The Backpack Adventures

Weekend 25: April 23 -24, 2022 Day 173: April 23, 2022 Saturday - Shopping in Rumoi Although most of the snow already melted, it's still super cold in the morning. My wife, daughter, and I planned to go walking early today but it suddenly rained so we decided to stay home and continue the 2022 mystery crime film, Death on the Nile while hoping that the rain stops.  Movie bonding time with the family.  Coincidentally, the weather has gotten better by the time we finished the film so we decided to pursue our plan to walk around town. Before we left our apartment, we went door to door so that I can introduce my wife and daughter to my neighbors.  Shopping at Shijubo From our place in Chidoricho, we followed Route 231 until we reached Shijubo . This is a home and lifestyle store that sells products mostly for bedrooms like pillows, sheets, blankets, etc. It was recommended by my fellow Rumoi City ALTs and true enough, they did have the products that we need. My wife enjoyed her shoppi

Week 25: April 18 - 22, 2022 Day 168: April 18, 2022 Monday - Nenkyu / Team Nicerio's 1st full day in Rumoi Good morning! It's a Monday today but I applied for nenkyu or paid holiday as I need to help my wife and daughter familiarize themselves with Rumoi City . Our first order of business for today was to update and register their zairyu card (residence card) at the yakuba ( Rumoi City Hall ). Thankfully, the super friendly and helpful Rumoi High School staff. Sekiguchi-san accompanied us and assisted us with the process as she helped me during my first day here. Rumoi Board of Education After their residence cards are updated, we proceeded to the Rumoi Board of Education (BOE) to enroll Ella in her school here in Japan . She will be studying at Rumoi Shiritsu Midorigaoka Elementary School . Although the BOE wasn't able to get in touch with the school yet when we got there they assured us that they'd update us as soon as possible.  Time to buy groceries at Rumoi

10 Things to Do in Sapporo City Sapporo City ( 札幌市 ) is the capital and also the largest city of Hokkaido Prefecture. It ranks as the fifth most populous city in Japan . Its name came from the Ainu word Satporopet which means 'Dry, Great River'. For those planning to visit Sapporo City to check what it has to offer, here are the 10 Things to Do in Sapporo City : Sapporo manhole cover 1. Take a picture of Sapporo’s unique manhole covers . So far, I have seen 2 different manhole designs. The colored manhole cover can be found on the Sapporo Clock Tower grounds. Sapporo Station 2. Explore  Sapporo Station  and enjoy the plethora of stores and restaurants in it. Odori Park 3. Visit and spend half the day exploring  Odori Park  from end to end. The park hosts numerous festivals like the Sapporo Lilac Festival, Sapporo Snow Festival, and Sapporo Summer Festival to name a few. Sapporo TV Tower 4. Head up to  Sapporo TV Tower  and enjoy the view of the city, particularly Odori Park. D