Grocery shopping in Sapporo

We have a three grocery stores in our area: Max Value (which is right at the Nakanoshima subway station and not stroller friendly), Co-Op down our street, and Seiyu (on Hiragishi dori).

Alueella on kolme ruokakauppa: max value (metroaseman vieressä), co-op (samalla kadulla) ja kauempana on Seiyu. 

We do our immediate needs shopping at the first two, but our big meal planning shopping at the Seiyu. The reason being, that the first two have a decent selection but Seiyu beats them out in both selection and price. 

Seiyussa teemme suurempia ostoksia, sillä siellä on paremmat valikoimat ja halvemmat hinnat. Toisista ostamme vain kiireessä ja päivittäistavarat esim. maitoa.
 
(After doing some googling by the by, I found out that Seiyu is actually a part of the Walmart big corporate thing. I don't know if I feel like this is a good or a bad thing, but whatevers!)

(on our walk home)

The other thing that I like a lot about Seiyu vs the others, is that there are two more floors of clothing and home stuff (a la walmart style), so if we need something (say, hangers), we can grab them there too. 

One stop shopping: the best.

Seiyusta saa myös muutakin tavaraa: kotijuttuja, vaatteita ym.
 

They also carry baby items, which most grocery stores don't. In fact, formula (if we fed her that), baby food (if she would eat it) etc can usually only be found in drug stores! I don't know if this is the case in some giant supermarkets (we've yet to see one), but it's kind of annoying that if I want to grab her some snacks that I have to make two stops. 

Also, our smaller grocery stores don't seem to carry all sizes or brands of diapers, wipes etc. Super irritating.

Täällä ostetaan yleensä vauvajutut esim. korviketta, vauvanruokaa jne apteekeista! Ei asia meitä kauheasti ole vaivanut, koska eihän toi tyttö ole koskaan kumpaakaan ottanut, mutta onhan se varmaan rasittavaa japanilaisten äitien mielestä käydä erikseen toisessa kaupassa. Vaippavalikoima pienissä ruokakaupoissa on huonoa, yleensä vain pari merkkiä tai yhtä kokoa. Seiyusta saa kaikkea niin senkin takia tykkään käydä siellä.

So on to what we bought.

Our meal planning this week was this:

pork curry donburi

ginger pork shogayaki

miso ramen

(beef) yakisoba (one of my favorites)

Tofu-veggie stir fry

Some meatballs for Elisabeth 

Eggs and bacon for Easter breakfast

Salmon dip ingredients for an appetizer to bring to the BBQ

Ostoslistalla siis tarvikkeet yllämainituille. Alhaalla sitten mitä ostettiin. 

This is what we came home with:

The Libero diapers we brought with us are running out, so time to try some Japanese Pampers. We also ran out of wipes, so I did some research and found out how to look for alcohol and paraben free wipes.

Elisabeth WILL NOT eat baby food, so the only "for baby" items we buy for her are these snacky foods that she gets at home or when we are out and about around town.

Liberovaipat loppuu, Pampersit tilalle. Myös Liberon wet wipesit loppumassa, uudet tilalle! Löysin blogin, jossa kerrotaan miten ostaa alkoholittomia jne niin helpotti ostospäätöstä, kun osasi oikeita sanoja etsiä paketista. Sitten myös vauvanaksu-keksejä vauvoille. Näistä Elisabeth tykkää ja ne on helppoja ottaa mukaan kaupungille! 

We picked up lunch since we were starving at this point. All this sushi for only 284 yen and 378 yen. So we had a sushi lunch that was amazing good (blows US and Finnish sushi outta the water) for only 652 yen, we had a sushi lunch. That's about $6.52 and even less in euros. Woot!?

N. 5 eurolla saatiin sushilounaan. Maistui paremmalle kuin Suomen ja USA:n sushit yhteensä ja oli vain ruokakauppatavaraa. 

Our meat products: bacon, pork, pork belly, pork for ramen, beef, salmon, ground chicken and in the middle naruto (a fish cake) for ramen. 

Lihatuotteet: pekonia, possua, possua, possua (rameniin), naudanlihaa, lohta, kanan jauheliha ja naruto keskellä (joka on siis öö kalajuttua jota laitetaan ramenin päälle).
 

