100 Yen Fun: Checkout Goodies

Ever have those days where you walk up to the checkout at the grocery store and the M&Ms stare back at you longingly? Well, that happens here too at the 100 Yen store, except you don't always know what's in that shiny wrapper.  I decided to find out.

These were on display around Children's Day.  I was curious.

Turns out they taste like those wafer cookies that have a soft filling in them.  The strawberry was super sweet and the texture reminds me of styrofoam.  So, I'd skip these in the future.

Hi-Chews are popular.  I have seen these in the states with English lettering.  These remind me of softer versions of Starburst candies and come in lots of flavors (plus, you get two packs for 100 Yen).  I usually pick the up to send my sister, Anoli, or give to our buddy Mike, who is a fan of the Coca-Cola flavored ones.

I grabbed these thinking it was gum.  The Japanese seem to be fans of gum that is made with xylitol, a substance that decreases tooth decay.  However, after tasting it, I found out it was just apple flavored hard candy.  Pretty good, though!

Here are some packs of gum.  I was looking for a gum called Black-black that my friend Gabe introduced me to.  They seemed to be out.  So, I grabbed these two packs.  The brand, Xylish, is pretty common and I've seen it in all kinds of stores: Family Mart, San-A, Lawsons, etc.  There are tons of flavors.  I went with a fruity mint that was pretty yummy, but didn't hold the flavor very long.  Oh, and the pieces are small, like tiny Chicklets.  I haven't quite figured out why the gum on top is referred to as "hybrid."

Next up was a mystery candy, but it was the packaging that caught my eye.

I love how the pieces are like blocks! I'm tempted to hang on to the top two pieces that make animal silhouettes.

Inside each box are two neatly wrapped caramels.  Mmmm!

Not everything is candy.  You can get three of these packets of cookies for 100 Yen.  They are pretty good and teeny tiny and just plain adorable!

This doesn't even put a dent into the many other goodies (including some that didn't look too appetizing to me) that greet people at the registers at the 100 Yen store.  But, it's a start.  Guess I'll just have to go back for more!

Sink Stink & 100 Yen Fun

So our kitchen is lacking in a few things that I used to have in the states, such as a garbage disposal. In fact, most sinks here have a little mesh catch-all, or strainer, that collects little food pieces and other grimy gunk off the dirty dishes. Here's our sink drain on a regular day:

Remove the top part, and wallah - the metal sink strainer inside:

Since we also don't have a dishwasher, all of our dishes are washed by hand and, I'll admit that we aren't always the best about scraping them off. So, this strainer gets YUCKY super fast. It's a horrible chore to have to clean this it. So, what to do...? We (actually Noa had this brainiac idea) go to the 100 Yen store and pick up these nifty little things:

Simply snap these puppies over the metal sink strainer and presto! Our cleaning worries go down the drain (no pun intended).

Then, put the top on and you don't even notice it.

Tonight when Noa was doing the dishes, he simply lifted the used, food-encrusted net out and into the trash. The sink strainer was still clean and the net was easily replaced.

Hooray for 100 Yen!

100 Yen Fun: Erasers

I missed last week's 100 Yen Fun, so I'm making this about something that comes in multiples. As always, the Japanese find a way to make something mundane into something fun, adorable, and just plain cute: erasers. Step into any 100 Yen shop and you'll find a vast array of erasers in little shapes and designs. Check it out:

You might not be able to read the packaging, but on the top right it tells you the kind of eraser, these being "restaurant" and "dessert." The sandwich in the "restaurant" package comes apart and even has pieces of lettuce, tomato, and meat! Another kind of eraser is "animals":

I've had students in the past who collect these little guys. In fact, these erasers are headed to the treasure box in the classroom. I personally like the kneadable erasers, which are bendable like putty:

I chose this one because I like the pineapple scent, but there were several other scents to choose from including strawberry, apple, coke, and even beer-scented! Ooookkkaayyy. The strangest erasers I found were definitely the naked babies. The babies, who are anatomically correct come with bottles that go in their mouths.

I think we can all safely assume these will NOT be headed for the Kindergarten treasure box!

100 Yen Fun

It's time for another neat-o find from the 100 Yen store. This week I found something not only useful, but cute too! Check out this adorable oven mitt:

Yup - it's a pig. It has an embroidered face on one side. Not only is it cute, but I love it because it is small. It fits just over my fingers and is perfect for grabbing that hot pan out of the oven, but not taking up precious drawer space in my tiny apartment kitchen. Practical, cute, and only around a buck! Awesome!

100 Yen Fun

With about 6 months left on this lovely island, I thought that I really needed to highlight some of the things that make this place so great. One of those things is the 100 Yen store. The 100 Yen store is basically a dollar store. Now, I know what you're thinking: What? The dollar store is not that great. But, oh wait, my friend. The 100 Yen store is not like your typical Dollar General. Oh, no...it's so much better. First of all, most 100 Yen stores carry A LOT OF STUFF. Pretty much everything you need minus the kitchen sink. Seriously - they have it all. And everyone goes there - you'll find both Japanese locals and American military families shopping side-by-side at the 100 Yen store. It really is a great place and there's a pretty sweet one two blocks away from our place.

So, in honor of this shopping locale, I bring you "100 Yen Fun." Each week I'll highlight something that can be found at the 100 Yen store. It may be something useful, odd, and downright crazy, but you can be sure that whatever it is, you'll only pay around a buck for it.*

This week, I'm going with something cute. Japan is always making the ordinary adorable. Schoolchildren need to learn a lot of kanji characters and keeping stacks of flashcards are necessary for study purposes. Well, why bother carrying a boring stack of standard white, ruled index cards when you can be carrying these cuties in your pocket??

The smaller bear is actually a cell phone charm. I won't be putting him on my cell phone, but he's still cute. I think if I had had little word cards like this in high school, I might be somewhat fluent in French to this day.

*Okay, those of you familiar with 100 Yen store know that there are some things that are more than 100 Yen. However, you also know that the majority of items of 100 Yen and I've been in many "dollar" stores that also carry items that are more than a dollar.