Pine Candy パインアメ

No , not pine tree flavoured as the title suggests , but merely another example of Japanese abbreviating English.
Japanese love to abbreviate not just foreign words but also in their own language.
Today I would like to introduce to you another very famous candy.パインアメ  Pine brand Pine Ame (pineapple candy)

This is the flagship product of the "Pine" candy company. It has been produced for about 60 years.

As somebody who loves pineapple flavour I always find it frustrating and difficult to find good pineapple flavoured lollies (candy),so when I saw these in Japan I just has to try them.
It was addiction on first suck , I know yes I am a sucker(corny joke alert)..I much prefer to enjoy the flavour 
of hard lollies and suck them rather than bite them and get bits stuck in my teeth.
Anyway I really love the natural pineapple taste these have , it is tastes fruity as they use pineapple juice for flavouring so it is not sickeningly sweet, though everybody does have their preferences.

The candy itself is 1cm thick and has a circumference of 2.2cm.There are about 25-26 pieces of candy in one 126 gram family packet.

Recently , I would assume to the long running success  of the Pineapple candy they have released another flavour "Orange" Which i find equally enjoyable , though my personal preference for flavours of candy is Pineapple.

If you are interested in trying candy mentioned in this blog  it is available via my catalogue attached to this blog.I also give random samples with orders.


To finish off today's blog I thought I would share another amusing "Engrish" photo , which I took while shopping in the local mall.

Lunch Time Adventure

Today I thought I would go off topic and  share my dramatic lunch time experience from yesterday.
It was like watching action scenes unfold from Hollywood movies , before ones own eyes.

View from the cafe where I was having lunch.

Yesterday, I went to Lunch with my wife and in laws to a family restaurant called "Gusto" .
The meal started normally, we ordered, talked , waited  then food came and  we ate..but
so much for a peaceful lunch. Perhaps I will review the restaurant another time.

Outside the window of the cafe  a little van flipped on it's side after colliding with another car.
Then the Lady driver  from that  car got out charged over and commenced kicking in the windscreen of the flipped up van while yelling obscenities.She clearly was blaming the driver for the accident. We could see the driver still in the flipped up van standing up inside the van behind the relative safety of the windscreen.

Onlookers were not quite sure what to do , but we did see an eldery lady taken out of one car and other people trying to rescue the driver from the flipped up van while holding back the rather angry lady I mentioned previously.About 10 minutes after the crash the police , ambulances and fire brigade arrived.
 Ok so so far we have a crash with a flipped up car , and road rage plus heroic people rescuing crash victims...but wait there is still more.

 There was a unrelated fire 20 metres down the road. I assume from somebody flicking cigarette butts.
If you look at the first picture you may have noticed it was a bit hazy in the background..that later developed into full on flames..which I could not photograph.

Well that was my lunch yesterday ; Car crash  + road rage + rescue + unrelated fire.



 Stay tuned for 1st of May's blog.I will announce a bulk candy sale offer that is not to be missed.

"Orion Mini Cola "

A Traditional Japanese garden exterior wall.

Today I would like to introduce you to some more iconic and very popular, long time candy favourites in Japan. "Orion Mini Cola and Mini Sour (though the latter is not actually sour)

Mini cola candy was first released in November 1978  so it's long history is a testament to it's popularity.
There is a range of flavours in this series including Cola , Ramune (It is a bit like creaming soda mixed with lemonade , berry , peach , orange and a few others including an energy drink which I am yet to have tried.

 

These are the best cola flavoured candy I have tasted anywhere..Not too strong and not too sweet.I find them very addictive.

 

 The cute little mini size cans are 5cm tall and have a diameter of 1.8cm, contain 9grams of candy and weight 16grams including the can.

Here you can see inside the cans.They easily pop open with your finger .

If you are interested in trying other flavours do let me know and I will add them . All the products I review on my blog are available through me via my catalogue. The link is shown on the right side of this page.

Engrish 2

Yes,I know this is a blog about candy or is supposed to be , but today I want to go off topic with a couple of amusing photos I took while out and about in Japan.

So does anybody find this amusing? I was quite shocked to find this company using Humans to
drive their vehicles.

 Is your tooth clean?

