Raspberry Cheesecake Kit Kat - A Sweet Delicious Treat!

Delicious!!! That's how I'd describe this wonderful Kit Kat creation from those ever inventive folks at Kit Kat Japan.

This is the second raspberry flavoured Kit Kat I've tried from Nestle Japan, the first one being the special Valentine's Kit Kat from 2010 which was a dark chocolate Kit Kat flavoured with both raspberry and passionfruit. However, where the flavour contrast they were going for that time of crisp fresh fruit contrasting with rich bitter dark chocolate was certainly respectable in concept, but in actuality a bit disappointing this one was absolutely excellent. Call me simplistic, but the combination of rich creamy and sweet milk chocolate with fresh and crisp raspberry was excellent and although I could not pick out any "cheese" flavour as such (they state that they use 1.7% real cheese in this product) it did have a certain creaminess to it.

As well as the fantastic flavour you can see from the photos above and below that the packaging is absolutely gorgeous. There's a little insignia on the front showing a crown and stating "Sweets Concept" - this refers to Nestlé's campaign to re-produce the flavours of more sophisticated sweets / cakes / desserts etc. in this case a raspberry cake filled with cream cheese as also shown on the packaging.

If you break the wafers in half and have a look inside, you will see that the raspberry flavoured cream is a rich pink colour and is sandwiched between layers of wafer biscuit. This sort of attention to detail that most people wouldn't even notice is just one more reason why I love Kit Kat Japan.

Well there won't be any surprises when you watch our review as to whether we loved the product or not, but it was still a lot of fun eating it and as this is one of Joes's earliest reviews I hope you'll still check it out: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong!
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Lays Magic Masala Chips - A Spicy New Sensation From India!

Who knew that Lays, one of the most famous brand of crisps from the US, have a totally different line of crisps for the Indian market? Well I was traveling over there a while ago and I came across a whole selection of flavours of Lays created specially for the Indian market. Of the various ones available "Magic Masala" seemed like the most interesting so I picked it up and brought it back to Hong Kong to be the first ever Indian product to be reviewed on Crazy from Kong!

For those of you who don't know Masala means a mix of spices (eg: Garam Masala in India) and you can see the exact mix of spices used for these crisps displayed on the packet: Chilies, Turmeric, Cloves and Ginger. Once we broke open the packet and tasted them, we found out that the crisps were really delicious, full of flavour and with a really prominent spice profile. Many times I've bought crisps in the past with exotic descriptions, but when I tried them I found that they were relatively bland and certainly didn't represent the tastes they claimed, but that was definitely not the case here. These crisps definitely tasted like spicy Masala treats and I could see why they are apparently very popular in India. What a pity they don't seem to sell them anywhere else.

The chips themselves were ridge cut, meaning that they are crunchier than regular chips. I would suggest that a really good way to eat them would be with a cool yoghurt based sauce like the traditional raita (often made with yoghurt, cucumber and mint) below:

It seems that there are a whole bunch of other specialty Lay's crisps and that there are different sets of special chip series created for each different Asian country! We're definitely going to be reviewing some of the special flavours created for China and hopefully will have the chance to review some more of the delicious Indian ones too. 

Check out our video review below and if anyone has any idea what the tagline on the crisp packet "be a little dilogical" means then please let us know! 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong!
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Green Tea Kit Kat Review!

Green Tea Kit Kat??? Yep, it's real! As, you may already know from some of our past videos and posts Kit Kat Japan releases a minimum of one specialty Kit Kat a month (sometimes up to 4 or 5). These range from delicious and straightforward flavours like Strawberry or Orange, to more creative ones like Melon, Passionfruit or Rum Raisin, right through to some really wacky ones such as Buttered Baked Potato and MOS Burger Kit Kat.

Green Tea is a major thing in Asia and you get green tea everything here (Green Tea Sprite, Green Tea Oreos, Green Tea Haagen-Dazs, Green Tea Caramels) so of course one of the first and most popular choices was Green Tea Kit Kat. In fact this one is available more or less year round and now there are actually a whole range of different types of Green Tea Kit Kat that are available at any given time. The particular one we are reviewing which I believe is the original is called Uji Matcha Kit Kat, where Uji is a resort town famous for the quality of it's green tea and Matcha is the Japanese fine powder Green Tea.

When creating these chocolate bars Nestle Japan are almost always very faithful to what they have declared on the packaging, so you can see from the image below that the bars are a bright green colour from the Matcha being mixed with white chocolate and in-between the wafers there is a darker green Matcha cream filling.

