Happy New Year!

My last article back in July is a real testament to how busy this past year has been. Of course, the longer I leave things like this, the more difficult it becomes to catch up and to provide any sort of information or detail on what Bonnie and I have been up to. However, not to worry... I'm going to summarize things the best way I can by giving you some of 2006's highlights for us. 2007 promises to be an interesting year, and if it's anything like last year, I'll have a lot to talk about. In 2006, here are some of the things that happened to us:

We went to Korea

It was inevitable, that after several years of living in Japan we should start exploring some of the country's closest neighbours, and South Korea was the logical place to start. Yes, in 2005 we also visited Malaysia, but that's a bit more of a distant neighbour to us, though still far more feasible to visit when flying out of Japan, compared to say, North America. What made our trip to Korea largely possible was our friend Dennis, an American teacher in our area who got engaged to a lovely Korean gal who also lives in the neighbourhood. It only made sense, for the sake of her family, to hold the wedding not in Japan, but in Pusan, R.O.K. Dennis's family made the long trip from the U.S. but we were much more fortunate, as flights from Tokyo to Pusan are cheap and frequent. (Well, about as "cheap" as it gets given the outrageous prices of air tickets in general these days).

Nevertheless, it's a short, hour-long hop to the Korean Peninsula, but very much a whole new world! It was exciting to be there, and a bit of a personal, anthropological, sociological study for us, comparing and contrasting how Korean people and even society in general differ from their Japanese counterparts and neighbours. All in all, it was hard to draw any sort of logical conclusions, other than the fact that there are indeed many superficial similarities but also some very deep differences. But then, I'm just stating the obvious, aren't I? For what it was worth, I could easily see myself taking the occasional trip to Korea just for fun, as Pusan was a pleasant enough place and the people for the most part were very nice to interact with. From the shopkeepers to people on the street, we had positive experiences throughout.

A few of the experiences that made our time quite memorable I will briefly mention, but it was really the overall feel of the trip that made it especially enjoyable. Our first experience getting around in Pusan involved taking the subway to our destination. Every country's public transportation system being somewhat different, we were studying the transit map as well as the mysterious-looking machines designed to take your fare and dispense tickets when a Korean family exiting the station stopped, seeing our confusion, and in fair (although broken) English managed to explain to us how to buy our tickets and where to go. I was impressed by this, as complete strangers taking a moment to assist a foreigner is rather rare in my experience and I was pleasantly surprised that people in Pusan did so quite readily. As soon as we stepped onto the subway, however, we had another interesting little experience... The Korean equivalent of door-to-door salesman started pitching their wares in the middle of the subway car, timing their presentations accurately so as to gain everyone's undivided attention, and leaving just enough time for people to handle the merchandise and make a quick purchase, just before the doors opened at the next station and the salesman proceeded to the next subway car, ready for his next mini-presentation. If you're curious what they were selling, ask Bonnie -- she bought some...

The wedding itself was quite interesting. Like the Japanese, the Koreans often book a "wedding hall" which is essentially a company that takes care of all the planning from A to Z, even providing the venue, minister, photography, and a reception. I really cannot comment on how expensive these services might be, but at least in Japan, they tend to be very, very pricey. The service was done in a quasi-Western style (and by Western I DON'T mean cowboys shouting 'Yeehaw!') with the various parts of the ceremony being explained to the people in attendance, both in Korean and in English by two masters of ceremonies. Imagine my surprise when Bonnie and I arrived at the wedding place, only to be asked if I would be the English-speaking MC? I was happy to do it -- but felt a little foolish as the wedding company had taken some liberties with the ceremony (which, as I later found out was unbeknownst even to the bride and groom) which made providing English play-by-play commentary rather difficult at times. In the end, I was told that I pulled it off well and that people couldn't tell where the mistakes were -- making me feel much better.

