the day i became cultured in (americanized) foreign foods.

so, earlier i was thinking about what i wanted to write about today i realized something. i'm unsure why this is but i always feel the need to address you "guys" when i'm writing one of these (which is slightly pretentious because it's like i'm starting off my posts with self inflated notion that tons of people are going to be reading this, even though blogger tells me differently and that, in all reality, there will probably only be 25 of you. also, that was the greatest, most unnecessary run-on sentence i've probably ever written, but i digress). with that said, i'll probably keep doing it. just because it feels... right.

so, guys. today, as i mentioned yesterday, i got to go to dinner with ciera the great (yes, that is in fact her new and permanent name as far as my blog is concerned. and that is what she will be known by from heretoforth. and yes, i realize heretoforth is not a word but that doesn't seem to stop me from trying to use it. like this is the fifth time i've found myself writing it out in the past week and every single time the spell check gets mad at me. you'd think i'd learn.... but i digress. again) (i just googled it. what i really mean instead of heretoforth is henceforth. yes. that does make more sense. but on to the actual blog now. wow, i'm tired.) aaanyway, ciera the great and i decided to go to this japanese place here in logan called Takara Sushi. being the ever cultured utahard that i am, i'd never had japanese food before. because i didn't know just how authentically japanese the food was going to be i was slightly nervous. but earlier this summer i'd made a pact with myself that i would no longer shy away from new experiences, and that most definitely included food. so at about 7:15 tonight i found myself walking into such a legit sushi bar that they didn't even have forks there, only chop sticks, which made me a little more nervous, considering my experience with alternative cutlery was minimal at best. ciera the great had been there quite a few times before so she helped me pick out the best food on the menu. try not to get jealous, or hungry, but this is what i ordered:

may i present to you, the beef teriyaki platter... spread.. thing.

oh. my. heavenly. i don't even know what most of the stuff on that plate is but i can tell you that i thoroughly enjoyed it. it may look like this was TONS of food but i managed to eat all of it, which people who know me can attest is no small feat, and not feel overwhelmingly stuffed. the japanese are definitely on to something with their portion controls. anyway, on the bottom left corner those are sweet potatoes, onions, and zucchini that have been breaded and fried. there were these little pouches of deliciousness that you can't see because they're hiding behind that white bowl of mystery dipping stuff (see, i legit wasn't kidding when i said i had no idea what i was eating.)

in the top left corner of my tray is four california sushi rolls. because i was trying new things i told myself that i wasn't going to leave that restaurant without trying sushi (especially since the whole time we were there, there was this lady sitting in the complete opposite corner of the dinning area who was basically falling in love, out loud, with her sushi for everyone to hear. it was... slightly disturbing. "this is the best sushi i've ever had, and i've been to san francisco!" i'm still unsure how visiting san fran makes you a sushi expert... but then again, it could. i wouldn't know). so i picked up a piece of sushi with my chop sticks (which may or may not have had cheaters on them), dunked it in soy sauce, and lifted it to my mouth. before i could even open my mouth i caught a good old whiff of it and i swear to you guys, there was no difference in the way it smelled between that and the big can of fish food my mom used to buy for the gold fish i would inevitably bring home from swiss days every year as a child. i tried three different times to get myself to eat that sushi but i never even got my mouth open before i got all sorts of grossed out. i still can't believe a few of you out there enjoy that stuff. no worries though, i didn't waste my sushi. i brought mine and ciera the great's portions (because she's normal just like me, and she doesn't enjoy eating expensive fish food either) of sushi home for katrina because she had to work instead of going on the sushi adventure with us.

oh! and they brought us this soup before our food came out called.... it started with an "m"... that's all i really remember, but it was so warm that the thicker parts of the soup were bubbling and doing this weird thing that me and katrina learned about in astronomy because it's what the surface of the sun is doing at all times (yes this is literally what i was thinking of as i watched the thicker parts of the soup rise, cool, and sink again. and yes, i'm aware that i'm a huge nerd.) but i can't remember the name of it because it's 5 AM and i honestly shouldn't be awake right now.
i kinda lost where i was going with that train of thought, so here is a picture of ciera as she's attempting to enjoy her food while i invade her space with my camera phone.

for some reason i thought posting that picture would help me regain some semblance of a train of though, however it has not so i think this is a good place for me to call it a night. also, i totally just heard one of my roommates in the kitchen. who gets up at 5 AM!? honestly. 

in conclusion: i can't believe you read all this. i apologize for how difficult this probably was to read. also, i've decided that on the rare occasion that i decide to let myself spend money on going out to eat, i'm definitely going to let ciera the great pick the restaurant from here on out.