Day 5 - Homecooked Goodness

How has your Monday been?

Working here in Japan is really relaxing unlike stressful Singapore. For those people who have asked me countless times (and those who have this questions in their minds), I am not employed at Studio Kura. I'm here for an Artist Residency Program, whereby I stay here for a month and work on a project at the same time - which will be showcased at the end of my residency. So, I'm not paid, even though my accommodation and air tickets are provided for. =D

I love that the pace of life here is so slow and easy. There isn't the hustle and bustle of the citylife. I can go to sleep and go to the studio anytime I want, have my meals anytime I want. The only problem is that the nearest grocery store or even food places are miles away.

I have to cycle to anywhere I want, which is a stressful task for me because I'm not a confident cyclist. Whenever the road is too bumpy or narrow, or when I see someone on the same path, I will tend to get off my bike and walk instead. I'm THAT BAD. I have this paranoid idea that I won't be able to maintain my balance while trying to avoid obstacles (I can't multitask that way).

Blessed with home-cooked meals!

Just when I'm fretting about what I'm going to do for lunch and dinner (whether I should go back and cook or cycle to the nearest ramen shop), I AM BLESSED WITH HOME-COOKED MEALS!

I was just sitting in the studio doing my work (I was already prepared to go without lunch), when Hiro-san came in and offered me a cup of hot delicious soup which was prepared by his mother.

Wow! And I gotta say that people here can really whip up some fantastic cuisine (I don't know about everyone here, but I'm believing it to be so)!

Thank God for all these blessings!

Yummilicious soup!

And as for dinner, Hiro-san's parents invited Nigel and I over to their place (which is just next to the studio). Look at the spread below!

Home-cooked food in a foreign land = bliss!

This is something that I'll never get to have from Japanese restaurants. :)

And the sashimi (the right of the picture) is so fresh and awesome! I think that the shoyu sauce is also somehow different from the ones in Singapore. Hahaha. JUST PLAIN AWESOME!

Project Update

Hmm, I wonder what I can write here because I don't want to divulge too much of my project publicly yet.

But so far, I've gotten at least the story and storyboard cemented (oh, I can say that I'm working on a mini mini short film, hopefully about 30 seconds, or less than a minute). I have to also keep in mind that I have less than 3 weeks, at most 2 weeks for production (saving one week for rendering and any post production touch ups) - so I can't have a too elaborate plot and too many shots.

Other than that, I've started collecting style references and started modeling my environments. I should have watched more tutorials on modeling before coming here. It would have been a time saver!!!

I'm also doing my project in both 3D and 2D (very simple 2D), so hopefully it will save some time. Not much, but some. :)

Working away to drown out the homesickness... haha.