The Art of Paper Folding: Origami

Credits to Carolina Aguilera 

Wazzup Pilipinas! 

The ancient art of origami (from ori meaning "folding”, and gami meaning "paper") is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th century AD at the latest and was popularized outside of Japan in the mid-1900s. It has since then evolved into a modern art form. The goal of this art is to transform a flat sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques.

Thankfully no paper cuts today, as I was making origami with my siblings. I was pretty chuffed to have taught myself how to make a crane (embarrassingly, It took me 10 minutes or so), a whale and even some cute wee pandas, and I’m still in awe of all the crazy things that people have made online using the origami technique! All I can say is they must have tiny fingers and a lot of time and patience!

 

Top 5: My Favorite Japanese Food of All times!

Wazzup Pilipinas!
   

(Picture from: (Mine) Naomi Bersamin )

     
      The number one on my list is the gyudon, or beef bowl. I like it because it has all what is needed for a meal. It contains thin strips of beef, gohan or rice, and onions poured with a special sauce. The ingredients are easy to find and it’s easy to cook and serve.

(Picture from: keeplearningkeepsmilling.com)

     My second dish is sushi. I think almost all people like the way sushi tastes. My parents always make sushi, even without occasion. They first lay the nori flat, put some gohan, crabsticks, sometimes, mango or cucumber and my dad does his “super roll” and makes the sushi perfectly round. And is served with soy sauce, or kikoman.

                                   

(Picture from: The Philippines and Beyond)

     Third is the shrimp tempura, this dish is kind of common to people since it is served at any Japanese Restaurant. It is now even sold at carts. Talk about tempura on the go. But the tempura that I really like is the one made by my aunt. She carefully picks out the freshly delivered shrimp from the market, make the batter herself, and fry. It’s crunchy on the outside but the shrimp is tender on the inside.

     

   

(Picture from: (Mine) Naomi Bersamin )

 My fourth favourite is the mochi. A rice cake filled with grinded red beans inside. The modern mocha doesn’t just have red beans inside, now it’s filled with ice cream and cookie, or plain chocolate. We can try different mochis anywhere since many malls have shops where mocha can be tasted plus it’s cheap!

(Picture from: newyork.seriouseats.com)

    Last but not the least is the pork tonkatsu. Tonkatsu is a deep fried pork cutlets. There is something about tonkatsu that I really like. It’s the tenderness of the pork. It is fried but there’s not much oil that is left on the beef and it has an outer crunchy coating that is just light and has a good but into it.

That’s my top five favourite Japanese dishes! What’s yours?

Student Exchange Program on Japanese Language Education

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Last November 12-15, 2013, we had a Student Exchange Program on Japanese Language Education. Some students from Sekolah Menengah Sains Tuanku Syed Putra went to Philippines. We were very happy because we've got some new friends!

On our first day (November 12, 2013), we had a lesson about Daily Meals. After the lesson, we had a visitor session. Even though I was so shy, it was fun talking to our Malaysian friends because they are so friendly! We've got to know each other's favorite actor, song, color and many more. I have learned some Malaysian words from them! Cool! After the visitor session, we had a Cultural Exchange Program held at the Youth Development Center.

I have learned many things in this program. Sachiko-kuwano sensei of Japan Foundation Manila taught us many facts about Banana. We also had games about banana and had fun while making our posters of our restaurants which was the main ingredient would be the banana. Hmmm! Our restaurant's name is McKanan Kaliwah.