Weeeeeeird Flavah Flave

I've received a request for a post about all the weird flavors and tastes of Japan I've experienced thus far, so the next five weeks I have left I'll be collecting and writing about each new weird flavor :)

Weird things I've eaten so far:
Umeboshi (pickled plum) gummies
Umeboshi jelly
Macha (powdered green tea) jelly
Coffee jelly
Aloe jelly .... um .... I thought that was just for sunburn

Let me stop here and back up a little. Jelly in Japan isn't the kind you put on your toast, it's more like jello. And I'm struggling to remember what they call actually jelly. So imagine, if you can, having a jello-like substance that tastes like any of the above. And then they add milk to it. Well, not for the umeboshi flavors, but for the others... Continuing:

Sakura-Salt candy. Yes. You read that correctly. Sakura, like the flower. And salt. Like what you put on your steak to make it taste better. Together. First of all, what does Sakura taste like and why did anyone eat it in the first place? (I always wonder this about flower flavored anything...so many flowers are poisonous, how'd they figure out what was safe and not? Did they do it Hunger Games style or did they just force random criminals to taste and see that this may or may not lead to your death??) Moving on...

Pumpkin. Pumpkin in Japan isn't really pumpkin, it's butternut or acorn squash. But they love it regardless of its unpumpkinness. I've had it on pizza with basil leaves...you haven't had pizza until you've had it with acorn squash and basil.

Grape and Banana Popcorn
Strawberry Popcorn
Black sesame ice cream (which is amazing)
Nihonshu (Japanese version of Vodka) ice cream
Tempura Ice cream. Ok hold the phone. So they actually deep fry the ice cream the same way you would with vegetables or other foods.
Pancake sandwiches. Yes. Sandwiches.
^^^^^sweet red bean paste filled, butter (eww) filled, butter and syrup, macha paste filled, strawberry cream filled, coffee cream filled (not as good as it sounded)
Avacado cheese. Um what???
Aloe yogurt
Milk and Mint hard candies, which I adore
Peach Milk Tea

HOT.

GINGER.

FRICKING.

ALE.

That's right, you heard me: Hot Ginger Ale. This stuff is the BOMB people. I'm telling you, hands down, my favorite hot drink for the late fall after a good coffee. It was weird at first, because it has an apple twist and the good folks at CocaCola managed to keep the carbonation despite the heated nature of this particular Canada Dry.

I've still got two weeks left and soon I'll be heading to Tokyo, here's to more weird tastes to come!!