Burrito Quest - Poncho 8

*I wrote this piece almost 2 weeks ago but do to some seizures and other issues it didn't get posted until now. So any references to time will be a few weeks off.

The quest continues this time with Poncho 8. Poncho 8 currently has 5 locations all in central London. I accompanied Priya to work Monday morning and decided rather than rushing home I would use the opportunity to try a new burrito. I had heard about Poncho 8 online through another blog and I had walked past one of the locations before. The location I ended up eating at is right next to St Paul’s Cathedral, which is one of the large tourist attractions downtown. The location is about a mile and a half from Priya’s office. There is actually a Poncho 8 location that was closer to Priya’s office but when I got to that closer location it was only about 9:40am needless to say it would be a little while before lunch time so I decide to keep going. On a surprising note I discovered that this particular Poncho 8 location, closest to Priya’s office, opened at 8am and served breakfast burritos. Part of me wanted to go in and try one but I always prefer a real burrito to a breakfast burrito. Maybe in the future I’ll go ahead and try one but not this time. Since it was so early I just kept walking mostly to waste time. I ended up by St Paul’s around 10am. That location did not open until 10:45am so I had to wait around. I went into St Paul’s for a little while to look around. It wasn't my first time there but it is still a cool building to look at.

            St Paul's Cathedral

Finally it was 10:45 and while I knew I should probably wait until 11am to go there in order to give them more time to have everything ready I just couldn't wait and I went in. I soon discovered I was right to want to wait because their chicken was not ready. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves rather let’s recap how I judge the burritos. I do it based on eight categories. First is the quantity of available options on the menu. Second is the quality of the individual ingredients. Third is the ratio of those ingredients in the burrito basically how much of each ingredient is there. Forth is the strength and execution of the wrap, does the tortilla tear easily or fall apart in my hand? Fifth is the size of the burrito bigger is usually better. Sixth is the overall taste of the burrito. Seventh is the price of the burrito. I’m willing to pay for quality. Eighth and lastly is what I call the two hour tummy factor. Meaning how does the burrito makes me feel a few hours later because it can be great in your mouth but not so great in your digestive system especially if you are walking home, which I almost always am. Now the other variable that is much harder to take into account is that of the individual server who is helping you. Often when a burrito is made it is difficult to know if the ratios of each ingredient given to you are those that the restaurant wants or just those that the server feels like giving. Similarly when it comes to the strength of the wrap it often comes down to the skill and experience of the person wrapping the burrito rather than just the quality of the tortilla. Due to this is can be hard to properly judge a place without going there a few times unless the food is just horrible than what’s the point, right? So I try to be fair to all the places I go especially the first time and focus more on the food rather than the service.

So I walked in at 10:45am and of course I was the only person in the restaurant. The store is fairly small but it can comfortably sit about 15 people, which for a small restaurant in central London is quite a lot. Most of the employees were in the back working on getting all the food prepared for the day. This gave me a chance to look at the menu closely. I found the selection to be quite impressive. I ended up ordering a pork burrito because the chicken was not quite done cooking (downside to being there right when the door opens). I got it on a white tortilla with tomato rice, black beans, pico de gallo (mild) and green chili (medium) salsa, cheese and jalapenos. So let me now rate this burrito.

First comes the quantity of options. Poncho 8 did quite well in this category. They had the typical four meat options (chicken, pork, steak and barbacoa) and then for the vegetarians they had tofu that had been marinated in their special spices. I hadn't seen that anywhere else yet but since I’m not a vegetarian other things stuck out more to me than that. First was they had two tortilla options one was the normal white tortilla while the second was a brown whole wheat tortilla for those who may want to feel like they are eating healthier, even if they’re not. Another nice option was that they had fresh cut jalapenos as one of their fillings. I haven’t seen that anywhere else and I really liked it. The rest was pretty much what would be expected. Two kinds of rice, brown and tomato and three different salsas (mild=pico de gallo: medium=green chili: hot=red chili) then sour cream, cheese, guacamole, grilled vegetables and lettuce. You could order all of this as a burrito, a salad bowl, tacos or what they called a nacho box. I saw someone after me order a nacho box. They basically just dump everything on top of tortilla chips and I admit it looked pretty good because they certainly did not skimp on the amount of ingredients they put on there and you end up with tortilla chips, which looked great.    

Second comes evaluating the individual ingredients on their own. Before I placed my order I asked if I could sample their hot and medium salsa so I could choose which to get. I knew I would get the pico de gallo because I just love it. The medium was the green chili and it was great. It had a nice kick to it and just a hint of sweetness if you left it on your tongue without washing it away with other food or water. The hot salsa was a red chili. It was certainly hotter and while it was good I just didn't like the flavor as much as the medium. I am partial to green chili over red chili salsas so my opinion there really is not a surprise. The rice was fresh and moist. The tomatoes in the white rice made the rice nice and juicy as well as giving it some flavor. The black beans were fine, nothing amazing but nothing bad. The pork, which they said is marinated overnight, was good though I would be interested in trying the chicken. I liked the pork but not as much as say the carnitas at Chipotle. In part because I felt it was shredded a little too much. It would sometimes get stuck between your teeth because the meat was so thin. That tended to only happen when I ate the meat alone once it was mixed with the salsas and other stuff that issue didn't really reoccur still it was shredded a little thin for me. The flavor of the pork was good though I don’t know if the medium salsa was the best compliment for it. The salsas were great but like I said I might not have picked the best combination of meat and salsa. The cheese was great and the jalapenos were fresh and wonderful. The jalapenos might have been my favorite part of the burrito they really had a lot of spice since they were just raw not cooked down in anything else. So overall I would say all the ingredients I had were of high quality.

Third is the ingredients ratio in the burrito. The server I had was very nice to me and did a great job spreading out the ingredients. She gave a nice amount of rice and beans and didn't over stuff it with meat like has happened to me at a few other places. I know meat is the expensive part and so you would think a place that gives you more meat is giving you more for you money but I just find that a burrito with too much meat ends up being a bit boring and plain because all the other ingredients don’t get mixed together as well. So again she put a good amount of pork in the burrito, not too much. The salsas were good, She knew to spread around the pico de gallo a bit more than the green chili salsa because it isn't really a liquid like the other salsas are and thus it won’t weave its way through the burrito the way a liquid salsa can. The cheese was perfect and the jalapenos were laid out all over. At first I thought she gave me too many jalapenos but once I had the burrito I found out that she had been right and I was wrong because they were great.

Forth is the wrap. When the server wrapped my burrito I thought one of the ends was already breaking open as I could see salsa on it already. When I got to my seat and opened the foil I found that the burrito wasn't actually tearing rather some of the salsa must have gotten on her gloves as she rolled the burrito and ended up on the end when she pushed it together. The burrito stayed perfectly wrapped the whole way through. I was even able to stop eating half way through, stand it up and hold it with one hand to take a picture of it and there were no structural issues with a torn tortilla or ingredients spilling out everywhere. The wrap was so good my fingers actually stayed dry, no salsa or meat juices, all the way to the last bite. This was one of the best wrapped burritos I have had here in London so I give Poncho 8 high marks for that.

