Manja Cats, Singapore & Us

Ve Ching Watching TV

2008-05-27T16:50:00.003+08:00

When I was young, my mother used to remind me over and over not to sit too close to the television. She was afraid that I would become myopic, which I did! :)

Things came full circle when Ve Ching started watching TV just centimetres away from the screen. I am not quite sure what he actually saw at such close range. Could he see the whole dog or only the dog's ears? As the above photos show, he really liked watching other animals.

Ve Ching in a Small Box

2008-05-26T17:25:00.004+08:00

Why is it that cats like lying in small spaces? Here, Ve Ching has squeezed himself into a box that my PDA came in. Note how one side of the box is pushed outwards by his back and bits of him are sticking out of it. The first cat bed that we bought was hardly used until Loy Loy came along. I think the kitties didn't like it cause it didn't fit snugly around them. So when Loy Loy came to live with us, although she was a very small dog, smaller than a couple of the cats, she made the cat bed her own. I guess dogs don't like it snug unlike cats.

Beautiful Cat, Gross Hairballs

2008-05-23T11:44:00.005+08:00

Tigger, as you can see, is a beautiful, semi long-haired cat. Cats like him require regular brushing. But unfortunately, he hates have his fur brushed, even though we tried to get him used to it by brushing him weekly when he was only a wee kitten. Nowadays he requires daily brushing but more often then not, he would run away and if we persist, then we (mainly Alex) would end up with lots of scratches. No amount of treats or distractions will get him to submit willingly to a grooming session.

The result, as any cat owner knows, is the frequent throwing up of hairballs. He used to dry heave for a long time before actually coughing a hairball up. But nowadays, after switching his brand of wet food and adding probiotics and digestive enzymes and fish oil to his diet, he coughs them up like nobody's business.

The first time we saw a hairball, we were so disgusted and yet fascinated by it that we took a picture of it.

Good Company

2008-05-22T12:00:00.000+08:00

The picture shows Tigger and Harmony keeping Alex company while he works. I'm an early sleeper while Alex works till midnight or later most days, so it's good to know that he's feline company while I'm asleep. And in case you are wondering where Missy is, she goes to bed early, at around 9pm, which coincidentally is when the aircon in the bedroom comes on....

Where's Heli?

2008-05-21T13:06:00.004+08:00

In 2006, I bought Alex a toy helicopter for a Christmas present. When he started to fly it around the flat, the kitties were fascinated. They would watch its every move and when it crashed, which it often did, it was a race between Alex and them to see who could get to the helicopter first. It's a pity that Alex hasn't flown it since then. I think the kitties would like it.

No Junk Mail - Reader's Digest

2008-05-20T15:02:00.003+08:00

Alex gets a lot of promotional and sweepstake mail from Reader's Digest. So around 3 weeks ago, I sent them an email asking for such mail to Alex to be stopped. Two weeks later, Alex received another piece of snail mail from them and yet another last Friday. Just as I was planning to send all their junk mail back to them in their return envelope, I suddeny got an email from them last Saturday. In it they noted my request and said that they have since updated their record. They also added that some promotions might still be sent as "they have already been addressed and cannot be moved out from mailing". I wonder how long it will take before we stop receiving junk mail from them?

Anyway, if any of you would like Reader's Digest to stop sending you junk mail, their email address is friends@rdasia.com.sg.

Cats in the Living Room

2008-05-18T10:38:00.002+08:00

This is a rare shot of all four cats lying in one place. They are usually together only if there is some activity involved like feeding or checking out new stuff. It's rare to see them all just doing nothing together.

Double Rainbow

2008-05-17T18:32:00.003+08:00

I'm not sure if you can see it, but there are 2 rainbows in the picture. The more obvious one is the one on the right side. Running parallel to it on the left is the fainter one. I took this photo in January 2007, when I happened to gaze out of my living room window and saw the double rainbows.

Man on Roof

2008-05-16T13:27:00.003+08:00

My block is currently undergoing IUP Plus, which is a combination of the Interim Upgrading Programme and the Lift Upgrading Programme. But before work could start, they had to survey the place and I guess that's what that guy on the roof is doing. He's seated on top of a 12-storey block opposite from mine. This picture was taken in December 2006. Things have been progressing smoothly so far and hopefully, we'll have a lift on our floor next year.

A Router for a Pillow?

2008-05-15T16:36:00.005+08:00

For what felt like the longest time, this was Missy's favourite place to sleep. No amount of shooing or enticement (like offering her a soft cushion on the other end of the TV console), would get her to move. By sleeping there, she was blocking the TV's remote sensor, and since she could sleep for a really long time, it was very inconvenient for us. That wireless router was hard and probably hot and buzzy, so why in the world would she want to sleep on it? The problem was finally solved when we switched to a small standing router.

STB Outpost

2008-05-14T18:37:00.003+08:00

This small caravan was parked outside Wheelock Place around Christmas time 2006. It's actually a little Singapore Tourism Board centre. There was a young lady outside handing out brochures to tourists and talking to them. I don't recall seeing it last year though.

Tigger Wide Asleep

2008-05-13T14:00:00.004+08:00

Tigger has this habit of sleeping with his eyes partially open. It looks a little eerie. Once, a few weeks ago, he was asleep on his back on the dining table with both his eyes open. I thought that looked really weird, so I called out to him thinking that maybe he was awake, but he didn't move a whisker. Then the thought crossed my mind that perhaps he'd somehow died with his eyes open (I know, I know, I've a vivid imagination) and that's why he's not responding. So I shook him gently and he finally woke up, wondering why his crazy mummy had roused him from his nap for no reason!

2nd Street Cafeteria

2008-05-12T09:46:00.006+08:00

This non-descript building is located next to SPH in Toa Payoh North. It's actually the industrial canteen catering to the flatted factories surrounding it. But once you go inside, you'll not only be pleasantly surprised by how clean and airy it is, but by the type of food stalls it has.

Besides the usual stalls selling noodles and Muslim food, there's an ang moh dessert stall called Chocolate Hearts that sells waffles, muffins and brownies. Next to it is a Thai food stall, followed by Botak Jones, which sells American food.

