Just curious to know if the cost of the replacement chocolates will come even close to the ones you've been receiving.

Or do you cop out by being gaijin?


And Calcifer - will you be handing out dark chocoate in return? :)
(BTW - you can get freeze dried strawberries in White chocolate from Marks & Spencer now - under £1.50 a bag)

What's White day? ;)

Well, my gift had the excuse of being omiyage from being someone in town from Tokyo--just happened to coincide with Valentine's :p . Since I'll be in Tokyo in April, I'll just have to do the omiyage thing then....

I've already ordered 5 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for another coworker, so I suspect I'll have more omiyage/etc. in my bag than clothes!

Funny about those freeze-dried strawberries--I think it used to be just the one place in Hokkaido that did them but now they're everywhere (except here, it seems, or at least I haven't bumped into any yet).

Just curious to know if the cost of the replacement chocolates will come even close to the ones you've been receiving.

LapLap - It's not White Chocolate Day (http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Nestle_Milky_Bar_150g.jpg). It's White Day (http://www.veldalauder.co.uk/assets/images/WHITE_IRIS.jpg).

Having said that - I work in a non-Japanese office environment. I refer you to my previous post (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5326249&postcount=9). Therefore, chocolates are not exchanged. And the other stuff would get me fired.

Bear in mind that in a traditional Japanese office, the bucho types are regularly expected to foot the bill if they find themselves in an izakaya or shokudo with their subordinates. That's the "otoko no giri" or "bucho no giri" that they have to live with.

I wouldn't begrudge them a bit of giri choco once a year...

Bear in mind that in a traditional Japanese office, the bucho types are regularly expected to foot the bill if they find themselves in an izakaya or shokudo with their subordinates. That's the "otoko no giri" or "bucho no giri" that they have to live with.

I wouldn't begrudge them a bit of giri choco once a year...

But most ladies get to bow out of the obligatory late night drinking (at least in all the 'proper' offices that I know of). It's one of the few tangible benefits of being an OL.

Yep. We live in a complex framework of duties and obligations that bind us to the people around us - "Giri"

Even the demons in Japan have their obligations. They work late into the night to produce thousands of rice-balls for convenience stores. These are the "Oni-giri"

Yep. We live in a complex framework of duties and obligations that bind us to the people around us - "Giri"

Even the demons in Japan have their obligations. They work late into the night to produce thousands of rice-balls for convenience stores. These are the "Oni-giri"

(chuckle)

As guiri (pronounced giri) effectively means ‘gaijin’ in Spanish

I’d also call those on this board who munch their way through premium chocolate and give little in return ‘oni-guiris’ ;)

A veritable bouquet of white roses. ;)

Best memory of "White Day" was when I learned emergency hangul to copy a poem in Korean and paid extortionate delivery fees to get special Kyoto teatime snacks to someone "special" in Busan in time. Thanks to her I even found out that artisan shops in Japan basically fulfill all your extra wishes if the price is right...

Let's just say I hope the Ginza Cozy Corner takes VISA.

Their pure bean chocolates (http://www.cozycorner.co.jp/contents/products/pages/pro_index.html.1) might cover my office work for month. ;)

My partner took me to the store and let me choose some chocolate - then took me to a florist a let me choose some flowers for her!