I sit here in a Williams Coffee Pub, enjoying my mint tea, but very much appalled by my salad. When did it happen that ordering salad meant a plate covered with candied nuts, raisins, and other foreign objects? A spinach and apple sounded sounded innocuous enough – especially if I removed all of the gorgonzola cheese. The only thing I can do with this is put it in a box and give it to someone else. In the meantime, there must be somewhere in this city where I can buy wheatgrass… wo|man cannot live on wheatgrass alone, but it seems to be a better alternative for the moment.

Lesson learned. From now on, the only thing I will purchase in one of these establishments (or others of a similar nature) is a tea bag and hot water. Everything else just seems potentially unsafe. Mind you, I am also surfing on the coattails of a trip to the Mandarin buffet. Never did I think I would be in a Mandarin again, after an experience last year, and yet circumstance found me there again. I have to learn to travel with more food and be able to watch another person eating without partaking myself… without feeling guilty.