Don’t Hurt the Peeps!

Too late.

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Cheesy

Saw this poster today and it reminded me to wish you guys a happy Cheesecake Day!

I’m going to go get a crepe with a whole slice in the middle.

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FREE KIT KATS…

Yup you read that correctly and unless you haven’t been paying attention to this blog lately then you would already know that I’m giving away crazy Japanese Kit Kats. To win one all you have to do is provide me with two pieces of information. First of all I need some way to get back to you, an e-mail address works best. Secondly I want you to list at least 5 of the Kit Kats that I’ve reviewed in last weeks Kit Kat review-a-thon. Two clues to help you out with this, the first one is here, the second is the suggestion that you just give me the name of all the types of Kit Kats I’ve reviewed and I’m sure 5 of them should work. I’ll randomly pick a bunch of the correct entries and send them a cool and crazy Kit Kat from Japan. There are no strings attached and you will never hear from me again… unless you want to.

To enter just get me the info any way you can, although clicking here and filling out the form is the best way.

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Strange Treats offered by a famous mouse.

As expected going to a Disney theme park on another content (Disney Sea in Japan) one might find a few treats that aren’t exactly what you would expect. Shown above is the coffee Jelly offered at one of the restaurants as a desert. It’s not that strange to find Jelly offered as a desert but coffee Jelly at a theme park is a little strange.
This sign isn’t a great example but this shack called ‘Open Sesame’ sells sesame churros. Now I’m no expert in the history of the churro but I don’t think sesame was an original ingredient. I’m thinking they took a few liberties. But this wasn’t the strangest.
Just outside of the Arabian castle they offered Curry flavoured popcorn. I should mention that it seems that popcorn was the most popular treat in Disney Sea as I saw so many people eating it and so many boots offering different flavours of it. None of the flavours however where strange flavours like this one.
Even though I had the option to go nuts with strange snacks I opted for the simple classic caramel corn. I’m happy I did because it was great and surprisingly a little different than what I expected. Not as sweet and not nearly as greasy as most caramel corns I’ve had. I left that night a happy boy.

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Show me Mickey

At Disney Sea they had all kinds of fun treats with Disney Characters on them. I picked up this orange flavoured Mickey Mouse Popsicle expecting it to be just a silhouette and not that detailed.

I was so wrong, it looked great. Seen with his apple of a girlfriend Mini these treats really go to show the detail that can go into a simple treat to make it look great.

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Better Back

The rumours about what M&Ms do what to you has just taken an interesting turn.

Click here to read more about the mystical M&M.

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What is the ultimate Japanese Treat (Sembei)?

Before I came to Japan I had never heard the word Sembei before. A few weeks into my trip I learned that Sembei are crackers (often made of rice) that one finds commonly in grocery stores. Then I took a trip to Asakusa and was thrilled to see that they had fancy Sembei for sale in stalls along the main road.

This lead me to believe that maybe Asakusa was well known for these treats and that’s why they had them all over the place. Then I started seeing Sembei stands in more places, and I found more and more varieties of Sembei in stores all over the place. I even found boxes of fancy and expensive Sembei in department store basements.

I’ve discovered that upon a return trip to Japan I could easily write an entire book about the many varieties of Sembei available here. It’s really very ridiculous. It’s not even that the varieties are just crackers with different toppings either, there are soft ones, hard ones, really hard ones, sweet ones, the list goes on an on.
I don’t really know if this is the ultimate Japanese snack, but I do know it’s one of the most common.

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Holy Cow, its National Milk Chocolate Day.

It caught me a little off guard this year and I forgot to get you something, I’m sorry. I managed to get myself box of these lovely little gems.
I figure almonds covered in milk chocolate is a great way to celebrate this cool holiday.

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A Little Homesick

I was feeling a little homesick today when I came across this in a one of the pop machines here. Sigh…

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Journey to the Disney candy store.

Allison and I went to Disney Sea this weekend and had a great time. I couldn’t leave without checking out this candy store and see what kind of treats Disney has to offer in Japan.
They had some pretty standard Disney type treats, cookies, and chocolates.
They also had some more Japanese type treats that may seem a little strange to people used to North American style Disney. These are some spicy crackers based off one of the shows at Disney Sea.
Strangest of all to me where these Curry rice crackers only because I’ve never seen curry rice crackers anywhere else in Japan or in any other Disney location.

