002: Politeness

We were talking about how women are judged about being emotional and bitchy when we state our point strongly. That was a discussion on the whatsapp group yesterday. Then our resident beng (please google “ah beng singapore meaning” for its definition lol).

Stating your point strongly in the Singaporean context is considered a bit rude. We are a peace loving lot. Even if your point makes sense. Better not to stand out too much. Be a wallflower, live peacefully with your neighbour. Even if it means having grumble about it with your partner, wife or husband at home, your twitter friends or whatsapp group friends.

Put this in the perspective from where i am living at the moment. In Italy people speak their mind normally. So often in fact they don’t need to raise their voice. Plus it’s a 2 way thing. They often ask your opinion on certain issues. Could something trivial, anything. They normally speak in depth about things in general. And expect you to do the same. They would encourage and probe your opinion. They don’t like people who hold back their opinion. Politeness is equated with suspicion. It put distance between people.

Coming back to me being in a situation like that. My Singaporean politeness holds me back in the interaction with people. I already have an introverted personality. So you can see where this is leading. Habits are hard to break. I have not Italised that much after 10 years. My input in any conversation seem a superficial. It’s hard for me to vocalise my thoughts in Italian. I’m still working on this. I get by with a lot of smiling. LOL Spillo my dog is helping break the ice though.

Spillo taking a break from suntanning

#politeness #sliceoflife #verona #italy #singapore #rude #conversation #distancebetweenpeople #introverted #2017002

001: My desk doesn't feel like it's mine

With much difficulty I start my writing experiment. All the obstacles include housework, lack of willpower & lack of time. After my annual Singapore trip, I feel a little bit more refreshed & decided dig my heels into it. To make this happen, i’ve ignored the piles of dishes in the kitchen sink, clean dishes in the dishwasher, and put aside around an hour daily to write.

I spent the 1st 2 days cleaning my table. My personal space has been dying of neglect ever since we moved to our new house. At the moment I can actually see my table top (¬ ‿ ¬)

… and yes it doesn’t feel like it’s my own.

Probably I will be posting this on my blog. I will write freely. My thoughts are abrupt, short and jumpy; my (mildly) dyslexic brain talking. Each post will probably be brief. I’m dying to insert emojis everywhere, I try control myself but fail. (¬ ‿ ¬)

It’s also a timing thing. My anime viewing and ‘life’ on twitter is getting boring. Eventually everything becomes boring and you need to move on. Boredom does lead to good things. I have re-connected to real life friends which is also a good thing. This also leads me thinking about how I should approach this life.

#desk #cleaning #blogpost #sliceoflife #willpower #obstacles #2017001

Dragon curtain for Miro and Marta

Dragon curtain for Miro and Marta

Commission from my friends. They wanted the dragon batic to cover a make shift wardrobe. It was too small. Adding plain cloth just wouldn't work here so we needed something extra loud so the gold borders were perfect. They had all the materials which was bought in Bali.

Until the next time. ciao …i can be contacted at juunta@gmail.com for enquiries.

Monk's bag

Monk's bag

My friend Lina commissioned a copy of her favourite bag, a Monk's bag.

The fabric is dark charcoal grey hemp, with light wool lining. The original was more of a sling bag, with a very simple design. A design originating from a temple for the monks it was made to be reproduce easily with very little waste of fabric. Standard width of panels were used with lining, so the desired length cut out. the original has only 4 lined panels. I find this quite interesting.

Hemp which is much thicker than the original, had "problematic" seams because it becomes really thick when sewn together and can make the bag look really bulky. I've solved this by using the lining as much as possible.

Modifications include the length of the bag handles which is shorten to a tote length. The original (in the foto) had already been shorten (roughly tacked). The size of the bag lengthen. A zip has been on the top.

The zip was practical but i couldn't keep the simplicity of the design. It became closer to a standard/mass produced model …oh well…

I tried making this as brief as possible but still coughed out so much text. ^^;;

Until the next time <3

Monk's bag- charcoal grey hemp

original bag. handle tacked. It's really from a temple i kid you not…

pretty top view :3

Sun dress in the middle of winter (๑•́ ₃ •̀)

I bought a wonderful dress in Bangkok a few years ago. This is a modified copy; all the problems fixed ^^;; I kept the simple design; 2 side pockets, no zip & the elastic waist. It's made with a lot of ease 1 size up this roughly a L instead of M (my size). I added 20cm to the length & gave the skirt an A-line cut.

The fabric was from a collection given to me, it's a polyester printed in dark blue.

I will be wearing as part of the many layers i have on in winter.

For any enquiries: juunta@gmail.com

Ho fatto una copia con tante modifiche di un'abito preferito. Ho tenuto il design semplice aggiungendo 20cm sull'orlo e cambiato la forma della parte gonna.

