Yesterday we went back to the dig bin store in hopes of finding more Kinder Happy Hippos, because I had been handing them out to friends and people from church, and every single person wanted to know where to find more. So....you can order them on Amazon for $40, or hopefully I will luck out again. When we used to go to this store every week before covid, the food bins were my favorite to look through because they had such an usual assortment of stuff, and sometimes you stumble across some health food, or expensive European chocolate, or whatever new trendy food item that is popular. Plus, most people were looking for the big ticket items that they could re-sell on ebay, so I generally had the food pallets left to myself.
I remember when we first moved into our house and were just over our covid quarantine, an ice storm came through and we were stuck in our house for four or five days just because we couldn't get down the driveway. Owsley and I somehow discovered Universal Yums, a monthly subscription service of snacks from a different country every month. We watched more unboxing videos than I would like to admit, and while I would have loved to have subscribed, these subscription boxes are expensive.
Unfortunately I didn't find any hippos yesterday, but they had loads of these "Taste of Japan" snack boxes. These are a little different from Universal Yums because this one isn't a subscription service and is just a one time box. The story behind this business is that a trip to visit family in Japan was cancelled in 2020 when the world was shut down, but things were made a little less depressing by receiving personal snack boxes from their grandparents.
Most of these sticks had an animal and sound listed, although one stick said "beetle-big strong jaws," and another said "horse-your friendly 'neigh'bor."
The main difference is that Universal Yums included a little booklet that described each food item, but with a little brain power you can image search "japanase candy ball black wrapper" and discover that the oddly tasting candy that you just cant place the flavor is actually plum. It tastes like a mix of licorice, root beer, and prunes. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever tasted.
We also tried the rice cake things on the bottom row, which were really good. They look like they would be regular rice cakes, but they have this sweet, buttery and salty flavor, and the rice part isn't too thick, so it balances itself out really well.
I think the ramen might be the only thing salty in the box, which is kind of a disappointment because I would have liked to have tried the Japanese equivalent of chips or pretzels. We've only tried four or five things so far, but nothing has been weird to the kids. It is actually more of an activity than a snack, because whenever someone opens something new, we all want to try a little bite of it and then discuss what we thought.
I don't know who all reads this blog, but if anyone would like me to send them these boxes if I find more, let me know. This would be such an awesome homeschool activity to learn about different countries. You could find some traditional music, read some legends, and enjoy some snacks.
Peppy said seeing all the candy reminded him of being in the Japan store at Epcot. I do remember that day. It was such a good day. The only souvenirs we bought were two mood rings for me and Owsley because they were like a dollar, and the exact same oil they had blowing through the store because it smelled so good. Mango something.
My parents are taking my younger brother's family to Disney World over Spring Break. Pray for them. Now that I know the luxury of vacationing off-season, the idea of Spring Break at Disney World (without the fast pass system or the dining plan) seems more like a punishment than a vacation. The last time my parents went to Disney was ten years ago when they took my family. A lot has changed with Disney and the world since then. I have been looking at wait times the last few weeks, and they are not very uplifting, especially without the use of fast pass. I just hope that they can drop all comparisons of their last trip and enjoy this one too.
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