This Christmas, people around the world will be feasting on scrumptious chocolate made up of luxurious ingredients like exploitation, abuse and violence.

 Doesn’t seem right, does it?

 Together we have started to change the chocolate loving world….. Cadbury, Mars, Kraft, Swiss Noir and Verkade have all committed to traffik free chocolate.

 Now it’s time to give Nestle a Christmas they’ll never forget!

 Wrap up a traffik free chocolate bar or put a wrapper in a card and send it to Nestle with a Merry Christmas message!

You can use one of our slogans below or write your own.  If you write your own, we’d love to read it so post it here in the comments section….

STOP THE TRAFFIK slogans….

 * We wish you a clear conscience for 2010 – give us traffik free chocolate

* At Christmas you wish for profits. Children who harvest your cocoa beans in the Ivory Coast wish for freedom. I wish you lived up to your promise and supplied traffik free chocolate

* I hope you sleep easy this Christmas because the children who pick cocoa for your chocolate won’t.  Give us traffik free chocolate 

 * NESTLÉ! STOP NESTLING UP TO EXPLOITATION. Give us traffik free chocolate in 2010

 * WISHING YOU PEACE THIS CHRISTMAS. Now give us a piece of traffik free chocolate

* CHRISTMAS IS A TIME FOR GENEROSITY. So we’re generously telling you how to make your chocolate better. Give us traffik free chocolate

* WE’RE WRAPPING UP TRAFFIK FREE CHOCOLATE for Christmas presents – shame it’s not yours

* WISHING YOU A HAPPY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR. Now give children in the Ivory Coast a Happy Christmas by producing traffik free chocolate in 2010

c’mon everybody! let’s SOCK IT TO NESTLE!

Así de tranquilas, contentas  y relajadas pedaleamos por la Vía Verde del Pas en el último tramo del PR S-57 La huella del ferrocarril, después de habernos comido un delicioso Kit-Kat, que como se puede observar no nos pesó a la hora del regreso…

¿Será que tal vez el Kit-Kat pesa menos en el estómago que en la mochila…? ¿ó simplemente será que teníamos hambre y la satisfacción consiguiente nos hizo pedalear con más alegría?

En fin, la cuestión es que íbamos encantadas de la vida… Y todo por un pequeño Kit-Kat…

Cual fue nuestra sorpresa al percibir al entrar en el pueblo de La Pinilla realizando el PR S-57 La huella del ferrocarril un suculento olor a chocolate…

Enseguida encontramos la razón de tal alta estimulación de nuestras papilas gustativas a través del olfato:

Un olor inspirador en La Pinilla

Y claro ya con unos cuantos kilómetros en las piernas el HAMBRE  hacía de las suyas… Y eso nos recordó que teníamos en la mochila:

Inspiración Kit-Kat

… que no tardó ni un segundo en desaparecer… Igual que el olor que dejamos de percibir tras pasar unos minutos cerca de la fuente olorosa

I’m very excited about the latest Kit Kat to hit the shelves in Japan.  This is a British-themed “Royal Milk Tea” (ロイヤルミルクティー) Kit Kat, and it’s very yummy!  I think it goes straight into my top ten, in fact!

It also happens to be quite beautiful in its design…

☆★☆

This is the regular sized Kit Kat…

☆★☆

And inside it has a smart blue design…

☆★☆

My co-worker managed to blag me the display box again! Isn’t it gorgeous??

☆★☆

And this is the Mini version…

☆★☆

Melt in Your Mouth Cocoa Flavor

Not sure how this flavor is any different than a regular Kit Kat. Perhaps it is just a special type of chocolate? Sounds like it might go nicely with a warm cup of hot chocolate though :;｡+ﾟ+｡ｷｭ━(*´U｀*)━ﾝ｡+.｡ﾟ:;｡+

Royal Milk Tea Flavor

Besides Reese’s cups, I have a fondness for Kit Kat.  I love the crispy crunch and chocolate mix.  Simple.  Delicious.  You saw what happened when the Reese’s Dark came out and I compared it to the milk chocolate Reese’s.  My excitement was soon crushed (read the post here).


