I’ve been busy with my new interest…

Which is bath products making!

Handmade soaps and bath bombs are my new things. I like all kinds of craftsmanship, knitting, crocheting, sewing, decorative crafting, and the list can go on forever.

Started with searching for face wash for my skin type, then lead to making my own face soap. I spent roughly two weeks for learning from videos and practicing on my own, finally made some good soaps that I am proud of it. Very soon there are soaps piling up in my apartment; to the point that friends suggested I should sell them in local craft fairs. In no time waste, I am selling soaps!

The reason I love crafting probably due to my concentration level. The way I love quietness would be the main ingredient to my concentration. I love absolutely emptiness! The thoughts goes through my mind is so crisp and smooth, almost like enjoying a glass of cold beer after hot bath. Let’s talk about this feeling next time because this is about my soap making journey.

Thanks to my friend who showed me how to sell in craft fairs, soon after I have a business started. Moondrake Co. started selling in fairs and online. This is unexpected unplanned adventure which I’m pleased so far. I will be spending much more time to experience more into technique of pouring designs and more other personal care products. It is important to know what you put onto yourself. I might start growing my own food next!

My skin looks good and I smell good 🙂

I will be attending two wizard themed fairs to sell my themed soaps and bath bombs. See pictures below, aren’t they cute?

Thanks for reading!

My attempt to make Gyoza

I love dumplings! My husband also loves dumplings, particularly Japanese fried pork dumplings, aka Gyoza (in Japanese term).

Japanese restaurants usually charge a plate of 5 Gyoza for $5-8 in various sizes. Store bought frozen ones are roughly $8 per package. I do enjoy a bowl of ramen with Gyoza on the side if I weren’t lazy to get out of the house.

One Sunday, I was in the mood of making some Gyoza, so I went out to get all the ingredients and here are some pictures of my attempt of making Gyoza.

   
    
    
    
 
It was quite some effort to make, but a batch can last quite a while. It was satisfactory!

I’m back…

After a long period of away from blogging, not intensional, but life took a 360 turn on me. It was all exciting and remarkable milestones, the universe granted me a wonderful husband and a board game cafe! Interesting, isn’t it? 🙂

I’ll be making stuff again, since some of the things are more in the line.

First off to this wonderful start of 2016, I will be posting my attempt of making Gyoza from scretch.

Happy 2016!

Stonehenge

No need to worry about how to get there, there are numerous tour offers from everywhere in London. I found the tour from the London Pass ticket booth, it includes both ways bus ride (2 hours each, pretty comfortable) and admission, only for £29!

We were so tired so we napped on the bus on the way there, so I have no memory of how to get there. Not that I know how to get around anywhere anyway. 🙂

Fields over fields of greens on both sides of the road, I only saw grass and some sheep, when we were approaching towards the area. Then in this middle of nowhere, you see a crowd circling around these stones, next to it is a parking lot filled with tour buses. It may not sound weird but looked weird to me, I felt like I was in sci-fi fiction when the character entered an emptied town to research alien activities.

Stonehenge is one of the wonders that I wanted to see in person since I was a child. I read quite a lot of books about wonders on Earth, natural or men-made. I have a list of places that would love to see before the light goes out in me. Off the bus, tour guides were busy shuffling people around towards to the line up for audio guide gear, then towards to a narrow path which led us through a tunnel and out to the field, I felt like a sheep!

Walked up from the path, we saw this magnificent structure ahead, at this point, no word can explain what was going on in my head. All these years of hoping/waiting/wishing, and it came true! I immediately rushed to the stones but found out we cannot touch them anymore. My uncle and his wife touched them back then, they should frame their hands, really! Disappointed a little and carry on. We circled the area and listened to the audio guide which didn’t take too long, taking lot of pictures took more than half the time of the tour.

Learned some facts and myths, which made disbelieve of what I learned about Stonehenge since I was young. I will let you discover yourself when you see it in person.

Stonehenge has live up to it’s expectation (my expectation), let’s hope it keeps standing strong and always mysterious.

Althorp House

Althorp House

The Spencer Estate. The final resting place for Princess Diana. The very first place I asked my dear friends to take to me when I was planning my trip.