Further down, there's a Japanese stall called Sakura and next to it is an Italian stall serving pasta and pizzas. At the opposite end to the entrance, there's even a Botak Jones Brewski, serving what else, but beer!

Even though it was lunch time on a Sunday when we went, the place had a steady stream of customers. It was half full when we got there at 12 and three quarter full when we left at 1pm. And instead of the usual hawker centre attire of t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, people were dressed as if they had come straight from church.

The only thing lacking in this place is a good drinks stall. There is one coffee stall there that also serves fruit juice but because the juicer is in dire need of a cleaning, the juices don't taste like the fruits that they were squeezed from. Also, Alex needed a Cappuccino to go with his Waffle a la mode.

Night View

2008-05-11T10:00:00.001+08:00

Night view from the lift lobby of my HDB block. I thought the sky looked very nice.

Labuan Trip

2008-05-10T18:29:00.006+08:00

Last week I was on a four day trip to Labuan, an island just of the island of Borneo. Here are the photos I took.

Labuan Trip

I've marked them onto a Google map so you'll have a good idea where the place is, but unfortunately it isn't possible (or I don't know how to and can't be bother to find out how) to show the direction the photo was taken in.

The island's economy is mainly centred around the import and processing of natural gas and, presumably because it is quite remote, is tax free.

The remoteness was greatly enjoyed by my colleagues (two from Pune, India, one from Petaling Jaya, the town/city next too/merged with Kuala Lumpur) and myself. The lack of cars and people was very restful.

We ate at outdoor cafes within walking distance of the hotel for dinner. On the first night, without our Malay speaking colleague who arrived the second night, it was hard for us to order a vegetarian meal for one of my colleagues. However the chef did a great job of making vegetable fried rice. Generally the food was great, even at the customer's offices and despite us continuously showing up late. However on the last night the one of the Indian dishes we had was a little over spiced, which was a shame.

The journey there and back was via KL International Airport and flying into it on Thursday night, I was surprised just how unlit the area around it was.

No Junk Mail - Unsubscribing from Snail Mail

2008-05-09T13:54:00.004+08:00

At the bottom of every promotional email from a legitimate company, there's almost always a link that allows the recipient to unsubscribe and thereby not receive any future newsletters, emails etc from the company. Why can't these companies have something similar for their snail mail? They can enclose a little postage paid self addressed card that the recipient can send back to the company should they want to opt out of receiving future promotional mail. Alternatively, the companies can offer an option on their websites, where members of the public can go to opt out of receiving junk snail mail.

Good Service - Starbucks Siglap (Update)

2008-05-08T17:32:00.002+08:00

A couple of weekends ago, I posted about the good service I had received at a Starbucks outlet in Siglap. At the same time, I had written in to Starbucks, 'cos I thought that the lady's bosses ought to know what a valuable employee they had. A few days later, I received a thank you email from Starbucks in which they also asked for my address. And today, I received a thank you letter from Starbucks with a couple of complimentary beverage coupons enclosed. How's that for good service?

No Junk Mail - UOB

2008-05-07T20:06:00.010+08:00

I have 2 accounts with UOB and because of that, I receive 2 statements, plus 2 cover sheets (Summaries) and 2 sets of identical promotional materials in 2 envelopes every month. Given all this waste, I thought I could help save resources and the environment by opting out of having my statements sent to me. I did this online 2 months ago and since then, with the exception of the statements, I have continued to receive all of the above - 2 Summaries and 2 identical sets of junk mail in 2 envelopes.

Last night, I called the UOB hotline to ask why they persist in sending all this to me when I've already opted out. The customer service lady said that by opting out online, I was only instructing UOB to stop sending my statements to me. If I want UOB to stop sending the Summaries and junk mail as well, I would have to write in to their branch and ask for it to be stopped.

Aiyoh, why so leh cheh? Why is it that I can opt out of having my statements sent to me online but not the Summaries and junk mail too? It just doesn't make sense. The UOB customer service lady couldn't answer my question either.

They sure don't make it easy for their clients to be green. I guess I'll write UOB a letter to stop the summaries and junk mail being sent and in the process, give them a few tips about how they can be a little more customer friendly and helpful to the environment!

Tunnel Cat

2008-05-07T11:32:00.004+08:00

The tunnel was Ve Ching's favourite toy. Some nights, Alex would spend half an hour playing 'tunnel cat' with him before coming to bed. Alex's way of playing 'tunnel cat' was to slowly walk past the tunnel and wait for Ve Ching to shoot through and jump out to 'scare' him. When I played 'tunnel cat' with Ve Ching, I would usually take a dangly toy and sweep it up and down the outside of the tunnel, which would send him running right through it. If he's hiding in the tunnel, he would also attack if I dangled a toy into one of the tunnel's 2 topside holes or if I tapped the tunnel with my hand or a toy. Now that he's gone, it's Missy who plays with the tunnel although not as often as Ve Ching did.

No Junk Mail Please!

2008-05-06T15:21:00.007+08:00

I'm tired of receiving junk in my mail box. It's a waste of resources and terrible for the environment. Although I have locked my mail slot to prevent all and sundry from stuffing junk leaflets into the box, I still have to contend with promotional mail delivered by the postman and leaflets stucked onto my gate. I have not thought of a way in which I can stop all those leaflets from being left on my front step, but I'm going to try and minimise the junk mail I get through the postman.

My efforts to reduce junk mail started about a month ago and I've been moderately successful. The first thing I did was to call up Singpost and opt out of their Admail service. I came across this service on their website by accident:

Opt-Out Service
Residents who do not wish to receive unaddressed promotional mail through SingPost’s Admail service, can call our hotline number 6845-6210 to inform us.
Our operating hours are
Monday to Friday: 0830am to 0500pm (but closed for lunch from 1230pm to 0130pm)
Saturdays: 0830am to 1230pm
Closed on Sunday and Public Holidays

I've also emailed/faxed or mailed (using the postage paid envelope included in some junk mail) the organisations whose promotional mail I've been receiving. Fingers crossed that they will actually pay heed to my request.

