Chef Yess

Cooking and photography has always been my passion, I always want to be an author of a cook book and then I will also be the photographer of my recipes. After college, I was thinking of pursuing my love for cooking, I wanted to study more about cooking and put up a restaurant but since I moved here in Manila, I didn't had the chance to cook anymore. I've been busy with school and I don't have time to cook, also the dormitory where I'm staying right now doesn't allow us to cook. I'm stuck with fast food and canned goods which is not healthy at all but I'm getting used to it anyway. So whenever I get the chance to go home, I can't really explain the excitement that I'm feeling, because finally I can cook again.

I remember the first time I cooked, I was only 9 years old when my yaya taught me to cook adobong sitaw. It was hard for me to do it the first time because I'm still small, I'm having a hard time reaching for the stove to mix the veggies but it was memorable because at least I learned a Filipino Dish first and the taste wasn't that bad, my Dad actually loves it/he just doesn't want to hurt my feelings. HAHAHA

I would love to believe that my love for cooking started when I was still 4 years old, because one of my favorite toys when I was still a kid was a kitchen set.

Even until now that I am already taking up my masters, mature and handles lots of things already, I still enjoy playing the kitchen set with my niece this time. We do the role play thing like she's the customer and of course I'm the chef. Whenever I play with her kitchen set, I feel like I'm a little girl again when life is still easier and all about playing. I actually take some photos of the dish we "cook" whenever we play but I deleted it from my Ipad because I want my Ipad to have that "mature feel" already. HAHAHA

I guess everyone of us has its own cameras already, it may be from a mobile phone or computers. It is in the very nature of Filipinos to take photos. That is why Instagram is very hit nowadays. It is an application where you can take photos of anything and upload it instantly. Most of the photos in Instagram are photos of food, just like mine though sometimes I would love to be vain and take photos of myself but majority of my posts is all about food especially when it looks really delicious so I could also recommend it to my Instagram followers. Instagram is very easy to use, there are default filters already and it is fast so the moment the food is served you'll followers will have a glimpse of it already when you take a photo of it.

Food, cooking and photography is the perfect combination of good life for me, it's because aside from I'm in the kitchen cooking and being creative with my dish, I can also be creative in taking photos of the dish that I cook. And also I could share the photos to everybody if not the food itself,  using the social media.

I guess if I really want to have lots of photos of food and have a recipe book then I should be a chef to be credible in a way and I would love to do that, I would love to put up a restaurant and take photos of the food that I cooked and the reactions of the customers who tasted it. Ohhhh well .. In His own perfeCt time, I will be called Chef Yess. :)

Hello Kitty; A product of Japanese Creativity

Midterms is here and since this will be a heavy week for me, I will make this blog post very light.

Yesterday, during our Com 207.3 my professor asked if what comes to our mind when we talk about Japan and then I immediately answered "innovation" but after the class I was thinking that I should have answered "Hello Kitty". 

                                               

Hello Kitty is one of Japan's trademark , it is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio. It was first designed by Yuko Shimizu in 1974 and was brought to the States in 1976. By the way , below is a photo of Yuko Shimizu who is now a New York based award winning illustrator. 

                       

After reading about Hello Kitty and Yuko Shimizu, I gain a deeper understanding about Japanese approach on creativity.They use their creativity to communicate globally and to gain profit as well. Just like when Hello Kitty was realeased, Sanrio's sales increased seven times up, to think it's just a cat with a red bow on it. The appeal of Hello Kitty to the public is amazing especially to young girls who wants cute stuff, something very girly and attractive. I can say that Hello Kitty is one of Japan's icon and it is very evident when you go to their country because Hello Kitty's face is all over the place. 

                              

Hello Kitty Hotel 

                                  

Hello Kitty Bus

But wait, In Italy there is a Hello Kitty train which is very cute and pink. This is just an evidence that Hello Kitty addiction is spread globally already. Who would not want to ride to this train? I mean it's so cute, pink and different. I'm wondering what's the feeling when you are inside that Hello Kitty train. :)

Hello Kitty Train 

I myself grew up with Hello Kitty, I remember the days when my cousin from Japan brings me Hello Kitty stuff. The joy that i'm feeling that time is different, I'm just a happy little girl. But now, even though I'm an adult already , I'm still smiling whenever someone gives me Hello Kitty stuff but then there's more to that now. I am now very curious with her history and how she was designed. She is clearly a product of Japanese creativity. Maybe the designer Shimizu used the principles of Kaizen because looking at Hello Kitty, she is small, simple with her red bow on it, incomplete because as you can see she has no mouth and when you look at her, she communicates just by her expression. Hello Kitty's transformation is one of a kind, because of the creativeness of Japanese and using Hello Kitty as their icon, the packaging of some of their food has Hello Kitty's face on it. It's a good thing I guess because whenever we purchase something with Hello Kitty's face on it, we immediately remember the country, Japan.

