If You Prick Us...

What sort of week is this week to be? As yet insufficient data to theorise, but today was pleasant enough. Lessons started out in the same room we normally have listening exercises and so on in, but the schedule was rather different on this occasion! This week is largely dominated by the end of our Project Work - presentations on Tuesday and Wednesday (first thing Tuesday for me - eep! Though at least I'll not feel awkward trying to following anyone else's), so lots of rehearsing and fine-tuning in between those times. Then an oral exam on Friday. Perhaps I do have enough data to predict what kind of week this will be, after all. In any case, I think it'll turn out alright, though precious little of that is due to any effort on my part.

During my sliver of free time between lessons, I was in the middle of "taking it easy," when I suddenly remembered my report for Tea Ceremony, due in today and barely started! I belted something out and was a tad late to the class, only to discover I'd been misinformed and it was actually due in next week - d'oh! As for the class itself, I knew I had three weeks left until the end of term, but the point was rather driven home to hear this week described as the penultimate lesson. It proceeded smoothly, this week's sweets were shaped and coloured to resemble persimmons, and we had two rounds of tea. The second round was a different kind of tea (sencha) than that we usually drink (maccha), loose-leaf and served in small cups resting in saucers shaped like leaves. In terms of taste it was closer to the varieties of green tea we know in the West. As a keepsake of my enjoyable times in this class, I may say "Osake joudai itashimasu" instead of "kampai" ("Cheers!")  when drinking, but ask me why this is funny the next time you chance to meet me in person.

Classical Japanese wrapped up the day as per usual - this week we studied adjectives. That probably says something about the complexity of the language that there are so many different kinds of verbs it took us almost three months to cover them all. Of course, these lessons too are soon to come to an end, but since I can continue this course (which I can't do for the Tea Ceremony) next year I don't feel quite so nostalgic. In other news the exam timetable has been released - it looks like very easy going, only two exams to deal with this time around, though of course I have essays and the like to hand in as well. So all in all not a bad day; tiring, yes, but in the kind of way that speaks of satisfaction with having got things done.

Have I mentioned this before? Lemon Honey - I was intrigued and knew I must try it! It tastes a bit like marmalade, but lemony. 

When the Band Finished Playing They Held Up the Bar

Well, the week finally drew to a close, and I have had the luxury of these two days to recuperate and take it easy in preparation for similarly hectic weeks from here on. On Saturday I wondered into Sakai, and in the Oasis21 centre observed some event going on which involved lots of dancing - good fun to watch, though my camera seemed to fail at crucial snapping-type moments. There is also a temporary skating rink set up, which again I would describe as pleasant to look at but probably not something I'll be using. After a quick(ish) trip (or two) to the Jump Shop and NHK Character Shop, I was on my way homeward, but accidentally (more denial) ended up going via Osu Kannon. However, through some unknown providence I managed to resist the temptation to buy anything.

Sunday was much the same kind of affair it always is (though it was only five in the afternoon when I started this entry - who knows if other complications will arise later?) - laundry, food shopping, homework gradually getting done, and this week watching Poirot to help the time pass! Many of my housemates have been on a trip this weekend, so it's been very quiet around the community room and kitchen.

Something that occupied a fair bit of my attention this weekend was Christmas presents. Slowly but surely I'm acquiring items that will hopefully amuse my nearest and dearest and won't be too difficult to get home. Of course, I don't mind parting with money for this purpose, but the fact that I have been spending made me realise that I am only now getting to the end of the hundred-thousand yen I came to this country with - considering all the one-off setting-things-up-type expenses I think that's not a bad amount of time to make that money last.

One troupe of dancers I saw on Saturday. They danced to "Smooth Criminal."

