Hop, Hop, Hippity, Hop

Whew! It's only 3 in the afternoon, and I'm already beat! Right now I'm sitting in the Fantasia del Gelato Cafe with a 2/3 finished "After Eight" glass of ice cream in front of me. Let me just say that the Eis cafes in Germany are pretty darn amazing. Their picturesque towers of ice cream in artistic glass bowls are meant to be admired and then devoured. So, basically, it's a pretty damn good bowl of ice cream. Of course, the fancy-schmancy mints with which they topped my ice cream raise the price a little (which is why I have waited eight months to get one..). But you can't really blame them when your tastebuds are screaming, BELGIAN CHOCOLATE!!!

Now you may be thinking, oh, goddness, how am I going to get rid of all the deliciousness I just consumed. Well, I have a solution for you: go to the Berlin Zoo! I did earlier today, and I walked around for three hours. I didn't realize how excited I'd be when I saw the African lions, and Bengal tigers, and polar bears- oh my!

Speaking of polar bears, in case you haven't heard, I should take upon myself the sad task of informing you that (If you are reading this to your children, I beg you to skip to the next section; this could really hurt their little hearts!) Knut [pronounced ka-NOO-t, but in one syllable] died earlier this Spring from causes yet unknown. Investigation into the zoo's poster-animal's untimely death has revealed that Knut may have suffered from a brain condition such as epilepsy, an attack of which may have instigated the animal's death.

Okay, so I know that none of MY readers would EVER be immature enough to laugh at this, but in case there is someone out there who just happened to laugh at this news, let me tell you something. Knut was abandoned by his mother when he was just a young cub. He grew up in the Berlin Zoo and was mothered by a zoo keeper. When he came into contact with other polar bears, Knut had just as much if not more trouble making friends as you on your first day of school. He captured the hearts of millions of visitors from around the world, just by being himself. So let him go with dignity, and remember him for the great animal he was. Rest in peace, Knut.

Sidenote: Knut's death has rocked Germany. Everyone (myself included) could not believe what they were hearing when Knut's death was made public. Oh, and polar bear stuffed animal sales have gone up by like 100%.

All done with my ice cream now. (By the way, "After Eight" means mint over here. I was completely unaware of this before I came to Germany... O.O) Now I understand why so many writers go to cafes to write. The atmosphere is so nice; a little background noise, maybe a little music, nice comfy chair, and no need to worry about getting food, lol. It's so nice to just sit and write and RELAX.

But you don't want to read about that, hahaha. Who ever read a book about someone who just sits around relaxing?! What a boring idea for a story!!

So, on to the adventure of the asian supermarket! I had been walking along the street in the close-to-blazing sun. My feet were beginning to scream uncle, so I decided to call it a day and hop on a bus and head home... but two stops later, I saw this asian supermarket! Going with my gut, I jumped off the bus and headed through the door. You know that fear when you walk into a completely culturally different store and you're clearly the only *cough* white *cough* duck out of water? Well, after meandering around Mitzua Marketplace AND going to the Nisei Week Parade in LA about half a dozen years in a row, I am pretty much fearless when it comes to being the only cuacasian in the room. (Oh, and did I mention I went to Japan as a kid?)

Today, I was on a hunt for something. The surprisingly ellusive Japanese treat known as Mochi. I had just about run out of aisles when I found some! And pocki sticks! And candy with edible rice paper! It was like finding a jackpot on Treasure Island! Man, you have no idea how thrilled I was. Gee, I hope the cashier wasn't too freaked out by my cheshire-cat-worthy grin...

When I get back, I am going to make, I mean... encourage my host family to try some of my Japanese treats! ;) Woohoo for multiculturalism! (It's supposedly what got Elle into Harvard.) TGWTC, munchin' on mochi!