Japanese Candy and More!

I can't say that I have ever had a major craving for Japanese candy the way one might have for, say, German chocolate or French pastries. Before moving here, I had tried the Hi-Chew candies and the Pocky sticks. Both fine. Both kinda forgettable. 

Last night we went to a Japanese grocery store a few minutes from our house and I was immediately in love with it for one simple reason: 

Cushy, reclining stroller carts and toddler seat carts. I'll take three.

My elation was somewhat dampened when we came to a little sample tray containing these weird, wiggly tiny white FISH with EYES. Of which Ivy had three servings before I could even say "Awwww heck no!" I love how adventurous she is, but the rest of us decided to abstain.

It's the black eyes on their milky white little bodies that does it for me. 

All this fresh, cheap sushi! That's the kind of food I can get behind.

"Okay, okay," you say, "but I was promised candy." Indeed. Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination!

Candy mini food. I hope?

Cookie/gummy versions of popular foods out here. 

Jelly is a very popular treat here. The texture is a little gross to me - sort of a clumpy, watery Jell-o, but my kids love it.

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This lazy egg guy is my favorite. I laugh every time I see it. PLEASE watch this video. That's the character and it's really popular here as well, sort of a lesser Hello Kitty type character. 

These are so good. Milk candies that taste like that Hokkaido ice cream that I can't stop talking about.

New varieties of Pocky sticks that I am excited to try! Plus the Men's version for that special someone in your life. 

Coconut pineapple and grape mentos. It is of note that the grape flavor out here is far superior to the states. Seriously, what is wrong with grape in the US? It's like cough syrup, especially comparatively.

Mango "Adult Hi-Chew." I have also had bitter orange, which is my all-time favorite.

Kristen, I'll be sending a bag of these your way. Haha!

Little gummy fruit with toothpick included for easy eating.

ALL THE CANDY. 

These little boxes were packaged together and I was curious about their contents, so I bought them. It was like $1. 

The top box had little heart candies and the bottom box had this tiny, wooden ladder car (firetruck?) that I love. So cute. I want to go buy 10 more. 

Then there were things I bought just because they were adorable.

We are settling in to our new life! Ivy has started preschool and loves it. She always comes home with news, which June and I soak in like sponges - what did she have for snack? Was Aaron a jerk again? Who laughed at her joke? We MUST know. June and I usually eat a late breakfast and just enjoy a more relaxed few hours together before we walk over and get her - a 7 minute walk. 

There are a few things about living out here that are...different. We do most of our grocery shopping at the commissary on post, which is just around the corner. It's always an adventure since the produce section is a combination of very expensive Japanese produce and very expensive, low quality imported produce. I am not complaining - there are many things that would be difficult or impossible to find if we didn't have the commissary, but it makes meal planning difficult. 

Like the time I planned a whole week's menu with the intention of buying a big ol' box of mangoes from Costco...only to find that they were out of season and were not to be had, even for ready money, in the entire country of Japan. My options were thus:

Another hard thing that we discovered this weekend is the limitation of health care. There is a great clinic out here that is unfortunately not open on the weekends. I learned as much when I called to inquire about the removal of a poly bead from June's nose. Our only option was to drive to Yokosuka Naval Base, which can take two or more hours with traffic, and wait in their emergency room, effectively destroying any Saturday plans we might have. 

Fortunately, I don't care THAT much about my children's safety, so we opted for a quick internet search. I found this article and did a little magic, and soon the offending bead was out. Gross. But very satisfying. 

I hope you have sufficiently gained and lost your appetite several times during the course of this post. Have a great night!