The Warped Wheel

The week just gone from Monday evening 'til Saturday morning has been a tad hard on me. As the end of the term approaches all sorts of deadlines are approaching, and I've had to make a special effort to concentrate. Monday and Tuesday I mainly spent on my Modern Japanese Literature essay, at the expense of the script for my Project Work presentation, which I moved on to on Wednesday, leaving me all but brain-dead up until the end of Friday. After that I've been trying to research for a Japanese Religions essay and sort out a short Tea Ceremony essay as well. Combined with that I had to sort out some misunderstandings about term dates, so all in all I've been holed up in my room, working at one thing at a time at the expense of all others, including blog entries and non-official e-mails. Doesn't make for very interesting reading, so to compensate you for your time, here's a picture of a deer:

And a link to a video that sums up the feel of this week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f0QaJxc91I

Tiny White Spinner

Wiggedy-whack, dear readers. Apologies for the continued lull in entries, but be warned, it'll get worse before it gets better. Monday the Twenty-Second at least, was eventful enough for me to make an entry of, so here goes! The day dawned with usual listening exercises, mostly taken from recent news stories. I often find these hard to follow, since news programmes often use specialist terms, though they become somewhat obvious when one sees how they're spelt (that doesn't happen in English too much, does it? "Oh, arsonist with an 'a'!"). Afterwards we were given an explanation of exams to come, and the reading material we'd be working on for this week - a short story entitled "Duke." It's about a young lady mourning her recently-departed dog, and then spoilers!

Tea ceremony was quite fun and laid-back, as always. At this stage in the term people appear to be quite comfortable with each other, so some may argue that laughing and joking with one's neighbor damages the solemnity of the ceremony, but since it was originally conceived in the spirit of enjoying tea, there's probably a little room for interpretation based on changing times. And we're only practising, after all; I'm sure we should have more self-restraint if we were having tiffin with the Emperor or some such. The pace is increasing now that we are more familiar with procedure, and we had two rounds of sweets this week - one kind had rainbow-like colours all in a lump, the other had texture and colours suggestive of a squashed slug. Tasted alright, but once the similarity had been pointed out to me it became a bit difficult to enjoy.

Classical Japanese was easier going this week - some grammar I vaguely knew about before but having it spelled out in more clear-cut rules helped to remember it better. Little by little we're delving into old texts more and some of the archaic vocabulary is starting to stick. I returned home feeling well with the world, and spent the evening working on an essay... but that's a story for another time.

奈良など/Nara etc.

Just when I thought things were getting boring, I went on an interesting trip to Nara this Saturday! For those  of you who don't  know, Japan's capital city has changed a few times throughout history, but Nara was the first. To use an English comparison you might say Nara is to Kyoto what Winchester is to London, and Kyoto has a similar relationship to Tokyo. We travelled by bus and were up early as the journey took a couple of hours each way, but armed with a volume of Wodehouse stories it passed by pleasantly enough. Scenery wasn't too hot as it took quite a while to get out of the city-like area, but there were a good few roving hills and forests to be seen at times; it reminded me of Devon countryside, but a little bit bigger. I was also able to experience Japanese service stations... rather more clean than their English counterparts, but still with graffiti in the toilets.

First stop on the trip was the 法隆寺(Horyuji), sort of an early seminary for training up monks when Buddhism first came to Japan. If I remember right the original was built sometime around 607, but was destroyed by fire. The second version was erected in 711, and is still standing today, making it one of the oldest wooden structures in Japan, if not the world! I was very impressed that it had lasted so long (though it does get patched up every couple of centuries) and that so many intricate designs could be carved from wood. We were shown around by a volunteer guide, who gave us a bit of history on the place, switching intermittently between Japanese and English, then at the end of the tour he distributed pairs of bamboo chopsticks as souvenirs ... actually, he didn't have enough to go around, so he only gave them to the foreign people, but still, he was a thoroughly decent chap.

法隆寺

Next up was Nara Koen (奈良公園), a large park littered primarily with three things - Buddhist temples, deer and red leaves. The temples and similar structures were all humblingly old; I felt like a time-traveller walking around them. A strong smell of incense also pervaded the surrounding area, giving these places an appropriately calming, "sacred" atmosphere. This was probably the first time I got to see non-rein deer close up, and my goodness there were a lot of them! It's no wonder Nara's mascot (yes, it seems every major city in Japan has a mascot, good for the tourist trade) looks like a Buddhist monk with antlers. It was quite unlike anything I've seen before to see so many wondering about, and for them to be so used to people to allow me a casual stroke or two in passing, though they quickly lost interest when they realised I didn't have any food.

I felt it necessary to mention the leaves because of their colour. This year Japan has had an unusually long summer, so the leaves are only just starting to change colour and fall from the trees. In Japanese the autumnal colours are called Kouyou/紅葉, literally meaning "Crimson Leaves." At one time I thought this description may have been exaggerating a bit, but the leaves of the Japanese Maple/Momiji really turn a colour that is so brilliantly red it sometimes seems unreal. After a couple of hours (or one and a half if we're to split hairs) of wondering around this pleasant environment it was back on the bus for a long ride homeward. So all in all a fun trip, rewarding in terms of knowledge and experience, though quite tiring as well.

