Received from Japan!

My blogger friend iikayo-chan sent me a gift package from Japan. She sent it so I can open it before Christmas, but for some reason, the package got lost and my previous landlord called me and said "I have a package for you" on the New Years Eve. I guess I was lucky to receive it because the package was almost sent back to Japan!
Anyways, iikayo-chan is a friend whom I met through the Japanese blog, and she and her husband has a photography business in Japan. They have a very good taste and I like their work style as well. This is their business URL.

Opening a cafe at home is easier in Japan than in the USA (which actually is one of my dreams for the future, too!), so they are planning to open one this year, and she sent me two kinds of organic tea they may use at their future cafe.

Darjeeling had a very fresh straightforward taste without any additives, and I liked it a lot. The tea bag one had a nice flavor, too. You can tell that both of them are very high quality teas.




Then the pretty traditional Japanese candies made me smile!

The leaf shaped one is made from a traditional special sugar called "wasanbon", and since you are tasting the sugar itself, the quality of "wasanbon" is very important. This one is very delicate and has a good aftertaste.

The other sweet is called "konpeitou". You can find all kinds and colors of "konpeitou" in Japan, but it is quite difficult to find a high quality ones because "konpeitou"'s taste also depends on the quality of the sugar.

Iikayo-chan ordered them from her favorite sweets shop in Kyoto City which is the most popular site seeing place in Japan because of its old temples and atmosphere.

Being apart from home, it is always nice to taste and feel Japanese things in the USA, and that is because my sweet family and friends always care about me. Thank you a lot!