Back in April there was a tragic poisoning case in Manila, the Philippines involving a young couple that stopped at a snack stand for a refreshing glass of milk tea. Milk tea is wonderful to drink in the hot summer months in Asia and I have many fond memories of staggering into a coffee shop in Osaka or a snack shop at a dusty market in Ilo Ilo, feeling like my throat would close up from the heat and dehydration and then the cool, sweet milk tea hits the back of your throat and it’s like heaven. Much, much better than horrible iced coffee – honestly who likes that stuff? Anyway, the young couple orders a milk tea but they complain that it tastes bad, so the owner of the shop (who prepared the drink, coincidentally) takes a sip and promptly collapses and dies. The young woman dies later in the hospital and the young man survives, but not after a rocky course in the hospital. Cause of death and injury in all cases was oxalic acid poisoning – oxalic acid is the deadly ingredient in antifreeze and in purified form it is lethal in extremely small amounts. How in the world oxalic acid wound up in milk tea meant for human consumption is beyond me. All eyes turn on the owner’s son who was seen carrying a chemical into the shop earlier that day and who left his father’s deathbed to run back to the shop, disable the closed circuit cameras and rinse out the pitcher used to mix the drink. Now I’m no Nancy Drew, but I’d say you were one recently purchased life insurance policy away from an open and shut case. Just saying.
http://news.asiaone.com/news/crime/manila-police-have-more-questions-milk-tea-deaths
Mmmmmmm….Iced milk tea.
The Manila I remember was a city of amazing contrasts. On the one hand, you had opulent hotels and beautiful beaches (ok, maybe not so much in Manila, but in the resorts – gorgeous).
Lobby of the Manila Hotel – 5 star luxury at the mouth of Manila Bay
Conrad Hotel Manila, opened this year.
Then, there are the slums of Manila – incredible, overpowering poverty.
