20130407

ぜんぜん更新しなかったごめんなさい。

去月で仕事が始まった、先生になりましたんです！でも仕事が始まった時から忙しくなちゃって、ブログをぜんぜん触ってなかったんです。

I'm sorry I did not update here at all. 

I started working since last month, I've become a teacher! But since I started working I got busy, and I didn't touch this blog at all. 

でも時間があればこのブログを更新してみます。＾＾

But I will try to keep updating whenever I have time. ^^ 

この週末では、家族といとこ達と、ロムボク島へ行った。とってもとってもきれいだったし、ジャカルタにぜんぜん戻りたくなかった。；－；

上での写真は、ギリ・アイル島へ行く途中で取ったんです。ギリ・アイルはロムボク島での小さな島なんです。

I spent this weekend in Lombok with my family and cousins. It was ssooooooo ppppretty I really didn’t want to come back to Jakarta. ;-;
This photo was taken on our way to Gili Air (one of the smaller islands in Lombok). 

家族（といとこ達）は木曜日から泊まったですけど、ヌスカちゃんと私が仕事があったから、火曜日から日曜日までだけなんです。それとも、真夜中に来ちゃったから、私達のためには一夜と二日だけでした。

My family stayed from Thursday, and because Noushka and I have work, we only stayed from Friday until Sunday. We arrived at midnight too, so it was practically only two days and a night for us. 

ギリ・アイルでシュノーケルをやって、とっても楽しかったんです！そして（多分ホークスビル、体格が似てるだからね）ウミガメも見ました！！あいつはサンゴ礁をたべていた　；－；　すごかったんですわ。誰もが水中カメラでも持っていかなかったから写真を取れられないけど、確かにすごかったんですよー。

We went snorkeling in Gili Air, it was great! Also we got to see a (possibly Hawksbill because the physical characteristics match) sea turtle feeding on coral reefs ;-; Nobody had underwater cameras with us so we didn’t get to take any pics but ahhh it was so amazing.

もう少し長く泊めたらいいのに、この週末はすばらしかったんです！みんなと一緒に旅行できて嬉しいんです＾＾ちょう楽しんだ！次ロムボクに行ったら、もう少しすればよかったんでしょうね。
I wish I could stay a bit more, but this weekend was wonderful! I'm glad I was able to have a trip with everyone ^^ I really enjoyed it! If we went to Lombok next time, it'd be great if we could stay longer. 

20121128

皆さん、ここであまり更新しなくてごめんなさい。
everyone, i'm sorry i don't update much here.

正直に、このブログにやめたいと思っています。私の元の意図は、このブログにはアートやパーソナル事をさらけ出してみたいと思った。でも最後に、そんな事についてもあまり話しません。そして、ブログリーダーもあまりないんだと思う。だからやめたいと思っている。
honestly, i've been thinking to quit this blog. my original intention was to share art and personal things here. but at the end, i don't talk that much about them. and i think i do not have much readers too. that's why i'm thinking to stop.

でも、前に言ったどおり、
練習のために、いつも日本語で更新してみたいと思います。
そうしたら、このブログはあまり無駄になりませんだと思うよ。ね？
but as i said before,
for practive, i'll try to always update in japanese. 
if i do so, i think this blog would not be too useless. right?

そうしようわ。
let's do it.

***

そして、
最後のエントリーから続いて、
歯医者についてなんですね！
then, 
continuing from last entry
about the dentist!


今まで、歯を2つ引き抜けてくれた。全然痛くなかったのでびっくりした。
until now, i had two teeth pulled out. wasn't painful at all, i'm surprised. 

これは最初のです。
this is the first.


これは二番歯の時、傷穴なんです。
this is the second, the wound hole. 


見たら、本当に痛そうと思わないでしょうか？
だって マジで 全然痛くなかったわ！
血が流れたが、そんなに痛いではありませんでした。この痛みは大丈夫、がまんできましたんだ。
when you see it, wouldn't you think it was really painful?
because seriously, it was not painful at all!
blood was flowing, but it was not that painful. it was okay, i could endure it.