Fifth is the size. Now part of the reason the burrito held up so good was that it wasn't a huge burrito. Lengthwise it was a bit longer than most of the burritos I have been getting here, including the average Chipotle burrito, but widthwise it was much skinnier. The width was about the size of a coke can. Now there are benefits to skinnier burritos such as I have already mentioned they tend to be easy to hold because you can do it with one hand. Also the ingredients tends to distribute better and you get less areas dominated by a single ingredient (meat bite or rice bite) such as can happen with larger burritos. Still I wish it had been a bit larger around.

Sixth, overall taste. Here I would give Poncho 8 very high marks. I enjoyed every bite of my burrito and while I said earlier I might not have picked the best salsa, meat combination it was still very good. The rice, salsas, cheese and jalapenos were my favorite parts and they all went well together. The pork was good though I really want to try the chicken next time. I think chicken would go better with the medium salsa. I think the hot salsa would have complimented the pork a bit better. Still when I am eating something great and I know it could be even better that makes me pretty happy and excites me to come again.

Seventh is price. The price of the burrito was average. It was 6.30 pounds for a pork burrito and 1 pound for a can of coke. I will say they do keep their coke cans fairly cold. Many places I go around town hand you a coke can that is barely chilled when you first get it so you are lucky to get even 3 good, cold sips out of it. But here their coke stayed cold making the pound definitely worth it.

Eight and lastly is the two hour tummy factor. Now here I don’t know if I can be a fair in my judgment of Poncho 8. After I left the restaurant I had to walk to the British Museum and then to a tube station to get home, about 2 miles of walking. This in of itself is not a big deal but something bad happened in that once I got on the train and headed home I realized I had lost something from my wallet. I began to freak out a little and I had to get on the train going back into London and try and find what I had lost. I spent 3 hours basically running everywhere I had been that day trying to find what I had lost and this led me to develop a stomach ache. Not the kind where you feel nauseous but rather where you have a sharp pain in your side more like a muscle cramp than a stomach ache. The combination of soda, worrying and running around is mostly likely what caused the pain not the food itself. I didn't have any bad bathroom experiences so despite the stomach pain I would have to say Poncho 8 is a good burrito to the digestive system.

So based on my one visit I would have to say that Poncho 8 is already one of my favorite burritos here in London. I would give it an 8.5 out of 10 and I have a feeling the chicken could make it a 9. I would recommend this place to anyone who lives here and wants a good, fresh burrito or perhaps a nacho box. You will get your money’s worth at Poncho 8.

Here are some pictures. 

Other Burrito Blogs
Previous: Wahaca
Next: Burrito Cafe  

Epilepsy - My Problem

What is epilepsy? Epilepsy is a term used to describe a diverse set of neurological disorders. The most common and recognized symptom of epilepsy is a seizure.  Seizures are a symptom of a problem inside the brain most likely caused by disturbances in the electrical activity of the brain. And just as there is no one type of epilepsy there is not one single type of seizure they create. From Grand Mal seizures resulting in convulsions and often leading to unconsciousness to the less severe Tonic seizures that just cause muscle stiffness seizures come in various shapes and sizes.

I bring this up because I have epilepsy. Now an interesting thing I've noticed and talked about with Priya is how differently our individual conditions are treated. For those who don’t know Priya suffers from asthma. She just wrote a great piece about it which you can read here. One of the things she has found is that when she tells people she has asthma a majority of them are not very sympathetic because there seems to be a common misconception that asthma is just not that big of a deal. People tend to associate the word asthma with minor forms of the condition and seem almost unaware of the more severe forms of asthma such as Priya suffers from. I on the other hand suffer from a minor form of epilepsy yet when I use the word epilepsy people almost always seem surprised and immediately sympathetic to me because most people tend to associate the word epilepsy with the more severe forms of the condition such as people who have grand mal seizures and end up convulsing on the floor. But my epilepsy is not one of the more severe types of epilepsy. What this means is that unlike Priya my day to day routine and general well-being are not greatly affected by my condition but I would say that my life is still greatly affected by this condition and I would like to share some of that with you.

A typical month for me means dealing with 3 to 5 seizures often grouped together in the span of a few days. This number can increase especially when certain factors like lack of sleep, stress, constant worrying or alcohol consumption are increased in my life. The cause or causes of epilepsy are basically unknown though it is often associated with certain issues, like head trauma, overuse of drugs/alcohol and even just genetics so unfortunately I can’t say how I got my epilepsy. Due to the mystery surrounding the cause of epilepsy there are no real cures for it rather there are only treatment options meant to help control and/or minimize it. Each day I take two pills, one in the morning and one in the evening, to help control my seizures. The drugs are meant to reduce the number of seizures I have as well as make them shorter and less detrimental overall but they can't actually prevent them from happening.

I suffer from what are known as Absence seizures the result being a brief loss of consciousness. So what are my seizures like? Well I would like tell you exactly what my seizures are like and what happens when I have them but the truth is I just don’t know because in a sense I’m not there. Everything I know about them comes from what other people have told me over the years. My eyes remain open but they glaze over. I’ll look around like I’m lost or stare at my hands and then I may ask some innocuous or odd questions like where I’m I? What are we doing? Even sometimes, what’s my name? I also tend to clench my fists very tightly. This can become a problem if I am holding something like my phone or a remote control. Priya has told me several times she thought I was going to break my phone because she could hear the plastic cracking in my hand as I squeezed it harder and harder. Even worse is when I have actually been holding Priya’s hand and just started clamping down on it to the point of causing her to cry out. The seizures themselves are quite short rarely lasting more than 15 to 20 seconds at which point I’m told I come back but in truth I don't fully return. My motor skills are fine but my ability to have a normal conversation suffers. I tend to be a bit hazy about what is going on for at least a few hours sometimes for much longer. It’s like I’m running on autopilot because while my brain is back it’s not doing its full job. After a seizure my brain doesn't seem to keep note of what I’m actually doing or saying meaning that days even hours from that moment I won’t have any memory of what happened at or around that time. If I make a promise or ask a question I won’t remember the promise I made or the answer to the question I asked. It’s like my brain forgets to hit the record button after the seizure is over. I can’t even say how long this lasts because I don’t just suddenly wake up and realize I was gone. Rather when it’s over all I can really tell you is that I sometimes figure out that I was gone. Sometime this happens because I notice big gaps of time in my mind or just by looking at the clock and realizing I can’t remember the last hour or two. Other times I just look around and realize I don’t even know how I got to where I am at. There have been times here in London where I've been downtown walking around and the next thing I know I am sitting in the living room back here at home. Clearly I had a seizure when I was downtown, which lasted it’s normal 20 seconds or so but then I continued on my way and got all the way home (a 1 to 2 hour trip depending on where I am downtown with multiple public transportation transfers) with no apparent problem but also no memory of doing it. This happened in China, in Korea and in the States as well. It is very strange to be somewhere and not really know how you got there.

