Sushi

by

Taking the Village Panga

I really needed a day off today and knew that I’d most likely spend it at my computer surfing aimlessly if I stayed home. Even though I didn’t have many pesos left for a shopping trip to Maz, I decided to head over there anyway to get a better lay of the land and figure out where the Ley grocery store is.

Rather than taking the beach panga like I did last time, I took the one from the village. This panga is 16 pesos round trip for residents, just a little less than half of the 30 peso fare for the beach panga. For this one, you pay on both sides, so 8 pesos each time, and you don’t have to worry about losing your return ticket.

This panga drops you off at the docks downtown. It’s actually not that much farther from the historical district than is the beach panga, but it’s closer by a hair to the Ley and the big mercado.

I’d printed out a map showing the location of the Ley, but I didn’t know where I was going to land and my map wasn’t detailed enough for me to figure out where I was. I tried my phone. Google Maps could find the Ley, but could not route me there. Apple Maps (Siri) knew exactly where I was, but couldn’t find the Ley.

I walked around in circles (literally) for a full hour and found the street the Ley was supposed to be on, but I couldn’t find the store. This was fun for the first 45 minutes, then, it wasn’t and I spent the last 15 minutes trying to locate the cathedral, my only real landmark. I really didn’t have enough pesos for a shop and lunch, so I decided that I’d try again next week now that I have a starting point on the Maz side (Pemex 1760).

And, yes, I could have taken a pulmonia to get there, but that didn’t seem like a good use of today’s tight budget. Asking for directions would have also not helped seeing as I doubt I could have followed them.

Despite all that frustration, I did have one bright moment when I found myself standing outside the Pacifico beer brewery! (Why am I not drinking a beer right now? BRB!)

Once I could see the cathedral, finding the mercado was easy. I went in to look for avocados. Everyone had some and there didn’t seem to be much difference in product quality, so I picked a vendor at random and pointed to the avocados, which I could not reach.

She picked one up and said, ‘ripe.’ I didn’t want super ripe ones because I want to have some for a few days, so I shook my head, trying to figure out how to say that I wanted them firmer. I settled on English and said, ‘harder.’

She frowned and then comprehension dawned. ‘Oh, eat tomorrow!’ She touched a few and found one that was nice and firm. I asked for one more, plus the ripe one. Total cost for all three, 20 pesos, which was a bit shocking. I’ve paid less in Assiniboia for good avocados in the dead of winter by watching the specials!

From the mercado, I wanted to go to Waldo’s, the Mexican version of a dollar store, to get a few things for my casita. I knew there was one right there by the mercado on the way to the cathedral. So I circled around the mercado until I saw a stand I recognized and which told me I had to take the next left and the Waldo’s would be across the street.

The Waldo’s was exactly like a dollar store and felt very familiar. I found all but one thing on my list. I picked up a small plastic wastebasket to use as a utensil crock in the kitchen, a square flower pot to hold bathroom items, dish cloths and scrubby pads for the kitchen, a colander, plastic storage containers for leftovers, and plastic wrap. The only thing I couldn’t find was a cheese grater. Total cost was 107 pesos. Plastic wrap is called ‘meat film’, by the way…

It was coming onto 1:00 by this point and I was ravenous, so I headed off to the sushi place, the closest one to the mercado that I knew I could find on my own since it’s right on the water and next to where I had the nachos with Dale.

I knew that it would be a bit of a walk, so I decided to see if the fruit ice cream stand was open today. Yes! There was no guava today, so I got strawberry and ciruela, which is a new word I learned earlier this week, in a cup. I was asked what I wanted for a third flavour (I can get three flavours at once?!) and asked for a surprise, which turned out to be walnut or pecan.

Like the vanilla, the nut was more like real ice cream and quite rich with big pieces of nuts. Very lovely in a small quantity.

As far as I knew, ciruela is plum, so I was a bit surprised to discover to bite into prune ice cream.  I would have expected them to say ciruela seca, or something along those lines, the way that you’d say dried plum in French. At any rate, I absolutely adore prunes and am not so nuts about fresh plums, so this was a wonderful surprise! I could have had a whole cup of just the prune flavour!

