My First Snow Shoes ― 2024/11/21
At any age, life gives you a first experience.
Today, at nearly 60, I got my first pair of snowshoes.
It felt fresh to say in the shop: "This is my first time...please help me". No one would expect me to say such a thing.
6,050 yen at Mitsuuma store
As a result of my questioning of the shop assistant, I learnt the following today.
1.To make walking on snow easier, check the depth of the tread on the sole. The deeper the better.
2. But once the surface is completely frozen, you have to be extremely careful when walking, even with snowshoes.
3. The fit of the shoes can vary from model to model. You need to try them on, but insoles may help.
Ceramic (the black bits) mixed in the sole material
4. Some soles are mixed with bits of glass or ceramic to improve grip. But don't trust these materials too much. They will disappear when the soles as a whole wear out anyway.
Located in one of the best parts of central Sapporo, this shop only sells functional shoes, no sandals, even in summer. In the hotter seasons, for example, it stocks rubber boots with very thin soles to make field work easier and more comfortable.
Snacking in Sapporo ― 2024/11/22
Around our place, there are very few spots where I can enjoy a cup of coffee and a bite to eat.
Actually there are cafes in this area, but they look too "formal" or "proper" for me to drop in on my way to shopping or for a walk.
For example this.
700yen at Rokka-tei cafe. Very nice. Beautifully presented with good ingredients. But probably too nice.
Once you get to the city centre, options are plenty. The followings are what I have had in the last few months.
Around 600 yen. Onigiri and Zangi (the local name for fried chicken) at a local bakery called Donguri (acorn). Hot tea is free.
About 500 yen at a cafe in Maruzen-Junkudo bookstore. I'm not sure if this cafe still exists because some gourmet guides said it was closed.
Around 300 yen for as long as I can remember. Onigiri again at an onigiri cafe called Arinko (baby ant). It was a bit awkward to order just one onigiri when they offer a hot towel and tea for free.
Half a bun and an iced coffee (300 yen) at a bakery/cafe called Pain Au Traditionnel in Maruyama. This shop was nice and attentive. When I said that half a bun was enough for me, they kindly cut it in half (of course I paid the full price (around 300 yen) and took another half home). And offered me a bit of another bun to try. The problem is, this cafe is very far from our place.
A coffee (about 350 yen) and a free doughnut at a Krispy Kreme. A branch of this doughnut shop chain has a "morning special" where you can get a free doughnut if you buy a coffee or other specified drinks during certain hours in the morning.
Around 700 yen. A scone and coffee at a bagel& scone specialist bakery called Namakemono (sloth) Cafe in Nakanoshima. It was only when I paid that I realised this place was out of my price range.
Then this might be my ultimate choice in Sapporo. A pancake plus boiled egg with drink bar （around 500 yen as a morning special price) at Gusto. Just good enough for me and my wallet. I like the cat-like waiting robot, too. It is not particularly cute or adorable, but it has a certain amount of likeability.
Retrieved from https://biz-journal.jp/company/post_380688.html
Safety and Security ― 2024/11/23
Sapporo feels much safer. Although there have been some violent crimes and unidentified deaths within a 5km radius of our current base since I came here, I haven't seen any cases of people killed by complete strangers for no particular reason ( Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that if you have a reason or two, your killing can be justified) .
Instead, more people seem to have died in fires and car accidents. While there have been no bear-related deaths this year.
While the area where we live has the highest ageing rate in the city at 35.9%, according to Oshima Teru, there hasn't been a single death in our area. That's very convincing when you consider how active and enthusiastic the neighborhood association and district welfare volunteer are In fact, I found myself talking to/being talked to by neighbors and people just happened to be standing next to me in a queue everywhere.
In other words, I came to realize how rough and indifferent the place where we lived in Fukuoka was.
Reference:
https://www.city.sapporo.jp › toukei › koureisyar5
https://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/ks/skn/higuma/higuma-accident.html
Rokka Bunko ― 2024/11/24
Open only for a few hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Rokka Bunko (library) is a private library that only stocks books on food.
It doesn't lend its books, but you can browse them for free. You don't have to, but you can have a coffee (with free refills) and a biscuit for 400 yen.
In fact, I have seen someone come in without saying a word and check her mobile phone while sitting in a chair.
A stuck-between-my-teeth treat
This place feels so remote from everyday life.
Although there is a local public library nearby, about a 10-minute walk from here, each serves a different function. While the public one provides information and lends books, this place feels like a retreat and refreshment. Sinking into one of the armchairs, I feel calm and refreshed, immersed in a soothing atmosphere.
First Tumble ― 2024/11/26
Despite wearing the brand new snowshoes and walking carefully, I already slipped on the icy road on my way back from shopping this morning. My left rib and hip joints are now in pain. I have got a break from cooking today, as this is an injury on duty (=shopping for food).
But this incident has also allowed me to experience the kindness of the local people. A gentleman ran up to me (even though he was on the same slippery road) and lent me, as flat as a frog that had been run over by a car, his shoulder to help me get up, even though he was smaller than me. And the lady of the house along the road where I fell came out of her house and tried to rescue me, too.
But their kindness did not ease my pain. I will probably have to see a doctor if the condition gets (I would love to use "got" here, though) worse. And I might have to learn how to fall over safely.
After Slipping ― 2024/11/27
(continued from yesterday's entry)
My ribs and hip joints were okay. Though they might have got tiny cracks that don't show up on X-rays.
The doctor told me that the pain would continue for a couple of days and if it didn't go away, I should see him again.
I was really relieved to hear this as I thought I might be bedridden with fractures. But moving around is still painful and doesn't seem to do the damaged parts any good. So all I can do is sit and watch TV or lie down and read literally light-weight books （hard covers are too heavy to support at the moment), and wait for the pain to subside.
This is the first time in years that I have been on sick leave. Which is not as comfortable as I thought it would be.
The fee I paid for the doctor*: 4,820 yen (including six X-rays, a corset to support the ribs, and prescriptions for painkillers and anti-inflammatories).
The medication fee*: 780 yen (one week's supply of painkillers and anti-inflammatories)
* The national health insurance covered 70% of the total cost. So this figure is the remaining 30%.
Fried Food! ― 2024/11/28
One thing Sapporo does better than Fukuoka is the supermarket fried food. I have been eating them a lot more these months than I used to in Fukuoka, where a tempra I once bought in a department store was half rotten.
Probably because they are cooked in fresh fat and put on the shelves quickly, fried foods here taste much less greasy and do not give me heartburn or a bad aftertaste afterwards. As a result, my stomach gets properly empty by the time of the next meal, which is wonderful for my digestive system that has been working nonstop over half a century.
Not only that, they are very affordably priced. I wonder how they can offer such quality at such low prices. The total cost of production and distribution (the ingredients, labor, energy, packaging, transport, etc.) could be more even if I cooked them myself. I don't have the tools and space to do that in the first place.
My favorites so far are:
Coop Sapporo's tempura at 398 yen (special price on their Tempura Day, regularly 498 yen)
This includes four prawns, three pieces of lotus roots, a piece of sweet potato, a half of chikuwa, and some bits of green beans.
Tonkatsu also from Coop Sapporo for 398 yen. Enough to feed two old people, me and my husband for lunch.
I made katsu sandwiches today.
Pioneers' Life ― 2024/11/28
(visited on 30 October 2024)
As a reader of Golden Kamuy, I had longed to visit The Historical Village of Hokkaido, basically a collection of old (but not older than 200 years) buildings where I could reach within an hour and the transport fee of around 600 yen.
There were many interesting and informative displays and (probably volunteer) guides at many spots.
Herring palace
Photo studio
Barbar
Boarding house for university students
More importantly, there were fewer visitors than I had expected. I enjoyed learning, wandering around and riding a horse-drawn train.
This little horse pulls the 2t carriage plus passengers.
However, one of the most impressive displays was the "settler's thatched hut", a replica (apparently they can't last long) of a house for those who came from other areas of Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to farm the land allocated to them by the government.
From a distance it looked almost (probably because of the fine weather that day) pretty and poetic. But when I got closer, I was rather shocked: it was all plants! The house of The Three Little Pigs.
Window with no glass but with lots of openings
Wait, wait, wait. Is this their summer house? If so, where was the toilet? bathroom? or washing basin? How did they cook without running water and energy supply? More shockingly, they lived in this hut throughout the year, even in winter when the temperature can drop to -20 degrees Celsius or lower. Realizing the reality of the history, I found myself making an eek noise. That simply can't happen.
If the pioneer migration took place today's Japan, the government would be sued for deceiving and harming (or killing) innocent people with no prior knowledge by recruiting them with impossible prospects.
References:
https://www.kaitaku.or.jp/
https://www.hokkaidokaitaku.club/etcetera/kaitaku_nyumon/ogamigoya.html
最近のコメント