Now just to round things off with something that is related to my Blogs title. If you order today (25 April) New Zealand time you will receive a $2.50 voucher to use in your next order.

Milky and Peko chan

Fujiya Peko Chan Milky Candy

 Today I would like to introduce you to one of the most iconic and well known brands of Japanese Candy "Milky" These sweetened condensed milk toffee caramels are more than just a delicious treat, they are a piece of Japanese culture and history.

The first thing you may notice is the cute pigtailed girl with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.
Her name is Peko-Chan and she is the mascot of Fujiya and has been since 1960.I believe she was originally drawn as a 6 year old girl...and has not aged since!

 This 32 gram box contained 7 sweetened condensed milk caramels.

The box is also sealed in plastic wrap for security and freshness.It is visible in the first picture.

 

Milky also comes in many other varieties including the above chocolates.This box contains 12 delicious Milk chocolates with sweet condensed "milky" centres.

There are also toys, cases and a whole range of merchandise dedicated to Peko-chan . Like many other Japanese snacks there are limited or special addition versions which may only be available from time to time.

To prove the iconic status of Peko-Chan read this article from 2009 ; "Mobster nabbed over Peko-chan statue theft"

Engrish

 As I mentioned in the first blog I wish to introduce you to some amusing "Engrish".Engrish usually means amusing misuses of the English language.

Japan has a population of  aproximately 128 million  , but of which 98% of the population cannot speak English.I find this interesting as Japanese love western culture and printing English signs or slogans on everything.

Today's picture is for the Rugby fans. I found this lovely shirt in the local shopping mall.

I would like to thank everybody for the warm response to my first blog and the catalogue.

If you order over $50 from this months catalogue you can choose one free chocolate bar.

These include Meiji White , Himilk , Milk and BLACK dark chocolate.

Tomorrow I shall review more delicious Japanese snacks for you , so stay tuned.

Greetings

Japanese Cherry Blossoms in Osaka.

Welcome to the first Osaka Candy Store blog. Here I hope to introduce to you Japanese candy chocolate and snacks, also to entertain with the occasional article and "Engrish" Japanese attempts at English photos.

In the future I hope to review cute Japanese items and other bits and pieces.

I know everybody has been waiting for me to release the first addition of the Candy Catalogue,well finally here it is.You can either click on this link: http://www.step-learning.jp/candystore/catalogue.pdf  or click on Candy Catalogue under Shipping options and Ordering on the right side of this blog under the heading Pages.

Orders will be processed from the 20th of April.

In the first addition there are 35 types of candy , chocolate and snacks. I think there is a something for everybody.Items will change monthly so don't expect to find everything you saw in the previous catalogue.
In Japan many products are only available for a short time and rotate in and out of production to keep the customer interested.

  I intend to expand the range to include other non food items including anime merchandise and other cute Japanese goods in the next catalogue.

Now I would like to introduce you to a few of the products in this months catalogue;

にぎにぎおすしやさん(nigi nigi o sushi ya san)

 

This cute little packet of sushi shaped gummy is a bit of fun.

There are 3 flavours inside .The base is peach flavoured and the top is either cherry or orange.

You can combine these to make Cherry peach or Orange and Peach flavours.

Bourbon Milk Arafort

  

Delicious milk chocolate on a biscuit base.They also come in white chocolate on a cocoa biscuit base and dark chocolate.These are very addictive and it is hard not to eat a whole packet in one sitting.

What I love about these is the ratio of chocolate to biscuit which definitely leans most generously in the chocolates favour.

うまい棒！Umai-bo (Yummy/delicious stick)

Cheese flavoured Umaibo meaning "Yummy or delicious Stick"Released first in July of 1979 are a very popular snack available in every convenience store or supermarket.
They have an approximate diameter of  2.6cm and a length of 11cm.It may vary slightly.
These are the best tasting cheese snack that I have tasted in Japan.There are many flavours of this snack ,some are limited to season or area while others are available all your round like these.Other weird flavours include takoyaki (burnt octopus) , pizza , natto (fermented soybean) , teriyaki , chocolate and many more.

I hope to introduce a few more less exotic flavours to the catalogue in the following months.

If you have any requests of particular flavours or types of snacks ,feel free to send me an email and ask.

Stay tuned for more reviews.