Strawberry was on the bottom and exactly as expected, very fresh and sweet and nummy!

I meandered my way down to the water front and turned left on Olas Altas to get to Akita Sushi. I perused the wall menu and decided that while it didn’t look great, it was fine, so I agreed to sit down with a menu.

Every single one of their rolls comes with Philadelphia (cream cheese), which I absolutely abhor in sushi. It’s not just me being a snob, I simply don’t find that the greasy creamy texture that is so great on bagels works that well with vinegared rice. I decided to order three pieces of octopus nigiri from their starter menu (40 pesos!) and a tuna roll if I could get it without Philadelphia, otherwise I’d just do the nigiri and get something else somewhere else. Thankfully, there was no problem with skipping the cheese.

The meal was quite good except for one key ingredient: the soy sauce. I have no idea if that’s what passes for soy sauce in Mexico, but it was very citrusy, with none of the salty umami flavour that is such an integral part of what makes sushi so delicious.

Because of this, the meal was probably a 5 out of 10. It would have been a 7 or an 8 with Kikkoman soy sauce. The rice was surprisingly bland and they were skimpy with the octopus and tuna, but the fish and seafood were extremely fresh and the presentation beautiful. With the tip, lunch came to 125 pesos, about ten bucks. Totally worth it!

I’m going to try at least one other sushi place to get a point of comparison, but I’d definitely come back to Akita with my own bottle of soy sauce!

I was pretty beat by this point and decided to head home. Yes, I already had ice cream before lunch, but I knew I was going to pass a gelataria and I was still peckish. 🙂 I went in and got a cup of gelato for 20 pesos. I saw one flavour that I suspected would be chocolate hazelnut and the lady said it was ‘Ferrero’, which confirmed it. Yum! Ice cream portions in Mexico have so far been very small, closer to a child’s size in Canada or the US, which is absolutely perfect for me.

Returning to the panga was easy from the gelataria, which is just by the Plaza Machado. Apple Maps knew where I was and could find the Pemex, so I had no trouble making my way through the warren of streets to emerge on Emilio Barragán, and then it was a short walk past the docks and the naval base to the panga.

I went to the ticket booth and asked for residente ticket. The woman literally sneered at me and said suspiciously, ‘Residente?’ I held up my bag of shopping and said that I rent a house on Isla. She rolled her eyes and accepted my 8 pesos. Wow. I don’t know what the rules are, but I think that renting a house in the village for the winter should qualify me for the resident rate, especially if folks staying just for a month or two in the RV park get said rate!

I enjoyed the bumpy ride home and stopped off at the tortilla factory to get a fresh batch. I used my thumb and index finger to show the size of the stack I wanted and paid just 5 pesos for it.

Isla panga dock.

Isla panga dock.

Maz dock in the distance.

Maz dock in the distance.

The village panga has a nice handhold to get on.

The village panga has a nice handhold to get on.

Pelican on a panga.

Pelican on a panga.

I haven't been to this part of Isla yet.

I haven’t been to this part of Isla yet.

This is another panga stop for 'colonia', which I understand is the slums...

This is another panga stop for ‘colonia’, which I understand is the slums…

Heading to Maz!

Heading to Maz!

Maz getting closer.

Maz getting closer.

Pacifico brewery!

Pacifico brewery!

Maz panga dock entrance.

Maz panga dock entrance.

Pemex 1760 is a good landmark on the Maz side to find the panga.

Pemex 1760 is a good landmark on the Maz side to find the panga.

I remember turning here in my truck! I can't believe it was about 1.5 hours (not counting stops) to get to Isla from here when I made it in less than 20 minutes on foot and panga!

I remember turning here in my truck! I can’t believe it was about 1.5 hours (not counting stops) to get to Isla from here when I made it in less than 20 minutes on foot and panga!

Pacifico brewery!

Pacifico brewery!

After a very frustrating hour of walking around in circles, a familiar landmark at last! See the cathedral spires in the distance?

After a very frustrating hour of walking around in circles, a familiar landmark at last! See the cathedral spires in the distance?

Found him! (ha ha ha ha ha I crack myself up sometimes)

Found him! (ha ha ha ha ha I crack myself up sometimes)

I have this exact colander, only in pink, at Haven! I didn't buy this one because the holes are too big for rinsing rice, but the find amused me.

I have this exact colander, only in pink, at Haven! I didn’t buy this one because the holes are too big for rinsing rice, but the find amused me.

I came out feeling like I bought the whole store. :)

I came out feeling like I bought the whole store. 🙂

Strawberry, prune, and nut ice creams.

Strawberry, prune, and nut ice creams.

Octopus nigiri. Yuuuuuum. I was told I could mix it up and have my choice of four different kinds of seafood (forget what else), but I just wanted pulpo!

Octopus nigiri. Yuuuuuum. I was told I could mix it up and have my choice of four different kinds of seafood (forget what else), but I just wanted pulpo!

This is NOT soy sauce. Not sure what it is. I just took a picture because I was so shocked by the viscous texture and wanted to remember my reaction. :)

This is NOT soy sauce. Not sure what it is. I just took a picture because I was so shocked by the viscous texture and wanted to remember my reaction. 🙂

Tuna roll, very light on the tuna. The inside is a bit like a California role, with shrimp, avocado, and cucumber (pepino).

Tuna roll, very light on the tuna. The inside is a bit like a California role, with shrimp, avocado, and cucumber (pepino).

Hazelnut and chocolate gelato.

Hazelnut and chocolate gelato.

Part of my Waldo haul. Yes, I got another pink colander. :D (Bonus shot of my stack of tortillas behind the 'meat wrap.'

Part of my Waldo haul. Yes, I got another pink colander. 😀 (Bonus shot of my stack of tortillas behind the ‘meat wrap.’

This little waste basket will make a decent utensil crock, although it is a little tippy.

This little waste basket will make a decent utensil crock, although it is a little tippy.

The flower pot is perfect for the bathroom!

The flower pot is perfect for the bathroom!

I only have about 80 pesos left to get me through to a PayPal deposit I initiated on Friday, so I decided not to get a chicken today even though I was really tempted to for dinner. I might get one tomorrow.

But add in 10 pesos for a bottle of water tomorrow and 8 pesos for a trip back to Maz early in the week to get an ATM, that would leave me pretty flat broke if the PayPal deposit is delayed (which they tend to be when I’m eager for them!). So I’m likely to skip chicken this week. 🙁

I have to pay a hefty sum for a withdrawal, so it didn’t make sense to get cash today with what I had in the bank. I’ll make a decent sized withdrawal next week, then go back and get the rent the following week after I get the balance of my payments for December.

I am absolutely thrilled with how far I was able to stretch my pesos this month! I know that 80 pesos (6.50CAD/5.75USD really doesn’t sound like much to get me through up to a week, but I am not concerned in the least! I’ve got plenty of food and know that I can get, at minimum, a bottle of water, a block of cheese, a beer or two (at the grocery store), and another stack of tortillas with that and still have enough change left to take the panga to Maz.

It was a bit more of a trek to Maz than I thought it would be, but I think that once I figure out the shortest route between the panga and the Ley and mercado, it’ll feel much closer. Just based on the trip home, it looks like it’ll be just about the same amount of time that it takes me to go to Assiniboia, only I get exercise!

I’m really enjoying my life here and feel secure and comfortable both on Isla and walking around Maz. Now that the budget is loosening up, I suspect I’ll be in Maz more often. I’d sure like to find a movie theatre with afternoon showings (being optimistic?) and there are a few more museums I’d like to tour.

Loud early mornings withstanding, I remain absolutely thrilled with my choice of destination for this winter and continue to be in awe of the fact that I am in Mexico!

by

Haven to Billings, MT

I was up quite late this morning, almost 8:00. I made and had coffee, then went out to winterize the water system.  That done, I finished packing the truck. It was then time to go to the post office. My cheque had finally arrived! There was also a new SK health card giving me permission to be out of the province till May 31st, 2015. So that’s my return by date!

I came in and did some banking stuff, called SaskTel to suspend service (need to wait till I have US service to do that since they can’t postdate it), and called my mother to let her know that I was heading out. I then did the final swing around the property, putting away the garbage barrel and propane tank, reading the metre, putting away the power cord, etc.