あと２つ！
two more!

そして最後に、歯列矯正機です。
then finally, the braces. 

もう 待てない〜 本当にわくわくする。☆
歯列矯正機は痛いだと知っていますが、やっぱりわくわくです。
i can't wait~ i'm realy excited. ☆
i know braces are painful, but i'm still excited after all. 


歯医者が怖がる皆様へ、
私の歯医者には怖がる事がありません！ww
とても親切な先生なんだからさ。
to everyone who is afraid of dentists,
you don't have to be afraid of my dentist! ww
since he's a very kind person.



まあ 今回は 以上です。
well, this time, this is all.

今 顔を洗って 歯をみがいてから
すぐ寝ます。
now after i wash my face and brush my teeth
i'll go to bed immediately.

またすぐに会いましょう！
see you again soon!

Take care <3 p="p">
xx
naomi

20121108

おはようございます！
good morning!

今は午前三時ぐらいですが、まだ寝てませんです。このくせをやめるほうがいいでしょうね。私の寝て時間は本当にむちゃくちゃなんですから。
it's about 3 AM here and i still am not sleeping. i better stop this habit, though. my sleeping time is really messed up. 

あまりここで書かなくてすみません。だって最近、あまり面白いことがありませんだと思う、そして私の生活日々はつまらなくなりそうなんです。
i do not write much here. because lately, not much interesting things have happened, and i think my daily life seems to have gotten boring. 

そうだ、私の次レベルの日本語授業はまだ始めませんです。生徒が少なすぎるから。マジで勉強したいから、自分で次の授業を始めましたんだ。けど、もっと深い説明がありませんから、あまり効果的じゃないだと思います。まあ、だらだらしてだけより、こんな事をするのはいいですわ。
oh yes, the next level for my japanese class has yet to begin. there are too few students. since i really want to study, i started the next lesson on my own. but, since there are no deeper explanations, i think it's not very efficient. well, it's better to do this than just lazing around right. 

明日、歯医者に行きます、歯列矯正機のプランの事のため。
四つぐらいの歯が引き出してしまうと言われました。
tomorrow, i will go to the dentist, for my orthodontic braces plan. 
i was told that about four teeth will have to be pulled out. 

四つって…
多いでしょう❣❣❣
four is... 
a lot, isn't it!!!

まあ、これは自分の決めたことだから、
がんばります。w
well, this is my own decision, so
i'll do my best. w

次のエントリーで、写真を！
i will post photos in the next entry!

今 寝ます。
now, i'm going to sleep.

皆さん気をつけてくださいね。
everyone please take care. 

xx
naomi

20121017

ここであまり日本語で更新しなかった。他のブログや 私のケイタイ日記でも 日本語をよく使ってるが、ここでよく使いませんね。
I do not update with Japanese much here. On other blogs, my mobile diary and the likes, I use Japanese a lot, but not here.

さあ、使い始めましょうか? 練習として。
Well, shall we use it? As practice.

毎日ではなくても、もっとよく更新してみたいと思います
Though not every day, I will try to update more often
と、バイリンガルエントリーを書いてみますかな。
and maybe write bilingual entries.

バイリンガルブログって いいじゃないでしょうか？
Bilingual entries sounds good, isn't it?
すぐに やってみましょう。
I will try it soon.

これはいい練習だと思います。
I think this is a good practice.

もっともっと 練習しなきゃ、もっと早く日本語に上手なりたいから。
I have to practice more and more, because I want to be good in Japanese soon.
もう だらだらしてはいけません。ファイト！
I can't laze around anymore. Fight!

じゃ、決まりました。

Okay, I've decided.

次のエントリーで、また バイリンガルでやってます！

In the next entry, I will do bilingual again!

それでは みんなさん、

Then, everyone,

ミスを見つけたら、教えていただけませんか？

If you found a mistake, would you please let me know?

