Some things in this world can really just annoy the shit out of you.
You know the kind of things I’m referring to — cheesy Lazada jingles on every TV channel, recurring advertisements on Spotify that keep begging you to come back—you know, things like that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the kind of person who gets annoyed by anything and everything, but there are just some things I can’t stand, and that includes the painfully repetitive tune in this Don Don Donki I’m currently in. I tap my feet lightly against the floor in silent protest. It’s already been three minutes but we’ve only just moved past the first aisle.
“Are you going to be done soon?” I asked in a way that did not explicitly show my annoyance, but still distinctly carried a note of impatience.
“Why? Do you need to go somewhere?” my mother replied, caressing the Kyushu melons gently and weighing them in her palms. Nobody eats melon in our house.
“Not really.”
My mother shot a quick glance at me. “Do you think this will be sweet?”
“Aren’t they all supposed to be sweet? If they aren’t sweet, doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of buying melons in the first place?”
Mum paused for a short moment. “No, that’s why you have to pick them out.” She picks up another melon and hits it lightly with her palm. “This sounds good.”
“I’m going to walk around. Call me when you’re done.” I strode briskly out of the store, eager to escape the hellish noise. Five stores down, the annoying jingle could still be heard distinctly in the background. I was starting to question if I was only hearing the jingle in my head when the song mysteriously vanished as I turned the corner.
What greeted my sight was a brightly lit pink and blue storefront of Baskin Robbins. As I walked up to the counter, one of the staff noticed me and immediately shouted at the top of her lungs, “Welcome to Baskin Robbins!” Hearing this, the other staff members who were busy with their tasks quickly caught on and proceeded to shout again at the top of their lungs, “Welcome to Baskin Robbins!” A family walking past whipped their heads around to see what the excitement was about. I forced a smile at the girl who first greeted me. She beamed back.
“Welcome to Baskin Robbins! We’re running our Sakura season promotion now! Today’s the last day! Would you like to try our Sakura Yuzu Vanilla Swirl?”
I stared at the shamelessly pink confection displayed in the fridge. “Um, so… What exactly does it taste like? Sakura? Yuzu? or Vanilla?”
If she was stumped by my question, her expression showed no semblance of it. “Well, it uses Vanilla as its main base, and you’ll be able to taste notes of Sakura in the infused Yuzu bits! How about I let you try some?” Before I could protest, she grabbed a tiny wooden spoon and scraped the edge of the ice cream in one swift motion. “Let me just try to get some of the Yuzu bits for you. That’s the gold.”
“Thanks,” I said, before sending the wooden spoon straight into my mouth. The girl kept her eyes trained on me, searching for the slightest change in my expression that could indicate my approval.
“It’s a little too sweet.”
“That’s because we only select the sweetest Yuzus from Shikoku! You won’t taste anything as refreshingly sweet as this elsewhere!”
Frankly, her chirpy tone was getting a little annoying. “Okay. I’ll get a scoop.”
“Great choice!” she said, as if I had one. “$6.90 please.”
I was digging around my bag for some loose change when I stopped and whipped out my phone instead. “Paywave please.”
At this point, I had already stopped listening to her. I just wanted to grab my ice cream and get as far away from this shop as possible. So when another staff finally handed me my purchase, I quickly muttered my thanks and walked off. The whole crew boomed after my retreating frame, “Thank you! See you again!” Nope, I thought to myself, I don’t think so.
I was wolfing down the ice cream so quickly that my brain froze over. I had to stop in the middle of walking to regain my vision, which made me look even crazier than the intense brisk-walking and crowd-weaving I was doing just seconds earlier. Loud, exasperated “tsk’s” from several shoppers came from behind me, but I could not care less. I just needed a moment.
“What are you doing just standing in the middle of nowhere?” a voice addressed me from the front. When I regained my vision, the familiar features of my mum’s face came into focus.
“You’re done? Why didn't you call me?” I asked while fishing for my phone tucked in the back pocket. The screen flashed awake. There were three missed calls from my mother. “Oh.”
“Let’s go,” she said. Something heavy knocked against my leg as she turned to leave. I looked down and saw that she was carrying a melon in a bright yellow Don Don Donki bag.
I followed behind her with a smile on my face.
Author’s notes
This story is a love letter to Japan. In many ways, I consider Japan my second home — a place where I can escape to and be comfortable in my own skin. While 2020 has made me realise how lucky I am to be home, it has also made me realise that home is wherever I have my family with me. I really, really hope that the borders will reopen soon so we can all be reunited with our family overseas. 2021, please take pity on our hearts.
As always, thank you for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one!
