Category: Food

The Box Of Treasures

This came in the mail the other day:

It’s a box from Adam’s sister (let’s call her AC) in Japan! It’s a large box and had been traveling for almost 3.5 months! It was sent surface mail which could be the topic of a blog post in and of itself (but I shall save for another time).

The box was a big surprise, and I couldn’t wait to open it. But never in my wildest imagination did I expect the contents:

Look at this pristine condition burger box from McDonald’s! Back in April Macca’s Japan had a Shin Ultraman collaboration which featured the return of two chicken burgers which would be sold in Ultraman boxes. AC sent me two of these boxes! Aren’t they beautiful πŸ™‚

But it didn’t stop there! Inside the box was also three of the special Ultraman branded plastic cups, also from McDonald’s. These are even prettier than the burger box and have immediately become the stars of my ‘Ultraman fast food packaging’ sub-collection!

I don’t know any details behind the acquisition of these items – AC included limited commentary in the box – so I assume she went to McDonald’s herself and purchased a Shin Chicken Tatsuya burger with accompanying McFizz Aomori Fuji Apple beverage. And yet the burger boxes are absolutely spotless and look unused… did she have a black market connection? However she obtained these, I appreciate it.

If you’re not aware, these items are in collaboration with the brand new Shin Ultraman film that opened in Japan in May. I want to see this film more than any film that ever existed but it hasn’t yet been released outside of Japan so I continue to wait. I’m guessing Amber saw the movie, since the box also contained this extraordinary item:

I believe this is a cup purchased from a Japanese cinema! The side of the cup features the movie logo, and underneath it says ‘fantasy special effects film’ just in case you’re one of the handful of Japanese movie-goers that hasn’t heard of Ultraman! The cup is large and the Ultraman on top – in his Spacium Beam pose – is large and dynamic. This is an amazing item that will proudly be displayed on my shelf for ever!

And this wasn’t everything in the box. There were a few other Ultraman items, an extraordinary hand towel (that you’ll see in a future post), a clear file (how did AC know I was planning an upcoming clear file post?!?) and two more incredible Gotochi postcards including this one:

I need to go back to Japan so I can send some of these special postcards myself…

Thanks AC; this box was like Christmas coming early πŸ™‚

Ramen 19: Stop In The Name Of Ramen

No soup this time, but a few more ramen-adjacent items I’ve acquired on my travels.

I bought the above in Australia. It was one of those things that come ‘free’ with a Japanese magazine, and is a Cup Noodle ‘purse’ (based on the photo of the girl using it as a purse). Naturally it’s an insane item to use as a purse, so I’m displaying it here as a ‘ramen carrier’. It’s a nifty thing, with nice printing in and out and a cute fork-shaped zipper pull. Of course I have no actual use for it πŸ™‚

Here’s another ‘noodle stopper’, displayed in the intended position. This is now my second such figurine, and was a prize from a (type of) UFO machine in Sydney. Sue watched bemusedly as I loaded $1 coins into the machine at a good clip, and I’m sure she shared my joy when it only cost me $52 to ‘win’ it. Naturally I’ll never use it to steep noodles, and it will live happily on my shelf forever.

This last item was a surprise! I’d never seen a noodle stopper for sale here, so when I saw this double pack at Kino in NYC a couple of months ago I had to have it. Here’s a closer look at the contents:

A cute pair of noodle stoppers, and it even comes with a fake ‘cup noodle’ for them to sit on! These are of course sisters Ram and Rem from the anime Re:Zero (which I’ve never watched) and are amongst the most licensed characters in animation these days. The pair cost me less than the previous figure. So I have four noodle stoppers now, who sit on the edges of shelves. I think this is enough πŸ™‚

Next installment some more chicken noodles. Stay tuned…

Tastes Like A Chocolate Milkshake

Let’s try this mad creation:

Australia loves it’s honeycomb, and there’s several products available that include it. The most well known is probably Violet Crumble bars, but whoever thought of turning them into a drink?!?

I was apprehensive pouring it, since as a rule I don’t like drinking milk unless it’s strawberry flavoured. And let’s be honest: this doesn’t look great:

Fearing coffee or something equally nasty I took a slug. I immediately disliked it, although it tasted nothing like Violet Crumble and instead just tasted of chocolate. Mum was curious and had a glass herself…

Here’s her review: “Tasty but no Violet Crumble taste. It’s just a chocolate milkshake! I wouldn’t buy it again and I’ll score it 4/10.”

As for me, it’s a solid 0/10 since I despise chocolate milk, and I’ll also penalize it a further point (down to -1/10) for having not even a trace of honeycomb taste!