Kitten Excitement

2008-05-05T16:48:00.011+08:00

One of my friends is looking to adopt a kitten or two. So last Friday, after work, we went to a foster's house to view some kittens that are up for adoption. Even though I wasn't the one doing the adopting, I still felt very excited. It's always exciting getting a new 'baby', finding out it's likes and dislikes, its little personality etc.

At the foster's place, there were four 3-month-old kittens (pictured above) and their mother for adoption. These were strays that had been picked off the streets. Another 2 of their siblings had already been adopted. 3 of the kittens are boys (2 gingers and 1 grey tabby), while the remaining tortie is a girl.

Also at the foster's house was a poor, little ginger kitten with parts of its fur shaved off. You can't see the shaved off bits in the above picture 'cos those furless patches were on its right side. This kitten was rescued off the streets where it was found soaked in kerosene. When we approached its cage, it hissed at us. But when we started playing with the other kittens, it mewed at us to get some attention. Later, the lady who had rescued it came for a visit. She was able to take it out of its cage, wrap it in a towel and give it long cuddles. I'm glad that it had been rescued by such a kind person, who obviously has lots of experience with cats. This kitten needs someone who is not afraid of its aggressive posturing (a typical reaction of an abused animal) and who can give it lots of love. This lady seems to fit the bill.

Tigger's House

2008-05-03T19:56:00.003+08:00

This 'house' was empty for many years before Tigger made it his own. Now he sleeps in it every day. He's done so for almost 2 years. It's strange how cats will ignore their toys or sleeping beds for a long, long time and then start to use it for no reason. When Tigger was a kitten, he used to carry this furry, white toy mouse all over the house. But when he grew out of kittenhood, he abandoned his toy and we soon lost sight of it. Earlier this year, it made its reappearance as Missy's toy. I have no idea where she found it (shows you how well we clean our place), but she'd play with it by herself and carry it from one part of the flat to another. She'd also carry it onto our bed and meow loudly, wanting to be praised for being such a good mouser, even if it is a toy mouse! Shortly after Missy started playing with it, Tigger did too. But in the last week or so, 'mouse-mouse' has fallen out of favour again and now just lies on my bedroom floor.

Missy Lying on the Suitcase

2008-05-02T15:20:00.003+08:00

All our cats like to lie on suitcases. Here Missy shows how it's done after Alex leaves his suitcase on the entrance floor after coming home from a trip. Note how much the suitcase cover sacks under Missy's weight. Although she looks pretty plump, she's generally weighs between 4.2-4.6kg, which isn't really too bad for a full grown kitty, is it?

Ve Ching on Missy's Rug

2008-05-02T14:56:00.002+08:00

Ve Ching was indifferent to this rug until it became Missy's favourite. She would lie on it, sleep on it, play with her toys on it and even play-fight with it. But not long after it became her constant companion, then Ve Ching started to lie on it too. I don't know why he did it 'cos he didn't seem to get any particular pleasure from it, unlike her. Maybe he just wanted to show her who's top cat or maybe he got fed-up with her treating him like the enemy when all he wanted was to be her friend. Ve Ching is the touchy-feely sort, with both cats and humans, while Missy only likes to be 'manhandled'. She doesn't even like it when her only feline playmate, Harmony, tries to sniff or lick her.

Tigger in the Bag Storage Cupboard

2008-05-01T08:10:00.004+08:00

Was tidying my wardrobe the other day, sifting stuff out for recycling as well as for the Salvation Army. I bagged the outfits into paper and plastic bags and then went to the kitchen to get some more and found Tigger sitting inside the open cupboard. I don't know what it is with this cat, but he just loves sitting inside the kitchen cupboards regardless of what's in them. Once, he even tried going in to sit among the bowls and plates.

Harmony - All Grown Up

2008-04-29T12:12:00.005+08:00

This is a rare 'goodish' photo of Harmony. I say 'goodish' because she still looks kind of stern in it. She often looks very stern or have green, demonic-looking eyes in photos, or else her photos are blurry because she just won't sit still for them.

Lately, she's been sucking on Alex's shirt sleeve while he's trying to work on the computer. She does this in the study at night, when I'm not in the room. Should I sneak in with my camera, she'll invariably look embarrassed and quickly get up and come over to me for strokes. She has sucked on our clothes on and off since she was a kitten.

In this photo, she actually looks quite grown up. This picture was taken in 2006, so she should have been 4 years old then. Because she's the smallest of all my cats, I always think of her as a kitten. But as my friend, Ching, once said, Harmony's not small, it's Tigger, Ve Ching and Missy who are huge.

Cat on Flat Cat Cushion

2008-04-29T12:08:00.002+08:00

My sweet little Ve Ching sleeping on his favourite flat cat cushion on the sofa. Picture taken in October 2006.

Cats & New TV

2008-04-28T10:00:00.006+08:00

When we first got our new TV in November 2006, the cats were fascinated by it. Ve Ching was fond of watching real animals, while Missy prefered animated ones. Her favourite is Pixar's For the Birds. Harmony doesn't watch TV but has taken to swatting it occasionally.

Harmony in TV Console

2008-04-28T09:54:00.002+08:00

This has been and still is, one of Harmony's favourite sleeping places for the last 2 years.

No TV?

2008-04-27T15:42:00.005+08:00

I watch a lot of TV. I've done so for a long time, but in the last 2 years, with more free time on my hands, I've not only watched more TV programmes, but more DVDs as well. I'm subscribed to Starhub's cable tv and also to Hollywoodclick.com's 5-disk plan (it means that at any time, I can have up to 5 DVDs to watch).

I watch TV to relax. I watch TV as an accompaniment to my meals. I watch TV when I'm ironing. I watch TV between loads of laundry. I watch TV as I exercise. And sometimes, I even watch TV when I don't feel like doing anything else. I watch a lot of TV.

I try to put some limits on myself, such as allowing myself to watch only those programmes that I've taped. This means that I keep channel-surfing to a minimum. I also try not to watch any show twice, although I sometimes flout this 'rule' if a movie is really good. I have also tried to raise my own extremely subjective TV viewing standards by watching shows that I deem above average, even if they are just a smidgen above.

I think that I might even be a TV addict 'cos the thought of cutting out TV cold turkey for even a week troubles me. But the thought that I might be addicted also causes me concern.

