Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese

Worst. Follow-through. Ever.

Mehhh.

I'd like to say its because I don't want to fill your inbox with inane rumblings about nothing and lackluster attempts at "projects" (my kindle cover is still sitting in tatters on my coffee table), but really I just kind of forgot. Because I was finally busy doing things.



Donut and I spent a very chilly Saturday afternoon at the Museum of Decorative Arts, where there is quite an impressive collection of Czech glass and pottery, watches, clocks, jewelry and clothes. I had been meaning to go for ages, hoping it would be similar to the Victoria and Albert in London. Not quite, but still nice. I liked the clothes and the jewelry, but lets be honest... Those are usually the best bits anyway. There was also a big Matchbox car exhibit, which made Donut feel old, as now his "childhood toys are in a museum". I like to think that this is the universe saying, "Oye, that's for calling Laur fluffy."

That night, we headed to Malá Strana with Peej and Shan to see an improv show by Blood, Love and Rhetoric. It was alright - not the funniest thing I've seen but definitely a fun night out and something different than spending the night in a pub... Which is of course what we did immediately after. We went to a Pilsner bar where we witnessed the best dramatic display of all time featuring a drunk woman who fell of her stool two separate times and spilled beer all over her companions, a considerably more sober woman and a man who looked like the chipmunk in Enchanted who was screaming at her that she was disgusting or something. Donut obviously had to translate. From there, we headed to Blue Light, which was a dark, funky, tiny little bar with overpriced drinks but a fun, relaxed vibe. Coincidentally, expats.com did a write up of Blue Light this week, which you can check out here. We didn't spot any film crews or famous people (although we probably wouldn't know if we did), but we did run into a few people that I had interviewed with earlier in the week, and the crazies from the previous bar. Small city. Update: Just remembered we did indeed run into one "famous" person... some Czech guy who is in all the T-Mobile commercials and who every time we pass a billboard on the highway causes me to yell "Auggggghhhh." Obviously, this is who I got hit on by. Typical.

www.laughingplace.com
Mean man at bar... aka, Nathaniel from Enchanted.

After we had our fill of how the other half lives, it was back to our neighborhood for some final drinks at our local, sketchy sports bar. Then poof! Before you know it, it's five a.m., you're cursing the lack of all night fast food establishments, and crawling into bed wishing you we're 22 again so that when you wake up you won't feel like complete death. Wishful thinking. Luckily, it was so bitterly cold on Sunday that I couldn't see any reason to get out of bed anyway, so it all worked out for the best.

Darting between these tundra- like temperatures and the forced air heating completely did a number on my sinuses, so on Monday, after a week of clutching a hot water bottle to the side of my face and contemplating various ways to extract my cheekbone without the assistance of a doctor, I finally went and bought myself a humidifier. It's like my life as changed. Ahhhhh.

Tuesday night was Donut and my first date night of our twelve countries in twelve dates in twelve months of 2013 (this would have sounded much nicer last year)... albeit somewhat delayed. We were headed to Japan, so Donut busted out his birthday sushi knives to work on some salmon rolls as I unloaded my goodies from the Japanese shop. Luckily, I have an awesomely adorable Japanese student who pointed me in the right direction in terms of recipes, and she sent me this super simple recipe for miso soup. So good, so easy. We made it with mushrooms instead of tofu, and it was perfect. You can tell from the pictures that Donut was having a lot of fun playing artiste with the wasabi.

Donut has yet to eat the seaweed lollipop I was so thoughtful to get him. Rude.

Dessert was less of a success. We had Japanese pancakes stuffed with "red beans", which I foolishly assumed was just a translation problem. It was not. My first and only bite was promptly spit out as it tasted like dog food... And I am just about the least picky eater ever. Couldn't do it. Could. Not. Do it. Blehhhhh. I felt similarly about the green tea ice cream, which I generally don't mind. This was just toooooooo green tea. Tasted like a compost heap. Quickly chased it down with some vanilla ice cream and all was right in the world.

We also watched Memoirs of a Geisha, I wrote Donut (or Aresu, in Japanese) a note (while thanking my lucky stars I didn't have to always write in Japanese characters or this post would have taken about three weeks), and we tried, and then failed, at making origami cranes. See evidence below. All in all, a fun (and educational!) night. Next up, France.

With artistic paper lamp background.

Reality.

I will clan this post up a bit when I am in front of a computer but I wanted to squeeze it in right under the wire on the last day of January which is why I'm doing it on my iPad from the back room of the I.P. Pavlova Paul branch as I sip a latte and enjoy an angličanka s jablky... Which is a fancy Czech name for delicious apple cake that I should not eat since have to be in a swimsuit tonight at the sauna but don't care bc have finally gotten back to pre-US weight so can indulge. Look it up, I swear.

Yours truly,

Raura (ohhhhh Japan)