issue 1// vol 47 life & style // no. 13

Craigisawesomeee
Dark Table Vancouver

 

 

SPC VY

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Craigisawesomeee Best food presentation ever!
| fell in love at first sight.

CC

Photo by Nhi ‘Jenny’ Vo

It was the first time in a long time
that I was afraid of the dark.

 

Dinner 1n the dark

» What is it like to eat what you can’t see?

Craig Allan
Staff Writer

 

veryone experiences life through the
five senses: see, hear, touch, taste, and
smell. However, how would the body react
when one of those senses is taken away?
This experience can be seen, or in this
case unseen, at the Dark Table restaurant
in Vancouver. Dark Table is like any other
restaurant in the city but with one key
difference: the entire meal is served in
pitch-black darkness. What is it like to
enter a world of darkness? That is what my
friend Jenny and I ventured to find out as
we entered the world of the Dark Table.
The most interesting part of the Dark
Table experience is the wait staff. It does
not take much of an adjustment for them
to get used to the restaurant because every
person on the wait staff is blind, or partially
blind. This adds to the experience because
it is like they are shepherding you into a
world that they are so familiar with. Our
server was a woman named Kugi, who had
been blind for many decades and guided us
through the restaurant in a single file train.
When it comes to sitting in the dark, it
was not what I expected. I thought that we
were going to enter the restaurant with the
light on, and then they would be turned
off after being seated. That was not the
case, as we were led into the darkroom with
no light of which to glean. Before going
to our seats, my friend wanted to use the
restroom. I did not think it was a good idea
because if I were to list some of the worst
places to go to the bathroom, a blind table
restaurant consisting of non-lit bathrooms
would be top of the list. Thankfully, the
bathrooms are adorned with dim lighting.
At the table, I could still feel what I was
expecting, such as the table and chair, but
outside of that I had no idea where I was.
We decided to go for the “Daily

Discovering graphotherapy

» An underestimated yet effective healing practice

Tania Arora
Staff Writer

 

he initial month of the lockdown

passed somehow, although at a gradual
pace. By the middle of it, my anxiety took
over. Near the end, I was dying to reach
out to a psychologist or therapist. I was in
a funk that I would have traded a kidney to
get out of.

Tam glad I did not do that, and I am
even more at peace to have discovered and
calmed myself through therapeutic writing
exercises. Since childhood, we have been
told that journaling is a good habit. Pen
your thoughts, goals, emotions, aspirations,
tasks, plans, and literally everything and
see the difference it makes. Discovering
that writing can be therapeutic changed
the trajectory of my mental illness.

The goal of graphotherapy is to modify
our behaviour by improving our hand
gestures consciously. It is used to produce

mental changes and is done using graphical
methods and exercises. A graphotherapist
analyzes our current handwriting to

study and analyze our mindset including
our signature. The therapy is based on
improving mental blockages through the
lines and dots we make.

The exercises must be done fora 30
day stretch without fail. But it is essential
to take them as per individual issues and
after consulting a graphotherapist. They are
tailored according to our individual minds.

lasked the hardest questions of
myself. It is hard to speak up and accept
certain things but writing it down is easier.
I would draw strokes again and again till
they turned out to be similar and satisfied
me. It retrained my subconscious mind and
took my attention off the things in life that
do not serve the current purpose.

Writing once a week or month or
year does not work. A continuous habit of
finishing the recommended exercises must

be made. The questions
are so compelling that
they poke every thought
that we are trying to
suppress in our minds
and the strokes require
our utmost attention.
Each one of us, I
believe, has multiple
types of handwriting
strokes. We write
differently when ina
rush or when upset. We
write in a completely
opposite way when we
are at peace. We make
mistakes when confused.
Our writing reflects
the current state of our
mind. If the connection
is so strong that the

graphotherapy exercises change the writing

pattern at such a significant pace each

Surprise” in which all the foods we were
going to eat would be unknown to us until
after the meal had been completed. First
came the appetizer. From what I felt it
seemed to be a baguette cracker with some
crab and lemon zest on a bed of vinegar. I
was correct, and it was quite good. The next
item was going to be harder to surmise as it
was an item meant to be eaten with a knife
and fork. Though it may seem improper,

I decided to feel it with my hands. With
my sense of touch, I could feel something
crispy, something soft, and something
long. Despite missing the food and putting
a fork full of nothing in my mouth about

a dozen times, I was eventually able to
figure out that it was a breaded codfish on
a bed of mashed potatoes with green string
beans. The only thing I missed was the

dill sauce that was on the fish. I felt like I
didn’t get a lot of fish with my meal. Then

I realized that I had pushed a big hunk

of it off of my plate at some point and it
was resting next to the plate. The dessert
was different for my friend and me as they
were the only part of the course that was
non-identical. From the immediate taste
of coffee, I was able to figure out that it
was a tiramisu; my friend had a raspberry
cheesecake.

Dark Table is quite an experience for
anyone looking to journey onto the wild
side of dining. It was the first time in a long
time that I was afraid of the dark. In most
circumstances, if you are afraid of the dark
all you have to do is wait for your eyes to
adjust and everything is fine. That did not
happen at Dark Table, as the restaurant is
so dark that your eyes never adjust. As we
left the restaurant after the meal and exited
toa bright and sunny day, I found myself
appreciating the gift of sight that I have.
After three hours of complete darkness,
the colours of the world seemed even more
beautiful.

 

time, then why can't we use it in a reverse
manner to balance our mental health?