00:01 John Daub: When you come to Japan or any international destination, one of the things that you think about are the dangers associated with travel, like the megaquake or bear attacks. That's something that I'm getting a lot of people asking me about. But this one is one that's in the news quite a bit and something that I've been following for the last couple of weeks in particular.

00:45 John Daub: The flu season started here in Japan quite early. I think earlier than any other year that I can remember. I've been here 27 years. So that's quite a long time. But it started around September. And all through October, I've seen the numbers going up and up.

01:05 John Daub: My son is in kindergarten. So we talk with some of the other parents. And we also get information about their worries. And I know here in Tokyo, my community is worried about it because nobody wants to get sick with influenza. It's not something that's going to take you out. But it's something that possibly could.

01:25 John Daub: And it's something that you think about when you travel to a crowded area like Tokyo or Osaka or Kyoto. When you are in an area that's really crowded with a lot of other people, you really need to consider your health. Because the last thing you want to do when you come to Japan is to have influenza or any kind of sickness, to catch a cold for that matter.

01:45 John Daub: You want to try to avoid that and stay as healthy as possible. And in this live stream, let's talk about that so that we can prepare you for your trip in October, November, December, January, February, and March. Typically, the influenza season seems to peak around February. It's crazy that it's in November.

02:10 John Daub: That also might say, please go to second live stream, guys. Okay, so this live stream might have restarted. I'm not sure what happened there. The app crashed. But nevertheless, we are back here. I think that it's good to talk about this to prepare for it.

02:30 John Daub: In particular, something that you would be preparing for in like January or February, now you got to prepare for in October, November, which is crazy. I think that those years between 2020 and '21, '22, '23, you know, when everything was shut down, our immune systems might have gone down. So a lot of people are more susceptible to influenza.

03:00 John Daub: I'm probably going to get vaccinated, because I've got a lot of upcoming trips, I'm going to be traveling to the United States. It's not a cure-all type of a vaccine. The flu vaccine typically is like 40 to 60% effective depending year on year, but it does keep you from getting seriously ill.

03:20 John Daub: I'm not going to say anybody should get vaccinated. But I think it's something you might want to do. So I'm going to get vaccinated. So you might want to consider if you're going to travel internationally, because the last thing you want to do is to get seriously ill for three days, because you're paying a lot of money to come to Japan.

03:45 John Daub: So last thing that you want to do, if you're staying in Shinjuku or Shibuya, this is a reason maybe you don't want to stay in the crowded areas. Because you don't want to be around crowds. I try not to take the subway in the winter, I just ride my bicycle, to be honest with you.

04:05 John Daub: But on a day like today, which is why I'm inside, it's raining. So it's a good thing to perhaps be ready for that. I see a lot of people now, especially Japanese wearing masks. It's because of the influenza season. And the Japanese news is talking about this a lot more now.

04:25 John Daub: And the news came out yesterday that medical institutions and the government ministries here are monitoring it and giving out red alerts. I don't know what that means exactly. Except that it sounds concerning. Japan Times put this out yesterday, flu cases in Japan exceeded alert levels.

04:50 John Daub: There you go, health minister says. What does that mean exactly? Let's look at the article a little bit more in depth. Of the 27 prefectures, 25 saw their average top the alert level with the highest figure seen in Miyagi at 28.58, followed by 28.47 in Kanagawa, which sandwiches Tokyo on both ends, and 27.91 in Saitama.

05:20 John Daub: We don't see anything for Tokyo yet, right? I'm sure it's quite high here in the city. Twenty-five point, I think this is per 10,000 people, right? A total of 2307 kindergartens, nursery schools and elementary and junior high schools and senior high schools have experienced partial or complete closures due to the flu.

05:50 John Daub: When I forget what the threshold is, but when a certain amount of kids, what is it, like 10 or 15 percent, I think, are out because of the flu, they shut down the school because they just figure everybody's gotten it and everybody should just stay home and recover and come back a lot stronger.

