HAPPY 2016!

"Is it too late now to say sorry?"

That lyric just somehow popped up into my mind now that I am writing again, finally. Before I go on any further, I hope you guys accept our apology for being such an inconsistent blogger all this time. It seems like we keep on asking for an apology every beginning of the year. I looked back into the old post of 2015 and things were indeed crazy busy that time. We are in the middle of doing our thesis right now and things, actually is not that crazy hectic. It is just that we focus so much on our thesis and whatnot that we ended up not being able to update our blog. Huhuhu.

Anyhow, isn't it crazy how quickly the time flies? Like, I thought I have just celebrated New Year and now we are on the second month of 2016 already! Oh my God. Quoting from last year, "How is it 2016 already when we have not even finished writing the draft from our 2014's posts?" Lol, yes. I still have one story from 2014 that I have been wanting to post since 2015 but never seem to get posted. It was back when my hair was still long and fiery red. That red hair has long gone but me and my procrastination stay the same ((T__T))

Anyhow, talking about new year, still, I think we have to say it properly to you guys, HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016! The previous year has been a very lucky year for me I must say and I am utterly grateful for that. If I have the time ((and motivation lol)), I will need to blog about what happened last year for the sake of memento though it might confuse or bore some of you haha. 

Our biggest goal for this year is obviously to graduate from university and take selfie on graduation day! haha. After that, maybe we will figure out what we will do in the future. Working, starting business, continuing study, or getting married maybe? lol, if only we have the potential partner. As for the blog, I think we say this all the time but yes, I hope that we can be more consistent with the posts in terms of quantity and the quality of the content too. As for me, I was thinking to add something more up close and personal about myself so we can share stories with each other and discuss the matters together. I really want to engage more with you guys and hopefully I do not fall behind the schedule this time.

Once again, have a wonderful year ahead, fellas!

Cheers,
filicia

Papercutting Workshop with Tatyana Renatta by Monstore

Workshop has been popular recently. People spend their free time to learn new thing by joining a workshop, and so do we. It was actually a giveaway workshop from Monstore with Tatyana Renatta about Papercut hosted by Manual. The giveaway queen, Fili randomly joined the giveaway on instagram, and thank God, she won it (again). The giveaway was valid for 2 people, so she invited me to join the workshop with her. If you are one of the followers on her social media, you might see many posts about the winning giveaway. She should share tips and tricks how to win giveaway here on the blog, shouldn't she? ;)

The workshop started at 1 p.m. in Artotel, Thamrin. Before the workshop started, Tatyana showed us her artwork of Papercut. The photos above were just several artworks of her, Her artworks were super cool, right? Visit her Instagram and you will see many awesome Papercut artworks. But wait, we were not making like that. We learned from basic, guys.

Papercut is a new thing for us. Things we used to do using cutter was only straight line and helped by a ruler (failed art student :P). Each participant was given a kit. Inside the kits were pen cutter, A4 cutting mat, basic paper cutting, pen and paper.

Started from the basic, we cut the straight line, curved line, circle and dolphin. The paper used was 70gr A4 paper. It looked easy, but seriously, it was hard. Our straight line were not straight, and the dolphin was messy, lol. 

After we finished the basic, we were given challenge to cut our name. Oh my God! It was so much harder. The paper used was thicker than the basic one, if I'm not mistaken, it's watercolor paper. After 30 minutes, we finished our name. The result in the photos is so much better than the real one (please don't zoom the photos :")).

Last but not least, she gave us another challenge, greeting card. I got pattern and butterfly card, and Fili got the boy and girl silhouette and same butterfly as mine, but I forgot to capture hers (sorry, Fili :")) It took so much time to do it, and unfortunately, time was up, we must finish the card at home.

Group photo to finish up the workshop! Too bad, I brought 50mm lens and the room was not wide enough, so the photos should be captured from the side. Btw, I was wondering why this workshop was joined by 2 boys only? Is paper cutting too feminine for boys, LOL?

Well, It was a super valuable workshop. We learned a new art that we didn't learn at university. We would like to thank Tatyana for her patience to teach us a lot about Papercut. Also, Thanks to Monstore for conducting the workshop and also Manual for hosting the giveaway.

Yeey,
Cheers!

Missing Hometown's Food (Pontianak Culinary)

A throwback to my last year's post, I have promised to share my hometown's food to this blog. FINALLY! I could fulfill my promise. I will share 9 of hundreds delicious foods of my hometown. 

I was born and lived for 18 years in Pontianak, West Borneo (click here if you don't know about Pontianak). Pontianak (坤甸, Kūn diān) is close to Malaysia, so people generally speak Bahasa with Malay accent. Chinese-Indonesian generally uses Teochew and Hakka for daily conversation. It's also used by the Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia. So, don't be confused if the name of some foods sounds weird and not familiar. 