Hello Kitty Bacon Strips

Hello Kitty Corn Flakes

Hello Kitty Cheetos

Hello Kitty has gone a long way already, this cat is very popular now and soon our children and grand children would still make Hello Kitty as part of their childhood. Thanks to the Japanese and to Yuko Shimizu for bringing us Hello Kitty. Also , thank you to Sanrio for living up to their mission which is "social communication" thru Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters. I'm just wondering what would a little girl's childhood be without Hello Kitty? hmmmmm...

http://hellokittyworld.tripod.com/about.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_Kitty

Freedom Thru Visual Thinking

Back in elementary and high school, I studied in a catholic-chinese school, the training was so rigid and you should always follow whatever the teachers say. Back then, some of my teachers were nuns so we need to be demure in class , quiet and whatever the instructions given, you should do it with no questions. It was a bit hard for me since I am a very out spoken person , so I told myself that when I get to college , I will going to get a course that requires me to talk and talk. I'm not saying that I didn't learn anything from my high school but I guess I can say that I didn't enjoy it , I always hear people saying that high school life is the best part but it doesn't apply to me, I wasn't free then , I cannot talk , I cannot voice out and I always follow instructions detailed and step by step. The teaching was very traditional and I didn't like it. So when I get to college and took up mass communication, I really did enjoy it though there are also instructions that needs to be followed but I feel free, I can voice out, i can show my creativity with my ideas and it is really different because I can suggest new things to my classmates and even to my teacher. 

I am not saying that traditional teaching or traditional thinking should be demolished but base from my experience , visual thinking should be given a chance to be explored and be used by the students. Well first is for them to feel free, next is for them to discover new things and third is to explore further and not limit them on one pattern. In this case, students will learn new things that will help them with their interaction especially when they start working and face the real world. 

Visual thinking can be somehow be connected to divergent thinking, divergent thinking is the ability to find as many possible answers or ideas to a single problem and it involves breaking a topic down into various components in order to gain knowledge about the other aspects of the topic. Divergent thinking occurs in a very random and disorganized manner. The teacher plays a big role in order for the students to stimulate divergent thinking , he should think of activities that may help them discover a lot of things and not to be limited. Activities like brainstorming, journal writing, mind mapping and free writing can help the students to explore more about the topic. Also the teacher, should help in organizing the topic after the students give their ideas about it, and organizing the ideas together is called convergent thinking where you do it in a structured manner. 

Having my masters in Ateneo De Manila gave me a chance to speak up and give ideas that maybe useful for the topic. As a student, it is very fulfilling to contribute to the class discussion and not be limited with instructions and patterns. I can really say that I am enjoying my classes in Ateneo more than anything else because I feel so free in expressing myself and that is all we want right? To be free and to feel free.

Fascinated and Inspired :)

http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/

The documentary Objectified is one of the most fascinating documentaries I ever watched. Of course as a comm student the first thing I noticed is how the documentary was made, how it is edited, the lighting and the sound. But there is more to that, aside from the fact that the documentary was made pretty well in terms of editing and stuff, the story was really good, everything was well presented. I understood every single detail that was mentioned in the documentary and I was also touched because in a way, the designers always think of us whenever they create something but we never think of them. Do we? 

"A big definition of who you are as a designer is the way you look at the world." -Jonathan Ive, Apple

This is a very interesting quote , it tells us consumers, how designers are concerned with our needs. How they think of us whenever they make a certain product. This quote basically talks about the relationship between the designers, the product and the consumers and how the product may affect our daily lives. Also isn't it fascinating how we interact with the designer thru the product? and how our experiences in this world changes because of a person who devotes his time in making objects that we use to make our lives easier? The world is changing everyday, we must embrace change and we should be thankful for the people behind every single object that we see around us, because those are not just object, it has purpose why it's there or why it was made . It was made to make our daily experiences easy and unforgettable. We owe a lot from the designers of these objects, I hope we give justice to the time and effort they exert in making these products and value them. Their jobs aren't easy so let's value the things that we have.

"Mass communication vs. Mass production"

This actually awakened me, before i thought that when producing a product, it is best to produce it massively so the profit will keep on coming. But upon watching this documentary I learned that mass communication is more important than mass production because in mass communication, you can make the product perfect eventually as you hear the comments and suggestions of the consumers. For the designers this is good because they can improve their design and make it perfect that fits the wants and the needs of every person. The man who tackled about this was Mr.Dunes, it is good to know that their mission is to cater the needs of the people not to just to make money out of it. I believe that it is a mutual relationship between the designer and the consumer because the comments of the consumer may serve as a lesson to the designer to make his design better and to the designer, comments and suggestions will help him come up with a perfect product.

Sustainability

At the end of the documentary, sustainability was mentioned and I was struck because this serves us an alarm or a wake up call who are in the design industry because sustainability is a big issue nowadays especially because of the low standard materials that is sometimes use in the products. The companies should produce products that could survive for a life time and not just end up in junk shops or trash bins. That would be QUALITY products.

I always have this interest when it comes to art and I guess i also have an eye when it comes to design but not as good as the ones behind these laptops, clocks, watches and cellphones because they're just exceptional artists. I guess everyone who will hear the story of every object and the story of the person who is  behind that object will be fascinated and inspired. And guess what? I just did !!