Roses and lilies

As my own vegetable garden is not working so well I am starting to think about a flower garden. There is not a lot of light down where my garden is, nestled between '30s townhouses, but I cannot influence that, just how I cannot influence the cold and the rains from the past months. I am giving my veggies one last try to appear and I am changing things starting this autumn and will grow flowers and grass and maybe keep just a small patch for a couple of tomatoes and some lettuce. I'd like to plant roses but I have so many ideas. I hope I will also have the time to do all that.

Tokyo in April

I think I already mentioned my passion for Japan. My dream would be to visit Tokyo in sakura season, when all the cherry trees are in blossom. En attendant, here are some pictures from Tokyo in April.

This park looks so calm, like an oasis in the middle of the chaotic city I imagine Tokyo to be. I think the way I picture Tokyo is heavily influenced by Murakami's work and the way reality and imagination blend.

And a panorama view. All this green in the middle of the skyscrapers. Did you know that the old name of Tokyo is Edo and that Kyoto, the old capital is an anagram of Tokyo? Fun fact :)

The rose of winter or japanese camellia is a symbol of Japan. I'll let you this image for a great Friday!

Gault Millau and the cheap Paris

Paris is not a cheap city by all means, still I find it ironic that a guide offering to show you a great time in Paris, for a low price, should be placed on a bookshelf next to a guide to the best (and usually most expensive) restaurants.

Destinations on Facebook

Just a quick word to say you can find destinations here on Facebook, here. Drop by, like, comment and get more.

My BalconyGarden - 2014 Edition

It's spring, time for some gardening. Since we moved to a new and improved place, we have two gardening options: balcony plus small garden. While the balcony is still mainly for flowers and the occasional cherry tomato, the garden will be a potager, a vegetable garden. We'll see if I share the garden pictures as well.

These are the flowers on the balcony. On the left hand side are the folded chairs and table and another table for the barbecue. We are thinking about a pergola, until then I don't want any other furniture, maybe just the little pool for when the baby will be bigger.

 To tell you the truth these are not the most recent photos. On the hanging pots in front, there are pansies and flowing geraniums and I want to put some million bells or similar in the pots to the right where there is a spider plant now.

The pots on the floor have spring bulbs and that is where I am putting the cherry tomatoes. Do you know what these flowers are called? They are some of the bulbs I planted but I lost the labels. The others are narcissus, Japanese hyacinth, crocus and tulips.

 And finally, an intruder, a squirrel. I see them all the time climbing the trees but this is the first time I see one on our balcony.

Hot French guy

Yap, a hot French guy!

One thing that Christmas and Easter Markets have in common is... mulled wine (and almost all the stuff they sale) with this being the alcohol free variety. Why, oh why? I guess pregnant women and delegated drivers have to enjoy as well.

Balloons and consequences

Back in the '80s, when everything was possible, some guy had the idea to launch about 1,5M balloons in the air. The result was spectacular but also ended in tragedy as two fishermen were unable to be found due to the cloud of balloons. The whole purpose was to raise money for charity and make a grandiose (albeit ephemeral and as it turned out, dangerous) art installation.

Check these pictures out, I absolutely love the colours. The balloons in the first picture look like a mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb explosion. The source of the pictures is Huffington Post.

Think about the consequences of your actions, even a good idea can turn out bad! And have a great weekend

Kimono me

Welcome back from Easter holiday, I hope you had a great time. My Easter was the first as a family of 3, it was sunny and we had good food. More about that later, first, there is something I've been dying to share with you.

In high school I was a total Japan geek. Around 10th grade there was an anniversary of Romanian Japanese diplomatic relations and I visited expositions, shows about tea ceremony or kabuki theatre, I went to the opera and so on, I was even hoping to study in Japan. The whole Japanese infatuation continued but to a lesser extent well into my university years where I wrote papers about Japanese management and business styles.

Recently, my husband went to Japan (more pictures coming soon) and brought me a beautiful kimono called Yukata. There are many types of kimono, the yukata is a meant to be worn in summer or after baths and is one of the more common ones. It was surprisingly simple to wrap around: I just followed the instructions in the packaging and I didn't even need extra help.

Talking about packaging, this is how the kimono came. Notice the paper is the same pattern as the cloth? That is attention to detail!