Now Nestle is waving dark chocolate under our noses with the Kit Kat Dark bar!  My boyfriend bought the Kit Kat dark in Germany about a month ago.  He thought it was gross so he didn’t bring me one and brought me other chocolate instead.  Then he found out I love Kit Kat and he went on a mad search to find the dark bar for me.  Will I be disappointed with this bar like the Reese’s Dark?  Why do they do this to me???  I am excited, but hesitant.  I have been burned before…


The bar was made/packaged in the UK.  You can tell from the Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) nutrition chart, which is primarily UK based.  It also shows off that it was voted Product of the Year in a 2008 British Consumer Survey of Product Innovation (12008 people surveyed) -> winner of the Chocolate Confectionery Category.


Reading the ingredients I am not surprised to find sugar at the top of the list.  I am encouraged otherwise.  It does have quite a few lesser quality fats in addition to cocoa butter (butterfat, vegetable fat), but this is candy.  Not chocolate.  Onward!  When you open the wrapper you see a nice dark chocolate that has a pleasant aroma.  A little sweet and fruity.  The chocolate must have quite a bit of fat because breaking off a bar is easy.


Now for the test!!  The chocolate is smooth, creamy and the mild fruitiness still remains.  The chocolate is thick around the wafers, not a thin coating.  The wafers are light and add a delicate crunch.  This is a really nice candy bar!


Kit Kat Dark Ingredients (as listed on the package):

Dark Chocolate (66%) [sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, butterfat, soya lecithin], wheat flour, sugar, vegetable fat, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, dried whole milk, whey powder, dried skim milk, yeast, sodium bicarbonate, lactose, calcium sulphate, butterfat, salt, soya lecithin, E476, flavouring

Good work, Nestle!  You have restored my faith in the candy world.


If you are looking for real chocolate instead of candy, check out Drexelius Chocolates.  Always delicious and 100% natural.

I’m going to do a quick lunch post while I am still at home.

I ate leftover chicken and rice for lunch. I did not eat of the the rice.

I saved some for later in the week. I am wondering how it will taste with some kidney beans and andouille sausage.

I also warmed up some canned lima beans. I ate about 1/2 cup.

Sorry about the blur. I’m not sure what’s up with my camera.

I finished off with a fun size Kit Kat.

Time to head back to the office.

One of my key responsibilities as part of my job is finding solutions to problems.  These are often troublesome and rarely go away without intervention (although I might wish otherwise).  When presented with such turgid and immoveable objects, I remind myself of the following principles:

1. Knowing how to fix a problem, does not necessitate fixing it yourself.  Knowing who to call is often more valuable than the kudos you might associate with being a fountain of knowledge.
2. Not thinking about a problem can be the fastest path to resolution.

The second point I find especially poignant.  I know that almost without fail, a solution will pop into my head over lunch, on my afternoon break* or shortly before I succumb to a deep slumber.  Unbeknownst to me, certain parts of my brain have been gently massaging that problem until a suitable answer has been reached.  Thus, I present the importance of not thinking about problems, rather than pure ignorance: the difference is clear no?

I think that Nestlé might have beaten me to this philosophy sometime ago…

*Innovate whom I work for kindly provide a 15 min break in the afternoon, which I find highly useful for this purpose.

Breakfast

Burrito lunch

Hockey puck

Stealing candy

ბავშვობიდან ძალიან მიყვარდა სასუსნავები : D დღემდე თამამად შემიძლია ვთქვა რომ ცხოვრება სასუსნავების გარეშე ვერ წარმომიდგენია : D huh : D

ps – სუსტი გული ვისაც გაქვთ არ ნახოთ : შ

წეღან მოვიდა დედაჩემი სახლში, და ამომიტანა მე რაც მიყვარს თითქმის ყველაფერი : D რაRაც განსაკუტრებულად მშია და ამიტომ ძალიან გამიხარდა : D

ნუ ესეიგი ნამუ ნამუნიებს უნდა მივუძღვნა ეს პოსტი :ინლოვე:

ყველაზე მეტად რაც მიყვარს ეს არის ჩიფსი  :>  პრინგლისები და დორიტოსები ( მარა რადგან პრინგლისებში ფულის მიცემა  მენანება ხოლმე,  ნახევარზე ხშირად დორიტოსებს ვყიდულობ : D

ოღონდ წითელს არა : შ    ძაან მწარეა და პირი მიდუღდება : შ

მერე მოდის მიწის თხილი, ფისტაშკები : >

რომლებიც იმასთან ერთად რომ ძალიან ასუქებს ანუ ბევრი კალორია აქვს მაინც სულ ვჭამ და ვჭამ : D

