Monday, December 1, 2008

Sushi Tier vs. Homemade Sushi

Yesterday, lil sis and I went to Sushi Tier, a sushi eatery chain in Sibu. It was my first time eating at that sushi outlet.

{ Open-air kiosk at Sing Kwong, a local shopping mall }

I was rather disappointed at the absence of a conveyor belt. T-T That aside, although varieties offered on the menu were nothing compared to that of Sake Sushi, the food was surprisingly delicious. Surprisingly? I always had the impression that locally prepared sushi would never be able to compare to the real thing, unless they have at least standards of sushi outlets in KL. But I must hand it to Sushi Tier for its freshly prepared sushi. :9 Absolutely yummy. :9

{ Scallop wings on inari tofu pouch + Unagi eel battleship + Soft shell crab hand-rolled temaki + forgot name *some fish roll* + forgot name *overloaded with artificial bonito flakes - chicken floss* + Special Crepe set with prawn tempura & soft shell crab }

Then today, lil sis suggested we make our own sushi. She'd been pestering Mum to make them ever since she got back from Kuching two weeks ago. I guess that first dose of sushi for this hols fired up her taste buds for more. :P

{ Spread a very thin layer of cooked rice on a sheet of crisp seaweed --> Pile on the fillings - mayo, cucumber stick, cooked carrot stick, strips of fried egg, imitation crab meat sticks, chicken floss --> Roll it up! }

We used brown rice instead of the usual white rice. To make Malaysian sushi rice, cook two cups of rice grains and mix the cooked rice with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 4 tablespoons of vinegar.

{ The sis in action }

{ Finished homemade sushi ♥ }

We made another version with tuna and mayonnaise substituting the crab sticks. Super the yummy. :9

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Just a thought

I just came across a craft blog and saw the Creative Commons license for the blog's content. I actually wanted to put up the license for my own blog some time ago, but never got to it because I think that putting up a sort of copyright sign for my craft work and photos would be a futile attempt to keep my designs rightfully mine.

Why am I saying this? Yes, Creative Commons provides licensing for online work. But how effective is it in warding of copycats, especially when it comes to art/craft work and images? From my point of view as an online browser, things I see serve as a source of inspiration for creating stuff. It is inevitable that sometimes people create similar items because if that something caught their eye, it is only natural that they would want to incorporate some of the features into their own creations.

Having said that, I must however clarify that I do not and will never condone copying of original craft work for commercial purpose. It's just plain shoddy to re-create someone else's original work and then selling it off while calling it 'my creation'.

I don't know if I've been copied, up till now. But I'd just like to add one more thing; it's never fun to copy someone else's work or idea. I won't feel proud of the result, no matter it racked in bucks. Sounds too noble? Well, it's the truth.

So in the end, after thinking about it, I decided to have a go with the Creative Commons license. Even if I might never discover that someone's selling off my photos in the form of prints, cards or the like.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Felt Purins + Strawberries-n-Cream Cake Plush

Been busy crafting yesterday and today. Made some food plushies for a custom order on Etsy. :) I guess puddings are loveable huh? :P

{ Small & large purins + Strawberries-n-cream cake plushie }

{ ♥ ♥ ♥ }

I did the strawberry cake plush according to a photo of a toy plush showed by the customer. Even if I sound like I'm pasting gold all over my face - as my Dad would put it in Chinese - I absolutely love this one that I made.

{ The strawberries looks so shweet ♥ Especially the one with the adorable smile ♥ }

{ Lub yooo~ ♥ }

Lil sis didn't get to see the first large purin I made middle of the year. She was beside herself with excitement when she saw the one I just finished making, and demanded to camwhore with it. -_-"

{ Geenormous purin ~ }

{ A little silliness to brighten up anyone's day :) }

{ And then she took all the cakes and ate them. Almost. XD }

She saw some polyfill - soft synthetic fiber I use for stuffing plushies - on my table. And proceeded to pose with it, while asking me to take photos of her with the thing.

{ I said I couldn't see the thing in the first photo. So we decided that she should stand in front of something black for a contrasting effect XD }

The insanity had just started. ^o^