I Chews You! - Korean Pokemon Candies

Pokemon XYZ Crown MyChew Fruit Chews - H-Mart

Howdy, strangers! 

I apologize for my sporadic updates. (Or lack there of.) Life just keeps throwing me curve balls. (Says the food blogger with very limited knowledge of sports.) Anyways, quick life update: I started a new job last week! It's kind of food related, and a lot closer to home, which means I gain an hour and a half of my life back every single day. Yay!

Once I settle in to my new routine I plan on dedicating that hour and a half to the blog so I can finally get back to posting daily. Which will be extra awesome because my food hoarding problem is only getting worse. (I'm one box-full-o'-food away from Hoarders banging down my door.) So, let's knock out some candy!

Dragon Ball Heroes Cheesy Snacks - Asian Food Market

Dragon Ball Heroes Cheesy Snacks - Asian Food Market

Last time on food-blogger-Z: Sometimes Foodie was overcome by the earthly flu-virus. Weak, and incapacitated, she retreated to her lair and lay dormant in a healing tank to regain her strength while the other food blogging warriors picked up the slack. Today, she reemerges from the rejuvenation chamber to reclaim her foodie-throne!

I hope you read that in the rough and scratchy voice of the English-dubbed DBZ narrator. If not, click the link to hear a little piece of my childhood. Also, being trapped in my bedroom for nearly a week has made me even more socially awkward, so bear with me.

When I was a little girl I would wake up at, what seemed like, the crack of dawn on Saturday mornings to watch Dragon Ball Z on some basic cable channel. I honestly can't remember which one, but I think they also had the rights to Sailor Moon at the time. I'd crawl out of bed, wake up my sister, and we'd go downstairs to gaze at the TV screen and sing the Americanized theme song which had, like, six words in it. "Dragon, Dragon, Rock the Dragon, Dragon Ball Z!"

DBZ and Sailormoon will always have a very special place in my anime-loving-trash heart, so when I saw these snacks at the Asian Food Market, it was an insta-buy.

FINALLY! A new VIDEO REVIEW

I'm Going to Otakon!

I know my reviews have been pretty spotty this week, but along with this food blog, and my day job, I also make art and all kinds of accessories. Normally I'm able to juggle everything just fine, but I have a table in Otakon's Artist Alley this week and it's eating up all of my sanity free time.

Otakon is a HUGE Anime & Japanese Culture-themed event with over 30,000 attendees, so I've been goingcrazy doing all kinds of things to prepare. I've actually been working on this for months, but since I leave tomorrow morning...it's crunch time, and Sometimes Foodie was put on the back burner.

Since I'm not going to sleep (again) tonight, I'll be queuing up Japanese and Asian themed reviews to tide you over while I'm gone this weekend.

For more information on the convention, visit: https://www.otakon.com/
This year Otakon takes place during the 24th, 25th, & 26th of July. It’s a full weekend filled with panels, special guests, art and all kinds of events!

If you’re going, be sure to stop by and visit me! I’ll have all kinds of art and I’ll be cosplaying!

♥ etsy ♥ storenvy ♥ facebook ♥ sometimes foodie ♥ Society6 ♥ redbubble ♥

Doraemon Dorayaki- Asian Food Market - Cherry Hill, NJ

Doraemon Dorayaki- Asian Food Market - Cherry Hill, NJ

I actually reviewed dorayaki way back in 2012, and although I stand by my old post, it wasn't all that detailed. Back then I didn't write as much as I do now, so I thought this was a product worth re-visiting. Plus this version has Doraemon on it, and it comes with a collectable sticker, how could I pass that up?

First I'll do a quick run-down on what dorayaki actually is.

Sailor Moon Prism Power Make-Up Box & Tin Set - JBOX.com

Sailor Moon Prism Power Make-Up Box & Tin Set - JBOX.com

I saved the biggest (and most photo heavy) item for last. This was the largest chocolate collector's set that was being sold, and it contains a little bit of everything.

There's a lot to cover, so I'm just going to jump right in!

Sailor Moon Prism Power Tin - JBOX.com

Sailor Moon Prism Power Tin - JBOX.com

No matter how many times I photograph these tins, I'm never happy. The art is really lovely in person, but these pastels are a major pain in the butt to photograph! I have photographed this specific tin and it's chocolates three separate times. I would have kept going, and tried again, but the chocolates were getting soft and melty from being handled in front of all the photo lights. I had to suck it up and go with this set, even though I'm still not entirely happy with it.

Bah, enough rambling about my first-world-food-photo problems, let's talk about magical girls and candy!

Sailor Moon Luna & Artemis Chocolate Tins - JBOX.com

Sailor Moon Luna & Artemis Chocolate Tins - JBOX.com

Happy Valentine's Day! (It'll still be Valentine's Day for another hour or so, better late than never.) It's finally time to review all of the Sailor Moon themed chocolates I bought from JBOX.com. I went a little overboard photographing them, so each item is going to be broken up into a separate post.

First up, these freaking precious Luna and Artemis tins!

Sailor Moon Chocolate Packaging Review!

