Winner of Tokyo Regional KitKats Contest

Kitty-chan Christmas buckets for the kiddies in Japan, because a plastic bin full of cheap treats is what all the letters to Santa are asking for.

Merry Christmas to all of my readers! I wish that I could give everyone a prize as a demonstration of the spirit of the holiday, but, alas, I have but one gift to give.

The winner was chosen by a random number generator (no favoritism here!) and it is brit_brat100. Please contact me at orchidsixtyfour@gmail.com about sending your prize to you. Congratulations!

Thanks to all of my readers for their entries, and, of course, for reading! Happy holiday!

Tokyo Regional Rum Raisin KitKat Contest

I've also recently acquired a spare box of the Tokyo regional rum raisin KitKat so it's time for a contest. Also, it is near the holiday season and wouldn't be a bad time to give something back to my readers. So, I'm running a contest to win a box of this special KitKat. It contains 12 individually wrapped mini bars, so you'll be winning enough to share with friends and family. It also seems somehow appropriate that a KitKat which is flavored with rum can be consumed around the New Year when liquor is freely flowing.  

To enter the contest, leave a comment on this post only (comments on any other post will not be eligible) and tell me what you would most like to try among the items that I have reviewed (a stroll through the archives should jog your memory if you don't have one particular item that has stuck with you). In your comment, you can just say the name of the product or you can tell me more like why it is of interest to you. The more information, the better so don't be afraid to be verbose.

This contest will run until Christmas day when I will announce the winner. 

Variety Friday: Debu Neko Sembei and a Summer Contest

Debu Neko is the "mascot" character of a company called SK Japan which provides prizes for claw games (called UFO Catcher here) in Japan. It is my favorite cute Japanese character and the inspiration for me to get my husband to try UFO Catcher games which neither of us would have touched prior to my passion for this "fatty cat". Recently, SK Japan issued a new prize in their line of debu neko items and it's called "sembei", though it is not real sembei. The overall color, texture, shape, and design of both the foamy cat head and the plastic packet it is offered in mimics sembei. There's also a hard plate of some sort embedded in the head which if you press it will make a sembei-like "snap" sound. Be forewarned that doing that too much will result in the rubber of the cat head starting to tear (as the sample at the game shop made clear). It comes on a loop so you can hook it onto your cell phone or backpack (or just hang it on the wall).

The poorly photographed small booty pile: The debu neko "sembei", Ginbis sesame biscuits and a "white soda" Hi-Chew. I'd love to send more, and frankly, it wouldn't cost much more to buy more items, but the cost of shipping by airmail quickly exceeds the cost of the snacks rather exponentially. 

My husband won a handful of them from one of the easier UFO Catcher games. These aren't the most expensive prizes to produce, so it's no shock that they make it easier to win a handful of them as compared to the larger, more elaborate stuffed toys. I'm going to offer one along with some heat-resistant snacks as a prize in a contest. To enter this contest, all you have to do is leave a comment on this particular blog post telling me how you discovered this blog (Google search, from a comment I left on another blog, through a link on another blog, etc.). If you found me through another blog, please let me know the name of it if you recall. Only comments on this post will be considered when I choose the winner. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator according to the order in which comments are made.

Anyone anywhere can enter (even those in Japan), but I can't guarantee delivery in Central or South America or Africa. My experiences in the past have shown that postal delivery is unreliable in those countries. While I'll surely send the package anywhere in the world, I can't guarantee it's arrival on the other end, especially to countries which I've had some bad experiences with.

This contest will run for two weeks. I'll be posting links back to it and reminders to enter on posts during that time period. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing your comments!

Oyasu Ramen Contest Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest and answered the question about the weirdest foods they have eaten or seen.

Via random number generator, comment #9, Kelly, won the ramen with toy prize. Please e-mail me at orchidsixtyfour@gmail.com and provide your mailing information and I'll send along your prize!

Thanks again to all who took part!

Variety Friday: A question, a contest, and 2 weeks of "weird"

Next week, I'm kicking off "two weeks of weird", though it may be more accurate to call it "two weeks of the curious". Part of the problem with having lived in Japan so long is that I don't have the same perspective that I once did about "strange snacks". I still know what is disgusting looking to me (dried squid and octopus come to mind), but there are likely other less odd things which seem strange to people who have never spent time in Japan.

I have selected foods which I think might be odd snacks in presentation or composition (or both) to those who grew up in Western cultures, but I really can't write for or with the experiences of other people in mind. My notion of "weird" is highly subjective and some (or many) readers might be rolling their eyes and saying that my notion of strangeness is far too mundane and that they are yawning their way through the reviews. To that end, dear readers, I'm going to give you a chance to tell me what you think is a strange food and offer you a chance to win a silly little prize for your efforts.

The question I ask my readers, and please leave your answer as a comment on this particular post (one post per customer, please), is this:

What is the weirdest food you have ever eaten and/or seen?

