Sunday, March 30, 2008

Soy Sauce Flavored Kit Kat And Other News

Yes...you read that right!! Japan has some very unusual kit kat flavors....orange, matcha (green tea), red wine, salty, soy sauce, kiwi, apple etc. There are also local only flavors like flavors only found in Tokyo (this soy sauce one came from Tokyo) or Osaka etc. Thought you would find it interesting!

Other news-It has been a while since I posted and lots has been happening. We are now officially moved into the office downstairs (but we still list items upstairs and keep them down in the office). We still need to buy some more furniture but all our packing is down there and my honey couldn't be happier!! Our house had literally been over run with pink bags filled with products. I am happy too because now my assistant can come and go and I don't have to get up early to let her in now that all the packing is done downstairs and she has her own key. I can sleep!! I work on the business until about 4 am so getting up at 8:30 was killing me! Now I will be my normal sunny self.

My husband and I made a big decision. About a month and a half ago he was laid off due to restructuring at his company. I didn't panic because of this business but he was in a terrible state. For about 3 weeks he looked for work and had many interviews but nothing was right-1 job would have possible moved him to Tokyo, 1 paid less than I was paying my assistant etc! Since he had a lot of time on his hands he decided to try listing items. Well....he has turned into a listing machine! I felt such a huge sense of relief that it wasn't all up to me anymore. While I was at work....he was listing. While I was doing the paperwork etc.....he was listing. All our bags of products we had piled up disappeared. I LOVED this. After a couple of weeks, we talked and acknowledged that if he got a job he wouldn't be able to work on the business (Japanese work hours are insane), and he wouldn't have time off to travel etc so we decided that he wouldn't get a job but rather work on the business. He did have to get over the "being a real man=having a job in a big famous company to support his wife" crap that was drilled into his head but I think he is much happier. And I am LOVING it. I work at my job 4 days a week (I have a teacher replacing me on Fridays) and I love knowing that he is at home working on the business when I can't. We now go walking at night when I get home-we couldn't do that before because of his job. The only thing is that we are always together which most of the time is fabulous but I do love my space so once we get internet connection in the office I might just kick him out of the house for a few hours once in a while.
Oh and if you see some strange/funny/kawaii English-blame him!! ^__^

10 comments:

maoiliosa said...

i'm so happy for you, your honey, and your business! :D

ps - those kitkats? grooooss! heehee ;p.

Milkberry said...

oh i never saw those shoyu flavored kitkats. maybe i never looked hard enough.

hi from japan too! i live in chiba. i just got married and moved here a few months back. struggling to learn japanese and have no idea how to find friends around here who can speak english (haha). yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

FromJapanWithLove said...

Hi Melissa! thanks! Apparently they don't taste like soy sauce and are sweet. I can't eat them because I generally don't eat wheat or dairy.

Milkberry-Hi! Nice to "meet" you! My Japanese sucks for being for being here almost 10 years but I don't study so it's my fault. As for finding friends-I did put an ad in Fukuoka now-I'm sure there are international magazines/websites in Tokyo you could put an ad in to find friends. I know it sounds weird but it works and I have found some fabulous friends. Having native English speaking friends was vital to my sanity when I first got here. I do have some friends who only speak Japanese now but I couldn't have handled that when I first got here. Do what ya gotta do to feel comfortable here!

Perogyo said...

That's so awesome! I am so glad that you can work on your business together and your DH has more time.

The plan was my husband was going to stay home when we had a baby. He still works, he hasn't been able to give up the job habit. Hopefully he will soon- I'm going to use your husband as a good role model!

Kristine said...

Oooh, sell some of those Kit Kat flavors in your shop!

You have so many cute goodies to sell. I enjoy browsing everything. Good luck with the new business set-up. I love Japan. You are lucky to have this opportunity!

Anonymous said...

I am addicted to browsing your shop & have picked up some cute goodies for my friends.

Me & my husband work from home together, its great & nice to share the stress too.

But a girl needs her own space too, its nice to steal those hours alone to read & catch up with things.

Oh & the kit kats look really unusual. Funny what sells in other countries. :)

Milkberry said...

Sofia, thanks for the tips! I'll check around for international magazines. I never saw any, though. However I will try to do it online like you said! Any recommended sites? Thanks a lot.

Yes I need English speaking friends for my sanity too (^_^) Hahaha thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I've just come across your Etsy shop and found your fun blog as well. I'm originally from Japan and now have settled in UK nearly 11 years.

I love your Etsy shop and it reminded me when I went to Asakusabashi in Tokyo. Lots of lovely things and stationaries.

It's very nice to hear you and your hubby working together and I think an idea of a man works for a big name of company and looks after his family, nonsense.

Fukuoka must be very warm by now.

Ninjin said...

Wow, every cloud has a silver lining and all that! ^_^ I hope he finds something soon, though :)

And those Kit Kats...sorry to sound like a total gaijin, but...EWW :|

FromJapanWithLove said...

Medea! I will tell my honey that he is a role model...not sure he will believe me though!

Kristine! I would love to sell them the kit kats and other goodies but as summer is coming, I won't be able to until next winter. But other candy might be ok just nothing that will melt!

Vicki-thanks for the kind words! Yes, a girl needs space!! I'm going out tomorrow for girl time (and do some shopping for the business) but I hardly get a chance to read any more....hmmm...might just have to kick out so I can do that in peace!!

Milkberry! cut and paste this and on the left hand side there is a section for personals
http://metropolis.co.jp/classifieds/biz.asp?action=home&pid=0
there are probably others but here is one place to start.


Jazzy219-Hi! It isn't hot yet....I start to melt in July. I HATE July-October. My dream is to go to Vancouver for this time period. I working on making that dream come true!! Still Ican deal with the summers better now than when I first came to Japan! So...are you married to someone over there? Seems to be the trend when people stay so long in another country!



Ninjin-thanks for the "good luck" but we aren't looking for him to get another job-I keep him busy listing items, taking pictures, carrying the heavy bags when we shop etc! ^__^ And as for being a gaijin...my honey won't touch that soy sauce flavored kit kat either!!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails