THE BACKSTORY

A man in his 40’s walked up to me with the strange looking food in his hand. He eyed me with a curious gaze, seeing this little Asian boy get so excited to see him.

My friends went with me to try sushi, at the popular restaurant, Tokyo Express. Truthfully, I was very nervous of trying sushi, since I once watched a show where there was a girl that had eaten raw fish once, and I don’t remember how, but there was a parasite in the fish, and it had gotten into her and made her get insane headaches, and she overall was not feeling well at all. Turns out it was a long worm-like parasite that was causing her all that pain. They eventually removed the microbe from her body in the end, but she said that she had stayed away from sushi.

AND THEN

Thoughts of worry were rushing into my head. What is it going to taste like? Will I get poisoned from the raw fish? Will I end up like the woman in the story? When the man finally put the plate down in front of me, he gave me an awkward smile, and I returned a quiet thank you.  My friend Emily, told me to get something called the Aloha roll, but forgot to tell me what was in it.  As I stared at the sushi, I breathed a sigh of relief.  It actually looks like what my parents usually force feed me rolled up in rice. My parents are Filipino, so basically almost every day I would eat a main dish, like some meat or whatever, and I would have rice with it too. It was almost like a rolled out sushi roll. I grabbed my chopsticks, then slowly picked it up, and ate it whole. I was surprised that I didn’t immediately spit it out, since I’m a picky eater. It was actually delicious! The soft rice with that was incorporated with the fresh mango, while the subtle spice in it made me hum in pleasure. After I finished the first sushi roll, I immediately went to eat the next sushi. The more I started to eat it, the more I forgot about the story of the girl eating deadly sushi.

THE VERDICT

Overall, I think sushi is not a food you should be afraid of. Here’s one tip that’s useful for you adventurous readers. If you want to try something new, don’t think of creepy stories about how people almost died from it. Trying to do new things or eating new things, is a very scary thing. Not knowing what will happen the second you finally take that bite is frightening, but it’s also adventurous! Trying different kinds of food for me, is very hard and difficult, so go out there and try new things! Don’t be afraid to start eating new things, from sushi, to something diverse and different to you.

BY: KENNETH VILLORENTE