Snack Review: Tokyo Cup de Cheesecake

I'd seen the little cheesecakes for sale at my favourite Japanese snack store, MD Ranking, twice before. But on both occasions, I'd missed out due to the popularity of the snack (I'll also mention that MD Ranking seems to order a limited amount and snacks get sold out like that!) So when I saw the last box for grabs yesterday afternoon, I made sure to buy it even though it cost me $25!

The cheesecakes sat in a very cute little box. Whilst not Kawaii cute, the box made the food look delicious and soft, especially with its pictures of the rippling cheese and spoons full of creamy cheesecake.

Each of the individual cakes had a little plastic around them stamped with the cute light blue logo of the company. I also liked the actual cups the cakes were in. Tiny, shallow little oval dishes. The Japanese just do such a lovely job with packaging, though sometimes I wish they would use a little less plastic.

The Cheesecakes were soft and rich and creamy. Totally smooth and silky on my tongue. I don't normally expect this from packaged cakes, but Tokyo Cup de Cheesecake cakes were really creamy and delicious! I would totally recommend trying it if you see it in your local Japanese snack store.

There was only one flavour in my local store - this creamy original or vanilla flavour. But if you're interested in other flavours, you can view them on this Japanese sales website for Tokyo Cup de Cheese!

Overall, Tokyo Cup de Cheesecake scores a 10/10. Smooth, creamy cheesecake cups. Treat yourself. You know you want to...

Zebra Sarasa Clip Pens: Pink Series

It's been awhile since I've posted about my pens, right? I like to do pen photoshoots when I have enough natural light...lately it's been getting darker here as it's winter. But I managed to snap a picture of one of my newer collections the other day.

Today I present to you....The Pink series. I wasn't initially into these because it seemed like they were rather plain, and being a limited series, they were rather difficult to find. Thanks Heidi and Pamela for the trades! But the idea of owning all the different shades of pink grew on me as I've always liked the idea of collecting all the colours of the world...in gel pen form. Also, I really liked some of the illustrations on the pen bodies. My favourite ones are the mustache and the airplanes. Cute designs, even if they're a bit girly.

The whole collection comprises of just 5 pens: Baby Pink (Crowns, Rings and Locks), Rose Pink (Rainbows and Planes), Cutie Pink (Hearts and Logo), Peach Pink (Yellow and Pink Stars and Logo) and Coral Pink (Pink and Black Mustaches and Bows).

Please note: This set is not for trade. It's just a display of my collection. Thanks!

Snack Review: Meiji Rich Matcha and Meiji Rich Strawberry Chocolate

Japanese Chocolate is surprisingly good. You never really think of Japan as being a chocolate manufacturing country, but as I mentioned previously on my blog, I like the Japanese chocolates A LOT more than the American ones. Japanese chocolates are not as sickeningly sweet and they're creamier than American 'candy' bars. But they've got less calories than some of the richer European chocolates.

Meiji's Rich Matcha and Rich Strawberry chocolate blocks are a good example of this. They're beautifully packaged with metallic green and red wrappers respectively. The Matcha block is decorated with pictures of green tea leaves, while the strawberry block has strawberries. Haha, no surprises there. I call them chocolate blocks for want of words. They're quite thin and small in size, only 3 or 4 rectangular blocks wide.

I really like both favours, but if I had to pick one over the other, it would be Matcha. The Matcha bar was dense, packed full of creaminess and strong matcha flavouring. It was just right in terms of sweetness and contained a lot of matcha powder. The green tea scent was strong and pleasant and the texture was very, very smooth. It kind of reminded me of a crayon...but I only use that idea to describe it's texture and not it's beautiful taste.  I would rate it as one of the best Japanese chocolates I've tried so far.

The Strawberry bar was also thick and creamy, dense and rich. But it had more of a tart flavouring and contained little strawberry pieces blended within the chocolate. It also had a lovely strawberry fragrance.

Overall, Meiji's Rich Matcha and Rich Strawberry chocolates are delicious. Some of the best Asian chocolate I've had even though they are pricey at $5 a pop. These bars score a 9/10.