Now when it comes to day to day activities my epilepsy is not a great detriment to me. Like I said before I tend to only have seizures three to five times a month unless it is a bad week in which case I can have anywhere up to eight to ten in a week but that is quite rare now thanks to the medication I am on. Also while this is not always the case my seizures tend to happen when it is the most convenient for them to happen. It’s like my brain knows when it can turn off and when it can’t. So if I’m in a stressful situation my brain will wait to check out until after that situation is over. This means my seizures often happen at night or first thing in the morning if I didn't sleep well. So really I can live my life almost as if I don’t have an issue. I never feel the need to bring it up with people unless it actually happens. And even then if a person who doesn't know I have seizures saw me have one they might not even notice or figure it out due to their brevity. Most likely I would just come off as a little odd. The fact is there really is nothing I can do once a seizure has happened. I can’t take a medicine to make it stop or reduce it as one can with asthma but I also don’t have to worry about needing to be hospitalized or anything like that due to how minor the physical detriments of my condition are.  

Now from what I've discovered from my friends and family I've had this problem for most of my life but the fact is I never knew about it until towards the end of my undergraduate university career. It was then that the girl I was dating clued me into what was happening and when I explained it to friends and family members they told me I had been like that for years. I was quite surprised no one had told me about it sooner. I went to a doctor and explained what I could about the issue and was told I likely had some minor form of epilepsy. They couldn't tell me the cause of it because as I said before there is no known cause and without knowing a cause there really can’t be a cure. I was given a medication for my seizures around 8 years ago and have been taking drugs ever since. I've tried three different medicines at this point, I think, and the one I am currently on seems to be the best. It seems to minimize the amount of times I have the seizures. The other thing it does is that it actually helps me feel the seizures coming, which helps me know later on that I had one. Now when I say it helps me feel them coming that usually means I only realize it a few seconds before it happens. Often when I tell someone with me I think I’m going to have a seizure I almost instantly have one. So feeling it coming on really is of no benefit in stopping or curbing the seizures but like I said it does help me later realize I had one because when I “wake up” out of the haze I remember feeling like I was going to have a seizure and I can then put the pieces of the puzzle together faster.

So really, what’s the big deal, right? Well I can’t pretend it is a big deal physically like Priya’s condition is because my condition isn't putting me in risk of permanent physical damage but I have discovered that the seizures have brought with them problems that I constantly struggle with. The number one issue brought on by these seizures is the issue of memory in that my memory is terrible. Now the seizures themselves most directly affect my short-term memory. As I said when I have them my brain stops recording what is going on and I end up not remembering large portions of the day. This has led to many problems especially when I was younger and didn't know I actually had epilepsy. In high school I often got into arguments with friends about things they told me I had said or done, which since I had no memory of them I swore they were making up or were just plain wrong. While I no longer swear I am right about anything this problem persists in that I constantly forget things I said or did and I have to often be reminded of them. This has led to many embarrassing situations for me. Plus as someone who is not a fan of being mistaken it is very difficult to live with the fact that nothing I “remember” can be fully trusted. The fact is everything I think I remember may in fact be distorted whether I know it or not. And there is simply nothing I can do about the stuff I don’t remember it is just a constant issue I have to deal with that I might be and most likely am missing something I should know or be doing.

Now while the seizures most directly affect my short-term memory my long-term memory also suffers. The more holes there are in my short-term memory the more my long-term memory is weakened. I have discovered that when I think back about my past a majority of the things I “remember” aren't actual memories themselves but rather the telling or discussing of memories. I have stories I can tell you about my past but when I think about them most of them come up in my head as words not pictures. What I am remembering is having told the story before or hearing someone else tell it. I don’t remember actually being in the story. It’s kind of like remembering a book you've read in that the pictures you have of the story are pictures you've made up based on the words you read. In a similar way many of the pictures I have in my head are ones I've basically made up based on the words I remember. I won't remember what a person was wearing, or what movie we were watching or what we had to eat that night these types of details just don't exist in my head. There are of course certain exceptions to this but for the most part my long-term memory is one filled with huge gaps and holes that often make it feel like I don’t really know how I got to where I’m at now.

A bad memory is something that brings a lot of stress with it. My closest relationships (wife, family, friends) are constantly being tested as I forget the most basic things such as how their day went, the name of their co-workers/friends, the plans for the next day and many other things. With friends, particularly ones I don’t get to see often, it can be difficult because I often don’t remember things we had done together or spoken about in the past. On Facebook if I hear from an old friend I often have to do some research through old emails to see if I can find out anything about what we last spoke about because I’ll usually have no idea. I've had catch up sessions with friends from high school and college and the most common thing to do is reminisce about the past but the fact is that is very difficult for me because for the most part I don’t remember a majority of the things they want to talk about. I can’t tell you how many times I just go along with a story and say I remember something when in fact I don’t.  Besides with my relationships my bad memory is also a detriment to my work life or potential one. I've been on multiple interviews here in London and I find that while I have all my jobs listed on my resume for the last 5 years many of them I don’t actually remember much of what I did there. I have a list of my responsibilities for all the jobs but most of which are basic generalizations and it is often difficult for me to remember the more specific aspects of the jobs. This has made many of my interviews very difficult.  Perhaps one of the most frustrating consequences of my condition is the forgetting of things I've learned or studied. I went to four years of undergrad school and 2 years of graduate school and yet for the most part I remember very little of what I studied. It’s like I paid those tens of thousands of dollars just so I could tell people about what I should know rather than what I actually do know. When I read a book I can talk about it and recall it quite well as long as I am invested in that topic but once I move on I retain a lot less information than I feel I should.

In truth the strongest connection I have to my past is through my writing. For school I have papers I've written, with friends/family I have emails or letters and with my personal thoughts I have journals and blogs. Writing really is one of the most important things I do because it allows me to maintain a link with my past that I would most likely lose if I chose not to do it. This very piece is a good example because I actually wrote a majority of this about two weeks ago but then I had a very bad week of seizures, somewhere around ten seizures in a week. The week began normally but on Wednesday and Thursday I had numerous seizures and ended up forgetting a majority of what I had done not only those days but the days before that and following it. It was not until I went back to our blog and saw Priya’s entry about her asthma and talked to her about it that I remembered I had been writing a piece about my epilepsy. Really everything going back to the week before is quite hazy for me. Apparently I began reading a book last week and based on the bookmark I got about half way through but when I look at it now I don’t remember any of it so I will have to start over. I’m sure if I read it again things will be familiar but there is just no way to really refresh myself without rereading it. Priya and I watched our weekly TV shows together and I forgot what happened in the episodes we watched so I had to go over them again before this week’s episodes. I Skyped with my parents over the weekend and I had no memory of what things they did and didn't know about what was going on with me. I talked about and made references to things going on in my life that I was certain they were aware of only to find out I had not told them about most of that stuff. I listened to podcasts that had certain information I remember wanting to talk or write about only to now not be able to remember it. I've already re-listened to 3 podcasts from last week just trying to get back what I lost or what I failed to hold on to. The week was so bad that it actually hurt memories dating back much older than a week. I couldn't recall exactly what was going on with my visa paper work or what was happening with my attempts to get a bank account. Even with my search for a job I couldn't recall exactly what applications I had sent in and which I still needed to work on. These are things (visa, bank account, jobs) I have been working on for months yet one bad week of seizures can throw my brain so out of order that I struggle to remember what I have or haven’t done. It really can be quite difficult to deal with. Again my issues do not bring with them any real physical hardships or limitations the way Priya’s do but they do bring real problems with them.