I made a set of keys for Caroline and was halfway to her place when I realised I had forgotten something important: PILLOWS! I went back and grabbed then, then went to C&C’s. They are away this week, so there were no goodbyes. Caroline had told me where to leave keys and I did so with note informing her that I only have one house key (really?!) so to please not lose it. I can get back in through the cab when I get back. 🙂

It was 11:30 when I pulled out of Haven and I was at the border by 12:15. I crossed at Opheim, MT. There had been big changes since I was there in April; CDN customs now has a shiny new building and the US has a new scanner thing that I drove through too quickly… Oops. The customs official was super nice about it and told me to just circle around the building and try it again. I was mortified!

We had a nice chat while two other officers poked through what I had in the bed of the truck. We talked about my job, why I picked Mazatlan, my hamlet, and my planned route and meetups while in the US. He was kind beyond words and just when I was thinking, “This is going too well. Secondary inspection, here I come!” he said, “Drive safe and have a wonderful winter. Exit’s that way.” Wow!

From the border, it was about an hour to Glasgow, the only sizable community between Haven and Billings. As is normal for me on departure day, I’d left on an empty stomach. The stress of the border behind me, I was ready for lunch. I’d done my research into some yummy, quick, and filling and headed to Flip Burger, formerly Quick & Tasty. I had a (veggie) burger my first night in the original Glasgow, so I think my choice was appropriate. 🙂 The burger was great and made exactly to order, no stock toppings. I had cheese, bacon, tomato, mustard, and relish. Service was great and pretty quick.

Quick&Tasty in Glasglow.

Quick&Tasty in Glasglow.

From Glasgow, I continued my European tour by stopping in Malta (ha!) for gas. $3.41! Wow!

After Malta, there was just… land. If I felt so isolated and overwhelmed by the open country around me flying down the highway at 70 miles per hour, imagine how it must have felt to the pioneers trekking across it on foot!

My ETA for Billings was 6:00 and I drove straight through from Malta. I decided to land at a Walmart and from there find a suitable place for overnighting. Because I sleep in my truck, I am not going to share the place I found, but it’s perfect and was the first location I scouted. I’m getting good at this!

Heading into mountains.

Heading into mountains.

I went into the Walmart and came out with an AT&T SIM card with 2.5GB of data, all for $70. I forgot to pack a paperclip, so until I get my hands on one, I can’t set up the phone. Who comes up with these designs?! I have to go back to Walmart for an oil change tomorrow, so I’ll go back to the tech desk and see if they one I can borrow.

Once I found a place to spend the night, I went to a nearby McDonald’s to do research on sushi. I knew Billings has several well rated sushi joints, so I just wanted the closest one, which turned out to be Nara.

Nara was surprisingly packed for a Tuesday night and the kitchen was slammed. Service was slow, but still managed to be attentive. My Sapporo and “OMG, so delicious!!!” miso soup came quickly once I was finally about to put in an order, but the wait for my food was interminable, about 40 minutes. After 15, I really should have gone out and grabbed a book. I wouldn’t have minded the wait then. I did have a whole evening to fill.

Just at the point where I was ready to walk out, a server plopped a big bowl of edamame (soy beans in pods) in front of me. “On the house, ma’am.” That changed everything. They realised that the service level was unacceptable and did something to fix it before I got huffy. The edamame was a smart choice: it’s a super overpriced delicious treat that I never get in restaurants because I can buy a huge bag for less at a supermarket. Their cost was small, but the value to me was big.

My meal came out after. Everything was very expensive, so I just went for a spicy tuna and salmon roll and splurged on two pieces of octopus nigiri. The food was worth the wait and the prices self-explanatory! Look at that roll! Just about every sushi place I’ve visited has had way more rice than fish to cut costs.

Succulent tako (octopus).

Succulent tako (octopus).

The spicy tuna and salmon was melt in your mouth delicious. I like how the salmon was whole piece, which varied the texture a little. It’s funny how I don’t like spicy food, but I love this roll!

Wow, rare to see sushi that focuses on the fish. No wonder this was so expensive!

Wow, rare to see sushi that focuses on the fish. No wonder this was so expensive!