არ უნდა გამომრჩეს შოკოლადები… შოკოლადი ყველანაირი, ისეთიც და ასეთიც : D

აკვიატება ხოლმე ვიცი ერთი რამე სასუსნავის და სუ იმას ვჭამ : D ერთი პერიოდი ეგრე ვიყავი ქინდერ ბუენოზე რომელიც დღემდე ძალიან მიყვარს : D

ეხა ავიკვიატე კიტ კეტი , და რამდენჯერაც შევალ მაღაზიაში იმდენჯერ დავადგები ამ კიტ კეტს ვიყიდი და მერე სულმოუთქმელად ვახრამუნებ :წუბ:

კიდევ რა მიყვარს, რა მიყვარს და ძალიან მიყვარს იოგურტები, აქამდე ჩამოთვლილტაგან განსხვავებით იოგურტი არც მაღალ კალორიულია და არც ცუდია ორგანიზმისთთვის : d ნუ ვერ ვიტყვი რო რუსული და სანტეს გაკეთებული იოგურტი სასარგებლოა თქო, მაგრამ გემრიელი კი ნამდვილად არის : d

განსაკუტრებით მიყვარს დიდი იოგურტები, დასალევი : D

ყველაფერი ყველაფერი აქედან ერთმანეთზე გემრიელია : D მაგრამ მათ არსებობას ფასი დაეკარგებოდა (არვიცი რატომ ) რომ არარსებობდეს ნაყინი და ტკბილეული : >

როგორც ცალ ცალკე , ასევე ერთად : )

და რაღათქმაუნდა ნაცხვრები : X პეჩენიები და დონატები : X

მმმ  : >

One thing I promised myself before I came to Japan was that I wouldn’t get hooked on Pocky.  On my first visit to Japan in 2006 I ate a lot of Pocky and brought a lot of it back with me.  It was one thing I was aware of before I came here, and I had to try it.  After that I occasionally bought it from the Asian food stores in London.  But I managed to avoid it pretty well when I moved here last year.  (Instead, I got hooked on Kit Kats, but that’s another story…)

Anyway, today, perhaps for the first time, I found myself on the Pocky website.  It’s an awesome site, and incredibly cute.  Actually, it reminds me a lot of the Kit Kat website, Breaktown.  I wonder which came first?  I noticed on the site that they seem to be having some kind of dance contest.  I can’t read much of the site, but don’t let the Japanese put you off – the videos are great!  Try to find the one of the little kid dancing with two sticks of Pocky in his hands!  Haha!  There’s so much stuff on the site besides actual Pocky, I was quite surprised.  Everything from dancing, to human beatboxing, to this strange sound machine/game thing!  There’s actually a whole page of games on there, including applications for iPhones.  I love this retro “Pocky Balloon” game, which you can play on your PC.

Actually, I have to say, I found it a little difficult to find the actual chocolate on the Pocky website! But I found it in the end: here it is! I wish I could start collecting Pocky like I do Kit Kats, but I know that would be beyond my budget, and it would be very bad for my waistline!!  There are so many amazing flavours out there though…

Oh, and I mustn’t forget to mention, November 11th is, I think, International (?) Pocky Day!  (See, the date is 11.11, which kinda looks like four sticks of Pocky…).  And this year is also Pocky’s 11th anniversary, so that’s even more 1s to add to the equation!

There’s a delicious new “fruits mix” flavour out to celebrate:

As the Pocky catchphrase goes… “Stick to fun!”  Um.. right! 

P.S. For those of you living in the UK, have you seen something called Mikado?  Well I saw this in the summer and thought it was a rubbish Pocky rip off, but actually it’s Pocky’s UK cousin! A distant and less attractive relative!   I think it’s named Mikado after the game, also known as “pick-up sticks”, which I remember loving as a kid.

Oh my, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven with this new Kit Kat flavour! Actually, I should say ’style’ as opposed to ‘flavour’.  Introducing…. くちどけカカオ Kit Kats!  I love the phrase くちどけ, which is a new one for me.  くち is mouth, and くちどけ appears to be a set phrase which literally means “melt in the mouth”.  This style of chocolate seems to be popular here in Japan around winter time.  Last year I had the pleasure of discovering the wonderfully named “Melty Kiss“, and this year I’ve noticed even Pocky seems to have got in on the act (haven’t tried them yet though!). (God I wish I could afford to collect Pocky, too!  But then I’d be really fat, and broke!)

Anyway, here they are…

☆★☆

I have never been very fond of banana flavored things, so I am sure this Kit Kat flavor will not make my “must have” list. Ginger ale and chocolate also kind of frightens me…