I often wonder what I would be willing to give up just so I could remember my life the way most people are able to remember theirs? I’m sure it would depend on when you asked me but if you asked me today I would say I would be willing to give up quite a lot to rid myself of these seizures and just be able to clearly remember what I did yesterday and what I plan to do tomorrow along with all the other basic memories people have. Unfortunately that is not an option but on the bright side, in a few weeks I’ll most likely have completely forgotten that I even wished for this.  

It's Just Asthma

3 people die every day in the UK because of asthma (www.asthma.org.uk). Asthma is not just being short of breath. Imagine trying to run a marathon while breathing through a straw. Well that's what it can be like everyday for an asthma sufferer. Imagine gasping for air as your body goes into shock, unable to call or ask for help. That's what an attack feels like. Asthma at its very worst can be debilitating. 

Of the people diagnosed with asthma only 5% are diagnosed with severe asthma. What's the difference? A person with mild to medium asthma is able to live a relatively normal life while controlling the disease with daily medication and therapy. They will still suffer from the normal triggers and occasional asthma attacks, but the recovery period and response to drugs is relatively good. A person with severe asthma is known as "therapy resistant". They do not respond to drugs and therapy making the asthma extremely difficult to control - every day is lived with a fear of another attack which can be brought on by the tiniest of things. Laughter, walking and talking at the same time, climbing up the stairs, a whiff of perfume. People suffering with severe asthma will know just how serious the disease is. All too often you hear people say "it's just asthma"... and I was one of them. 

So why am I writing about asthma? Because I have it. I was diagnosed with asthma when I was 18 and have learned to live with it throughout my adult life. It started off as the occasional bout of wheezing or coughing brought on by the usual triggers (pet dander, pollen...). But in recent years it has gotten worse. Controlling it seems to be getting harder and harder. I have been hospitalized 4 times in just as many years. Two of those times being extremely serious - not just a case of being monitored after an attack. As silly as this may sound, I'm embarrassed by it. So I'm writing this in part to admit to myself how serious a disease asthma really is, but also in hoping that someone else that might read this may be able to relate to it. 

A week ago I was admitted to hospital for 3 days following a serious asthma attack. I had gone to bed on Monday night with a cold, by Tuesday morning I woke up wheezing, so I took my emergency inhaler but it made little difference. Still, I continued to get ready for work, but my chest and throat became tighter and tighter and taking the inhaler made no difference at all. I couldn't get enough breath in me to speak and my heart was racing. Zach called for an ambulance... 

Before I go on, allow me to briefly explain what happens during a serious attack. First, your lungs close up, it's hard to push air out so you use all your strength to heave out some air just so you can pull some back in. It exhausts you. Your lungs continue to tighten causing your chest to tighten sorely, each tiny whiff of air you get hurts. Your throat closes, like someone is wrapping their hands around it as tight as they can. Your heart beat starts to race faster and faster as it tries to keep oxygenated blood flowing. Slowly your body will start reserving blood by pumping less to your fingers and toes, legs and arms as it's being used to keep your vital organs functioning - your brain, kidneys, liver and so on. This causes your hands and feet to become numb and feel pins and needles. If you don't get help quickly a severe attack can result in death. 

So this is what happened to me when I was admitted to hospital. I was immediately put on nebulizers and oxygen, a magnesium drip and given all kinds of shots. The nebulizers helped open my airways some and I was able to get some air through my lungs - though not easily. But my heart rate would not slow down. A normal heart rate is between 60 and 100 bpm (beats per minute). I was at 157. It was over 24 hours before it went down to 117 bpm. My breathing continued to struggle, but any more nebulizers would only exasperate my heart beat more, which will make breathing harder... it's a cycle, so I was put on a breathing machine with tubes down my throat. My lungs were pumped on a steady flow. Eventually I was able to breath on my own and was kept in for monitoring. 

During this time I received some upsetting news. Not only did my GP doctor have me on the wrong treatment for the last 2 years, she'd also been sending the wrong information to the Asthma Care Clinic where they were looking into my case about my medical history. It's hard enough to deal with having asthma, but when you find out the person you trust to help you has only made it worse, upsetting is an understatement in how you feel. I was angry, upset, scared and anxious. I was very lucky - it was by fluke that the doctor treating me in hospital happened to pick up on all this by taking the time to ask me questions and really listening to me. Anyone living in the UK will not be unfamiliar with stories of GP failure. You just never think it will happen to you. Had it not been for him I'd probably still be on the wrong drugs and keeping the affects of asthma I suffer a secret. 

Why keep it a secret? To be blunt, I felt embarrassed. Like most people I thought asthma was 'just getting a bit out of breath' - so why was I getting out of breath and then some? Why does it take me 2 or 3 weeks to get over a cold while it takes everyone else 2 or 3 days? I felt embarrassed not being able to keep up with others when climbing up several flights of stairs. I'm only 32, I shouldn't be this way. I should be able to laugh without catching a wheeze! Everyone else I know who is my age is fit, healthy - doesn't have to think twice before sprinting for a bus. And here I am... in what I thought of as a sorry state. 

Add to that the common perception of 'it's just asthma"  - I felt like telling people what I actually go through will come across as exaggeration, over reacting to what I have, or a ploy for sympathy. It didn't help that these were the reactions I received in the past from people (including my GP!). So I kept saying I'm ok, it's just asthma, I can deal with it. Somehow I felt like people would think it's my fault. That I didn't exercise enough or eat a healthy diet - when in fact I do both these things and more to stay as healthy as I can. 

It got to a point where even at work I was trying to hide any inkling of asthmatic symptoms. I would leave my desk to take my inhaler in privacy. I'd suppress the need to cough or sneeze because I knew it will be followed by shortness of breath. Sometimes I'd go outside just to take a deep breath (even now I'd give anything just to be able to take a long deep breath and actually feel the air in my lungs). A couple of weeks ago we had our annual charity walk (an 11 mile walk to help raise reading awareness). I took part last year, but this year I declined. I said it was because I wanted to take advantage of a quiet office to get certain tasks done. While that was true, what I didn't tell my colleagues is that I also didn't take part because I knew having to walk and talk at the same time I was sure to wheeze the whole way through. I didn't want them thinking I can't even walk for a while without panting. Now I know if I were just walking in silence I'd have no problem, but you can hardly walk in silence when you are with friends and colleagues, right? Even if they knew why it would just feel wrong. 

It also happens that since I started the job I'm in now is also the same period of time that my asthma has been getting progressively worse. So I feel like my time at Penguin has been a string of hospital visits and bad asthma attacks resulting in time off. Even I was beginning to think of myself as that employee that's always off sick (even if it was just one day after months). If I thought that way about myself I could only imagine what my colleagues thought... more importantly my boss. I was feeling increasingly embarrassed and ashamed, always saying I'm ok when I knew I was't because I was worried of what people will think of me. 

