Archives for 2011

April 22, 2011

That’s my snack. (GIVEAWAY!) CLOSED

It’s the thought that counts.

I noticed a little surprise at my corner store a week or two ago. A novelty snack made just for me…

The sighting coincided with a pre-planned giveaway… and now I could send along a little Jilly bar as well. How perfect! Probably should have tasted it before I got so excited and bought 5 bars.

Novelty Snack: Jilly
Description: “Creamy wafers covered in cocoa.”
Tastes Like: Blech. Fake chocolate thinly covering the stalest wafers I’ve ever tasted.

Verdict: Thumbs down!

But no worries! Plenty of other novelty snack goodness abounds inside this Sri Lankan tote bag featuring the Tamil alphabet.

And it all could be yours for the tasting.

To enter, leave a comment anywhere on the blog. Write whatever you wish but include the word “tote” in brackets. Like so, [tote].

You may enter up to 3 times.

Winner selected by a random number generator.

Contest open to all.

Closes Friday, April 29th at 12pm (Abu Dhabi time).

Good luck!

xo, jill

PS. I also have a new “Novelty Snack” button up on the right. Now it’s just an easy click to the tasty treats.

PPS. Giveaway is now closed! Thanks!

posted by Jill 13 Comments
Filed Under: Novelty Snacks

April 17, 2011

Novelty Snacks of Sri Lanka

Time to get serious.

My novelty snack reporting from Jordan was a little, well, weak. I waited too long to record my findings and the flavors were no longer fresh. That’s why my descriptions were a bit… vague. Like when I described a cheese flavored chip as, “A cheesy chip.” When the time came to snack in Sri Lanka, I took my job a bit more seriously. I even kept a novelty snacking notebook. That’s right.

Novelty Snack: Woodapple Nectar
Description: A juice made from woodapple, treacle, milk powder, and water
Tastes Like: Nothing else I’ve ever tasted. It tastes a bit like apple but also like wood. It’s a thick drink with a bit of a tang.

Verdict: Thumbs neutral

Novelty Snack: Hacks Original Hard Boiled Sweets
Description: A menthol, eucalyptus, and aniseed hard candy
Tastes Like: Something familiar that Mike couldn’t quite place. He thinks it’s a German candy.

Verdict: Thumbs up! *This candy looked so gross to me that I couldn’t even try it. I’m sure it would have been a thumbs down.

Novelty Snack: Vegetable Snack 109
Description: A cassava based snack
Tastes Like: Sweet onion flavored snack with a good crunch. It doesn’t melt on your tongue like you might expect.

Verdict: Thumbs up!

Novelty Snack: Black and Gold Salted Gram
Description: Dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas) with salt and a bay leaf.
Tastes Like: A bit bland. There’s not enough salt on the outside to match the bulk on the inside.

Verdict: Thumbs neutral

Novelty Snack: O-Kay Layer Cake
Description: A mini vanilla layer cake.
Tastes Like: Twinkie meets Poptarts
Verdict: Thumbs up!

I mentioned something about a giveaway a few weeks ago. It’s coming in the next few days!

xo, jill

posted by Jill 4 Comments
Filed Under: Novelty Snacks, Sri Lanka

April 14, 2011

One last necesscity.

Colombo.

Unfortunately, our itinerary required us to stay our very last night in Sri Lanka in Colombo. We had been dreading this portion of the trip after hearing about our friends’ experiences there. The touts were aggressive, the hotel (that we had also booked) was dirty, there’s nothing to see… etc.

When we boarded the train to Colombo, our expectations were pretty low.

Turns out, it wasn’t so bad. Our hotel room was the nicest one yet (hot water, water pressure, clean linens, mini fridge, flat screen, AC), and the touts more or less left us alone. We relaxed in our room (watching bad tv) until check out. Then we visited Paradise Road (our friends’ recommendation) for a bit of shopping and a very expensive (but delicious) lunch.

Unfortunately, we were swindled by our driver as we were dropped off at the airport. But why let that ruin an amazing trip?

xo, jill

posted by Jill 1 Comment
Filed Under: Sri Lanka

April 13, 2011

Relapse.

Back to the beach!

After visiting Udawalawe, we ended up in an inconvenient part of the country. The route the locals kept recommending was to travel quite a distance to Ella, and then take a 12 hour train ride back to Colombo. We thought it over. Then went back to the beach!

Despite our hotel assuring us that a tuk tuk ride to Matara would be out of the question, we decided to do it anyway. Surprisingly, it was the shortest and smoothest of all of our extended tuk tuk rides. The plan was to stay two nights in nearby Mirissa and take the train back to Colombo from Matara (only 4 hours).

I think we made the right decision.

Mirissa is a tourist town that lets you forget it’s a tourist town. The hotels and restaurants are built back in the trees so when you look out at the beach you see… the beach. We spent our time relaxing, taking walks, and playing in the water.

It was the perfect way to end our trip.

xo, jill

posted by Jill 2 Comments
Filed Under: Sri Lanka

April 12, 2011

Here come the elephants.

Unless you want more tarantula?

Our next stop in Sri Lanka was a visit to Udawalawe National Park. The park reserves 119 square miles for the wildlife that was displaced due to the construction of a nearby reservoir.

We arrived bright and early with high hopes for viewing elephants. We weren’t disappointed.

I love seeing animals in their natural habitat. I couldn’t help but think of the elephants I’d see in childhood at the Oregon Zoo. The indoor viewing room was brutal.