Friday, December 25, 2009

More Kit Kats from Japan

Okay, catching up from this post:

This was what came out of the second parcel from my friend in Japan. More weird parallel-universe-y flavours of everyone's favourite chocolate wafer stick biscuit*!

My friend was kind enough to attach labels to the packets to explain which one was which flavour; unfortuantely, they've all since fallen off. So, I had to do some puzzling out as to which flavour was which:
  1. Apple Carrot flavour! Tastes exactly as it sounds! And not entirely bad at that, despite any misgivings you'd have about a savoury flavour in a confection.
  2. Soybean Rice Cake?!? This one didn't taste that much different from a regular Chocolate Kit Kat. The flavour must have been too subtle for my tastebuds.
  3. Cherry. A nice sweet flavour with a pink chocolate coating. There was some contest mentioned on the outer; I'm guessing this was released as a promo for some rock band, or something? :/
  4. Plum Soda. As in, a plum-flavoured soft drink. Convincing and pleasant enough, even though I've never even heard of a plum-flavoured soft drink before I tried this chocolate bar flavoured like one.
  5. Mango Pudding. Num num! Me likey!
  6. These blue ones were flavoured to taste like something called Ramune Soda. No, I don't know what a "ramune" is. But the bar tasted like a 7-up, so I'm guessing it must be plain soda-flavour? (edit: Oh, I KNOW WHAT THIS IS!!! Ramune is a brand of soft drink that is popular in Japan, and the bottles are sealed with a marble embedded in the neck, like all soda bottles were before screw caps became popular. There are some Asian shops in Australia that sell them, and I've tried them before. They are very nice!)
Clicking this will lead you to the Wikipedia article about Kit Kats, and it includes a list of all the flavours of Kit Kat released over the world. Later, I'll include a photo of all some of the flavours we've had in Australia, for comparision. Aaand, here's what was in the first parcel Nova sent me back at the start of the year! Bon appetite!

* Unless you of course prefer something other than a Kit Kat. Your mileage may vary.

Merry eXcemas 2009!

Well, it's finally Christmas! How is it for you? I'm trying to be nice about it this year, even though I have to work again (which is fine, because I hadn't planned anything else for the day anyways).

We had a very ramshackle, scattered Christmas this year.
The main problem was that so many of us had plans for the end of the year, and it made it difficult to co-ordinate anything in the way of Christmas activities. The main issue was whether we would get to see our older sister before Christmas, as she lives about three hours' drive from the rest of us. As far as I knew (up to two days before the event) we weren't going to do the family gathering until after Boxing Day... so I took my time getting the presents wrapped up and sorted.

On the way home Wednesday evening, I called in to the shops to get some last-minute gift-getting done, when my phone rang. It was my sister, wondering when I was coming home so that everyone could do "the Christmas thing"! O_O;; So much for a minute's notice!

It all worked out well. I managed to give out the lion's share of the gifts that I had for everyone, and everyone was happy with what they scored. Not only was it the Christmas gathering, but it was also a celebration for my sister's birthday too... so we got to have some birthday cake as well! Which is always good.

My nephew got very excited during the evening, but isn't that expected of kids? It didn't hurt that he received a huge bag of gifts from his grandma on top of all the rest of the gifts we gave him. He really got into the unwrapping - in fact, he got so carried away that one of his presents wound up flung behind the TV cabinet! Getting a little too carries away, perhaps?
He also enjoyed the presentation of the birthday cake, especially the candle-blowing ceremony. After my sister blew out her candles, he insisted on having a go himself... and so, once he'd blown out the candles, naturally everyone else had to have a turn! My sister thought this was totally hilarious, so I think we have the makings of a new tradition right here. Oh, and needless to say, there wasn't much candle left on the cake by the end of the game.

I think I went a little overboard on the gift-giving this year. Okay, I go a little overboard every year.
The most extravagant thing I got was the Wii console for my Ma, but only because I'd been silly enough to suggest it as a gift idea back in September. Now she can get WiiFit in the comfort of her home, instead of slogging it out in the gym! (At least, she will, once she gets the balance board and other accessories to go with it.)
Everyone else I gave gift bags full of assorted stuff which I thought they would like. There were a couple of pricey things in there, but most of it was cheap (good-quality) stuff I'd found earlier in the year, a lot of which were off "Clearance" tables and things. The nicest thing I found (and almost kept) was a Mr Bean Teddy, still in its original packaging, which I found in an Op Shop of all places!
It's easy to get carried away with the spending at this time of year, which is why I generally try to get some preparation in before December rolls around. Of course, I was pottering around the shops on Christmas Eve, looking for last-minute catch up gifts like everyone else too, so I'm not gloating too much! ;P

I received some nice stuff too. Right now I'm listening to the Beatles Anthology, parts 1 and 3. I bought Part 2 way back in Melbourne, when my friend came over from Japan. I'm also trying to work out if this new MP3 player is going to start behaving itself -
oh wait, I just finished charging the battery, and now the computer is recognising that it's connected! Silly manual should have said that you had to wait for the battery to charge before it would work... X(
But yes. It wasn't so much the receiving that was the big deal, since I have heaps of crap lying around anyway... It was the giving, and the getting to hang around with the family, that was the most important part. After all the stuff that's happened, what with the bushfires, sick family members, work-related chaos, and general madness, it was nice to end this year on a more pleasant note.

Then again, there are still six more days to go until 2009 is done... so maybe I'm talking too soon? :/
At any rate, I hope all my friends and readers* have a Great Christmas (if you do "the Christmas thing") and a Happy 2010!

*Yeah, both of you!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Oh yeah, I have a blog to look after!

Hey folks.

Sorry I forgot about the blog for the past few weeks, but my job has been occupying a lot of my time - plus there have been some other developments that needed attention:
  • My uncle passed away in November. He had been unwell for some time, and was living in a care home, but he was admitted into critical care in late October after his lymphoma started affecting him badly. He spent about six weeks in hospital. For a while, he started to get better, responding to treatment and gaining weight, but it unfortunately didn't last. He was a quiet, kind and generous person, and we will all miss him.
  • One of our pets has been diagnosed with FIV (which is like HIV but for cats). He had been looking unwell for the past few weeks, with a skin condition that made his fur look shabby and start to fall out. He has been treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories which seem to be helping with his skin problems, but we are unsure what will happen after he finishes the course of tablets.
  • We lost a key member of staff at one of the places I work, and so I have been stepping into the breach until we get a suitable replacement trained up and ready. It's kind of screwed up my plans for the rest of the month, but we cannot foresee this sort of thing, and we can only go with the flow. sigh...
  • I turned 31 this week. There was no special fanfare this year (unlike last year's three-party extravaganza) because let's face it, 31 is NOT a milestone year. It is however a prime number, in case you wondered.
  • Aaaand, of course... the horror of eXcemas is close to hand! And, once again, it looks like I'll have to work over the Christmas period, and once again my family is unhappy that I will be spending yet another holiday season away from them. :P
All up, it's been a rather chaotic couple of months, and I'll be glad when everything settles down again. In the meantime, I have a housebound cat and too much work to deal with.

See you in January, most likely!