Please feel free to offer more than a simple answer (though a simple one is fine) like saying why you think it is strange, what you thought of the food if you sampled it, and if you only saw it, would you eat it if you could. If you can find a picture of what you have eaten or seen, please link to it.

Anyone who leaves a comment answering this question is eligible to win an Oyasu Ramen pack with toy prize inside as reviewed yesterday. This prize was chosen mainly because it won't be damaged, melted, or destroyed during shipping in the lingering oppressive heat of this current Japanese summer as well as because it is cute and kind of neat. Sending any sort of candy at this time of year is pretty much asking for trouble, trust me. Any reader is eligible to win, though please note that I have had problems sending things to Africa and South America before. I can promise I'll send the package to any winner, but can't promise that it'll get there if you are in a place with an unreliable mail system.

The winner will be selected by a random number generator based on order of comments as listed on this post. Any comments answering this question which are left on posts other than this one will not be eligible for the prize, though any answers you give will be appreciated for their interest value.

I'm going to run the contest for two weeks, so you'll have to tolerate reminders that it exists for the duration of the run. The response to this contest will let me know if it is worthwhile to run more contests in the future, so, if you're shy, and would like to see more contests, please try and come out of the lurkdom and leave a comment. Thanks, and I look forward to your answers.

Gokaku KitKat Mug Winner Pics

For anyone who'd like to see the happy winner with her mug, Rene has posted some pictures on her site.

Frankly, I'm shocked at how badly beat up the box was when it arrived. It was perfect and pristine when I sent it off (and brand new so it should have had the molecular integrity to hold up under normal postal stress). And I was glad that I went bonkers with the bubble wrap to protect the mug!

Variety Friday: KitKat Mug Winner (and a word on a future contest)

I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to enter the contest. I really appreciate it and got some truly excellent entries. I wish I could send everyone a mug, and, if postage weren't an issue, I'd be tempted to at least send a few more out! That being said, the shipping for the prize is going to be $10-$12 so I can only afford to give away one.

It was really tough choosing a winner, but I ultimately decided to give the prize to The Rene Report's entry. I liked the way she presented reading my blog as a way of making good choices when buying expensive imported Japanese snacks and used her personal history to present some of her own information about her favorite Japanese snacks. Thanks, Rene, for your hard work and kind words!

I'd also like to make some "honorable mentions" of a few of the other entries. Tristan's blog entry which also included his history with life in Japan (and talk of being addicted to certain convenience stores, which I can identify with). Also, Ebidebby, who has her own fantastic snack review blog, gave me two clever and helpful plugs. I really appreciated all of the entries though, from the longest ones to the shortest ones.

There will be future contests, though I will make it considerably easier to enter in the future. At the moment, I'm working on something which will relate to the next contest and the prize winner will be chosen by a random number generator rather than by my whims.

Once again, I thank all of my very kind readers for supporting this blog!

Contest Reminder (1 week left)

This is just a quick (and brief) reminder that the contest to win the Japanese KitKat 5-sided mug has one week left at this point. I've gotten some super entries so far, but there is time left for others to get a chance.

Details of how to enter the contest are here.

Thanks for reading!

Contest: Win the Japanese KitKat Gokaku Mug!

It will come as no surprise to anyone that I'd like to promote this blog and gain more readers. To that end, I'm going to run a contest offering the KitKat mug package as a prize.

If you'd like to win the mug and KitKat, here is what you need to do:

1. Write up something on your blog, web site or Twitter account about this contest (or my blog, or both).
   
2. E-mail me at orchidsixtyfour@gmail.com with a link to your write-up or tweet so that I can see what you've said.*
   

I will be choosing the winner based solely on my whims. Mainly, I'll be looking for something which demonstrates some wit in a way which I think might compel readers to come and read my blog after reading what you have said. I'm not looking for begging, boot-licking, or gushing, but obviously a post which is positive in nature is going to increase your chances of winning as a negative post isn't likely to drive readers my way.

You could be drinking out of a five-sided cup. You could even give it to two girls to drink out of if you were so inclined.

This contest is open to anyone who e-mails me a link to appropriate content which they have personally composed except those living in South America or Africa. I'm sorry to say that the postal service between Japan and those countries is unreliable and I cannot trust that any package sent from here to those countries will arrive.

The contest will end on January 16 and the winner will be announced on January 18 in the "Variety Friday" post that follows.

Thanks to everyone for reading my blog. If this contest is a success, you can expect to see more of them in the future with a chance at winning more Japanese snack goodies!


*If you don't want to e-mail, you can leave a link in comments, but I won't be publishing any links until the contest is over so your comment will not be seen by anyone but me. Please don't worry if you don't see your comment published. Also, I have lost comments in the moderation process before so e-mail is almost certainly going to be more reliable to enter the contest.