EVACOMICS BLOG

I was approached by a company founded in Singapore last year called Blokko, to design a toy from my Evacomics series. The portal aims to matchmake creators and 3D modellers to make toys that will be 3D printed, while payment and shipment will be all handled by their partners and we get a cut from sales. I was told that the first modeller they found did not do a good job of my hair so they found another modeller for me called Rachel Collier , a professional 3D artist based in the US, who did a pretty good 3D rendering of my design. Of course, I was skeptical at the quality of 3D printing at first because the 3D printed stuff that I had seen so far were no where near a decent level. But when they showed me the toys they tested out with their vendor, I was surprised that it was actually quite decent. Unlike those mass-produced vinyl toys that has flawless smooth surface, these 3D printed toys have a rough sandy texture to it that makes them feel handmade. The final toy you w

2015 has been a busy year for me, fulfilling some commission work (bulk orders like 8-15 comic strips) and giving talks from "Lessons Learnt from Self-Publishing" to "Visiting Tokyo". I was also kept busy trying to sell as many books and cushions as possible. Significant achievement in 2015 is my signing with MPH (how it came to this will be explained in another post), becoming their author and no longer self-published. I also went to Jakarta for the first time and saw my first foreign published book "Eva The Explorer", which is actually the same book as "Eva, Kopi and Matcha" but different language. My work was stolen by a Vietnamese magazine but it was eventually resolved favourably, leading to the release of of a Vietnamese version next year. I learnt a lot about freelancing practice in 2015. It is better NOT to do a one-year project for more than 8 comic strips because it is very difficult to plan time when Clients suddenly wants the co

Because my photo of the markers received so many shares, I realised that many artists are interested about the markers and perhaps want to know where to buy them from. Hence I wrote this guide for artists to shop in COPIC heaven aka Tokyo. ★ UPDATE NOV 2017: Please refer to my new article for latest updates on COPIC marker shopping! >>> Ultimate Guide to Copic marker shopping in Tokyo, Japan

This year's November was exceptionally warmer and rained more than usual. I thought I would not be able to see Mt. Fuji again until I was invited to Hitsuki Club . This is a beautiful resort hotel with rooms housed in cottages with each having a stunning view of Mt. Fuji. The resort is located in Shizuoka prefecture, inside the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park's Asagiri Highland, which is 700m above sea level so Mt. Fuji appears very close to you. The owner of this hotel is a doctor so the focus is on the wellness of the mind and body together with mother nature. Breakfast and dinner is included and you can expect fresh local ingredients cooked with spring water everyday!

Hidaka City 日高市 is around an hour's train ride from Tokyo's Ikebukuro station. There you can find a small village called Koma, that has deep roots with Korea dated as far back as 1,300 years ago. I was lucky that the annual Korean traditional mounted archery contest was held when I visited on 23 Nov (Mon) public holiday.

There are many specialised beef in Japan and the most famous one to foreigners is Kobe Beef. Frankly speaking I had never tried one before because it is so expensive.

There has been more rainy than sunny days so visiting a museum at this time is the best. Having experienced the 311 Tohoku earthquake back in 2011 , I was interested to know more about the Great Hanshin Earthquake and how it affected Japan.

I wasn't aware that there is this waterfall within the city until my friend said that we should visit it.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of Inari (rice) in Kyoto. It is located right next to JR Inari station so it is very easily accessible.

On our second trip to Kyoto, we wanted to target a temple with red leaves so we shortlisted temples in the North that turn cold earlier than those in the city area. Jakko-in was chosen because my friend thought the other nearby temple: Sanzen-in did not have enough red leaves.

Arashiyama Out of the 5 days we were in Kansai, only 1 day was good sunny weather so we decided to visit Kyoto. The skies were beautiful finally after days of cloud and rain. Our first stop was Arashiyama to visit the temple garden and bamboo forest.

We were looking for elsewhere to visit besides Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe and chose Wakayama because we had never been there. A quick google reveals Koyasan, a UNESCO world heritage site that consists of a mass cemetery and temples set on a mountain. Commuting time was around 4 hours from Osaka that consists of train, ropeway and bus, so it isn't too bad compared to 5-6 hours to southern parts of Wakayama.

It was rainy after we got into our hotel on Sunday (15 Nov) so we decided to check out something indoor like the world-renown Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan.

Shinsekai was a highly recommended place to visit from my yoga classmate who claimed that the place appeared to be a pop out town from anime and has good fried food. The name literally means New World although it was created in 1912.

This museum was opened in 2011 but I did not visit when I was studying in Tokyo.

I would not have come here if not for my friend who was into Little Twin Stars from Sanrio...

This year hasn't been good to see red leaves due to the more than usual number of rainy days. One of the popular spots is the "Momiji Kairou" at Lake Kawaguchi. Momiji means red leaves and the English translation can be "Momiji Tunnel" or "Maples Corridor" although they are two separate but close-by places on the map. A "Momiji Matsuri" festival is held every year from the end of October to mid November with road stalls and romantic night illumination so it is a popular destination during November for people to see both Mt Fuji and red leaves.

Tokyo One Piece Tower is an indoor amusement park based on the famous manga/anime series "One Piece". It was officially opened in March 2015 with much hype, so is it worth the trip and your 3,000yen?

It is very difficult for foreigners to rent apartment in Japan due to language barrier and lack of guarantor. The rental procedure is also very complex and you are required to pay lots of fees like gift money, key-change fee, agent fee, deposit and first month rental. I blogged about this bad experience 4 years ago when I first went for my house hunting: Rental Nightmare in Tokyo . However with this CLIHO shared house, you can rent your own private room in a Japanese house setting and environment easily.

Feng jia Night Market 逢甲夜市 This was my 3rd time to Taiwan but I had never visit Tai Chung City. Locals say that the only night market that is crowded all the time is the Feng Jia Night market. My brother booked an airbnb location close to the night market so it was really convenient to visit there almost every night. However because I was traveling with my mum, siblings and young nephew, so I had to help bring back food each time...