As for the octopus, I can’t remember the last time I had some and I hoped I wouldn’t be disappointed. Not in the least. It was so tender and succulent. I think this is the first time I’ve had some with the little suckers still attacked. They’re very chewy, but not in a rubber band sort of way.

So while the wait was disappointing, my overall experience at Nara was positive and this restaurant will be filled into the category of some of the best sushi I’ve had.

Now, I’m at a McDonald’s near my overnight spot, getting a start on downloading work for the weekend and also just passing the time because I don’t want to go to bed too early.

Not sure how tomorrow is going to go. I have to get an oil change and run a few errands. I think I’ll meander my way towards Yellowstone National Park and plan to spend the day there Thursday.

by

Summer Supply Run

I have been long overdue for a supply run because I am finding it increasingly difficult to stock my pantry in Assiniboia. Moreover, I found something on Kijiji that I really wanted, so a trip to Regina ASAP was in order to pick it up. Therefore, I burned the midnight oil all week to get today off.

Lately, I’ve been getting to sleep around midnight and getting up at six. So you can imagine my shock this morning when I woke up and the clock said it was 9:30!!! I was expected in Regina between one and two and wanted to have lunch in Moose Jaw, so I was out of bed as though someone had lit firecrackers under the sheets!

To my dismay, it was pouring rain out and I had stuff to unload from the back of my truck, a chore I had put off all week since I was so busy typing and I’d have the whole of this morning off…

I still managed to get to Assiniboia by 10:15ish and stopped at the bakery for the first time to try their coffee. It turned out to be very expensive dishwater, so I’ll stick to the gas station for coffee emergencies from now on as theirs is tasty.

The drive to Moose Jaw was uneventful until a few klicks from the city where there was construction and we had to detour. This brought me to the wrong end of town to have sushi, but the right end to push on to Regina. I knew that I wasn’t going anywhere near the Regina sushi restaurant, that it’s very expensive, and that there’s no parking, so I decided to stick to my plan and have my sushi lunch in Moose Jaw even if it meant a couple extra crossings of town.

On the way to the restaurant, I stopped in at the Town & Country Mall, where I had my nose pierced in April. I had been told to come back around this date to have the piercing tightened, so I thought I could make an appointment for after lunch or even after Regina. But my piercer was free, so she took me right away. Was I glad to get that done! My nose healed super fast and the loose piercing has been driving me batty!

Lunch at DK Sushi was yummy, as always. The all you can eat is still good value for me, but just barely, as I get less and less each time I go. I added up what I got today and came in at about $20 if I bought à la carte, versus $17 with the all you can eat, plus you get really good chocolate ice cream with that option. 🙂 I asked for a half portion since I wasn’t able to finish a whole one last time (too rich and sweet for my new taste buds).

From lunch, I immediately headed out to Regina since my ETA was now about 1:45. Thankfully, the seller was very conveniently located near the highway and just a few blocks from Cabela’s, which was having a sale I didn’t want to miss.

The items I was picking up were a Japanese-style washer/spin dryer combo and a compact 120V dryer. I’ll do posts about those once I get them out of my truck. I couldn’t talk the seller down from $300 for the set, but I knew that was a crazy good deal, so I paid up. They are the perfect compromise between my current laundry setup (Wonder Wash and a spin dryer that really needs to be returned to its rightful owner) and full size units that would need water hookups and a 220V outlet.

These my appliances (seller photos):

Next stop was Walmart, which was conveniently located next to both a Bulk Barn and Cabela’s. I stocked up on dry goods and then went to the Bulk Barn stock up on nuts. I’m afraid to admit how much I spent on nuts because I went a little well, nuts. 😀

Cabela’s was having a sale on Keen footwear, so I picked up a good pair of sandals with covered toes for the summer (if we ever get one…). I bought a model that is good for light hiking as well as wet activities. It’s been a very, very long time since I shelled out the bucks for high quality sandals and I hope these last me! I also picked up an outback-style hat for the wagon train because I was told that I can’t show up this year without a proper horse wrangler hat and cowboy boots. I’m all set! 🙂 It was raining again by the time I got out of the store, so I wore my new hat, which offered good protection against the rain.

