As a special edition for sale in Hokkaido as omiyage to take back to the rest of Japan, Yuraku confectionery introduced the Shiroi Burakku Sandaa (White Black Thunder) chocolate bar. Since the introduction of Ishiya’s Shiroi Koibito white chocolate coated butter cookies, Hokkaido has been inexplicably tied to white chocolate. This is of course in tune with the image of Hokkaido as a snowy, white realm. Thus, the substitution of a white chocolate overlay on the normal dark, milk chocolate automatically makes the Shiroi Burakku Sandaa “Hokkaido-ish”. I haven’t seen the white version as a single bar for sale in grocery or convenience stores, but I’m generally not looking for candy bars. This gift pack is available at various shops at the Shin-Chitose airport, and according to the packaging is in fact made in Hokkaido. I have eaten the normal version, but I can’t recall what it was like, beyond being not “premium” chocolate. The white version essentially tastes like an inside-out Oreo cookie.
Archive for the 'Culture' Category
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“What unit you with?”
“Huh?”
“What unit are you with?”
“I’m not with any unit: I’m just some guy.”
“No, really,”
(1)Here we go for another music extravaganza from Japan. With the declining economy, the presentation has been getting progressively sparser, but hopefully the talent will shine and carry the day. We’re doing this live, so bear with the typos and frequent updates! Ikimassho! Continue reading ‘2013 63rd Annual NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen’
Other than two bottomless powder days in Niseko I only got in one craptastic day at Sapporo Kokusai. Things timed out rather well this time at Niseko with a big storm preceeding me and continued snowfall while I was there. Things timed out poorly at Kokusai, with my visit bracketed by good days. The steeper powder stashes were all tracked out, and the unridden areas were still a little too soft to be able to carry speed on the shallow slopes. Monday would have been epic, and today (Wednesday) would have been not so suckariffic. Eh, sometimes you just have to chance it. You can’t nail the timing all the time. I guess I could have tried to hit there today then head straight to the airport and jump in the onsen before boarding, but there was the chance that heavy snows could have snarled ground transportation and I would have been stuck. As is with the holidays, traffic on the major highways has been pretty bad.
Well, “like” Mexican. As I experienced many years ago at Sombrero in the basement dining arcade in the Paseo building adjacent to the JR Sapporo station, it looks right, but doesn’t taste right. The fried chicken and fries weren’t really “Mexican”, but the chili con carne and enchilada were… somewhat. They did a lot better than last time. To this day I don’t know what that white stuff that came with my burrito was, but it wasn’t sour cream (I think it was cream cheese). Continue reading ‘Mmm… Mexican’
From the internet, this Suntory 100% malt beer appears to be a Japan 7-11 exclusive. The name, Fukumi no Zeitaku means literally “depth of extravagance”, intending to convey the over-the-top rich experience of flavor the drinker is supposed to encounter with this beer. Of course, as has been shown in the past, the best intentions and best technique and best ingredients can still yield a marginal product. I wouldn’t say in this instance the product is sub-par, but it is really just average. On first taste, there is a sweet that hits you – not quite the painful sweet of like the gnasty Sapporo Fuyumonogatari “Winter Tale” beers, but a sweet nonetheless. I’m thinking this is an unattenuated sweet and not a hop sweet. There is a decent amount of hops, as the bitter in the finish is evident, but the sweet really seems like a sugar sweet, indicating unmetabolized sugars from the strong decoction. That’s strong, considering the yeast managed to hit 6.5% ABV and still had sugar leftover when they died. Considering the little yeasty beasties went whole hog on the sugars, it is surprising that the carbonation level is so low. The 100% malt part is borne out in the rich malt flavor that overtakes the sweet through the middle and finish, with that hop bitter co-mingling at the end. It’s a bit of a shame that the initial taste is rank, since the finish is so nice. It’s tantamount to going from homeless smell to frying bacon. Continue reading ‘Beer Is Good – Suntory Fukumi no Zeitaku’
Could they have gotten a more difficult set of call letters for a Japanese speaker? Hopefully their transmitter problems are fixed, they seemed to be on no problem the past few days. Their signal isn’t any better though, HD reception is pretty unusable in a moving car in town and anywhere east. Too bad because it seems they are slowly bringing features online, I notice the web based streaming app now lists title and artist for most of the songs. Hopefully they succeed!
First it was weird kids putting Southeast-Asia Altis badges on their Corollas, now it’s K-boy wannabes putting YF badges on their Hyundai Sonatas. Forget the fact that the Korean-market Sonatas DON’T actually come with YF badges where the oval marque badge should be, nor at the wheel centers (the YF is red subtext to the Sonata nameplate).
(0)While wandering around Shirokiya’s yatai-mura, I happened across Akimune-an’s taiyaki stall. I guess they didn’t shut down as I thought, but had just been relocated to the second floor. My unfavorite Micronesian worker had a cold as evidenced by a mask, but she was holding the mask to her face with one hand. Great. I hope that hand gets washed before it touches food or food making apparatus! I’m sure that’s wishful thinking.
Nagoya’s Jiraya is back at Shirokiya, this time all the way at the back of the yatai-mura food court. I gave their takana tenmusu this time. The salted, pickled takana adds a nice flavor to the rice. I prefer this over the regular tenmusu. It adds a buck or so to the price, but I think it’s worth it.
Recommended
Three-and-a-half out of four musu-monkeys
$8.89 USD with sales tax