Alex suggests that I figure out how much TV I watch in a week and go from there. Sounds sensible. I will keep a record for a week starting today. I'm off to a good start since the TV hasn't been turned on today.

Ok, I'm off to watch Season 5 of Northern Exposure.

F1 Bus Stop Ad

2008-04-27T15:14:00.003+08:00

This bus stop is situated outside Tangs, along Orchard Road. The few times that I've walked past it on the opposite side of the road, there is invariably a group of male tourists taking pictures of this bus stop. Even if you don't walk very close to them, you can still hear them getting all excited that F1 is coming here and even more thrilled that it's going to be a night race! As one who's totally not into the F1 scene, I found it mildly amusing.

Good Service - Coffee Club (Millenia Walk)

2008-04-27T15:04:00.002+08:00

Wow, this must be a weekend for good service. We went to Coffee Club at Millenia Walk for lunch today and the service staff there were all very courteous and attentive. None of that indifferent service that you get at most other places. We were looking for a place to have a slow, quiet lunch and this place fitted the bill. It was almost full but not packed and it had the latest magazines so we were quite happy to settle down with the lastest issues of IS, Vanilla and Newsweek. The Pasta Alfredo and Chicken Pie we shared were yummy, Alex liked his Apple Crumble and Cappuccino. The only downside for me was my Toffee Coffee Blended drink, which tasted a little synthetic. Also, don't sit by the door like we did, 'cos everytime anyone opens it (which didn't happen often while we were there, thank goodness), hot air comes blasting in.

Ikea Toy Bed

2008-04-26T17:36:00.004+08:00

I bought this doll's bed from Ikea sometime in late 2006. Missy is the only one that has ever slept on it. It is now full of cat toys. Maybe I'll try putting the toys away and see if she'll sleep on it again.

Good Service - Starbucks Siglap

2008-04-26T16:34:00.002+08:00

Went to Starbucks (Siglap) for their Raspberry Blackcurrant Blended Smoothie this afternoon. The mature lady behind the counter was all smiles and very pleasant to us. Although our interaction with her was for just a few minutes, I came out of Starbucks thinking what a nice lady she was. In fact I said it out loud and Alex agreed.

Good Service - Bistro Gaga

2008-04-26T11:36:00.008+08:00

Last night, at Bistro Gaga, I ordered the Lemony Tart which I've had once before. I liked it a lot previously because unlike other lemon tarts, this one came with lots of fruit on top, and it was not too sour. Unfortunately, last night's Lemony Tart didn't have any fruit at all and it was very sour. I asked the maitre d' why it was different from the last time. He didn't know either but immediately offered me another dessert for free. I turn it down, since Alex didn't mind finishing off the partially eaten Lemony Tart and I could eat some of my sister's very yummy Creme Brulee. Besides, we were all quite full by then.

Later, when the maitre d' presented us with the bill, he told me that he had notified the chef of his oversight and that Bistro Gaga will not be charging us for the Lemony Tart. I wasn't expecting this since Alex did finish up the tart. We thought that was it was really decent of them to do this after I'd turned down their offer of another dessert.

Family Day Out

2008-04-25T16:14:00.006+08:00

It was announced yesterday by the National Family Council that 24 May 2008 will be Singapore's inaugural Family Day Out. It will be held on the 4th Saturday of May every year. The Day is meant for families to forge stronger bonds by spending quality time together. It was also reported in the Straits Time today that the chairman of the Council, Mr Lim Soon Hock had said, "at some point in time, we'll lobby for (a public holiday)".

When the time does come, I'm hoping that the Council will keep in mind 2 things:

1. Saturday is already a non-working day for most working adults and a non-school day for children. Why not make Family Day Out really special by making it a public holiday on a Friday. This way, families can make plans to spend the whole long weekend together.

2. May already has 2 public holidays - Labour Day and Vesak Day. Why not have Family Day Out in a month when there are no public holidays? The longest time that Singaporeans have to go without a holiday is usually between Vesak Day and National Day. And since June is when the school holidays are, give the children and teachers a break and have Family Day Out as a public holiday in July.

Korean Air Ad

2008-04-25T15:39:00.004+08:00

The above is part of a Korean Air ad that has been featured in The Straits Times recently. The tag line at the bottom of the ad reads, 'From departure to arrival, only dignified services for our dignified guests'. Kneeling on the floor to serve a drink is dignified? Really?

If I were seated cross-legged on a tatami mat at a restaurant and the waitress kneels to serve me my food, that's just the practical thing to do. But a stewardess kneeling to serve a drink? That's just demeaning!

Say Mama

2008-04-25T15:21:00.002+08:00

Some years ago, I saw a video of a cat who could say 'mama' quite distinctly. Since then, I've made occasional, half-hearted attempts at getting my lot to say 'mama' too. In this video, I'm trying to get Harmony to say 'mama' but unfortunately, the cats think I'm saying 'mum-mum', which is our phrase for food. So while I'm saying 'mama' to Harmony, the others turn up thinking that it's feeding time. As you can see, Tigger can get quite vocal when he thinks he's not being fed.

Cats & Shoes

2008-04-24T18:07:00.003+08:00

All my cats like to sniff footwear. It doesn't matter when it's a sandal or a shoe, they will roll around with it, attack it, inhale it etc etc. I don't know whether it's the intense smell that they like, or the variety of smells in the shoe or maybe they just love the stinkiness of it all. Anyway, Tigger seems to be enjoying himself in the video. A cat and his simple pleasure.

Drink Lots of Water, Harmony!

2008-04-23T09:17:00.005+08:00

In October 2006, Harmony had problems peeing. She would go into the litter box, position herself as if she's urinating and then get out without having done No. 1. She'd then repeat this act over and over again, the whole day long. The vet said that it was because she didn't drink enough, causing her pee to crystalise. Harmony's favourite way of hydrating herself is to drink from the shower tap. As she can't turn the tap on herself, and Alex and I aren't camped out in the shower the whole day long, I was not surprised by the vet's pronouncement. To encourage her to drink so that she'll pass the crystals out, I made her a tuna drink (above) several times a day.