Since the wedding was at about noon, the reception that followed mid-afternoon was a welcome event. There was lots of buffet-style goodies, covering the culinary gamut -- from American to Chinese, to Japanese, to Korean... Beer and shochu (a kind of Korean vodka made from rice) were plentiful and the whole thing was wrapped up with some karaoke. That's not all though... We're talking about a wedding between a Catholic and a Korean -- both people who like to drink! A lot! After we left the wedding hall, we went our separate ways for a few hours -- Bonnie and I wanted to do some shopping and the wedding party left to rest up for the after-reception party. This was held in the evening at a relative's basement pub, where much eating, drinking and karaoke ensued. You think that's where it ended? Ha! Guess again! No, after this we went on to the after-party party. As we were trying to decide where to go, I believe it was me who was a little bit vocal about wanting to go eat a dog... And our most gracious hosts, the bride's parents, not wanting to disappoint, said they'd be more than happy to indulge us -- but unfortunately, we'd have to wait till the next day and we'd go for lunch.

Coming back to our hotel after a hard night of partying with the happy couple, their family and mutual friends, it was a relief to get some sleep. Just as a sideline, I should add that something which added to our sense of fatigue was the constant effort required to communicate with everyone. Though we had people who could speak English, Korean and Japanese, we had NO ONE who could fluently speak Korean AND English. We were up to our armpits in people who could speak: English and Japanese, Japanese and Korean -- but the challenge was getting the people who spoke ONLY English talking to those who spoke ONLY Korean, as it took a two-way interpreter, using Japanese as the intermediary language. In fact, on that note, let me just mention that our knowledge of Japanese was EXCEEDINGLY useful in so many ways while we were in Pusan. Even though there are heaps of people whose English is at least passable, heaps more don't speak a word. Of all THOSE people, however, communication was frequently possible because I just busted out the Japanese, and there was a fair to good chance that they spoke some (if not fluent) Japanese. That's how we spoke with the people at our hotel, for instance... Turns out that the fellow working the front desk used to live in Osaka for 8 years prior, making him far more comfortable to speak in Japanese than in English.

Sunday, high noon. The sun shines brightly on the deserted street. The theme music to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" plays softly in the background. A cowboy dressed in white nervously stands in front of the doors to the saloon. Another cowboy, dressed in black slowly emerges from inside, as the sun's rays catch the gleam of the six-gun at his hip. The two cowboys acknowledge each other with a slow nod. The cowboy in white swaggers up to the other, the spurs on his boots jingling with each step.

"So, shall we do it?"

"Yup," the cowboy in black replies.

"Are you ready to go eat some puppies?"

"Yup. Are you?"

"Let's do it!"

And so, our posse shuffled off into the distance, mind made up, ready to tackle our fears (and slightly hung-over stomachs) by having traditional, Korean dog for lunch, graciously sponsored by the parents of the bride.

The restaurant itself wasn't much. It looked like an average, family-owned eatery, with a few Korean condiments adorning the otherwise bare tables. I'm sure they had menus and prices, but we saw none of that, as arrangements had been made ahead of time, and we only had to sit down and wait for a few minutes before a middle-aged woman started bringing out plates of steaming, hot meat. No one but us would have known that it wasn't beef -- it looked, smelled and even tasted much like Bessy, except for a somewhat odd, rather unmistakable, almost gamy odor and taste.... Not something I'd describe as pleasant, but I could easily see that someone who had grown up with it, or had developed a taste for it could ignore it completely. Probably the best part of the meal was the dog soup, which was essentially the broth in which the dog had been boiled, but it was rich, tasty and adding assorted vegetables and condiments made it even more interesting. I can definitely say that this was a great experience, if for no other reason, but to regale others with its telling, and watching the expressions on their faces when we tell them all about eating Rover with a side of kimchi, vegetables and a cup of shochu.

The remainder of our Korean holiday passed smoothly, as did the dog we ate (surprisingly enough). We shopped, we ate, we did some sightseeing at a Korean Buddhist temple complex and some other spots in Pusan. Because of the wedding and the time we spent with our friends, we saw much less of the sites than we otherwise would have, but I suppose that's alright, as it gives us all the more reason to come back and visit again. If we were to just go for a long weekend, the overall cost wouldn't be much more than taking a weekend trip to Tokyo for the same purpose. In addition, I could bring back a motherlode of Korean-produced fake designer merchandise.... Bogus Louis Vuitton handbags as far as the eye can see! Cheap! I'm not much for designer labels, but they do tend to turn heads when people notice you have one... Most people can't tell that they're looking at a fake. Speaking of which, I think that a trip to China may be in order within the next couple years -- I've been looking forward to going to China for a long, long time -- especially for the shopping!

We went to Disney Sea

I won't get into this one too much, but I will try to put up some pictures from this trip onto the photo Blog site. We decided that summer was too expensive to take any trips abroad like we did the year before. Even though Bonnie really wanted to make a trip to Canada, the ticket prices were rather outrageous, so we settled on making a number of short, local trips within Japan. The longest of these was a multi-day affair where we went to Tokyo and one of the places we visited for a whole day was the Disney Sea resort, located next to Tokyo Disneyland. What's Disney Sea you may ask? It's a lot like Disneyland, except the the entire theme of the park is nautical, with all your favourite Disney characters dressed as sailors and involved in sea-related activities.

It also boasts a number of unique rides related to some of Disney's movies like Aladdin, or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, (a Disney adaptation of a classic novel by Jules Vernes). Even though it's very much a kid-friendly world, (this being Disney after all), adults can probably find more entertainment here than in Disneyland. There are tons of shows, shops and restaurants of EVERY kind, from Western to Italian to French... The dining experience, if nothing else, is almost worth the price of the ticket. During this trip, something happened that would affect the course of our year quite significantly.

We bought a "new" car

New, of course, being a relative term -- it was "new" to us, but the car itself, of course was used. But on our way back to the hotel from Disney Sea, it was already about 9pm, I started to notice something had gone terribly wrong with our van. A loud knocking reverberated throughout the vehicle: THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! So I pulled over to the side of the road, thinking, "Sounds like a flat tire to me." Well, it wasn't. Getting out, inspecting the vehicle, I noticed that all four tires were indeed intact, the problem lay elsewhere. It was then that I noticed the engine temperature was all the way in the red zone, completely overheated.

Immediately shutting off the engine, opening the engine compartment, we sat there in the dark, contemplating what to do next. To make a long story short(er), after the engine cooled sufficiently, and with the bumbling "help" of a police car passing by, we managed to make it to the nearest gas station where they assisted us further. From there, hop by painful hop we drove about 200m at a time, stopping each time to cool down the engine and to throw bottles of water on the engine block to bring the temperature down further. Eventually we made it back to our hotel.

The next morning, I took the car to a nearby Nissan shop to have it looked after, thereby completely killing any other plans we had for the day. They removed the thermostat, which stopped the car from overheating, but they could NOT figure out what was causing the problem. You'd think it would be the thermostat, but according to the mechanic, it seemed to be fine. Well, this was the beginning of the end. Our "shaken" -- the mandatory bi-annual inspection was due to be performed on our van by the end of September, so we did a little bit of mental math, and it didn't take long to figure out that it would be cheaper to scrap the van, and get a new car that already had been inspected for less than what it would cost to bring the old van up to standard to pass the inspection (and then the cost of the inspection itself). What followed then was our foray into the entertaining world of Japanese automobile auctions!

There was a boy in Arkansas who wouldn't listen to his ma,
When she told him that he should go to school.
He'd sneak away in the afternoon, take a little walk and pretty soon
You'd find him at the local auction barn.
(The Auctioneer's song)

I imagine that buying a car in Japan must be very much like shopping for a computer in Silicon Valley. It's a rather paradoxical experience. On one hand, you have some phenomenal bargains that you wouldn't get anywhere else, but at the same time, not necessarily -- most "deals" I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. When two years ago, the pastor of our church here in Japan offered us their vehicle free of charge, as they were planning on buying a new one, it was a tough bargain to pass up. This was one of those uniquely Japanese experiences... Someone just GIVES you a free car.... Man! It's the land of cars, after all. Right? They are so plentiful, a complete stranger will just give you one for nothing! Well, there IS a catch. Anyone who has spent any time living in Japan already knows what that catch is -- the big 'S.' SHAKEN (pronounced: shAH-ken, as opposed to shAYken). This is a mandatory vehicle inspection that is supposed to keep old, broken vehicles off the road, and rolling along safely and in a mechanically sound manner. Well, actually it's just a money-grab and a bi-annual rip-off designed to pad the pockets of people in the know, and provide artificial employment to countless office workers country-wide, processing and poring over the reams of useless paperwork this practice produces. But since your average shaken bill will run you anywhere from $800 to about $1600 (CDN), it's easy to see how some people prefer to just scrap their old cars and get a newer one that already has valid shaken for two years rather than pay that kind of money for keeping the old one on the road. But even scrapping a car isn't free -- it will cost you at least $100 in paperwork to have the sucker crushed and melted and deleted from public records.