Next on my list was Canadian Tire or Home Depot. Neither was convenient in Regina, so I headed back to Moose Jaw to its Canadian Tire. There, I got a really good deal on an electric lawn mower.

I was going to buy a reel (manual) mower, but this electric mower was much cheaper. I didn’t want a gas mower because I didn’t want to have to deal with maintaining another engine.

To my surprise, a very nice stock clerk took the mower to the till for me, waited for me to pay, pushed it to my truck, and helped me figure out how to load it in when the appliances weren’t leaving much room. I was impressed since it’s normally impossible to get service at Canadian Tire!

I also picked up weed whacker, but failed at getting a ladder and tree limb lopper, so I’ll get those in Assiniboia next week.

My following stop was M&M Meatshop to stock up on chicken breasts. I wish I had had room in the truck to pick up a small deep freeze since the chicken breasts were on sale. I took a chance on four packages fitting in the freezer, what with everything else I had in there already. Spoiler: I ran out of room and decided to pull out the ground chicken to make chicken burgers tomorrow. 🙂

Then, it was time to get groceries. I was pretty beat when I got to the checkout, but I had bought enough to get 10 cents off a litre, so I decided to get fuel before heading home. To my delight, there’s a ‘we serve’ pump at the Safeway gas bar, so I didn’t have to do it myself and my fuel was ‘just’ $1.19.

BTW, fuel was $1.39 in Regina and $1.29 in Moose Jaw and Assiniboia/Willow Bunch today. I’m always surprised that I’m not paying a ‘rural location surcharge’ for my gas out here!

It was close to seven by the time I headed home and I was getting the hunger shakes, so I decided to stop for a meal instead of just snacking on the way home. There was a Boston Pizza right at my last turn before leaving the city and I love their pulled pork sandwich, so it was an easy decision. I had it with a salad rather than fries and I only ate half the bun, so the meal felt quite reasonable and didn’t put me to sleep on the drive home!

It was still raining when I came in, so I just unloaded the food. I now need to get to bed because I have a big typing weekend ahead of me. I wasn’t supposed to have much work so I could clean the yard, but it’s going to rain both days so I might as well type.

by

Moose Jaw Grocery Run

I decided to do a Moose Jaw grocery run today so that I can avoid leaving home for the next couple of weeks, except for perhaps a Willow Bunch run to get some produce. I have tons of work to do. Also, C&C are starting the addition for their house and have a list of chores for me, so I am going to be VERY busy through the rest of the summer. Might as well start with a full larder even if a four hour drive felt like a bit much today.

My GPS doesn’t like the road east to Willow Bunch and tried to route me through Assiniboia, idiot that it is (no matter what setting I picked), making the drive to Moose Jaw much longer than it needs to be. But I knew I could head to Willow Bunch, swing north on highway 36, and then cut east to Moose Jaw on highway 2, cutting the trip almost in half.

There is literally nothing but a few farms between Willow Bunch and Moose Jaw. There is even a sign at the 13/36 junction saying that the next services are in Moose Jaw, 100KM away, and a matching sign at the 2/36 junction saying no services till Willow Bunch.

The drive was very scenic (but of course) although I had to really watch the pavement since it was in very bad shape, nearly as bad as major highways in Quebec. I must have looked like a drunk, driving around all those potholes!

I got to Moose Jaw around 11:30 and the first order of business was lunch. I had heard good things about DK Sushi and so decided to take a chance on it, hoping it would be good enough to be my habitual Moose Jaw treat. I had no trouble finding the restaurant and quickly opted for the $16 all you can eat menu as it was varied enough for me.

Everything was fresh and delicious and obviously made to order. Their miso soup was very yummy. I indulged in a couple of gyoza and even though they were fried, they were very flavourful. I had a total of 24 pieces; eight of BBQ eel, eight of yam and avocado, and eight of spicy tuna. All great! The tuna was VERY spicy, but that was offset by the sweet eel sauce. But no more spicy tuna for me as it’s made with mayo and I have firmly ascertained that eggs are what has not been agreeing with me. 🙁 The eel was so good that I decided to also try it on their ‘pizza’, of which you get a quarter per order (a couple of bites), which was perfect. Again, there was mayo (the Japanese use mayo the way Americans use ketchup), so I’ll have to watch that for next time. I finished with chocolate ice cream, which was also really good, very rich and chocolately, not the cheap ice milk that’s usually offered. I definitely got my money’s worth!