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Seriously if you’re a lady, and you don’t go for this you’re nuts.

It would appear that several scientists in England are looking for women to volunteer for an experiment. What you’re expected to do is eat chocolate every day for a period of time… Now stop reading this and go sign up already!

Click here to read more.

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That’s it for the Kit Kat review-a-thon.

It’s not to say that I won’t be reviewing another Kit Kat ever, heck if I find another one here in Japan before I go home I may even consider doing one soon. However I think I’ll take a break from the snack that’s designed to let you take a break and try something new, something exciting, and something that doesn’t break into 2 or 4 equal portions. Don’t forget about the Kit Kat contest either. You could win yourself a cool crazy Kit Kat bar from Japan; you might even win a Kit Kat ‘Mango Pudding’ (hint hint) like the review today. You can enter bellow in the comments, on the Candy Critic comments form, message me on facebook, or send me a message on twitter. Just make sure to give me an e-mail address so I can contact you and name me 5 treats that I’ve reviewed during the Kit Kat review-a-thon. You can enter now (since it’s Monday where I am anyways).

Click here to read the review.

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Kit Kat, extra day! Sort of.

Due to many technical difficulties yesterday’s Kit Kat review was not updated properly so it would appear I’m a day behind on the Kit Kat review-a-thon. But don’t worry; you can still submit your entries on Monday for the cool free Kit Kats from Japan contest. Remember just let me know the names of 5 Kit Kats that I’ve reviewed on the Kit Kat review-a-thon and make sure I have an e-mail or something to get back to you. I’ll randomly pick about 4 people and send them a strange Kit Kat from Japan. Well here’s the review that was due for yesterday and tomorrow I’ll have the review that was due for today.

Click here to read the review.

This is a good place to submit to the contest.

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X Gum Perplexes Candy Critic

I saw this ad in Shinjuku and thought about the fact that I haven’t really looked at Japanese gum that much on this trip.
I looked closer and I think I found the first gum that I must try. I can’t for the life of me figure out what “clean taste” means. Is the gum clear? Does it have no flavour? Is it just a silly translation that makes no sense? I must know. Stay tuned for the review.

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How old is Fujiya?

I picked up this magazine at a train station looking for fun things to do in a particular neighbourhood. What I found was a fun little candy fact for my little brain.
I saw this old photograph and in it you can see a Fujiya store. I never knew just how old Fujiya really was. Great what you can find flipping through a few magazines that you can’t even read.


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Dolphin Friendly Soda

When I saw this can of Soda in Honjo Japan I just had to get it. The name was spectacular “Lucky Cider”. The can looked great too, the bright flashy coloured dots and fun text colours.
Best of all was the strange little dolphin telling me something. I’m not sure what he’s saying but I sure hope it’s something to do with this drink being dolphin friendly, because I wouldn’t want to drink soda that kills marine life.

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Warning!

You may want to move to a library and turn the volume up really loud before you play this video.

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Seriously free Kit Kats could be yours

I’m giving away a few strange Kit Kats to a few people that want one. All you have to do is e-mail, message, comment or any other form of communication that can get to me two pieces of information. First of all I need a way to contact you back, e-mail is my choice because I get nervous on the phone. Secondly I want you to list off at least 5 of the Kit Kats featured in the candy critic Kit Kat review-a-thon. It’s that simple. The contest starts on Monday and I’ll be waiting for all of your awesome entries. And if no one enters I’ll just eat the Kit Kats myself, either way I win. And now back to the Kit Kat review-a-thon for today.

Click here to read the reivew.

And here's a good place to submit your entries next monday.

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Meiji Ad

Saw this ad that I don’t even know what it’s for. It looks like some kind of ice cream, but I could be wrong.

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A little news

Found this interesting article about a company producing candy made from camel milk. I’ve tried goat’s milk, and obviously cows milk treats but never camel’s milk. Although I think another interesting choice might be buffalo milk, the cheese is fantastic so treats would probably work as well.


Click here to read more.
Also on Boing Boing, I found this little rant about the “Need a Moment” ad campaign for Twix chocolate bars. I don’t get the idea that the writer liked it.


Click here to check this out.


