Being witty is chicken

Trust Pinoys to be clever and witty when it comes to product names.

Case in point...

Everyone knows KFC is famous for chicken, so this snack aped KFC's name to sell their chicken flavoured snack.

Admittedly, that name is what attracted me to this product. 

I'll Melt-iez with you

Here's one reason why I'm thrilled that Valu$ is now in MNL.

Meliez is one of the products that's on my must-buy list every time my travels tale me to SG. This is simply so, SO good! 

The crunchy exterior, the rich, chewy caramel centre, it comes together wonderfully that it's addicting.

Here's to the first of many packs of Meltiez!

Danke Schon

Thanks to Arche, I'm now familiar with this German brand of mixed fruits.

Meyve Mix was what I got from the exchange gift, and I couldn't be happier.

Hope they have this in supermarkets in MNL. 

It's sehr lecker!

(Har)vest bet

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Clover Chips.

The taste and crunch of their classic cheese flavour is so familiar and comforting. It was one of my go-to comfort food during my expat days in HKG.

Apart from flavours, there hasn't been anything super new about Clover Chips. 

Or is there?

Yup, there is! Clove rChops has this Cassava chips variant called "Harvest." And it has a sweet and sour flavour, too!

Tried it, and it's good! It has the same Clover texture, but there's a certain difference with the crunch. And while sweet and sour isn't a common flavour for snack food, this one works.

This is going to be part of my snack rotation, stat.

When live gives you (finger) lemons

This is my current snack obsession.

Julie's Finger Lemon Sandwich!

No kidding, this biscuit is SO GOOD! It has the right blend of sweet, tart and creamy.

Gotta stock up on these at home.

What's the beef?

It's Cow Label dried beef!

This is an iconic childhood snack that we used to buy in Unimart. They've changed the packaging format, but the label and graphics are still the same.

Gave this to my Gen X officemates and they said that it tastes the same.

Some good things never change.

I Don believe it!

I'm a fan of donuts.

I'm a fan of omigiri.

Will I be a fan if these 2 came together?

Yes, there's a donut onigiri in Dunkin.

Had to try it. And it was okay. 

I'd still prefer to have my donut and onigiri separately, though.

Bon this way

There's a candy that I've been binging on of late. 

Fruity Bon Tamarind is so good! Whether it's the extra spicy or the sweet and spicy variant, it has the right blend of sweetness, tartness and spice. 

Gosh, I'm so into this that one pack isn't enough for one sitting. It's enough for me to say: "C'est si Bon!"

Takis (not) cheap

So, it's true that they're finally carrying this Mexican classic in Robinsons Supermarket.

Got to check it out, and was surprised at the price. A big bag is around P450! Gosh, this just cost around $1 (both in Mexico and the US), so this price is a bit surprising.

Much as I'm into Takis, I'm not sure if I'll bite.

I'm Jelly Jealous!

Why don't they have these here in MNL?

Gosh! I'm a fan of both Reese's and Peanut Butter and Jelly. So, this Reese's PB&J is a dream come true!

Someone please bring this here! Stat!

A little bit of Sunshine

Today's snack brought me straight back to my grade school years.

Sunshine Green Peas still taste as good now as it did then.

Way back Wafer

 Lola Dita would always have a lot of food in their room. In fact, they even had a double door fridge inside their room, and they would keep a stash of goodies there, like ice cream, chocolates and gummies from Spain.

Another thing that Lola would always have was a can of Nissin Chocolate Wafers. Back then, my eyes would always gravitate to the big, brown can with a very interesting vintage graphic. It showed a street scene from (what I felt like was) the 1940s, and had different women in bikes. 

They stopped producing that can here in the Philippines, and that memorable visual was gone from our shelves.

But apparently, it's still pretty much alive in Malaysia.

You could just imagine my thrill after seeing this. It felt like being back in my childhood, inside Lola Dita & Lolo Iking's room in Morato.

Amazing how snacks can be a way of going back.

Rebisco redux

When we were younger, one of my fave snacks was Rebisco Cream Sandwich. 

It was such a delish cracker sandwich. The cracker itself had the right texture and crunch, and the filling had this light, citrusy taste. Somehow, it reminded me of the filling of Jolly, but this had more dimension.

The packaging was ubiquitous. It was a white pack, with blue, orange and red stripes. It was made of a plastic-like material, and I'd recognize it from afar when we'd go to the grocery. 

Imagine my thrill when that same packaging from my childhood was brought back for Rebisco's anniversary!

And suddenly, I'm back to my younger self.

Cut to the Cheese

Back in college, there were only 2 flavours of Piattos available - Sour Cream (in the green pack) and Cheese (in the blue pack.)

Now, they've combined these 2 OGs to come up with this:

Cheddar AND Sour Cream!

Piattos is really levelling-up their flavour game.

Oreo intrigued?

As a fan of both Oreo and Sour Patch Kids, I'm intrigued by this combination.

Maybe I'll ask Kuya to get one when he goes to the US. Just to satisfy my curiosity.

Old and New

Back in my college days, Piattos was the go-to-snack.

We'd often trek near CASAA to buy a pack. Sometimes, the stores inside the restrooms (yes, we had stores inside our restrooms) would sell this as well.The most popular flavour back then was Sour Cream, but we'd buy the cheese one every so often.

Decades after, Piattos is still around, and it's still enjoying the same popularity that it did. One reason is that they're always finding ways to make the product feel new and fresh. Having new flavours is one way they do this.

Just like my newest discovery:

Yup, Piattos is now on the Truffle bandwagon! And while the flavour isn't as strong and distinct as Lay's or Meadows, it's still good. Especially if you thin of how affordable this is.

It's these new things that make me look forward to an old brand like Piattos.

Living Simply

Slowly trying each of the products under the "Simply" line.

First, it was the blue corn Tostitos.

Now, it's time to try the Simply Cheetos White Cheddar.

This one reminds me of the Chiz Curls of my childhood. But because it's made with white cheddar, it tastes a bit more luxe.

Next in line: Simply Doritos and Simply Lays.

Okidoki Enoki

Enoki Mushrooms are usually seen in 2 types of restaurants.

You can see it in Samgyupal places where it's usually grilled along with beef, or in Hot Pot places where it's part of a soup.

"Fried Enoki" was new to my ears. That novelty was also the trigger for me to try it.

This is Fried Enoki at Nineteen degrees. For the price, it's a hefty serving of crispy mushrooms with the right amount of spice. 

It's. So. Good!

Among the 3 ways I've tried Enoki, this will now be my fave!

Violet reaction

While eating my afternoon snack, the thought suddenly came to mind.

“Is it eat-everything-violet-day” today?

But hey, you can never go wrong with Simply Doritos & Riyal Grape.

Twin Peaks

Here's another fave childhood snack that's still around. 

Thankfully!

It used to be called Twin Popsies. It used to be a product of Magnolia. It used to come in a paper wrapper that you just slide off. It used to have a photo of Howie the mascot on the pack. 

So, there are some differences from my childhood.

What hasn't changed is the refreshing, orange goodness that comes with every stick. And yes, we still bread the Twin Pops in half, hoping that we get an even split instead of the dreaded "flag" formation. So, Nestle did a pretty good job of keeping Twin Popsies intact with their Twin Pops.

As they say, if ain't broke, don't fix it.