06:15 John Daub: Having built up, of course, the strength that you're going to get after your immune system fights this stuff off. Japan entered this flu season at the end of September. That to me is really crazy to think about because that's really early. It's the second earliest in the past two decades.

06:40 John Daub: So, again, like I've been here for a long time. I don't remember the flu season starting this early, which might be a good sign. But, you know, these kinds of viruses that evolve and there could be a second wave, which I hate waves. Unless you're in the water. And even then, I prefer like a calm sea.

07:05 John Daub: Nevertheless, we are in what is, I guess, the peak of a very early flu season. So if you are visiting Japan, if you're visiting in particular the cities, like I don't tell you, masks are a thing that's a personal choice. If I'm on the subway now, I'm probably wearing a mask because everybody else is because I've been living here for such a long amount of time.

07:35 John Daub: I can feel the social pressure to do what everybody else is doing. The masks don't protect you from getting sick. You wear masks because you might be sick and you might be spreading it because then the mask keeps it all in.

07:55 John Daub: We had this debate over and over and over again during those years, those months back then. But masks have less to do with protecting you from getting sick and more to do about keeping your sickness to yourself. And that's a very unselfish thing that I think Japanese will do.

08:20 John Daub: I have a great regimen. I take Vitamin D through supplements and zinc every day. Vitamin D3, I think it's about 2,000 IU in the summer and about 5,000 in the winter because I don't get as much sunlight. I'm a little bit darker skinned so it's harder to get the vitamin D3 which is the sunshine vitamin.

08:50 John Daub: So it's a good supplement to take. You start to feel effects I guess about two weeks after. Most people in the world are vitamin D deficient in particular in Japan because they don't get a lot of sun actually in the city. People don't go outside as much or they cover up from it which is a concern.

09:20 John Daub: That's one reason why the influenza might propagate, get around, spread much more easily especially in the cities. And zinc is also a really good supplement to have because we don't eat enough zinc-rich foods but that's something that you need to consult with your doctor.

09:45 John Daub: Something to think about but if I can help a little bit I take 10 milligrams I think it is of zinc and in the winter I might take 30 which is on the higher end but I eat a lot of almonds and other foods that might be rich in zinc anyways.

10:10 John Daub: But zinc is something that I think people do. If you take a lot of zinc then you need to take some magnesium because then you become magnesium deficient so this is something you really need to do a little bit of research on before you start to take advice from a YouTuber.

10:35 John Daub: But I do think that this does help. At least I have not been seriously ill since the last time I got sick like and from the you know what it's like a bad word still on the internet but you know you know what I'm talking about. That was a pretty tough rough time but I haven't been but since taking the supplements I've been pretty good.

11:05 John Daub: Getting enough sleep is another thing that you can do before you take your trip. Try to make sure you get enough sleep before and after. We're just hard to do if you're a procrastinator with traveling.

11:25 John Daub: We put the Christmas tree up last night. I said to Leo if you're a good boy and Santa's always watching you then we can put up the tree and then yesterday after you finish the tree now that the tree is up Santa's watching you much more now.

11:50 John Daub: He's like oh so that's a very important thing to do to keep the little one in check a little bit more. Could you take vitamin D3 in Japan? Yes you can take vitamin D3. I get it, I get my vitamins sent to me from iHerb which I think is based in Korea and they send like U.S. supplements.

12:20 John Daub: Sometimes Nature Made or whatever you can get but the vitamin industry is all self-regulated so it's something that's kind of concerning but I think that for certain times especially us since we're all indoors a lot more than we used to be.

12:45 John Daub: Like in the 1980s I'd be outdoors all the time riding bikes because I was like you know 10 years old but I'm inside editing more I don't get out as much and the days are cloudier and in Japan the winters you don't get much sunshine in the winters which is why taking supplements is probably a good idea.

13:20 John Daub: Yeah you really should ask your doctor about that but you need K2 with D3. Yeah that's K2 would be with magnesium is something that you should consider taking it but I eat a lot of foods that are rich in magnesium and other stuff so I don't think I'm vitamin deficient in any means.

