A friend of mine had made ginger syrup for me. Ginger syrup is a concentrated mix of ginger and sugars which you can use to mix with for instance sparkling water. I do mix it with Sochu (an inexpensive Japanese spirit) and ice. When going out for drinks I try to make popular my favorite drink nobody seems to know: Ginger ale + Sochu. I call this mix Mendo Kusai Special. Mendo being my surname and Mendo Kusai 面倒くさい being “pain in the arse” or “annoying” in Japanese.

Anyway, my friend had left the syrup for me at AQ offices, which happens to be the birthplace of the website you are looking at right now. Since a nice bakery near there was having lovely cookies shaped as hearts, I thought it would be a good idea to bring some to the AQ team. Little I had expected to find The HI team instead.