So the question is, does this flavour combination work of chocolate, wafers, cream filling and green tea work? First, I should mention that I'm not an enormous fan of green tea flavoured things and quite often find that I don't enjoy lots of green tea products which other people insist are amazing. With that in mind, I actually still found this very good! As is quite common for Kit Kat Japan, they did an excellent job of combining the flavours together, maintaining a strong green tea profile but still making the overall product delicious. 

You can see our full reactions to Green Tea Kit Kat in our review below: 

Also, as it says in the blog title, this was a very momentous episode for Crazy from Kong as it was the first ever episode to feature the now much beloved Joe Fiorello. At the time he rather alarmed fans with his slightly mafioso outlook and bizarre out of context statements, resulting in him being referred to in fan comments as "The Creeper".

Later though fans became much more accepting of Joe's unpredictable, off the wall and slightly disjointed personality now commonly referring to him as "The Stoner Guy". I'm happy to say that The Stoner Guy has his own significant fanbase now and has added more than a touch of amusement and confusion to Crazy from Kong.

This episode was also the beginning of a long-running piece of feedback from fans with regards to Joe, which is that he eats Kit Kats incorrectly as you can see from the comments below:




To understand more about Joe and his unusual character and approach to life, I leave you with this memorable self-shot video of him performing a song he wrote:
Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong!
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Morinaga Strawberry Daifuku Hi-Chew Candy (森永ハイチュウ いちご大福) - A Very Japanese Crazy from Kong Review!

Ok, as you can probably guess from the title, this is a pretty complicated candy so I'm going to explain it out step by step.

Firstly if you haven't eaten Morinaga Hi-Chew Candies before, they are kind of like a cross between a traditional chewy candy and a piece of chewing gum, because they are so chewy you almost feel like you shouldn't swallow them.

This is a Hi-Chew Candy

The second element of this particular flavour is Strawberry Daifuku (イチゴ大福) a very popular confection in Japan. These are made by taking a strawberry smothering it with Adzuki bean paste (also known as "red bean paste) and then wrapping the whole thing with a mochi covering (a kind of chewy pastry like substance made from glutinous rice flour).

This is a Strawberry Daifuku

Daifuku actually means "great luck" and they come in a wide variety of flavours and colours and are often given as gifts in Japan for special occasions, when visiting someone's house or even as business gifts. The most traditional kind just contains Adzuki bean paste and nothing else.

This is the most traditional kind of Daifuku

Purple Sweet Potato Daifuku

So what is the result of all these complicated flavours coming together in a few small pieces of very chewy candy? It's decent, not outstanding, but decent. It's interesting trying to pick up all the different flavours, but in this particular case they are a bit too subtle to cause any serious excitement.

Now you may think that is the end of all the excitement around this review, but in fact you would be wrong because there is one very special thing about this episode of Crazy from Kong that I have not mentioned yet, which is that Arne forgot to turn on the microphone while we were recording it!!!

How did we deal with this rather huge disaster, I am sure you are wondering. Well, we came up with a really awesome and very unusual way to deal with this unexpected problem - to see what I mean you'll have to watch the video below: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Brain Juice - Drink This and Get Really Smart!!!

Lots of people dream of being just a little bit smarter, or having a better memory, or being able to ace their tests without studying and finally there dreams can come true! Just by purchasing an inexpensive drink they can become really smart!

Kirin Brain Juice is filled with DHA (the primary structural component of the brain) and lots of other exciting herbs with unpronounceable names that are guaranteed to make you at least an Einstein level genius after a few cans.

The attractively designed metal bottle shows a professor with a lightbulb for a brain, presumably indicating that he's just had a Eureka moment leading to the creation of this wonderful potion:

The rest of the bottle is covered in complicated mathematical equations, equipment from a chemistry lab (including a conical flask) and other difficult and complicated things that most sensible people know nothing about. 

So how was the experience? Well the drink itself was quite delicious and satisfying, with a sort of light root beer flavour, complimented by the herbally taste of the various intelligence creating essences that have been added. 

Did it work? Of course! I've been a genius ever since I drunk it! 

Don't believe me? Send me a difficult question and I'll answer it. 

To watch me getting instantly smarter as I drink it check out the video review below: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Fish Gummy Candies - Made With Fish Blood, Guts and Ground Bone!!!

Well we were very excited about doing this review, as both Arne and myself love Japanese gummy sweets and these ones came in some super cute, high quality fish shaped packaging which you can see in the picture above.

