Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - Funny fruit

A big announcement!

Ebi-kun has flown past the 100 subscribers threshold which means he can now have his own vanity URL. 

You can find his channel over at https://www.youtube.com/c/ebikuneats

He had no idea that I had been rallying around trying to get him over the 100, so he was somewhat confused when I got him to check his stats, you can watch the big reveal here...

Other than being the videographer, I don't have anything to do with his channel, so I never know which episode is coming out next, this was recorded a while ago...

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - Long chips

This is actually from a couple of months back but Ebi-kun has only just got around to putting it up! We accidentally ended up at a festival in Saitama Shintoshin and long chips were all the craze, of course, a certain little person insisted that we really needed to try them, for research purposes of course!

Check out the rest of his videos over on You Tube and subscribe to his channel :)

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - pelon pelo rico

This week Ebi-kuns taste buds take a trip to Mexico!

Thanks to a friend *Hi Raquel* Ebi-kun got to try Pelon Pelo Rico... check out what he thinks and if you have a spare minute please leave him a comment over on Youtube, he hasn't been getting many recently and it makes him sad :(

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - umemaruko chan

Why Japan has so many weird snacks is beyond me, so many strange flavours, what's wrong with a good old bar of chocolate hey?

Well I suppose that would make Ebi-kun's show very dull! Here he is trying out another new snack...

Don't for get to leave him a comment over on YouTube!

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - Genghis Khan Caramel

This is the funniest video so far, far funnier than the pickled squid and that is saying something!
Please click through to YouTube and leave him a comment, it will make his day!

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats 1 Year anniversay!

Can you believe it has been a year since he started this little venture?

Me neither, he has certainly tried some weird things over the year, some good, some bad and some just blah! I think the pickled squid episode is still my favourite, I nearly peed myself when we filmed that one! Although there might be another contender, we recorded and interesting new candy the other day...

So here is the one year anniversary show, bit longer than normal as he was trying chocolate from all over Europe, which is the best?

Remember to pop over and leave a comment and a thumbs up!

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - The USA!

This week Ebi-kun's palette travels to the USA!
I wonder what delights he will have to try...

Ebi-kun Eats will have it's first anniversary at the end of August and... shhhh.... Ebi-kun's goal was to have 100 subscribers by then. So if you are not subscribed, click HERE and sign up, let's help him reach his goal ;) 

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - Quince paste

Yes, it is that time of the week again, ebi-kun eats!

This week he is trying a Spanish delicacy that we picked up in England. Quince paste, we had to google what to do with it, was it tasty? Only one way to find out...

If you enjoyed his show, click through to YouTube and leave him a comment (it's my sneaky way of getting him practicing his English!)

5th Graders Banned From YouTube

Yes, this is the news Ebi-kun came home with today!

Obviously he was gutted since he loves doing his Ebi-kun Eats show. From what I can gather, there has been a video uploads of a JH boy kicking/bullying a ES boy in Okinawa and so the schools answer is to give the kids a blanket ban on uploading videos to YouTube.

Well, this mama has a thing or two to say about that!

Firstly, banning the kids from using it You Tube, isn't the answer. 

Education is.

Teach the kids about internet safety, show them how to use it properly and tell them about the dangers. Ebi-kun knows, it has been drilled into him since he was old enough to grasp the concept on the net. I can't stop him from using it (maybe at the moment whilst he is young) but certainly given a couple of years he will be all over it like the average teen.

Next, banning one social media platform is insane!

There are the big players of course, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, all of which can be places to harbour bullying but there are far worse apps and social media platforms out there. 

Calculator% and Audio manager are not what you think they are. They are apps designed to hide things behind a locked screen, you know, photos and other such things that your kids don't want you to see!

Vaulty also hides photos from prying eyes and will take a photo of anyone trying to access the vault!

Snapchat and Burn Note- all the rage. Snapchat will allow you to send video or photo to another person for a set amount of time, then it self-destructs. Yes, very James Bond like. BUT what most kids don't understand is that these images and videos can still be saved/screenshot by the receiver which is how so many snapchat pics and video end up on porn sites labelled as "snap porn"

Burn Note works on the same principle but with text, perfect for a bit of cyber-bullying.

Never put anything on the internet that you don't want to see again because once it is out there, it is out there for good.