Since then, I've fed her wet food mixed with water to form a gruel-like texture every morning and the problem has not recurred. Well, except for the time when we went on a short holiday and my dad who was taking care of them, did not feed them wet food. Three days into the holiday, my cleaning lady called to tell me about Harmony's 'weird' behaviour in the litter box. I instructed her to feed Harmony her 'gruel', and she was right as rain by the time I got back the next day.

Curious Cats

2008-04-22T09:52:00.007+08:00

Since I did not post any cat pictures from August 2006 to early April 2008, I'm going to play 'catch-up' and post some of the pictures of my kitties that I took during that time.

This one (taken in October 2006) again shows how much my cats like checking out new things. Missy is the only one not in the picture and it's only because Ve Ching is there. This time around, they are making sure that the new Dyson vacuum cleaner that we'd bought is in good working order. This vacuum cleaner is great for sucking up cat hairs and the mini turbine head that comes with it is especially good at getting cat hairs off the upholstery.

Curious Cat

2008-04-21T12:34:00.006+08:00

Alex brought home a couple of 2nd hand servers on Friday and it didn't take long for the cats to come into the study to check it out. Here's Harmony giving it the once over.

Green Spaces

2008-04-21T09:54:00.007+08:00

I read with a shudder this morning, a suggestion in The Straits Times Forum page that East Coast Park be turned into Singapore's version of the Gold Coast. Personally, I like my green spaces. It makes a dense city state like Singapore a lot more livable.

Currently, my area is undergoing IUP Plus. It is a combination of the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) and the Interim Upgrading Programme (IUP). As part of the upgrading, the patch of greenery (including 3 trees) in the middle of my U-shaped block, will be turned into an amphitheatre. There is already a large amphitheatre at the town centre across the road and a smaller one in a neighbourhood park about 7 minutes walk away. So why do we need yet another amphitheatre? I just don't know.

Soon, when I look out of my flat, all I'll see is concrete, concrete and more concrete.

Sigh.

See You Again Ve Ching

2008-04-20T20:11:00.007+08:00

Something really sad happened while I was on hiatus from blogging. My dear sweet Ve Ching passed away. He was diagnosed with feline pancreatitis. The only possible 'treatment' according to the vet was to change his diet. But Ve Ching wouldn't eat what the vet had prescribed and soon, it became a struggle to get him to eat anything at all. I tried all kinds of food - cat and human - and would feed him every 3 hours because he ate so little at each sitting. Towards the end, I had to liquidise his food as he wouldn't eat any solids. Somehow, he managed to perservere and surprised our vet by living for several months. He finally passed away on the eve of my birthday last year.

This is the very last photo that I took of him, 10 days before his demise. You can't tell from the photo, but he had grown very skinny by then. He used to weigh 5.5kg but had shrunk to 3.6kg, the very last time I weighed him.

In the months since he died, I've had 2-3 dreams in which he appeared as a small black and white kitten. I hope that it means he'll be in my life again in the future. But it could just as well have been wishful dreaming.

Age Discrimination - It's OK as Long as We Make More Money?

2008-04-18T11:48:00.006+08:00

A couple of articles in The Straits Times struck me today. The first, on page 3, was titled "They're young, they're foreign and they're helping to save your job". According to the article, a drinks seller had complained to Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Mr Lim Boon Heng, about feeling threatened by a "sweet, young lady from China who sells beer at the same joint." In recounting the anecdote at the Singapore Tripartism Forum yesterday, Mr Lim was quoted as having said, "Obviously, if Tiger or Carlsberg asks this mature lady to sell beer, it will not have the same result."

Then, on page H8 of the same newspaper, there was an article entitled, "Young image of SIA cabin crew: A wrong signal?" In the article, SIA Chairman, Mr Stephen Lee called the flight attendants a "special group" and said, "This has to do with SIA's past consistent effort in branding the airline in a certain way and we think it's a competitive edge."

Even if it's true that youth sells, and I'm not saying that it is, is it right to discriminate against middle-aged to older folks just to make more money? Hmm... food for thought.

Honour System

2008-04-18T09:54:00.003+08:00

Recently, I bought a new camera which records videos in .mov files. Unfortunately, Windows Movie Maker (WMM) can't edit .mov files. This meant that I would either have to buy new editing software (one that is able to edit .mov files) or buy conversion software to convert my .mov files to .avi files which I can then edit with WMM. Alex pointed me towards a couple of sites to start my search and I finally downloaded a conversion software called The RAD Video Tools (TRVT). TRVT turned out to be a pretty good software. It was easy to use and it converted my files perfectly every time. And, best of all, The RAD Video Tools was free! TRVT works on an honour system. If you download the tools and like using them, then you are free to make a donation, or not. And if you have no use for their tools, then you wouldn't have spent any money on it.

I love this system of payment. It seems to me to be the right way to conduct business, where people only pay for things that work and which they find useful. But it also makes me wonder if such an honour system will work? How many people will actually make a donation after downloading and using the tools. The cynical side of me says that most people will not. But the idealist in me goes... wouldn't it be nice if people could be trusted to be honest? I'm rooting for the latter.

Mesmerising Laundry Wash

2008-04-17T11:59:00.003+08:00

My cats never cease to amuse me. After living with me for almost 5 years, Missy took a sudden interest in how the laundry is washed earlier this year. I happened to walk into the kitchen, and found Missy sitting about a metre away from the washing machine, watching the laundry go round and round. I watched her for a few minutes to see how long this would last. After 2-3 minutes, I grabbed my camera and starting video taping her. She would get up close, put her front paws on the machine cover and peer into the machine while standing on her hind legs. Then she'd get down, sit and stare at it for a little while, walk to about a metre away and continue to sit and stare and then walk towards the machine again. It went on for a good 10 minutes, but I'll spare you the torture and upload only a minute of it. Maybe Missy got bored with it too, 'cos she's only done this that one time.

Tigger in the Laundry Cupboard

2008-04-16T12:35:00.006+08:00

Last Sunday, while I was in the kitchen, Tigger started scratching on the laundry cupboard door. He usually goes into that cupboard on laundry day while I am taking out the hangers and laundry bags. So I told him that he would have to wait till tomorrow to go in as I was intending to do the laundry then.