Dairy/protein: Tofu, eggs, milk, yogurt (hopefully not as sweet as others we've tried), cream cheese

(what's up great value brand lol)

 Maitotuotteet ym: tofu (joo ei ole maitotuote), kananmunia, maitoa, jogurttia (toivottavasti ei yhtä makeaa kuin muut jota ollaan kokeiltu!), tuorejuustoa.

Our plastic wrapped produce: tomatoes, onion, carrots, maitake mushrooms, ginger, bean sprouts, cucumber, potatoes, shredded cabbage.

The tomatoes are about $2.85, onions, carrots and potatoes were about $1.85, the three little cucumbers were about $1.50, the bag of cabbage was about $1.00. The cheapest items were the mushrooms 67 yen each ($0.67) and the bean sprouts at 26 yen ($0.26). 

 Muoviin pakatut vihannekset: tomaattia, sipulia, porkkanaa, maitake-sieniä, inkivääriä, pavun ituja, japanilaista kurkkua, perunaa, kaaliraaste.

To me, the price of carrots, onions, and potatoes is crazy. Teeny weeny bags for way more than I'd ever spend in Finland. That's the difference I guess in cuisine as well though? Finns eat a lot of potatoes! 

Hinnoiltaan tomaatit voi verrata Suomeen, mutta kalliimmat ovat perunat, sipulit ja porkkanat. Prismassa saa kyllä enemmän kuin kilo perunoita reiluun euroon! Me saatiin 5 pientä perunaa. :D
Halvempia ovat sienet (reilusti alle euron) ja idut, jotka ois Suomessa ollut niin halpoja, ettei kukaan uskaltaisi ostaa, kun niissä on varmaan vikaa. ;) 

The fruit section here is also very limited in my opinion. Apples and oranges are easily $1.00 or more EACH and a small bag of them is about $5.00. Crazy! I have yet to see pears or much else. We do buy bananas however (just not this time), and they're more affordable at about $2 for a little bag. 

We also had at home already some garlic, which is about $2 for a few heads. 

Hedelmät ovat ihan hullun kallita täällä, eikä valikoima yleensä ole parempi kuin banaani, omena ja appelsiini. 

Pantry and other items: 

Banana chips, chocolate cookies (I'm obsessed with this brand, they have so many flavors and I love them with my naptime coffee), sugar (we haven't bought any yet!), wasabi, prunes (Elisabeth needs them!), bread, corn (for ramen), fresh ramen (that go in the fridge), sesame oil,  and green onions (because I forgot them in the picture above ugh).

The bread here comes in small bags (only 5-6 slices) and is ginormous and THICK. You can however also buy a small loaf and cut it yourself, but we don't eat that much bread, just with breakfast a couple times a week, so this suits us fine. 

They also ONLY seems to sell super white bread. :P It's delicious but not nutritious. Oh well...

Muut ostokset:
Banaanilastuja, suklaakeksejä (kahvin kanssa nam!), sokeria (ei olla ostettu vielä), wasabi-tahnaa, luumuja Elisabethille, leipää, maissia (rameniin), itse ramen-nuudeleita (jääkaappitavaraa), seesamiöljy ja edellisestä kuvasta unohtuneet kevätsipulipussit. 
Leipävalikoima on rajoittunut vaaleaan leipään. Vaaleampaa kuin ranskanleipää! Pienissä pusseissa on vain 5-6 siivua, mutta siivut täällä ovat ainakin 3cm paksut ja puolet isompia kuin Suomessa. Saa toki ihan kokonaistakin leipää ostaa, mutta ei me tota pullaa usein syödä niin ollaan hyllylle jätetty. 
 

We have a teeny-weeny fridge, so here's a shot of what's in it. :D 

Pieneen jääkaappiin kyllä mahtuu...

Top shelf: Eggs, yogurt, mushrooms, ramen, leftovers, butter

Middle shelf: meat, ramen, cucumbers, leftover rice, meat, bacon (hidden in back, miso)

Bottom: potatoes, bean sprouts, leftover spinach, carrots, salad dressing, yakisoba sauce, soy sauce, green onions

Door top: baby food that needs to get tossed since Elisabeth didn't like it, condiments for rice, cream cheese, Japanese mustard, ginger, curry roux cubes. 

Door bottom: Sapporo Classic (only found in Sapporo), milk, green tea (Kevin loves it!)

Ylähyllyllä: kananmunia, jogurttia, sieniä, ramenia, edellisen illan ruuat, voita
Keskihyllyllä: lihaa, ramenia, kurkkua, keitettyä riisiä, lihaa, pekonia ja piillossa takana misoa.
Alahyllyllä: perunoita, ituja, pinaattia, porkkanoita, salaatinkastike, yakisoba-kastiketta, soijaa, kevätsipulia
Ovessa ylhäällä: roskiin menevää vauvanruokaa, riisin mausteita, tuorejuustoa, inkivääriä, japanlaista sinappia, curry-kastikekuutioita
Alhaalla ovessa: Sapporo Classic olutta (saatavilla vain Sapporossa), maitoa, vihreä teetä. 

Time to get ready for our party so I'm gonna have to end it here! 

Be back soon hopefully! :)

Lupaan kääntää myöhemmin! Pian alkavat grillipippalot alakerrassa! :)

This week's recap

Wow, this week flew by! 

Just another regular week here. Elisabeth took some great naps earlier (3+ hours!) and I took advantage of my alone time by spending it on pinterest (lol), drinking LOOOOOOOTS of coffee, learning more Japanese, and crocheting!

Highlights of this week:

On Monday, I did laundry. It took LITERALLY ALL DAY to do it. I had two loads going, one without a dry cycle (it's a 2-in-1 machine) and one with. The without one (Kevin's shirts) took a few hours to wash (no friggin' quick cycle?!), and the one with...oh, I don't know. 

Like seriously, I lost count. 

I started it sometime early afternoon, maybe noonish? It wasn't done till like after 6 pm. Oh, but they were still wet... so I split the load and put it into two machines and set the dry cycle. Ummm it went until sometime in the morning when Kevin went and got it. I dread doing laundry now! Every time it's something new with those machines. GRR!

I thought these appliances were supposed to make our lives easier? It really makes me miss my fantastic beautiful 7kg Samsung washer at home, complete with a quick cycle that washes in 1h 6min. It even sings when it's done! ♥ Oh, and our dryer downstairs... ONE hour! ONE! ...sigh, these are just some of those homesick things...

Tuesday...I don't even remember what I did Tuesday. Is that bad?

Wednesday, we went to the grocery store and picked up dinner for a couple nights while Kevin was at school. (Tofu stir fry & beef yakisoba) I love going to the grocery store with a plan. We spend MUCH LESS and get MUCH MORE it seems. What's not to love about that?

Thursday and Friday, we did the usual walk around our closest playground (closer than the one I've shown before), it's just 2 little blocks away. :)

On both days Elisabeth decided I was spoiled with long naps and free time and decided I ought to spend more time getting her to sleep than she actually sleeps. Oh fun! I love to meander around the neighborhood for an hour while she sleeps for 30 min...

Saturday, we went grocery shopping in the morning (and bought a ton of stuff) and then in the afternoon, we went downtown to Bic Camera (which is more than cameras) and then walked to find an H&M near Odori park, then came home and made pork curry donburi again and hung out with our neighbors.
(H&M here has some pretty different stuff than Finland!)

Today, we ate a wonderful Easter breakfast (bacon, eggs & toast) and then took a walk again. It's SUPER warm today, very sunny and for once (!) not windy! Perfect weather for our afternoon/evening which will be the building's BBQ! :) It's in celebration of spring as well as a goodbye and welcome party for neighbors (including us!)!
Sounds like fun to see what a Japanese BBQ party is like! :)

I'm going to try to find time (since it didn't happen this week) to blog about some topics and I've even been taking pictures for them and all. Woot?! I've never been a "planning" blogger before, but my how things change.
Upcoming topics I want to blog about:

• what we bought at the grocery store/grocery store info in general
• our neighborhood and the houses here
• our experiences of traveling with a baby -- a first look (since we're not too far into this yet)

Now here's the fun part... tell me what you want me to blog about! :)
Yes, you!
I will do my best to cover the topic if I can!
Just leave a comment on this post, send me a message on facebook/skype/email or whatever social media you know me from!

Can't wait to hear from you!
(otherwise this blog might be a little...boring if it's just about our day to day walks and laundry debacles!)

Who can tell me what bird is in this photo?
Mikä lintu kuvassa? 

Suomeksi melkein sama: 

Viikon alussa Elisabeth nukkui ihanat pitkät päikkärit (3+ tuntia), jolloin sain aikaseksi blogata, juoda liikaa kahvia, virkata ja oleskella netissä. Ihanaa! Viikko menikin tosi nopeasti ihan vaan kotona ollessa.

Maanantaina pesin pyykkiä. Suomessa se on ehkä lempikotityö, täällä se on ehkä kamalin. Siihen menee KOKO PÄIVÄ, eikä ne pyykit edes kuivu (koneet sekä pesee että kuivaa). Koti-ikävää on eniten kun ajattelee 1) elukat ja 2) Samsung pyykinpesukone ♥

Tiistaita en muista... ööö.

Keskiviikkona mentiin ruokakauppaan Elisabethin kans ja ostettiin parin päivän ruuat. Kauppalistan ateriat olivat tofu-vokki ja naudanliha yakisoba (nuudelijuttu). Tätä ei voi englanniksi ilmaista, mutta aina kun syön seuraavana päivänä lounaaksi edellisen illan tofu-vokkia, tulee sana mieleen: riisipöperö. :D 

Torstai ja perjantai meni siihen, että päivän jatkuva tavoite oli saada tytön unille. Haahuilin ympäri lähikatuja aina tunti kerralla ja neiti nukkui makeat 30 minuuttia. On se kivaa meille kaikille kun 7.30-9.00 välillä on vaan 2-3 päikkäriä ja kaikki kestänyt 30min. :P 

Lauantaina käytiin aamulla ruokaostoksilla (ostettiin paljon kaikkea!) ja iltapäivällä keskustassa shoppailemassa Bic Camerassa (joka ei ole vain kamerakauppa) ja sitten H&M:lle. Jossa siis paljon kaikenlaista mitä Suomessa ei ole. Sitten syötiin possu-curry riisikulhoa ja hengailtiin naapureitten kanssa.

Tänään syötiin pääsiäisaamupalan: pekonia, kananmunia ja paahtoleipää ja sitten mentiin "nukutuslenkille". Nyt se parvekkeella nukkuu ja toivon mukaan nukkuu kauankin! Kerrankin ei tuule ja on ihanan lämmin ja aurikoista!

Iltapäivällä alkaa talon grillijuhlat/läksiäiset/tervetuliaiset (?) ja uskon, että se tulee olemaan tosi hauskaa nähdä millaiset japanilaiset grillikekkerit on! :) 

Toivon mukaan saan aikaa lähipäivänä bloggailla lisää. Aiheeksi olen suunnitellut jo (siis en yleensä näitä postauksia suunnittele):

• mitä ostetaan ruokakaupasta/ruokakaupoista yleensäkin infoa
• naapurustoa ja täkäläisten taloista
• kokemuksemme vauvan kanssa matkustamisesta (näin vähän karkeasti, koska olemme vielä alussa asian kanssa)

Mutta, nyt jotain kivaa! Ehdottakaa ihmeessä minulle aiheita, josta haluatte kuulla lisää! Lupaan tehdä parhaani löytää tietoa ja kertomista asiasta! :) 

Minusta vain vähän tuntuu, että blogista saattaa tulla tylsähkö jos on vain meidän arjesta (päiväunista ja pyykistä). ;)

Laittakaa kommenttia tähän tai viestiä facebookiin/skypeen/s-postiin! 

Sunday

Yesterday, we went grocery shopping at Seiyu (a bit of a walk from our house, but they're a bit cheaper with a great selection). We did a little meal planning and picked up stuff for a few meals: pork curry donburi (rice bowl), yakisoba, and tofu meatballs. 

The pork curry was delicious. The Japanese love their curry! We hope to get some more authentic Japanese curry at a restaurant sometime, hopefully soon! It's really different from Indian or Thai curry (we super duper love Thai curries!), it's a darker thicker sauce with (what I think) was a strong white pepper flavor. Here's a short wikipedia article on Japanese curry. 

And the link to the recipe we followed is here: http://justonecookbook.com/recipes/pork-curry-donburi/

That website is a great source of not only recipes, but info about Japanese cooking. Check out the extensive explanations in the pantry section! It's been a lifesaver and helped us a lot to buy the right stuff! 

We picked up some strawberries. They were pretty expensive but just so juicy looking that we decided to treat ourselves. Treat yo' self!

(for those that missed it, it's a Parks and Recreation thing! ;)) 

Thanks to our ice cream challenge, we were able to pick up this box:

I've been studying some hiragana in my free time, so I can with 99% certainty say that it says adzuki on the box. Meaning the red bean that they use in sweets here (like the daifuku!).
The ice cream was really more of a popsicle. It was good but I didn't think it was great. I was hoping it'd be more red bean ice cream type of dessert. Kevin liked it a lot though.

We rounded out the day on skype, walking to what I thought was a grocery store that we haven't been to (it was a drug store), and finally by eating leftovers for dinner. 

The common room was busy last night, we talked a lot with some folks and had a great time! 

Elisabeth is such a popular little muffin here, everyone wanted her to come to them or smile or something! But with a face like this, I can't blame them. I'd be doing the same thing!

A great end to a great weekend! :)

Sunnuntaina kävimme ruokakaupassa. Laitettiin japanilaista curry-possua, oli hyvää!
Ostettiin kalliita, mutta hyviä mansikoita. 
Myös adzuki-papu jäätelötikut mahtuivat kärryyn. 
Skypetettiin, käytiin iltakävelyllä apteekkiin (luulin, että se oli uusi ruokakauppa), syötiin loput curry-possusta ja hengailtiin naapureiden kanssa alakerrassa. Kaikki halusi Elisabethin huomion, mutta ymmärrän et noi kasvot on aika vastustamattoman suloisia! :)

Rainy day

The wind was kicking and it was pretty cloudy and rainy this morning. Thankfully, the clouds parted enough for us to get to the store and pick up milk (and ice cream!) without getting a drop on us. Yay! It was like a double whammy, Elisabeth fell asleep in the stroller and is continuing her nap as I type.

I'm taking this ice cream challenge seriously and Kevin is jumping on board with it too. Duh, who wouldn't?! 

So amongst our Japanese leek and spinach, Hokkaido milk, and dashi stock sachets, was this little box of heaven. I say that, because it was one of the best green tea ice creams I've ever had. Mind you, I like green tea ice cream! (We've been eating our share of ice cream before it's made its way to the blog...!) 

They're called Parm and made by Morinaga company. (it's a milk company apparently, they make everything from ice cream to formula!) They are also the makers of Pino, which are featured in the link I posted yesterday.

They're also pretty small. Definitely good for portion control. It means I can have one every few hours and not feel bad. ;) Huehuehue.

We also picked up chocolate melon bread. It's a sweet bun with cookie dough on top. You can read a better description here. It didn't taste like melon at all (the name comes from the way it looks), but apparently some do! Kevin's been on a search for melon bread, he had some high hopes for it. We've tried something similar, but with a whipped cream and custard filling. YUM! 

The grocery store by our house, co-op. Not the most flattering angle, but like I told Kevin, it's a phone camera, I'm not trying to win awards with these pictures today.

The view from their parking lot. I love the mountains!

And we've been noticing the attention to detail here. Most of the man holes and little covers on the street and sidewalk have designs on them. I particularly liked this one. :)

The soccer field has pretty much no snow on it. And in general, the streets are more and more bare. I looooove that we're really getting into spring now! The weather next week is supposed to be up to +15C (59F) during the day and sunny!

Speaking of sun, it keeps poking its head out through the clouds. Maybe we'll go for a proper walk when Elisabeth wakes up or if it's still sunny around sunset. :) 

Oh yeah, the translation.

Taisin eilen unohtaa suomentamisen! Hupsista!

Eilen siis aiheena oli rutiinehin asettuminen, kävelystämme kuvia ja jäätelöhaasteesta. 

Tänään siis kokeiltu uusi jäätelö: valkosuklaakuorutteinen vihreä tee-vanilja! 

Melonileipä. Joka ei siis meloneilta maistu, eikä sen välttämättä kuuluisikaan.

Co-op, meidän lähiruokakauppa ja maisema parkkipaikoilta. En kyllästy ikinä näihin vuorimaisemiin.

Täällä on koristeellisia yksityiskohtia joka puolella, jos niitä vain etsii. 

Jalkapallokenttä on sitten virallisesti jo sula. Muutenkin viime viikon lumi, +5-10 C lukemat päivällä ja tämän päiväisen sateet ovat saaneet paljon lunta pois katujen varrelta ym. Ihana kun kevät tulee! 

P.S. forecan mukaan, Tampereen ja Sapporon ilmat on aika samanlaiset tällä viikolla! 

Routines

Another day, another walk, another nap.

I think we're starting to create a kind of routine, which while I've never been one for schedules, routines bring a nice kind of comfort.