To summarize, after we took the pastor's car, we paid the shaken on it, so we essentially had a reliable van for two years -- to take on trips, buy groceries, and whatever else we needed a vehicle for. Unfortunately, due to our little incident in Tokyo coming home from Disney, we were forced to re-think the wisdom in keeping and repairing an old beater over buying something newer where the inspection fees may have already been recently paid. Aside from the overheating, the air conditioner started dying, the timing belt needed replacing, and other "little" problems started to come up... But adding them all together, they weren't so "little" any more -- especially considering that they would probably need to be fixed in order for the van to pass inspection. With a mechanic friend of mine, we did a bit of math and determined that to repair the van, and renew the shaken would cost us in excess of $2200. Was it worth it? We didn't think so. We figured that with $2000 in our pockets (money we saved up for shaken renewal) we would certainly be able to find a viable, newer replacement to our old van.

We began by checking out local car lots and online (Yahoo) auctions. The local used car lots were by far the most expensive option. The bare-bones minimum price for any kind of reasonable vehicle was well in excess of $5000 (CDN) -- something we were not prepared to pay. Yahoo auctions on the other hand, deals would vary and I was even able to come up with some cars that looked like they might be in reasonable shape and being sold for a reasonable price. I called a friend and asked him his opinion on buying a car online (not even having test-driven it) -- but he himself had purchased no less than two cars this way, both of which were decent purchases and he had no complaints, and nothing but positive things to say about his experiences. I was almost content with following this process through, except we were introduced to a Peruvian fellow some months back, who said that he deals in used cars, exporting them mainly to Latin America, but also selling them within Japan as well (to the Peruvian and Brazilian communities).

When I spoke to Jorge, I found out that he got his cars from an auction. Not an online auction, but a real, actual auction. Most Japanese people I've spoken to know very little about auctions in general, and aside from the famous fish auctions in some of the coastal ports throughout Japan, it seems to be a concept little-known (or at least not oft-spoken about) among the general population. Since my expectations were rather specific in terms of what kind of car I wanted, and was very concerned about getting a lemon, it was agreed that my wife and I would accompany Jorge to the auction on a Saturday, where we could see, examine, and otherwise choose the car we wanted ourselves. Brilliant!

It was about a three hour drive out to the NAA (Nissan Auto Auction) in Kanagawa. We left early in the morning and arrived shortly after 10 in the morning. When we finally disembarked, Jorge informed us that this in fact was a "dealer-only" auction, and members of the general public were not permitted. In fact, we technically weren't even supposed to be on the premises, but this being a typically Japanese experience, this rule seems to only get enforced if necessary -- which is rarely. If any of you have ever been to Disneyland in California or Florida, you may remember what the parking lots looked like. Well, the auction yard looked very much like that. Cars upon cars upon cars, all packed to within inches of each other, spanning across several humungous lots, pretty much as far as you could see. Each time an auction gets held here, over 400 cars get sold, and auctions are held twice a week, on Fridays and Saturdays. Even more interesting, is that this is considered a small auction. Some of the larger ones can sell anywhere between 2,000 and 4,000 vehicles a week! The whole purpose of a dealer-only auction is this. Used car dealers in Japan often cannot get rid of their stock (HUGE surprise there, given the exorbitant prices) so they sell the cars at auction and purchase fresh ones to put on their lot, hoping that they may better entice their customers. Another large chunk of these cars are considered "junk" in Japan, given the culture's bloodlust for the newest, greatest, latest technology -- and that includes cars. These "junk" cars may just be old, some may have problems that most Japanese people can't be bothered to repair (due to expense or just the "annoyance" factor) -- but nonetheless, thousands of cars which are deemed "unfit" for Japanese drivers sucessfully get shipped across the globe, where they live out many more happy years with buyers who don't need to be, or don't have the money to be quite so choosy.

I found out about mid-way through the auction that we were attending such a "junk" auction. Apparently, all the "nice" cars get sold on Fridays... No matter... Off we went, lot guide in hand, into this massive maze of a parking lot, full of cars to be auctioned. Each car has the key in the ignition and its doors unlocked, so any potential bidder can fire up the engine, test out some of the car's features and give it a thorough inspection before placing a bid. This pre-bidding inspection goes on for roughly two hours before the first auction starts at 12:30.

