Sonia's Journal

Hello! Just a quick invite on super short notice T_T

I accidentally ordered faaar too much meat and my fridge and freezer are stuffed full. Therefore, mini BBQ available at my house. If you know where I live, or you're Cambridge-based and I don't hate you, you're invited. Just let me know XD

Bring salad. NO MOAR MEAT

Yo! Just wanted to confirm that KFC/chilling/gaming will be held this evening at dock's place ^^ 6pm onwards

Wait until he slugs face down on the bed, in exhaustion after coming home from work. Sit on him and poke poke poke him* until he starts to wail. Then say you need a shower, that you have a ton of work to do and the beef and vegetables and potatoes need cooking, or they will go into the freezer. Then scratch his back until he cries and says, "I make the pie, I make the pie in my mind" then sit and shake him some more until he says, "Get off me, okay, I make the pie for real now, get off I make the pie".

♥

*cat complaining about not liking its food is optional, but can help the situation.

Hello my darlings!! I'm back and settled in my just-vacuumed living room. So, how was New York? ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!! Here follows my detailed report...



Please click on the above photo to be taken to my whole flickr set.
I am only using a selection for the write up below.


( My trip to New York and the New York Comic Con!! )

Rargh, long post was long! Hope you all enjoyed that write-up, I do try to bold the key words and break things up with photos to make it less boring for you all. Please remember that I only featured a selection of photos for the purposes of the write up, if you want to see ALL of my photos, click on the large photo at the beginning. But yeah - NY was fun, would  go back again and to be more random. And so, back to work. Ciao ♥

I just spent the last 2 hours turning this:


Into 16 skinless, boneless fillets and 1 litre of fish stock.

When you consider that I bought the whole salmon for £13 last night, and that each fillet generally costs about £2, you can see why I bothered! Lots of salmon sashimi and various nummy oven combinations to look forward to <3

But man, I really need a shower now. Gotta wash all that fish out of my hair!!!

(PS: that is a stock photo of a salmon, unfortunately I didn't take a photo of mine before I started work on it XD)

emmav was very efficient and did this ages ago, and thus was very helpful to some of the news reportage of our tour so I'm going to be good and sort this out (with pictures) before it gets too ridiculously delayed! (even though I have lots of other work to do ^_^;;) You may wish to cross reference her write up:
http://emma.sweatdrop.com/2007/07/10/back-from-japan/

SUMMARY
Emma Vieceli (fellow artist), Emma Hayley (our publisher from SelfMadeHero) and I went to Japan from the 1st - 9th July. We had an AWESOME time.
3rd July - Kyoto International Manga Museum Talk: "The Influence of Manga on British School Children"
5th July - Wacom Interview, Nihon Keizai Shimbun interview, PEN Magazine interview
6th July - Sugiyama Jogakuen University, Nagoya Talk: "Manga Shakespeare - Cultural Translation and Transformation"
7th July - Tokyo International Book Fair meetings
8th July - Tsukuba University lectures series in Tokyo: "Adapting Shakespeare into Manga"

The Amazing people we met
I don't really know where to start! First off, Yoshihara Yukari and Minami Ryuta - leading Shakespeare Scholars and very fun people! They were very much our guides and got us over to Japan in the first place.
At the Kyoto International Manga Museum, we met loads of lovely people, but alas, their business cards are stashed away a little too secretly. I shall update this when I find them!
From our hotel, we were greeted by Tokura Ayumi, who cabbed us across Tokyo to Wacom's Offices, where we met Ikeda Kazuomi, Tosa Izumi and Ian Chun, who were very gracious and quizzed us about our work methods.
Then we had an interview with Iwamoto Takako, from the Lifestyle section of Nikkei, Nihon Keizai Shimbun - the largest Japanese Financial newspaper basically - who was a real fan of manga (though she tried to hide it!).
At Pen Magazine, we were met by an interpreter, Yoshimitsu Akiko, then went for a photo shoot with Uga Gogo, and were then interviewed by Pen editor Watanabe Yoshihiro and writer Fukasawa Keita. It was a very enjoyable interview!
In Nagoya, we met sooo many important people of the Sugiyama Jogakuen University - Tsukada Mamoru, the Dean, was incredibly friendly and fun! And Hatta Genji, a professor who turned out to be Minami Ryuta's father-in-law was so much fun to be with. We had shabu-shabu with them, and a very influential media critic who was originally going to have a big feature with photography, but unfortunately there was a murder that day which took more priority in the press! At the university, we met the President Izumi Yusuke, and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees Sugiyama Masahiro - both of whom were very kind.
Finally, at Tsukuba university, we met some leading manga experts. Ogi Fusami (Chikushi Jogakuen), Fujimoto Yukari and Yamada Tomiko (Kawasaki City Museum). They are leading Shoujo manga specialists, and gave some enlightening information about the history and evolution of shoujo manga, from the Japanese point of view. I learnt a lot from them! Also at the event was Shiina Yukari, a writer who is working with Kodansha on their latest international competition. We went to an izakaya afterwards and had a fantastic meal and conversation, can you imagine a table full of female otaku? It was so much fun. There was also a very nice scholar of manga, Yoshimoto Taimatsu, who was lots of fun.


