[okazu]

Meiji Galbo mini: Strawberry

January 29th, 2010 by Naomi

Just a quickie post to get back in the swing of this.

These were one of the items that my roommate brought back from his trip to Japan. Excitingly, I’d never had them before.

Galbo minis are fun-to-eat little chocolate pods with a strawberry flavoured coating. Texture-wise, they’re similar to malted milk balls, but not quite as crunchy. I liked these overall. Meiji’s strawberry flavour is a bit hit or miss for me, as usual, but the chocolate was nice. Maybe another flavour would suite me better?

Ok. There. Still got it. Perhaps not as eloquent or clever as usual, but I was a little worried I’d lost it completely.

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November

November 10th, 2009 by Naomi

November rather snuck up on me. I am on edge and out of sorts, which tends to happen to me at every change of season. Okazu has been put on the back burner while I work on other projects. My home and computer are full of bits of paintings and poems, drafts of e-mails and proposals. I’ve also been kept pretty busy and exhausted thanks to the retail holiday season.

But don’t fret, dear reader (all one of you)! Blog related things are mixed in there somewhere. Business cards, a domain name, probably a new layout. All in time for the new year (which is sooner than you’d really like to believe).

Our room-mate just came back from a quick trip to Malayasia and Japan and brought me a couple goodies that I’ve never had before. Entries for those coming up.

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Rose Flavour Gum

October 17th, 2009 by Naomi

I’ve always really enjoyed the idea of edible flowers and flower flavouring. As a teenager, one of my favourite candies was Chowards violet mints. The flavour is earthy but sweet, and there’s a real satisfaction, for me personally, in the foil paper packaging. Unwrapping and eating a mint is a full on experience. There’s something extremely comforting there, rooted in history.

Like violet, rose translates really well into the realm of the edible. I enjoyed many a rose flavoured bubble tea while living in Kunming. The taste of rose is really subtle and blends well with milk and sugar.

This gum is fairly streamlined and modern in its packaging. I believe the marketing goal here is the simple promise of fresh breath. I know I want my breath to twinkle! And don’t we all.

Each pinkish piece is individually wrapped (in twinkle printed foil) and has a bit of a goopy sweet center, kind of like Fresh Up gum in the US. Does that even exist anymore? Someone fill me in.

Codes and our room mate Anson were not fond. Both claimed it tasted like bathroom soap.

Hey, it’s not for everyone.