kimchi, beef, ramen, and small explosion

Suddenly out of nowhere,
I'm craving some Korean kimchi. It is strange because I don't usually like kimchi so this is strange. I taste a lot of different kimchi but I never fond of the taste.

Except one in some small restaurant in Jakarta (that i doubt if its still open today). It was 10 years ago maybe (now I feel old!). That was the first kimchi I ever like...ever. It is the only one that i can manage to eat.

Eating in Korean restaurant would be a luxury for me since they are quite expensive and they have *uncommon* type food so I rarely want to eat it. Couple times I went and i got really confused when I read the menu...they all look the same to me.

Have I mentioned that they all look RED for everything? (seems they love spicy things so much). It give me that eerie-creepy feel somehow seeing almost all the food in super-reddish color.

Anyway since in Finland it started to get autumny, coldy, windy and super darky (with additional cold and flu sickness also) plus I binge-watched this awesome Korean woman "Maangchi"

That kimchi-stew-soup seems so warm...spicy...and hot...
perfect for this time of the year!

I must make those!

But then again I was super-skeptical at first since kimchi sounds so fancy and hard to make. And I don't want to buy store-bought-kimchi, they usually horrible plus the Asian market is far from my home (I'm to lazy to go).

After couple googling and reading Maangchi blog again and again, I found a simple recipe to make in here.  I didn't use any raw squid or other raw seafood like the original recipe, It is scary just to think about putting them altogether...euuughyyy...

So let's start by chopping the most important part of the kimchi ; chinese cabbage! (kiinaankaali)

I love the cruchy-crunch sound they make when you cut these :D

I have a funny-stupid moment doing my *first* kimchi. 

I didn't realize that I should give more space in the glass jar that when I check it after 2 days there's some *fizzy-fishy* stuff happening. I was panicked and open the jar without thinking too much.

And then *sploorrrchh* the kimchi exploded bursting everywhere from the jar.

lesson learned here ; 
fermentation give you carbon dioxide reaction

*ouch*

*The culprit of the kimchi-explosion

After a painful kitchen cleaning, I split the kimchi in 2 jars afterwards to prevent more explosion. Fortunately its only the *kimchi sauce* that bursted out. All the vegetables are safe and really yummy to taste.

I am satisfied with the result and even make one more easy Korean dish "Yak-gochujang" (Fried gochujang). It consist beef, pine nuts, honey (mmmmm honeyyy) and Korean fermented chili paste "gochujang". This kimchi is really good when you mix it with other food, especially with ramen noodle soup.

I should try more Korean foods in the future after this ;)

cactus robot design - artworks

We had this fun task at the school to choose one object then we need to design the robot version of the object. I have a really fun time doing this task.

*Except when it came to drawing the actual object.*

I am not very fond of drawing realistic object so it took more longer to do the actual object. I'm satisfied though with the final outcome. I will probably color it in the future but i think its nice the way it is now.

So this is the real object that i chose. I was thinking of doing a teddy bear plushie. But teddy bear plushie is too mainstream, so I chose cactus that has been with me for year or so. People always said that cactuses are the easiest to care. I always almost every time kill this poor spiky plants XD

And these two are the design that i made. I was suppose to do only one but i can't choose which one is nicer. I love them both! 

I rarely do some robot-mecha stuff (i don't like scifi too much either). It was a challenge for me to do it. After browsing plenty references (and sobbing in the corner of the wall) i remembered Megaman games that full of this hybrid robots-mecha-style. So after some few sketches, i finished these two in the end :D

*Wait, what kind of school again? why making these?is it art school or what?...*
ehmmm...

Sooooo, this August 2014 i got accepted to games and animation line school in Helsinki.

Yay!

*ok this might be a little bit late news, oh well* :p
Anywayyyy I am really happy with it. I am really satisfied also for my decision to focus more into games industry since this is my dream since i long time ago.

*Best decision ever!
...oh sorry I think i got some dust in my eyes now*

5 things that make me smile : 29072014

Here in Helsinki we have a really HOT weeks.

We have over 30 degree Celsius with the sun shining brightly more than 12 hours.
Oh please don't throw shoes to me, i know for some country 30 degree are normal lol. I have been living in Indonesia and i know this *hotness* is normal in there.

But in Finland its really rare opportunity to get this hot. Though many of the Finns (the Finnish people) are rejoicing for this (you can spot the beach are super crowded) i'm not really keen for this since i like coldness more. Though honestly the half-naked-six-pack-guys strolling in the streets are ok for me...whooopss! *hubby-stare-at-me*.

*Ahem*, anyway I try not to complain too much since the summer is short in Finland. Soon the autumn come and the cold-darkness is here (People who live in Finland will understand this). But hey what I am blabbering about, let's just go straight to these pics that i took recently in my daily life :)

1. Japanese cherry blossom's trees in Helsinki. 
When my teacher said there is a small Japanese garden in Helsinki i was thrilled. She said they have this sakura trees blooming on this day (spring) so i went there right away after school, dragging my husband also.

