Rendering- Watercolor vs Fabric

I haven’t been updating the blog much due to nostalgia of Japan. The culture has fascinated me for many years and the experience of being there was surreal; it left me feeling empty when I came back because the dream or vacation had to end at some point. Instead of thinking of these emotions, I was just going about my daily life which consisted of a 9-5 job, study group for JLPT N4 (we are so unmotivated), Japanese class and last but least, interior rendering class.

The first project we had to do in class was find a floral fabric pattern and copy it exactly on watercolor paper to be filled in with watercolor. It should be an exact duplicate; the only difference should be the white background vs any other color background you had on your fabric.The drawing is easy since we used carbon paper to trace but matching colors on two different mediums is not the same. In garment production, we often send artworks to factory on paper with fabric swatches and expect them to match it by submitting strike offs (screen prints on fabric); if one expects it to match exactly, one is naive. on two different material, due to lighting, weaves, materials, reflections of light, it is impossible. Paper is not fabric afterall and they have different material properties.

Here is my try on it! Not perfect but, as we love to say in production after the 3rd attempt, Best Can Do!

Disclaimer- Please note I do not own the print- This is for a class project only 🙂

El Nuevo Caribeno Restaurant

We just happened to be in East Harlem to buy fabric for my friend’s halloween costume. Reluctant to give up a chance to taste authentic spanish food, we went to “El Nuevo Caribeno Restaurant” (roughly translates to The new Caribbean restaurant).There were many empty tables, a huge menu with tons to choose from; soup, salad, meat- grilled, sautéed, or fried. The portions were huge and the price was very reasonable.

Fried Pork chop! Really crispy and juicy. I think pork chops are really hard to cook, usually it’s dried as paper if not cooked properly.

Comes with a side of rice and beans!

Sauteed chicken and pepper- the chicken alone was a bit dry but with the sauteed, it’s fine.

Side of plantains

You will definitely get your money’s worth. The meal was satisfying and we had leftovers to bring home. if you’re expecting something unique in flavor you’re at the wrong place, but if all you want is a huge authentically spanish cuisine, this is the place.

Vending Machines and Drinks in Japan

One of many things I loved about Japan was the convenience of the vending machines they had there and the variety. Unless you’re the type who only drinks one type of drink, you can go to Japan for two weeks and not repeat any drinks. I repeated some drinks but look at the variety they have!

Ordinary Vending Machine at a Tokyo metro station

Coffee with milk (Tokyo metro station)

Bottle of water they sold on the Shinkansen

Water from Mount Fuji!(At Kawaguchiko station, near Mount Fuji)

Peach Yogurt Drink!(At Kawaguchiko station, near Mount Fuji)

Not really a vending machine but a green tea dispenser! Sad to admit but the machine makes better green tea than I do! (At Mount Fuji)

Sparkling water with elderflower and lemon- This is part of Kirin’s world kitchen series which features different drinks from all over the world. This one is from Morocco! (On a train in Tokyo to Tokyo tower)

Salt and Lychee which I tried today! It’s from Thailand; part of the same Kirin World Kitchen series. (Near Tokyo tower)

Red tea is the literal translation but in English, we like to call it black tea. (At philosopher’s path in Kyoto)

Milk Tea! (On our way from Fushimi Inari back to our Ryokan in Gion)

Milk Caramel Latte! (Outside Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto)

Hot Cocoa (it’s actually hot/warm- at a 7 Eleven in Kyoto)

Kyoto Beer @ Arashiyama

Lightly Sweetened coffee (In Kyoto)

Classic Green tea (Shinkansen to Kumamoto)

Kumamon Vending Machines from Kumamoto! Kumamon is adorable and Kumamoto is a great city with friendly and kind people!

Milk Tea! (again!) (Hotel in Kumamoto)

Water! (again!) (Shinkansen from Kyoto to Kumamoto)

Peach sparkling wine! (At our ryokan in Osaka)

Tully’s pumpkin spice latte at the airport! Last drink!

Needless to say, the variety is endless. Still thinking of Japan…