♡ January Japan Crate [[UNBOXING]] ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

Wah! My last Japan Crate until further notice... I hope to be able to re-subscribe in the near future though! But until then, I shall savour my last few pieces I have left lying around.

So just to re-cap, Japan Crate is that you can subscribe to three different kinds of boxes; mini, original and premium with either a recurring monthly payment (from $12 plus p&p) or you can pay for either 3, 6 or 12 months worth of boxes, therefore saving you a bit of cash at the end of it. You can cancel at any given time, so if you fancied just one box then you can enjoy one box without the pressure of payments. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

I must admit, I was a little gutted over this box as there had been a problem with a shipment of one of the items (the DIY kit) and for a replacement, J.C put in a replacement item that could have been, at least, twice as much worth in value than the DIY kit and well............ I got hi-chew which isn't that expensive at all and I probably sound selfish right now... but boo. But it's OK, I haven't let it get to me whatsoever and I've enjoyed my last box to its full potential!

First off was the mini box items; usushi (light salted) crisps, ju-c short cake, milk chocolate pocky, hello kitty strawberry pretzel and asahi calpis gummy

Secondly are the added original box items; sparkling orange gummy, fit's strawberry & cream gum, pokemon pineapple candy and yam white chocolates

Finally, these are the added premium items; gaba infused stress relieving milk chocolate,, pizza pretz, sukitto lemon c drink, grape flavoured hi-chew & stationary items

So there we have it! Despite feeling slightly disappointed with this box, there were some extremely yummy items. The one that surprised me the most was the yam white chocolates... there was only a hint of yam? But I liked that it wasn't overly... yammy (oh goodness I am sorry for this) Also, I'm really enjoying DIY kits! I can see why people like them as watching the product you're making unfold before your eyes, well, it's magical almost!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

♡ December Japan Crate [[UNBOXING]] ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

Amidst all this manic that is Christmas, my Japan Crate managed to turn up two days before Christmas Eve, not that I'm complaining because who doesn't want a delivery of (more) food over the festive period?

So just to re-cap, Japan Crate is that you can subscribe to three different kinds of boxes; mini, original and premium with either a recurring monthly payment (from $12 plus p&p) or you can pay for either 3, 6 or 12 months worth of boxes, therefore saving you a bit of cash at the end of it. You can cancel at any given time, so if you fancied just one box then you can enjoy one box without the pressure of payments. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

I'm still on my premium subscription, because the immense amount of goodies received in the premium box is just... well it's silly to pass up really. Like I said, this box was pushing it close to not arriving before Christmas itself, but luckily turned up on the 22nd... BOOM! And to make it even more lucky for myself, sunshine decided to make an appearance on the 23rd, so out popped my camera and, I swear, I have snapped enough blog photography to last me until Spring *whew* Anyway, back to this box and oh boy, I was not disappointed with this one!

In the first section (what would be in the mini crate) are; cheese, tonkatsu & veggie umaibo, bad kid beer, awa moco moco in strawberry and a Fujiya lollipop bag.

In this second section (what would be the original crate plus mini crate snacks) are; a cute tororin parfait DIY kit, pocky - demitasses, black bean  soy sauce flavoured scones and a naga-i swawgumi orange sweet.

And this final section (premium crate extras) are; the hia shuwa cola sweets, a pachishuwa dynamite melon soda, a celio lifeguard drink and a Legend of Zelda gachapod thing.

Any box that has Umaibo in it, is instantly a hit with me! I love those little crunchy sticks of flavour mhmmm yas! I'm a little gutted that January's box will be my last one because I love this subscription so much, especially with all those options you have these days but... being an adult must come first hmph. Until then, I am saving some of these pieces just for days when I need... something extra to get me through! But I have tried the lifeguard energy and wow... it is weird.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

♡ November Japan Crate [[UNBOXING]] ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

I seem to have skipped the last couple of Japan Crate boxes as I did take pictures of the items, but somehow... I have no actual pictures to show for it?! I can't quite remember but, I either deleted them without realising it or... yeah I probably deleted them without realising it, whoops. Also, I want to apologise for the atrociousness that is the following photographs... now that it is winter, it is really hard to take pictures in natural sunlight, especially when I got to work when it is dark and when I come back from work... it's dark. So my window of opportunity is very small ;n;

So just to re-cap, Japan Crate is that you can subscribe to three different kinds of boxes; mini, original and premium with either a recurring monthly payment (from $12 plus p&p) or you can pay for either 3, 6 or 12 months worth of boxes, therefore saving you a bit of cash at the end of it. You can cancel at any given time, so if you fancied just one box then you can enjoy one box without the pressure of payments. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

I'm still sticking to my premium subscription and even though I can't show it, I was slightly disappointed with the October crate. The reason for this is because October is Halloween month, so I was kind of expecting some (or a lot) of Halloween related bits and there wasn't any... nadda... nip... zilch. So that was a bummer, but the November box seems to have dragged it back up into my good books.