MANGA = COMICS - What did they think of us?
The reaction we received from the Japanese press, academics, manga professionals/enthusiasts and the public was phenomenal - welcoming, accepting and eager!
Nobody cared about the whole "manga purist" argument - Manga to them, is comics. And upon looking at our stuff, even cab drivers said, "So, is your manga like Snoopy, or American style? *he looks* Oh, you do Japanese manga! Looks just like ours!"
My personal feeling is that so many western hardcore otaku manga snobs out there consider Global/non-Japanese creators of mangas to be inferior to the Japanese because they are comparing our fledgling works to those of the most popular and successful series to be exported out of Japan. For every cream-of-the-crop title that is available in the West, there are dozens out there which aren't. So I don't feel it is a fair comparison to make. Minami Ryuta agreed with me, and flattered us by saying that our stuff is definitely above average even in the Japanese manga market!
Furthermore, everyone was surprised by how young we were. Most had the impression from our works that we were veterans, and were very surprised that we are only in our twenties. Which is another point to make - most manga artists train as an assistant in a publishing house for years and years working under a better known artist, so they only break out with their own works in their mid 30's onwards.

TONS OF PICTURES!!!

( CLICK FOR MOAR PHOTOS!!! )

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my write up. Sorry it has taken so long. *bows*

Finally getting round to posting my photos! Here are a selection of photos taken whilst I was in Heidelberg, Germany, from 6-13 April, as part of the Cambridge-Heidelberg exchange trip. I went along with the CSD Brass group. CLICK ON THUMBNAILS FOR BIGGER VIEWS.

6th April:
After I finished off a commission at 2.30am, I packed until 3.30am, then slept for about 45mins until Matt's friends picked us up to go to Stansted, to catch a flight to Stuttgart. At Stuttgart, we had curry hotdogs. We then went to Heidelberg by train, then to our host family's allotment and had lovely pastries! Dinner was at the Alt Hendresse, a traditional pub/restaurant. Mmm, Knödel and pork... and Weißenbier!!

7th April:
Then we explored Heidelberg proper, walking down the main street, found a statue of Bunsen, great flower stall, a cute scooter (with a dog horn?), pretty flowers near the university library, a plaque dedicated to Martin Luther, a car being used to advertise an antique shop... Then we had a saunter over the Heidelberg Bridge, where there were a couple of curios brass figures. A pair of lucky mice (rub it for many children, I didn't touch it!), and a monkey, which we all took a group photo with. Then we went to the Castle, or Schlöss. Took some great photos in there, there was the largest barrel of wine in the world, and a funny poster pimping making your own bottle with your own label, in Japanese. Later in the afternoon we tried Spaghetti Ice cream, really really delicious (using creamy Italian vanilla ice cream, and strawberry jam!), and that evening, had a party with ginormous square pizzas.

8th April: Weinheim, a very pretty town with hilly streets, houses built into thick city walls, poems inscribed as murals, beautiful gardens. Had a huge turkey salad for lunch. And to end the day, some local Schwarzbier, and some toilet humour. Yes, those were in the ladies room - a toilet roll with the logo "Big Willy" and a sanitary bag dispenser with "Lady Killer".

I will add some more details to the rest of the days, when I have more time. But for now, head to my Flickr set and enjoy all the photos ^^ Click on the picture below for the link!

I roasted a shoulder of wild boar today, with diamond-scored crackling, new potatoes, gravy, carrots and cabbage. It was super tasty. I now have lots of slices in the fridge for lunch tomorrow. NOM. It wasn't cheap to buy though, about £10 for a 500g/3lb roasting joint T_T But my mum bought it for me ^o^

Here is what I had for dinner last night:


Full pic and description in the cut below!
( Read more... )

*Starts headbanging to music*

Ne, all of my family will be here o.O;; it's a full house, so to my freinds who are visiting me - my sister and both my brothers will be around - turns out Seth had to come back here to sort out his visa stuff cos the Home Office is crap.

