Taste Test: Otona no Amasa Matcha Kit Kat

Welcome to the latest Chic Pixel Taste Test! Today, I’ve finally gotten around to trying the “Otona no Amasa,” or “sweetness for adults,” matcha Kit Kats, which were launched in Japan in 2012. Don’t be put off by the name – this isn’t some kind of X-rated Kit Kat flavor, but rather part of a popular series of Kit Kats launched in 2010 in Japan that are aimed at those with a more “refined” palette and are supposedly less sweet than the regular flavors. Last time I did a Taste Test, I tried the Kyoto matcha Kit Kats, so let’s see how the Otona no Amasa matcha flavor compares!

One bag comes with 12 individually-wrapped mini Kit Kats, which has always been my favorite Kit Kat packaging method. A whole Kit Kat bar is just a little too much to eat in one sitting, but it’s quite refreshing to have mini Kit Kat for an afternoon snack with your favorite warm beverage. 
Detail on the back of the bag. Did you know it was designed by a company called Bravis International? They have a very interesting post on their website about how they designed the Otona no Amasa matcha packaging, which I highly suggest you check out!

Sorry for the nicked Kit Kat! I promise I didn’t take a bite out of it before
snapping this photo.

So, how does the Otona no Amasa matcha Kit Kat stack up? I think it’s delicious! It’s not nearly as sweet as a normal western Kit Kat, and the matcha flavor is delicate enough not to be overwhelming but at the same time strong enough to recognize. I wish I had a packet of Kyoto matcha Kit Kats so I could taste one after another and give a definitive impression as to whether the Otona no Amasa one is actually less sweet than other Japanese Kit Kats, but I’m inclined to guess that it is.

Japanese Kit Kats always have a space on the back for writing messages!

If you like matcha flavor, I definitely recommend these! They may be available at your local Asian grocery store, but if you can’t find the Otona no Amasa matcha flavor, you can order them from J-List online, along with other Japanese Kit Kat flavors.

I’m headed to Japan for two weeks in June, and I’ll be sure to find as many whacky Kit Kat flavors as I can, so you can expect more Taste Test posts in the upcoming months!

Guest Post: The Hello Kitty Mister Donuts Experience

For my first ever guest post, I’ve finagled my highly-qualified Japan correspondent Tim van Ingen to make the arduous journey down to his local Mister Donuts shop to try the new Hello Kitty donuts I blogged about last month! Since I can’t go in person, I’ll live vicariously through his descriptions and photos like the rest of you. Let’s see what he has to say…

Sign advertising Hello Kitty bow headphone jack accessories at Mister Donuts

Tim: “I just went to the shop, where I spent an inordinate amount of time staring at pink donuts to decide which ones I wanted (it made me feel only slightly uncomfortable!) and then I just went ahead and ordered them. You need to spend 600 yen to get one of the headphone jacks, but you don’t actually have to spend it all on the Hello Kitty donuts. Just as long as you spend 600 yen and there’s at least 1 Hello Kitty product in there, you get one of the bows. So I just bought 4 donuts and a glass of Oolong tea (gotta stay healthy!), and that was it. I had to ask the girl behind the counter about it, though, because she wasn’t showing any signs of giving me one of the bows of her own accord. I HAD TO DRAG IT OUT OF HER.”

Hello Kitty donut bag! 
Hello Kitty donuts! Note: Tim bought four donuts, but only three of them were from
the Hello Kitty campaign.
Best. Packaging. Ever! 

“I started with the green apple thing [pictured above]… I really liked it. I have no beef with green apple flavored things (unless its beef), and the combination of whipped cream, white chocolate and donut dough worked fine enough in my book. I’d buy it again.”

“The cupcakes were pretty nice, too! The thin layer of chocolate on top covered a small amount of whipped cream (flavored orange and strawberry respectively) and the cake parts were decent, too (if a bit dry), so yeah, they were nice enough. Not something I’d buy again, though.”

Well, there you have it. I’ll admit I didn’t think the idea of a green apple cream-filled donut sounded very appealing, but if Tim says it was good, I’ll take his word for it! Oh, but there’s one more little thing… Guess what he picked up for me?

Wahoo! It’s a pink Hello Kitty bow headphone jack accessory! I’m lucky Tim didn’t want to keep it for himself!

