Science class this morning about recycling (Téa) and what plants need to grow (Maylin). After a quick lunch at home, we set off in different directions. Joe went grocery shopping, and the girls joined me back towards the Life department store for that elusive double duvet cover.
I get bored if we keep going the same streets day in and day out, so we explored different roads, alleys, vending machines, bridges and routes today. The bridge we ended up crossing had a spiral staircase at either end, so no bike access. Most peaceful bridge yet!
It might have been overcast, but it’s still warm and humid. Maylin loves finding Calpis in vending machines, so we’re always on the lookout for that, but today, Mommy struck gold. I’ve been wanting to try Skål for a long time, it means “cheers” in Norwegian. The Japanese really like their yogurt/dairy/probiotic beverages, and this one in particular was peach flavoured. I may try it again, but plain next time, this was a bit too sweet. But Skål! It’s always fun trying new stuff!
The girls and I made it all the way to the department store, and spent some time browsing toys, stationary, keychains and all the fun things. When we finally made it to the right floor, they did not have the right size duvet cover. Our duvet is 195cm by 215cm, and I tell you they had lots of combinations! 120cm by 210cm, 170cm by 215cm, and all the sizes in between. The closest I got was 190cm by 210cm, and the sales woman plain refused to sell it to me, telling me it would not fit. (Whereas Joe thinks it’s a good idea cramming our large double duvet into a single duvet cover…) At least I got a pointer as to where to find the right size, so I might head there this weekend, to escape the rain.
On our way home, we ended up walking the familiar road back, but on the opposite side as to where we usually walk. It’s amazing what you can discover just by looking at it from a different angle. Like this fresh juice vending machine, for example!
Not far beyond that, we came upon an actual, real life phone booth!
Thursdays are also bouldering nights, so we had an early dinner today. At 4.45pm, we were legging it to the train station to get to bouldering on time. Thursday classes are fully in English, and there were only 3 other students in the class. The girls had a fun time, and the teacher is really good at making a 50 minute bouldering lesson interesting and varied.
On our way out of the building, Maylin noticed the below pastry vending machine, and is already planning bringing her wallet to bouldering class next week.
On our way home from the subway, we also noticed this vending machine, and had to cross the street to try to understand what was for sale. My translation app says “deli bread”. Any guesses to what it is? I’ll have to go back and try it another day and let you know the right answer!
We had Family-Mart desserts tonight, and because we could enjoy the frozen treats right away, we made different choices than yesterday. Our freezer shelf in the Airbnb does not actually even freeze water, but is almost full of ice and needs to be de-iced. We bought ice creams and had them in the freezer, and they completely melted instead. Complete waste. The Coolish ice cream packs from yesterday need a bit of defrosting before they can be enjoyed, so that was good for then, whereas today, we dove right in.
Maylin was so excited about her ice cream having a cookie on top, Téa was missing cookies and cream, and I’m just a sucker for anything with chocolate and chopped nuts. Joe bought other treats at the grocery store this afternoon, and chose a matcha red bean mochi for his dessert.
Tomorrow is Norwegian class, and both girls are dreading it already… Wish me luck!