Innit lovely?

1ターン1度、相手モンスター1体の攻･守力を半分にする事ができる。

Writing this blog was easier early on in the year when there were so many new experiences to recount. These days there's much that I've gotten used to and wouldn't think of mentioning, plus it's that time of year when the term starts to drag and motivation diminishes a little bit. Although I primarily write so my nearest and dearest back home can keep up with me, I try to write this blog in such a way that people who don't know me can enjoy, and possibly that a publisher with a big cigar could spot and say "Kid, I tink yoo gawt wut it takes ter make it big!" and then fame and fortune. However for the next week or so, being tied up with essays, projects and whatnot, the level of interestingness may fall ever so slightly, but I'll do my best to try to keep my entries fairly fresh.

After my lessons on Tuesday I rode the underground a lot, so much so that it went overground at one point, and explored the outskirts of Nagoya around the area where it starts turning into Seto. This may sound very adventurous and exciting, but at the time I was trying to find the University's inexplicably far away other campus, and for a counselling session at that, I didn't have a lot of fun with the experience. Looking back with a more stable state of mind I can report that the scenery was rather nice, like the kind of town you pass through which makes you think "I wouldn't mind living in a place like this someday," before you realise it's rather far away from anywhere you may wish to go. I also ran into a gang of cats lurking outside a block of flats; they seemed very interested in my presence but didn't have the courage to come and talk to me. Most Japanese cats I've encountered seem to be incredibly given to flight, but perhaps they've been strays and have reason to timid.

As for Wednesday, I spent in a kind of mourning for the Irinaka branch of Book-Off. It may seem strange, but I think it is an awful thing for a book that can still be read to be just thrown away, so for someone like me it wasn't easy to see great boxfuls tumbling into rubbish vans (at least Japan is quite good with the environment, so they'll probably be recycled, small comfort though it is). I found myself walking to the next nearest shop to make sure it was just that branch and not the whole chain that closed. There is one within an hour or so's walking distance, so at least my days of buying cheap manga are not completely over.

Most of Thursday and Friday are a bit of a blur to me - I think there may have been lots of project work, which I don't want to remember. Also, lots of classes have sort of... finished. By this I mean we've got to the end of the textbook we were using as well as the grammar, reading, vocabulary and kanji exercise packets. Once again I ask myself, was this part of the teachers' plans? Do they even have plans? According to the timetable for the next two weeks we're going to be reading through a short novel and just picking up things based on that. Not a bad way of learning, in my opinion, but it still feels bizarrely laid back to me. The many wonders of living in a different country!

I stretch in the morning, afternoon and evening but am not yet this flexible

There's A Hole In Your Dungarees

Welcome to another entry, my lovelies. A lot to cover, so I'll plod straight on with Monday. The morning Japanese classes included learning a few expressions of the kind that generally don't appear in dictionaries and sound very strange if you try to directly translate them. For example, "気に落とさないでください/ki ni otasanaide kudasai" means "(Please) Relax," but a literal translation would be something like "Please don't lower your spirit." Similarly, in a recent conversation I said "甘いものに目がない/Amai mono ni me ga nai," meaning "I love sweets," but literally "As for sweet things, I have no eyes." We also finished watching Ima Ai Ni Yuku, quite a surprising twist at the end, but I'll not spoil it for anyone who may yet read or watch it. In fact, it may be said that the morning was one of many endings, for we also got to the end of the packet of grammar exercises we've been using since the start of the term. I wonder what we shall do now without it?

I believe I've mentioned Project Work before, one of the four current banes of my life. I had planned to print out the questionnaire I'd be using and start trying to get it answered... managed to carry out the first part of that plan. How glad I was to duck into the sanctuary of the tearoom for some cha. Not much to report about the ceremony today, it was rather laid back and enjoyable, we had the same sweets that we've had once before, but in a different container - a big ceramic pot with a heavy and fragile lid. The teacher also pointed out some things to us we may not have noticed (instances of bad posture etc) and bade us be careful of them... interestingly she didn't say they were against ceremony etiquette, just that they weren't cool.