Line - more popular in Japan than Facebook, I haven't dabbled but I have heard some horror stories. From my understanding there is a hidden messaging or chat feature and lots on in-app purchases can be made.

Tinder, Omegle and Blendr - all allow strangers to contact each other, no need to spell out the slippery slope that could lead to.

Yik Yak and KiK don't offer parental controls and are renowned for cyber bullying and sexually explicit content. There have been several suicides due to cyber bullying on these platforms and Elizabeth who was encouraged to kill herself, luckily didn't go through with it and has been working for the app to be shut down. You can support her cause here.

I'm sure there are more apps out there that I don't know about, the safest thing is to have your child/teens account on your account so when a new app is downloaded you can see exactly what it is. Better still, don't give them the password so they have to ask permission to download it.

Trust From Both Sides

Now this whole staying safe on the internet thing is a whole new ball game, one that our parents didn't have to figure out. So we are doing the best we can, we want our kids to be safe but we want to be able to trust them to make the right decisions right?

How do we do that?

I am no expert and stepping through this minefield for the first time myself, my plan is to be as honest and open as possible, to explain and show Ebi-kun the dangers but allow him the freedom to explore and use the net to learn. We have a great relationship and I hope that if he is unsure of anything he will come and ask me first.

It's not an easy task and who knows whether it's the right tactic to take, all kids are different so a different tack might be needed for a different kid.

And I really feel that the school should be trying to educate the kids, not ban them from using specific apps/platforms. 

But at the end of the day, I actually upload the videos to YouTube for Ebi-kun, he does everything else, so he isn't breaking the school rules, I am. What are they gonna do? Give me detention? 

I'd love to know what steps you are taking to keep the kids safe on the net. 

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - curry balls

Nom, nom, nom Curry Balls - what the?

I am not a fan or curry, in balls or otherwise. But is Ebi-kun a fan, you will have to watch today's episode to find out. 

If you enjoy his show, pop over to his Youtube channel and leave him a comment, he says that his favourite bit of the show is answering your comments and questions! Click HERE

Taste Tests: Ebi-kun Eats special #foodrevolution

Ebi-kun Eats speacial today!

This was for the Jamie Oliver's #foodrevolution. Ebi-kun wanted to cook a nice healthy meal and he did it live streaming to Facebook. The original was (painfully) long so we edited it down!

Enjoy... And if you want the recipes, click through to his YouTube channel, he posted them over there.

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - Spain

Ebi-kun has been getting some swap backs for his Ebi-kun Eats show, this has been great and a lot of fun but caused a bit of a hoo-haa too!

So when he started Ebi-kun Eats, he sampled one thing per show, which was quick and easy to shoot, edit and upload. But with the swap packs he wanted to keep all the items in one episode, which meant trying a few different foods in one go.

This in itself caused a problem because he doesn't eat much in the way of sweet snacks so it made him feel sick! 

So, we tried breaking it up so he tried just a couple of things and filmed in segments.

This worked except the problem then was it was taking longer to upload and edit everything!

Ebi-kun started this channel as a bit of fun but suddenly it had lost it's appeal because he was sat editing when he would rather be outside playing football. We needed a re-think.

After much discussion he decided to go back to tasting just one item each show and making swapped items into a mini series.

This means that he will have more content, more episodes, it will be quicker for him to record and produce each one and he will be able to take advantage of batching the work and the shows are shorter. we can see for the anyalytics that the shorter shows usually get watched to the end but longer ones people tend to drop off before the whole show has been aired.

Lots of things to learn and think about!

And so, this is his Spain show, samples sent from my Aunt and Uncle who live out there he has a couple of the longer shows set up but her on in the short shows will be back!

Taste Tests: Ebi-kun Eats and tastes tests... Salmon candy

We actually saw some salmon chews on Facebook, chews, with bits of salmon in them - yes, really! We never managed to track those particular chews down but we did find these...

If you enjoy his show, please subscribe to the channel HERE

Taste Tests: Ebi-kun Eats Book Giving Day Special Recipes

This week is a little bit different. Ebi-kun wanted to do something special for book giving day so we decided on making recipes from Roald Dahls Revolting Recipes book. This meant cooking them before he could taste them!

This is also the episode where I apparently got the sack! More on that later...

He got busy making Boggis Chicken, he did most of the work himself, I just stood around taking photos! (My kind of kitchen work!)