2. Museums! 

A visit to a museum is always a good things.

3. Flowers, flowers, and more flowers!
This is called "lumipallo kukat" literally translated "snowball flower". My parent-in-law's have this cuties in their backyard and it is huge. The entire plant is bigger and taller than me in comparison. I think it is really cute and they all look like a perfect snowballs that i want to hug it ( not that i can hug a plant for real, they'll be dead crushed :p )

4. My corner - update
I have been trying to make my "working station" in the corner more comfy and green. I have a bit hard time to find a perfect plant for it since in this corner the window is quite small. I decided this ZZ plant is the perfect one (it have a "balls" that act like a water reservoir in the roots). I've been told that shopping malls and hotels often have this inside since it is really strong plants.

I found some thrifted whimsical wine bottle ( can you see there is a small grape shape inside? ), an unique vase and reindeer figure from IKEA ( that i think it looks like something from minecraft...probably :p ).

5. Gift from Indonesia
My dear friend sent me this tote bag from Indonesia. How cute is this? and it is a one of a kind since it is a handmade. She bought it from this talented person here and sent in to Finland. It is for my belated birthday gift since she was really busy but i appreciate it. Love this so much thank you! :D

flowers & llama - artworks.

*Happy to get my drawing-mojo-back!***

I tried to do more of different style painting. I think it's good to try different styles so I can get a new techniques also to mix with.

For this ones, i used watercolor pencils that *lurked* in my drawer for a really long time ( always buy first, use it...much much later...if i even remember it ).

I didn't sketch first since i want to get that *sketchy* look for the line art. The finishing went into computer like always, trying not to edited it as too much since this suppose to be traditional painting.

I always have a soft spot for whimsical things and following one of the awesome artist online for inspirations. For this time, I got the inspirations from this awesome artist.

For the theme ideas? i don't know, i just randomly draw it. I think the second one looks like a Llama monster mix maybe lol :p

sus-shi-shush.

Last week i'm craving for some japanese foods. But i am too picky and I don't want to spent more money since i went to the dentist to end my tooth-ache-misery-drama.

I am not a person who like to cook lots of various foods at the same time. I always try to avoid making japanese foods like sushi. 

But anyway, 

i finally try to make it and understand completely why it quite pricey ( and expensive ) in restaurant.

When i still at work in Indonesia, one of my friend always woke up at 04.00 - 05.00 in the morning just to prepared sushi for us. She need to be at workplace at 08.00 and always made a lot of batch ( you can check this late post here ). How did she manage to do it that fast! it took me almost 4 hours for 4 types of sushi! XD

Here's the result, though i'm sure i can do better the next one! :p

*please ignore the burnt part and the odd size sushi...pfffttt*

After i made all the sushi and ran out of the ingredients, I still have more sushi rice left. So i just turn it into onigiri...though this is not an original onigiri since they didn't put vinegar in it. But anyway better than going to the trashbin. I made some homemade furikake also and mix it together. 

The leftover *flower* carrots really nice for the decorations, isnt' it? ;)

the milk factory - redrawing

Sometimes when i browse through my computer folders and saw my old drawings ; 

"OH MY GOD ARE THESE EVEN MY DRAWINGS?!?!?" 

(then fainted..or covering my face with pillow XD)

Anyway, 

this is one if my latest redraw-work. Back then i got bored since I don't know what to do with it so i just leave it and forget it for a long time until now. 

It's amazing how you can see the difference you can make after years to years ;)

I called it "milk factory" since i often imagining if there's some giant-monster-cow for real. 

Then came a question ; how many liters of milk it will produce?

yellow and square - artwork.

"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

"Spongebob squarepants"

My favorite TV shows! I felt i need to do fan art, it's a must! XD

Now please excuse me while i watch spongebob-marathon while devouring krustykrab burger...hmmmmm burger.... 

welcoming the 2014.

Finally I decided that is better to organize 1 blog only. So i merge my old imajinasimaginatia blog together with my main one salvadorkatz. You can still see my old posts from the imajinasiimaginatia in here also.

For this Christmas 2013 i made some drawing so i can print my own christmas card. After i sketches and doodling ( and tons of glögi and piparkakku - gingerbread ), here is the final result. I am really satisfied with it. 

I drew some small "goodies" in a rounded wooden ornaments and sent it together with the cards.

I love taking photos for hobby and last year 2013 I decided also to bought new camera so i can maximizing my hobby. I felt with the current point&shoot type camera ( its a pocket camera ), i didn't get 100% what i want in my photos. 

So I pick Fujifilm X100S ( that break-popping-my-original-budget-ouch ) after pestering my old co-workers and photographer friends ( and long hour stalking the internet ). I haven't use it for long time but i'm quite satisfied for now. 

I move my photo gallery to flickr since they changed the design to my taste, neat, professional looking and easy to navigate. 

Here is the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/salvadorkatz/

This photo is one of the result also for using X100S,