Chai Kwe (Choi Pan) 

First food, Chai Kwe (also familiar as Choi Pan)! It has been my favorite hometown's food. I never miss to eat this food when I go back. Chai Kwe consists of 5 flavors: soybean, yam, chives (kucai), bamboo sprout and  bengkoang. Yam, bengkoang and chives are my favorite. This food is easy to  be found, you can find this in the morning at the market or in the afternoon and evening at restaurant or cafe.  Anw, I can eat 20 pcs in one meal :> oops. 

Koi Sai Tin Kwe

Next is Koi Sai Tin Kwe. I'm not sure about the name, but my mom told me that is indeed the name and she said that there is no Indonesian name as Indonesian doesn't really eat this. Koi Sai means chicken's sh*t and kue means cake, so Koi Sai Tin Kwe means... umm (fill the following blanks by yourself). The names of this food are super weird and disgusting, but the taste is good. Mom said that the black color was made by Daun Kentut (Fart Leaves). Omg, the facts about this cake are too silly. This cake is a little bit difficult to be found, I found this in the morning at the market. It also reminds me about the trend of black colored food in nowadays. 

Egg Tart 

Egg tart is the third. Pontianak's egg tart is quite similar with Hong Kong's egg tart but it has a bigger size. It is baked on a plate and cut into 8 pcs (click here to see original size). I love this egg tart more than Balinese or Portuguese as it has a bigger size of the custard. I can easily find this in the market or traditional cake shop. Nowadays, there are chocolate, green tea, oreo flavor, but my favorite is always the original one,

Crab Noodle (Bakmi Kepiting) 

Pontianak's Crab Noodle (Bakmi Kepiting) is quite famous in Jakarta. There are 2 options to enjoy this noodle, with soup and without soup. Mostly, the restaurant also serves Kwetiau and Dumplings. And, I prefer the noodle with soup. This food could be enjoyed at breakfast or lunch. 

Chicken Rice (Nasi Campur) 

In Pontianak, this food is called Chicken Rice. I don't know the story of its name, but it's totally different with Singapore Chicken Rice (hmm.. the roasted chicken is almost the same btw). There is no Hainanese rice in this chicken rice, and there are many pork with less chicken inside. In Jakarta, this food is called Nasi Campur. Until this time, many friends of mine ask me why it's called chicken rice in my hometown, and I just answered with laugh haha. I enjoy this food for lunch, btw. 

Tiam Mie (Sweet Fried Noodle)

Sweet Fried Noodle? Weird? It tastes good, guys. The sweet taste was made of palm sugar. It's quite difficult to find this food since not every person can cook this noodle. My mom has ever tried to make it by herself, but it was too sweet. Btw, I enjoyed this for lunch. 

Che Hun Tiaw + Bongko

Che Hun Tiaw is just like Indonesian Cendol with plain color, and Bongko is just like Selendang Mayang with green color. It can refresh me up in the super hot weather of my beloved hometown. Mix up two of them is an option, some people enjoy Che Hun Tiaw or Bongko only, but I love to mix them up. I can easily find it in the afternoon.

 Lek Tau Suan (Green Beans Dessert) 

Sharing about Lek Tau Suan reminds me to my dearest ex-roommate. She made this for my friends and me when we were living in the dormitory. Lek Tau is green beans that have been peeled off and Suan means diamond as the beans shine like a diamond, they said haha. The best part of this Lek Tau Suan is the Chakwe or dough fritter, I won't eat it without chakwe. I can easily find this at the market, but it's definitely cheaper to make this at home. This is so easy to make, the ingredients are simple and easy to find. There are many recipes about it on the internet. 

Tofu Pudding 

Last but not least, Tofu Pudding! It's a combination between pudding and Soy milk. Sweet and soft are perfect are two words that suitable to describe it. Tofu Indonesia has many variants of their product, such as tofu tart, tofu ice cream, tofu bean curd with many flavor and topping. And, they have opened their store in Kemanggisan, Jakarta, but I have never gone there. Maybe I should go there and introduce Tofu to Fili :)

That is my story about my hometown's culinary. Hopefully, there will be part 2,3,4 and 50, I hope you guys will never get bored about my hometown hahaha. Well, for those who are going to have a culinary trip in Pontianak, you should follow Kuliner Pontianak on Instagram. This account was made by my friend ((and I was helping her to make the logo :>)). And, I got my references about Pontianak Culinary from there. The caption of the photos is detailed enough, location until prices. The way she describes the food is fun. Hopefully, I could do a collaboration with her someday :)

Btw, me and Fili are in the last term of our university life! We are doing our final project now. We pray that this project will be completed smoothly and finished on time, yohooo! Wish us luck! :>

Yey! 

Yelny