Fast forward to Monday morning. I had just put the first load of laundry into the washing machine. And the minute the machine door clicked shut, Tigger, no doubt alerted by his super hearing, dashes into the kitchen (I've never seen him run so fast except when there's food involved or when he's being chased by his siblings) and immediately starts pawing on the laundry cupboard door. I let him in and he sits in there for all of 3 minutes, decides he's had enough and leaves. So much fuss for nothing!

Time Flies

2008-04-14T10:21:00.003+08:00

It's been almost 2 years since I last blogged on this site. I haven't been feeling 100% for a long time now. By my count, for almost 10 years. With each passing year, I seem to collect more and more symptoms, which on their own may not be a big deal, but taken collectively, finally made me faced up to the fact that something is really wrong with my body. So 2 years ago, I quit everything that I was doing, including all my volunteer work, and concentrated on getting better. 2 years on, I'm still not 100% but there are at least some good days (like today, when I have both mental and physical energy) and hopefully, lots more in the future.

Recently, I read a book called The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. The Fourth Agreement stated in the book is "Always Do Your Best". Having the Virgo perfectionist streak in me, although admittedly, this aspect of my personality has mellowed over the years, I've always (consciously or subconsciously) strived to do my best in everything I do. And when I think that I've not achieved all that I've decided to do or have not given my all, I get upset, again, sometimes consciously and sometime subsconsciously. So I was very glad when I read this book, to come across a teaching that has since been very useful and valuable to me. Ruiz teaches that our best changes from moment to moment. I know it sounds like a very simple concept, yet it has been a revelation to me or as Oprah would call it, it's been my "Aha!" moment. I've always thought that doing my best meant that I've to achieve a certain pre-set (my own setting) standard relating to whatever it is that I'm doing. That standard never changed regardless of whether I was feeling sick or well, or whether I felt fatigued or had boundless energy. For me, my best was not a relative standard but a fixed one. And because of that, a lot of self-blame, regret and a whole host of other negative emotions welled up within me time and again. So a big thank you to Don Miguel Ruiz for giving me my "Aha!" moment and making me a lot more relaxed and happier.

Wow, it's been a year since my last post

2008-01-26T16:58:00.000+08:00

A couple of weeks ago tarsier girl and I went to our favourite coast park, Pasir Ris Park, for an early(ish) morning walk.

When I was growing up in England, I never thought I would see this warning sign :D

Or be able to walk along a palm tree lined beach whenever I want to...

We decided to have a look around the nearby streets of houses and condos. We came across these cats, (you have to look closely to see them!)

and came across this rundown lot...
... which is right next to this condo with a really nice flowered covered wall. Unfortunately there aren't many flower beds in Singapore. I don't know why.
(All these photos were taken with my N95, which I bought for my birthday last September.)

Another week, another country.

2007-01-27T12:27:00.000+08:00

(The title will make more sense when I catch-up and finish the posting that now covers the last four months. So much for starting a blog so that I don’t end up writing huge newsletters!). I’m posting this from Hong Kong airport which provides free WiFi access throughout the building!, however I haven’t found a seating area that has power points, but I haven’t searched the whole place yet.

I’ve been in Hong Kong for the week, for a project kick off meeting. It went well, although the customer added more work to the project scope and has very high expectations, so it’s going to be a very busy next nine months or so for me.

The customer’s site is near the top of the New Territories and so it’s about a 40 minute journey by MTR, train and taxi, but as it’s away from the direction of the daily commute of most people, it’s a pleasant journey. There’s a huge difference in the surroundings of Kowloon, (where my hotel was), which is crowded, bright and busy, (the typical image of Hong Kong) and the customer’s site, which is quite spacious, not very busy or crowded and surrounded by mountains.

The weather was colder than expected, so I had to wear my coat in my room as I only bought short sleeve shirts and the hotel only had air conditioning and not heating.

The main problem though was that it is very hazy and so the photos I took of the countryside didn’t come out very well.

When I woke up this morning and looked out from my 12th floor window across to the building opposite I saw that some one in the building was keeping two small dogs in a dog run on the top of the building. Not something I was expecting to see.

1st to 6th October

2006-10-17T21:22:00.000+08:00

I spent four days with work colleagues at a customer’s office in Paris. The office was at La Defense, which is in direct line with the Arc de Triomphe. The is the view from the Grande Arche, which we walked passed on our why to work.

Although the end customer is from the Middle East and the project contractor is French, pretty much everyone from the customer was English, as was the project contractor’s representative. The guy making most of the decisions on what we had to produce had been a previous customer and is a sensible, practical, reasonable, calm and generally a nice guy, and so the meeting went very smoothly. It’s been a long time since the last one like this.

I arrived on the Sunday (1st) morning, and as I’d managed to sleep on the overnight flight from Singapore I was able to survive the day and stay awake till around 11pm, so no jet lag. Other than sightseeing with colleagues on the Sunday, (the Louvre (and briefly saw the over-rated Mona Lisa along with all the other sheep), we tried going into D’orsay Museum, but as it was the first weekend of the month all the national museums were free entry, everyone else in Paris had the same idea, (and I thought Singaporeans could queue for makan!), so we went to Sacre-Coeur, and then onto the Louis Vuitton store, as one of my colleagues had to spend an outrageous amount of money on some of the world’s ugliest bags for his girlfriend’s friend. I can’t believe people queue up to go into a shop. We then had dinner just off the Champs-Elysees and then went up to photograph the Arc de Triomphe at night) the rest of the time was work.

Queue outside Louis Vuitton - Bizarre people.
Not working directly with the French, meant we didn’t experience the “full effect” of working in France, but it was interesting to chat with our English host about his experiences there. None of us could believe that in this day and age that people would still take a whole hour for lunch regardless of project schedule and that time off in-lieu is taken on top of the large numbers of holidays in general.

Our main exposure to working in France came at lunch. The project contractor is a large French company and so has an inconceivably large dinning hall by English standards. What was also unbelievable was the process of getting a meal; the quality of the meal, a fine three course one; and the fact that wine or beer was a drinks option!