Classical Japanese suddenly seemed a bit more difficult this week. Perhaps it's because I didn't prepare for the lesson like I usually do because I was busy with the homework set last week. Or maybe it's because we covered stuff that I didn't learn last year at SOAS. Either way, it was certainly a challenging lesson, we looked at some texts which were a bit tricky to understand, not so much because of the grammar but more the amount of mysterious vocabulary and cultural context. All in all a rather tiring day, but here's hoping it will all pay off in the end one way or another.

This fellow has nothing to do with what I did today, but it's a rather nice picture, I think.

But Please Don't Eat That Glass, My Friend

Greetings, dear readers. Sorry for the lapse in entries; it's shaping up to be one of "those" weeks. Or it may have reached the time of year when things seem to be piling up or to have gone on too long. Received one or two pieces of disquieting information during Thursday and Friday, though they may yet prove to cause no lasting trouble. Getting myself out of this funk took a good deal of tea and Sherlock Holmes, but managed it in the end.

By and large life as normal until the weekend rolled around. On Saturday I set out for Osu in order to do some Christmas shopping. On the whole I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, getting struck with the customary wonderlust and finding it difficult to get into the mindset of shopping for other people. I did, however, manage to walk there and back without help from a map and compass for the very first time! A small achievement, and a sign of the times, to be sure.

On Saturday night we had a party to celebrate the Hallowe'en party going well. These students - any excuse! Unlike the Hallowe'en party, though, it was held at our humble Yamazato dorm, and it was a rather quiet affair, not packed to the bilges or anything. The nature of this party was temaki sushi and kani nabe. "Whut?" I hear you ask. Well, temaki is a kind of sushi which you make yourself, putting rice and other ingredients into the nori (seaweed) then haphazardly rolling it into a vaguely conical shape. This was all a bit too delicate work for clumsy ole' me, so I took to just piling up my plate with rice and other ingredients (most of which are still a mystery to me) and eating them as they were. Nabe meanwhile is a kind of stew, and kani means crab. Through this party I was able to discover that I do not like the taste of crab. Overall I'd call the party a success; it was pleasant to hobnob with a few new people and see our front room miraculously transformed into a party space through the simple expedient of arranging the tables differently.

Gaiety

Sunday was back to a business-as-usual-style milling around, going food shopping, getting a start on homework and the like. There was one bit of excitement - I received a package from my family containing some English sweets and chocolate, so was able to go about my business with a little taste of home! Alas, though, this sweet indulgence was not without its bitter aftertaste. Writing from Wednesday I can also report that on this Sunday the Book-Off (cheap secondhand bookshop) down the road from me closed down. :( Had I but known I would gladly have bought up a considerable chunk of their remaining stock!

Montmorency Set Up A Furious Barking

Recently I've been having trouble getting to sleep, and getting more tired during the day. My diet and habits are much the same as ever, so I assume this has something to do with adjusting to the regular Uni week, or with the clocks going back in England. Or maybe it's energy drink withdrawl symptoms finally kicking in.

I was a little apprehensive about the lessons on Tuesday - on the timetable both periods were simply billed "速読＆話そう!" (Speed Reading and Let's Talk!), once again giving me the impression that much of the course is being made up as it goes along. It turned out to be better than expected, though - we'd talk about the subject the Speed Reading entry was concerned with, then read bits and pieces from it, then generally talk about it some more. In the first session we discussed the apparent increase in Japan of 草食系/soushokukei. Directly translated this word means vegetarian or herbivore, but in recent years it's been used to describe people who are not very active or assertive in heterosexual romance. Some interesting discussion, mainly about gender roles and cultural influence. The second session dealt with the typical Japanese system of employment, which appears to be rather strict in comparison to the little I know about the English one.

When visiting my regular bakery for lunch, I was delighted to see the shelves lined with tinsel! Although there are still some days that are quite warm, and the last leaves of Autumn have yet to fall, this surely means I can start looking forward to Christmas!

Wednesday, Wednesday, though... Short lessons, as per usual, and rather easy to deal with in a "speaking-about-stuff-in-the-textbook-and-later-practising-similar-conversations" kind of way. Thereafter I met with a bit of a shock - I have to pay the rent for the five months of the next term by the end of November! This won't quite break my bank, and though it was a nasty surprise it's almost comforting to know that in Japan, same as in England, Universities and the accommodation associated them tend to operate with near complete ignorance and/or indifference to the nature of their students' finances.