This is a (pretty clumsy) video I shot looking at the packaging for the Sailor Moon chocolates I ordered from jbox.com. I'm in the process of taking photos for a full fledged bog post, or three, they'll be really photo heavy, so I might have to break it up, but for now, watch me fumble with packaging and check out the beautiful pastel artwork of Sailor Moon! (I mean, let's not kid ourselves, I bought this for the packaging, the chocolates are just an added bonus.)

Sorry for the jumpy editing, all I have in Movie Maker and I had to edit out some clips where my dog was barking and what-not. I have to get better at this YouTube stuff.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

Like Sometimes Foodie's Facebook page to keep up with all my foodie adventures!

COMING SOON: Sailor Moon Chocolates - J-List

Sailor Moon Chocolates - J-List

So I saw THIS post by sailormooncollectables on Tumblr, and I couldn't resist. I was originally going to order one, but there was a promo for when you buy three....and so things got a little out of hand.

I ordered the tin on the left, featuring Sailormoon and the inner senshi, the larger pink box with collectable compact tin, and a little something else you'll see under the cut.

Muscat Fruit Cocktail Candies - H-Mart: Cherry Hill, NJ

Muscat Fruit Cocktail Candies - H-Mart: Cherry Hill, NJ

I have a few posts written up and added to the queue, so I'm back in business! (Of daily reviews that is.) Since my last item was something pumpkin-y, today's post will be another random item from my candy stash. Let's get right into it and open up this adorable package of muscat candies!

New Youtube Review is up! Rilakkuma & Doraemon Snacks!

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

Like Sometimes Foodie's Facebook page to keep up with all my foodie adventures!

Gotta Drink 'em All! - Pokemon X & Y Fruit Drinks

Here's a little teaser image. I am attempting to upload an Asian Food Market haul video to youtube, but I keep running into errors.

My Movie Maker is the worst video software on the planet.

Contract? Making my own Kyubey Curry

Making my own Kyubey Curry

Today's post is a little bit special (and nerdy). A few days ago I came across THIS POST about a Madoka Magica themed cafe in Japan. (If you follow me on Instagram, you got a little sneak peak of this last night.)

My boyfriend introduced me to the Madoka Magica series a few years ago, and at first I thought it was a silly moe-blob kind of show. I was pretty disinterested...until episode 3. No spoilers, but after that episode I fell in love with Charlotte the witch and all of the collage-styled art used for witch sequences. (I seem to deviate from Charlotte's traditional fans, instead of liking her adorable dolly form, I love her crazy eye'd snake form.)

Anyway, anime themed cafes are typical in Japan, but they are not permanent fixtures. Pop-up anime cafes are a great way to promote new a series or movie, so they usually attract a lot of fans and they don't last for very long. The one featured in this post was from 2011, so I'm sure these menu items are long gone by now.  

Since there is no way for me to buy any of these Madoka menu items, I decided that I wanted to make my own here in the states. I started things off with the Kyubey Curry!

Crayon Shin-chan Ramune - SunSeng Market : Pennsauken, NJ

Crayon Shin-chan Ramune - SunSeng Market : Pennsauken, NJ

To be a ramune you must have marbles, marbles and a bottle~!

Okay, enough of me being lame. Crayon Shin-chan is a hilarious Japanese character who has his own manga, anime, and plenty of merchandise. His show was actually dubbed in English and it aired on [adult swim] here in America. I loved the show, so hopefully I’ll love this ramune drink.

This glass bottle is typical for ramune beverages, and it’s a nice pale blue color. The label features Shin with his family, but there and tons of little Shin-chans in animal outfits scattered about. (The flying squirrel outfit and chicken outfit are my favorites.) There are a lot of characters, so this is a pretty busy label, but as a fan of the show I love it. 

Dragon Ball Soda - SunSeng Market : Pennsauken, NJ

Dragon Ball Soda - SunSeng Market : Pennsauken, NJ

Since the cans were so awesome, I had to split this review into two posts.

This one will focus on the actual beverage. Check out THIS POST to read about the packaging and see more photos. 

Out of the three cans I purchased…

• Bulma
• Master Roshi
• Yamcha

I decided to drink Yamcha. (Sorry Yamcha.)

Thanks to the translated ingredients sticker, I kind of had an idea of what this soda would taste like. The ingredients listed orange as well as lactose, so I think this will be a creamy orange flavor (like a Creamsicle).

I popped the can open and sure enough, it smelled like a zesty orange soda. The “orange” scent reminds me more of a mandarin than a traditional Florida orange, and there were some sweet, sugary, notes but that is pretty typical for an orange soda. I didn’t detect any hint of vanilla or creme.

Dragon Ball Soda - SunSengMarket : Pennsauken, NJ (PHOTO HEAVY!)

Dragon Ball Soda - SunSengMarket : Pennsauken, NJ

Since the cans are so awesome I had to split the review into two posts.

This one will focus on packaging, and the next one (tomorrow) will be the taste of the actual soda.

I grew up with Dragonball and Dragonball Z. (I used to wake up early and watch it on Saturday mornings, along with Sailormoon before they went on Toonami.) So I had to buy these when I saw them. The store didn’t have all the designs, so I picked my top three characters.

• Bulma
• Master Roshi
• Yamcha

The packaging is very detailed and nostalgic. The front of each can looks like the torso of a main character and includes a side kick, or related item. (Like Bulma’s dragonball locator). The backs have a scene from the show, a little description, and a line up of all the available character cans.