Osaka/Kyoto/Nara Dec 2014 Itinerary: Part 8: All about SNACKS!

Final post for this mini travel series will be dedicated to some notable snacks that I've purchased during this trip. I confess I'm a bit crazy about convenience stores in Japan (e.g. Family Mart, Lawsons...)- I would walk into almost every store I pass by, partly because it is so warm and nice inside but mostly because I'm always fascinated with the variety of products and snacks available!

1) Pocky

Pocky is a flavour-coated biscuit stick which is a really popular snack. I love the variety of Pocky flavours available- and the new, seasonal flavours are always a surprise (in terms of quirky flavours) and so yummy.

When in Japan, get their specialty matcha flavoured snacks! The Uji Matcha Pocky I bought are matcha flavoured biscuit sticks covered in chocolate and almond toppings. An irresistible treat for matcha and chocolate lovers.

Pocky Midi is the fatter, stubbier brother- it usually comes in shorter biscuit pieces with much thicker flavour coating- the winter strawberry special edition I got perfectly captured the sweet tartness of strawberry that goes so well with the chocolate biscuit.

Pocky is available in most convenience stores and pharmacies.

2) Collon

Yet another matcha flavoured confectionery! Collon is a biscuit snack with a cream core- a matcha flavoured one is more commonly found in Japan than elsewhere. Can be easily found in convenience stores.

Carrot Sticks and Coffee, Hougang 105 Hainanese Village Centre

Tucked inside a corner of the Hougang 105 Hainanese Village Centre is Dong Jin Yuan Dian Xin (unit no. #02-04), a stall which specializes in Fried Carrot Sticks. This is probably the Chinese version of french fries. The stall owner cuts up steamed radish into bite size sticks and deep fries them in his traditional wire mesh basket. For just $2, you get get 16 of these wonderfully golden brown deep fried carrot sticks. Really affordable and delicious afternoon snack!

The turnover rate here is quite high, and queues only form when the stall runs out of carrot sticks and the uncle is still in the midst of frying a new batch. When I visited on a Saturday afternoon, there was a small queue in front of me but quickly dissipated once a new batch of freshly fried carrot sticks arrived. It so happened that the uncle was frying his last batch of carrot sticks, so I was fortunate enough to get hold of a bag of 16 sticks before they sold out!

Each fried carrot stick is fried to a nice perfect golden brown.

The texture is amazing. Each stick is coated with a nice crispy deep fried layer, but the insides are still soft and chewy, just like your normal carrot cake. Each stick also has a light fried flavour and you definitely will not stop at one. It's best to eat it on the spot while it's warm- if the carrot sticks are left out for too long, it becomes a little cold and soggy, definitely not as enjoyable.

The carrot sticks go extremely well with coffee, and I recommend getting a nice cup of Kopi from Da Zhong Cafe (#02-20) located just behind the Carrot sticks stall.

For 70 cents, you get a medium cup of coffee that offers Ya kun quality coffee, for almost half the price of a cup at Ya Kun! The coffee here really very similar to that of Ya Kun and it also shares a similar characteristic strong aroma and flavour intensity. Coffee lovers would be happy to know that for just another mere 10 cents, (80 cents) you can get a large cup of coffee (served in a glass cup found at coffee shops). Coffee is really affordable here, even coffee shops outside charge an average of a dollar for coffee. They are also very generous with the amount of sugar and condensed milk poured into each cup, so for people who prefer their coffee to be less sweet, remember to order Kopi siew dai!

Hainanese Village hawker centre is located at Block 105 Hougang Avenue 1.

Dong Jin Yuan Dian Xin opens 7am-11pm (Tue, Thu & Fri), 7am-2pm (Sat, Sun & Public Holidays) or while stocks last. Closed on Mon and Wed.

Matcha Soft Ice Cream @ Ueno, Tokyo

Nick describes Ueno as the "Bishan" of Tokyo. My parents spent several days exploring Ueno. Curious to see what Ueno offers, I made a trip there one afternoon. Exit from the JR Ueno station, cross the road and you will spot this:

This Ameyayokocho shopping district/street sells almost everything- not only it's a food heaven with many restaurants, there is also a fresh and dried food market, a huge electronics store and many sport apparel and shoe shops. If you dig hard enough, you will sure get a good deal. There was this huge snacks shop (if you walk deep enough inside the street) where I literally went bankrupt buying all the available Pocky flavours, but that's a tale for another time.

While wandering along the bustling streets, I spotted a shop selling green tea that also sells Matcha soft serve ice cream.

It's every green tea lover's greatest dream- MATCHA ICE CREAM (300 yen). I had a couple of matcha ice cream elsewhere in Tokyo, but I was unable to find another that was able to beat the strong, rich, milky taste of matcha in the ice cream served here.