After a 1.5 hours drive from central London to Northampton; we went from noisy busy world to quiet sunny luscious greens. You know you are very deep inside the countryside when you can hear the popping sounds of pebbles road under the wheels. We rolled down our windows and enjoy the fresh air brushing our faces and we can slowly see a short break wall approaching. This is the surrounding wall of the estate. I was unimpressed about how crude the wall looks, they became “a wall that still stand strong” after I learned that this estate was built in 1688.

We parked the car across the street in an open green field with no end in sight, I thought must be some epic hunting parties they had back then. Through a black gate entrance we entered the ticket booth, in front of us was a wide open path with tall old oak trees along both sides, you cannot imagine this grant view behind that tiny short break wall. About 10 mins walk, a mansion like stables had been modified into an exhibition, it houses ancestors’ and Diana’s belongings. Follow the path and keep walking, there is the commercial property (main house) where has rooms and rooms of magnificent treasures from the very beginning to today. I found one thing really amazing is that there are few rooms with paintings all over the wall, one room dedicated to different variety of cows and another one with horses. Their ancestors must had been so proud of their farm animals so they had them painted. And of course, there are so many rooms and halls decorated with portraits of the family members as well.

If I were born and raised in that house, for sure I would enjoy the quietness and beautiful scenery, but it must be so hard to meet up with anyone in the house without arrangement, and probably I would be so lost inside and die without anyone noticed.

The tour inside the main house was about 1.5 hours, so we continue on the path towards the garden area. Amazing old trees everywhere, tall and strong, almost each of them were planted by family members (there are sign under the trees labelled with names). Past the garden, we entered a pond with a tiny island in the center but not access to the island, we know where we were. The little island filled with trees and shrubs, but there is this spot where has little coverage stands a white goblet, I’m quite sure that must be the ashes burial. In the other side of the entrance behind the island, we saw a shadow cutout of Diana mounted on s small memorial, flowers and candles were placed, people were taking pictures, saying their prayers. We sat down on the bench and rest.

On our way out, of course I bought a few souvenirs and luckily got to meet Diana’s brother and autographed the book I bought there.

A place I always want to visit, and I finally visited.

My trip to London

I have finally visited London, a place I said so often that I would go one day.

It was such fantastic journey; amazingly sunny with cool breeze was the weather during that two weeks, packed at least three attractions per day. Only one thing I missed was some good food, since my English friends aren’t really into food, and I didn’t want to be rude to my gracious host, so I gave up searching for good restaurants. I don’t mean that a dish of freshly fried crispy fish & chips and a pint of Guinness wasn’t a good English meal, but I was kind of wishing I could taste something extraordinary. Well, probably it is easier to find interesting restaurants for excellent food in New York rather than in London.

I shall write more about places that I had visited during this trip.

Fantasy Project

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Currently, I’m busy drawing board game charachers (a bit nerdy but fun) 🙂

Very Berry Coconut Yogurt Popsicle

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With summer approaching, you can find all kinds of fruit everywhere and they are as sweet as they can be! I’ve been trying to eat leftover berries… if I freeze them, I will not bother to defrost it for use and they probably won’t taste as good as fresh (duh!). So I looked around the … Continue reading →

Strawberries

It’s the best time of the year to eat strawberries. They are fresh and sweet, so eat up!

Strawberry is a super fruit. People probably talked about it everywhere and it is well known. Last summer I started to have salad as meal (just in the summer); to make the salad as full as a meal, I often mix berries and cheese with my greens. I make my salad dressing as well; olive oil + little bit lemon juice + yogurt + salt & pepper, delicious guaranteed.

My summer salad meal has started since yesterday, although the weather is still in winter mode. I am not complaining anything if I could have good food in any kinds of weather.

Palmier

I am the biggest fan of this delightful treat.

Palmier

“Palmiers are crispy and delicate leaf-shaped cookies made from puff pastry. They are made by rolling out pastry dough, sprinkling it with sugar and then folding it several times. The two sides of the pastry are then rolled inwards to meet at the center and the cookie is baked until crispy and caramelized. These are the perfect balance of crispy and flaky and always see to be just sweet enough.” – found the description on the net and perfectly described. 😀

I have to buy them every time I see them. I will buy a big bag of them and keep eating it until it’s all gone.

For being so weak to these wonderful little butterfly like cookies, adhere I cannot stop buying them; I don’t think I can make any attempts to stop eating them.