meh

Over the weekend Satoshi and I shared the following two beers by Belhaven...oh em gee...just colored fizzy water with foam.

How can they even call this beer?!

Even more disappointing was their stout...just darker colored fizzy water with foam.

You know, I really don't like to post negative things, but this was bad.

Meh.

keep calm & carry on

I had seen this motto in Japan when they were having a British themed sale at an import shop.

Apparently this motto was thought up during WWII as a way to "cheer" on the Brits.

Before they could use it though, the war ended, so most of these posters were destroyed.

Then 60 years later, a bookseller named Stuart Manley, found this among some old books. And even more recently, more posters were found and auctioned.

The company, Keep Calm and Carry On was able to purchase one and used it for posters, t-shirts and other knick-knacks.

According to some, the motto sends a comforting and reassuring message.

I think it's pretty cool.

'tis the season

Christmas is coming, what a great way to celebrate with all sorts of sweet treats from around the globe.

First off though is not a sweet treat... A french classmate went to Belgium recently and brought back this cute sachet filled with lavender, perfect for Christmas (merci!)

Mini pandoro from MUJI. I had read about pandoro on Rowena's blog, but had not tried it myself.

Have you seen how big Pandoro or Panettone are?! Lucky for me, MUJI had these mini-sized (like the size of a big muffin), perfect for a taste.

This Italian eggy bread/cake reminds me of what we have in Japan called castella.

And if you try pandoro, then you have to try the Italian panettone too.

Another mini-size made by MUJI.

This one was more bread-like filled with raisins and citrus peels.

I preferred the pandoro while Satoshi preferred the panettone.

A small box of La Mere Poulard's Les cookies du Mont Saint Michel (France).

These cookies are packed with chocolate chips...yum!

Weiss Contrella Classic Lebkuchen (Germany)...I had envisioned something more like gingerbread, maybe a little more crisp, but these were soft, a little spicy, very sweet and dipped in chocolate.

With a cup of tea though, they were perfect.

Rounding out our Christmas treats, shortbread from Scotland.

Walker's buttery shortbread are delicious.

What are you enjoying these days?

funny

I know Satoshi tries his best when it comes to pronunciation of words in English, but sometimes it is just so funny what he hears and what he says.

Once we were talking about Victoria's Secret and he said they sell "blahs" yeah?! I said, "bras", he said, yeah, "blahs".

And then another time we were talking about "pride" and he says, "plied"...

The funniest was when I was talking about "baguette", you should know that most Japanese call "baguette", "france pain (pahn)" and don't call or know it is called "baguette".

So, when I was talking about "baguette", Satoshi motions with two pointer fingers and motions out a square "bucket"...

Poor guy, hope he does well on the TOEIC test he's taking today...

pukka

Whenever I hear the word "pukka" my first thought is of Jamie Oliver and his wild phrases.

Awhile back, I saw this line of tea made by a company in the U.K. at the gourmet supermarket, but I didn't buy it because I still had some other teas around.

Then, in June, the Japanese foodie magazine that I subscribe to had a giveaway. Just answer their questionnaire and choose a present from their list. I don't always enter their monthly giveaways, but it just so happened that they were giving away this tea. So, I filled out the questionnaire and sent in my entry.

Last year, from the same magazine, I also won this Cuoca Chocolate Tasting Set.

Fast forward to today. As I was walking back to our apartment, I saw a man standing in front of our door. I was kind of leery at first, but realized it was the home delivery guy and rushed to catch him in the stairwell.

After signing for the package, I looked at the package but couldn't remember what I entered for, I was quickly reminded when I opened the package.

What a great surprise...I can't wait to try these teas!