Caramel and Vanilla, Custard Pudding ice-cream cones from a vending machine.
Ice-cream cones (above treats)
Hi fellow hivers and foodies.How are you?
Have you ever felt like ice-cream deserves a cape?
It really does!
Recently, I took my sons to the pool. They had swimming tests. My younger son went first. After about forty minutes, it was time for him to exit the pool, get dressed and along with the other members of his group, wait to know if he had moved up to another level. I watched as he collected his paper with the results. He opened it and instantly, I saw disappointment in his cute little eyes. I knew it was time to give him words of encouragement. He walked over to me. I saw tears welling up in his eyes.
He said, “Mommy, I didn’t level up”. I said,”It’s okay, it means you’ll get the chance to practice more. You did well”.
He didn’t want to hear that. The more I tried encourage him, the better he got at his rebuttals. He shook his head and then tears started falling from his eyes. I realized it wasn’t necessarily time for words.I hugged him, held his hand and remembered that there was an ice-cream vending machine in the building.
I asked, ”Would you like some ice-cream?”
He quickly nodded and I saw “glitter” in his eyes. We took the quickest route to the machine. By the time we got there, he seemingly had forgotten about his test result. His entire face was lit and his body language changed. I wanted to hug the vending machine but knew we had to continue the mission and actually eat ice-cream.
Sign/label on the vending machine.
Ice-cream vending machine with seventeen flavors.
We went up to the machine and saw that we had seventeen flavors to choose from. Most were ice-cream but there were sherbets as well. “Glico” is the name of the company that produces the treats. That, we could see on the vending machine. My son took a while to decide on a flavor but I didn’t mind the ice-cream distraction attraction. He was now in a good mood. I was supposed to be on a diet but I too got excited and ditched that plan. Who just wants to sit and watch others eat delicious desserts? Haha! Not me. So, what were the seventeen flavors?
The other flavors were:
What flavors did we decide on?
My son chose caramel and vanilla and I chose custard pudding. They were delicious and went fairly quickly. We enjoyed trying out each other’s flavors. The cost of each was one hundred and fifty yen. The flavors were on point. We should have thought about taking photos before removing the wrappers from the cones but that didn’t happen. Looking back, I guess we were too excited to eat.
Custard Pudding option on the machine.
Caramel and Vanilla option on the machine.
Though we bought just two. We scoped out other flavors. We realized that sherbets were a bit cheaper. The cost of each was one hundred and forty yen.
My son had calmed down and had seemingly forgotten all about the test. Icecream saved the day.
We left the vending machine area and
waited a bit for my older son to complete his swimming test. He exited the pool, got dressed and with other members of his group, waited to see how he had performed. He got the paper with his results. He opened it. His eyes opened widely! I sensed shock but not disappointment. He came over to me. I looked at the paper and saw that he had passed and moved not one, but two levels up. I was excited but had to balance my reaction as I was dealing with two different situations. One son needed more practice at his level and the other advanced to two levels higher. Interestingly, we were able to discuss both situations and both boys seemed okay. Thanks again to the cream. Ice-cream deserves a cape.
Soda Sherbet option on the machine.
Orange Sherbet option on the machine.
Growing up in Jamaica, Sundays would be the main day to have ice-cream.
An ice-cream truck would pass through the communities. My siblings and I would be so expectant. When we heard the music from the truck, we’d gauge how close it was to our house. When it got close enough, we’d drop whatever we were doing and run out to buy ice-cream.
There was also a vendor on a bike that would pass through the communities selling cream, fudges and popsicles. We called him “Fudgey”. We would hear the tooting of the horn from a distance and say, “Fudgey a come!”
As soon as Fudgey came to our street, we’d head to our gate with containers from our kitchen to buy and collect the lovely, flavorful treats.
We would sometimes ask Fudgey for some dry ice. He would give it to us. Some kids would wrap it in paper and pretend as if they’re having a smoke. My sister and I often carried it to the kitchen, added water to it in a container and watched it bubble and “smoke”. It felt like a great, fascinating experiment. Lol!
Cone from the vending machine.
The above treat reminds me of one we would call,”Nutty Buddy”. Nutty Buddy was basically a pre-packed ice-cream cone with chocolate and nuts coating or topping. Interestingly, I can’t remember if that was the actual name of the treat but, it could have been the name Jamaicans gave it. Re ice-cream flavors, rum and raisin, grapenut and chocolate were popular and were regularly bought.
Whether it was the ice-cream truck or Fudgey, excitement would fill the air and the communities especially on a Sunday afternoon.
What’s your favorite flavor of ice-cream?
What are your childhood memories of eating ice-cream?
Thanks for reading this post. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Blessings. 😃