I made a number of stops after, learning the hard way how to set up an itinerary for the next trip as I had to double back a couple of times.

I first went to Canadian Tire to get some more garden hose, quick connects, and a sprayer. The store was overrun by bratty screaming children, so I gave up on shopping for anything else and was grateful that the garden centre was quiet for five minutes so I could figure out what quick connects I needed.

After, I went to Walmart for a small run, mostly for cat litter and an oil change. I helped out a customer looking at the solar panels for his RV (mostly to tell him that a 5W panel will be useless to him and that he needs about 60W, then giving him a little bit of info on how deep cycle batteries work and the best way to charge them). I continued the battery discussion with a couple of the mechanics and one just grinned as I kept confirming information that he had told another tech.

I’ve figured out that I need to go no more than 4,000KM between oil changes. More than that and I just end up pouring in oil that will end up getting drained too soon. I did buy some bulk oil for just in case, but I’ll make it a point to get to an oil change place more regularly than I needed to with my little car.

Next stop was M&M Meatshop! Wow, I haven’t been to one since I left Lethbridge! I spent quite a bit on pork, chicken breasts, and fish, but it’s all good stuff and will be tasty. I was just about to pay when I noticed boxes of cod fillets and made sure to add one to my order. They will be a welcome addition to my diet.

I then headed back behind DK Sushi to do my main grocery run at the Safeway. A lot of the stuff was crazy expensive ($7 for two bunches of kale?! $1 for a single lemon?!) but I got such good deals on other stuff that it all evened out. My card savings were $40.24 and I also got a 5 cents per litre fuel discount. So when I went to gas up after, it was at $1.19, the cheapest by far that I’ve paid since I got back to Canada.

The one thing I didn’t find at Safeway was almonds in bulk and I suddenly remembered that Moose Jaw now has a Bulk Barn. It wasn’t in my GPS. I asked a lady also getting gas if she knew where it is. Yup, right by Walmart. Dang! I headed back up there and got a few things. Oh, Bulk Barn, how I have missed thee! I have not been to one since I left the Ottawa area. When I lived in Ottawa in the late ’90s, my world was within a 45 minute walking distance radius of my Sandy Hill apartment. A big treat was to hop on the bus and go a few stops away to get to the Bulk Barn at the Gloucester Centre.

Moose Jaw has really grown in the last five years! Last time I was there, it was very sleepy and there weren’t that many stores and restaurants. It has really built up and feels like a proper city. One lady I spoke to said that Regina has a Costco, but otherwise there’s no longer any reason to go shop in Regina except for really specialized stuff.

It rained hard for most of the afternoon and there was a major storm watch for the Assiniboia area, but the drive home was under clear skies and felt like it didn’t take any time at all. It is cooling down now and the internet is misbehaving, telling me that the promised bad weather is indeed incoming.

by

I’m Loving Netflix!

(And my iPad and my Mifi when it works and my super fast Internet connection!)

I left the library at 6PM and headed to Orchard Park Mall to pass an hour or so and to see if their food court is any good. Not at all, but there is a Umi Sushi like at Park Place in Lethbridge. I was feeling just peckish, so I grabbed a California roll only rather than a bento. Lunch counted as a business meeting (Amber is my graphic designer for the new site so we talked shop) so dinner out too didn’t feel excessively extravagant, especially since it was just $5. I can’t very well live off trail mix and apples until I get home!

After, I headed out to my first choice of overnighting spot and it didn’t feel right, so I mulled the situation over and headed to the perfect place. I’ll give more details in the morning.

Then, like last night, I watched a movie on my iPad through the Netflix app. I have no doubt that I would have otherwise ended up at a movie theatre tonight. So my Netflix membership has more than paid for itself this month already. To watch movies, I sit in the driver’s seat and drape my iPad case over the steering wheel. It is a surprisingly comfy setup!

It should be another comfortable night. Zzzzzzz