I've been in Thailand since 4th December.... it's lovely to be back here again! The food is wonderful, I can be pampered, if I go shopping the parents pay for everything....

As I suspected, there are some big Sanrio promotions going on in one of the major chains of shopping malls.... I have bought lots of Hello Kitty and Cinnamoroll branded tat! Including the last Charmmy Kitty pink shimmer lady's handbag in the store!!! YOSH! Limited stock get!!!

My mum has also been exploiting me for helping with her Fengshui/Astrology/Crystallogy business... I got lots of semi-precious healing stone bracelets from here, all energised in the largest fuck-off crystal Tibetan singing bowl that resonates through the entire house when used....

So... I've had lots Thai food, I particularly loooove seafood restaurants (where river prawns are over 8 inches long, not counting the whiskers! I have photos to prove it to you Englishers) and Isaarn restaurants - Isaarn is the northeast province of Thailand, well known for it's spectacularly spicy, sour and strong smelling food.... Mmmm.... Namtok, Gaiyang, Kor Ka Moo, Kao Niaew, Som Tam.... *love*. Also been having lots of Japanese food (4 times so far!) and Chinese banquets! Mmm... braised sharks fin soup in bubbling claypots.... Abalone.... Goose in black soy sauce....

I went shopping with headlesspuppet on Saturday! ^___^ We met up for Japanese lunch, and then went exploring in the new shopping mall, Siam Paragon, the largest mall in southeast asia! It was mega-crowded though! We wanted to see the in-built aquariam section, but the queues where huge.... it had only launched it's grand opening, presided over by the Princess Siridhorn, on Friday the day before. We bought two Taiko no Tastujin drums at the two latest games to match! XD We came back to house, and played it like mad....

Went for high tea at the Grand Hyatt Erawan yesterday.... nummy, and luxurious, although I did not approve of the clarinettist in the three piece band playing, I could have done better *sniff*

Finally had my Ramen today.... *bliss* I LOOOOVE shio (salt, white) ramen, I had Taipan Chashuu Men with Karaage and Gyoza for lunch today.

Tonight, we're eating Shabu Shabu at home. *love again* It's so much fun to eat this!!

I've also been fairly productive whilst in Thailand - finished off some work for a big contract, and been doing lots of marker artwork to give as presents (but I'll do some nice high-res scans beforegiving them away, obviously ^_~)

That's it for now. See you back in UK next week!

Mmm... my second one today:



Headache though....

But I do feel better at the thought of visitors. ^_^

Matthew did a wonderful thing, and got us a couple of tickets for Jools Holland and his orchestra next Friday!
*^______^* YAYY!!! He also bought us tickets to see Courtney Pine next February. Standing tickets of course (the best in my opinion, cos that means we can dance!)

Work is steady and good. I really want to do some sewing this weekend. I've prepared a huge bag of clothes that I will give to Oxfam tomorrow. My wardrobe has now got tons of space! This means I must make lots of pretty gothic and lolita clothing!

The Home Office officially suck. They still have my passport and they have no idea when it'll be given back. Because of this, I may lose my Thai residency (I need to fly back once a year before my renewal stamp runs out.... and it does on 3rd Jan 2006), which took over 10 years and about £1000-£2000 in total to get. But unless I get my UK residency stamp this time round... I'd have to start all over again, and it'll take another 2-3 years and another £750-£1200 in admin fees..... ARGH! Nuff of that, don't ask about it!!!

What else... hmm...

We're having Haggis, tatties and neeps for dinner tonight! This is because our vegetable box had swede, carrots and potatoes in.... and I remembered that I had a frozen haggis in storage - et voila! instant cultural meal delight!

(in case you didn't know, I have an organic, local vegetable box delivered to me once a fortnight. Over a kilo of veggies with a different selection each time, locally grown and delivered to my doorstep - for £8.)

Shirataki noodles
Beef fillet
Aburage tofu
Chinese cabbage
Mushrooms
in ichi-ban dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sake

... nummy

Yesterday was my last full time day in the office. From now, I've only got two days a week for the next three weeks and then I am totally free... It was getting to the point where I had a serious lapse of bothering to be nice, yesterday morning - "yes.... yes, I'm working on that.... Yeah, I know!......Okay okay, I'll do it!" All came out very clipped with no smiles.... until about 10.30am I realised I was being a bit of a dragon and apologised to my manager. I think she knows by now that Sonia before 10.30am is VERY different to SOnia after 10.30am.