13:50 John Daub: I do think that the D3 is quite beneficial but you don't get enough sunshine in the winters or late autumns and early springs for sure and in the summertime I think you probably get enough and you don't need to take the supplements but I still will take like 1,000 to 2,000 IU of the vitamin D3 because I think it's a good idea.

14:25 John Daub: And I'll take breaks from zinc every couple of months I'll take like a week or two off to try to I don't know like it's one that I don't eat too much but something to consider anyways. That's all up to you and you can decide whether or not you want to do that or get the flu vaccine.

14:55 John Daub: I will go and get that with my wife next week. We're feeling pretty good so it seems like a good time. Leo had a cold yesterday. If you were watching yesterday's live stream we went to the ramen you gotta go check this out if you're coming to Japan.

15:20 John Daub: I think it's been here for a while now but the ramen vending machine shop which was odd and we tried that yesterday. I was a little bit more excited than Leo was because I didn't realize that was cold ramen which is not the best but yeah that's yesterday's live stream.

15:45 John Daub: And if you haven't already this weekend put this on your playlist this is a really good video despite the history section being somewhat controversial I can live with that. Check it out.

16:05 John Daub: So the influenza is on the rise it's spreading faster and it's more widespread at this time of year than the previous year so I think it's a good time to get some of that out but yeah so next up we have our final this week.

16:30 John Daub: Hot summer to have a little hot summer this summer this is usually like we're not even thinking about influenza yet people still got pretty high immunity from having a lot of sunshine in the summer months but it is concerning because the last thing you want to do is to ruin your trip.

17:00 John Daub: I also want to dress up warmer now it's raining today we got some clouds it might the winter this it's starting to just feels like the Japanese summer just ended. Fall has been unusual.

17:25 John Daub: But I know yesterday or sorry, last week, was it last week? Well, I guess it's Sunday. So I guess you could say last week. I was out in the countryside of Japan and I saw such an amazing view.

17:45 John Daub: This image, I'm pulling it up now. This is probably going to be the postcard for this month. I did not enhance this at all. This is crazy. This is a bridge that I was hiking across to get from one side to the other of the Shin'etsu Trail (Shin'etsu Trail, hiking trail along Niigata-Nagano border).

18:15 John Daub: A beautiful hiking thing. And you can see that the colors are at their peak. This was about two or three days ago now, but it's so stunning. I'm going to make this one of the postcards as well as a map of the Shin'etsu Trail, which is one that I hiked out there.

18:45 John Daub: Tomorrow, I'm going to be talking about bear attacks. This is, I don't know, like there are people that have been asking me, should I buy bear spray? I said, it's the worst. Where are you going? They said, Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara.

19:10 John Daub: Should I buy bear spray for Nara? I said to them, no. You should buy deer spray or tourist spray, but you don't need to worry about bears in Nara because there's so many people around. Probably that bear is going to eat somebody else before it gets to you.

19:35 John Daub: And I don't think that the bears are going to be coming out in Nara because there's so many tourists and so much people, they'd have to be very desperate in order to go out to get it. You don't want to carry around bear spray, which is equivalent to like mace.

20:00 John Daub: It is filled with chili pepper. You need some John Daub spray as well, perhaps. You got to keep me away because I'm all over the place. But tourist spray, I guess in a way, bear spray could be such a thing.

20:25 John Daub: If you are going to be coming to Japan, I'll talk about this tomorrow. You can leave a question if you have it about bears. But look, Japanese news is all over this, you know, in a scary way. Every day now, they're putting every single attack on the news.

20:50 John Daub: And everybody who thought that Japanese news was not sensationalist. Yeah. Think again. They are very sensational. The bear attacks are happening more in like in the mountain areas up in Tohoku, which needs the tourists.

21:15 John Daub: We're seeing a lot of tourists down this autumn season. This is the best time to be out there to go and see the autumn colors. And more people are staying home, including Japanese. Why? Because the media is saying that.