We wake up after 8, eat something, drink coffee, put away futons, get dressed, talk on skype, do whatever stuffs... then walk and nap... then I get to sweep and clean without distraction (the great thing about a tiny apartment is how fast you can sweep it!), and then I get to sit down and drink coffee. 

When she wakes up, it's lunch time and we'll probably go downstairs and heat some leftovers up or make a little lunch. 

Then Kevin gets home, we got to the store sometimes, then make dinner, then relax and skype or watch some movies or shows on the laptop. Then set up the futons and go to sleep. 

It's a simple life. I like it. Even though we don't have a dishwasher, washing machine, or even a kitchen. I miss those comforts of home and our apartment there, but life here is much more simple. It's definitely like an extended vacation for me in some ways. Or well, extended maternity leave anyway. Which is amazing and I'm so grateful I can spend this time with her as time is something you can never get back.

But oh, I've strayed from my topic. And the pictures.

We took a short walk, just enough to get her to sleep and then we walked back. 

We made it to the river, over the bridge, and south down the other side. 

We passed joggers, walkers, bikers, and a small group of preschoolers. 

Even the snow at these riverside parks has melted so much in a week. It's not sunny outside, but it's warmer than the past few days and not as windy.

The willow (I think) are in bloom in the photo above. 

I was a little...perplexed? by what the guy was doing in this picture below.

He was in this massive area of snow just driving around bulldozing it. He wasn't spreading it to another area, he wasn't moving it. Just driving back and forth pushing it around. Is that supposed to melt it faster?

Everywhere I go, people are trying to get rid of the snow. People in their yards with shovels making piles. People chiseling away the icy snow on their curbs. 

I'm really interested to see if the people here change with the season like they do in Finland. Summer brings out the happy side of Finns! :)

For those interested in gardening: remember how I mentioned they wrap their bushes in straw for the winter? Here's a photo of a bush still wrapped. I think it's actually bamboo and not straw.

And these were in someone's garden. I had to make up for the poor quality phone photo yesterday. Ick. 

 

I've accepted the "challenge" from a friend to try different Japanese ice creams. Here's the link of what inspired it. 10 awesome ice creams available from convenience stores in japan

At the grocery store yesterday, we found this one:

It was delicious after dinner last night. I could have eaten the whole box. ;) 

It's vanilla ice cream inside mochi (the same stuff in daifuku and other Japanese sweets).

If you're interested in reading about this vanilla ice cream daifuku, there's a short wikipedia article about it here: yukimi daifuku.

I guess it's time to start prepping tonight's dinner while the muffin's asleep. :) 

Ah, routines. ♥

Snow day

Hello from snowy Sapporo!

We made the mistake of trying to go for a walk in the snow... won't be trying that again unless totally necessary! 

I love our Peg-Perego stroller, but it's no Emmaljunga in these conditions and while Elisabeth fell asleep on our short wet walk (and is still sleeping!), it was a hassle and a half to maneuver! Too bad that Emmaljunga is like the Hummer of strollers, because it would never fit here. The Peg-Perego is definitely more compact, like an Alpha Romeo, but even still, not as small as some of the rinky dink strollers we've seen here (which I'd compare to ummm smart cars?).

So definitely an indoor day to update the blog and catch up on shows etc. 

Hmmm...so what to share... 

Well, for one, we got furniture! Woohoo! It definitely feels more home-y here! We have a fridge, which is super nice since now we can store our food up here and eat some meals up here if we want. Although, it's still nice to go downstairs and socialize etc. 

(our 5kg bag of rice in the corner of the picture...)

We have on the top shelf: yogurt, garlic, a carrot, bean sprouts, mushrooms, chicken breast.

Middle shelf: (eggs not pictured), Japanese cucumbers, small bag of shredded cabbage

In drawer: potatoes, bok choy, Japanese spinach

In the door (top -> down): a small jar of baby food that Elisabeth won't eat, a spicy condiment for rice, salad dressing, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, milk. 

Kevin says the milk here is the best milk ever. It's rich. Even the ones lower in fat. It just has a really rich flavor. 

We have a bed, which is serving more as a couch or lounge spot in the corner of our living room/kitchen.

And we have desk and chair. MUCH needed. Elisabeth is a fan of technology so you can imagine her delight at the laptops being on the floor within her reach all the time. Those were some rough days trying to distract her from them!

Yesterday, we bought some umbrellas (yesterday rained, today snowed), for 500yen (about $5) each at Tanuki-koji, the shopping arcade. Well, actually, we bought them in pole town which is under a part of Tanuki-koji. But anywho, mine is a light blue with polka dots and Kevin's is as adventurous as black. 