Later I went out to dinner with Chihiro and her husband at a nice little Italian restaurant. It was really fun, those two are really thoroughly decent sorts, and we stayed chatting and so on until the restaurant closed, not unlike when I go out for meals with my family in England! Also, had some good fettucini fungi and marvelled at the futuristic toilet - the flush was operated by a control panel mounted on the wall, completely separate from the toilet itself! Of course, I got in a bit late so no chances of fixing the sleeping pattern, but it was worth it!

Japanese Snacks Vol. 9 - Cream Bread: Another staple of my diet out here. A bit like a custard doughnut, but slightly larger and more bun-like. As you may tell from the photo, I buy them reduced whenever I get the chance!

トマト！トーマートー！

Due to popular demand I have added photographs to the blog. Sorry to anyone who will now have to scroll through all the old entries to see if they add to the experience. As I still had problems uploading them, they're taken from Facebook, so will be nothing new to anyone who has been following my escapades in that medium.

Everybody saddle up for a brand new week and a brand new month! Alright, so this is the second week of this month, but I wasn't paying attention during the proper first one. But today was a regular Monday, complete with lack of sleep the night before and feeling unfocused in the morning. However, during a listening practice lesson we covered some rather interesting vocabulary to do with museum/art gallery terms and conditions, opening times etc., so maybe I'll translate some of the signs back in Southampton when I get bored. We also heard a summarising of opinions expressed in a questionnaire about the year so far and what steps were going to be taken, but I forget exactly what they were. Possibly less homework, possibly more.

So, the first tea ceremony lesson for what feels like rolled around. Today something was subtly different about the tea room - usually the hot water is stored in the corner, within an urn which looks antiquated at first glance, until one notices it's keeping itself warm electronically. Today, though, a part of the tatami flooring had been removed to reveal a small alcove (traditionally containing hot coals, I believe, but obviously in this case they'd be unnecessary) into which the urn was placed. I think the purpose of this is that it allows the heat to circulate around the room a bit better at colder times of year. When the urn is in this position procedure for mixing tea is different, but not too significantly.

In Classical Japanese we covered two kinds of verbs we'd not yet studied, but that I vaguely knew about from the SOAS course. Of course, it would have helped if last year they had told us that one of those varieties only includes one, fairly obscure verb, and so you can pretty much get by without memorising it. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon photo-ing up the blog, then there was a house meeting, in which I felt quite irritable for no apparent reason. In fact, today I was plunged into a foul mood without warning several times... perhaps it's just the time of the month when I feel particularly homesick and impatient to get everything done. Ah well, this too will pass.

This snapshot of my shelves and their contents seems to me to sum up my life at present.

A Return to Sub-Normality

Well, as the title suggests it was back to Uni for me on Thursday, and at present I'm easing back into a regular routine again. I write this entry on a lazy Saturday afternoon, and I get the feeling that rather than exploring I'll probably spend most of today and tomorrow preparing my homework for the week to come, not because I have an inordinate amount, but because I'm still adjusting. On the Thursday itself, though, we had a visit from a guest speaker, a prominent personage in the world of drama and script writing. He was cleped 栗木英章(Hideaki Kuriki) - when written vertically his name is symmetrical! He told us a thing or two about the different kinds of Japanese drama, and of the kinds of works he has written and/or performed in. Glad to have had such an opportunity.

After lessons ended on Thursday I had the kind of day that usually accompanies the approach of a deadline - I attempt to finish the work but find it difficult to think. I go somewhere else to work, but eventually hit a mental block there as well. I try to take a break to refresh my mind but the guilt at not working ruins my mood. I feel irritated with myself for not being able to focus, eat a load of junk food and would probably be rather unpleasant company if I didn't isolate myself. Then eventually the work is finished, but due to staying up late to get it done I'm still not 100% the next morning. In my case the situation contained added insult when I went down to breakfast to find that some of my housemates had been studying the entire night without sleep, yet they were still inexplicably bright and perky. Well, everyone does things their own way, I suppose.