Making the dumplings was fun, we have never made them before, I always assumed you needed suet, which we can't get but the recipe called for lard, which we can get...

A rather messy process, great for a sensory activity! The recipe made enough for 2 nights worth of dinners for the three of us.

I think we should have used the iron pan as it did stick to the bottom, I managed to clean it off thanks to a friend Lias's top stip - use a dishwasher tablet and some hot water and leave to soak over night, no scrubbing needed at all!

Looks good right? But how did it taste? You will have to check out the video below to find out...

Don't forget to enter the giveaway, it runs until the 21st Feb 2016. Click HERE to sign up (scroll to the bottom of the page)

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - Daim bar

Due t his bad cough, Ebi-kun had to take a break from recording his show, be he is back!

And trying the Swedish delight of a Daim bar, what does he think about it?

If you enjoy his show, leave him a comment over on YouTube - he is responsible for answering them all by himself! You will be helping his English practice too :)

Never a dull moment...

Ebi-kun has become quite the sneak at being able to try things on in a shop, me take a quick photo all without anyone finding it suspicious... I do think it's only a matter of time before we get banned from this shop!

The many heads of Christmas...

Vicks vapour run on the feet - BUSTED

Well hello old friend, I haven't been about much the last couple of weeks. Ebi-kun got sick, he had an awful cough and it took several trips to the doctor before we found medicine which helped clear it up. That coincided with my birthday, as he was off school it was a very low key event but it did involve lots of good cake - I will be posting about that!
Then I got sick just in time for Christmas and ended up on antibiotics, so all in all it's been a sickly yet quiet holiday. I do have the new mac set up but not all the software I need installed yet.. getting there...

I do have a pile of catch-up posts for you and hopefully i'll be back on track by the time the new years arrives!

Ebi-kun is in there somewhere, I did say that he didn't have to run because he had a cough but he wanted to do it, at least the weather was clear. I think he came 56 out of 128, I'm not convinced that running is a good thing to do with a cough and he didn't get placed as high as he hoped but at least it is over and done with now.

He gets the same cough around the same time every year, the Doc is at a loss of what causes it other than the change of the seasons. He ran loads of tests, gave him an chest x-ray but nothing. Last time we got referred to the big hospital, they also ran a barrage of tests and came up with nothing, eventually it just cleared up. Very annoying.

We had a long list of home recipes to try too, none were very effective, including rubbing Vicks on the sole of his feet before bed. I did google this to see how it works, apparently it is an urban legend, the original post that did the rounds in 2007 stated that the Canada Research Council had conducted research on the method and it effectiveness. On problem is the Canada Research council didn't exist and the only similar organization said they had never run tests along these lines.

Despite all this, it still gets quoted as an effective method to sooth a cough, I have used it myself and on Ebi-kun and on occasion it has helped - so maybe it does work but there is not scientific evidence to prove it. So I supposed semi-busted is more accurate!

Have you tried it, did it work for you/your kids?

Taste Tests: Ebi-kun Eats and tastes tests... dried white fig

Luckily we had a few Ebi-kun Eats episodes recorded so when I dropped everything to go back to the UK we were still able to put out a show each week - be prepared folks!

This episode Ebi-kun tried shrivelled up dried things...

If you click through to YouTube and leave him a comment, he will reply - he does it all himself (and it's a good way of getting him to practice his English!)

And if you enjoy the show, subscribe to his channel!

Quite possibly the most disgusting yet...

When we were doing our monthly shop at Yamaya - International Liquor Store, Ebi-kun spotted what looked like aliens on a stick and asked to try them for his Ebi-kun eats show!

Things I learned from this show...

• open the window before starting
• empty your bladder before filming
• invest in a stand for the phone because it was hard to keep it steady when I was laughing so much

So... are you ready to watch?

Don't forget to give him a thumbs up! And if you leave him a comment over on Youtube, he answers them all himself.

Ebi-kun Eats - Spicy Okinawan Pig Ears

Full disclaimer, I do NOT force my son to eat this stuff, he sees it and wants to try it!

On to Spicy Okinawan Pig Ears, why you ask, Why indeed!
How was it?
Does he recommend it?
Hit play to find out...

Liked this? Want to see more? Subscribe to the channel and join periscope (follow jojoebi), we try to do the live tasting Wednesdays 4.00-5.00pm JST