Snack Time

Since last fall, dear friends in Japan have been sending me care packages with snacks and other goodies. The first giant package I got in November was from sweet Julia who sent me a whole lot of everything I love: adorable printed masking tapes from Daiso, sweets, snacks, tea, hand cream, and lippies! How am I so lucky, I've no idea, but let's just say the sweets and snacks and the tea didn't last past the month. Good thing I took notes as I ate (and drank) them ^.^

First up are two "beauty" candies, both claiming skin benefits. Rose Gummy Candy boasted 2400mg of collagen. This is why friends are awesome. They introduce me to things I otherwise would never even think to try. These were super interesting. I think prefer Japanese gummies over American ones, because the texture is different: softer and bouncier, almost like jello. Oh, and they tasted like roses, of course.

Fuwarinka Soft Candy is a chewy candy that also boasted collagen, hyaluronic acid, and vitamin C. If that wasn't surprising enough, it was also made by Kracie, a Kanebo hair and skincare brand. Apparently, Kracie also makes candies and ice cream. Yup. Mind blown. Who knows, L'oreal might have made candies and ice creams I'd no idea of. Of course, these also tasted of roses. Might I posit that Julia likes rose candies? ^.^

Back in "regular" snacks land, this Piano Black Genji Pie by Sanritsu was a Shizuoka LE was chocolate flavored and was exclusively available within Shizuoka Prefecture. There was also a maple flavored version called Piano Brown. Black Piano was yummy and I'm totally curious to try this Brown Piano also but I doubt it's still available.

I liked the Chocolat Elise White better actually, even though it was a touch sweeter than the Piano Black. This was a wafer covered in white chocolate, with a core also of white chocolate. Of course there's an original version with chocolate.

Yummies ^.^

Another giant care package I received in November was from A. who is now a watercolor painter and is getting ready to move from Tokyo to South Africa. Her husband S. was expanding his family business and she fell in love with the landscape there while on a business trip with him.

She made a painting for my little one and made it into cards and a pillow cover! How awesome is that? That painting was framed and hung in his room now :)

Another super awesome present was this colorful book.

And of course A. sent me snacks. First, a box of Asakusa Raisin Sando (sandwich cookies) by Kawakita, which very much reminded me of Rokkatei's Marusei Butter Sando that I used to love when hubby and I were living in Yokohama (2010-2012). Oddly enough, I combed through this blog but couldn't find any picture or even a mentioning of it. Could it be I never posted about these Hokkaido butter sandwich cookies? They were sooo good, but they required refrigeration as the cream inside was a fresh butter cream with raisins mixed in.

***Screencap from Rokkatei online shop.

Anyway, these Asakusa raisin sandwich cookies were similar, only they didn't require refrigeration and they were sweeter than the Marusei ones. Hubby and I wolfed these down in a couple of days ^.^ Their online shop also lists cappuccino, matcha raisin, blueberry raisin, and caramel flavors. Oh boy!!!

Finally, this giant box of senbei from Ginza Akebono. Let's just say Japan never fails to impress me with her ability to make luxuries out of the most mundane things like rice crackers.

This was a huge hit for our little family, particularly with my little one who made a habit of climbing onto the big dining table where the box was displayed, opening the box, randomly picking from the colorful selections, and demanding that it be opened for him. Then he sat there on the dining bench and munched on the crackers ^.^ He loved these so much we had to limit him to 2-3 packets a day, which was a lot for the 18-months old that he was at the time. Finally, hubby and I had to secretly "help" finish up the box so he couldn't throw a tantrum over us saying "no more." Ha.

Rice crackers and chocolate, anyone? These were surprisingly good. The chocolate on the savory rice cracker was satisfying, especially with the cherry nut on top.

My favorite from the whole box was the tiny square ones with pine nuts. They were kimchi-flavored and a touch spicy.

The cheesy ones were okay. I must admit I didn't love them. I thought the cheesy flavor didn't pair well with the crackers or the almonds.

These were pretty good though, especially the soy sauce (round) and the shrimp-flavored (square, upper right). My little one often ran off with the soy sauce one and we had to chase after him to get half of it back--it was pretty big and we didn't want him to eat all of it ^.^"

Also in the package were these two jars of cotton swabs in Rilakkuma and Hello Kitty packaging. Too cute to use so I saved them xD

Last but not least, I spotted something interesting while browsing Target last fall--Salted Caramel flavored Oreo Thins. It was a fall LE and of course I bought one to try. Turned out it was pretty darn good! Just don't look at the sugar content ^.^" Either way, it got my attention for sure and now I always check out the Oreo shelf at the grocery store. More to come.