At about midday yesterday, Sabine departed Vancouver to wend her way past Alaska to Kansai International Airport in Osaka. The part about Alaska surprised me at first, until I remembered that the world is, in fact, spherical, despite the flat maps they show you in school. Kids, don’t be deceived. The world does not begin on the left with Hawaii and end on the right with the Bering Straight. It’s round. Yes, I was shocked too.
In Japan, apparently, it’s traditional to give omiyagi — gifts — on practically every occasion to almost anyone you have ever known or met. Okay, I may be exaggerating, but the amount of gift giving going on there seems a bit on the excessive side. Here’s an example. Sabine hopped on her flight, leaving Cubicle Dweller with all kinds of interesting omiyagi, such as strange snacks (which I’ll add to Project Snack 2 eventually), as well as some kind of nasty Japanese cold. I should have been firm on that point… thank you very much, but I’d rather not have a Japanese cold. This figures. It’s a holiday Monday, and I’m stuck at home with a runny nose that doesn’t even speak English. How do you say “go away” in Japanese?
What do I use to fight a Japanese cold? That’s right… Japanese Dristan. I suppose this is the equivalent of Neo Citron here in North America. Dump the powder into a mug, add boiling water, and BAM — instant hot, lemony drugs. Mmmm. Druuuuugs.
Unfortunately I only have one of these things and I’m not sure if the drug store is open today. So after this one wears off, all this cube dweller can do is loll around feeling sorry for himself while watching Star Trek reruns.