I'm now beginning to understand that having asthma is nothing to be ashamed of. It's not something I brought onto myself, nor did I do anything to exasperate it to result in severe asthma. It's just the way my body is. The best I can do is try to manage it and get the best treatment possible (often easier said than done due to the NHS post code lottery). So begins a new path of new drugs, new therapy and a new GP - with the help of a case worker from the asthmatics clinic. Support I never had before. 

It's also time to be honest and up front about my asthma and how bad it is - which doesn't mean it will always be bad if I am on the right treatment. I know people will still have preconceptions about what asthma is, but it's time for me to get past what they might think. 

I don't think I'm the only person to feel embarrassed about a health condition they have, but by sharing this I hope those that know me will be a little more understanding of me. 

Practicing at Chipotle: One Day, Twice the Embarrassment

Well last Saturday was an interesting day for me and one where I ended up feeling embarrassed twice but for two completely opposite and opposing reasons.

At the end of April I finally received my marriage visa and shortly after that I got my National Insurance Number.  What that means is am I now eligible to work here in the UK. Now while that is great, the fact that I am allowed to work here obviously does not guarantee me a job. I have spent the last month and a half looking for work and so far I have nothing official. I have spent most of my time searching for teaching jobs because that is the field of work I most enjoy and have the most experience in. The problem with getting a teaching job here is first that it requires criminal background checks from any country I have lived in in the past 5 years, which for me includes South Korea, China and the States. While that might sound simple enough it in fact takes a lot of paper work, money and time to get it all accomplished. I have sent in all my applications for my criminal records almost three weeks ago and now I am just waiting to get them back. The second problem with teaching jobs is that June is not the best time of the year to acquire them because this just isn’t the season in which teachers are needed. Now I do have an open invitation to be a part of a teaching placement agency once all my criminal background checks have cleared. That would basically make me a substitute teacher in London and possibly open up some doors for long term assignments or even permanent positions.  But just like with regular teaching this is not the best season for substitute teaching so work will not likely be plentiful once I am allowed to substitute.

Due to these facts I have also been looking for other jobs at least to get me through the summer. I have mostly focused on admin or data entry types of jobs because I have some experience with those things and all in all I don’t mind office work. I've had a few leads but nothing has materialized. After five weeks of searching it’s gotten to the point where I will take almost any job no matter what it is. What that led to was that one day while I was at Chipotle for a much needed burrito I talked to the person in charge and asked if they were hiring. They said they were, gave me an application and asked me to come in for an interview later in the week. I went for the interview and had some fun talking to the manager he was from Poland and just a nice guy. Three days later I got a call and he asked me to come in for what they call a practice shift. Apparently the way Chipotle decides who to hire is not based solely on the application but also on some actual field testing. They ask you to come in and work for a day, anywhere from 3 to 8 hours and then they decide if they want to see you again at which point they offer you a second practice day at the end of which they make their final decision. The first day you work for free, though you do get a free burrito, then they pay you for the second day.

So my first practice day came Saturday and before I had even gone there I had spent the whole week wrestling with the idea of if I really wanted to work there. First of all the job does not pay very well. I would end up spending around 15% of what I made in a day just to get there and back home. Second it is a job in food service. I have not worked in food service since I was in high school and I must say I never really enjoyed it. I much preferred retail service to food because food service requires more manual labor. Also there is just something about seeing the food prepared and taking care of the restaurant that makes the food somewhat less appealing than it was before you saw behind the curtain. My last issue was simply the fact that I am 32 years old and I admit the idea of working in a fast food restaurant is just kind of embarrassing. Now when you need money you need money but still part of me couldn’t shake the feeling that I could do better and I just wouldn’t want to admit to anyone back home that I was working there. The fact is Chipotle really isn’t a name I want on my resume. Now the other part of me said not to worry about it since I would likely only be working there for a few months until I could find a teaching job and of all the jobs to take for only a few months this would be a great one. It would allow me to get a lot of free burritos and make some friends who I could connect with even after I left. Still when I was on the train at 7 am on Saturday morning headed to my first practice day I couldn’t help but feel a bit self-conscious at the idea of working there.  

   

So I got to Chipotle on time and was soon paired with one of the employees who would basically be my mentor for the day instructing me on what to do and how to do it. But before I could start my shift I had to be given a Chipotle shirt and hat to wear. Now at first I liked the idea but then I saw that the shirt and hat they handed me had clearly been used before and by the looks of them used quite extensively. Now I understand the reasoning of sharing hats, that really isn’t that big of a deal, still when the black hat they hand you has a bright white ring on the inside of it from where people have been sweating a lot it’s not the most desirable of things to put on your head. But the shirt was worse not only could I tell it had been used before but it was obvious that it hadn’t been washed since the last person used it. It was a bit hardened in certain areas, particularly in the arm pits, and discolored again from sweat. But hey you have to do what you have to do so I put on “my” uniform and went out with the person who was going to direct me.

We began the day with making hard taco shells and tortilla chips. These items were not shipped in from somewhere else but rather were made in house. We took soft tortillas and turned them into shells and chips using a deep fryer they had there. Making the chips was more difficult because it required doing multiple things at once including keeping an eye on how long the chips had been in the fryer as well as liming (squeezing fresh limes on to the chips) and salting the chips. And I must say squeezing limes by hand makes your fingers sore quickly. You also have to learn how to toss the chips in a bowl without spilling them all over the floor so that you can maximize and even out the spread of lime juice and salt over all the chips. Needless to say I spilled and burnt a few chips during this process. After that I was asked to open a bunch of bags that they put the chips into and then distribute the tortilla chips evenly throughout all the bags. It had to be at least a hundred bags that they started out with. They try to make enough chips to get through the first half of the day and then the evening crew comes in and makes more chips for the dinner crowd. I was pleased to find that the chips were made fresh every day and now that I was the one who made them I knew I wouldn't be quite as critical of any bag of chips I bought in the future. If the lime juice and salt didn't seem to be evenly spread over all the chips I would understand because man that is not easy to do. After that I had to wash a lot of dishes and juice a lot of lemon and limes that they use for various things like the rice.

At 10:40am we all stopped working and where given our lunches. They ate at this time because it was right before the store opened up for lunch and this way they could get everyone’s break out of the way and not have to worry about anyone leaving or changing spots during the rest of their shift. While this made sense I admit only getting a 20 minute break 3.5 hours into your shift wasn't what I would consider ideal. When you are working there a fellow employee makes your burrito for you (no one makes their own) and they were quite generous with the portions they gave and basically asked me the whole way down the line how much of everything I wanted. I had a nice carnita burrito with pico de gallo and green chili salsa and it was great. During the break I also got to chat with all the people I was working with. Up to that point I had only met each of them once and spent most of the time with the girl who was training me. Now I tried to ask them all about their time at Chipotle, how long they had been there and what they thought about it but they all wanted to ask me questions so I ended up doing more of the talking than listening. Now one of the most difficult things I found to deal with during my day was understanding what I was being told to do. The reason for this was threefold. First was that the restaurant was very loud. The music and machines made a lot of noise so just hearing people’s voices was often difficult. Second was that I was the only person working there who was a native English speaker everyone else spoke English as a second language. The girl who was teaching me was from Portugal, the manager was from Hungry, the kitchen chef was from Spain, another girl was from Poland and the last girl who had worked there the longest besides the manager was originally from Africa, then moved to France for 5 years and finally came to London about a year and a half ago. What this meant is that while they all spoke English to a certain degree they all had different accents some of which were very heavy often making it very difficult for me to understand what they were saying to me even when I could actually hear them. Third and lastly was just the simple fact that I didn’t know what I was doing and most of the stuff they were asking me to do while it seems simple from the outside (make taco shell, make tortilla chips, wash the dishes, etc) all required me to use machines I had never seen before and follow very precise often extensive details, which I was trying desperately to memorize as they went through them. I tried to get into the habit of listening to what they said and repeating it back to them to see if I had it right but even when I got it right it was difficult. For me it’s just one of those things that when I try repeat something that takes numerous steps after only doing it once I often mix up or forget steps if I try to do it too quickly. And here I was trying to do things very quickly in order to show them that I was capable of doing the job and doing it well. I did get the hang of most of the stuff they showed me.

