For those of us living in tropical countries like Singapore or Malaysia, it’s perfectly normal to get excited when we finally get to see snow overseas.
But here’s a cautionary tale on what not to do when you see snow.
A while back, a Malaysian man named Herman Rawi, who was on a vacation in Japan, shared a TikTok of him taking a big bite out of a snowball.
A kid can be heard giggling and asking: “Is it cold?”
Herman’s reply? “It tastes like ice!”
On his second bite, Herman got a brain freeze and said: “Wah, sejuk! (which means “cold” in Malay)”.
While that sounded like so much fun, it ended up costing Herman way more than he’d expected.
According to his caption, he came down with high fever and flu which lasted for eight days, basically ruining his entire Japan trip.
In an interview with Malaysian media Weirdkaya, Herman shared that he was thankful that he did not need to be hospitalised for whatever virus he got from eating contaminated snow.
Surprisingly, it was not the first time he had done that.
“I used to eat snow every time during winter season when I studied in the UK years ago. I would often go for the freshest snow at an undisturbed place and never fell sick,” confessed Herman.
“Perhaps pollution back then wasn’t that bad. Fast forward, our earth got really polluted. I guess this time I got unlucky,” he added.
Herman has learnt his lesson and advised readers to not put snow in their mouths no matter how “white and fluffy” it might appear to be.
So next time you’re craving for some snow, just get an ice kacang, okay?