よろしくお願いいたします。☆

Thank you very much. ☆

xx

naomi

20121004

It's already October. So fast! I am torn between happy and sad, because I felt like I haven't done much this year either, but on the other hand I am happy because I am nearing 2014-- which means I am nearing the execution of my Nippon 2K14 plan.

I feel like rambling a lot today so I think I am going to post long, long shit about death.

Yes, death.

In Ren's last blog entry we briefly talked about this and it makes me want to elaborate my thoughts on this.

I realize not many people are keen on this topic. People generally hate to be left out, to be forgotten, to be gone. We all want to be remembered. Is this because of human nature or something zen like that, I can't say. But that people is afraid of loneliness, it is pretty valid I think.

Death is a funny thing. It is the only one certainty in this whole world, yet most people cannot accept it. I think if people could accept is as the absolute certainty, people wouldn't be so afraid of it.

What is it people really want, anyway? To be remembered? To be known? For what? One to their each. Everybody has different goal, different mindset, different everything. But all of us are going to die anyway. Why not just accept that fact?

No, I think all of us actually know that we all are going to die someday. But people forget that fact once they are engrossed in something. When you are having a good time, you don't want that to end. Obviously. Death, needless to say, is the end. Who wouldn't dislike having their good time being interrupted by a permanent disappearance?

What is it that people consider as 'something' anyway? It all depends on how you look at it, right? Most people consider you something if you could 'help' other people. The larger the number of people you help, the bigger you would seem to their eyes. For example, if you are a CEO of a company that has a lot of workers, you're something.

Personally, I don't understand why people must set such big scale to make other people consider themselves something. As for me, as long as I could help the people that is closest to me, it is enough. I am happy with that.

For me, it doesn't have to be money. It doesn't have to be something material. In fact, material things are very ephemeral, it vanishes very quickly, and therefore I do not believe that they could make people happy.

My uncle once told me that if we only live for ourselves until we die, our live is wasted, because we are supposed to help other people in life.

To some extent I agree with that, but just how large is this 'other people' number you are talking about?

Back again, for me, what's important is the people that's closest to me. The people I love the most, the people I care about the most. If I could help them in any way, it is enough for me. If these people thought that I was a help for them, then I can die happy.

(Plus I have seen L'Arc~en~Ciel live I can die whenever now. )

Big goals are good of course, but small goals are important too. Everyone is different. And I know it is not easy to discover yourself and your own potentials (in fact it is really fucking hard okay), but if you could, little by little, you would see that in fact we're all worth for something-- even though only for a brief while, in this life.

If you, like I, think that we do not belong here in this dimension/ this world/ this universe, then who knows what's waiting for us after death? Think of it as a gateway to another quest.

It's all about the mind-set, really.

20120928

Pippin took this test and posted it on her tumblr and I got tempted to do so. It's really fun reading things like this, some are pretty accurate as well! Though I tend to think that we would think it's accurate because our minds unconsciously try to link all the written information with ourselves.

Fill the form here, if you're interested. :)

.☆.・∴.・∵☆:*・∵.:*・☆.☆.。.:*,★ :*・∵.:☆.。.:*・:*・∵.☆:*・∵.゜

June 8 1989
8:30 AM Time Zone is USZ6
Jakarta, INDSA

Rising Sign is in 21 Degrees Cancer
Very sensitive by nature, you prefer to be in your own familiar surroundings. Cautious and conservative, you make changes in your life only very slowly, if at all. You do not open up easily to strangers. Friendships are made for life, however -- once given, your trust is forever. Your mother, your home as a child and your early family life in general are very important to you. You are also very sentimental. When you feel self- confident, you are gentle, giving and protective of the needs of others. But when you feel insecure or threatened, you become overly sensitive to criticism, shy, withdrawn and moody. You have a strong need for security -- in the sense that you are being loved, nourished and protected.

