第40話: 十杯の氷を食べて倒れたトミイに、ヤマオカとフラワー・トリオがバーへ誘う

40

The employees in the Culture Department are relaxing on the beach when Tomii tries to show off by eating ten bowls of shaved ice in one sitting. This causes him to collapse and be off work for three days due to an upset stomach. When Tomii returns to the office, Yamaoka and the "Flower Trio" try to cheer him up and invite him out for a drink. First they go to a dance club where Yamaoka orders his whisky "straight" because he doesn't trust the tap water. Later they go to a small and quiet bar. The bar owner, Mr Otsuki, says he is closing the business down because of how hard it is to get good water to mix his drinks. He used to draw water from a well in Koishikawa, but the well became polluted with waste water from a nearby factory and residential buildings. He adds that bottled mineral water is just purified water with minerals added to it. Otsuki then pulls out his precious "souvenir" a chunk of ice from Antarctica, and shaves it into drinking glasses and pours the group whisky "on the rocks". When they leave, Yamaoka remarks that they are losing a treasure. (Source: Wikipedia)