The first stage of getting lunch was to select a meal from the eight options on display. Things quickly became tricky as each meal was served from a different place in the restaurant. This made eating with colleagues difficult if you didn’t all have the same meal option, you have to arrange a meeting place before heading off in different directions to get your meal. After locating where the meal was served from, (not as easy as it sounds, as the meals and serveries are identified by name, (in French), rather than number), you placed your order at a touch screen terminal, with the option of most of the starters and deserts and the main course options being displayed in English, and pay for it using your company ID card. You then get a printed receipt and you then go to the servery which also has the order and then fills the trays in the order entered at the counter, so no queue jumping. At the servery, you would find two things; one the serving staff couldn’t read your order if it was in English, and two, your tray with eventually your meal. You could now head off and try and find your colleagues.

Other minor direct and indirect exposures to French life, were having wine as a drinks option at shopping mall restaurants as an option to having a fizzy drink or water; massive queues for tickets at the metro stations, (this was on the first working day of the month, and so most commuters have too buy a new monthly ticket that day); and disappointingly, poor quality food, (cold chips at one restaurant, and the best coffee was from McCafe, well actually it was a cappuccino, (café crème is too milky for my taste), and most restaurants in commercial areas were Italian. At a noodle bar, my boss had Singapore noodles made with curry sauce (yuk :P) and I had “Buddhist noodles” (vegetarian) which weren’t too bad, except the green chillies had no bite and there was too much carrot in it, but there was a nice sweet chilli sauce), though I did have one good dinner. Was also disappointed at breakfast that the croissants served at cafés while warm and soft, didn’t come with raspberry jam, but did find yummy pastries (especially pain au chocolat and some apple-y thing I can’t remember the name of) at McCafe and another pastry and coffee vendor.

Harmony & Ve Ching's Extremely Short Fight

2006-08-28T21:20:00.000+08:00

Best Sticky Date Pudding in Singapore

2006-08-27T08:41:00.000+08:00

Okay, okay, so I don't know any other place in Singapore that sells Sticky Date Pudding, but this one has got to be one of the best, if not the best! Alex and I were shopping at Tanglin Mall yesterday and stopped in at Caffé Beviamo for an early afternoon tea. We shared the Sticky Date Pudding which was absolutely yummilicious! And if like me, you don't like dates, don't worry, you won't be able to taste them at all. Hmm... I wonder if there's really any dates in it... :) Actually taste-wise, it reminds me a lot of the sticky toffee pudding that you get in England. And oh, if you happen to order a beverage at Beviamo, don't order the Iced Lemon Tea. It's a rip-off at $5.50 a glass. It's not only expensive, it's so bland that it's almost tasteless. I can get much better tasting Iced Lemon Tea at the coffeeshop at Serangoon Central for a fifth of the price.

World's Biggest Handphone

2006-08-27T08:32:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, while Alex and I were walking past Forum Galleria, he nudged me and whispered, "World's biggest handphone!" I looked around to see what he was talking about. Sitting on some steps outside Forum was a Caucasian man using his laptop as a telephone. He would lift his laptop so that he could speak into the built-in microphone, and then move it so as to bring the built-in speaker to his right ear. He kept doing this throughout the conversation, making a kind of swinging motion, between ear and mouth with his regular-sized laptop. I'm guessing he couldn't find his plug-in headset with microphone. :)

Amateur Hour

2006-08-26T20:16:00.000+08:00

Silly me. I didn't know that I can't rotate a video like I can with photos, so here's a video of Ve Ching pulling down Alex's towel as seen from a 90 degree angle. Only those with patience and strong neck muscles should try watching this, although it's less than 2 minutes long.

Fujifilm Finepix Z3

2006-08-26T17:58:00.000+08:00

Woohoo! Got a new camera yesterday. Now I'll be able to take decent pictures of kitties when Alex takes our Olympus camera along on his business trips. The added bonus is that this camera has a pretty decent video camera. Now, if only kitties will do something other than sleep!

Speaking of Toilets...

2006-08-26T08:13:00.000+08:00

Isn't he pretty? Even when seated on the toilet? Back in the days when I had only 2 cats, I decided one day to train Tigger and Ve Ching to use the toilet instead of their litter box. I managed to actually get them trained to the point where they would jump up on the toilet and use it, provided there was a roasting pan underneath the seat, even if the roasting pan had a huge hole in it. Unfortunately, when the hole got so big that the pan was almost non-existent, Tigger became freaked by the plopping noise made by his poo hitting the water and the water splashing up and refused to use it anymore. He would instead poop on the floor in the bathroom although he would still pee into the toilet. So sadly, our toilet training ended there.

Cat Obsessed With Flushing Toilet

2006-08-26T08:03:00.002+08:00

More than a week ago, Dawn posted a link to a video, which showed a black and white cat repeatedly flushing the toilet in order to watch the water swirl in the toilet bowl. Seeing that video reminded me of Harmony's similar antics as a kitten, although she didn't go as far as to flush the toilet herself. But everytime anyone went near the toilet, she would come running, in the hope that someone would flush it for her amusement. As the water swirled, she would sit on the rim, poke her head in the bowl and sometimes play with the water that's running down the side of the bowl. She became so obsessed that we had to put the toilet seat cover down when we were not using it, in case she fell in one day. The funny thing is, when I told a friend about how Harmony likes the toilet water so much, she said that her toddler was the same way, and that she too liked to watch the water and put her hand into the toilet bowl!

The Daily Kitten

2006-08-20T11:08:00.000+08:00

Found yet another website that is simply filled with adorable kittens! The Daily Kitten posts a new picture of a kitten every day at 3.07pm GMT, which is 11.07pm Singapore Time. I love the write-ups that go with the pictures, especially the ones about the rescue kittens.

Cute Overload!

2006-08-17T09:01:00.000+08:00

This website was featured in Time Magazine as one of 2006's 50 Coolest Websites. They placed it under the category of Time Wasters, but I think they should have created a category called Stress Relievers and placed it there instead. Cute Overload features the cutest animals on the internet. It saves you the time and trouble of trolling the internet for pics of the cutest creatures. The main page features the latest pictures/videos that have been sent in. But they also have categories for the different animals. I found the above video in the Kitten category. A big thank you to Ching for sending me this fantastic site!

