Spring and New Beginnings

Last week, my dad went to Benguet for field work and because strawberries are in season, he brought home some strawberries from Baguio. My natural instinct, of course, was to do a strawberry baking spree.

Though I arrived home late last Friday night, I made these strawberry cheesecake muffins. They were quite tiring to make but they were a hit so I guess my staying up late and the headache that came the next day were worth it.

Sunday came, there were still strawberries in the fridge so I made strawberry shortcake. However, I didn't have whipping cream on hand (plus I don't exactly like whipped cream either) so I used Swiss meringue buttercream instead.

Last Saturday, I also bought a new sketchpad and since it's springtime (not that we have spring here in the tropics), I painted these flowers. It looks like a kid's work but I'm happy with it.

As for new beginnings (which spring signifies), I started learning something new: kendo (sometimes called "Japanese fencing"). Two Saturdays ago, I did a trial kendo class at the dojo where a couple of my college orgmates train. It was tiring and the muscle pain was terrible that it didn't go away until Thursday. However, I enjoyed it and it's stress-relieving. Last Saturday, I went to class again, signed up for membership and bought my own shinai (the bamboo stick/weapon that represents a sword). The muscle pain is much much less now  and I've been practicing my swings at home too.

This is the case of my shinai. I sewed a sakura charm into it so that I can easily identify which is mine whenever we're in the dojo. I'm planning on sewing a padded case because I take public transport and I might bump the shinai into things. I just need to buy some nice patterned fabric and padding material and then I can start sewing!