Be Yourself.

Too many people are trying to be someone they think employers want, instead of being someone they actually are.

Put your best self forward, but stay true to who you are.

Employers can generally see through that anyways. You have something to offer, don’t forget it!