PEAEB Weekly Update #005 Quote Of The Week Words are powerful instruments. Handle them and your understanding level of new information will grow in a spectacular way.Kim Kiyosaki, spouse of Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad) Assorted Fish Highlights Mos Burger Google Maps Tobikiri Cheese & Katsu Burger Google Maps The only two items I get on the menu whenever I go to Mos Burger. Snow Sculptures Google Maps Winter Street Food Google Maps Park Air Hot Ginger Mojito Now this was a drink I was not going to pass up! Catchin’ Up With An Old Friend Thanks for coming up to visit buddy! Pork Soup Curry Google Maps Hishita Google Maps We ate at a local sushi restaurant conveniently located near our place. Excellent quality sushi. Pictures can’t do justice here. However, one thing we didn’t like was that it was not a smoke-free environment. Aside from that though, everything was super! Fifth Anniversary Keimei was growing impatient with all our picture taking. When were both looking away he grabbed the cake off the table and this is what happened… For Her Hibiki Suntory Whisky: Japanese Harmony Surprise anniversary gift from Kosato <3 Samurai Wapuu Sticker Bomb I finally decided to sticker bomb my laptop. However, I still wanted to keep it minimal, relevant, and most importantly badass. There was only sticker that came to mind… Overview Spoke to the folks over at GoRemit about my pending money transfer. Told me it was gonna be another week or so before my new address change is registered, and following that my ‘my number’.Strolled briefly through Odori Park to see the Snow Festival and take some pics.Present for Keimei from Grandma received.Got a much needed haircut.Sekisui House peeps came over to remove our 2nd floor toilet and see if there’s something in the pipes that is causing this perpetuating smell from affecting that only area. It’s been there since we moved in, and have no idea where it’s coming from.Old time friend came up to Sapporo to visit for a short while. Always nice to have visitors from Cali.Kosato & I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary (and nearly 7 years of being together) — yet again, another topic that deserves and will have a post of its own.Downloaded ‘Overlord‘ which I’m quite excited to sit down and watch the moment I get some free time. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a proper zombie flick.Stumbled upon a neat mini documentary series by MailChimp titled “Wi-Finders” — They’ve left offices behind. They work from anywhere and everywhere. And they’re transforming the world around them.
PEAEB Weekly Update #004 Quote Of The Week People don’t take opportunities because the timing is bad, the financial side unsecure. Too many people are overanalyzing. Sometimes you just have to go for it. Michelle Zatlyn, Co-founder of CloudFlare Assorted Fish Highlights Sapporo Miso No Ramen Google Maps Not bad, but not out of this world either. If you’re in need of a quick ramen fix, this joint would be acceptable. Chococo Current addiction. I only wish they didn’t wrap each cookie individually. Massage Chair The Ito Yokado I pass through on my way home every day seems to have installed a massage chair station on their 2nd floor. You best believe I’m hitting up that “outer-space” massage experience they’re toting here. Cheese Chicken Katsu Curry Bowl This monster beast is from Katsuya. Sashimi Sagayama Google Maps This old looking shack serves the best sashimi you can get around these parts. Don’t expect it to be cheap either. Oni Wa Soto, Fuku Wa Uchi! Celebrated setsubun on Sunday, but more importantly, celebrated Keimei’s 3rd birthday! That of course deserves a post of its own, which I’ll be publishing soon. Overview Worked mostly from home this week (at least in the mornings). Finished up Punisher Season 2. Solid show! But was bummed to read right after that it might get cancelled. Netflix won’t be doing anyone any favors if this show gets cancelled. Just saying. Continued reading of Rich Dad Poor Dad. My financial literacy has widened substantially ever since picking up this book. I think I’m on track for finishing it up this week. May write a more comprehensive review on it later on. And the highlight of my week — Keimei’s 3rd birthday over the weekend! It’s unbelievable how fast kids grow. I think it’s because you no longer think about your own age when you have a child. Time is kept tracked by your kids. Separate post on this soon.
