So the weather has been so up and down recently. One day it’s broiling as the barometer hits the upper 20s and the 30s. The next day, you’re bundling up with a hoodie.

Go figure.

In a very unrelated post to the weather 🙂 , I wanted to just highlight some recent snacks that I saw at our local 7-11 convenience stores. If you’re new to Japan in general, this is one of the biggest convenience store chains in the country. They are ubiquitous. They also always come up with seasonal snacks, which is my weakness because I always assume they are gentei. This prompts me to always buy them because the next I pop into the store, I might not be able to get a hold of them any more.

This isn’t necessarily a Hokkaido post because these stores are all over Japan and the world, but I must stay that the snacks are of course, produced locally. So in that sense, they are are Hokkaido related.

Anyways, in random order, here are the pictures:

Warabi mochi that is melon flavored. This one was really good. Warabi mochi is one of my favorite Japanese sweets. Basically, it’s a clear, sticky jelly that is sweet. This one is not clear because it’s colored green with melon flavoring. Inside, there’s whipped cream that is also melon flavored. Verdict: really good

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The next two are matcha related:

From the photo, these are langue de chat cookies. Basically, matcha flavored cookies that sandwich white chocolate. Think of them as matcha-flavored Shiroikoibito cookies. These were fantastic and so good that I ate all of them in one sitting and didn’t take photos because I demolished them so quickly. I think they’d make great souvenirs for people who love matcha-flavored snacks.

The next one is a catalana-type of Italian pudding from 7-11. Again, matcha flavored:

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This one is really good. I’m obsessed with it. It’s a little bit expensive considering you only get a teeny piece, but it’s worth the price. Since I love matcha, I love the creaminess and the richness of the tea. The caramel coating really blends well with the bitterness of matcha. It’s not frozen, but it’s a bit of a heftier and sturdier pudding. I think I want to try it frozen next time.

The following is a kind of tart made with ruby chocolate, which I wrote about in a previous post. This one was okay. It was still pretty good, considering it was one of the cheaper snacks, but if I had the choice, I would definitely go for the matcha pudding instead.

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And finally, you have your regular snacks that are a variation of the common ones you get in all the conveniences stores.

There’s daifuku:

No detailed descriptions because hubby ate this. I’m not a fan of anko so I wouldn’t choose to buy this, but he said it was pretty good. I would probably enjoy the outer mochi but not the inner whipped cream with red beans.

Then there’s cream puffs:

Again, hubby ate this. I think for the price it’s not too bad. But then again, I would prefer to get the Kitakarou ones that are always to die for. I think I love those too much that I just don’t want to try anything else.