Taste of Tohoku

Valentine’s is over, but do you know about “White Day”?

It’s a Japanese tradition for the girls to have to give chocolates on Valentine’s Day to their boyfriend first!!

And then on White Day (14 March), men who received chocolates on Valentine’s Day are expected to return the favor by giving gifts.

Now there are a few types of Valentine’s choco! Well, chocolates have just got really complicated in Japan XD. How many of them are you familiar with?

Giri Choco

In fact, Valentine’s Dayin Japan is not an exclusively romantic occashion. It is a day to acknowledge all the men in your life, including your male friends and colleague.

Giri Choco is literally “obligation chocolates” which you give to other men, like Santa giving gifts to children and married couples giving angpows during CNY. Usually the chocolates are inexpensive and nothing super special. The recipients of such choco be your boss, co-workers, teachers or male friends.

And then on White Day, usually the men will recipocrate by gifting cookies for the girls. This exchange is non-romantic and more out of politeness/custom.

 

Homei Choco

Honmei Choco means “favorite chocolates” and are given to lovers, boyfriends, husbands and prospective boyfriends.

Usually the chocolate would be expensive, unique and super nicely wrapped, maybe with a hand-written message card or letter. Recently the girls were pressured into giving home-made chocolate, because it expresses their true love with time and effort spent making the chocolates (oh well, isn’t it tough to be a Japanese girl!!! XD). So all the stores started having DIY choco making kit for all the ambitious girls who fancy personalized chocolates for their loved ones.

Tomo Choco

Tomo Choco (tomodachi chocolate, means chocolates for friends) are giving to anyone including even your own female friends or BFFs. It’s an appreciation of friendship. Some of the girls will just give Tomo Choco to both her male and female friends, to express genuine friendship instead of courtesy.

 

Speaking of chocolate, do you know that Kit Kat has a Tohoku limited edition?

Zunda is a Tohoku specialty so be sure that you grab some when you visit Tohoku!

I have never seen this before but apparently there’s also a Support Tohoku “Mixed Juice” version!

For more tips on Tohoku gourmet and delicacies, you can visit Taste of Tohoku!

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[Shoutout]

Sunsweet Prune

For mommies who have been pregnant before, I am sure you are aware of all the pregnancy problems like… difficulty to… ahem go to the toilet.

I have been advised by everyone to eat prunes to help ease constipation, so here’s my daily healthy snack!

Sunsweet prune & prune juice is made out of 100% natural fruit with no added sugar.

Not only are prunes great for gut health, a study has also shown that women who ate about 4-5 prunes a day for six months experienced improved bone mineral density. Which is super important since osteoporosis is also often a health concern at pregnancy.

It’s also a great snack for even babies and toddlers since it has many other health benefits such as being rich in antioxidant which prevents cancer, and high in potassium.

Here’s a super quick snack recipe for toddler!

I simply combine yogurt with chopped sunsweet prune with cereal puffs for a healthy and yummy snack.

Compared to other prunes, Sunsweet uses a different machine that remove it’s pits without ruining the fruit. So Sunsweet prunes are fuller, bigger and juicier!

For those loves juice, Sunsweet also comes in 100% juice form which can be a great way to start your breakfast!

Start eating Sunsweet prunes or drinking prune juice today for a healthier body!

Check out Sunsweet’s FB Page for more info!

facebook.com/SunsweetMalaysia

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