Gorgeous sushi dinner @ Raku Ya!

To celebrate selling his apartment, my fiance took me out to eat at Raku Ya, the wonderful Japanese eatery in Helsinki's Eteläranta last Friday.  We ate and drank until I was ready to drop (quite literally) and my fiance was handed a hefty bill at the end of the night.  The food and drink was wonderful, especially highly recommended on the menu are the Sweet Shrimp Tail Nigiri, Yaki Niku, Ebi Furai, and for dessert, the Japanese Choco Mousse.  While it's usual to get good Japanese food, I do think it's unusual to get exceptional Japanese food, but Raku Ya was just that.  The service was friendly, atmosphere was lovely, and everything just tasted too good, for both our bellies and wallets. Oh lord, I want to go back for more!
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Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels...

Today's media has been writing about Kate Moss supposedly commenting that one of her mottos is "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels..."  There's been loads of discussion around whether or not she's promoting unhealthy eating habits et cetera, once again.  As a model, it's almost part of her job to stay thin.  Her image has been built on her waif-like grungy appearance of the 90ies, one she's managed so well, and she still remains at the top of so many "most fashionable" lists, 15 years after first being discovered.  One beautiful sunny June afternoon, when I lived in Paris, I ran into Kate on the streets of the 11th arrondissement.  Her hair was afro-like, she was wearing a tiny red kilt and real fox around her neck, and her skin was so luminous it looked surreal.  On her arm, a hairdresser/stylist/make-up artist gayer than Christmas.  She looked amazing, like she belonged to totally different planet than us mere mortals.

I'm currently reading Sofi Oksanen's book "Stalin's Cows", which deals with both anorexia and bulimia.  Today, scrolling through blogs, I also came across some pretty disturbing blogs written by women, devoted entirely to anorexia and bulimia.  Pages and pages of food lists, calorie counting, pictures of stick-thin models and Amy Winehouse, and extremely disturbing photos of super skinny girls on scales.  Blogs obsessed with weight with lots of followers, all egging each other on, talking about how they want to get rid of their breasts. What is it that makes people get so obsessed about weight and food, and deny their femininity?
As I get closer to 30 years of age, I'm starting to notice that for the first time ever, I have to pay attention to what I eat.  I need to exercise and move more, to maintain my slim figure.  I'm starting to understand for the first time what it's like to worry about and monitor weight.  But, I'm also what the french call a "gourmand", someone who loves food and wine.  I love nothing more than going out to a fabulous restaurant for an amazing meal, with my equally gourmand other half.  Looks like I won't be saying "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" anytime soon...

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