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Nathan rejoined me in Pune yesterday after spending a few days in Mumbai. After taking buses from and to Mumbai, he decided to take the train this time, which he tells me was much easier overall. My driver and I picked him up from a bookstore called Crosswords located near the train station.

We had a bit of trouble finding the bookstore itself. (I did, however, find an Apple reseller, which might come in handy at some point.) While we knew it was near the train station, neither Avdhut nor I had any specific idea where it might be located. Unfortunately, Opie’s mobile was not accepting incoming calls, so I couldn’t even call him for clarification. After driving up and down the same couple streets around the train station, Opie finally called me, and I was able to have my driver chat with another Crosswords patron. Once Avdhut had a better idea where to go, he drove near the store and parked.

Apparently, he decided it would be too difficult for me to find the bookstore, and decided to go fetch Nathan himself. After telling me to wait in the car, he strolled off, and returned about ten minutes later with Nathan in tow. I was a bit concerned, being left alone, parked on a side street, but as it was dark and the windows are tinted, I doubt anyone even knew I was there.

Nathan and I were both quite hungry, so we decided to visit The Silk Route for dinner. I had eaten there earlier this week by myself, and enjoyed it enough to recommend it to Nathan. Presently, we were seated at the restaurant and pondering our orders.

The Silk Route has a wide variety of menu items from the Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, Korean, and Chinese cuisines. On my previous visit, I had tried their Phad Thai, but was sorely tempted by the sushi. I had decided against it on “food safety” grounds, but it sounded so delicious that I considered it once again.

Eventually, my stomach won the argument, and I decided to order the Maguro Nigiri, which is a roll of rice topped with tuna and a bit of wasabi. It was quite good, and I enjoyed both pieces quite a bit—for about 15 minutes. Quite suddenly, I felt ill, which regretably ruined the rest of the meal.

It was an interestingly unpleasant stomachache. It started off with a sudden warm feeling, accompanied by tinges of nausea. I was able to eat some of the steamed wontons that I had also ordered, but eventually decided to head to the toilet, just in case. I considered trying to purge myself but decided against it, and returned to the table, where I asked that the remainder of my food be packaged for take‐away. I asked Nathan to cut his meal short as well, and we headed for home.

A couple hours and liters of water later, I felt much better. I don’t know if it was the fish, a bit too much wasabi, or just sheer force of paranoia, but everything seems to be ok for the time being. (Let’s hope that continues.)

Going forward, I plan to be a bit more careful. Other than this incidident, I’ve been quite conservative with what I’ve eaten, and while it would probably be more fun in the short term to relax those rules, it does not seem prudent.

Nathan also sent me a link to a Galesburg Register Mail article describing President Obama’s relationship with Tim and Marcus Wheeler. I am friends with Marcus from high school, where I was on the scholastic bowl team with him and his older brother Scott. It’s a pretty neat story, and of course made much better by its happy ending for Marcus and his family.