After the doors were opened for customers I was placed at the beginning of the line to steam the tortillas and put rice into them. Depending on how many servers were in the line (more when it was busy, less when it wasn't) I sometimes made it all the way to placing the meat into the burrito. Very quickly I discovered I had to speak very loudly for customers to be able to hear me. I often felt like I was shouting at them. For the most part working in the line was my favorite part of the work day. I liked it when I got to say hello to customers, ask them if they had been there before and just help them out whether it was with suggestions or just making sure they got exactly what they wanted. I had time to even chat with a few of the customers when there was no one else in line. I got to see how many times they had been there and what they thought of the place. All in all I thought this was where I was doing my best work but a majority of the time I was there, during the slower periods, most of the other employees where in the back cooking or doing other things.

Then about five and a half hours into my shift the girl who had been working there the longest (and who I had spoken to the least) came over to me by the front of the line and asked me to follower her. I said okay and started walking with her and I quickly figured out that we were walking down into the break room where I had originally been given my hat and shirt for the day. Now on the way part of me was glad that I might get to go home but part of me was also quite aware that the fact that they were getting ready to talk to me before my possible eight hour shift was over was not a good sign. We sat down together and she asked me what I thought about my day so far. I told her I was enjoying it especially trying to make the tortilla chips since I never knew how much work went into them. While I was speaking the manager walked in and sat down. Once I finished talking the girl (not manager) explained to me how Chipotle was really a team oriented place and that when a new person comes in they make sure to talk to everyone and see what they thought and then she said they had decided not to offer me a second practice shift but rather thought I didn't quite fit in there. I admit I was pretty surprised when she said this. I remained calm and just asked her if there was anything in particular she could tell me about why they decided not to go with me. She went on to focus mostly on the issue of enthusiasm, though she herself didn't seem to know that word.  She said that I didn't smile enough and she expected that especially someone with my history of liking Chipotle for so long I would come across as more excited during the day. I told them that I was a little nervous as the beginning of the day but after that had been enjoying myself but in the end it was their decision and while I was sad that I wasn't going to be given a chance I appreciated their time. I also told them that they would see me again because I would still be coming there to eat and I look forward to saying hi.

Now I find that once someone has told me that they don’t think I am right for a job my mind immediately begins to race trying to figure out what I could have done that made them not like me. I also try to ask questions and stay calm. In this case I was particularly careful not to say anything I would regret later since I knew this was a place I would be returning to. But I won’t lie part of me wanted to tell them that there weren't really a lot of times provided to me where smiling would be necessary or natural and the times that it was, when I was with the customers, I felt I was very friendly and enjoying myself but neither of them was around to see that. When someone is telling you how to make chips or wash dishes and you can barely hear or understand them, is smiling natural or even important? I wanted to explain that I was concentrating on doing everything correctly and remembering all the things they were telling me. While I don’t see my face and how it looks when I feel different things I know for sure that when I am concentrating/focusing on learning and remembering what another person is telling me I don’t have a big grin on my face but is that really that big of a deal? I also wanted to point out that a majority of the morning none of them had been smiling either so does that mean they were improperly hired and Chipotle doesn't want to make the same mistake twice ,or in this case seven times? But I was good and didn't say anything snide or snarky to them rather I just thanked them for their time and went on my way.

Now on my way out I really was mostly just surprised that I had been found wanting for this job and thinking about what am I going to do now. But on my trip home I couldn't help but continue going over everything in my mind about what I had done or who I might have offended/bothered to make them not want me to work there. And during this time I became more and more embarrassed by the fact that I couldn't even get a job at Chipotle.

So on the way there I was self-conscious about telling people I work at Chipotle and on the way home I was ashamed at the thought of telling people I didn't get a job at Chipotle. My embarrassment had taken a 180 degree turn and I found myself not wanting to share any of this with anyone. Then as is often the case for me when I’m feeling embarrassed those feelings often shift to being angry and the longer I contemplated over my day the more upset I became with the people there. Really the only person I thought I might have bothered was the girl who was the one who told me that they as a team decided I wasn't right for the job. During my training/testing she had only spoken to me once about how to clean the glass. She said not to spray the glass but rather to spray the cloth so that nothing gets into the food, which makes perfect sense and I took her instruction and followed it though I know for a fact I didn't smile because I was just trying to understand what she was saying. Out of all the people there her accent was the hardest for me to understand I still don’t know her name because she only said it twice and even after the second time I couldn't make out what it was and I didn't want to ask again. I then thought about being on the line and feeling like I was doing as well as any of them and in fact was the easiest person for any of the customers to understand so what was the problem with me? And come on you barely watched me with the customers isn't that really the most important place to judge me because everything else you can learn with time and practice. Now while I am using the word angry I wasn't fuming mad or anything just disappointed and annoyed.

By the time I got home Priya and Kan (her dad) were already trying to console me and tell me that I was too good for that job and that they didn't pick me because they probably just didn't want someone there who could move up the corporate ladder faster than any of them. While I don’t think either of those things are true I did appreciate their kindness. They then told me not to lose hope and that they were sure I would find a job better than that. I sure hope they are right. Priya also said it might be good that I didn't get a job there because if I worked there for a long time I might end up getting sick of Chipotle or it might lose its luster since I would be making it and working with it every day. Those things might be true but we’ll never know.

Anyway as I said at the beginning it was an interesting day because I got to feel embarrassed twice for two opposite and opposing reasons. First was at the idea of working at Chipotle and second that I was not being chosen to work at Chipotle. I mean obviously rejection is never fun no matter who or where it is coming from but in a way it hurts a little more when it comes from a source that you feel like if anyone should be doing the rejecting it’s you. I mean as arrogant as it sounds I can’t help but feel that I should be the one saying no to them not the other way around. But hey it gave me an embarrassing (twofold) story I could share with the world because what is the point of being embarrassed if you don't eventually end up telling other people about it for a laugh? Hopefully it made some of you smile and thus worthy candidates to work at Chipotle since obviously it didn't make me smile...but maybe one day it will.   

