At the start of February, the Kowloon Restaurant launched a selfie contest in an effort to keep the community connected through the last month of winter and the pandemic.
In what started out as a fun idea, attracted many creative and interesting contestants’ entries with lots of selfies and words on why they loved the Kowloon, and how they were making it through the pandemic.
When the contest ended on March 8, Ernie Boch JR., Angela Peri, owner of Boston Casting, and Sue Brady, read and reviewed each entry and unanimously selected Boychak’s as the winner. The judges also picked two runners up because the competition was so fierce!
Her entry is below along with her photo and can be used for reprinting.
My name is Eva Boychak. I am 39 years old . I am married to my high school sweetheart Keith and we have five amazing kids. I am also a kindergarten teacher !! A lot of people are surprised when they see my tattoos and the fact that I am teacher, but yes its true. My tattoos mean a lot to me and each one has a very special memory or story attached to it. My Kowloon tattoo has brought some outside attention and I would love to share why I posted my picture to enter the selfie contest Kowloon was having. So here we go. My parents divorced when I was very young. I lived with my mom Marcela in Roslindale , MA and my dad Jorge and my stepmom Maryann lived in Medford, MA during my childhood. So during the week I was with mom and weekends were with dad. I have to point out from the get go a very important fact , my dad was a Chef and held restaurants and food to a very high standard. Ok back to the story. So every weekend my dad would pick me up and without fail, we would go to Kowloon every Sunday for dinner. Every Sunday! Our waiter was Bobby. Now I remember there were two Bobbys who were waiters at the time. But I remember my Bobby (Bobby Wong). Same name as the owner He would always joke around and call me another name and make me laugh. (He knew my name was Eva)-
Every Sunday we would walk in and my dad would say hi to everyone, he knew the owners and would ask for Bobby! So this became our thing. I don’t mean a few times, I mean every Sunday for years!!! No matter the occasion, whatever it was we were going to Kowloon. My dad would always order me a virgin piña colada with the little umbrella!! After dinner there was always fried ice cream!! Such a fun and happy time every time we went. It never got old. It was always fun to sit near the volcano or near the ship!! As a kid it didn’t get any better than this. As a teenager I moved to Florida with my mom where eventually I met my husband and we started our family and journey with the military. Every time we took leave and went home to visit dad, you already know the first place we were going to!! Dad wouldn’t even have to ask. We are going to Kowloon. I was able to share this amazing memory with my three oldest children anytime we visited. In one of our military moves we were extremely blessed to be stationed In Connecticut, which brought us closer to home and closer to Kowloon!! In those three years we were able to go and share this memory many times more. We moved oversees and lived in Japan for three years. Oh how I missed Kowloon.
No one, anywhere, can compare to Kowloon. In 2015 my dad passed away. It was devastating and heartbreaking. I went up north for his funeral. I had to see Kowloon, I had to feel like I was with my dad once again. The food was still amazing . I for a brief moment travelled back in time and was a little girl again.
There are no words to express how excited and happy I am to have won this contest!! Kowloon holds an immensely special place in my heart Thank you to everyone who liked/loved my post and everyone that was part of the voting process !!!!!!!
Since 2015 I have only been able to go back twice. This is where the tattoo comes in. Like I mentioned before my tattoos all have a story and special memory attached. I have Kowloon on my arm to always remember my childhood, my dad, fried ice cream, little umbrellas in virgin piña colada’s. Kowloon is not just a restaurant in Saugus. Kowloon is part of who I am, it’s me and my dad. It’s memory after memory.
My sister text me a while back and said “hey did you hear they might close Kowloon”, I broke down and cried!! It can’t close. It just can’t. I had just told my husband that for my 40th this year I wanted to go up north and eat at Kowloon. No gifts, no party, I want Kowloon. So fast forward to a few days ago. Kowloon posted a selfie contest! Wear your Kowloon gear and post!! I wear my Kowloon gear everyday!! I was so excited to post my picture. I post it with pride and joy. I’ve seen the comments, a lot of people are supportive and some don’t understand why I would possibly tattoo myself with Kowloon. Well this is why. This is my story.
Respectfully,
Eva Boychak