Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Buried in Books

Aside from sketching, doodling, baking and sewing, I absolutely love reading books. Thanks to having a family who also loves to read, I do not need to buy books, since I can borrow from them. :)

If I want thriller stuffs, I turn to my mom, who has a collection of J.D. Robb, Lisa Gardner, James Patterson, and Jonathan Kellerman, among other authors. If I want something cheesy and light, or something that will wrench my heart out, and have it squeezed in front of me, I turn to my sister, who has almost 2000 paper backs on shelves, and in boxes. If I am hungering for children or YA books, science fiction, fantasy, dystopian novels, or something unconventional, I will just browse my brother's book shelf.

Recently, I find myself addicted to fantasy so I've look for one in my brother's room. What I've gotten wasn't fantasy though, but still is a good book. My brother recommends Eleanor & Park, so I read it. 

 Eleanor & Park  is about first love, so before I started reading it, I've been silently rolling my eyes. However, the first few pages was actually decent. Thus, I continued reading until I got to the middle of the book, where I find myself completely hooked in, and stop having breaks. I ended up smiling and crying at the last few pages--a complete loony. If I wasn't crazy about fantasy at that time, I might say it is a great book.

After Eleanor & Park, I read books one and two of Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series: The Black Prism and The Blinding Knife, and I want to say... I love THE F****** TURTLE BEAR, Kip Guile. He is one of the protagonist of the Lightbringer series. He is a delightful snarky bastard. (Yes. Kip is a real bastard in terms of his illegitimacy. Now. How can a snarky kid be delightful? Read the book and find out! :D) Aside from Kip, the Lightbringer series world and story is really great. It's the first time I've encountered that the magic comes from light, and protagonists end up relatively beaten by the antagonist at the last remaining pages of the book. What's more, even though they are beaten, the reader (or maybe, just me) doesn't get pissed, and still wants to read the next book. I cannot wait for the third book to come! Want to see Kip the Turtle Bear again :)

Anyway, below is my fan art of Kip if he is really a turtle bear.



Friday, January 17, 2014

Baking Cupcakes

I started baking last year. I decided to give my friends home-baked cupcakes for Christmas than buying and giving them something they won't use. Thus, as early as December 1, I started trying recipes from boxes and websites.

My first cupcake was a muffcake--a crossbreed of muffin and cupcake. It looks like a cupcake--thanks to the cream cheese frosting , but tastes like a muffin. It's edible, but was dry, leaving a grainy feeling in the mouth. The recipe was from an all-purpose flour's package.

 

I was not sure why it was dry, so I tried searching the net for the reason, and the solution. A lot mentioned adding vegetable oil will do the trick, meanwhile some say mayonnaise, or egg  yolks, among others. I tried adding more oil, but it was still dry, and had turned crumbly to boot. I tried it again with cake flour, and with a gentle hand in mixing. Same results.
Fortunately, I stumbled on Sally's Baking Addiction's site. Got a great recipe there, called "Death by Chocolate". I followed the recipe, and *TADAN* it was good. The secret of a moist cake is buttermilk. I tried to make my own buttermilk for my first try, since I can't find it in the grocery. The cupcake was quite moist--not super chocolaty for a chocoholic like me, but was still crumbly. 

After a few more trials with this recipe though... I found out that you can use yogurt instead of buttermilk, should not over mix the batter, and not bother the cupcakes once they are in the oven. Give them around 15 minutes of "alone time", and be on time in taking them out of the oven so not to over bake them.


The thing that still puzzles me is the time the cupcakes take in the oven. For my first try, they took only 15 minutes to bake. For my second, they took around 12 minutes. OxO However, now, they take 30 to 35 minutes in the oven at 175C degrees. And three or four cupcakes in total are either under baked or over baked.

Sad thing was... When it was time to bake for my friends, I had no time in my hands. I had to settle with boxed cake mix, which they figure out just after a bite. :'(

Friday, January 10, 2014

Toys

Happy 2014!


I confess. I'm an addict when it comes to cute things. Thus, I find my nendoroids and plushies multiplying by the end of 2013. Fortunately, not exponentially (yet >.<), or else my savings will suffer.

Here's Miku lending an umbrella before Christmas, hoping she would be under the nice list.
 A certain buta (pig) unaware of his imminent danger.


Good thing that Miku is here.
Miku: One move, and I'll call the Doctor.
Dalek: EXTERMINATE!











Saturday, December 28, 2013

Just Gabbing

For six hours now, I've been trying to figure out how to customize my blog. Sadly, I can't seem to get it right. I end up scratching everything. So... Just to make staying awake worth it, I am going to post some random drawings of Zashikibuta.



As one can see, my drawings aren't consistent. I've been trying to perfect my copy of Zashikibuta since I was a kid, although I did stop drawing when I entered the university. (Marketing and Finance DO NOT mix well with doodles, drawings, and other handicrafts--at least for me.) I resumed drawing again back in 2012.
 


I really wish that Sanrio will bring back Zashikibuta. It would be simply great to have a couple--okay, I'll be honest--a dozen Zashikibuta items, such as shirts, jackets, bags, casings/protectors, car stickers, among others. 

Zashikibuta is BACK!

My first ever post will definitely be ZASHIKIBUTA. Who is he? Well... Zashikibuta is my favorite pig character from Sanrio. Here's some information about my favorite pig :)



Unfortunately, for reasons I do not know, Sanrio does not release or produce any Zashikibuta items anymore. He was forced to retire for years, letting many believe he is among angels. However, they are wrong for he is still alive and kicking. As a matter of fact, he have just escaped from the grave they shoved him into.
HE IS NOT A ZOM-PIG. He was buried alive, but he was able to survive and escape--even without shovels :) Crafty, isn't he?

Since I have a lot of time in my hands, I tried using photoshop, and give the first panel a little color. 



I'm afraid it didn't looked as good as I hoped it would. :'(