Mochi is a traditional snack most commonly eaten during the Japanese New Year. It’s made by pounding sweet rice into a thick, chewy and slightly gelatinous paste that’s then shaped into balls and filled with all manner of things, from cooked adzuki beans to specially flavored “tropical” fillings. You can find mochi at a Japanese supermarket like Mitsuwa (www.mitsuwa.com).

When I bought a mango-flavored mochi cake on my first visit to Mitsuwa Chicago, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that my dad had suggested I try this soft, pillowy rice dessert that supposedly tasted like a mango. After lunching on my bowl of ramen at the food court, I poked suspiciously at the mochi for five minutes before making the decision to open the package and try to consume it – however you did that.

I then spent the next five minutes holding the mochi in my hand and staring at it. If you’ve touched a mochi, you will understand why I was so fascinated by it. It was cold and very soft, covered in a thin dusting of rice flour (mochiko). I finally got up the courage to take a small bite of it, and was instantly surprised and slightly disturbed.

Eating a mochi is like eating a very smooth, pliable pillow. Its texture is similar to that of a very firm gelatin dessert, except better in many ways. It’s a rather acquired taste. Once you’ve gotten used to that texture, you can truly say that you “like Japanese food” without meaning instant ramen and chicken teriyaki.

This particular mochi was still the weirdest one I’ve ever eaten. (I suppose I had a better mochi experience than my dad, whose mochi was unflavored, covered in sesame seeds and filled with thick red bean paste. Neither of us finished our mochi the first time.) It did not taste remotely like a mango. It’s hard to say if the taste was even fruity. The filling looked kind of like a mango, but it still was most definitely not a mango. I would, however, recommend the excellent pineapple-flavored mochi, which actually tastes how it was intended to taste.

Overall, mochi is an experience meant for those who are not afraid to try new, weird foods that have a texture like a pillow and a bean paste filling. It isn’t a taste meant for the average six-year-old or a picky eater. However, once you’re used to the mochi, it becomes a wonderfully yummy snack – even if each mochi is 300+ calories and 20+ grams of carbs. (Note: mochi is to be eaten in moderation. Remember that.)

I only recently learned the manga’s true title, and, I must admit, I really was embarrassed that I’d gone around telling friends that my brother’s favorite manga was “Nep Ece”. Needless to say, they all looked at me bewilderedly.

One Piece (or Nep Ece, if you choose) is one of the longest still-running, still-in-print manga I’ve ever seen. It boasts over 300 chapters, an ongoing anime with more than four hundred episodes and various character CDs. It’s one of the most popular anime/manga creations in the world.

So what exactly is it? For a while, I recognized it only by the cover – which seemed to always feature the same guy. This guy who was consistently a cover model was named Monkey D. Luffy. According to my brother, Luffy ate a “Devil Fruit” when he was a kid, causing his body to turn into rubber. 0_o Luffy wants to be King of the Pirates one day, so he sets sail with his crew in search of the legendary One Piece, a great treasure collected by the greatest pirate captain ever. The manga and anime focus on Luffy and his crew’s adventures as they grow ever closer to the Grand Line and their goal of attaining the mighty One Piece.

One Piece is thoroughly a shonen manga. It doesn’t have a place on my shelf overflowing with shojo classics like Fruits Basket or V.B. Rose. However, it is an interesting and definitely engrossing manga. While a lot of shonen have overblown fight scenes that culminate in improbable injuries and extreme fighting tactics (to the point of characters exploding), One Piece isn’t all mindless brawling with other pirates. (Although it does have its fair share of superfights, which I suppose provides a good reason for the tween boy population to read it.) There are even some sentimental moments in the series, which we rarely see in boys’ manga.

The rambling plot of One Piece seems to go on forever, and there’s no end in sight. There are over fifty tankobon to collect, and they’re still being released in Japan (and in the USA by Tokyopop). So if you enjoy following the adventures of a stretchy rubber pirate captain, with interludes of fighting and snippets of heartwarming moments among the tens of villages Luffy & Co. encounter, then this is the manga for you.

(A piece of advice, though – before you spend $5,000 on fifty tankobon, it’s best to check them out at your local library first. ^_^’)

For those who are not yet enlightened, Pocky is a Japanese snack that’s favored by kids and adults alike. Basically, it’s a biscuit stick about six inches long. It’s dipped in chocolate, and depending on the “flavor” (variety) you buy, it has different “toppings” (rolled in coconut, dark chocolate, strawberry, white chocolate, etc.). It comes in a box which has two packages, with one package being the equivalent of one serving. You could find it an any Asian market, and I once saw it at Target in the grocery section.

Pocky is, I have to say, one of the most convenient snacks I’ve ever eaten in my life. You just rip open the package, pull out a stick of Pocky and…well, eat it. You could even do it while driving (but keep your eyes on the road)!

The downside, however, also happens to be the most delicious part of the Pocky: the chocolate. Sure, it’s good on a cold fall or winter day, but on a hot and humid July afternoon, Pocky is NOT the best snack you could choose. (Side note: I’ve seen Japanese commercials for it on YouTube, and in the summer, they advise you to try Pocky chilled. Sounds yummy!)

The thing is, Pocky is like a special connection for all otaku, everywhere. You can feel connected to Japan, just by knowing that as you munch your stick of Pocky, some other person in Japan is maybe doing the exact same thing. Even if they are twelve hours ahead of us. As you eat that stick of Pocky and feel sad about the fact that you might never get to visit Japan, you can take comfort in the fact that Pocky is, of course Japanese. And like everything Japanese that makes its way over here, it’s a little piece of Japan – a little bit of culture that’s specially for those of us who can’t experience it in person, no matter how much we might want to.

And it’s because of that that Pocky goes on my Top Candies of All Time, even if it isn’t really considered a candy. Sure, the chocolate may melt, but you can eat it chilled (as advertised by a Japanese teen idol, eating chilled Pocky at the beach in a commercial). And not only that – the feeling you get when you rip open a package of Pocky is, somehow, heartening, knowing that this is a part of a culture, and more than a delicious stick of chocolate.

I’m going to do a full review of it – but please, Japanese-candy-aficionados, don’t expect me to review freakish Japan-only candies. The nearest Japanese grocery store is over an hour away, and I can’t drive down every week only to get a new candy. But I’ll make do with my local manga store, which is less of a chunk out of my day and which also happens to stock your basic candy, as well as a huge selection of awesome manga.

So, finally, thanks for choosing to read my blog! I hope I get a lot of hits, so please enjoy my future posts.