(This is the actual Chipotle I worked at for the day)

114-16 Charring Cross Road, London

On a side note I also recently got rejected by a local bookstore and I even have experience working at a bookstore. Things aren't exactly looking bright right now.

Burrito Quest – Wahaca

The next leg of my burrito journey took me to Wahaca, which like Las Iguanas is another sit down restaurant. Priya and I went there for lunch before we watched the new Star Trek movie. Wahaca has numerous locations all around London and Priya has been there many times before so she knew what we were getting into. The location we went to is in Westfield Shopping Center at Shepards Bush. Westfield is one of the larger indoor shopping malls in London. Wahaca is attached to the mall but can only be entered into from the outside. It’s on the south side of the mall.

Now unlike Las Iguanas Priya and I decided to get our own dishes and of course I went for one of their burritos. Again I judge the burritos based on eight categories. First is the quantity of available options on the menu. Second is the quality of the individual ingredients. Third is the ratio of those ingredients in the burrito basically how much of each ingredient is there. Forth is the strength and execution of the wrap, does the tortilla tear easily or fall apart in my hand? Fifth is the size of the burrito bigger is usually better. Sixth is the overall taste of the burrito. Seventh is the price of the burrito. I’m willing to pay for quality. Eighth and lastly is what I call the two hour tummy factor. Meaning how does the burrito makes me feel a few hours later because it can be great in your mouth but not so great in your digestive system especially if you are walking home, which I almost always am. Now the other variable that is much harder to take into account is that of the individual server who is helping you. Often when a burrito is made it is difficult to know if the ratios of each ingredient given to you are those that the restaurant wants or just those that the server feels like giving. Similarly when it comes to the strength of the wrap it often comes down to the skill and experience of the person wrapping the burrito rather than just the quality of the tortilla. Due to this is can be hard to properly judge a place without going there a few times unless the food is just horrible than what’s the point, right? So I try to be fair to all the places I go especially the first time and focus more on the food rather than the service.

I ordered their slow cooked pork burrito. The burrito was filled with shredded pork, frijoles, shredded cabbage, green rice, crema and avocado salsa, pink pickled onions, habanero chilies and was wrapped with a toasted flour tortilla wrapped. It also came with a side of totopos.

So let us begin. First is the quantity of options. Now unlike burrito places like Chipotle or Chilangos where you walk down the line and tell the person exactly what you want in your burrito Wahaca only has a few burritos on their menu whose ingredients are set. I greatly prefer the places where I have complete control over what goes in my burrito but since Wahaca’s is a more formal restaurant I was not surprised to find their choices to be limited. Still I consider these limitations to be shortcomings for Wahaca.

Second is the quality of the individual ingredients. Here I can say that a majority of the ingredients were quite nice. They were fresh and well cooked. The pork was very tender and well marinated. The crema and avocado salsas tasted very good but they were a little too mild for my taste. The menu warned customers that the pork burrito was the spicy burrito but I didn't find it to be very spicy at all. The chilies were good as well but I thought they would add more heat than they did. I ended up adding some of the hot sauce they had on the table to my burrito to give it more of a kick. I didn't expect to like the pink pickled onions but they were quite good and complemented the rest of the flavors very well. The rice was moist, which is good, but it was also fairly bland. Now since I had salsa and chilies and other ingredients mixed in the blandness of the rice was not a big deal but Priya got a side of rice and I had some of it plain and found it to be very underwhelming. The cabbage was probably my least favorite part of the burrito. I know a lot of people prefer cabbage to lettuce in their burritos because cabbage tends to be crunchier and maintains that crunch throughout the burrito. But for me I don’t really like that harder texture and crunch in my burrito and thus I prefer lettuce to cabbage in my burritos. Lastly the tortilla was okay but they toasted it, which I did not like. A toasted tortilla becomes very fragile and difficult to hold plus I don’t think it adds anything beneficial to the flavor so that was certainly something I thought detracted from the burrito rather than enhancing it.  

Third, the ratio of the ingredients. The ratios were okay but not great. There was quite a lot of pork, salsa and cabbage throughout the burrito but the chilies, onions and rice were sparser and spread out awkwardly in the burrito. This was most noticeable with the onions. The pickled onions were collected in a large pile at the very center of the burrito so I only ended up having 3 or 4 bites with any onion. And as I said before they were surprisingly good so I wish they had been spread out more evenly.  Now while I liked the salsas there was quite a large amount spread out in the burrito so it was a very wet burrito with almost no bite that didn't include large amounts of salsa. Now I’m sure many people would like it this way but for me I like some bites that are drier allowing you to taste the meat and/or rice more clearly. And there was just too much cabbage in the burrito. Obviously since I don’t like cabbage in my burrito I might be being a bit unfair to the ratio but I felt that even if I had wanted cabbage I wouldn’t have wanted as much as I got. In a lot of burritos the rice dominates the space but in this one it felt like the cabbage did. So overall I would again say the ratios were okay but if I were in charge I would definitely change of few of the things I noted.

Forth is the strength and execution of the wrap. As I said before they toasted this burrito, which I’m not a fan of because what that usually does, and did in this case, is make the tortilla brittle and break easily. With this burrito there was simply no way to pick it up without it breaking open. The toasted tortilla combined with the very wet inside (lots of salsa) made for a burrito that was just waiting to fall apart. The ends were also cracking before I had even touched the burrito and sauce and juices were dripping out. So in the end I had to eat this burrito with a fork and knife rather than with my hands and I really don’t like doing that. It doesn't feel like a real burrito if I can’t hold it in my hand.

Fifth, is the size of the burrito. Here Wahaca did quite well. While I wouldn't say the burrito was large but it was well sized. It was a nice length but a little more slender than I would prefer. Still it really was a good amount of food since it came with chips and salsa on the side as well.

Sixth is the overall taste of the burrito and here I would rank Wahaca’s as quite high. Despite some of the ingredients and ratios I didn't like the burrito tasted good. It is certainly one I would have again if I went back to Wahacas. The pork is definitely worth having though next time I will probably try the chicken and see how that tastes.

Seventh is the price. Considering that Wahaca is a sit down restaurant the price isn't too bad. It’s basically 7 pounds. Now once you add a drink to that you end up at close to 10 because they charge quite a bit for their drinks. Also you have to think about the tipping of your service. Here in London not everyone tips the servers, it doesn't seem to be expected the way it is in the States but Priya and I do it so in the end my meal probably cost 11 to 12 pounds. That ends up being a bit higher than I would like to pay for this burrito.

Eight and lastly is the two hour tummy factor. Now after we ate at Wahaca we walked around the mall for a little while and then went to see Star Trek. During that time I didn't have any stomach problems or gaseousness so that’s a big plus I would give to this particular burrito. 

So that was my meal at Wahaca. Overall a good burrito though it’s a little pricey as well as being toasted and too mild for my taste. So I would have to give this burrito a 6.5 out of 10. It’s better than Las Iguanas and Nineteen Ten but not as good as Chilangos or Chipotle. There are numerous other things you can get at Wahacas besides the burritos including full meals or what they call their street food, which are typical Mexican dishes like tacos, taquitos or tostadas sold individually rather than as a meal.  

Here’s some pictures of my food. 

