I grew up watching Star Wars just like any child of the 80s did. My brother and I had the action figures complete with the Darth Vader carrying case. I had Star Wars sheets, Star Wars pajamas, and even Star Wars underwear. You could say the Force was strong in our house. But as we got older, our interest in Star Wars was just pure nostalgia. And after the complete disappointment that was Episodes I, II, and III, my interest fell to almost zero.
Now there is this new movie out, and they have been hyping it for over a year. I’ve been seeing merchandise in the stores for months and it’s been breaking me down. I want a Darth Vader coffee mug and I don’t know why. I want t-shirts and pajama pants just because I’ve been smacked in the face with it. We are in Japan visiting family so I thought I could escape the hype. I was wrong. The Force is very strong here. All the stores have their own version of merchandise. Star Wars tea cups and rice bowls. Chopsticks, cellphone cases, wallets, purses, earrings, shoes, t-shirts, pajama pants, key chains, floor rugs, poster, and special characters at the bakery. I even watched Star Wars Episode IV on TV with Japanese voice overs. And the Tokyo Sky Tree Tower, which we can see from Aya’s parent’s balcony, was lit up like a light saber for the weekend.
Between seeing every one of my Facebook friends announcing their arrival at the theater to see the new movie, and seeing all the promotions here, I decided I needed to be involved in all that is the Star Wars hype.
We saw a special bakery limited-time-three-day-only exclusive-promotion at Cozy Corner of a Star Wars cake set. We had to have it. When we arrived at the bakery they were completely sold out for the day, and the next day’s set were already reserved. However, they did say they were making a few extra for unreserved guests. They just wouldn’t last long.
The next morning I made it my mission to get these cakes. I headed out on the train by myself and made my way to the bakery. I approached the store clerk and asked for the cakes. I got what appeared to be the last one. I did it!
Ellie was excited and she doesn’t even really know what Star Wars is. The nine piece cake set included a chocolate Darth Vader, chocolate and pistachio cream galactic army and rebel alliance tart, white bean paste Yoda tart, pistachio cream Jabba the Hut tart, raspberry chocolate cream Star Wars cake, cream cake R2D2, lemon cream cake C3PO, cream cheese storm trooper tart, and chocolate cream Ewok cake.
I even pulled out my cell phone to play the Star Wars theme song to get in the mood as we dug our forks in. Not only did they look super cool, they tasted great too!
I did my part to awaken my force, and I’m really excited to get in the theaters when we get back!