Arne's packaging was blue and mine was a sort of rainbow colour, indicating that they were most likely different flavours and in addition the image on the front of the packaging seemed to indicate that the gummies contained some sort of yummy filling.

However, we started to get worried when as we saw what was on the back of the packaging for the first time:

A very detailed fish skeleton with fish scale bones, empty eye socket and all... Not quite sure what this meant for our candy, we decided it was just some bizarre Japanese semi-cute / semi-disturbing design like Gloomy Bear. 

Boy were we wrong... 

Well we opened up the packaging, pulled out a couple of the cute little fish shaped gummies and popped them into our mouths and... promptly almost vomitted!!! 

Yes, these were absolutely disgusting and they smelled horrific too. The flavour was something like stinky fish guts boiled down into a jelly-like state and congealed to full gummy stage with the addition of some chemicals. 

"What the hell is this?" was the immediate thought that went through our heads. The most likely explanation we could come up with after getting over the desire to vomit and discussing it, is that it was some kind of "con" candy designed to trick young children into eating healthy (and disgusting) fish products. And apparently that is exactly what it was! After talking to some of our fans who were familiar with this product, they were able to explain that it is indeed a trick candy and that it is made with fish bones and possibly filled with fish blood... 

Well I can honestly say this was the most disgusting candy I had ever eaten in my life. 

To see our the full horror and shock of the experience, watch the video below: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Crazy Spicy Wasabi Seaweed from Japan!!!

Well as you can see from the images above and below, this product comes with the very simple yet positive English description of "Excellent - made in Japan". 

While this certainly intrigued us, it also meant that we had absolutely no idea what we were going to be eating hence making for a rather exciting episode of Crazy from Kong! 

Beyond the interesting title of the product, the packaging was also awesome. It was made of thick metal foil with beautiful colour printing and featured a picture of a geisha in traditional Japanese clothing and a small town with a pagoda in the background, whilst sakura flowers decorated the top. This sort of attention to detail on packaging and making sure it looks absolutely great is very typical for Japanese products, much more so than in the rest of the world. On the right hand side there was some some comic like Japanese writing down the side which undoubtedly describes that product within, but which we couldn't read... 

Well there's not much more to say without spoiling what "Excellent made in Japan" actually is, so you'll just have to watch the video below to find out. What I can say is that it came as quite a shock to us once we finally got it into our mouths! Enjoy the reactions.

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Dragon Ball Biscuits - Son Goku's Favourite Snack!

Dragon Ball is AWESOME!!! In case you are not already aware of this fact, I can assure you now that Dragon Ball is one of the most AWESOME things ever invented! The adventures of Son Goku, Vegeta, Picolo, Kuririn, Trunks and the rest of the gang as they shoot around the universe fighting intergalactic criminals, world conquerors, sorcerers and general bad dude's are some of the most exciting and enthralling things I had the opportunity to enjoy when I was a kid. 

Yes, behold the awesome and crazy characters above, a wide mixture of the top heroes and villains from throughout the 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z. Their enormous planet destroying struggles and smaller everyday family issues made up an enormously complicated and detailed storyline with intricate character interaction across over 115 hours of programming. As with many kids, this was my definition of a great animation. 

Unfortunately none of the above holds true for the Dragon Ball Biscuits. Unlike the cartoon which was highly original, varied and exciting, the biscuits were plain, unexciting and exactly the same no matter which of the multiple different characters biscuits you bought. In fact the biscuits were essentially an established biscuit that has been sold in Hong Kong since I was a young kid, rebranded with Dragon Ball imagery on the packet. Now don't get me wrong, it's a tasty biscuit, nothing wrong with it, but I couldn't help feeling cheated as I'd been greatly looking forward to discovering all sorts of exciting, wild and fantastic biscuits like the feeling of discovering the Dragon Ball universe itself. 

In any case check out the review here and see for yourself what these biscuits were all about: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Product Rating:

Chocolate Sparkling - The Greatest Drink Ever!!!

Now THIS is a drink!!! Forget Coca-Cola, forget Cream Soda even A&W's Root Beer doesn't come close to this. And what is it exactly? A very limited edition high quality Chocolate Soda released by Suntory, the same company that produces some of the top quality whiskies in Japan and that Bill Murray works for in the awesome film "Lost in Translation". Well it seems like Suntory are not only skilled at producing fantastic whiskey, but are also able to apply their considerable skill to soft drinks too!

