- of sweets and snacks -

of chips...

i love Karamucho, by Koikeya.
the "normal" Karamucho.
its name comes from Japanese adjective "karai (辛い)" which means "spicy/hot", and Spanish word "mucho" which means "a lot of/much".

there's a limited edition called Karamucho Stick 5-times Spicier Hot Chili Flavor (カラムーチョスティック 辛さ5倍ホットチリ味), which you can find in nearby convenience stores and supermarkets, but personally i still prefer the "normal" flavor :p
first of all, it wasn't as spicy as i thought.
(although, Japanese might wanna read 辛さ as "tsurasa", which means "painful/unbearable/tough", because according to the Japanese standard it IS unbearably hot.)

and i like them in big chunks, not tiny sticks.
same rule applies to french fries and Pocky sticks ;)

but i love Jagariko too, even though they're sticks.
it's a kind of fried potato snack by Calbee which comes in a paper cup.
and apparently, if you dip it in boiled water, it'll turn into mashed potato.
hmm, makes sense.

also, don't forget Pizza Potato, again by Calbee.
basically it's pizza-flavored potato chips topped with cheese.
pity it doesn't come in large packets like Karamucho.

*****

of chocolate...

by the way, there's been a huge dispute debate among the Japanese community, over which kind of snack is better - Kinoko no Yama, or Takenoko no Sato.
and it takes forever to resolve.
they're both chocolate-topped snacks, both made by Meiji.
and they both look wrong.
the only different in appearance is that...
Kinoko no Yama, literally "mountain of mushrooms (きのこの山)", takes the shape of a mushroom; whereas Takenoko no Sato, literally "village of bamboo shoot (たけのこの里)", the shape of a bamboo shoot.

which do you prefer?

by the way, i like Karamucho (LOL).
if it has to be a chocolate flavored snack, i'd pick Koala no March.
'nuff said.

*****

of ice-creams...

hello price rise.
goodbye Häagen-Dazs.
it was 248 yen. or maybe cheaper.
and it's now 284 yen.
mainly due to the rise in price of milk and crude oil.
waiting for someone to treat me ;D

there's a price rise for Baskin-Robbins too.
first time in 18 years.
but don't worry Very Berry Strawberry, i still love you.

speaking of which, i had Romancing the Cheesecake the other day.
at Cold Stone Creamery.
yes, Cold Stone, not Cold Storage.
waffle cone, size: love it.
that's 670 yen, which is equivalent to a full meal at Gusto.
it's really nice, though. cheesecake flavoured ice-cream topped with strawberries and chocolate syrup. crispy waffle cone. and of course, nice weather ;D

what makes it different from B-R is that, B-R ice-creams are ready-made, but at Cold Stone, they're mixed right in front of you. i'm not an expert in ice-cream so it doesn't really matter if it's freshly made or not but.. it's supposed to be like bread? freshly baked = hot and yum. not so fresh = bleh?

oh, and you can choose to make your very own flavor by picking the ingredients you like. on top of that, the employees sing for you. i'm not sure what's their purpose of doing it, maybe to make the mood in the store livelier? still i don't understand why do they have to sing in English when almost none of them can pronounce it properly. i know it's an American chain. but they way they sing it, it's nowhere near USA. LoLs.

*****

of doughnuts...

there's hiyashi tantanmen in Mister Donuts again, yayyyyy!!!
i know i know. that's not a doughnut.
i love Misdo's seasonal menu.
and i miss the Yumcha Set dumplings :
why aren't they sold anymore? refer to this.

on the other hand, we discovered a new doughnut chains.
well not exactly new. but i've been eating at Mister Donuts (and a bit of Dunkin Donuts) all my life.

Doughnut Plant.
there're only a few of them, and they're all distributed in/around Tokyo.
heard it's nice. but i haven't tried this one.

Krispy Kreme.
said to be better than Mister Donuts, but i'm not really sure about this.
because i've only tried the Original Glazed. lots of them though.
they're really nice and sweet.
and you get FREE doughnuts when you queue up at the Shinjuku Southern Terrace store.

*****

of traditional Japanese cakes...

taiyaki. yum.
"tai" in Japanese, is a kind of fish (according to the dictionary, it's sea bream). but this Japanese cake has nothing to do with fish apart from its appearance.
usually it's filled with sweet red bean paste.
and it's often featured in Japanese drama and anime.

again, there's been a huge debate over which side to eat first - the head or the tail.

i'm a person who saves the best for the last. so i eat from the tail. because sometimes, the tail isn't filled with red bean paste (when it's supposed to be filled everywhere if it's a "perfect" taiyaki!!!! i dunno, it's just my opinion :p).

try out different flavors of taiyaki at one of the most famous taiyaki stores in Japan, Gin no An (銀のあん)! apart from red beans, there are also maccha (green tea), custard, black honey and warabi, sweet chestnut, black sesame with walnut, and so on.

*****

tired... -.-
just typing this out makes me feel fat.

i once had a debate with my teacher regarding "saving the best for the last", when we were eating Häagen-Dazs. his opinion was "Eat fast! Get to the best part immediately! You wouldn't know when will the world end!!" in fact he finished his freezing cold strawberry cup in a minute.

note:
hiyashi tantanmen - cold tantanmen, a kind of Chinese noodle.