Sun is in 17 Degrees Gemini.
You have a quick, bright and agile mind, but an extremely short attention span. You love the external, kaleidoscopic aspects of life, but you tend to avoid (and even fear) deep, close emotional involvements. As such, you seem to enjoy travel and sightseeing and generally being "on-the-go." You get quite listless when things around you become static and dull, but your excitement returns whenever you are stimulated by a new idea. Chatty, inquisitive and quite playful, you enjoy practical jokes and games in general. Your moods change quickly and often -- you are very restless and constantly in motion. You are known for your versatility and adaptability. Your vivaciousness enlivens any social gathering.

Moon is in 10 Degrees Leo.
You always want to be proud of yourself and will never do anything that will make yourself look bad. You need the respect and admiration of others and enjoy attracting attention to yourself. Everything you do tends to be self-emphasized and self-exaggerated. Very stubborn, willful and independent yourself, be sure to allow others who are close to you the similar right to "be themselves." Your need for love, affection and reassurance, and your tendency toward vanity, allow you to have your head easily turned by flattery. The more insecure you are, the more you tend to be a showoff. You love games and sports as a matter of fact, you would usually rather play than work. Be careful of a tendency to be snobbish and uppity -- it does not become you.

Mercury is in 28 Degrees Taurus.
A slow and careful thinker, you like to present ideas visually and concretely. Abstractions are quite difficult for you to understand. For you, everything must be practical and useful in order to merit your attention. You are a perfectionist -- you enjoy being skillful enough to handle the dexterity required of fine craftsmanship. Cautious and conservative in your thinking, you are very slow to change your opinions. You are more apt to respond to an appeal to your feelings than to an appeal to logic or reason.

Venus is in 04 Degrees Cancer.
You like to be very close to other people. You need emotional support yourself and are willing to give it to others. When you feel unloved and insecure, you can be very jealous and possessive. You are not interested in casual or superficial relationships -- only deep emotional involvements interest you. Your faithful devotion is one of your greatest gifts, but be careful not to become too dependent on others. Learn to stand on your own two feet and demand your own rights once in a while.

Mars is in 24 Degrees Cancer.
Your moods are very important to your overall well-being. You are confident and self-assertive when you are feeling upbeat, and you are retiring, irritable and grumpy when you get depressed about anything. Very sensitive, you wear your heart on your sleeve. You are easily angered whenever you think someone has slighted you. It is best for you to show your anger immediately and let it all out, rather than to try to hold it in or to hold grudges for a long time. You're extremely loyal and defensive of your family, neighborhood, community and culture.

Jupiter is in 18 Degrees Gemini.
You have a logical, detached, objective view of most things. Your interests are wide-ranging and you are an avid student, with expertise in many different areas. You love to work things out in your mind -- everything you do is reduced to an exercise in logic and reason. You have the ability to grasp abstractions and to deal successfully with the larger issues of life. Your overemphasis on developing your powerful intellect can cause your emotional and intuitive abilities to atrophy unless you consciously choose to exercise them.

Saturn is in 12 Degrees Capricorn.
Very serious-minded and mature, you have the ability to take on responsibilities and to carry out important duties. You can also be trusted to be extremely practical and thrifty. A good organizer, you are the ideal one to be counted on to take a clearly defined project through to its logical conclusion. An achiever, you pride yourself on your ability to focus your attention totally on some worthy goal and then attain it.

Uranus is in 04 Degrees Capricorn.
You, and your peer group as well, seek out practical solutions to a changing society's attitudes to customs, traditions and authority structures. Your logical and orderly manner of dealing with these matters will result in permanent and carefully planned, but sweeping, reforms.

Neptune is in 11 Degrees Capricorn.
You, and your entire generation, will idealize work, practicality and the ability to attain reasonable goals. But, because you will also stress the need to be selfless and giving, you may find it difficult to attain your goals unless you have lowered your expectations on all fronts.

Pluto is in 12 Degrees Scorpio.
For your entire generation, this is a period of intense research and discovery in areas that were heretofore considered mysterious, remote or taboo. The root causes for many complex occurrences will be unearthed due to the intensity and thoroughness of the search.