Per l'informazione confezione/riparazione abito: juunta@gmail.com

Bread recipe… once off

Bread recipe

Hey everyone, I have request for the bread i've been posting on my instagram. I used this italian recipe. It has been modified over time. So here it is:

La ricetta per pane fatto a casa. Scusami se non scrivo bene in italiano.


for the bread/ per il pane:
600gm bread flour / farina
1 1/2 teaspoon salt / cucchiaino di sale
?? water / aqua

poolish:
120 gm flour / farina (tenero00)
3/4 teaspoon yeast / cucchiaino lievito
?? water / aqua



Flour
Any type of bread. the 1 used in the bread in the foto is in a flour sample called fibrapan -highfibre bread mix …i don't see being available. I'm not sure what's in it, it has oatmeal, sunflour seed… that's all i know. ^^;;

If you are using rye flour, mix it with other flour as it is rather difficult to with if you are starting out. Pure rye flour dough has a clay/mud like consistency… just so you know.

Farina
Puoi usare qualsiasi tipo di farina che vuoi. Questo pane è fatto con la farina si chiama fibrapan …non so che tipo di farina è ^^;;

Place for raising bread/ Posto for lievitare il bread

I used an oven with pot of boiling water placed at the base. The ideal temperature being 25°C at 60% humidity. Exercise your own judgement to achieve this. If you are in the hot climate, you don't need the pot of hot water.

Per lievitare il pane ho usato un forno (spento) con una pentola di aqua calda. La temperatura ideale sono 25°C gradi con umdità di 60%. Ovviamente non ti serve l'aqua calda quando c'è tanto caldo. :D



1. Poolish
In a large mixing bowl mix flour, yeast then water until you achieve a pancake mix or cream like consistency. Cover with damp kitchen towel in warm place. This takes about 1hour minimum. 3to 4 hours for best results as it makes the bread tastier.
---
In una insalatiera metti farina, lievito e aqua. Deve essere una consistenza come panna. La copri con un strofinaccio bagnato per un minimo di un'ora. Se lasci per più tempo (3 o 4 ore) si rende il pane più saporito.


2. Kneading dough/ Impastare
When the poolish is ready add the flour & salt. Followed by enough water to make a ball.

Set up the mixer with the bread hooks. Add a bit of water, knead dough with mixer. Turn dough  (upside down) after a few minutes. Repeat. Stop adding water when dough becomes soft. A bit harder than glue. (¬ ‿ ¬) ok I don't know how else to describe this. Stop kneading after 40mins. The dough stick to itself than to you (LOL)

Cover the mixing with a damp cloth & leave it in a warm place to raise over night.
---
Quando il poolish è pronto aggiungi farina, sale e abbastanza aqua per formare una palla.

Puoi iniziare a lavorare l'impasto con lo sbattitore aggiungendo l'aqua poco a poco mentre lavorare. Ribalti l'impasto dopo qualche minuto. Ripetti i passi. Quando l'impasto è molto morbido, non aggiungere più l'aqua. Lavora per 40minuti.

Metti insalatiera coperta con un strofinaccio bagnato in un posto caldo per una notte.

it had been left to rise for a night/ dopo una notta di lievitazione

3. Forming the dough/ formatura
Flour your hands & working surface. I used ground barley (or oats) (¬ ‿ ¬) I'm not sure what it was tbh but I trust it was meant to coat the dough & went with the flow. Normal white flour is good for this purpose.

I split the dough to make 2 loafs. I pulled the dough quite flat then rolled it up. No rolling pins here. Just a personal preference you can follow the fotos on this site if you like. Don't knead the dough please. Be gentle with it (•‧̫•⑅) At this you can make whatever strange shape you

Place on a lined baking tray.
---
Ho seguito la ricetta del sito per questa parte più o meno :D


4. 2nd rise/ secondo lievitazione
Leave them to rise in a warm place for the second time for 2 to 3hr or when have doubled in bulk. Bake them in a preheated oven (180°C ) for 25-30mins. The finished bread should have a hollow sound when tapped.

Lascia lievitare la seconda volta. Quando è raddoppiato lo puoi mettere in forno già riscaldato 180°C. Far cuocere per 25/30minuti.

Have fun making bread…

I'm not an expert on this> I have not tried out kneading by hand so I can't help you there.

Good night. Buona notte (◡‿◡✿)

Fisherman's Pants the tuxedo version …

My latest order ٩(๑`^´๑)۶

This is a black tuxedo version of the Fisherman's pants. It's in all black italian wool suiting with italian silk highlights. The suiting was a lovely fabric, black with a very fall to it. (๑•́ ₃ •̀)

A real pleasure working on this one ✩*⋆¸¸.•*¨*\(๑•ᴗ•๑)/*¨*•.¸¸⋆*✩ It's meant for a formal occasion.

Until the next time. I can be contacted at the usual email address.