Topvalu's 'imported' vanilla ice-cream (バニラアイスクリーム)

Finally, three-forth of my life as a second year student is over. Finally, I have the needed 4 days holiday. :) However, this also means I have more free time to wander around, go snack shopping, and probably enter MaxValu more than once per day. It never helps with the fact that I can get to the supermarket within 10 minutes by foot, and 5 minutes by bicycle. Recently, I became very addicted to going to MaxValu at night due to the fact that the meat, seafood, and fruits sometimes are sold at half price after 9pm or so.

Oh, if you haven't heard of MaxValu, it's a supermarket owned by Aeon widely available in Japan. I've also heard that they are expanding to countries like Thailand. (MaxValu Thanjai)

Last night, I went on another stroll to MaxValu, and found this 2 litre vanilla ice-cream that has said to be made in New Zealand. My friend and I got really curious about its flavor, and it took us a couple of walking back and forth, and a talk with a friend who just got off his part time shift at the supermarket (who had no clue as he said this product was fairly new). In the end, we decided to take a chance, and brought this 598 yen product.

We rushed home, grab our spoons, and dug in!

The result of this purchase was unexpected. I have to say that the flavor of this 'vanilla ice-cream' is much more like a milk ice-cream. It reminds me of New Zealand's Tip Top Creamy Vanilla from the 2L Tub I used to buy. I wouldn't be surprised if it was made by Tip Top. The ice cream is on the creamy side, but it doesn't make you feel sick even if you had 1/4 of the whole thing. It's definitely worth its' price, and personally, I would buy it again and again, if it doesn't make me fat. (I wish)

Now, all I have to hope for is for MaxValu to import New Zealand's unique ice cream flavor that I can't find elsewhere, Hokey Pokey. Apparently, there are places in Japan, which sells Hokey Pokey flavored ice-cream, but not in a small town like Beppu. At least, I can't image I would find it in Oita Prefecture. However, I definitely don't miss the flavor, Goody Goody Gum Drops, which is a BUBBLEGUM flavor filled with chewy candy drops. The worst flavored ice-cream I've ever tasted.

Speaking of New Zealand's ice-cream, I terribly miss Rush Munro's ice-cream. I wish someone would import them to Japan! If you are in New Zealand, or planning to travel to New Zealand, I definitely recommend this brand!

That's it for now! Would love to hear about your experiences with interesting ice-cream flavor!

UPDATE: Product information is available in Japan. (http://www.topvalu.net/items/detail.php?id=5192&sid=2&cid=50)