PEAEB Weekly Update #003 Quote Of The Week Find the smartest people you can and surround yourself with them. Marissa Meyer, CEO, Yahoo! Assorted Fish Highlights Rakkyo Hokkaido Soup Curry Google Maps Lego Sapporo Subway I’ve never gotten around to taking some decent pictures of this scene, but I’ve always admired it. Here they are! My Sofa & Foldable Desk When I’m not at my main desk, or I’m not out and about, you will probably find me working at my secondary desk. Usually snuggled up in the corner of my sofa. And with a coffee or two. C.R.E.A.M. Cash Rules Everything Around Me A coincidentally relevant song to listen to while reading Rich Dad Poor Dad. Overview Ordered and received my new ‘desk‘! I first saw this product from an ad on IG, CozyDesk was the name I believe. But if you search for foldable or portable desk on Amazon, you’ll find that there are a million other clones that are literally the exact same thing — all being private labeled. With that in mind, I just went for the cheapest deal and was able to cop mine for 2980 yen (est. 27 USD). To put that in comparison, there were others being sold at higher prices, some reaching to even $200 USD! At any rate, I’m very satisfied with my new desk and am now able to comfortably lie on my sofa or bed, and work at the same time! Put ‘Narcos’ Season 3 on hold, and started binging on ‘The Punisher’ Season 2 (so good). The only thing I’m somewhat confused about is your face, Billy… I would’ve imagined it would have been a lot more messed up after what Frank did to it in season one. Or maybe you just had one helluva surgeon… Went out to eat sushi at Hanamaru with Kosato’s good friend and their family. Met with our financial planner. Applied to some new health insurance schemes. Our FP by the way is freakin’ AMAZING. It’s difficult to find a good one around these parts. Spent a total of 6+ hours over the weekend shoveling a week’s worth of snow buildup around our house. At first it was all fun and games. Now, the amount of snow we’re getting has gotten to a point where my body is now dying from all the shoveling.
PEAEB Weekly Update #002 Quote Of The Week Whatever it is that you think you want to do, and whatever it is that you think stands between you and that, stop making excuses. You can do anything. Katia Beauchamp, Co-founder and CEO, Birchbox Assorted Fish Highlights Precious Strawberry Haichu Seasonal flavor of one of my favorite Japanese candies 🙂 Homemade Okaki Made from New Year’s omochi! Indian Summer Saison Dondo Yaki The Japanese tradition of burning New Year’s items to ensure good luck, health, and success. This little bonfire took place at a shrine near my home. Pizza Hut Can you guess how much this ‘L’ sized pizza cost (which really amounts to an actual small sized pizza by American standards) — 3500 yen (mindblown). But sometimes you just simply need a pizza in your life, even if it’s priced like premium Apple product. Africa Pale Ale A very much needed EOW (end of week) beer. Overview Tiring week! The raging snow here in Sapporo is enough to drain my energy levels. All the snow shoveling involved is killer. I thought shoveling snow in our last couple apartments were bad… The house we live in now does have a car port, so I’m spared from having to clear snow off of that. However, instead I now have all this real estate in front and behind my house that I gotta shovel snow for. EVERY. DAY. I suppose what makes it bearable this time around is that I can creative with all this snow piling up here. I’ve already made quite a large snow mountain in our backyard (still continuing to grow in size) mainly for Keimei to play on. On a somewhat relevant note (soon to be the first of two small rants), I do realize with all this snow to shovel, eventually you’re going to run out of room to toss it. Round 1 The other day my wife and I noticed what was clearly tossed over snow from our neighbor’s side. Like, really? They’re a senior couple that live next to us, and I was just helping out the husband the other time shoveling offering to shovel snow for him, and this is what he does when we’re not around? Not cool. We don’t need extra snow piling up in our yard! For the record, we’ve never had any negative history with each other, and I’m gonna give the old man the benefit of the doubt and guess that he probably shoveled snow over on this side when our house was vacant before we moved in. Well, there’s folks living here now and that’s not gonna fly. If I see this same thing happen, there were going to be some words. This week I didn’t go out a single day, and worked from my sofa which faces directly toward the area of our neighbor’s house and our’s. And sure enough one morning this week, while I was pounding out tickets, I see a figure slowly emerge from the corner of my eye, and snow being pushed over to our side of the house. Literally, right in front of me. I approached our glass door making it appear like I was naturally just checking outside, but really I just wanted to make my presence known. And indeed it was. Mid-shoveling he realized I was standing right there and we met eyes. I didn’t need to say anything, I just nodded my head the way Japanese people do when they see each other to say hi. Except, I put an added slowness to the nod to differentiate it this time around, and that this was not a ‘hi-neighbor-how-are-you-doing-today-on-this-lovely-snowy-morning’ nod. Nope. Oh no. This was more of a ‘no words need to be spoken to let you know what I’m thinking’ kind of nod. And at that point, we understood each other. I watched as he skedaddled away. For good measure, I continued to work in clear view of our backyard for the remainder of the week. I noticed the days when he’d come out to shovel snow, and he’d notice me (most likely confused why I’m not at ‘work’). But since that day, no more unwanted snow on our side. Round 2 As for the other rant I wanted to mention, I’ll keep it short because I generally don’t like ranting to begin with. TLDR; I stepped down from a