Our kitchen

Dining on the go

Did we already mention  our kids eat a lot. The words, “I’m hungry” is an oft repeated phrase.  So it’s not surprising, a big part of our day is spent forging for food, identifying food, purchasing food and preparing food. So far, the eating out options have been relatively easy to locate, affordable and identifiable but eating out every meal is not an economical, practical  or even enjoyable option for every meal. There is a certain comfort in eating a home cooked meal, even if it is something as simple as bits of cheese melted on boiled pasta with a side of 7-11 bagged salad. Sometimes we are lucky and have an apartment or hostel with a partially supplied kitchen, other times we have a kettle and/ or a fridge. On the train there is always hot water.

Our portable kitchen and pantry consists of an IKEA shopping bag that fits into the main compartment of my pack when we are the go. It holds: a small bamboo cutting board,  4 metal spoons, 5 sets of chopsticks, a folding knife, a metal, stove top mug each, 3x 500 ml  nalgen water bottles (the 4th was lost day 2 of our travels) and most importantly 1 Aeropress coffee maker. Sometimes we could use a second cutting board or plate but so far we have not invested/ committed to the additional weight or space.

the food bag

Our current staples include: green, black,barley and matcha tea, ground coffee, sugar sticks, granola/dry cereal, miso soup packets, nuts, rice flavouring, soup stock, rice, a tetra pack of raspberry jam and until a few days ago peanut butter (the only item I actively look for). Bread, cheese, instant noodles/rice/kasha, fruits and veg, milk/yogurt/kefir and anything else that looks good, isn’t too heavy and/or messy at the market/ corner store/hyper mart rotates in and out. 

Everyday is a picnic on the road!

The grand ferry

 

2 days of ocean excitement, Korean customs and playgrounds, late night stargazing, colourful characters, calm seas, questionable dinner buffets. All excited to be on land and get through customs.

Sunday morning walk through the park

Weekend gardening.

A surprise of Tokyo are the moments and abundance of green and growth
Sunday morning walk through Sumida park, parkouring across carefully placed boulders teeming with minnows and water bugs
Imperial gardens of bamboo and cherries and evergreens
Shrines centered by ponds of lotus and  koi and turtles
Clay pots and plastic buckets outside doors and on street corners sprouting flowers and vines,  tiny fish and water lilies
Moss on sidewalks, moss on walls, moss on rocks

Sky Tree

Anton and Michael achieving new heights in the concrete jungle.

Kalle had no patience for the 45 minute line to the top so we took off to the aquarium to look at the fish and learn about the jellyfish breeding programs.

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