Anything & Everything

Inevitably when travelling, sampling local food becomes a large part of assimilating with the cultures, giving an insight to both the everyday routine and the overall lifestyle of how the other half lives. Also inevitably, when I live in New Zealand and visit overseas, everything becomes a whole lot more reasonable in price, especially when it comes to that of convenience stores - hardly dense in population even in Auckland, convenience stores become more of a side thought than an actual necessity, located in areas such that neighbourhood inhabitants can avoid driving 10 minutes to the local supermarket, or dorm-residing students can get a quick fix on heavily overpriced goods. But there are too many faults: stock is so minimal, and I haven't managed to express enough how pricy items can be: at $3.50 for a box of Pocky, it becomes the closest definition to legal robbery I've encountered in my short and naive life. Thus: it becomes a world of wonder to encounter so many proces...

I am, undoubtedly, a chocolate snob. I am the sort of person to inhale the fumes of a chocolate bar, snap it between my teeth, and comment in a haughty tone as I eat, "Mmm, it has undertones of coffee and biscuits," or maybe, "The melt is divine , but it's nowhere near as good as [obscure gourmet chocolate brand]." Nonetheless, not even the cheapest bars of chocolate with vaguely plastic textures will deter me from devouring some. My current and long-standing favourite brand of chocolate is the famous New Zealand Whittaker's, producing extremely high-quality products for very reasonable prices to suit various ranges. No doubt they've had some flops (the L&P bar was, at least for me, a monstrosity in the name of two of New Zealand's best products), but otherwise, a majority of their products are definite go-tos when out shopping for a gift, souvenir, or more often than not, personal consumption. No doubt that strong pride for New Zealand herit...

Vegan food. Need I say more? An increasing trend with growing groups of both supporters and opposers, it does have some perks: I am acutely aware that I consume perhaps more meat than I should, my love for eggs strong and unrelenting, and with a risk of high cholesterol running in the family it leads me to wonder whether I should reduce my intake of meat, or at least become a lot more aware of it. The other day I bought a portion of pork to cook, and a serving of 100g for a meal between my sister and me cost a minimal $1.70 - cheaper than a head of broccoli, or a portion of green beans at the best of times. Sure, mass-by-mass $17 per kilogram of meat had nothing on $3 for carrots, but it was one of very few times I considered the cost it takes to raise an animal, to feed it and transport it for slaughter, to prepare it for consumption and have profit left over, and it only reminded me of the huge issues regarding meat-eating that surpasses just animal rights . And yes, eati...

An inevitable part of a trip in Japan for my family was the hunt for flavoured Kit Kats, one of many things that Japan is famous for. Within a few discussions we were already planning strategies on searching for, buying, and splitting the sweet treats in such a way where we could maximise the number of flavours we tried while bringing home only the best to hoard and last us to the next trip to Japan. It seemed simple enough - the internet had already given an insight of the sheer number of flavours available in the country, and we were prepared to miss a few flavours from seasonal and regional restrictions,  but the search for the elusive exotic-flavoured Kit Kats did not exactly go as planned. The first thing we quickly learned is that the chocolate bars are not readily stocked in every food store on the street. Convenience stores only held the typical flavours - original, occasionally dark, and only one of two green tea flavours. Granted, a few convenience stores held a couple ...