As you can see from the images above and below the packaging for the drink is also extremely premium, giving a sort of "Royal" feeling with it's crest of arms above the drink name and with the gold labeling. The drink has been released from time to time, sometimes with variations on the packaging, though I believe the last bottling was at least one and a half years ago.

So what is it that makes this drink so special? Well first of all it is delicious with an incredibly accurate rich smooth chocolate flavour that is not too sweet, but is still very concentrated. Secondly it is remarkable, as it totally clear more or less resembling sparkling water, how you get such an accurate and strong chocolate taste without even a hint of brown colour is totally lost on me. Finally, perhaps the most remarkable thing is the texture - it is incredibly velvety and full bodied! Keep in mind this is a drink that has the colour and apparent consistency of sparkling water, yet when you put it in your mouth you realise that this is a creamy, smooth and full bodied drink. It coats your entire mouth and as crazy as it might sound seems much closer to a being a high quality chocolate milk than a traditional soda (although it is lightly sparkling). I'm sure guys think I've lost the plot, but that's the truth.

To see exactly what we thought of it and see our reactions to our first taste of the wonderful creation called Chocolate Sparkling check out our video review below:  

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Every Burger - The World's Teeny-Tiny Smallest Burger!

I gotta say I LOVE tiny things!!! They just look so awesome and cute, and no more so than when they are super detailed and accurate replicas of the usually much bigger things they represent. No one is better at making amazing, incredibly tiny things than the Japanese. Their bizarre obsession with detail to the most minute level is perfect for the extra-small industry and as a result you can find almost everything in perfect miniature replication in Japan, eg: cars, robots, buildings and of course food! 

Now despite it's incredible accuracy in appearance, this is not actually a meat burger but rather is a tiny burger shaped cookie. The various component parts consist of the two "toasted sesame seed buns" which are essentially the cookie part, a dollop of thick chocolate which represents the "meat" and a third item representing the "cheese" slice which as far as I could tell after ripping apart multiple "burger" and licking off the cheese slice, seemed to be just butter or something made with a lot of butter. Every Burger is in fact available in two versions, one with cheese and one without! 

In Japanese these are known as "Eburi Bagaa" and they are made by the famous chocolate and cooke company Bourbon which was founded in 1924. As with almost all Japanese snack products this wonderful invention arrives in very attractive packaging, either a red or white box, with a small tray inside holding 8 of the cute little burgers and with a weird cow mascot printed on the inside of the lid. 

So as always the most important question is "how did they taste?" and the answer is they were absolutely delicious, completely fantastic!!! Both me and Arne agreed that these were among our top Japanese snacks ever (of which there are many many great ones). The combination of the incredible cuteness, the accuracy of detail and the scrumptious flavour combined with the fact that the "buns" actually tasted remarkably like real toasted sesame buns just blew us away. This is a product I would advise anybody to buy and try immediately if they have a chance. It's so much fun eating what exactly resemble super teeny-tiny little burgers and they really do taste good too! 

To see our full review and our reactions including Arne completing the world's Ultimate Burger Challenge, check out our video here: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Vegetable Kit Kat - A Really Unexpected Kit Kat From Japan!!!

Ok, this is definitely one of the weirdest concepts for a Kit Kat that we have reviewed. One of the many specialty Kit Kats that are released in Japan regularly, this one was a joint venture between Japanese soft drink producer Ito-En and Nestle. For a little background, Ito-En is Japan's 4th largest soft drink producer in Japan (behind Coca Cola, Suntory and Kirin) and specialises in tea production, distribution and sales.

This product however has nothing to do with tea, as is clear from the name, instead it is based on one of Ito-En's famous Vegetable & Fruit Juices called Jyujitsu Yasai which I think basically means Ju Jitsu Vegetables... The Kit Kat contains extracts from apple, carrot, grape, lemon, celery, green pepper, asparagus, Chinese cabbage, kale and a bunch of other veggies in ever decreasing amounts. However, all of this is a bit deceiving as the predominant smell and flavour by far is apple, with carrot kicking in as a secondary flavour.

This Kit Kat has a white chocolate base and as you can see above, the Kit Kat is a mildly terrifying shade of yellowy-orange and it is also a similar yellow orange colour inside. As is typical for many Japanese specialty Kit Kats, it comes in super cute and high quality individual packages inside the main box (which in turn usually comes from a huge box...). Japanese spend A LOT of time on their packaging and making it super awesome! Not necessarily the most environmentally friendly thing but certainly makes for a pleasing experience when eating it. 