I’d like to give a huge thanks to Tim for taking the time to try the Hello Kitty donuts I’ve been dying to eat myself and be so kind as to provide photos and a writeup for me to post here! He can be found on Twitter at @Zolbrod, and his wonderful localization work can be seen in the recent eShop release The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave. If you have any comments/questions for him, leave them here and I’ll be sure he sees them, or feel free to get in contact with him yourself via Twitter! 

A note about ads

You may have noticed something different about Chic Pixel over the past day or so, but if you haven’t, I’ll fill you in: there are now ads for Play-Asia and J-List on the right sidebar. I’m now a member of both of their affiliate programs, which means that anything bought on their sites by accessing them through links on Chic Pixel will earn me a small commission.

I’ve been considering putting ads on Chic Pixel for some time now, and have decided on these two websites because I personally shop at them and feel they are of reputable quality and would recommend them to others. Any and all proceeds I make through their affiliate programs will be spent on items that will go directly back into the content of this blog.


Above all, though, I really don’t want to alienate my readers with ugly ads, so if after a month or two I’m not getting any significant revenue (i.e enough to buy a cheap game), or if I receive comments indicating that they are obstructive in any way, I will remove them! I don’t want to lose any readers over some ads that aren’t really worth my while. I also won’t be putting ads in every single blog post, but expect to see an odd link or banner here or there when it’s directly related to the content I’m blogging about.

I would like to ask that if you’re planning on buying something from either J-List or Play-Asia, please consider supporting Chic Pixel by doing so via my affiliate links. It would be greatly appreciated!

Think ads are a good idea? Bad idea? Let me know!

Animal Crossing: New Leaf QR Code Extravaganza Part 2

My pervious Animal Crossing: New Leaf QR Code Extravaganza post proved to be quite popular, and since I’m still knee-deep in sprucing up my village and downloading new designs, I figure it’s high time for an update! There are a limitless number of Animal Crossing: New Leaf QR codes on the internet, but here are a few of my current favorites:

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Did you know you can make hats in Animal Crossing: New Leaf? I didn’t even start playing around with them until recently. It definitely seems like they’re the least popular of the my design templates, which I’d chalk up to the limited options of the bald cap-like hat and difficulty of designing a spherical item. Still, I’m surprised I haven’t seen more designs like this Oshawott hat!

This Drifblim dress is to die for! I love it when creatives take Pokémon and translate their designs into clothing. Head over to the original post to access all four QR codes and a version of the dress with Drifblim’s shiny coloration.

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There are also plenty of Monster Hunter designs around, which has made this new huntress very happy indeed! I love this sailor garb – too cute!

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Now this is impressive! The design above is based off the Azuros armor set from Monster Hunter, and I’m not only totally enamored with the cute illustration the creator made, but the attention to detail they put into the actual My Design and the fact that they made a hat to go with it, as well. In fact, I love it so much that I’m going to try this very look out on my character ASAP!

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Am I the only one who feels like they’re going to get a cavity from looking at these designs? Forgive another sailor-esque set, but the Donald Duck coordinate above is just too adorable not to share. Did you know the shorts aren’t actually a separate piece, but part of the “one piece” dress design option? I’m constantly impressed by the ingenuity of these QR code designers! The duck bill, striped socks, sailor hat, and yellow shoes (all in-game items) really makes this outfit shine.

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I wouldn’t ever want anyone to accuse me of being too partial to cute things (who am I kidding, I am partial to cute things), so I’m going to include the creepy shirt design above. Also, it serves as a reminder that villagers will start wearing the items you put up in the Able Sister’s shop. And, by golly, does that design put Chrissy’s facial expression in a whole new light!

For the record, every single one of the designs I’ve featured so far were found via the amazing Animal Crossing: New Leaf QR-Code Collection website. Not only can you spend ages clicking through pages of QR codes starting from the most recently added pieces, but there are dozens of tags for various anime and game series, with the most popular titles listed across the top for easy browsing. They certainly haven’t catalogued everything, but I’d highly suggest bookmarking it for when Animal Crossing: New Leaf finally comes out in English in June!

