Japan Snack Reviews #5

Will this ever end?! 

1)

Translation: "Strawberry Candy"

Review:

A pink, roundish hard candy. It has a light strawberry flavor and it's delightful.

2.)

Name: Mini Bottle Sherbet

Review:

Inside the bottle is little white spheres of mostly sugar. Tastes like Pixie Sticks with most of the sour removed and some of the sweetness. They also taste like Smarties (in sphere form). Not sure where "sherbet" comes in. Maybe there's a hint of creaminess? There's a hint of something, something slightly strange but I can't put my finger on it. I think the best way I can describe it is it smells like that point in building a new house when the drywall has just been put in. It's okay.

I took the "bottle" as maybe a clue so I poured a few into some water to see what that would taste like. They didn't dissolve, they just sat there.

3)

Name: Strawberry Daifuku

Review: 

This is a strange one. This is a strawberry-filled marshmallow. The marshmallow is made with mochi and the strawberry is bean paste. The marshmallow is like a normal marshmallow that's old and become tough and chewy. When they say that it's mochi or supposed to taste like mochi makes sense - there is something there that is reminiscent of that.

It's not bad but it's pretty weird and it's hard to get my head around it.

4) 

Name: Transport, Animal or Number Chocolate

Review:

There are some varieties of these that are shaped like transports and some shaped like animals. What I found interesting is that a camel is both.

They taste exactly like Hershey's Chocolate Syrup. You know the delicious chocolate syrup that you add to your milk to make your delicious chocolate milk? They taste exactly like that.

---

So, next up is Korea again but I have to say Japan is just about done; all that's left is the verified chocolate snacks. For that I'm going to have to scrounge up guest tasters from somewhere or something. Not sure how that's going to go.

Popcorn in Bed - Mr. T in Rocky III

 In the Venn Diagram of this blog, there is the circle for posts with Rocky over-reactions and there is the circle for posts about Mr. T. This post is the intersection of the circles.

Really can't wait for the Rocky IV episode.

Mr. T, The 50th Presidential Inaugural Gala and Apache

 

In 1984 Ronald Reagan was re-elected as president and in 1985 there was a Presidential Inaugural Gala broadcast on TV and Mr. T was there.

The program was organized by Frank Sinatra and featured a diverse group of entertainment. Not only did Sinatra organize the event, he also introduced Mr. T. At this point Mr. T takes over:

Thank you, Mr. S.

It's a thrill for me to be back in the nation's capitol. Last time I was here I played Santa Claus at the White House. Where else but in America can a black man from the ghetto play a white man from the North Pole and live to tell about it? Now I'd like to introduce another performer who is used to playing many parts including the President of the United States. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Rich Little...

So it all comes full circle, Mr. T hung out with Dean Martin, now he's with Sinatra... I was just talking about Rich Little, now Mr. T is introducing him. It's all part of God's plan.

The two highlights of the evening, in my opinion, as if anyone cares, are Ray Charles singing "America the Beautiful" which is always great and Don Rickles roasting the room.

I mentioned the diversity of the entertainment... Mr. T is introduced by Frank Sinatra, Don Rickles is introduced by Emmanuel Lewis (14 years old at this point)... but my favorite is when Jimmy Stewart introduces a breakdancing troupe - The New York City Breakers.

The New York City Breakers, a group of 8, come out and dance to - what else - "Apache." One of my favorite memories is one time when I was watching TV with a friend and "Apache" comes on and I spontaneously stand up and do the hip-thrusting Apache Dance. It was so unexpected, he couldn't stop laughing. But as the Breakers were dancing I thought to myself, "'Apache' is by Sugarhill Gang, right?" Well it's interesting.

Amazingly, "Apache" is a British song and was released as a rock instrumental in 1960!

The song was then covered in 1973 by the Incredible Bongo Band to make a hip-hop classic. And this is the version danced to by the New York City Breakers.

But I was not wrong about it being a Sugarhill Gang song because they then covered the Incredible Bongo Band version and added lyrics:

And that's the version I remember.

Oh, and by the way, after the New York City Breakers the next entertainer was an opera singer. Seriously.

Tonight on NBC...

It's May 31, 1993 and tonight on NBC we have:

 

That took a pretty hard turn at the end there. It's "Must See!"

BrutalFoods - Ranking Boston Market Frozen Dinners

I have tried the Chicken Parmesan and thought it was quite good, for what it's worth.

Korean Snack Reviews #5

In the previous segment it was October and I joked that the next time I finished one of these it would be coming out in 2022. Well, the jokes are real. Let's get started...

1.

Translated Name: "Ace"

Additional Text: Ace

Review:

These are crackers, you can see what they look like by the picture on the wrapper. They're crackers that are slightly sweet and fairly buttery. If you want to know what they taste like, they're very similar to Ritz Crackers - they're like Ritz Crackers with 10% less flavor. Very good but Ritz are better.

2.

Translated Name: "Yuja Cheesecake" (spelled phonetically)

Additional Text: Yuja Cheesecake

Review:

The main thing is: they're very good but I want to make it clear that the word "cheesecake" is being abused here. It's a soft, cakey bread cookie with orange-colored fruit filling. "Cheesecake" has nothing to do with anything. 

These have a very close American analogue - they taste almost exactly like Fig Newtons. I kid you not. The filling is orange but I'm telling you that's what they taste like. Pretty good.

3.

Translated Name: "Crown Sando Sweet Milk"

Additional Text: Sweet Milk

Review:

These are vanilla biscuits sandwiching vanilla cream. They're very light, very airy. The biscuits are almost crackers. It's all pleasant but everything is so light and airy that it's hard to have any reaction. Not bad.

4.

Translated Name: "Post" (In French)

Additional Text: Adorable Cracker Sand - Cheese Tarte

Review:

Looks like this:

Where do you get off calling this "adorable?" I see no adorableness anywhere.

In our culture, seeing two crackers like these in a sandwich, you're expecting a Ritz cracker with either peanut butter or cheese in the middle. The wrapper even says "cheese tarte." But the crackers don't taste like Ritz and the cheese doesn't taste like anything. This food review thing is hard. How do you react to things that don't taste like anything? I should review bottled water.

5.

Translated Name: "Butter Waffles"

Additional Text: Have a good time with the Butter Waffles of Crown.

Review:

These are "waffles" and it occurs to me now that "waffle" likely has the same root as "wafer." 

The general theme of all these Korean snacks seems to be "light and airy." And so I went into these "Butter Waffles" with little hope. Fortunately my expectations were subverted - it's a Rian Johnson snack. These are dense and crunchy and have a more obvious sweet flavor. They look like this:

The strong sweet flavor and the texture are a win here. One of the best snacks in this bunch.

And that's it. Next up is Japanese Snacks #5.