Goodbye King Paul, Long Live the King!

If you also follow my moblog, you would have seen a picture of King Choy. King Choy is a Chinese restaurant in Lisle, Illinois, USA. The last three years I was at my previous job, I ate lunch at King Choy a minimum of three days a week, and took it home for supper one night a week.

All that time, I kept referring other people there because the food was so good, the prices were cheap, and the owner, Paul, was an amazingly nice guy. In fact, Paul and I grew to become friends over that time, and we would BS about all the latest happenings at work, in the IT sector (a lot of people in the tech corridor there ate at Paul’s) and beyond. He even bought my daughter Claire a present when she was born. It was a beautiful jade dragon wall hanging. It was meant to protect and watch over her.

Once I got laid off, I joked with him about how he would now go out of business because I didn’t go there every day anymore. Luckily, that didn’t happen. Things went on as they had for much of the previous 18 years that he owned the business. Then out of the blue, I got a call on Dec. 30th. It was Paul, letting me know he had sold the place. Come January first, the place would be in the hands of new owners.

I was bummed, but really happy for Paul. After working 12 hour days, 6 days a week for 18 years, he’ll finally get some time to relax. He and his wife and father are going to travel back to China for a couple months before they come back to the states. Once they get to the states, Paul will likely look for a small part time job, and enjoy life with his wife for awhile.

If there’s anyone in this world who deserves the rest, it’s Paul. He’s an amazing guy, and someone I’m proud to call my friend. Now let’s hope that the crab rangoons are still as good 🙂