The Corolla Driver

Have you ever been behind a driver that brakes at everything, including green lights? Have you ever been behind a driver who drives as if there is a school zone thoughout the GVRD? Have you ever been behind a driver who seems more confused than George Bush? Well, chances are you were following a Toyota Corolla.

I'm not trying to say the Corolla is not a good car. In fact, it's one of the best selling cars in the world. It's reliable, inexpensive and good value. It's a car that every practical person would purchase. However, it's not very exciting; in fact it's downright boring. Even the "sport" edition that came out 5 years ago was a joke, with it's glued-on ground effects. Therein lies the problem. People who buy the Corolla are not looking for a sports car or anything of that ilk. In fact, they want something pretty conservative and reliable. So you will probably find that most Corolla drivers won't be participating in the Daytona 500.

Next time, when you are following an annoying driver, pay attention to it. You'll notice that it is the most painful experience in the world - to follow behind a Toyota Corolla.

Good AYCE (All-you-can-eat) places

As we add to our ever-increasing waistlines, we always enjoy an AYCE place. You ask why AYCE? I ask why not? When one can go to any chain restaurant these days and drop $20 on a meal and you still need to add a beverage, it seems appealing to go to an AYCE place. Of course we're not talking about AYCE places like the Dragon Inn (God rest it's soul). Rather, we're talking about places that offer QUALITY and quantity.

There are the usual Chinese-run Japanese places such as Fish on Rice and Top Gun. Lunch and dinner are both good bets at roughly $12 and $20 respectively. Some locations of the Thai House offer a pretty good AYCE lunch on weekends for roughly $11. Samba Brazilian steak house offers a great AYCE rodizio for $13 lunch and $27 dinner ($30 weekends). For those fish n chip fans, Cockney Kings and C-Lovers offer all day AYCE with beverage for $9, M,T,W for Cockney Kings and Sundays for C-Lovers. If you like ribs, then you can't go wrong with Montana's AYCE ribs on Wednesdays for $20 (side ribs) and $25 (baby backs). Lastly, Shabusen offers AYCE Japanese Cuisine and Korean BBQ for $13 lunch and $23 dinner.

I'm not saying we should stuff our faces, but if we're going to spend $20 already, and you're feeling a tad hungry, why not go to a good AYCE? Last time I checked, I spent $26 at Earls on a steak and it was pathetically small. The side dish of 6 button mushrooms and a dollop of mash potatoes had me yearning for McD's afterwards. Therefore, AYCE seems like a real deal, assuming you don't end up at a place like China Kitchen; then you'll be better off eating nothing.