Creative Land of Chia DNA

by chia | Oct 29, 2019 | Character Designs

Animation is coming soon….

Bread Monster on Blue Monday

by chia | Oct 28, 2019 | Character Designs

Fly with books

by chia | Sep 10, 2019 | Character Designs

The goals:
– Promote leeszaal in Rotterdam and create a cozy corner for kids.

The concept:
– Books are doors which can open up our eyes and bring us to other worlds.

Technical details:
– Adobe illustrator, sketch

Wat net gebeurde bij Café Oranje?

by chia | Oct 26, 2018 | Character Designs

Orangie／The owner of Café Oranje

Nationality:
• The Netherlands (Bron and grew up in The Netherlands)
Appearance:
• A big orange head with a pair of deer horns
• Height: 190 cm, Weight: 85 kg
Personalities:
• Straightforward without overthinking
Favorite food:
• Cheese, Licorice, beer with orange flavour
Hobbies:
• Chat with visitors about the Dutch weather

Note:
• Cheese = Kass
• Licorice = Drop (Taiwanese people call it, Magic Black Candy.)

Nij Nij／ Café Oranje’s regular visitor

Nationality:
• The Netherlands (Bron and grew up in The Netherlands)
Appearance:
• A fluffy rabbit with pink hair, an pair of long ears and four huge front teeth
• Height: 150 cm, Weight: 45 kg
Personalities:
• Cute and outgoing
Favorite food:
• Chinese food and pasta
Hobbies:
• Hang out with friends and get drunk during the weekend

Taipi／ Orangie’s Taiwanese friend

Nationality:
• Taiwan (Bron and grew up in Taiwan, Now is living in The Nederlands)
Appearance:
• A fluffy bearish monster with purple hair, an pair of canine teeth and cute small ears
• Height: 168 cm, Weight: 65 kg
Personalities:
• Speak implicitly, sensitive, and full of curiosity
Favorite food:
• Pineapple cake, beef noodle soup, Imagawayaki, scallion cake and all the delicious food all over the world
Hobbies:
• Travel, discover new & interesting things and meet & chat with people in his trip

Note:
More information about pineapple cake(鳳梨酥), beef noodle soup (牛肉麵), Imagawayaki(車輪餅), scallion cake(蔥油餅)

Koe Mei／ Café Oranje’s regular visitor

Nationality:
• Dutch (Bron and grew up in The Nederlands)
Appearance:
• A cool hipster monster with brown hair, a small golden ring on her nose and loves to wear a pair of high heels
• Height: 170 cm, Weight: ?
Personalities:
• Talkative, outgoing, and love to gossip
Favorite food:
• All kinds of vegetables and fruits (vegetarian)
Hobbies:
• Shopping spree during the discount period

Background:
Taipi is a cute bear monster who came from Taiwan and just moved to The Netherlands.
Today is Friday and Taipi is going to Café Oranje and meet some new friends there.

What should Taipi say to the bartender to start a conversation in Dutch?
Taipi: Hoi! Een beir, alsjeblieft! (Hi! A beer, please!)
Orangie: Alstublieft! (Here you are!)

• Beir = Beer
• Beirtje = Small beer

Note:
Adding “tje” behind an object makes it smaller and cuter.
Dutch people are used to do it, for example huis / huisje, meis/ meisje, etc.

Background:
Orangie en Nij Nij went out to visit a friend in Almere.
Suddenly a storm came and the wind blew over Orangie.
He is catching so much wind because of his hight, and the tiny Nij Nij immediately finds a spot to hide.

Which phrase might Nij Nij say to tease Orangie in Dutch?
Nij Nij: Hoge bomen vangen veel wind! (Big trees catch much wind!)

• Hoge bomen = Big trees
• Vangen = Catch

Note:
Hoge bomen vangen veel wind! = Big trees catch much wind! (In Chinese: “樹大招風”, “人怕出名豬怕肥”)

Background:
Orangie drove his caravan to the sea for his summer vacation.
The sky was blue and the sun was shining. Suddenly the sky turned so dark, the wind blew strong and the heavy rain came so Orangie decided to drive home and started packing.
Right in this moment, a tree got broke and fell on the Orangie’s caravan. Luckily, he was not in the caravan.

