Happy Pepero Day! (11/11)

November 11 is Pepero Day, so if you walk by any bakery, convenience store, supermarket, or even a few beauty product stores, you'll see elaborate displays of boxes of Pepero (Lotte's version of Pocky):





A few random facts gleaned from Wikipedia:
It is similar to Valentine's day in that couples exchange Pepero sticks (the date 11/11 resembles four sticks) and other mushy gifts. (Yup, several men have been spotted today buying boxes of Pepero and romantically-themed boxes. Bakeries are selling their own version of Pepero - long breadsticks dipped in chocolate and such...)

Lotte denies starting the holiday, but 55% of their annual Pepero sales occurs in early November. Hmmm....

One story claims that Pepero day was started in 1994 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero". (Um, I'm pretty sure the way to grow slender is by NOT eating Pepero...)