Tuesday the 28th. I hope this day will go down in history as the day of the World’s Longest Baseball Game ever, and not repeat itself. Ever.
Schooling today was math, with a sprinkling of English added on. Téa’s math seems like it’s endless repetition to drill in the pattern of how to solve the equations, and it takes it all out of both student and teacher.
The girls and I finished schooling. We showered. We ate lunch. We went to the grocery store and we came back. The girls read, played, did their Duolingo, I wrote and worked. The game was still going. By the time the game ended, it was 3.50pm, and Joe started talking about making dinner. Téa and I went back to the store to pick up two things from the separate pharmacy section that we didn’t visit our first time.
Joe made a delicious chicken curry for dinner, we watched a movie (Kiki’s Delivery Service), and called it a night. And to think there are TWO MORE GAME DAYS IN A ROW!
Anyways, today’s blog is more about what I saw at the grocery store and which snacks we bought, than necessarily complaining about the game… I know it’s exciting, I know it’s the Canadian thing to do, and Go Blue Jays!
Today I took my time in the many fish coolers leading up to the fish counter, and I found shucked oysters in a brine sausage! Well, more like a plastic bag aquarium, with oysters swimming/floating/existing. I’ve never seen oysters sold like this before!
So this next product caught my eyes a couple of weeks ago, it’s a powder for making marinated cucumbers! I bought it and we tried it last week, finding it too strong with one pouch for two cucumbers (cucumbers here are smaller and crunchier than the ones I’m used to from both Canada and Norway). I bought some extra cucumbers today, so we could try it again, with a higher cucumber to powder ratio.
So today we chopped up 4 cucumbers and sprinkled the magic powder over top. Mix and set aside for minimum 30 minutes, preferably overnight. The result is a crunchy, salty, sweet, juicy and slightly seaweedy snack, I can totally eat a lot of these, and I did for dinner tonight! Now I also get why North American recipies that contain cucumbers say to carve out the mostly water middle, because I think our cucumbers would be too soggy in this marinade. It’s incredible the amount of juice that is being drawn out just by adding this sugar salt mixture!
(We found a brand new and unopened ice cube tray with container under the sink when we arrived, and since the freezer is not capable of freezing ice cubes, we have repurposed the container. It’s also the only real “storage container” we have, albeit with a lid that doesn’t actually fit.)
And then – the snack shelf! Usually when I bring both girls to the grocery store, they argue, fight, get mad, cause a scene (unheard of in Japan), but today I employed a different tactic… I sent them off, as a pair, to get me whatever was next on my list, so I could browse in peace, and they could focus on a common goal. Whenever I looked for them, there they were – in the candy aisle!
I have been curious about this Ghana chocolate box for so long! Grapes and chocolate?? Can it be delicious?
Then the mango candy! We love all things mango, or maybe we should change that statement to “most things mango”. These are a lump of mango in the middle, and a gelatinous skin. It’s ok. It’s like “let’s take a delicious fresh fruit chunk and make it into candy”. It’s so not needed, and we are starting to look forward to Thailand with all the promised fresh fruit…
This next treat we were actually familiar with from before! Maylin loves these turtle chips, they taste like corn and come in four crunchy layers. She used to love these in her lunch box at home, and so we bought these today for a little taste of home.
When Téa and I were downtown on the weekend, we found this bag in a Korean store, and I just had to try them. I’m glad I did, curiosity has been satisfied, and I know not to buy these again! It’s important to learn something new every day, right?
Joe bought the below “treat”. His excuse is “it’s camembert”. It’s not camembert. The fine print is even in English: “Camembert-blended “Cheetara”. Cheese sandwiched between processed fish sheets.”
Tomorrow we will have to restock with some tastier choices, I have devoured all the chocolate in the house (except for four grape goo filled ones), and am in need of more. Wish me luck!