Perhaps that's the advantage of selling ice cream in a shop also selling green tea leaves- they don't scrimp on the matcha at all!!!

Manneken Belgian Waffles @ Ginza, Tokyo

I was wandering around the streets of Ginza and being the directionless chicken that I was, I walked perhaps three rounds around the Wako clock tower and Sony building area. But I'm glad to explore the little alleys of Ginza where you can find the most unexpected food and snack outlets and interesting shops. For instance, I didn't know baumkuchen- the European layered cake was such a big hit in Japan, there were so many different pastry outlets specializing in the making of this cake!

So I was walking around, craving for something sweet when I spotted Manneken at the corner in front of the Ginza metro entrance. I remember having belgium waffles in Brussels, and I didn't think this place could beat the original decadent confection. But after walking so much, I decided I needed to reward myself with SUGAR. Moreover, there was a queue outside the place and the one thing I learned about Japan that's very similar to SG: if there's a queue, whatever is being sold must be worth queuing for!

I stepped into the waffle shop and was delighted to find two of my favourite flavours- Matcha and Strawberry!!! It seemed to be strawberry season in Japan with many shops promoting strawberry flavoured stuff, and this shop was no exception!



Moreover, these flavours are for a LIMITED time, i.e. me must buy buy buy now now now! I really quite enjoyed my tasty strawberry and matcha flavoured waffles. They were served warm, and were a little crunchy on the outside (must be the light layer of sugar glaze around the waffles). The insides were nice and chewy and the strawberry bits and matcha flavours were generously infused inside the waffles.

I have visited their website and they come up with interesting flavoured waffles from time to time, so do check it out! (the FROMMAGE one looks so good)

Address: Ginza 5-7-19, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. Website: http://www.manneken.co.jp/index.html

Gindaco Takoyaki (築地銀だこ) from Tokyo!

SGreans are a probably familiar with this takoyaki chain, there's one located in the B4 Ion Orchard, but we had the REAL DEAL in Tokyo! We went to an outlet at the food basement of the Atre shopping mall at Kichijoji station, but you can find this chain store in many other parts of the city. Here's how their shops and signs look like:





We had the original flavoured takoyaki balls (600 yen) which included an absolutely delish egg mayo topping and signature sauce! The takoyaki balls are served straight from the pan and are pipping hot! I would say the octopus filling is more generous here than in SG, but everything else is almost comparable to SG. Thick, chewy bits of octopus encased in soft, fluffy flour ball layers. YUMS.

It did not occur to me to try the other flavours, and I regret not getting their latest addition, the Ebi Mentai flavoured topping which looks fantastic on their website. If you do have a chance to try that, do let me know how it tastes like =)

Poh Cheu- Awesome kuehs!

“This stall got queue, must be good!” I was initially skeptical, but this stall located at Blk 127, a stone throw away from the Alexandra Village hawker centre, serves decent and cheap ang ku keuhs and soon kuehs!

I was never a big fan of Ang Ku Kuehs (or loosely translated as Red Turtle Cake). The ones I usually have are of subpar standard with thick hard skins, but the ang ku kuehs here have quite soft and have the nice chewy exterior skin which I enjoyed tremendously. The kuehs here are homemade, probably explaining the fantastic texture. It is supposed to be like that, a chinese version of japanese mochi!

I didn’t realise there was much symbolism associated with ang ku kuehs. They are usually flat, oval shaped with a turtle-like engravings on top. Tortoise represents longevity, red symbolises good luck! Maybe that’s why they are often eaten on special occasions like birthdays, but these days, we just eat it anytime.



I’m digressing, anyway the Ang Ku Kueh sold here (70 cents each!) comes in a variety of colours and flavours. I had the traditional peanut and tou sa(green bean) fillings (in red colour), which provided bursts of flavours that complemented the nice chewy kueh skin. They also serve very exotic flavours like mango, green tea and durian. I only managed to try the mango one because the other exotic flavours were not available. The mango paste actually tasted decent and didn’t taste overly artificial or cloyingly sweet.

The main highlight for the soon kueh is probably the smooth, chewy texture of the floor skin which holds the fillings in. They serve it in different fillings too, you can choose between turnip, ku chye and bamboo shoots. I stuck to the traditional turnip one which was not bad! I don’t really take spicy food, but their special sauce (essentially a blend of chili and black sauce) is a must have with their soon kuehs!

The stall claims their kuehs are freshly made and this is evident in the quality of kuehs served. Very satisfying and most kuehs are reasonably priced at 70 cents each. No wonder queues form here!