Then we went to Don Quijote, a little bit of everything store, also 5 floors of madness. We picked up a little water kettle for 1600yen ($16). Now we can make coffee up here in our apartment with our french press AND have milk in it from our fridge. :) It's the little things in life for sure!

After Don Quijote, we went back to Daiso, the big dolla-dolla store. We just got some small storage bins for Elisabeth's toys and some pantry items. We also picked up a little laundry basket. We really need to figure out the laundry thing. I have a mental block regarding it since it went poorly last time, as in did my clothes even get washed or did they just get wet and spin around for an hour? 

 Indeed, it's the little things that can make or break your day! 

I got a chance the other day to take some quick phone photos of downstairs while no one was there! Gives you an idea of how cozy and nice it is. There's also a huge heater that they turn on, so it's roasty-toasty. 

 This is the living room couch. You can see our "movie room" in the back... And our heater in the front...

 A note from the neighbors downstairs last week:

Last night, we ate yummy fried food ready meals from the grocery store. It's hard to resist, especially since they're about $3-4! 

Shrimp, chicken, rice, some kind of egg roll, pickled daikon, and sweet egg. Oh and shredded cabbage under the meat.

When we cook downstairs, we've made scrambled eggs (Elisabeth loves them), veggie and chicken stir fry & rice, and some instant noodles (much better than back at home!). I've also eaten salads, but Kevin's a fan of trying those instant noodles. All in all, minus the snacky food, we've eaten pretty well. 

And while we ate healthily-ish at home, we definitely have more portion control here. We might just lose weight on this new diet ;) 

That's all the pictures and stories I have for today. 

See ya around soon!

Our social apartment

Shout out and thanks to everyone who's been reading the blog! I write this mainly for myself to look back on so I can remember the little things that seemed big at the time, but it's awesome to be able to share our experience with everyone at home and beyond too! :)



So we had a big day yesterday -- we moved! 

(and what an embarrassing taxi ride that was with all our luggage!)

Our Monday started off with another trek through the PACKED like a sardine can 8 a.m. subways and main Sapporo station (we got lost in the crowds...) to get to our rendezvous spot with our friend who has been helping us with the apartment hunt etc. I didn't feel so bad about getting lost in the maze of Sapporo station after he told us that even he found it confusing when he moved here! Seriously, it's like three floors + a shopping mall...a maze!

We signed our papers and got a ride to our apartment from our "landlady" as well as a tour of the building. 

We live in Sapporo's Social Apartments. From what I gather from their website, it's a kind of chain all over Japan and it caters towards the 20-something crowd looking for cheap living. 

I think Kevin and I had assumed (always a dangerous thing to do), that the apartment itself would be newly renovated (as the website was very misleading...), but in fact, it's actually just the downstairs common rooms that have been redone. Go figure. 

So we have a really small one bedroom (barely) apartment.

It's clean and decent but definitely from the older end of the spectrum of apartments we've lived in. 

If you knew us in Savannah, think Anchorage Ct.

If you knew us in Tampere, think Rauhaniemi.

Honestly though, I'm just happy we have an affordable roof over our heads!

As some readers might know, we actually didn't have any place to live until this was confirmed less than a week before our flight left! Phew!

So back to the apartment.

When you walk in, there's a tiny space to leave your shoes and coat. Like in Finland, here it's rude to wear your shoes indoors.

Then on either side there are doors. 

The right side leads to the smallest bathroom in the history of man. 

Seriously, it's small!

When you flush the toilet, water comes out of the faucet into the tiny sink for you to wash your hands. :) 

I brought our own moomin towel from home. 

 The other side leads to the shower room. There's no shower curtain, as you're supposed to first shower off, then soak in the bathtub. The tub is teeny weeny. I don't think I'll be soaking any time soon but I think bath lover Kevin might try it (with his knees bent).

To get hot water for our showers or even the kitchen sink, we have to turn on the gas powered water heater. Then turn it off after. Very different from home! 

The space opens up to our "kitchen". I say "-" because there's no stove. Or oven. But there's a small counter top and a sink + cupboards so it's more than nothing! There's a hookup for a stove but we looked into buying one and it's out of our budget for only three months. We will be getting a refrigerator though (as well as some other furniture) on Friday though (yaaay!) when it's delivered.

