Sushi-Go-Round and Kit Kat Bars

Tonight John and I met up with one of our friends for dinner and a fun romp through the 7-11 (in Japan it's technically called 7 and I-holdings). We decided to eat at a sushi-go-round place, where the sushi is placed on a conveyor belt and as it circles the seating area, you pick the plates you want. They have these places in the US as well, so I'm sure many of my readers are familiar with how they work.

If you aren't familiar with sushi-go-round places, let me go into a little detail. The sushi chefs make a variety of sushi and place it on a conveyor belt. As the conveyor belt goes around, the diners can pull plates from it and eat the dish. Each dish is color coded to denote price and you stack them up as you finish your plate. At the end of the meal, the waitress will count your plates and their cost and charge you appropriately. Simple! One rule though, if you touch the plate while it's on the conveyor, even a little bit, it's yours. So, be careful.

Here's a few pictures:

Look at that sushi zoom by my plate!

They had a huge conveyor belt.

I just thought the squid on the wall was adorable.

Finally, I come to my last point of the evening. Kit Kat bars. I thought about making this an entire post to itself, but I figure it's okay to do it here. In the US, Kit Kat bars are pretty basic. Red/orange packaging, 4 bars, wafers covered in chocolate. Yeah. Yeah. Snooze-o. I like Kit Kat bars, but never thought they were THE candy bar to munch on.

In Japan, Nestle clearly found a market in which the Kit Kat brand thrives. They have flavored Kit Kat bars. What makes things even more interesting is that you can collect them. Certain flavors are a one-time only release. Certain flavors are specific to a certain region and certain flavors are specific to certain seasons. On top of their special flavors, they have flavors that are out year round.

Today at 7 and I-holdings, I found a wasabi flavored Kit Kat bar and a bitter strawberry flavored Kit Kat bar. I tried the bitter strawberry and it's dark chocolate with a hint of strawberry. Nothing spectacular. I'm a little nervous about the wasabi. I don't know if I want to try it or keep it forever and ever.

To be honest, I don't know if this is wasabi, mochi, or green tea. Everyone is telling me wasabi.

Bitter strawberry.

I'd rather you gimmie a break, gimmie a Kit Kat. Guess Western slang doesn't translate well.