A sugar rush of the educational variety

I've often wondered what it would be like to try to feed myself in a country where I don't speak the language, read the alphabet or even recognize many of the main ingredients.  A trip to Nijiya Japanese Market is a mild version of this experience, so I just enter with an open mind. Today, I turned the corner into their technicolor candy aisle and suddenly...What. Is. This?

It's a candy kit, something the maker, Popin' Cookin', refers to as "educational candy" as it requires following directions, mixing powders and water, and building your own treats.  Here's what the kit looks like:

All those little packets are filled with white powders that, when mixed with water, turn colors and change texture.  There's not a smidgen of English anywhere on the box and the drawings only tell you which color packet goes into which well.  I figured out to use the little plastic squirt/dropper thing to add water up to the embossed line, the tiny shovel for mixing and the dowel for rolling out that Tootsie Roll block.  Considering I was winging it, I think things went okay.  Here's a "during" shot:

That orange part on the left? Super cool. I mixed the orange powder and water in the lower well, then used the dropper to drop pearls of it into the blu-ish water mix above and, Voila, instant roe!  So pretty, and quite real looking- and they even burst when bitten.  After about 5 minutes of setting, the yellow and red firm up to a strong jelly and are embossed with egg and tuna patterns, respectively.  The taste? Varying intensities of Tutti Frutti. I'm definitely no sushi chef, but here are my assembled pieces:

My little maki roll on the left is a mess and my rice is a bit deformed, I will not be quitting  my day job- but...it's pretty sexy in close up!

  By the time I was done, my Mad Scientist was satisfied and I didn't really feel like eating it.  Hmm, educational and slimming! Oh, and I think I paid about $4.00, not bad for an hour's entertainment on this rainy day.