There's an accordion style door, circa 1985, to partition the "kitchen" from the rest of the space. I don't think we'll be using that. So we basically just have one big room with a kitchen on the side.
Is this confusing? :D I'll take more pictures and with the zoom lens so you get a wider view this weekend after we get furniture and more settled in...

Our heating source is this gas heater which we are supposed to turn off whenever we leave the apartment. It's quite efficient, although it took some time to warm our apartment yesterday. Oh, and last night it turned off for some reason and when Kevin woke up cold and turned it on, the thermostat said it was 16C/60F! Hopefully not again tonight!

The great thing about this apartment is the huge sliding glass doors in each room. I love the amount of light that comes in! The bedroom has frosted glass doors which makes it more private, since behind us is another building with (frosted) windows as well. The apartment is really bright and sunny which makes everything so much nicer.

I can't wait for the leaves on this tree!

Our bedroom is separated by sliding doors and is big enough to fit both our futons and each have a little space on each side. So it's small. :)

But cozy!

Can you guess who has kitty cat sheets? ;)

Elisabeth sleeps in between us and we fit quite well compared to our queen size bed at home. And the added bonus is that she can't fall of the bed no matter how hard she might try! ;)

This closet is where we store the futons during the day to make room and allow them to air and dry (they get moist from the condensation between the cold floor and warm body heat). It reminds me of the grudge and I'll admit I'm a little afraid of the dark!
 Thanks Japanese horror movies! :P

So maybe you're still thinking, "wait hold up, where are they gonna eat?".
Yeah.
Like I mentioned above somewhere, there are some common rooms here that we share with the other 50 residents. Mmhm.
We were a little bummed too since we really thought we'd have a private kitchen. Total game changer.
But the kitchen downstairs is large with all the amenities one needs, very clean, and has dining tables in both the western and Japanese style. There's even a little living room with a shared PC and GIANT TV and PS3.
The catch is having to deal with other people and clean up after yourself immediately.
I know, right. ;)

But we manned up and went downstairs last night with our modest groceries and cooked dinner with an audience. I say audience, because we were the interesting new people everyone wanted to know about, but mainly, because we had a BABY. She's the only kid in the whole building.
 I tell you, people here looooooooooove Elisabeth. A lot.
She even was given 1000 yen (so about $10) yesterday from a stranger in a restaurant because she was so "kawaii" (cute).
So yeah. It was a little overwhelming at first, but a really positive experience nonetheless and we met some really nice people and hopefully we'll make some new friends and learn some Japanese. (the English is minimal for most)
In other words, I'm not bummed about not having a private kitchen and I really like living here. Heck, maybe someone will teach me a thing or two about cooking authentic Japanese cuisine?!

Oh, side note: there's a dry erase board downstairs with info on it, but also a list of everyone's name (in Japanese), birthday and blood type (!) on it. We were added last night and I should write down how our names are written in Japanese.

These pictures were taken today at lunch with Kevin's phone just for an idea of how it is downstairs. We also have a laundry room, a ladies only beauty room (with massage chair and makeup table), and a soundproof music room with instruments.

Elisabeth loves the low tables. We like eating on the floor Japanese style since we don't have a highchair. Our lunch was just from the local grocery store, ready made and pretty good. Noodles and chopsticks are still a challenge for me, but I'm getting there...

 Kevin washing our dishes. I love that he smiles while doing so. ;)

 Our back patio and garden:

Hopefully I can share soon the rest of the pictures from today and the stories to go with them but now, it's past my bedtime!
Good night!


Suomennos:
Muutimme pieneen 1h+tupakeittiö asuntoomme, joka on vanhempi kuin kuviteltiin, mutta onneksi valoisa ja siisti. Maailman pienin vessa ja suihku löytyvät meiltä! Keittö ei vastannut odotuksia, sillä hella puuttuu, mutta onneksi alakerrassa on siisti ja iso jaettu keittiö. Olemme tutustuneet joihinkin naapureihin ja Elisabeth on iso hitti meilläpäin -- talon ainoa lapsi! Täällä siis asuvat pääosin 20-jotain vuotiaita opiskelijoita ym. Lisään kuvia asunnosta ehkä viikonloppuna, sillä perjantaina tuodaan meille kaivatut huonekalut ja jääkaappi! Jee!
Toivon mukaan saan aikaa jakaa lisää tänään otettuja kuvia pian!