Other Burrito Blogs
Previous: Las Iguanas 
Next: Poncho 8

Star Trek: Into Darkness - Movie Review

 ***Warning: there are a few small spoilers in this review***

Zach's Take

Last weekend Priya and I finally got to see the new StarTrek movie. We had been wanting to watch it since it first came out but we just hadn't had the time yet. Both of us enjoyed the first one and had high hopes for the second one.

So here’s the overall gist of the movie. Kirk loses command of the Enterprise because he violated the prime directive by interfering with natural events on a planet to save a primitive civilization.

Meanwhile on Earth a London Star-fleet building that keeps top secret information is blown-up. After the bombing all the Star-fleet admirals and captains gather at headquarters in San Francisco when John Harrison – a Star-fleet agent – shows up and opens fire. Admiral Pike, the man who convinced Kirk to first join Star Fleet, is killed in this attack.  Harrison escapes and Kirk is given back command of the Enterprise by Admiral Marcus and commanded to hunt down Harrison and kill him, which Kirk is eager to do so he can avenge Admiral Pike’s death. Marcus arms him with a mass of new state of the art photon torpedoes and sends him on his way.

Harrison goes to a deserted region of Kronos , the Klingon home world. This is a dangerous place because at this point in time the Klingons and the Federation are enemies. Kirk is supposed to get within range of Harrison’s location and just fire the undetectable torpedoes at Harrison rather than attempting to capture him. During the journey to Kronos Spock and others convince Kirk that it is immoral to simply kill Harrison before he’s been on trial so Kirk decides not to fire the torpedoes without first attempting to apprehend Harrison.

Once there, Kirk, Spock and Uhura set out to capture Harrison but are intercepted by Klingons. Harrison comes in and kills all the Klingons almost single-handedly saving Kirk, Spock and Uhura then he surprisingly surrenders to them after learning of the torpedoes aimed at him. Returning to the Enterprise, Harrison reveals his true identity as Khan - a genetically engineered superhuman who was awakened from a 300-year-long period of suspended animation by Admiral Marcus.  Marcus had been using Khan to develop new weapons for a war that he believed was inevitable between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. The torpedoes, which Khan designed, are found to each contain a cryogenic pod holding one of Khan's crew inside who Marcus had been holding hostage in order to control Khan.

From this point on Kirk and his crew have to deal not only with Khan but also Marcus as an adversary. With Khan and Marcus pitted against one another Kirk must now figure out how to thwart both of their plans, Marcus from starting a war with the Klingons and Khan from attacking Earth for vengeance against Marcus and the Federation.

Now overall I really enjoyed the movie. The effects were great, the story was fairly solid and the movie didn't seem to drag at any point. But there were some things that they chose to do which seemed needless. First they found a way to get Leonard Nimoy as old Spock into the movie just like they did with the last one. While I thought it made sense in the last one in this one it seemed repetitive and needless for the advancement of the story. Everything new Spock did after talking to old Spock he could have done by himself. Also the origins of Khan himself were somewhat vague. The fact that he is some sort of superhuman that was genetically engineered over 300 years ago was odd because this Star Trek is occurring around the year 2260 so a person genetically engineered 300 years earlier would have been made in the 1960s. Basically Khan has already been made or is being made right around now and I’m not sure how that is supposed to make sense. How can we create some superhuman like Khan with all these powers of healing, strength and expansive knowledge of space travel and engineering when we don’t have any of that information ourselves yet?

I was also a bit disappointed with what a minor role the Klingons played in this movie. I think it is difficult for Star Trek fans to go backwards and to think of Klingons as our enemies since they have been our friends since the 1980s in Star Trek the Next Generation but at this point in Star Trek history they are our enemies and I wanted the movie to dive deeper into that rather than have a bad Admiral be the major source of conflict. Now they certainly set it up so future Star Trek movies can go into that topic, which I hope they do but I just wanted more of it now.

Despite some of these criticisms I really liked this movie and it is one I certainly would like to add to my own personal collection of DVDs. It’s a great action/sci-fi movie that comes with lots of thrills and leaves you wanting more. I would rate this movie a 7.5 out of 10.

Priya’s Take

My two cents: Hello! So I thought I’d give my thoughts too on the movie since Zach said he’s happy to let me tag on to the end of this blog. Yes, I am a Trekkie, I love the TV series and the new as well as original movies. The issue Zach brings up about the history of Khan is answered in these, but I agree for newer fans it would have been worth going over a little (but I suppose they will develop that story as the franchise continues).

But for those wanting a quick brief on him (and to answer Zach’s point about him being engineered in the 60s) here you go – Khan controlled a large part of Earth during the Eugenics War in the 90s (so being engineered 30 years prior makes sense). He is exiled by Kirk almost 300 years later when he’s awoken from suspended animation and tries to overthrow the Enterprise and starts a new society with his people. Khan escapes some years later and seeks revenge on Kirk.

So on to Star Trek: Into Darkness. Overall I really enjoyed this movie. The sound effects were brilliant (well worth watching in the theatre if you can) and the special effects were also fantastic. The CGI wasn’t overdone (which I can find distracting if it is… think of the most recent Star Wars). The warp scenes were especially good – the warp sound seems to have been modified since the last movie as well as the ‘dust trail’ it leaves behind when the Enterprise blasts off. A small thing but a nice addition and attention to detail. The score is also great. I often buy movie scores as I like listening to them and this one is worth a purchase if you’re into that kind of thing. The addition of the original Star Trek motion picture score/television series on the closing credits is a nice touch. 

The story itself is pretty good. Predictable at times with a few jokes that are overworked and overused (many are the same as in the first movie). Like Zach I didn’t see the point of Leonard Nimoy being in the movie beside the cameo factor to please serious fans of the original show. If they were going with cameos, George Tekai would be a great one though I have no idea how they could work him in. Admittedly I was quite excited when Nimoy first came on screen but was disappointed when it turned out that he had no real purpose to the story. Had he been doing something significant I think the cameo would have been much better.

The development of the characters since the last movie was ok – actually they haven’t changed much. I would have liked to see more of Sulu and Bones instead of being relegated to slightly more than a side role, but far less than a main role. Bones still had the same one liners as the first movie which gave a sense that not much thought went into his character development other than him being Kirk’s nagging crew mate. Chekov got a little more air time, but not enough which is a shame because I think Anton Yelchin is a very talented actor, it would have been nice to see more of this on screen. Still, on the whole the characters were developed enough to move the story along and get to the point which I guess is the aim of this type of movie. You’re not going to walk away feeling like you know them any better or were even part of what’s going on (so many good action movies are good for precisely this reason, think any of the Indiana Jones movies, except the fourth one maybe – you really got to know Indy, whatever he felt, you felt). Still, you will feel like you've seen a good movie because there’s enough going on to keep you entertained.

The only distraction I had was that the guy who plays Marcus is the same guy that played Robocop (Peter Weller) and I couldn't help thinking of that every time he was on screen! Does that ever happen to you?

Whether or not you’re a Star Trek fan you’ll enjoy this movie. You needn't know anything about previous Star Trek stuff making space, the final frontier, accessible to any and all.