Mr X is home

It's good to have Mr X back, finally. I picked him up Saturday afternoon, at which point he'd been up for 24 hours straight. I knew that if he went home and crawled in bed to sleep like he so desperately wanted, he'd be wide awake at midnight and consequently it would take him even longer to adjust back to this time zone. So I dragged him around to say hi to people he hadn't seen for a while and on a 2 hour walk on the beach. He was a trooper - I think he lasted until about 7pm or something that night before he just crashed. He slept until 11:30am the next day. He's still not fully adjusted but he's getting there. I took some pictures of the things he brought home for me. (Nope, no wooden sandals.) Here they are:

Hi-Soft Caramels: "Hi-SOFT Milk is a caramel that was created so you can savor the creamy taste of milk. Enjoy its rich flavor and soft texture." Thanks. I will. Mmmm...the creamy taste of milk.

These (above) are more caramels. There was pretty much no English on this box so all I know about them is that they are "Morinaga's Kokutou Caramel" and they taste just like molasses.

This is the nutritional information for the caramels. Very informative...

Mr X had tried the Dars Dark Chocolate and he said it was pretty waxy. I tried a square of this kind and it's not waxy though it has a slightly different flavor than regular milk chocolate. I liked it. It's way better than Hershey's...but not better than the good stuff from Europe.

This is some energy goo/meal replacement, Japanese style. It is called "Body Keep Jelly." A mouth-watering name, don't you think? I haven't tried it yet but here's what the fine green print at the bottom says, "In today's fast paced world, many people develop bad eating habits, skipping breakfast or lunch or consuming calories beyond the expectations. This product was developed to supply energy at the time it is needed, one pack contains the calorie equivalent of 0.7 of a cup of boiled rice."

This is, I suppose, is the equivalent to a healthy candy bar or fruit leather-ish bar. It's not particularly sweet or flavorful, but it's not unpleasant either. It has a nice chewy texture and I didn't mind it at all. My niece, Hannah, seemed to particularly enjoy it.

This is lemon-lime sugar free gum and breath mints. I have yet to try them. I tried the gum and mints all over Europe and I like American style gum better. The mints? They're all very similar so I don't know.

This is like a bottle of Gatorade Propel. I especially loved the name, "Pocari Sweat." I find the idea of guzzling a big bottle of sweat highly amusing. And gross. The fine print says, "POCARI SWEAT is a healthy beverage that smoothly supplies the lost water and electrolytes during perspiration. With the appropriate density and electrolytes, close to that of human body fluid, it can be easily absorbed into the body." (Quoted exactly)

Mr X always buys me earrings from wherever he goes. I love it. I'd somehow forgotten that fact so I was really surprised when he presented me with these Jade earrings from Japan. A was thrilled with them. Isn't he sweet? Thanks Mr X!