 This is the patter on the cotton cloth of the kimono. The area outside the roses resembles the gift paper it was wrapped in.

 The kimono is very long. Basically it's a one size fits all, 165cm long for my 160cm in hight but it would be much the same length for a taller or shorter woman. When you put it on, you adjust the length so it comes to your ankles and you prevent it from touching the ground by wearing those sandals called geta. You don't shorten the kimono, there is no need. One more thing to notice is the folds, the way the collar is folded especially reminds me of a Japanese art, Origami.

And this is the kimono on me. I didn't have the obi, the sash which goes around the waist, I will have to make or buy one. Any tips on the colour? I was thinking blue. The only scarf I had was this burgundy one but normally red is reserved for children and teenagers. Oh and there is another rule: you wrap the kimono left over right, the other way around is reserved for the burial of the dead.

So, what do you think?
PS If you check on Wikipedia here (and please take time to also support the free encyclopaedia), you will discover all the types of kimono as well as a video on how to wrap the Yukata (the corresponding article).

How to boil the perfect egg for Easter

With Easter just a couple of days away, I thought I would tell you about my method of boiling eggs. Of course, the perfect egg is something very dependant on personal taste but for Easter, in Romania at least, you need them to be hard enough to break your cousin's egg in a competition, but still not have that greenish line around the yolk which means it's over cooked. Your final egg should look like this when cut:

What I do is I put them in cold water and bring the pot gently to a boil. Sometime I put vinegar and I always put salt because vinegar helps by keeping the white from spreading if any eggs cracked and salt keeps them from cracking when you boil them and makes the eggs easier to peel, afterwards.

Once the water boiled (or a little after, it's still ok, but don't let them in too long), I turn off the heat and let them gently cool down for about 12minutes. I set an alarm for that :) Then I put the eggs in cold water to stop the cooking. Normally I would change the water once or twice when it's too warm but I don't usually have so much time any more. Your eggs are now perfect for painting, dipping them in dye and so on.

In Romania, for Easter, we have a tradition of cracking eggs, you basically smack your opponent's painted egg with yours, but if you just want to enjoy your perfect hard boiled egg, you can gently crack it once by tapping it against the table then, gently, roll the egg on a hard surface, applying a little force. The crust will crack in more pieces and it will be easier to open. Also, water helps with peeling. Don't trust me? Try it! And, have a great, sunny Easter!

Bringing up Baby in Czech Republic (2)

First part here.
 
Another topic I would like to talk about is medical care. I can speak basic Czech and I am now familiar with the medical vocabulary surrounding taking care of a baby. The doctor is very nice and helpful and we're getting the treatment free, as our baby is under my health insurance. Of course we paid for some extras such as non mandatory vaccinations. The non vax trend is unfortunately spreading here as well, but we have a level headed doctor.

The state run clinic or poliklinika we go to is well equipped and the child section is friendly. The visit schedule at the doctors is divided so that sick kids go in the morning. There are a lot of mandatory visits and all the info is in the little booklet where the doctor writes down the baby's health status. You have to have an attending doctor, here, who follows your child's development. You can change the doctor but I think you can have only one at once, since you have to register. This doctor will refer you to specialists if needed. I have been in contact with doctors at the children's hospital and I found them helpful and well trained. They do speak English but as I've usually noticed here with doctors and other officials, they would rather not, if they can avoid it. I also find that that, at least our doctor prefers not to take risks and a day or two in the hospital will be prescribed more easily than in France or Romania.

Kids here are not better behaved then children elsewhere, nor do they eat all their carrots and peas. Maybe they are more attached to the mother, since they spend more time with her but in Romania and France, I've also seen kids who would not stay 10 minutes alone with another caretaker and who are what you'd call spoiled.  Kids here do spend a lot of time outside, this is in the culture of doing sports, outdoor activities, but I am sure they also love the Nintendo DS and I have seen some who were mesmerized by their tablet. It's true that, compared to French children, Czechs are not so used to travel long distances from an early age: the country is smaller too and there are not many in our case, where grandparents are 3 countries away and we have to travel a lot (4 trips in 7 months).

These are my notes so far on having a baby in the Czech Republic. I'll write more as I learn more but so far it looks like a great place to have kids.