One thing I miss about my job in Japan is the omiyage table. Whenever Japanese workers go away on a trip somewhere they are expected to return to the office with snacks for their co-workers. Train stations in Japan always have omiyage boxes for sale, packed with individually wrapped snacks specific to that region. In Tokyo, the snack of choice is Tokyo Banana... a kind of banana flavored Twinkie. In Hokkaido its usually Shiroi Koibito cookies or mellon flavored something or other.

Anyway... a few weeks ago the grocery stores here in Toronto started to put bags of Halloween candy on sale. I realized that this was my chance to finally break out the internationalization skillz I learned on JET and put them to use. I went across the street to No-Frills and bought a ton of candy and dumped it on an unused desk. The CTV.ca Candy Corner was born. Maybe Halloween candy and omiyage aren't exactly identical, however the end results are... namely more tasty candy in my belly and happier, sugar loaded co-workers. I wasn't sure if the idea would fly or not, however I'm happy to report that folks have really taken to it. I soon became worried that our candy supplies would dry up in no time, however people have been good to contribute as much as they take. When The Verdict returned from hiatus last week I became somewhat concerned that our beloved candy corner would be pillaged by the show's staff. To my pleasant surprise they have instead contributed more than their fair share of candy, and host Paula Todd has been particularily generous. Thanks Verdict crew, and long live the Candy Corner!