But yeah. I'm really trying to write some text for a big project I'm working on, whilst doing some artwork cleaning up and it's impossible with the heat! And when I leave the windows open, all sorts of bugs get in! And then I couldn't stand how the kitchen and lounge werer so messy so cue manic vacuuming. Grr! I am really hoping it's not gonne ba like this everyday I do artwork from home... why can't it be cooler... And Matt let the bottom of my bolognaise sauce burn, even he was downstairs and I was upstairs working.... I smelt the burning before he did cos of his friggin' bongo game. Mind you, he had to retreat from me and cower in the bedroom for a good 20 mins whilst I sorted out the mess... he is a little scared of me sometimes. BUT RIGHTLY SO!!

It was pretty good! ^_^ Although I think I'm as bit of a worry wart when I do these things cos I want to make sure everyone is okay! dock, soundslikebuuu, pinkapplejam, emmav, toothycat were among the peeps who came. Much baking was made - two chocolate ganache cakes, an apple & cinnamon sponge, lots of shortbread, and ginger snaps (bends more like it ^_^;;). ANd lots of KFC for din dins.

Now I must get back to work! T_T Poor hubby Matthew had to go down to Brighton today cos his grandma's birthday was yesterday too!

One more time wining and dining the European Partners! But it's the last time... The next time I will see them will be on one last business trip, from 12-14 June in Brighton for a big conference.

And tonight we're going to my favourite Curry house!! Yay!!! TO give them a truly English experience. The Tandoori Palace, Histon Road. How I love thee....

This however, means I cannot do much artwork tonight, as I will not be home until about 10pm T_T

The Finnish Partner brought me some Moomin souvenirs though - very thoughtful! I really like moomins...

My dear friend pinkapplejam has prompted me to reveal this recipe... Everyone needs to feel a little better about themselves every once in a while by shedding a few pounds, goodness knows I have some very strange yo-yoing self image. So here it is girls and boys - your ticket to keeping the weight off! This was a recipe given out to overweight patients at the Sacred Heart Heart Hospital (not sure where, lost in lore XD) to help them lose weight ultra fast before surgery. You can cook a big pot of it, freeze it and eat as MUCH of it as you want. I wouldn't condone eating it only for more than a few days, but as a replacement for 1 meal a day (lunch or dinner) and for any snackage, it's perfectly fine. Try to keep it up as a meal replacement for two weeks - 1 month, then relax and use it only for snacking for once a while, then go back on to it again.... I only say this as I have done this regime a few times myself, and however tasty you make it, it still gets boring if you stick to it too strictly!

You can see the ingredients - they're all good for you!

Ingredients:

Part 1 veggies:
2 bunches of spring onions or 1 large leek, chopped
1 large head of broccoli or 2 med cauliflower heads chopped into small florets (I use half and half)
125g spinach or 1/2 cabbage chopped (again, half and half is nice too)
1 large red/yellow pepper chopped
6 celery sticks chopped (VERY IMPORTANT, DO NOT MISS THESE OUT)
Bunch sliced mushrooms or other random veggie that you like the taste of.... hmmm, courgettes are nice
2 carrots finely sliced into rounds

1 pint (600ml) chicken stock (make or buy the real, fresh stuff it does make a difference in taste)
400g can chopped tomatoes

Part 2 veggies/seasoning:
1/2 lemon juice
Hanful of coriander or flat-leaf parsley ripped up
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Method:
Put all Part 1 veggies into a big pot. Add the chicken stock and extra water to just cover the veggies. Heat until ALMOST boiling. Then add the chopped tomatoes and Part 2 ingredients. Simmer gently for 20-30mins.

And that's it! You can eat it in it's chunky stew like state, or you can whizz it in a food processor. Freeze it (although I admit to not doing so if I know I can finish it off within 2 days, I'll just fridge it), eat it whenever you feel hunger pangs. It'll fill up your tummy, has good veggies in it, lots of fibre to clean you out, and the celery is diuretic which makes you pass water more quickly (hence, stops you bloating or having water retention). Because of its ingredients, it gives you around as much energy as it takes to digest it - Hence, fat-burning! ^_^

Music - Still Metroid Prime 2 on Gamecube as hubby is still playing it and getting his ass royally kicked by the Chykka Larva.