21:40 John Daub: The bear spray is not going to be a single bear attack. We've had an increase on it in the past, but people are getting it's like the chance of you getting attacked by a bear is extraordinarily rare. It's like it's maybe a little bit more than getting hit by lightning.

22:05 John Daub: So I don't think that's an issue for tourists. Should you carry bear spray before you do that? Hold on a second. Before you do that, let me let me get you should still be able to hear me. Let me get my can of bear spray.

22:30 John Daub: I had this yesterday. We're going to talk about it. You do really want to carry this around? And you can't put it in your bag because then it's useless. You have to carry it in front of you so you can grab it and use it. And you have to know how to use it too.

22:55 John Daub: But these are we'll talk about it tomorrow. But I think it's a good question to ask. And it's a good question for me to answer. So as somebody who just got back from hiking in the peak of this, the bear attack season, I was in the woods deep in many places where there are no buildings.

23:25 John Daub: It's just that's bear country. It really was I was there alone for some of it and I'm still here. So you should be more concerned with influenza and not getting sick then bear spray.

23:45 John Daub: This was $120. No, yeah, a little bit more than $100. I got it from Bic Camera (Bic Camera, electronics retailer), which is an electronics store because it's a reputable company. And as an expiration date of 2029, they usually last about four years.

24:15 John Daub: So this is a brand new can that was packaged and made this year. It's got a chili pepper in it. It sprays. We'll talk about this tomorrow in more details. So I do think that it's worth talking about it.

24:40 John Daub: But the answer really is, it's much to do about nothing. Because unless you are traveling deep into the woods, which is most people not like 99.9% are doing that yet, then you don't have to worry about it.

25:05 John Daub: They're coming down to residential areas to schools where people are living every day. They're more at risk than a tourist that's going to tourist areas. There are some places that you might want to consider, but we'll talk about it tomorrow.

25:30 John Daub: The more pressing thing is the influenza season right now. And when you do come to Tokyo, again, Tokyo in particular Kyoto, because it's so crowded. I don't know if it's something like you want to, you don't want to get sick at the beginning of your trip.

25:55 John Daub: So I would say like, it might not be a bad idea to arrive and go out to the countryside, like book your hotels to go out to the onsen (onsen, hot spring) or the other more remote areas and do Tokyo last before you leave.

26:25 John Daub: Because the last thing you want to do is to be sick and then, you know, try to enjoy yourself at a hot spring. You know what I mean? Have you ever had the flu? Yeah, I've had the flu. It's awful.

26:50 John Daub: Because you get the chills, the fever. And then, you know, the runny nose and the cold stuff afterwards for sometimes, you know, 10 days to a week.

27:10 John Daub: The other thing I can say is this, I'm just learning about this stuff as well. But everybody knows what inflammation is. It's something you might want to check out if your body is inflamed because you're eating a lot of I don't know, like bakery items or sugar or certain things in your diet or you're eating too much.

27:45 John Daub: You need your body not to be inflamed so much. Mine was too for a lot. It gets rid of a lot of the health impacts. I've been doing the intermittent fasting and I feel a lot better. It kind of gets all the stuff out of my system.

28:15 John Daub: It's not for everybody, but I haven't gotten sick in a long time. Like really sick. It usually goes away within 12 hours. I felt sick and I could feel it coming on but it never hit. So I could tell like my body's fighting pretty good with this.

28:45 John Daub: I've been eating stuff that doesn't inflame me staying away from the sugary stuff, which is really hard. How do you not eat it but eat well before you leave on a vacation and then when you come to Japan then just go out and get the daifuku (daifuku, sweet rice cake) and the mochi (mochi, pounded rice cake) and the sweet stuff the melon pan (melon pan, sweet bun) with ice cream and whipped cream and you can go on all that.

29:25 John Daub: But try to keep in good shape before your trip. Try to get really good rest for a week before your trip. Try to be in really good health before your trip so that you don't get sick at the airport. And if you do, it's probably going to be a little bit better.

