Crunch Time at Katsukura

Yes yes, you've probably heard by now it is crunch time at SMU.

A "gsrs" (group study room) to most SMU students is what an Hermes bag is to most fashionista- highly covetable and a weapon to instill one's sense of being in a world fraught with scarcity. By now, if you haven't booked a gsr for the next couple of weeks, it would probably be impossible to do so. Fuggedabouttit. As the old-timer 'bookies' and their 'khakis' stake out their gsrs like territorial hawks en guard, the rest of us can only circle the various school buildings mindlessly like vultures in hopes of chancing upon some discarded or abandoned room.

To cope with the "demand exceeds supply" situation, the dean recently announced through email that library hours will be extended 24/5 (24 hours, 5 days a week on top of weekends). Ooo lala, eye bags and dark eye rings are totally this season's must-have accessories (a lethal combination with grey tones of Fall collection). For the next couple of weeks, MSN nicknames will sound suicidal and students will probably see the school security guards and librarians more often than they see their family.

Welcome to Week 12-15.

On top of that, I have to bid for 4-5 modules next term and I'm freakin' broke! I think the administration should come up with this "Will" system where graduating students can name non-graduating students as the beneficiaries of their remaining e-dollars once they graduate. Now wouldn't that be a neat idea?



Atop of Roppongi Hills Tokyo , I experienced "crunch time" of a different kind. We met up with Yang's friend Andy, British-born Chinese who is currently teaching English in Japan and popped into Katsukura because no one esle seemed keen on L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Restaurant. Sigh.

That being said, Katsukura was definitely fantastic. The modern uptown interior clued us in on the esteem they place on commonplace tonkatsu and before tucking in, we had to go through Katsu Protocol. To begin, each of us was given a small bowl of roasted white sesame seeds, which emitted an unmistakable aroma when grinded; we were then told to mix it with any of the 3 minimally-different sweet sauces found in those ceramic urns.



My parents zoomed in on the most straightforward pork cuts (fillet and tenderloin) while yang opted for tonkatsu and potato croquette set and I chose the ebi and beancurd skin katsu.



Every breadcrumbed-and-deep-fried dish that landed on our table bore hallmarks of excellent katsu: tawny shade of brown, superlative-crispness and juicy insides. What surprised me, however, was my beancurd skin katsu- I was half-expecting something like the flattened, deep fried dim sum style but instead, a mooshball of peas, carrots and mushroom encased within paper-thin batter greeted my pleased palate.



As if to cushion the blow of too much deep fried food, every set meal comes with a free flow of miso soup and fresh crisp shredded cabbage.



Now this is one crunch time I wouldn't mind experiencing over and over... and over again.

Enjoy Japanese tap dancing video, which Darrelle sent me. They are tapping in wooden slippers!