N. Node is in 28 Degrees Aquarius.
As long as someone else (or a group or organization) appeals to your intellectual sensibilities, you'll try to ally yourself with them in some way. You may find that you always seem to get involved with many wide-ranging groups -- so much so that you find it difficult to fit them all into your busy schedule. Your many friends and acquaintances provide you with needed stimulation. You're loyal and fair-minded -- you try to spend time equally with all your friends, never concentrating on just one or two for any length of time. Although probably quite conservative yourself, you're attracted to those who are a bit offbeat or eccentric -- you enjoy watching their minds work.

.☆.・∴.・∵☆:*・∵.:*・☆.☆.。.:*,★ :*・∵.:☆.。.:*・:*・∵.☆:*・∵.゜

I think it is pretty accurate, though there are things that made me go "Huh?" when I read it. Like I said though, it could seem to be accurate because we tend to link what's written with ourselves so I might have tried to link it. The accurate ones are those stating I'm moody and a feeler though lol.

20120923

Hello!
How is everyone doing? Good I hope.

I've been doing well. Last job is done so now I'm pretty free, and I can work on Milktea again.

Yesterday was Ayu's birthday celebration dinner! ♥


_{(photo by Deka)}

LTR: Sisi, Ayu (the birthday gal!), Ega, me, Deka.

These girls are my best childhood friends in the world really. Especially Deka, I've known her since we were practically babies, since our parents were buddies as well. Then a few years after that (honestly I forgot since when) Ayu, Sisi and Ega (Sisi and Ega are sisters) were added, and the five of us stayed like that since then.

As a present for Ayu, of course, a Milktea Bunny-chan tote bag ehehe~

_{(photo by Ayu)}

We had dinner at Pastis. I have been there only once before, and I remember them serving big portions for their pastas. Yesterday when our orders came, they didn't look as big as how I recall... But as I started eating, I couldn't finish mine :'D Apparently the portion IS big! But for some reason we still managed to stuff in a bit of dessert. Which is probably our group's special skill. We all have different stomach for desserts.

Yesterday was also the first time I had decent conversation with Deka's boyfriend. He draws and he draws really really well it blew my mind! All I know was that "he draws" but I never thought his drawings would be that great. I was actually very excited when he showed us his works because goddamn.

More piccus, this time from Sisi:


Ayu's boyfriend Kiva.


Hazelnut ice cream is nice but apparently too sweet if paired with caramel sauce.


Andro. Okay.


♥♥♥♥♥


Also, despite yesterday being Ayu's birthday celebration, she brought me omiyages she got in Japan, and somehow I ended up getting more presents from her.

She got me Gundam T-shirts!


 
_{(bigger picus here)}

I was only supposed to get two, but there was a leftover so YAY. She also got me a Rilakkuma phone strap, Mt. Fuji edition (so cute but sorry no picus ;-;). My collection is getting bigger fufu... I guess since most of my friends know that I like Rilakkuma, I end up getting many small presents that is Rilakkuma-related.

Anyways. We really had fun yesterday, although we somehow ended up talking about marriage at some point (we believe Sisi actually brought that topic, she made us talk about it pfft) even though it is actually a topic we highly avoid hahaha! I can't wait to get together with them again, and actually at the end of the month Sisi's parents planned a gathering in their house so yeah we'll see each other again pretty soon. Yay yay~

That's about all for now.
Take care everyone. ♥
xx Naomi

20120903

It's already September. Wow, how time flies! How is everyone?

I bought new circle lenses! The brand is Barbie lens.


15.80mm yayyyy.

Actually this is intended for my (soon, hopefully I can make it) Homura cosplay, hence the purple color. They're pretty comfortable and I already think about buying another pair in a more casual color haha.

*-*-*

I went to AFA ID on last Saturday (09/01). I went there dressed in lolita, and I had to change in my Japanese school's restroom lol. My look that day was a big hit in Gakushudo!

Some piccus.


I seriously think this Sanji is so hansamu haha.


Cuuuuuuuuuute cute cute cute shiro loli!!!! I didn't see any other shiro lolita other than myself and seemed like she was the same, so when I approached her for photo she was like "SHIRO LOLIIIIIIII" and grabbed my hands ;w; We held hands in that piccu UwU I forgot to ask her name though...

I arrived quite late; by the time I got there it was about 4:30 PM I think, and I stayed until about 7-8 PM, and there were only 3 lolitas in sight! o_o I wonder if lolita isn't popular in Indo, or that people no longer interested in it? Hmm. 

Danny Choo's car was on display~



Anyways, more picus:


super cute Aeris ♥


with Emperor Lelouch


with Saber


and with a tired looking Kotetsu ;w; Sorry bb

There was a maid cafe and butler cafe stand too but the queue was crazy long so I canceled my plan to try it. Plus the food is pricey lol poor Naomi-chan couldn't afford it.

The whole con was big but it wasn't as fun as I expected. Maybe because I missed the shows on main stage too, and plus I was actually looking for obscure toys and this wasn't the correct event for it. The plamos weren't very good as well. I didn't really get anything except pictures...

Even though there was Aniki, I didn't watch Super Anisong Stage because I had no $$$, and none from my group watch that either so afterwards we headed to Kelapa Gading to have food adventures. We had dinner in Kyoudai Ramen and it's crazy yummy and cheap!! Omg why is Kelapa Gading so far from my neighborhood T-T

That's about it all.

Wow, I really need to learn not to end blog entries abruptly.

20120826

Hello.



Third day of this stupid cold. My throat is sore and my nose is clogged most of the time, this sucks :T I've been wearing mask since yesterday, since it's no good if I pass this cold to the whole family, or worse, to my cats. Because human can pass cold to cat and not vice versa. ;-;

Oh, you guys probably didn't notice because the photo above is small, but... I got a new phone a while ago! It's a super early birthday present from my mom (or so we dubbed it). I got Samsung Galaxy Wonder :) so far it's really good, the performance is so much better than my Galaxy Young. I'm not yet used to the keyboard though, and I often end up mistyping things. Oh well, I'll get better at it eventually. 

Since a while ago I've also been working on illustrations for a menswear store. It kind of take a lot of my time, and since now I'm sick I'm a bit worried that it would slow down my usual magick handz work speed .-. Ugh. Being sick sucks. 

Anywaaaay today mom bought me Chatime milk tea yay! I've been craving either milk tea or bubble tea since yesterday ;w; Happy~

Also, I drew myself something to make me feel better:


^ that's Cecil petting a sick Naomi in bed.

Alright then maybe I shouldn't push myself too hard and rest better... Should get rid of my vampyre body clock (I often go to bed after 5AM) somehow. T-T Get well soon Naomi!

I hope everyone is doing well.

Take care.
xx Naomi

20120823

Changing the format of my 'untitled blog posts' to date because it's easier than numbers (that's how I did it previously).

Everyone, howdy!



^ Photo was taken this morning. My friend Ale commented that I made a ":3" face irl in this picture hehe.

I woke up earlier than usual to go out with my mum. She had a lunch gathering with her friends from way back when she was still in ads agency. Today was supposed to be extra special, because the main guest, Bintang, is living in Canada now, and this year she came to Indo with her husband and parents-in-law.

As a kid, I used to go to my mum's office (the ads agency one I mentioned about) so I know nearly everyone who came to the gathering. Or more like, they know me. Haha. Everyone was saying like "How much you've grown!", and "You're a young woman now!"... ;w;

I didn't eat much but I had two desserts today! Here they are:


Mango pudding from Din Tai Fung.

I didn't get to try any desserts in DTF when I visited Singapore, and in Indo I don't go to this restaurant often as well since it's pretty fancy (poor illustrator have it hard, yo), and I know I love mangoes and I love puddings but THIS COMBO IS SERIOUSLY THE BEST. \m/

Then our group moved to a cafe and I had this:



Ssssshaky pic because I couldn't wait to eat it. Hot chocolate cake from Delifrance. I'm a sucker for chocolate and look. At. That. Chocolate. Oozing out of the cake omg. This was really delicious aaaaaaaarhjrkgrkf;fdslk.