We scoped out a number of cars that were of interest to us, including one certain Nissan Serena that looked like it was in reasonable shape. I opened the driver's side door, fired up the engine, revved it for a bit, then turned the engine off and proceeded to check some of the other parts of the car. A minute later, I came back to the driver's seat, and tried to start it up again, only to be surprised that the car wouldn't start. What the....%&'*? Later on, I found out that it was common practise to "sabotage" cars in an attempt to deter other bidders from bidding too highly on a car someone may have wanted to bid on themselves. If it doesn't start, it's a piece of junk, right? Well, it wasn't even 5 minutes before a sharp-eyed dealer came up to the car, fiddled around with it for no more than 10 seconds and had it purring like a kitten. Obviously, he knew what was up and knew exactly what to do about it. After scoping out the cars on the lot, the next step is to go into the auction building for the actual bidding.

The bidding room resembles a large amphitheatre, with computer terminals at each seat. It looks a lot like the command center at Cape Canaveral... The method is simple. Lots get shown up on a huge projection display at the front of the room. Dealers insert their magnetically encoded membership card into the terminal in front of them, thus activating it. They then use a button control (like the ones you see on the TV show Jeopardy) to register a bid. It works just like an auction back home, except there is no question as to who is the highest bidder. Sometimes the auctioneer may say "mo chotto" if he feels that the highest bid isn't quite high enough. In our case, because this was a "junk" auction, there was a somehat different method. The computer terminals weren't used at all. Instead, they placed large boxes at the front of the room, each of which had 25 slots or cubbyholes, with a number printed above it. Dealers would take special, pink bidding sheets, write their membership number on them, as well as their highest bid, fold the paper over and drop it into the cubbyhole corresponding with the lot number above it. Bidding was open for as long as the box remained on the table at the front. At some point, auction employees would take the box to another table, open it up, and remove the paper bids from the cubbyholes, and sorting them in the order of bid amount. The stack of papers would then get handed to the auctioneer, whose only job was to read out the lot number, the initial bid, and then the highest bid. The highest bidder's membership number along with the lot number were then written in black marker pen onto a poster on the wall at the back of the hall. I also learned a few "tricks of the trade" here. Some dealers, before dropping their bid into the cubbyhole would try to blow and peek inside in an attempt to see how many bids there were for that lot, and if lucky, even to spy a bid amount.

After we found a car which we decided to bid on, being no slouch, also blew into the cubbyhole, and saw at least two or three pink papers inside, one of which had 70,000 written on it. We adjusted our bid accordingly and waited. When it was all said and done, here is what our sucessful bid of 85,000 yen managed to secure us: - 1997 Nissan Serena (forest green) - 14 months of shaken - no accidents, body damage or obvious mechanical problems - nice upholstery (no tears) HOWEVER, because this is Japan, the price was nowhere near 85,000 yen! Just to drive the car out of the lot, you need the paperwork. The paperwork costs extra, eg. a receipt runs you about 10,000... And yes, in case you were wondering, this typical Japanese bureaucracy. I.e. You must have a receipt to take the car. But you cannot choose to NOT have a receipt. But yet, it's added on extra, as if you did have a choice. Well, in the end, paperwork brought the price of the car to 130,000. Then I had to pay comission to my friend Jorge, which was another 30,000. Final price tag: 160,000. We still came in under budget, which was a good thing, because there were a number of small mechanical repairs that had to be made after the fact. So, now we are set with a newer vehicle for the next while.

The Japanese car auction was an excellent experience. I certainly learned a lot from it, and if I had to do it again, would be a lot more confident to do so. In addition, having seen what I had, and knowing where Japanese used car dealers get their stock, don't think I would ever buy a used car from a lot now. I would recommend, that if anyone wants to get a used, Japanese car, get to know a dealer who has access to one of the auctions, and get what you want for a really low price, and just a little bit of comission. You'll be glad you did.

We discovered IKEA

Hooray for Sweden! This was a long time coming and since I found out that IKEA was looking to open outlets in Japan, I've been looking forward to their opening. When it finally happened in the Spring of 2006, I was stoked! It didn't take us long to organize a trip to Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture (right next to Tokyo). My theory on IKEA was, that since Japan is normally super-expensive (compared to the West), IKEA's prices (unlike in the West) would be very reasonable.

