One Year Anniversary

On March 23rd, 2008 at 5:46 P.M, the Victoria Buffet Blog was born. On the heels of the grand opening of the Victoria Burger Blog, the Victoria Buffet Blog opened with a homage to arguably the greatest buffet in the history of the world and my personal favorite, Wonder Wok. In celebration of 1 year of buffet news service to the great community of Victoria, British Columbia, I will talk about the buffet that started it all for me. The beautiful, the missed and the eternally loved Wonder Wok buffet.

Almost three years ago to this day, a friend called me on the phone.

"Hey Guy. What's up man. Guess what. Wonder Wok's re-opening."

I almost dropped my cell phone on the ground. It was the Spring of 06 and I was spending some hard time in Ontario helping sell asphalt for my dads paving company. Though I was spoiled by the Mandarin, I was still angry, confused and upset that I was away from Victoria, toiling in a polluted Southern Ontario heat wave while everybody in Victoria would have a chance to taste those noodles. Oh man those balls. Those beautiful red cherry sized sweet and sour balls. Would they bring back the cinnamon egg rolls? How about the Chinese salad? So many things were running through my head. All the things my friend said were just running through my head, running through my head, running through my head.

"Fuck. Thats sweet man," I replied while biting my tongue. "When are you guys going?"

"Well it doesn't open for about a month, so we'll keep you posted."

The next two and a half months were unbearable to say the least. Other than holding a grudge against the world for re-opening my favorite buffet while I was 3,000 miles away, I was having a hard time staying focused and doing my job properly. In July of 09 I decided my time in Ontario slanging asphalt had come to an end. I took a bus from Barrie to Angus, then from Angus to Pearson International Airport where I caught a cheap flight back to Victoria.

I arrived in Victoria and surprised one of my friends with the news of my early arrival. Usually I don't get back from Toronto during a Summer working for my dad until October or November. After my friend picked me up, we drove around town, bought some new clothes, and snapped a few photos. The photo below is of me and the Wonder Wok just weeks before it shut down and began turning into a Starbucks. Unfortunately my arrival was to late for the buffet, as they stopped putting it on about 3 weeks before I arrived. However, from what I hear, it was nothing compared to it's glory days.

I could go on for days about the contents and life experiences involving myself and this buffet, but for now I will leave you with this story... the story of the Wonder Wok, and its influence on myself and this blog.

RIP WONDER WOK BUFFET (1995-2003, 2006)