Today I should have been in Hiroshima for the first time, but of course it’s not happening. So, in the spirit of doing something Japanese-related, I started the day determined to ace the art of paper folding, also known as Origami. This art had always fascinated me, as they’re simple yet carefully done.

Thanks to my recent rediscovery of the Origami and Kirigami booklets that I bought at Daiso in more than 3 years ago, I had something to keep me occupied this long weekend as I pushed through with my vacation leave. As I sorted through my art materials stash, I was pleased to have found two sets of different colors of Japanese paper. These, along with the scraps of toilet paper wrapper from Who Gives A Crap were what I needed to kick off my art session. I was all set!

I began with the chopsticks stand, which were easily completed in less than five minutes. I was off at a good start!

What followed had different levels of complexity, but they were still easy to do: a cat, a dog, a shirt, a star, and a fish. The last one that I spent the most time on was the ninja star – I was so engrossed in figuring out how to complete it I didn’t notice it was already past noon. D, seeing my frustration, took over and helped me out in completing the ninja star.

Overall, Origami was a good way to stay focused, and I consider it as meditative. This gave me an idea to insert a piece of origami in presents I’ll give out in the future, to give the receiver sort of a piece of ‘me’.

For now, I’d like to hone in on my folding skills. The next ones I’d like to learn and complete are an elephant, a dinosaur, a crane, and some flowers.