29:55 John Daub: It's going to be something that you get over a lot quicker. Don't take alcohol in the airplane. And this is the hardest thing because when you're on an airplane, especially the Japanese carriers. It's like all you can drink.

30:25 John Daub: Really? I pretty much cut alcohol. I'd have like maybe one drink a month and usually when I'm with my wife's father, my father-in-law who likes to drink a lot more than I do. I'll have like half a beer with him, but I pretty much have given up alcohol except when I'm working and with him.

30:55 John Daub: Just hard. Yeah, it'd be rude to say no, but it's hard to say no to drink on the plane. But that's also one of the toughest things that you can do and might help you get to sleep.

31:20 John Daub: But like when I was in my 30s, I would definitely get like two or three on the plane because they were free and you could and it was just cool. It's not that cool anymore. So something to think about.

31:45 John Daub: The food on the airplane is not always good. So you don't want to I don't know. I used to take I still take a lemon or a lime on the flight with me and I'll squeeze the lemon on the plane and make sure you throw away the lime and the lemon before you get to immigration, but you can bring fruit with you onto the plane.

32:20 John Daub: So I would be squeezing that lemon and the lime into my water. I always get instead of beer. I get the sparkling water. We call it tōn sui (tōn sui, carbonated water). So I'll just get tōn sui. No ice and I cut my lemon or I have to man rip it like this.

32:50 John Daub: You have to do that face and then you squeeze it in there and that's really good. But I don't drink alcohol. I love my water or tea. I found that I don't drink Coca-Cola or soda pop anymore. I just found that I liked the bubbles so I can eat unsalted nuts.

33:25 John Daub: I like carbonated water and it feels like I'm at a bar. I don't care. I just don't care anymore. I don't know. I feel a lot better.

33:50 John Daub: If I was with Peter I probably would get like I used to call the people who got those half pints like wimps or half pints, but that's what I get now. I'm a real wimp and I just found out that the word wussy is not a good word because it takes two words and makes it even worse.

34:20 John Daub: So I was discussing that on the Discord server. It's not a good word, but I thought that was a workaround from saying the actual P word, but I found out that it's incorporating it with the word wimp.

34:45 John Daub: So like there's a lot of stuff. I don't know but this stuff I do my advice is to get your flu vaccination right since somebody here. I saw it go by there. Thanks for that.

35:10 John Daub: I think that's a personal choice. I think if you're a healthy person, you're a healthy adult. You're probably going to be okay. But if you're traveling abroad. The vaccine most likely will make the sickness much lighter.

35:35 John Daub: The thing is though, and this is the problem. If you get the flu vaccine now, you're not covered in March because it only has like about a two-month. It takes a few weeks before you build up the immunity.

36:00 John Daub: That's another thing to consider you. You definitely want to get it like two weeks before your trip at least. And then the immunity starts to really wane quickly like two months later.

36:25 John Daub: The flu vaccine doesn't have the same effect as it did when it became really effective in your system. So that's something to consider like the timing of the flu shot.

36:50 John Daub: Typically, I will get the flu shot December 1st because I know I need it in February. But if I get the flu shot now, it's not really that great in February when the flu season really is but the flu season peaks like now then maybe it doesn't make a lot of sense to get the flu shot at all.

37:25 John Daub: Because by the time I've got the immunity for the flu. The flu season is like over. So that's something you really have to consider too common sense as well.

37:45 John Daub: But the last thing anybody ever wants to do is to get sick when they're traveling abroad and this is the peak right now. At least that's what the data looks like and it could be getting a little bit worse, but it looks like we're at the point where you throw the ball up and it sort of suspends there for a little bit.

38:20 John Daub: This might stick around for another two three weeks and then I think the numbers will come down around New Year's, which is odd because that's when it starts to spread.

38:45 John Daub: John as I was listening to you drinking my vitamin C great with like, there you go. Got to stay healthy. That's the best way to do it and enjoy your trip. Stay away from junk food and try to eat healthy and get as much rest as possible.