For the whole day I actually had fun talking to Bintang's father-in-law aka an ojiichan. Idk how and why but I've always been a magnet for either kids or old people, it's funny. I find it easier to speak to them rather than to people from my age group, haha. So we talked about a lot of things, like about vegetarianism, plants, his work in his farm (eeee!), my plan to study in Japan and all... it was really pleasant and they weren't judgmental at all ;w; Made me happy. He even asked me for my name and e-mail! I hope we talk soon haha.

One of my mum's friend told my mum, "Look at your daughter, having so much fun talking to Bintang's parents-in-law!".

Anyways yeah I had a good time. I know my mum's friends from this ad agency are really fun people so I didn't mind going with her. I guess not many people will hang out with their mothers' friends though? Haha. But as soon as I got home I got really really drowsy so I kinda passed out for about 2 hours (in the middle of writing this actually), and now I'm up and resuming the post. ;w;

I hope everyone is doing well, too! :)
Take care.

xx Naomi

Happy Eid! (and other things)

So, as the title said:

 Happy Eid 2012!!! 

Neither Keroppi or strawberries has anything to do with Eid but whatever, we had strawberries when we were celebrating today lol.

Anyways yes, my family also celebrates Eid. My family is big and there are all sorts of religions in it haha though the majority are Moslems and Christians. On big days like New Years, Eid and Christmas we usually have a family gathering. On Eid, it's usually held at Ayoub's house. So this year we spent the day at his house as usual. <3 nbsp="nbsp">

It was fun! I love this family gathering because the ones who came were basically my favorite bunch of my grandma's large family hehe. I got to see my favorite cousins and my sweet nephews and nieces. It's nice.

This year's Ramadhan flew by fast for me. Maybe it's because I joined a Japanese class since about 4 weeks ago, and I'm really looking forward to each weekend (my class is on Saturdays), I feel like time went by pretty fast. Well, actually I'm a little bummed because I intended to cosplay for AFA on September 1st but I didn't get to make the costume on time. Boo. I wouldn't be able to make it even if I rushed it now, because I ran out of pattern paper. Fucker.

This month, a lot happened. I got to meet Naomi before Alula's big move to NYC!! Here's a photo from other Naomi's camera haha:



We got too wrapped up in our chats and gossips that we forgot to take a lot of pics! Or more like, I forgot to take pictures.

Alula got a shot of her in Naomi sandwich with her instax:



AREN'T WE SO CUTE??? UGH I MISS THEM ALREADY WHY ARE THEY ALL IN OTHER CONTINENT??

And to think that I'm gonna move to Japan in 2014, it's pretty funny for me because we'd all be like all over the world haha.

Lots of things happened in this month. I am glad before most of them are happy things :) Or maybe I have acquired a new ability to perceive things better so that I see most things as happy things. That doesn't mean I curse less though haha.

I probably should post more on this blog huh... After all, I created this blog to make a more personal space and artdumpster. All this time I refrained from being too fandom-y but hey I guess I'll just be like fuck everything I post what I want starting from now. Because it's a hassle to make another blog right right.

Awright then, brace yourselves for (a lot more of) more fandom-y posts next time maybe!

Be well everyone, take care.
xx Naomi

Apples, apples and apples.

Hi everyone!



Hope you all are doing well. ♥

On my last entry, I wrote that I was hooked on the candy apple I ate on the festival. I was hooked enough to try making it at home.

I love cooking experiments, but I have always avoided desserts that require baking and/or thermometers because 1) I don't have a good oven at home, and 2) I don't have a candy or any kind of thermometer for cooking. 

This recipe I adopted to make candy apples specifically said that a candy thermometer is needed. I went on kamikaze and decided to do it without candy thermometer anyway.

The result:

Couldn't help but putting on the shades we just really wanted to.