Now down to the main question: "what did it taste like?". Well here's the surprise... it was actually pretty good! I mean it's definitely an odd flavour and there is a bit of a strange almost glycerine aftertaste, but overall the dominant apple taste makes it very fragrant and pleasant tasting and the secondary carrot flavour following through is not bad either. Most of the other likely to be gross flavours (at least when mixed with chocolate) like celery, green pepper and asparagus, are not really present to a level where they can be detected on the palate. 

To see our full opinions and feedback on this extremely wacky, but somehow successful product check out our review below: 

By the way, you may have noticed that I confused Jyujitsu Yasai to be an actual person, whoops... 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Asahi Mitsuya Cider - One of Japan's Oldest Soft Drinks!

Mitsuya Cider created in 1884 is one of Japan's oldest sodas, preceded by a few years by the famous Ramune Marble Soda which was created in 1876. The name "cider" is quite misleading, as the Japanese use of the word cider is something very different from it's traditional origins of alcoholic beverage made from apples. Instead cider in Japan refers to a non-alcoholic fizzy drink which tastes something like a cross between Sprite and Ginger Ale.

The brand Mitsuya Cider is currently owned and produced by Asahi and comes in a selection of flavours including grape, white peach, tangerine and lemon. "White Cider" is also released from time to time with it's own flavour variations including melon.

Something very interesting is that there is also a Mitsuya Cider candy which is carbonated! This is achieved by combining the melted candy mix with pressurised carbon dioxide (under around 600 pounds of pressure per square inch) which causes tiny pressure bubbles to be trapped inside the candy. We haven't tried this product yet, but I'm dying to review it!

I have to say that at the time when Arne and myself reviewed this drink we did not know anything about the history of Mitsuya Cider and rather unusually for myself, did not research it either, so we just evaluated it as an unknown drink and probably unfairly categorised it as a Ramune copycat drink in terms of flavour. In any case, have a look at the review and see for yourself:


Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Sapporo Mini Beer Review - A Deliciously Tiny Can of Beer!

There is an old saying across many places in the world and especially in America that "bigger is better", but the reality is that this is just often not true! Sapporo Mini Beer is a perfect example of this, where one of Japan's most delicious and refreshing lagers is condensed into a tiny little can perfect to give you instant ice cold refreshment at lunch or whilst on the go somewhere (or perhaps if you want to tell your friends that you drank 10 cans of beer without getting drunk...).

For a quick history lesson, Sapporo Breweries was established in 1876 and has been producing Sapporo Lager since that time, though both the brewery and the beer have been through considerable changes since that time. The current Sapporo Black Label Beer was launched in 1977 and is also known as Sapporo Bottled Draft Beer, because it is bottled in it's freshly brewed state. A replica of their original style of beer is produced under the Kaitakushi label and is sadly only available at the Kaitakushi Sapporo brewery.

In general the Japanese make excellent quality lagers and Sapporo, which is one of my personal favourites is no exception! And in addition to great beer, they are also famous for producing some great adverts such as this one featuring mega-famous Japanese actor Toshiro Morifune (三船 敏郎) which literally says "Guys! Just shut up and drink Sapporo Beer!"

As well as this incredibly popular television advert from two years ago, which is a sort of epic short film in itself showing the history and developing culture of Japan from through the brewing of a giant glass of Sapporo beer that starts in 1876 when the brewery was established and finishes in the present day.

Well after all that excitement and history of Sapporo Beer I know that the question which must be on everyone's minds is "but how did Spencer Douglass and Arne Venema react to this mini gem of a beer?". Well to find the answer to that, you'll have to watch our Crazy from Kong review below and make sure to take note of our awesome matching Aphex Twin shirts!

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

McDonalds Wasabi Fish Burger - This Limited Edition Specialty Burger Packs a Punch!

This is an AWESOME Burger!!! I just have to say that up front. What a great idea of McDonalds to start combining spicy wasabi sauce with their traditional Filet-O-Fish Burger to create this fantastic variation on a long time classic Mickey D's offering. 

As it says on the packaging "It Packs a Punch" though I didn't find it too spicy, in comparison to my fellow Crazy from Kong reviewer Arne who was a touch overwhelmed by wasabi-ness at one point. In fact there is a rather entertaining blurb on the side of the box which actually tells you to "man up and take the challenge" - we found it pretty hysterical that McDonalds was daring us to eat their product. Well we steeled ourselves for the experience, took a deep breath and dared to take the challenge. 

