Recently, I took a trip to Seattle and shopped at no less than four Japanese markets. The experience reminded me of something which I’d started to forget and that is that, even if you live close to Asian markets of any sort, the selection is often limited and the price…
When I was a child, I remember a commercial which showed a gorilla tossing around Samsonite luggage as a way of demonstrating how tough it was. Though I doubt gorillas tossed my ZenPop box around, it did encounter some sort of trauma in shipping. The boxes themselves are quite sturdy…
It may seem these days that the only Japanese snacks that I review come from ZenPop. Well, that’s because that’s the case. They provide the best value box for the money and they also send me free boxes. If I had to pay, I’d buy from them, but I’m just…
I didn’t expect to be doing two Zenpop “unboxing” posts in a row. In fact, I expected to review the items in the previous box. I have a good excuse. No, really, I do. If you don’t think what I have to say is a sufficient reason, then you haven’t…
In the first few years after I returned to the U.S., I took my sister-in-law to the “Daiso Japan” shops in the Bay Area. The Daiso is a hundred yen (dollar) store in Japan and other parts of Asia, but most things are a $1.50 in the U.S. When my…
Back when I was still living in Japan, people who read this blog would occasionally ask me why I didn’t start a business selling the snacks I wrote about. My answer was always that I’d done mail order before (Japanese KISS collectible items, mainly records), and it’s generally not worth…
During my earlier years in the U.S., one of my friends kindly purchased me a three-month subscription to “Try the World.” I am interested in cooking and even started a blog which I infrequently update about new recipes that I’ve tried so this was a great fit for my interests.…
I have to admit that I’ve been away longer than anticipated and part of the reason for that was that I bought another Japan box from a particular entity and it was so disappointing that I lost my mojo for talking about Japanese snacks. Yes, I am quite the delicate…