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If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that I was quite distraught when I found out my favorite QR code designer shut down her blog and deleted all her QR codes earlier in the week. Since I hadn’t been saving her QR codes, I thought her wonderful pieces were lost forever! Luckily, she’s actually made a permanent site for all her work, though she’s no longer updating her My Design blog with new pieces. You can find all her amazing dress sets and other patterns at the source link above. I highly suggest poking around her site – the image above really doesn’t do her outfits justice!

Finally, I’ll leave you with this:

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Are those what I think they are? Why yes, they’re designs based off the Hello Kitty donuts I blogged about last month! I’m ecstatic that there’s someone out there who is just as enamored with those donuts as I am (if not more so, since they took the time to meticulously design these lovely QR codes). Expect future screenshots of my town to be covered in donuts.

Speaking of which, I’ll end this by reassuring everyone that “Memos from Mamemura” is very much alive and well. I’ve just been busy sorting through piles of screenshots from the past two weeks or so. I’ll definitely be posting a new entry very soon, so please keep an eye out for it!

 

Japan Envy: Le Café de Gaspard et Lisa

Have you ever heard of Gaspard and Lisa? The children’s book series chronicling two inseparable animal pals’ misadventures in Paris has taken Japan… and, well, maybe the rest of the world, by storm. In all honesty, I’d never heard of Gaspard and Lisa before going to Japan, but after becoming enamored with the adorable duo I saw plastered on everything from notebooks to aprons, I learned that they came from a children’s book series called The Misadventures of Gaspard and Lisa by Anne Gutman. They’re popular enough in the west to have garnered an animated series that has been broadcasted worldwide, and, as with many cute, albiet random, children’s mascot characters, the duo almost appears to be more popular in Japan than they are in English-speaking countries! Granted, I can’t profess to really know how popular Gaspard and Lisa are internationally, but where can you expect to find a themed café in their honor?

Le Café de Gaspard et Lisa is located in Numazu City, Shizuoka prefecture, and as you can see from the little mountain depicted directly below the words “Gaspard et Lisa” in the logo above, Mt. Fuji is visible in Numazu on clear days (other interesting, but useless, Numazu tidbit: the city produces more dried horse mackerel than any other region of Japan).

From what I understand, the area is a fairly popular tourist spot for its hot springs and Mt. Fuji views, but it’s still a little surprising that the café isn’t located in the heart of a big city such as Tokyo. Unfortunately that probably means I’ll never make it to the café myself… So instead I’ll spend the rest of this post drooling over its gorgeous food and decor!

I love how they’ve made literally everything Gaspard and Lisa-themed, all the way down to the presentation of the food!

Funnily enough, today is actually the 1 year anniversary of the café. To honor the event, they’re currently having a Gaspard and Lisa cheesecake campaign…

Too cute! It’s neat to see the Gaspard and Lisa versions so different from one another. I’ll take both!

All images are from the official Le Café de Gaspard et Lisa website, which I highly suggest checking out, as they have far more images of the café and food than I have space to share here. Don’t forget to head over to their blog, too, where you’ll be able to see more pictures of limited edition merchandise, special food items, and the area where the café is located!

Bonus Lisa curry:

Exclusive Japanese Club Nintendo Animal Crossing: New Leaf Pocket Diary

Way back in November, the Japanese Club Nintendo store introduced a new reward item that was particularly relevant to my interests: an Animal Crossing: New Leaf “pocket diary,” or planner for us foreigners. While I can’t profess to having very many Japanese Club Nintendo points, luckily they were holding a campaign where those who purchased the download version of Animal Crossing: New Leaf could snag the adorable planner above for a mere 80 points! And snag that planner I did, with the help of my very accommodating host mother who shipped it to me here in Australia. 
I’ve had the planner for a while now, but I’d been holding off sharing pictures of it until I finally picked up a proper scanner… and I’m happy to say that day has finally come! Not only will I be able to share good-quality scans of this limited-run planner, but I hope to publish posts that include many more scanned items in the future. Just think of the possibilities! Please be aware that I haven’t fully gained my scanning legs yet, so please excuse some shadows and weirdness in today’s post. 
Not sure why this one kept coming out so wavy. Argh!
The above images are of the alternate covers included. The last one is clearly a rehash of the game’s cover art, but the other two are unique to the planner. I love the little owl peaking out of the zero in the first one! The second is a particularly lovely color… If I weren’t just saving the planner as a collector’s item, I’d probably use that second cover (before you come at me with pitchforks for not actually using it, I already had a planner by the time I got this one!). 
I’ll be completely honest: I was a little disappointed by how sparse the pages are. There are so many cute touches that could’ve been added, but the decision to leave so much white space has left me a little lukewarm on the whole thing (I think I prefer the monthly layout style used in the Korean version). I do think it’s a nice touch how they themed each month differently, and that the colors from the game textures used ties into the color theme bars at the bottom of the page. Pascal and his little phrases are a nice touch, as well. I suppose Nintendo decided to go for a more “refined” approach to fit with the minimalistic pattern used on both the planner’s cover and the limited edition 3DS XL… 
At the back of the book are a number of extras, including some blank pages for notes that are decorated with different items from the game. The fish and bug pages are my favorites! 
Now this is interesting! They’ve included some helpful phrases and terms and their translations into English… which only further reinforces the idea that international versions of the game will be compatible with one another! By the way, players from the Korean and Japanese versions are able to visit each other’s towns, so chances are high that will be the case for the rest of the world, as well. 
The last page is for filling out your personal data, but I’m more interested in the exclusive Pascal design they included! I’m definitely going to scan that into my game. 
I have to say, however, that the stickers are the true highlight of the package. I don’t think I’ll ever dare use them, but they are truly adorable! I’m quite partial to the coffee cup sticker and the Doremi sticker (Doremi being one of my favorite villagers and a new character to New Leaf; she’s the brown doe on the far left). I wonder how they decided which villagers to include? 
The planner does come with the extra mini address book pictured in the first image, but it’s completely plain and unrelated to Animal Crossing aside from the house icon on the front cover, so I didn’t bother scanning it. Speaking of which, please do let me know what you think of the scans in the comments. If you have any tips/suggestions, they’d be greatly appreciated! 

My First Game: The Tightrope Walker

After announcing that I was going to participate in the Pulse Pounding Heart Stopping Dating Sim Jam last week, I’m extremely proud to report that I did it! In just two days, I completed my very first game. Granted, it’s only a very short Twine game and ultimately isn’t really a “dating sim” by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a great feeling to have completed something.

The early stages of The Tightrope Walker (that typo was fixed before publishing)

What I ended up with was a Twine game I decided to call The Tightrope Walker, and without giving too much away, I’d describe it as a meditation on balancing different kinds of relationships in one’s life. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to incorporate the “gay planet” theme of the MIT Game Lab QUITBAG jam into the game, but I purposefully left the genders of the characters ambiguous in order to make it as universally relatable as possible. I implore you all to head here, download the html file, and give it a whirl! It should only take 5 minutes to play through, maybe a little more if you have trouble finding the ending.

I’d like to give a huge thanks to Jake Lawrence, who provided the illustrations, and my husband Shaun for composing a short musical piece to accompany it. Unfortunately we only had access to a free music program that he had to learn how to use as he was composing, but I think the end result is quite sweet and fits the mood of the game very well.

But before I forget, I’d also like to say that though I’ve only played a few of the 70+ (!) submissions to the jam, I’ve loved every one so far. You can view the full list over at jam organizer Madam Luna’s Tumblr! I’ve especially enjoyed Rowan’s game about the online gay dating community, anna anthropy’s emotional piece about an Xbox Live date and a whole lot more, Jurassic Heart, which, as a dating sim about dinosaurs effectively combines two of my favorite things (dating sims and dinosaurs), and J.J. Cappa’s silly Javascript Persona 4 dating sim appropriately titled P4D: Persona 4 Ultimate Dating in Javascript Arena. There are so many other great games I’ve played and even more I haven’t gotten a chance to yet, so hopefully I can do a roundup post detailing my favorites and why you should check them out sometime in the future.

If you give The Tightrope Walker a go, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it! And for anyone who’s ever wanted to make a game but feels like they don’t know how, I highly recommend downloading Twine and just jumping right in. It’s not at all daunting to use, so it’s a great place to start. I guarantee you’ll feel great being able to say, “Hey, look, I made a game!”