The small benefits of jetlag…and where Tim finds out he’s still allergic to citrus…kinda…

But first…let me tell you…this whole “switching between two styles of keyboards” is really really screwing me up. After using a Japanese keyboard for 2 weeks, now I can’t type on a normal US keyboard. Gaaaaah….

But with that out of the way….since my last post I really haven’t been able to get some sleep at all…sooooo I decided to give up at 5am and moved on to the living room to watch some of the shows I DVR’d while on my trip. Watched one episode of No Reservations, an episode of The Daily Show, and then went out for breakfast.

After lounging around for a bit longer, I decided to hit the West Side Market. Even at 8:15, I was pretty early so I didn’t even swear ONCE finding a parking spot. Sooo nice. And it wasn’t so crowded AND nothing was sold out yet. I do enjoy Japanese food. I really do. But by going to the West Side Market I was reminded that there’s more than crappy fast food here too!

Got some good sour dough bread, some pepperoni bread, homemade chorizo sausage and cheese empanadas, chicken quesadillas, even a damn tasty looking peas and prosciutto pasta salad. Oh, and some hummos and fresh pita bread, some pepperjack cheese, and a tasty bratwurst with saurkraut. Mmmm.

However, on the way out, I picked up a freshly made carrot, orange, and ginger drink. It was really good too. The nice sweet carrot worked well with the orange juice with juuust a hint of ginger. Yuuuummy. BUT, as I chugged it, I realized that my mild allergy to citrus products is still alive and well.

See…this all started about 6 or 7 years ago. I realized that if I ate too much citrus, my throat gets all….weird…and I lose my voice. It’s very temporary but alarming none the less. I found this out one day when I was over at my parents and I ate like 3 mandarin oranges (they were THAT good ok??) and in about 5 minutes after I was done I totally lost my voice for about an hour.

Today, as I was driving home drinking the juice (which I have to say again, is really good and filling and I’ll get it again, even with the side effects) my throat started to feel weird again and I realized I lost some of my voice again. I was alone so I didn’t need to talk but still, I sounded like a kid in the middle of puberty. Woo….

But anyway, what was my point….oh yes….so Japanese food is great. Really really great. But I have to say, a bratwurst sandwitch and even some quesadillas proves to me that this is still comfort food for me. Or I guess I should say that I have comfort foods on both sides of the Pacific…and I feel blessed :)

…of course in another week I’m going to be bitching about the lack of good rice balls and cold bottled green tea……ah well….