matcha pasalubong!

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Japan is known for its matcha tea. And it seems that I have quite a number of friends who have developed a liking for this very special type of tea. In fact, I got lassoed into joining Krishna and Ate Mary to visit the Matcha Festival at Newport Mall a few months ago. During this trip to Tokyo, I had a few matcha requests. I said I couldn't promise anything but I'd buy when I come across some matcha.

I was walking along a side road leading back to the train station from Sensō-ji Temple. That's where I chanced upon this store. It carried anything matcha-flavoured, so I decided to stop en route to the train station. Inside, I found so many food products with matcha flavour so I bought as many as I could afford. 


Choosing among the different products was difficult because the tags were all in Japanese. Plus, for the products with English labels, I have no idea what the differences were between sencha, houjicha, and matcha. I figured that my best bet was to get the powder form. The leaves were for drinking specifically but the powdered form would be good for other products too.


With a grin on my face, I left the store with a bag filled to the brim with matcha goodies... and matcha soft-serve ice cream! I just had to try this despite my lactose intolerance; I could eat some ice cream but I couldn't eat a big serving. I'd love to buy more matcha but I was afraid my checked-in bag might go overweight.


Despite buying all these products for pasalubong, I thought that should buy more when I got to the airport. At least my purchases won't count against my carry-on weight limit. Aside from matcha, I bought non-food gift items for my relatives. Mommy wanted to get a souvenir from Japan so I thought a pouch bag might be a good idea.

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