Kabaya Saku Pan Choco Monaka Panda Wafer

Hi again!

Spire here, and this time we have something much simpler than our usual fare :)

The panda shaped snack is apparently pretty popular, to the point that it even has it's own DIY kit. The kit has since been pushed out of production but you can still find it in some speciality stores as part of it's last run.

I got this from Shojikiya for RM 3.90, making it one of the cheaper things you could buy there. The snack comes in two flavours, strawberry and chocolate. I decided to get the chocolate one because I have little faith in strawberry flavoured cream snacks ^^;

What I find rather amusing about this snack is that the back portion actually shows you how to eat it. So you can apparently either start eating it as is, or you can easily snap it in half to share with a friend (or save it for later) I suspect its just a Japanese thing to include helpful  instructions on everything :)

Opening up the package, I was hit by quite a strong whiff of chocolate. Then I was greeted by some very obviously heat damaged panda :(

At least it still vaguely looks like a panda.

The back looks happier than the front

Simply put, the snack can be roughly described as a wafer with cream filling in cream and chocolate flavours. The cream is firm and stays in place pretty well but is still fluffy to the touch. True to the instructions at the back, the wafter is quite crispy and snaps in half very easily too.

Now for a taste.

*crunch*

In terms of taste, the panda snack is very milky creamy with the darker bits having a mild chocolate flavour. It's not particularly strong tasting or sweet, and it's rather light and airy despite you actually sinking your teeth into a large dollop of cream filling. It's also not very sweet either so that's definitely a good thing.

Spire sez: Generally I didn't find it all that enjoyable because I'm not a fan of cream filling and the texture didn't entirely agree with me. Yes, it was tasty but it's not something I see myself trying again in the near future. But if you like tons of cream on your crackers you would probably find this much more enjoyable than I did.

Spire's Ratings

Flavor: 3/5

Price: 5/5

DIY level: Nonexistant

Fun: Nonexistant

Tokyo Banana Caramel

Hello again!

We unexpectedly got to try another flavour of Tokyo Banana when a friend brought back some from Japan ^_^ bless her for remembering we have a sweets blog!

The packaging pretty much looks the same,with the exception that it has a splash of brown and it sports a slightly different label with the word Caramel on it.

Lookin' good!

It does look a tad darker brown than the original flavour of Tokyo Banana, and it also smells significantly sweeter out of the bag. It's also supposed to have some caramel filling on top of being overall sweeter, but in terms of looks, I'm a bit surprised that it doesn't have the distinctive patches or stripes that I mentioned in a previous review, but it apparently does taste the same.

The filling is still that distinct custardy-textured banana, but with a small layer of caramel surrounding it. It's kinda hard to see but trust me you'll taste it. As far as the flavour goes you still get sweet without being crazy sweet, and the sponge cake is divinely fluffy despite being slightly flatter than it's paler brethren.

However it IS sweeter than the original Tokyo Banana flavour so if you're not into sweet stuff it might be a bit of a turn off.

Spire sez: Honestly I like this just as much as the original! It's just a bit sweeter with a hint of caramel goodness. Man, I really need to make it a point to get more flavours if I visit Tokyo again.

Silvy says: Great if you utterly adore caramel. It was good, but I don't think I'd take any more; mostly because me and caramel aren't a good mix haha

Spire's Ratings

Flavor: 5/5

Price: 4/5

DIY level: Nonexistant

Fun: Damn that's tasty

Silvy's Ratings

Flavor: 3/5

Price: 4/5

DIY level: As high as imagination goes ;P

Fun: Just pop it open and nom!

KitKat Blueberry Cheesecake

Of all the loot I brought back from Japan, this one was probably the most oddly shaped thing I had to cram in my suitcase. I've always heard of 'strange KitKat flavours' being available in Japan so I decided to hunt about Narita airport a bit before my flight for anything of interest. This one certainly caught my eye. From what I found out is each prefecture in Japan has it's own unique flavour, ranging from the more benign Strawberry and Blueberry Cheesecake flavours as well as the ever popular Green Tea (Macha) flavour to scarier ones like Soy Sauce (Shoyu) and Wasabi.

For the whole box I think it was priced at 820 yen (about RM 25, ouch!). I may not be remembering exactly but these are generally sold around the 800 yen price bracket. The box which was shaped like a towering Mount Fuji held 9 pieces inside,  in a ball of clear plastic. 

The individual pieces themselves are heavily stylised with Mount Fuji and an image of it's indicated flavour in the front as well as a cute nameplate at the back which you can write on if it's meant as a gift. 

Sorry for the drop in picture quality. My camera died halfway and I had to resort to using my phone's horrible camera.

Out of the wrapper, it's pretty apparent that these special KitKats are a lot smaller than their bog standard chocolate brothers.

Regardless, they still look like KitKat and features their logo emblazoned on the top. It's not very visible because I think the Malaysian heat melted them a little in transit.

As far as flavour is concerned, it's white chocolate and exceptionally creamy, a little cheesy-milky with a hint of sweet blueberry as you chomp into the wafer. Its not too sweet but it's fairly rich so I couldn't handle too many at a go. Maybe that's why they're packaged so teeny?

Spire sez: I'm not a huge fan of large quantities of white chocolate but it's a nice change if you're tired of regular ol' KitKat or are just feeling adventurous. Most of the people I gave this to absolutely loved the flavour!

Spire's Ratings

Flavor: 4/5

Price: 3/5

DIY level: Nonexistant

Fun: Nonexistant

Tokyo Banana

Hi again! It's been a long while since we had a posting ;) that's because Spire went to Japan and brought back a whole bunch of goodies that you'll soon see here, so lets get the ball rolling!

This here is Tokyo Banana, a speciality treat from Japan, Tokyo. Generally it resembles a banana (hence the name) and is a spongy confection that has banana creme filling inside. At first glance it's best described as a twinkie with banana in it! Before visiting Japan, I practically got swamped with people asking me to bring this stuff back. It's apparently *that* legendary.

They generally come in packages of 470 yen, 1000 yen and a bigger one at 1500 yen, with 4, 8 and 12 pieces respectively. The price is slightly different depending on the flavour, I got the classic one so it was the cheapest.

The stuff is practically sold everywhere touristy, you can get it at train stations in Tokyo and there's a variety of flavours and designs featuring leopard spots, tiger stripes and giraffe spots with each 'design' having it's own distinctive flavour. I wasn't able to try all the different flavours but they go like this: tiger stripes were caramel flavoured, giraffe was banana pudding, leopard is chocolate. The company makes a whole slew of tasty treats (mostly banana themed!) you can check them out here.

Sure enough, it was delicately spongy and roughly banana shaped. It did smell nice and rather banana-ish too; I'd describe the entire experience as gently banana, if that made any sense. Time to take a bite!

Mmph. That was delicious. The spongecake was very soft and fluffy, and the inner creme had the consistency and texture of banana mixed with custard. Not too sweet but distinct, I think I'm insulting Tokyo banana by comparing it to twinkies.

Spire sez: I.cannot.get.enough.of.the.stuff. If you go to Japan, this is a must try, even if you don't like sweets. Seriously, it's a right shame if you don't.. My only complaint: dammit I should have bought a bigger box =_=;

Silvy says: First of all, THANK YOU SPIRE FOR THE TOKYO BANANAS!! ^____^v Being extremely particular about the sweets that I consume, I am totally in love with Tokyo Bananas! The sweetness of the banana is not compromised by a truckload of sugar, which is probably the reason why I adore this dessert (I go bananas over bananas). Try it if you can! :D

Spire's Ratings

Flavor: 5/5

Price: 4/5

DIY level: Nonexistant

Fun: Damn that's tasty

Silvy's Ratings

Flavor: 5/5

Price: 3/5

DIY level: Nonexistant

Fun: OMNOMNOMNOM

Lotte Funzels (Chocolate)

Hey there! I don't usually review pocky or pocky look-alikes, but I think this one deserves it's own posting. 

I got this one at Cold Storage for RM 3.95, pretty cheap all things considered. Produced by Lotte, these pocky sticks feature a dipping of chocolate over a rather crunchy stick, which is typical for pocky type stuff. 

I did a quick taste comparison with the local variant of Glico's every popular pocky; Rocky (don't ask, its been named that as long as I can remember) and I find Funzels taste better in comparison. They're a wee bit thicker and the chocolate doesn't taste horribly cheap. The pretzel-sticks are also a tad bit saltier and since I like savoury stuff I found the combo quite enjoyable. I'm not sure if Funzels are easily found in most of the local supermarkets but I'd give it a go if you found some. All pocky aren't created equal ;)

Spire sez: I'm not sure if Funzels are easily found in most of the local supermarkets but I'd give it a go if you found some. All pocky certainly aren't created equal ;)

Spire's Ratings

Flavor: 4/5

Price: 5/5

DIY level: Nonexistant

Fun:  Nonexistant