parking lot quarrel today. Parking lot battles, don’t we all love them. I was circling the lot, a space opened up right in front me, then before moving in some old man comes up from behind, honks his horn, and gets out of his car to tell me it was his spot since there was a line waiting out back and that he was the first in ‘line’. I know quite well that there’s no system in place for waiting in lines (in this particular lot at least), you wait only if you’re sharking a certain area, however it’s common in Japan to follow behind others like lemmings, in both a literal and figurative sense. Aside — when people wait in the subway, they’ll line up in single file line even though there is a clear sign written on the platform to stand and line up in two columns for each side. At any rate, I could go on about this weird phenomenon at a later time. Getting back to the story, I was simply here to get Keimei to his swimming lesson. Even though Kosato and Keimei had already entered the building, and were not with me at the time, a time when I could have flipped a switch (something my twenty-something-year-old self would have done), I did decide to just be the better man and give the old man the spot. Senior citizens. Sometimes you folks are a handful. Really. </rants>
PEAEB Weekly Update #001 Quote Of The Week People respond well to those that are sure of what they want. Anna Wintour, editor-in-Chief, American Vogue Assorted Fish Highlights Sukiyaki This portable gas stove that I received as a wedding gift from a former superior has been a true gem! We use it almost every day. Even for sukiyaki! Design Is Business Meanwhile, at a local bookstore located in the northern frigid parts of Sapporo Japan, I spot from the corner of my eye a familiar face. Sitting, quite literally, under the business magazine section on the cover of Forbes My Go-to Starbucks Google Maps As always, hot chai tea latte + salad wrap to start my morning. Starbucks ‘Grand Hotel’ Google Maps Avocado Cheeseburger Google Maps Brooklyn Parlor, one of my favorite casual not-cheap but not-expensive food spots. Tenshi no pankēki Google Maps Maruyama Pancake — one of Sapporo’s finest establishments for getting your souffle pancake fix! Maruyama Pancake Google Maps Great place for some fine pancakes and a quick work session. Shiga Kogen Ales As a gift for my contribution to furusato nozei, I recently received this amazing craft beer set 🍻 Miyama Blonde Overview Welcome to the first, of hopefully consistent, personal weekly updates. If not weekly, then bi-weekly at the very least 🤞🤞🤞 I was inspired by the idea after a series of somewhat linked events. For starters, I’m already required to do weekly updates (basically a summary of what I accomplished over the week) for my current job, and in doing so, I’ve developed the habit of consistently keeping track of the work I do on any given day. I log significant events that fall into certain criteria, then include it in my weekly update to share with my team at the end of the week. I took the same workflow concept and applied it in my recent Assorted Fish venture, and after seeing that was something I quite enjoy doing, I figured compiling a personal weekly update using highlights I posted in Assorted Fish over the week wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. Additionally, to spice things up a bit, I thought the structure of my weekly updates would also include a quote and some other weekly overview context that I may not have otherwise highlighted in an image. So here it is! I went out almost every day this week with the exception of Friday. I stayed home that day to watch Keimei because he came down with a super random fever out of the blue, nothing serious, but has since dwindled down to a common cold. Hopefully I haven’t caught it myself — starting feel a bit sniffly at the moment. Had quite a few gifts come through from contributing to furasato nozei, those craft beers being one of them. I received some locally raised chicken (frozen) from Okinawa, and the other was an octopus from Kobe. These aren’t random by the way, Kosato went ahead and chose them from the list of gifts we were eligible to receive. Maruyama Pancake was a nice change of pace. I don’t usually go out of my way to search out for sweets cafes, but I do enjoy pancakes. Unsurprisingly, these weren’t the fluffy bready kind I’m accustomed to, although I expected this and it’s fine. These soufflé pancakes were super delish in their own way. And most certainly insta–worthy. Had a nice side conversation with the manager of the co-working space I go to, Space Kante. Ordered and received a new book I’ve been wanting to read, one that Kosato has also been raving about for the past few days, Rich Dad Poor Dad. Became a first-time backer on Indiegogo for a product called Vinpok Split. Ads for this product were being displayed everywhere for me — IG, FB, on all my favorite tech sites. I resisted for a couple weeks I think before I finally gave in and let them take my money. This will now be the most painful wait of my life because note to self, Indiegogo ≠ Amazon… (all I ask is that it’s delivered to me sometime by the end of this year) So why weekly updates instead of standalone posts? Well, these would be a supplement to my standalone posts. To be honest, I feel I don’t really have many things to write about to begin with, or the time and energy to put in the effort to produce well-written standalone posts on various topics. What’s more is that my site is not really targeted to a specific audience, so therefore doing personal weekly updates commenting on the micro-updates I made over the week seemed more suitable for me. And that’s where I’ll leave it. If this is your first time reading one of my posts, I usually write about remote work, Japanese food (and just food in general), my daily life living as an expat in Sapporo, and my occasional traveling around Hokkaido and the rest of the world. If that’s your cup of tea, by all means, please follow 🙂
