Toys r us 

One of my favorite memories as a child was buying toys from Toy-r-us before they went bankrupt. Before I lived in the United States I lived in Vietnam. Every summer and Christmas I would visit the states. During those times my parents would spoil me with clothes, food, money, toys. Out of all those things I would say my most enjoyable moments would be going into Toys-r-us with my family. When I walked in I would be greeted by tons of toys. But the only section I loved being in was the Nerf guns and hot wheels department. As a kid I liked Lego’s but I kinda hated them because they took ages to build and it costs a lot of money to collect so instead I collected Nerf guns and hot wheels. Every time I would go in happy and come out happier, my parents brought me tons of cars like the ones in cars 1 and cars 2. I was limited to an amount but my dad would always let me get an extra couple one’s just to see me happy. I remember buying one of those big blasters bigger than my whole body but sadly it broke after 2 years. One time in Vegas my dad stopped by a Toy-r-us and I went all out and brought every toy imaginable. To this day I miss Toys-r-us, toy stores are not what they used to be. They have a Toys-r-us in south coast plaza but it isn’t the same as it used to be.

Overcoming a fear

Ever since I was a kid I always had a fear of sleeping alone. My whole life in Vietnam when I was a kid I slept in the same room as my parents. When I first moved to the US in the 3rd grade I had my own room. Which obviously means I had to sleep alone, the reason why I fear sleeping alone is not because I am needy of someone, it is because I am scared of the dark and I feel like there’s always something watching me in the dark. I remember some nights I cok even sleep until 3 or 4 am in the morning because I was so scared of the dark. I would use a method of facing my wall so I don’t have to look at my closet when sleeping and before I go to bed I usually close my closet door so I don’t have to see the darkness inside my closet. It wasn’t until I brought a night light that I started to sleep better but still I had trouble sleeping. I had to invite my mom to sleep on the floor next to me so I would be able to sleep well. But one day I decided to listen to music to ease my mind before sleeping and it worked like a charm from that day forward. I never had a fear of sleeping alone in the dark again. 

Falling on my mom

When I was about 6 years old. I was basically Batman, not the real one but I thought I was a hero like batman. So being me I was testing my flexibility with the stairs and I was like climbing on the rails of my stairs in Vietnam. My stairs were like a curved C so as you go up the stairs curved making a C shape. So one day I decided to climb along the stairs until I got to the second floor. For 20 mins I was just on the rails using my arm strength to go higher but at one point I lost control. My mom was napping listening to music on the first floor and that floor was basically in the living room. I fell down from the second floor to the first floor and I would say it is about 3 SUV’s high. I fell down and landed on my mom hard. She was in pain for 20 minutes because I landed on her stomach. And from that day forward I promise myself to never do that again. 

Ethan’s Sandwich

As I start making the sandwich you already know I have to turn on my music because without music I can’t focus. Did a little jumping and dancing to get me into the mood before cooking. I washed the fresh produce I picked up from the forest that day and started to sharpen my knives. Rosemary and thyme on my steak. You know it has to be sou ve because that’s the best way to start it. Make sure it’s at 135 degrees. Started to make the sandwich, torch my bread until it is slightly brown. Cream cheese, pickles for my boy Joseph as well as dill because he loves it. I picked a fresh bird that morning so I put diced boiled eggs on it and its body. Joseph and Blake started to come up to stare at my creation. More vegetables, cucumbers,sliced Roma tomatoes, sweet yellow onions. My tears for salt because we need that favor. Meat prepared from that sou ve we did earlier, and cooked bacon. Let’s start on the lobster soul you put it in and use the lobster air to transfer with your hands to the sandwich. That’s it you have the number 1 sandwich in the world. It was so good so Joseph and Blake let me eat it all.  

Ethan’s Microwave Wings

Brian asked “I thought we were only going to reheat them and go”. But he does not know that I have bigger plans in mind. I told him “That’s what imma do but better”. I started jamming and Brian gave me this weird face and turned around. I started singing my microwave wings song, “dashed of pepper, blast of curry, mixing them slowly, not in a hurry”. Brian asked me “what are you signing”. I had to explain to him that this song was from cornutopia hair to the throne recipe concept album. Brian said He never heard of it in a nervous voice. I continued singing and finished them in the microwave for 90 seconds. There you have it, my famous microwave wings recipe. I always thought the tune was a great but questionable bridge.