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Oops, I’ve been a little lazy.

I just noticed how completely out of order the Kit Kat listing is on the alphabetical listing on Candy Critic. I’ve fixed it up a little but maybe some day I’ll actually go through the whole site and fix things up. For now I’m just going to focus on writing the Candy Critic book I’m working on and giving away free Kit Kats to lucky people like you. Remember all you have to do to win is send me the name of 5 of the Kit Kats featured on the Kit Kat review-a-thon this week and I might send you a wacky Japanese Kit Kat.

Click here to read the review.

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Candy Fact 6

Baskin Robins has 31 flavours because they used it as a marketing idea. The scheme was to have one flavour for every day of the month.

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Book Treats

One of the great things about doing this book about Japanese treats is getting to sample some of the finer treats Japan has to offer.

Many of the treats are beautiful in appearance, and some taste great as well.

But man, I’ve tried some seriously gross and nasty treats over the last few weeks. I’m willing to except that some treats are cultural treats that maybe my culture isn’t used to. But some I just can’t explain the appeal at all.

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Kit Kat review update.

For those that are keeping track this makes Kit Kat number 5 in a row. It’s funny but preparing for this even I did nothing but search out Kit Kats all over the place, but now that I have a whole bunch I’ve lost the thrill of the hunt. I mean I could add more if I found them but I just seem to be looking at other snacks right now. Don’t forget after the Kit Kat review-a-thon send me the name of at least 5 of the Kit Kats I reviewed and you might get a crazy one yourself. You can send me your e-mail and your list any way you want (facebook, twitter, comments on this blog, the form on candycritic.org) and you’re entered.

Click here to read the review.

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Desert my Lunch

I was in a train station store and I needed a little snack. I decided I’d pick up a pre-made peanut butter sandwich with the crusts cut off. What I learned is that these sandwiches are more and just peanut butter. Instead of the standard crushed peanuts you get a whipped peanut icing that taste so creamy and sweet. Most expecting peanut butter may be disappointed, but those of us with a sweet tooth are in heaven.

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What’s the Ultimate Japanese Treat (Red Bean)?

I’m pretty sure that saying that red bean is the Ultimate Japanese Treat is somewhat true but not entirely accurate. I say this because as far as I can tell it’s not as much a treat on it’s own as it is a prime ingredient in some of the Japanese people’s favourite treats.

You can pretty much find Red Bean in just about any candy store large or small. If you go to 7-11 or if you go to one of the finer shops in Ginza you’re pretty much guaranteed to find something with red beans in it.

The strange thing is that I’ve never really just seen red beans on their own. It could be that I’m not looking in the right places, and I assure you that no matter how hard you look in Japan there are places you have not seen. I just wonder why a culture that puts red bean in just about everything doesn’t offer it widely on it’s own.
Maybe I’ll answer that question in the future, maybe I’ll learn that red bean is a great accessory like pepper on food, but when eaten alone can be a horrible experience.


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A little late, but another Kit Kat is here.

Man I am so out of it today, it’s probably the rain and the fact that I didn’t sleep well at all last night. Probably because today is the day I’m announcing the huge Kit Kat contest. Yup right here right now, if you finish reading this paragraph you’ll know just how you can get a strange Japanese Kit Kat sent to your doorstep. All you have to do is wait until the Kit Kat review-a-thon is over and then e-mail, message, or post me your information (e-mail address is good) as well as tell me at least 5 of the Kit Kat varieties that I reviewed during the Kit Kat review-a-thon. I’ll randomly pick 4 winners and send them crazy Japanese Kit Kats. Who knows, today’s’ review could get you a great snack.

Click here to read the review.

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What to do in Kokubunji

So what did I do on a little trip to Kokubunji?

Well I took a little walk around the down town neighbourhood.

Saw this great window decal on the 100-yen shop.
Found this great cake and fruit shop with yummy looking treats and fruit.
But the main reason I made the trip was to meet up with Yukari Sakamoto a chef, writer and all around Japanese food expert. She was nice enough to sit with me and give me all kinds of tips about the book I’m working on right now. She also gave me some great tips about general eating here in Japan. She just finished writing a book all about Japanese foods perfect for anybody that’s planning a trip out here in the future.

Click here to check out Yukari's Blog

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