Hanna Hussein makes good use of her MCO-enforced free time at home by joining two online classes to pick up some seriously fun puppet-making and origami skills
WHEN Movement Control Order 2.0 was announced, I was a bit disheartened at the thought of being stuck at home for weeks or possibly months on end.
"Why don't you join an online class? You can have fun and relax in the comfort of our home," suggests my husband.
Well, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Maybe I should check what's on Airbnb, one of my go-to online travel platforms.
Once upon a time, whenever I travelled abroad, I loved joining classes and tours offered by Airbnb Experience run by local hosts offering activities that went beyond the typical tours or classes.
When the pandemic hit last year, Airbnb also introduced Online Experiences as a way to keep people around the globe connected.
Since its introduction, many Malaysians have joined the Airbnb Host community with some offering seasonal classes and tours.
One such class involves a collection of festive Online Experiences held to welcome the Year of the Ox.
One of the experiences is hosted by award-winning fashion designer Melinda Looi, a craft class to make adorable puppets using socks. It's her first collaboration with Airbnb.
It seems like the perfect activity for me to join, especially with a baby on the way. I can make a cute puppet for my little one to welcome her to the world.
SOCK IT TO HER
For the uninitiated, Looi is popular for her fine art and vintage chic creations which have won her multiple awards and recognition in many countries including France, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Singapore, Canada and Hong Kong.
Locally, she was named Designer of the Year three times!
I am very excited to get a spot to join the special one-time Online Experience class hosted by Looi.
Priced at RM120 per person, the class only accepts eight guests and this makes it quite exclusive.
As preparation for the class, participants are given a list of items to prepare such as unused socks, sewing tools (such as scissors, colourful threads, needles and pins), stuffing (which you can source from old pillows, soft toys and worn clothing or purchase from art shops for about RM5) and colourful buttons for accessories.
As for the socks, Looi recommends getting up-cycled, used or the odd-one-out socks but I prefer to buy those cheap ones for hygiene purposes.
As this is an interactive online class, I will also need a stable Internet connection and the ability to stream audio and video.
Upon registration, I receive a booking confirmation email and a detailed link for the Zoom class.
On the day of the class, I click to join the class 10 minutes earlier and wait for the host to let me in. My young class participants range from nine to 15 years old, and there are also two women.
To break the ice, Looi kicks off with a fun introduction of everybody. Joining her is her youngest daughter, Lala, as her adorable assistant of the day.
"To celebrate the Year of the Ox, let's turn something old into niu — let's turn your old socks into a fashionable and cute ox puppet," says the friendly Looi.
I learn later that "niu" is Mandarin for ox.
Looi begins by getting us to draw our creation on a piece of paper just to have an idea of what we want to create.
Looi tells us to make it simple and fun, like putting a cute bow or giving it patterned pants.
She then shows us some recycled colourful printed socks which she will be using in her creation.
"Don't worry about the print and colours. No matter what they are, the end result will turn out cute.
"Think about the cow you want to create. I like fat ones!" she exclaims, laughing.
She then turns the socks inside side out and draws a big circle using chalk (or sewing pencil) on a sock to indicate the puppet's face.
With my own material, I follow suit. Done with the circle, I take out my colourful thread and needle to start stitching.
Looi teaches the younger ones how to do so as most of them are beginners.
All we need to do is stitch along the marker line while leaving a 2cm gap between both ends. This gap is for us to turn the sock the right side out later once a cut is made along the side of your stitches.
The result is a big round pouch for the stuffing before we stitch it all up.
The same process is repeated to make the body, tail, ears and other body parts that we have drawn earlier.
All the body parts stitched and stuffed, we just combine them together via stitches to make an adorable puppet.
While the one-hour class is quite rushed, it is easy to follow. As we are completing our creations, Looi assures us that they do not have to look like a cow.
"It can be any creature and it will still turn out adorable," she says.
Though my puppet doesn't look anything like an ox (or any animal for that matter), I find the activity quite therapeutic.
ORIGAMI WITH MANAMI
Hungry for more, I join another Airbnb Online Experience, this time travelling virtually to Koto City in Japan!
The Origami and the Essence of Japan class is hosted by Manami Watanabe, a host for Airbnb Experience since 2019. She offers walking tours to see an old neighbourhood in Tokyo.
Since the pandemic started, she has improvised the class for an unique insight into Japanese culture.
As I'm a big fan of anything Japanese, it's not difficult to decide on this class. Another plus factor is the price. Since it is only RM39 per person, I decide to rope in my sister.
Lucky us! The selected slot has no other participants. So it's a personal class with Manami.
Just like any other Airbnb Online Experience class, we receive a Zoom link once our booking is confirmed.
Clicking the link on the day of our class, we get connected to the class where Manami welcomes us before she introduces herself.
She is currently working as a programme coordinator for a non-profit nature conservation foundation in Tokyo. Her passion is traditional Japanese culture.
"I love sharing Japanese culture with people from around the world. One of my favourite projects is teaching origami online as well as on-site," she says, adding that she also has videos on YouTube revolving around Japanese culture and language.
According to Manami, it is typical for Japanese parents to teach their children origami at a young age.
In fact, Manami first learned to make origami when she was just three years old.
"I practised intensively even when I lived abroad from the age of seven," she says.
Origami, she adds, teaches one to focus and the satisfaction is the sense of achieving something beautiful.
To kick off the session, Manami shows us her "Origami Programme". She has a star rating for her projects, based on the difficulty of making them.
The easiest to make is bunny, followed by samurai helmet, sail boat, balloon box, lotus flower and crane. The last is the most difficult to master and yet is a Japanese favourite.
Manami asks us to choose a project and we opt for the classical bunny and the crane.
I have already prepared in advance the things needed for the class: at least three sheets of 15cm square paper (ideally origami paper, which is suitable for difficult projects which need a lot of foldings), scissors and pencil.
There are two camera screens, one for us to interact with her and the other for us to see her step-by-step folding process up-close.
Folding the bunny origami is quite simple. My sister and I do it in just five minutes. It's cute and super easy to follow even if you're a beginner.
Next, Manami shows us how to make the crane. As expected, it is quite advanced and complex compared to the bunny. We take almost 20 minutes to come up with it!
Unlike the typical origami class, Manami also shares the Japanese culture associated with the art, like the seasonal events and things Japanese love as well as the meaning and unique values of certain creations.
"In Japanese culture, the crane symbolises recovery and peace. It also means good fortune and love. It is
so symbolic that it is used in many Japanese fixtures and traditional dresses.
"Do you know that senbazuru or a group of 1,000 origami cranes held together by a string is a good wish to
convey to someone who is sick?" she asks.
I mention some colourful cranes that I saw at a memorial museum a few years ago during my visit to Hiroshima.
"Yes, the crane has emotional connotations and important in origami. We are still making them to symbolise good wishes," she replies.