What might Orangie say in this situation in Dutch?
Orangie: Dat is geluk bij een ongeluk! (That is happiness in an accident.!)

• Geluk = Happiness, Luck, forturne
• Ongeluk = Accident, Misfortune, Disaster

Note:
Geluk bij een ongeluk in Chinese, “不幸中的大幸”.

Background:
This summer is the way too hot. Orangie couldn’t bear such hot weather anymore so he closed the Café Oranje and is having his summer (Camping) vacation at a beach. Taipi is curious about living in a caravan so he came to the beach and join Orangie’s vacation.

Let’s looked at the window of the caravan and figure out 11 Dutch vocabularies in this puzzle. 

Background:
Today is Easter which means that the winter is almost ended and the spring is coming!
Orangie is holding an event “Easter Eggs Hunt” specially for Nij Nij and Taipi!

Let’s help Nij Nij and Taipi to find all the colorful Easter eggs at  Café Oranje!

• Pasen = Easter
• Vrolijk pasen! = Happy Easter! (Easter is “a festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.”)

Background:
No one knows how the argument between Taipi and Koe Mei started at Café Oranje!?
When people noticed the disturbance, Taipei and Koe Mei has already started their arm wrestling competition.

What are they arguing at Café Oranje in Dutch?
Taipi: Koe Mei is sterker!
Koe Mei: Taipi is sterker!
Orangie: Wei is sterker???

• Sterk = Strong, Sterker = Stronger

Note:
Zo sterk als een beer! = So strong like a bear!
(Taiwanese people describe, someone very strong like a cow: “壯得像頭牛”. However, Dutch people say, someone very strong like a bear: “Zo sterk als een beer”)

Background:
Taipi and Koe Mei are having their picnic in a tulip field in Lisse and planning to visit Keukenhof.
An unexpected rain came so Taipi proposed that it might be a good idea to cancel their plan and just go home.
However, Mei Koe kept herself calm as usual and said, the rain will recede almost as quickly as it comes.

What might say in Dutch?
Koe Mei: Na regen komt zonneschijn. (Sunshine comes after rain.)

• Na = After
• Regen = Rain
• Zonneschijn = Sunshine

Note:
Na regen komt zonneschijn. = Sunshine comes after rain. (In Chinese: “雨過天晴”)

Background:
Taipi, Orangie and Nij Nij just finished shopping and they are cycling back to Café Oranje.
Orangie saw a big dark cloud is coming to them!

How can Orangie describe a big dark cloud in Dutch?
Orangie: De wolk is zo zwart als een raaf! (The cloud is so dark like a raven!)

• De wolk = The cloud
• Raaf = Raven
• Zwart = Blak, dark

Background:
Taipi and Koe Mei went out without jackets because the sky is blue and the sun is shining.
Now they feel chill when they are walking along a canal.
Koe Mei is telling Taipi, “she would like to buy a pair of gloves”, in Dutch.

Taipi is trying to understand wat Koe Mei is telling him in Dutch!?
Koe Mei: Ik wil een paar handschoenen kopen! (I would like to buy a pair of gloves!)
Taipi: Hand + Schoenen = ??? (Hand + Shoes = ???)

• Hand = Hand
• Schoenen = Shoes
• Handschoenen = Gloves

Note:
Ik wil…. kopen. = I would like / want to buy…..
For example: Ik wil een huisje kopen. (I would like/ want to buy a small house.)

————————————————————————————————————–

Let’s learn Dutch and get to know the Dutch culture with these cute Monsters at Café Oranje!

Illustration：Yu-Chia Huang
More Stories and explanation in Chinese on Oranje Express.

Characters design in Hidden Monster Game style

by chia | Jun 21, 2017 | Character Designs

The goals:
– Get contact with Hidden Monster Game

Technical details:
– Adobe illustrator