All right, I'd be honest. After doing this Work From Home (WFH) thing for a week because of the Covid-19 social distancing measures, I have some inertia going on about writing blog posts. Primarily because it feels like I'm back at work on a laptop.
But if I don't get started, I know the inertia is just going to build and gain momentum. And it's not like in the past where I had an illness or the home renovation to blame things on. In fact, I have time. Lots of time now that we have to be socially responsible and stay home.
So I'm going to try overcome this inertia with a post on what I like: food stuff that I always love hauling back from Japan. Going to split it into 2 parts though. Didn't realise how much I hauled back until I started taking the photos for the blog! Starting Part 1 with my all-time favourite, potato chips and Calbee!
Yeah. My one major weakness that is a bane to my diet and health. I love potato chips, especially those Calbee ones in Japan. Whenever I'm in Japan, I HAVE TO get into a Lawson or Family Mart or 7-Eleven just to check out their shelves of potato chips. It's a ritual that my parents are resigned to. And its no longer an embarrassment to them as to the number of packets that I pay for. Heh.
As with other visits to different Japanese cities and prefectures, I was looking out for the Okinawan specialties. We tried some there and brought others back (in photo below). The only packet that I didn'r really like what that blue packet one; ridge cut chips with milk chocolate. I think Royce does this version way better.
Skikuwasa is a type of citrus lemon/lime fruit that's native to Okinawa, so no surprise that it was also incorporated into Calbee's chips. The resulting packet of chips (see photo below) tasted like a citrus version of salt and vinegar chips, very addictively yummy. In fact, my mom loved it so much, I think she hauled at least 5 packets back with her to Singapore. And that's on top of whatever number of packets she devoured while in Okinawa!
The rest of the Calbee haul I bought from the Calbee+ store at Kokusai Street, the main tourist shopping street in Okinawa's city centre, Naha.
The Calbee+ store also sold smaller, individual packets. These were great to give away to friends, or if you really wanted to try all the flavours the store had to offer without buying them in bulky packed boxes. Yeah, it was definitely easier to pack these loose packets instead of stressing over squeezing the boxes into your limited luggage space.
Best part? I haven't tried a single flavour that I didn't like yet!
Best part? I haven't tried a single flavour that I didn't like yet!
Another favourite snack to bring back: Kit Kats. Japan is known to have a ton of different flavours when it comes to Kit Kats. Some of my chocolate-loving friends would also ask me to bring some back for them whenever they know I'm headed to Japan And this time round, I actually managed to find quite the assortment of flavours!
And the entire assosrtment came from just 2 places: Don Quijote (again) in Kokusai Street and in the airport itself. I even managed to get the Sake series (photo below). Except I have to say, the sake series has been a bit disappointing. My brother and I preferred the non-alcoholic versions a lot more.
Other than Kit Kat, Pocky and Pretz are the other well-known snacks to come with the variety of flavours. I didn't get everything that I found since luggage space was limited (and we had bought quite a bit during the trip) but these were the ones that I decided were coming back with me.
I've only started on these giant Pocky sticks, haven't gotten around to the normal sized ones yet. But these giant sticks have been a fine accompaniment while I work from home during this Covid-19 times.
Side note: Thank goodness I have all these snacks to keep me company at home! Gotta to work hard though to ensure that I don't exit the door a size up when this stay home deal ends.
Purple sweet potatoes and Kokuto (brown sugar) are Okinawan specialties. So no surprise that I chose some in those flavours to bring back home with me. Can't tell you how they taste yet since I haven't gotten around to them yet.
Heh. Too many things to devour in the interim.
And the last item for today's post, another all-time family favourite: Potato Farm!
We actually thought we would return to Singapore without being able to get our hands on this! Throughout our trip in Okinawa, we saw a lot of Calbee, Kit Kats and other stuff, but we never saw Potato Farm. Not until the last day at the airport. I actually squealed and waved frantically at my parents when the Potato Farm display caught my eye.
Potato Farm is a regular staple. Yup! You read that right. It is a must have in our family when coming back from Japan. Each one of us must have a box of it to ourselves. My brother and I bring ours to the office as precious tea break snacks while my mom hoards hers for her prime time TV shows. Haha, dad doesn't even get to go near it! Friends who I have introduced Potato Farm to, have also learnt to seek out this yummy snack.
All right, that's it for Part 1 today. Hopefully, Part 2 will just be round the corner!
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