39:20 John Daub: A few days before your trip. Then when you travel, you're going to travel so much better and enjoy it a lot more and you'll also have the immune system to be able to fight off anything and then get back to it a lot easier.

39:50 John Daub: It's hard to do. It's hard to do the immunity from the flu vax lasts four to six months. Erica. That's what they say. But the doctor I talked to last year when I got the flu shot actually no 2023 when I got the last flu shot.

40:25 John Daub: I didn't get one last year. He said that the efficacy of it really wanes after a couple of months. So if you get it too early, it's not going to be as effective later on.

40:50 John Daub: However, with that said, the flu is always evolving and we don't know for sure. They use the strains from before to make the vaccine. So it's also something to consider. It does not hurt to get it.

41:20 John Daub: I've been vaccinated with the flu vaccine many times, but I again like it's something that everybody needs to consider. I think if you're a little bit on the older side, it might be something worth doing if you're a kid that likes to touch everything and then put your fingers in your mouth.

41:55 John Daub: Like my son probably. Probably going to get the flu vaccine because he's at high risk of it and then giving it to grandpa, which would not be great here in Japan.

42:20 John Daub: Grandpa cut his finger yesterday, which is concerning. He was chopping something and he looked behind and then grandpa here. He's my wife said he likes to sharpen his knives because he has a lot of free time.

42:50 John Daub: That is so creepy when she said that I thought that that was the creepiest thing. She goes, okay. She's got a lot of free time. So he sharpens his knives. What kind of what I guess it's an older generation thing, but he likes to make sure that his knives can cut like like, you know, then the Ginsu knives that you can cut a tomato and the knife just looks at the tomato and the tomato gives up and just starts to cut itself.

43:35 John Daub: That's how sharp his knives are. So he cut his finger yesterday and I said you should use the knives that I have because you have to assert a lot of pressure to cut them that I can't even cut my finger. I think if I apply pressure.

44:05 John Daub: That's how bad my knives are. But he's sending a message to try to well then I'm reading the live comments here. I'll put it on the screen here so you can see it, but we're going to keep this livestream relatively short.

44:35 John Daub: Anyways, do you have any questions about the flu in Japan? How to prepare for it or any questions about how to prepare for your trip in November this month or in December because a lot of people are going to be visiting before the Christmas season.

45:10 John Daub: To the best thing to do. Is eat healthy get plenty of sleep and get your vitamin D3. Vitamin D with calcium is not what you want. I've heard it depends if you need calcium. Everybody's different but vitamin D3 is the sunshine one.

45:45 John Daub: That's the one that's the most important but vitamin D with calcium be real careful with that one. But again all this stuff you really need to talk with the doctor just to confirm a lot of it but do your research on it.

46:20 John Daub: I think that that's really good to do. It's great because we get so much information, but it's inevitably, it's going to be your doctor or you know, any medical professional.

46:50 John Daub: We've got nurses and doctors that are watching this as well that will be able to give you the final information. D3 with K2. Thanks, babe King.

47:15 John Daub: What are the visiting rules at hospitals if you need to go? Thanks for that. That's a great question. Bring a mask every hospital in Japan will ask you to wear a mask when you're inside because not just for your own protection. Let's just say but for everybody else's because everybody feels a lot more comfortable when everybody is masked up.

47:55 John Daub: Typically, you can find mask vending machines where they sell like two or three of them or maybe even one. It just depends for like a hundred yen. If you need to have a mask, you can get one there.

48:25 John Daub: We can talk about the effectiveness of masks another time, but it's something that's something of a rule at Japanese hospitals that if you do go in there, you can get them all over the country as well to be ready to have one in your pocket.

49:00 John Daub: This is a great piece of advice here. You don't have to agree with me. You don't have even have to wear the mask. Okay. It's a good idea to have one or two with you and just put it in your pocket.

49:30 John Daub: I have a breast pocket that has masks in there. I don't wash my jackets every single day. So I have the masks in there and if I ever need it, then I put it on because there's some social situations where you probably it's a good idea to have a mask in Japan.