On Friday morning was held a giving of speeches, the second spoken assessment of this year. I think I managed to stumble through saying mine alright - my chosen topic was gay marriage, I suppose having an interest in the subject helps to be able to speak somewhat naturally about it. Instead of the usual Japanese Religions lesson, the class met up at a local temple and wandered around for an hour or so. I'd been around that temple once before, but visiting as a kind of school trip meant I gained a few bits and pieces of insight that had eluded me before. Our teacher also treated us to a drink at the café and regaled us with a few amusing stories of when he had been studying. A pleasant way to round off the "week," and filled me with hope of success to come...

Always believe in your soul

Sweet Release

Rejoice, for Cal is not dead, nor yet have my interesting experiences in Japan ceased. I've just had a rather odd, strained week or so. Having a half-term holiday start on Friday and end the next Wednesday is bound to play havoc with the rhythms I'd become accustomed to, and I had a fair bit of schoolwork to keep me busy. My week off went something like this:

Friday - A trip to Osu (window shopping and thinking about X-mas presents), researching for Modern Japanese Literature essay.
Saturday - Scheduled trip to Nanzan's Seto Campus cancelled, another day of study
Sunday - Some time relaxing, more study.
Monday - Failed attempt to find Nagoya University's library and see if I could use it, more study
Tuesday - Lunch and karaoke with doormmates
Wednesday - Realisation that I'd neglected my Japanese Religions reflection paper, frantic attempt to get it done.

It all passed by in the blink of an eye. Though early on I felt I was making progress with the MJL essay, there were inevitably some admin issues to work out. For those of you who are not familiar with the School of Oriental and African Studies, it is for the most part a groovy place offering an atmosphere of acceptance, good teaching and courses that not many Universities would offer. But if you need to contact the school to work out a problem with your course, then may the gods have mercy on your soul! A substantial amount of my time this past week was spent e-mailing back and forth between the Registry, my tutor for MJL and the Faculty Office, just to attempt to confirm that I'd be re-taking the course and sending my coursework via e-mail! And even now it's not fully sorted, for according to the Registry I'm only resubmitting one out of the two assignments, and the Faculty Office haven't said a word to me since July! A lot of trouble for a half unit.

A glance at my summary will surely lead to the conclusion that Tuesday was the most interesting day of the holiday, but there are a few other points that deserve a bit of attention. Osu continues to surprise and delight me, on this occasion I saw a cat casually sitting on the counter in one shop, and tried my first bar of Japanese chocolate. I also found a shop called "Gamers," which had such a goggling array of merchandise I just drifted through it in a daze, attempting to convert the data into information. But it smelled like heaven. That is the thought that flashed into my mind as I entered. A sort of aroma of the kind of plastic in which that new books, dvds, cds and the like are wrapped. As for Saturday's trip, the cancellation of an appointment due to a typhoon is an experience in itself, though the typhoon itself seemed to miss where I am by miles and not cause much trouble at all.

I have rambled a bit; on to Tuesday! The original plan had been to go to a place called "Sweets Paradise," where they do an all-you-can-eat offer which includes a few savoury options and something in the neighborhood of fifty varieties of desserts. However, for some reason or other we ended up going to a different restaurant, not as exciting, but still all-you-can-eat and cheaper than S.P. would have been, so no complaints from me. Lots of gyoza, noodles, takoyaki, potato croquettes and tofu ice cream on offer; I ate until it hurt! Thence we wandered in search of a karaoke establishment, and happened upon a cheap one (student discount and all!) - 450 yen per person and we could stay until eight in the evening, if we were so inclined.

So, thoughts on karaoke. In the land of its creation it is quite different from the spectacle we may know in the western world, where such things as alcohol and "The X-Factor" lead people to overestimate their singing prowess and "treat" a crowded bar to their unique "interpretation" of their favourite songs. Instead, your group gets a private room (from which you can order food and drink if you are inclined), so you won't disturb any other guests. Certainly, within that room you can still end up murdering songs and embarrassing yourself, but you are among friends all doing the same, and I found that trying to get my timing right quite distracted me from how bad my singing must have been. Interestingly, at the end of each song the number of calories you had supposedly burned was displayed. So I counted it as exercise, and as revision, since we sang quite a few Japanese songs. If only we had such places in England.

Japanese Snacks Vol. 8 - Chocolate: This particular brand and variety tastes a bit like Cadbury Wildlife bars, but with a luxuries undertone (undertaste?) akin to Milk Tray.