This first bundle are the goodies that would have been in the mini box subscription; chilli salad pretz, cookies & cream pejoy, purple sweet potato sticks, black thunder and meiji dice caramel. I actually received an email from Japan Crate saying that an item had been swapped (the original item was a Fujiya lollipop bag) and to get two boxes in replacement of that item was a nice surprise!

This next bundle would have been the extra items from the medium sized subcription box; Funassyi furi-furi shake DIY kit, uranai-kko bubble gum, Glico Man caramel and fluffy long neck marshmallow.

This final bundle are all the premium extras; chunosuke water, superstring Q, pachishuwa grape soda mix, spy vs. spy sour gum and a Naruto blind box - wheeeeeee I got Kakashi!

Personally, I had a lot of mixed feelings with this box. I was disappointed with the previous box (October) as I was expecting lots of Halloween goodies, but barely got any, but with this one... it was jammed packed with an immense amount of goodies but........ where's my savoury things at?! I was disappointed with only getting the small Pretz box as my savoury item, and that was a replacement item so.............. a box of sugar *sobs* Mind you though, my mother has enjoyed digging into this box as she likes sweet things more than I do, but I did try some things and some were relatively surprising with the taste? Like the purple sweet potato sticks... sickly sweet at first but as I ate a couple more sticks, the taste grew on me? Japanese sweet potato definitely lives up to the "sweet" part of its name compared to the sweet potatoes here in the UK.

Other than the mixed feelings, I am loving this subscription box as it definitely opens my eyes (and tastes buds) into knowing what I do like and what I don't like food wise... score!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo

♡ August Japan Crate [[UNBOXING]] ♡

みなさん、こんにちは!

There are sooo many snack subscription boxes out at the moment and whilst most of them are rather tempting... Japan Crate is the one that called out to me the most somehow, so I decided to treat myself to a recurring subscription for a while. And, of course, you may notice that we are in October and this August's box... yes I am full aware how behind I am, I have just come back from a hiatus.

This general gist of Japan Crate is that you can subscribe to three different kinds of boxes; mini, original and premium with either a recurring monthly payment (from $12 plus p&p) or you can pay for either 3, 6 or 12 months worth of boxes, therefore saving you a bit of cash at the end of it. You can cancel at any given time, so if you fancied just one box then you can enjoy one box without the pressure of payments. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

I went with a premium subscription, as you can get between 12-14 items with a drink and a DIY candy kit all weighing up to 2kg. Not bad huh? Well, I can honestly say that I wasn't disappointed with the items I received in this box. It arrived about 5 days after dispatch, which isn't bad for international shipping from the USA, and it came in an extremely sturdy (and colourful) cardboard box so all my items were packed safely together with no casualties during transit.

You get a cute little magazine that tells you about the items you received, and there's even added information about how to do your DIY kit, a comic strip and other bits and pieces... I think that's a nice little touch to make it more personal somehow?

The first bundle is what I would have received if I had ordered the mini box; Chocolate Pucca, Crackling Cotton, Soy Sauce Pretz and Mario Kart Gum.

The second bundle is what I would have received if I had ordered the normal box - plus the mini box contents; Chocoroom DIY Kit, Puzzles & Dragons x Bikkuriman Wafer, Crayon Shin-Chan Candy, Pokemon Puzzle Gum and Shuwa Shuwa Soda Candy.

The final bundle is the added premium extras - plus the mini and normal box contents; Creamy Melon Soda, Japanese BBQ Scones, Wow Such Banana?! and Soda Mixing Jelly Beans.

So for 13 items it cost me $30 plus $15 post and packaging... which to me is a really good deal because to get these items in London it would cost a small fortune because of "import charges" blah, blah de blah. Out of all these items, I have actually only had two of them previously (the BBQ Scones and the Melon Soda) so it was a completely new experience for me and that is the main reason why I love subscription boxes, you get pushed out of your comfort zone. Japan Crate is really a great deal in my opinion and until another box comes along in my direction and decides to sway me... I think I will be sticking with this for a little while longer. Now I'm just hoping they put a few more savoury treats in future boxes now!

Thanks for reading
xoxo