Live up your goals!!!

Kia ora folks,

    I know i know it has been a very long time and no post, there are times that we feel like nothing interesting is happening in our life and therefore, we don't feel like writing or doing much, it's a bit of a vicious cycle...
 ...that is not the case here. As a matter of fact i had a lot going on. My last few months in New Zealand and the start of my new life back in Brazil.

    Travelling is my life, it defines who i am and so far it has been 35 countries, 3 continents, thousands of liters of beer, wine, kilos (or Pounds) of various food, several kilometers (or miles) driven, flown, sailed, on tracks, pedaled, walked, ran, hiked, climbed, handstands in famous places, people met, fancy cars, jet skies in beautiful paradisiac beaches, expensive night clubs, extreme sports, concerts. Played with all seasons within their proper weather, snowboarding in Colorado during winter, biking on the reddish Central Park during autumn, snorkeling on crystal blue Caribbean waters on a hot summer day, going for a run up the mountains breathing clear springtime air in Akaroa NZ, natural disasters such as earthquakes, tropical storms at sea, hurricane storms, hail, snow storms, cyclones, bad rain and lightening, bruises, smiles, pain, relief, happiness, memories, moments good or bad, the list is almost endless.
 
   Trying to write all of it down, makes me think how wonderful and much like a Hollywood movie my life as been, i'm not rich financially and yet i was able to do sooooo much that made me rich on the inside, i have achieved most of my goals, a total of 20 % of the world, and from here on i'll be working on settling my life on my biggest dream;  ARTS, by getting involved in courses, and getting to know people with the same interest.

    I still intend to do some travelling, my new goal towards travels is to be in all of the five continents (not counting Antarctica) before i reach my 35th year, i'm 16 days away from my 27th birthday which gives me about 8 years to visit Africa and Asia, ahhh and also to learn Italian and French hehe.

Folks now i'm back to my online "duties", i'll be posting new journals here and drawings on DA, so tag along if you like and share my perspective of life, leave a comment if possible!

C ya!!!

A session of pain and remembrance!

Kia ora,

   Pretty much since the next day after the quake i've been living down in Akaroa, with not much reason to stay in town plus the offer from my boss to keep working for her at the Duvauchelle store & bistro, having a bed at the flat on the back and a bed on my best friend's, Kay Maitland, house, it was only the best option, and even though i'm a city boy the country life is growing on me, at first it sort of f=drives you nuts, not having much to do, but once u let go, the commodities of the big city u start appreciating the beautiful surrounding nature or the sound of silence.

   Had the last weekend off, and i went to Kay`s for some time away from the store, between cooking Brazilian rice and beans, riding her motorbike, walking through the vineyard having a chat and a beer, watching movies and discussing arts with her son Roman i had a great time perfect for taking my mind out of things, plus on Sunday night i called her friend Simon to scheduelle for my MAORI tattoo that he would design himself!

Today i woke up, psyched for the prospect of getting my ink done, carried on with my duties up till 12:30 and left to town heading for the Simon's studio. Got there around one and having previously discussed the concepts i wanted done for my tattoo i sat down and he started drawing free handed on my arm, it took him about 40 minutes to come up with it, and then the pain started hehe!

   All together the design and the tattoo took around 4:30 hours, and it was the longest session of tattooing that I've been through, but hey it was worth it, it looks wicked and now i have a part of New Zealand culture going back home with me. Simon is an amazing artist and for the fact that he is Maori, properly told me stuff about the culture and even did some Maori gestures i feel a bit more immerse in this amazing country's history.

KIA KAHA!

New plan! Heading home!

    It's been a little over a week since the big quake in Christchurch, and it took me a while to actually get my mind in order to organize new plans, for this city won't be the same for while, it will take sometime to get the pieces back up, restructure what's been destroyed, and unfortunately even longer for getting this city back on the map for touristic destinations.

   The hospitality business had already suffered a blow with the quake in September, and 28% of the market was forced to shut, now i reckon that the lucky ones that remain open will have a  real hard time to keep their profit in order to stay open!

   All i can do is wish them well, and pray for the souls that were lost, as for what am i going to do, i could just go to another part of the country, but very honestly one of the reasons i stayed in Christchurch is because of the sense of normality for once, living with a suitcase ready and always on the go is hard, and i know i'm one that can do it, but everybody has a limit, and i fell like I've reached mine, plus i'm 26 now which is good cuz with all of this travelling done can now focus on my goals for a career, and i really think i should put more time into my ART.

   It is never to late to restart, and as long as you've got a general idea of your plans for life, it's not that hard to make out the priorities of your present in order to achieve results in the future.

   So with no further longings I've decided to head home, i'm much satisfied with my choice, knowing full well that i could stay and do some other things, but as i say on my motto, if you are going to regret, regret the things you've done and not the ones u haven't tried, of course with a little common sense!

cheers to all guys!

Traditional or not make your own SUSHI!

It's time for the Post of the week folks, and as last week i did say i was going to post a recipe but didn't, here we go for a recipe on the basics for SUSHI, or Makimono to be more precise. As some of you may know, and for those who don't, Sushi comes from an ancient grammatical form that translates to "it's sour", which is due to the seasoning with rice vinegar, but also Sushi is basically all forms of Japanese Rice and raw seafood in general, Makimonos are the ones that you roll up, ramifying to Hossomaki (the thin ones), Futomaki(the large ones), Nigirizushi are the ones with a rice oval shape on the bottom and seafood on top, and so on!!!

Anyway folks, doing sushi it's really not that hard, i had my first try today and was very pleased with the result, and for that reason i come to thee in order to show you how simple it can be.

First and foremost the rice, make sure you have SUSHI rice and no other, with about 1 Kg you can feed well around 10 people, and as for the filling it can be anything u want, the traditional ones are compulsory if you are trying to become a great sushi men, but if u are not Japanese than u have failed the quest already(haha), Japanese people are ultimately traditional and therefore there isn't much space for recognition as a sushi man when u are not from or related to the country, so if u feel like making beef sushi by all means go ahead!

Traditional or not make your own SUSHI! part 2

The Ratio to cook the Rice is 1/1, which means equal parts of water and rice, previously washed with running water, using a lid on simmering fire, make sure to look every now and then, you don't want to burn the rice right?!

For the seasoning you'll need:
-90 ml rice vinegar
-75 gr sugar
-25 gr salt

Dissolve all the elements with low degree of heat (microwave or fire). Now that the rice is cooked get all of it into a big/large bowl and slowly add the "sauce/seasoning" to it, you should fold the rice gently in order to keep the grains whole as oppose to mash them, and while you do it get something to fan it together (either you or someone else), the rice should be lowered to around 38 C degrees, to prevent it from cooking more.


Great, with all of that done now u just have to roll them right?! Well rolling them is really not that hard with the right tools, you will need a bamboo mat (makisu), and nori, which is the seaweed sheet.

Wet your hands to make it easier to manipulate the rice and Spread a layer on top of the nori, leaving around 2cm on the top of the nori, rice free. Start rolling the mat forward keeping a tight grip on the food inside (filling),  after half way through it bring the whole thing near the bottom edge of the mat and finish to roll all the way!

It's kinda hard to actually explain this with photos, check out Youtube for videos on how to Roll sushi, there's loads of it and you'll get the hang of it.

That's all for now, i hope this will help ya with making this delicious treat, and if u are having any trouble with the rolling then make a rice "ball" put some protein or vegie on top and eat it, it might not look as good as if u were rolling but it will still taste as good!

P.S.: the first pic is a sketch on a Japanese looking-like village, and the other ones r my sushi from today!

Ciao