It looks perfect, but in reality:


TOO FUCKIN STICKY OMFG CANNOT.

I was sure that this failure must had something to do with temperature. Okay. I have dipped like 4 apples, and upon eating #1 and #2 I found out they were failed.

So I meticulously peeled the sugar off the apples, reheated it, and tried dipping again. But this time, I cut the apples into bite-sized pieces to avoid heartbreak (if, IF this one failed again).

Of course, it failed again.

This time, the sugar peeled off the apple:



Theoretically, on my first attempt, the sugar temperature was too low (so that it ended up sticky). On the second attempt, seemed like the temperature was too high. Also on the second attempt I quickly dipped the candies in cold water to harden the coating, but it ended up making the candy kind of watery.

Experiment Conclusion: Buy a candy thermometer. 

I was pretty down because I thought I failed but mom and Andro said it wasn't a really big blunder as how I thought it was ;w; Huhu thankchu.

.

Since there were leftover apples and I was in Total Cooking Mode that day, I made this apple-cinnamon delight too:


(I didn't make the ice cream though)

The recipe was adopted from here, but minus the pumpkin. It ended up being a little too sweet; next time I would cut the sugar.

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Few days after, I also made this Apple Mint Tea:


The photo isn't appetizing at all huh. I should've poured it into a better-looking glass instead of this industrial can, haha.

Maybe in these days I'll make another batch again and post a more proper photo + recipe, because this is certainly good on a hot day (or any kind of day)! :)

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Take care everyone. <3

Ennichisai 2012

Hello everyone!

I hope you are doing well. And I hope you are prepared for a long, pic heavy entry! :)

I went to Ennichisai Blok M 2012 last Saturday. It's an annual Japanese art & culture festival. I have heard about it a lot before, but I never actually have went there. So this year I decided to don my (one and only) handmade seifuku and go there with my cousins and friends.

When we arrived, it was just before the o-mikoshi parade begin. So we headed there immediately. The little girls pounding taikos were so cute!


Photo credits: Ishvara, Alula. Thank you! <3




Me (in fuku) and Ayoub huhu.



The decor was pretty. At night, it was even prettier:


Our primary motivation was, of course, food.

FOOD.





*Q*

I only went to the first day (Saturday), but my cousin Ishvara also went again to the second day to take pictures of the cosplayers. Honestly there were only a few good ones (for me) so I didn't take many pictures. I was too busy trying to eat my ringo ame.


This thing was delicious, though it really made my whole face felt sticky haha.

Piccus of me and my friends:


Alula dressed in loli, I was a joshikousei.


Naomi, Alula and the really really cool jiichan! He told me I was cute ;w; So happy.


We bumped into this fun/ obnoxious guy haha. Loved his shoes though.

At night, we had dinner in Echigoya Ramen since Bochi Bochi was fully booked. Boo. But Echigoya Ramen turned out really yummy! Blessing in disguise.

The system was pretty nice; basically we choose what soup we want, and then we choose the ramen toppings ourselves. I ordered shoyu ramen, with chicken chashuu, horenso and konbu:


All in all, I had a lot of fun that day!! They could use more stands for Japanese-related trinkets though. I was hoping I could see small things like bells and other Japanese accessories, but mostly the stands were food, and the yukata stand was not really interesting. Not that I'm complaining about the food though.

It's been ages since I last went to an actual, big-scale Japanese culture festival that is set like a summer festival like this (and not only centered in the modern pop culture like how these kinds of occasion usually gets organized). Last time I went to something like this was when I was still in junior high I think? The Obon festival in Hilton. That was a long time ago.

Also from what I heard, in September there will be also a festival like this that's gonna be held in Monas for a week. If it's also traditional/ culture-oriented like this, I'm stoked to go again!

And hopefully, I will cosplay then! Hehehehe.

That's all about my fun day at Ennichisai. I was so hooked on the ringo ame that I tried to make it at home, but I kind of failed. I shall save that for next entry though haha.