I know that when I had a Swedish roommate in university, Frederick discovered the local IKEA and with much glee proceeded to buy a bunch of stuff. When I got home one day and found a collection of black, plastic, folding chairs from IKEA, I asked him why he got them there... Triumphantly he exclaimed that IKEA was the cheapest store in Sweden and that was where everyone went to get the best deals. He looked a little taken aback when I explained that it very well may be the cheapest store in Sweden, but I could've gone to Canadian Tire and gotten the same chairs for about a quarter of the price. (Indeed, I verified my theory not long after that). Well, as for IKEA in Japan, we were not disappointed.

This year we've already made a number of trips to IKEA in Funabashi, and have slowly started to IKEeify our house. The best thing that has come out of all this, however, is the access to all the wonderful Swedish deli goods they carry. In November we hosted a Swedish party at our house, which was complete with Swedish meatballs, lox, cheese, crackers, Swedish beer, mulled wine and Aquavit flowed like water, and we even had ABBA and some other Swedish music playing in the background. This was a followup to the Greek party we had earlier in the year with our Cypriot friends, where Ouzo was the poison of choice and feta cheese-stuffed eggplant, moussaka, baklava and other Greek treats (even Greek folk music) were the order of the day. Next on the party list (coming very soon) is a Russian party -- bread, vodka, Borscht, Beef Stroganoff... Mmmmmm! Then for music maybe I can get my hands on some Red Army Choir songs. I'll see what I can do about teaching The Internationale to everyone in Russian.

We went to Canada

Once again, I don't think I'll be getting into much detail here, but sufficed to say, after another two years in Japan, we made a second trip to Canada, from December 22nd, and returning to Japan on January 5th. It was another whirlwind trip, and even though we tried to see as many friends and family as we could, I apologize to those whom we couldn't meet up with. Each and every day we were up to our necks in things we wanted to accomplish (shopping for stuff we can only find in Canada, for example) as well as meeting people who wanted to see us after all this time. That was the most difficult part! We could only set aside a couple of times for that, so for many of our friends it was a one-shot chance -- so if you were one of those who couldn't make it out to see us for whatever reason, Sorry! We spent Christmas in Fort St. John with Bonnie's family, then met up with my parents when we came back to Edmonton -- they made the trip up from Lethbridge, as far as it was, to spend some time with us there. After a hurried New Year, on the 2nd we left for Abbotsford, where we spent two days with Bonnie's other relatives, including some grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Then it was back to Japan.

Some of the highlights of this trip were: being able to buy a new cordless phone to take back to Japan with us. Cordless phones are obscenely expensive here, and I have no idea why. In fact, even just a simple, ordinary corded hoome phone will set you back at least triple of what it's really worth. I can march down to London Drugs and grab a $20 2.4GHz VTech, and that's the end of it, whereas here I can't find ANYTHING under $100. What's up with that? Next, I bought a Logitech Harmony(tm) universal remote control. And indeed, universal it is. The first step is to plug it into your computer using a USB cable, and connecting to the Internet to download all the codes for your TV, VCR, DVD player, satellite receiver, amp, etc, etc, etc. Then you can customize all that and have one wicked little clicker. Even if it has NO IDEA what kind of device you are trying to control, it doesn't matter... All you need to do is point your original remote control at the Harmony, press a bunch of buttons, and the Harmony learns the IR codes of all the functions and is able to replicate them later on its own. So even our room air conditioner and no-name-brand 5.1 surround sound system were no match for the Harmony -- it truly is The One Remote to control them all. But probably the best features are the "activities" buttons. With the press of one button, the remote turns on your TV, DVD palyer, turns the TV to the appropriate input mode, and even presses 'PLAY' on the DVD player.

That's the year in a nutshell. So far this year, I kicked it off to a great start with a really nasty bout of gastroenteritis, which was likely caused by the norovirus that's been going around lately. It put me out for almost a week, including one day when I had a fever so high I thought I'd jump out of my skin. Then, extreme abdominal cramps and hourly visits to the bathroom were my lot until it slowly started to dissipate almost exactly 7 days later. I'm more or less alright now, but just barely. Within the coming week I hope to get back into my regular low-cal eating pattern and going to the gym to do some daily cardio.