50:05 John Daub: I do think other rules in the hospital. Make sure you have your health insurance card. You can't always pay by credit card. I think it's more it's a lot easier to do now, but usually they're at my hospital.

50:35 John Daub: There's a vending machine where you pay so they'll give you the receipt and then you would go to the vending machine and then you would pay they'd give you the total minus my I have the National Health Insurance in Japan minus that.

51:05 John Daub: I think I pay 20% of the cost and then I go to the vending machine and I'll pay it's usually like I don't know like 10 to $20 or something like that for each visit. Maybe even less.

51:35 John Daub: And you can go to the pharmacy afterwards if they have a prescription, but that's pretty I think that the one rule that that's probably the best one. Make sure you get a ticket.

52:00 John Daub: Usually there's a sadēkan (sadēkan, ticket dispenser) with a number on it and they do everything with the number system here. You can go to the information center and they'll guide you to which number to push which department to go to.

52:30 John Daub: To go to a hospital. I would recommend going to a clinic and almost every train station has like an eikyū (eikyū, urgent care clinic) and those are usually the front line.

53:00 John Daub: For this kind of stuff meaning everybody who's Japanese will be going to the clinic. So it's a good idea to call you can have your hotel do it if you're feeling bad to call the clinic and ask them for a reservation or an appointment and then that will help you.

53:35 John Daub: If you want an English-speaking doctor on the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station. There's an international clinic and it's full of international people from abroad. Of course that are getting help from I think there's three doctors that speak fluent English inside of there and they'll be able to help you too.

54:15 John Daub: If you want an English doctor, but for the flu, I think that the local doctors can speak enough English to recognize your symptoms and give you the flu medication, which is like Tamiflu or whatever they're giving these days.

54:45 John Daub: I don't know because I haven't gotten the flu in a long time. Do you need to have other vaccines to enter Japan? I don't think so. You're going to have to check that out yourself.

55:15 John Daub: Some people ask me about Japanese encephalitis. The name has Japanese in it. But unless you're going to like the deep wooded area. Yes, you don't need it. I haven't heard of too many people who come up with that.

55:45 John Daub: I've been vaccinated for Japanese encephalitis, but it wasn't because I was in Japan because I was going to like South America and Africa and I was getting Japanese encephalitis. I even got yellow fever shots because I think you required that back in 2001 when I did my trip to Africa with the safari.

56:25 John Daub: I got yellow fever shots when I went to South America as well. So yeah, those shots they stink by the way, and they're kind of pricey. I got it and I got my yellow fever shot in Beijing. Believe it or not.

56:55 John Daub: And it was $3. I got it at the Beijing Medical Center. It was state-run. I was a little bit worried. They gave you a little yellow book, which was your vaccine book. It's all in English and Chinese too.

27:25 John Daub: And I had yellow fever stamped in there and this and it was the most bizarre thing. I got a lot of stories like these but when I was backpacking in the days, it was I think.

27:55 John Daub: This is 2001 July of 2001. I went in there for the yellow fever vaccine recommended by the Chinese tourism office. And there's like basically no line. She takes the needle brand out of the package.

28:25 John Daub: So, you know, it's a new needle puts it yellow fever confirmed. And then she goes like this. This is 2001. China was a different country. She go like this and behind her.

28:55 John Daub: I'm not joking. There is a mountain in the corner of the wall. I'm not joking of syringes. This is the most illogical way to do it. They don't do this in China anymore.

29:25 John Daub: But in like that, this is the great transition time before the Beijing Olympics and everything. There was a wall of used needles in the corner and I'm like, all right, let's go do this.

29:55 John Daub: I took the Trans-Mongolian Railroad across Mongolia and Siberia through Moscow and Belarus and got to what you can't do today and got to the Poland to Warsaw eventually and then from Amsterdam.

30:25 John Daub: I went with a bunch of Dutch friends to South Africa and we took a safari with somebody who is ex South African military, which is cool. We crashed one of our vehicles in the bush and we had to end three of us had to camp.

30:55 John Daub: