Often we tell others to "hang in there" when they express having a hard time, but is that really the best approach? Until when are they to keep holding on?
The saying "hanging by a thread" applies to situations such as these, for one's grip can only be sustained for so long. Continuous challenges without adequate moments of rest, recovery, and happiness inevitably lead to one's regrettably predictable demise.

Being "depressed" would be an understatement given the latest state of affairs. I'm merely living a nightmare that won't end - a reality where even fitful dreams are better than awaking to see another work day.

​I'm absolutely done with this place, and have been for almost one whole year.

Similar to the soul-sucking days of consulting, those in my surroundings have strived to show support during these times. Whether listening to my ceaseless rants, dissecting dilemmas that have somehow plagued me, and just interacting with me in a way that shows appreciation and acknowledgement, I am deeply grateful for it all. It's nice to know that humanity exists in this world, even if not within my immediate team.

​A small amount of anguish was released during a much overdue lunch walk with a coworker. The conversation comprised of future career plans, the unbelievable act of a team member failing to provide notice for a three-week long vacation and setting others as her out-of-office contact without discussion, and Roll Up The Rim insights.

I learned that Tim's Chai Oat Latte was far superior to their London Fog with Oat Milk. Their Double Chocolate Donut was much better than their Chocolate Glazed and much, much better than Chocolate Dip. It was also discovered that not all menu items were eligible to earn "rolls".

​With knee pain being persistent and progressively prominent, a physio appointment was booked for the next day. Driving to Markham after being placed on a three-week waitlist simply was not feasible. A clinic hidden within a pharmacy provided swift treatment coupled with convenience.

On my way back home, I couldn't resist attempting another Roll Up The Rim chance.

​Biscoff dipped in Chai Oat Latte proved a stellar pairing. Unfortunately, I lost all three rolls on this purchase.

​A Fruit Explosion was received in place of the supposedly discontinued Chocolate Hazelnut Muffin. The concoction was less desirable than in my childhood days, for recent iterations have omitted the slice of apple on the surface and increased the stabilizer content in the jam filling.

​With the exception of flights, setting my alarm for earlier than 7 AM hasn't happened for the past year. With an all-day training course scheduled to commence at 7:30 AM though, I found myself awaking groggy and irritable to pre-sunset hours.

I still arrived about ten minutes late, though the instructor was, thankfully, very friendly and lenient on latecomers.

​During the well-deserved one-hour lunch break, I hurriedly ate my pre-packed lunch and made my way over to Costco. Within forty-five minutes, I had somehow succeeded in completing the trip for paper towels and detergent.

​As far as can be from a movie buff, there are admittedly a few instances where Cineplex is win to earn my hard-earned wages. 
Fabricated City, The Peanuts Movie, Deadpool 2, Crazy Rich Asians, Star Wars, Infinity War, and JOKER are a few titles that have succeeded in the swindling mechanism. Most recently watched was Frozen 2, which was a, surprisingly, great all-around production.

The movie commences in a dingy, dirty semi-basement lodging, where cockroaches are rampant and drunk, urianting men are frequent sights. A poverty-stricken family of four is seen struggling to make ends meet, anxiously hunting for a Wi-Fi signal to grab hold of potential work opportunities via Kakao Talk. (For improved relatability though, the English subtitles had been translated to read 'WhatsApp' instead of 'Kakao'.)

One of my first observations is the presence of a familiar face: Park So Dam. A stellar actress with an impressive track record, I was instantly excited for the remainder of the production upon witnessing her appearance as the daughter of the family. The son, whom possessed great resemblance to CIX's BX, was also oddly familiar, though I couldn't quite put my finger on the exact piece of work.

The tale starts out quite humourously, with the family arguing their way through incorrectly folded pizza boxes. It isn't until the family is graced with the presence of the son's friend - stony souvenir in hand - that their lives take an unexpected, debatably upward turn.
Crossing paths with and ultimately infiltrating an affluent household, the first hour showcases the quartet's deft conning capabilities. One by one, existing staff serving the family are ejected through staged traps; in turn, the family members are employed to fill these positions. The ordeal was witty and comedic, however the series of events possessed an underlying sense of anxiety that was difficult to pinpoint until the second hour rolled around.

Throughout the story, I paid little attention to the usage of stairs as a distinguishing tool of economic status. By contrast, I had been hoping that the stone souvenir would provide some sort of symbolism. It did not.
My immediate response to the gory final sequences was of distaste and confusion. I hadn't seen the need for such an extravagant escalation of events, though I must say that this concept is not foreign to regular K-Drama viewers. "The writers kind of just...gave up." was my immediate allegation.

​​Immediate afterthoughts consisted of confusion and absolute alarm at towards the vicious killings of the characters. The course had kept me engaged for majority of its run - an utter anomaly, might I declare - then cloaked in the comfort of my concert hoodie for the final fifteen minutes. Only following the review of other recaps was the ending depicted with greater clarity; notwithstanding the director's choice of portraying reality in the darkest, most pessimistic (practical) sense, the unpredictable murders were still overkill for me, especially in regards to the daughter. Park So Dam's character had shown the most compassion for the debt-ridden basement couple, with the mother in close second.

Social implications aside, I'd like to profess appreciation for the cinematography. While the filming style wasn't as creative as I would have liked, various camera angles/heights allowed the audience to grasp a better idea of the setting, further confirming the eerieness of the underground chambers and griminess of the destitute, sewage-flooded semi-basement.
​
A piece of work reflective of extreme income gaps around the world, Parasite was relatable but not particularly pivotal.

​With a name such as "Magic School", there were expectations that Jinyoung's first web drama would consist of cringe-worthy scenes and cheesy dialogue. In addition, I personally did not expect a high budget would be approved for a non-cable mini series.
​
My infinite fondness for Jinyoung is not unheard of on this space, so regardless of the production, I had intended to watch meticulously. Each episode spanned approximately fourteen minutes, with some airing in two parts, each about ten minutes in duration. Airing weekdays at 7 AM KST for a total of three weeks, Magic School concluded in 16 wonderfully thoughtful episodes.

PLOT

The story revolves around four young adults, each with their individually unique worries. Throughout the story, magic manages to connect them together and assist them in either mitigating their concerns or providing a new outlook on life.

Lee Nara (Jinyoung), the protagonist of Magic School, commences university at the start of the story. In the first and second episode, he is depicted as a hard-working student that aims only to fulfill his father's wishes. His mother passed away while giving birth to him, which led his father to express sorrow on his birthday every year. A total of twenty-two years passes before Lee Nara encounters an ambiguous situation with his best friend, Woori (Park Gyuyoung).

While observing that his hyung succeeds in confessing his feelings towards a girl in his school with the help of magic tricks, he too tries his hand at determining his feelings for Woori via enrolment in a privately-operated Magic School (마술학교).

Simultaneously enrolling this Magic School are: a medical intern hailing from the United States, a young professor researching the correlation between magic tricks and science, and the younger brother of a famed magician. Jun (Nickhun) aims to adopt a set of tricks to prove to a young patient that miracles can exist, and that she should not lose hope in recovering from an incurable disease. On the other side of the spectrum is J (Yoon Park), a wealthy, snobby man who refuses to accept his brother's death and demands Master Han to reveal the details of the trick such that he can reunite with his brother. Lee Sung (Kang Yoonjae) enters Magic School as a way of researching magic tricks, only to later find himself encaptured by Master Han's daughter, Han Yiseul (Shin Eunsoo).

​At the start of the story, Nara is a straightforward soul with no other thoughts than fulfilling his father's hopes of him. With the discovery of magic tricks and development of feelings for Woori, he begins to rebel against his father's expectations, even going as far to leave the house in order to continue learning magic tricks.
The scene in which he drinks beer for the first time and becomes intoxicated to the point of passing out is very crucial. Not only does this lend him the courage to confront his father about his newfound hobby, but also allows him to voice out his detest for government workers and their distasteful actions towards his father. This is the turning point that enables Nara to discover his hidden talents and confirm his feelings for Woori (with advice from Master Han), while allowing his father to re-consider his actions towards his son.

​The interactions between Nara and Woori are realistic: Nara's jealousy, denial, and concern for Woori are clearly felt by the viewer as tension builds up between the two. His actions are coherent with the progression of the story and provides a clear view of his thoughts and emotions to viewers.

​​Significant variation in paths are witnessed for the supporting characters. Jun strives to perfect a set of magic skills before his young patient undergoes surgery, but ultimately fails to perform them due to her worsened condition. His goals are clear and his actions coherent, though I found it puzzling that he was permitted into the operation room at all. As a hospital intern not on duty for the day, it is unthinkable that he would be permitted to operate on a patient in a frenzied mental state. Furthermore, surgical masks should not have been removed until departure from the operation room. Following his patient's death, he continues with his charity work; there is no further mention of his late patient nor deceptive hospital co-workers.

J's scenes were repetitive and, personally, overly reflective of someone is denial about a family member's death. In spite of being the eldest amongst the four, his character traits showed immaturity and stubbornness; his decisions were rash and unthoughtful, with the only exception being his offer to lend Jun a hand with his magic performance. Overall, his scenes were confusing and not at all amusing like the others.

​Lee Sung and Yiseul's relationship is odd element to add to the story, but provides sufficient comedic relief from the serious aura of J's supposed search for truth and Nara's temporary familial troubles. Lee Sung was instantly captivated by Yiseul's dancing, but there was little to convince the audience that Yiseul felt similarly about the young professor. She expressed frustration when he announced his sudden departure from Korea, but her words drew a fine line between dependence and longing. Regardless, they showed support for each other in their respective fields and were not subject to death glares from Master Han.

The series of events is quite logical: all characters find themselves in a suitable spot in their lives. As the finale, Woori casts Nara as a magician cameo in one of her works, and the two "live happily ever after". 

Let me say this first: Fabricated City is not for the faint of heart.

As one possessing a weak heart, the first fifteen minutes seriously had me contemplating walking out of the auditorium. Graphic presentations of blood, psychotic mentalities, twisted murder tactics - the 2-hour experience was definitely not devoid of all of these gory, gruesome details.

From what started out as the depiction of the day-to-day activities of a former Taekwondo athlete and current PC game addict, the story quickly progressed to a truly unsettling imprisonment of an innocent citizen.

​This isn't the first time I've sat through a piece of work that commences with the main character being wrongly accused and framed for a crime. And amusingly enough, Lee Jong Suk happened to play the lead in both of the aforementioned small screen productions: Pinocchio introduced an environment of bullying and ridicule resulting from a false accusation and sneaky media play; W founded an indignant former athlete to be a murdere. Both scenarios progressed with the main character setting out on a mission to unveil the truth behind these deaths and, more importantly, to clear the fugitive title from their names.
Kwon Yoo (Ji Chang Wook) took upon a similar role, except that the crime wasn't inflicted on family members, but on an unnamed minor.

I had high expectations for this silver screen creation: Ji Chang Wook is the king of action films, while Shim Eun Kyung is a powerful and wonderfully diverse actress capable of impressing crowds in both serious movies and rom-com dramas.
Frankly, after sitting through the full duration of the film, I can't proclaim it would be something I would watch over and over again.

Shim Eun Kyung is listed as the female lead for the movie. However, her appearances were much shorter than Ji Chang Wook. This isn't my main gripe though. She is the main mastermind behind Kwon Yoo's plan for revenge and righteousness, yet her character was never given the credit she so well deserved. There was sufficient enough of a love line indication between the two that a tiny portion of her personality was revealed to viewers. However, this isn't my main gripe.

• As mentioned previously, Shim Eun Kyung is an extremely talented actress capable of taking a multitude of roles. Mr. Hairy/Yeo-Wool was a woman of few words, mysterious communication preferences, extraordinary hacking and analytical skills, and limited expressions. It was specifically because of this that there was limited potential for adopting various styles and levels of expressions. For clarification, I am by no means suggesting that a rookie actress should have taken on this role. I am simply stating my complaint towards the lack of 發揮機會.

For those that are familiar with my going out tendencies, you'll know that I am someone who refuses to embark on a trip without a plan in place.

Mapping out a route is fairly simple, as is meet-up logistics if all parties share common ground of transit systems. It's not uncommon of me to adopt the role of a lead/logistics planner for catch-up sessions, but this time around, life was made simple since this particular acquaintance was already very accustomed to travelling solo.

As individuals that are either held down with traditional occupations or transitioning between school and work, my network tends to have various schedules of their own, some obviously more hectic than others. "I'm free this weekend!" was the single phrase that led to this surprisingly successful journey downtown.

After an extremely packed train ride with an incredulous number of Blue Jays fans, we arrived feeling excited but also slightly famished. In preparation for the movie that I so dearly coveted, we made a brief stop at Union Summer, this year's open food market at Union Station, before heading off.

< Pictured below: Eva's Apple Pie Chimney Cone w/ Vegan Coconut Whip and various items from Momofuku >

hChimney Cones with Soft Serve had remained an item on my must-try list for a while, and its position peaked significantly after being informed of their absence of Canada Day. Eva's Apple Pie was toasty and crisp, just as I had expected; the sweetness was a bit overbearing though, especially when eaten in conjunction with the caramelized apple filling. Soft serve, unfortunately, wasn't in the cards either as I would be sharing with someone with dairy allergies. Nonetheless, I'm glad I've tried the combination, even if the product wasn't as delicious as I had anticipated.

Savoury options-wise, Union Summer had invited food vendors such as The Burger's Priest, Fresh Off The Boat, True True Pizza, Loaded Pierogi, and more. In all honesty, I had been itching to try True True for the longest time, but mozzarella had us steering clear of the stall for safety reasons.

After I concluded my scrutinization of Momofuku's extremely overpriced selection, we eventually settled for tacos from Mad Mexican. Small, soft-shell tacos were priced individually at $4.50, or 3 for $12. Two Yucatan Pollo Pibi (mild chicken) tacos and one mushroom were ordered from the rather uninterested cashier attendant.

The Chicken tacos turned out to lean towards spicy as opposed to mild, though they were seasoned well and largely succeeded in curbing hunger. The Mushroom proved to be a simpler, but tastier combination of flavours. However, neither warranted their four-dollar price tag due to portion size.