The burger came in both a single fish patty and a double fish patty version and both were accompanied by both interesting and odd advertising campaigns. This clean image from Singapore below, gives a pretty good indication of what the double wasabi burger looked like: 

Well, all in all we enjoyed this burger a lot. It was definitely one of the best and most successful specialty burger from McDonalds we'd tried by that time and if memory serves correctly, I think it would hold up pretty well against the many more specialty burgers that have come out from McD's since then. 

To see our full thoughts on this fun creation as well as our reactions to the "challenge" to "man up" from McDonalds, check out our review below: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong!
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Valentine's Day Kit Kat - A Raspberry & Passionfruit Flavoured Kit Kat for Your Loved One !!!

And here we have the extremely romantic specialty Kit Kat released for Valentine's Day by Nestlé Japan. The flavour they chose to represent this most lovey-dovey of days is the rather random Raspberry & Passion Fruit and as you can see the Kit Kat comes in a very romantic package with lots of pink hearts stamped around the place.

You can also see the alternative and perhaps even more romantic pink packaging below:

Inside the main package the Kit Kats are also wrapped in two individual packets of two Kit Kat bars. This is pretty typical of Japanese produced products, they really put a lot of effort into their packaging and it almost always leads to a really gorgeous result.

Perhaps one of the most entertaining aspect of the packaging of these particular Kit Kats is that they come with a lined space on the back for writing a note to your loved one to go along with the special Valentine's Day gift. We had lots of fun reading off the special notes that each others loved ones had written to the camera as you'll see in our video.

For the Kit Kats themselves, they were surprisingly made from a milk chocolate base, as I had been expecting them to be a white chocolate base with pink colouring in line with the Valentine's theme and also more similar to most of the other raspberry and strawberry Kit Kats released by Nestlé Japan

As far as flavour goes, there was a strong raspberry smell as soon as you opened the packaging and the Kit Kat itself had a prominent raspberry taste too, but the passion fruit flavour seemed to have gotten totally lost in this product. Anyway, check out our review below to see what we thought:

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

No Smoking Candy - Quit Smoking NOW !!!

Well this review was a lot of fun for many reasons! Firstly the idea of a "No Smoking" candy seems like fun to me. Rather than a candy for quitting smoking, it sounds more like a candy that forbids or stops smoking from happening, the candy equivalent of the smoke police!

Secondly and much more interestingly, through some bizarre coincidence of circumstance, our friend Michael Chan who was the main face of all of the Hong Kong Government's Anti-Smoking Adverts for years, happened to arrive at our place to play Gears of War 3 on the X-Box just as we were about to film our review of Okuda No-Smoking Candy. This is doubly amusing because Michael is in fact a hardened smoker and so we immediately decided to pull him into our live filmed review.

To set the scene properly, here is first the official Hong Kong Government Anti-Smoking Campaign Video featuring none other than Michael Chan:
And now that you've enjoyed the HK Government's amusing official effort to prevent smoking, it's time to compare them with the much more unofficial efforts of the Okuda Candy Company to get you to stop smoking with their specially designed sweets.

Check out our review of the product here to see what we thought and whether or not it got Michael Chan to finally give up smoking (don't worry they are not the same videos despite the cover image):

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog

Dried Squid - One of Asia's Most Popular Snack Foods!!!

This snack is one of the most popular snack foods across the entire of Asia, variations of it are eaten across Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore and this particular famous brand is from Thailand! I grew up eating this version of the dried squid snack in Hong Kong in the 80's. And to be accurate this particular variant is Dried Cuttlefish, a species similar to squid, which is equally common here, but might not be so well known in the West. Both are pretty damn ugly as you can see here: 

The number of different dried squid snacks and the different styles in which they are prepared is many and often depends from country to country. Here are a couple of different examples: 

Typically the squid is seasoned and then dried and sometimes also barbecued after being dried. Typically the flavour is sweet, sometimes with a hint of spice and the texture is very very chewy! Everyone seems to love this snack across Asia and you can find it in kids lunch boxes, on desks at work and served on occasionally on tables in bars instead of peanuts. This used to be one of my favourite snacks as a kid, but to be honest it must have been somewhere between 10 - 20 years since I'd eaten it last before opening this packet for Crazy from Kong. 

To see what I thought, check out our review here: 

Check out all our reviews of bizarre Asian snacks, foods and drinks here: Crazy from Kong! 
And you can check out my blog here: Spencer Douglass Blog