Give & Take

2006-08-15T11:45:00.000+08:00

Before I had cats, I've never had a pet. So I went into it with an idealised view of what it was going to be like. I thought I would be in control of what happens in the flat and that the cats would do as I tell them. I knew that it would take some work, but I thought kitties would come around to my way of thinking after a while. A case in point is the issue of whether cats should be allowed on the kitchen counter.

When I visited Alex's parents for the first time, the occasion was also the very first time that I had any upclose experience with cats. Alex's parents own a small farmstead. And at the time, they had 8 indoor/outdoor cats and 2 feral ones who would never enter the house. While there, I would often make cheese toast for breakfast or a light lunch. It involved grating the cheese, which would bring about the automatic appearance of cats on the kitchen counter, where they would proceed to steal the cheese. (There should be a Wallace & Gromit movie where Wallace has to solve the mystery of his beloved disappearing cheese. I'm sure cats would be involved!). It was such a nuisance fighting them off that I told Alex then that if we were to have cats, I would never let them walk on the kitchen counter.

Fast forward to 2006. I've since learn to pick my battles. Kitties are allowed to walk on the kitchen counter, as long as they don't get near the stove while I'm cooking and don't try to steal the food. They're allowed to pull Alex's towel down and lie on it the whole day long (as ably demonstrated by Harmony above), since Alex doesn' t mind, but they've learnt not to pull down my towel as their pleasure in lying on it will be shortlived. They are still not allowed to scratch the furniture but every room has one or more objects that they can scratch to their hearts' content. They are allowed to sleep anywhere they want although I will try to persuade them to move if they are sleeping on my spot while Alex will just sleep around them.

Caught in the Act!

2006-08-14T12:02:00.000+08:00

When we accidentally leave a drawer open, the cats generally like to climb into the drawer and perhaps have a little snooze in it. But with Harmony, things are taken to another level. She likes to fling the contents out onto the floor. Yesterday, she noticed that Alex's sock drawer was opened a crack. I heard a persistent clicking sound, and when I looked up from the bed, I saw Harmony in the process of prying the drawer wider. Not long after, she started digging into the drawer and flinging socks all over the place. She only stopped when I started taking her picture 'cos she doesn't like to have her photo taken.

Ross the Intern

2006-08-14T08:43:00.000+08:00

Most mornings, I get up, turn on the computer and one of the first things I do, is read Ross the Intern's blog. Those of you who watch The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (it's on cable, channel 15, CNBC at 4pm & 10pm on Sat & Sun) may recognise Ross as one of the show's correspondents. I find his turns on the show pretty hilarious. And when I found out he has a blog, I went to check it out. Since then, it's become part of my morning routine, along with checking my emails, to read his blog. His lighthearted and sometimes silly outlook on life reminds me daily, not to take things so seriously. His smiley face and the colourful website lend a cheery start to my day. Of course, the fact that he loves his dog Louise so much is a bonus!

Catster

2006-08-13T17:56:00.000+08:00

I've heard of friendster.com, the website where you post information about yourself in the hope of making friends on the internet, but catster.com? Yup, there's a site where your cat, via you (unless they are ultra smart and dexterous), can set up an account and let other cats know all about itself, likes, dislikes, bio etc. So if like me, you like to see pictures of adorable cats and read about how they came to be with their current guardians (see Arrival Story), you might just want to check out catster. And if you also like dogs, there's (but of course!) dogster.com.

Nicks for Cats

2006-08-11T18:42:00.000+08:00

I don't know why it is that Alex and I can't seem to just call our cats by their given names and only their given names. Over the years, each of the cats has had their names mutated and now, all are called by more than one name, with poor Missy leading the lot with a string of them:

Tigger, Tiggermon (this was during the Pokemon rage, sad to say), Tigger Monster

Ve Ching, Shark Tail (he walks with his tail straight up in the air all the time, so sometimes, when he's walking behind the trunk or past the bed, all you can see is his tail cutting through the air)

Harmony, Harmo-namo-ny

Missy, Missymus, Missymus the Plumpypuss, Plumpy

Missy

2006-08-11T10:48:00.000+08:00

Missy in 2003, looking leaner

In some ways, it's quite hard to write about Missy cos she came into our lives during SARS and there was so much going on then that some details are a little hazy. I remember her quite clearly before SARS. She was a friendly little community cat who lived around our block. Her colouring and her antics made her stand out. For instance, she would often lie on a little grassy knoll under a beautiful tree next to our block. She would hold her upper body up and lie there with her head held high, looking very elegant and a little regal. There was also the time when I saw her running around the roof-top on the other side of our U-shaped block. My side of the block is 12-storey high and the other side has 6 stories. One day, after coming out of the lift on the 11th storey, I noticed a little cat running around the rooftop on the other side in the very hot afternoon sun. It shocked me to see a cat on the roof cos a) it's the first time I've seen a cat on the roof and b) how in the world did she get up there? The only access I know of is one of those flat-against-the-wall type of straight ladder that you have to climb up from the 6th floor to get onto the roof.

Anyway, in early June 2003, we decided to adopt her cos our block is just metres away from a coffeeshop. We brought a carrier down, picked her up and put her in. Now, here's where the hazy part begins. I remember that I couldn't bring her home at the time because I was fostering 2 cats in my spare room. I remember bringing her to the vet's for a check-up and shots. I remember having to put her with a pet store for a few days and then with a friend for some time. I remember seeing her in a cage in the living room so that Tigger, Ve Ching, Loy Loy & Harmony could check her out and vice versa. And I definitely remember her meowing under our bed every 10 minutes from 9pm to 7pm for 2 straight weeks. Everything else is a blur.

After the cat killing rate had returned to pre-SARS 'normal', we did wonder whether Missy would be happier being a community cat, since she wasn't getting along with Ve Ching. To test her, we left the front door and gate open to see if she would run away. She didn't.

We've had her for slightly more than 3 years now and believe me when I say that having two fighting cats in the flat for 3 weeks is very stressful, let alone 3 years! In the first 2 years, I felt frustrated almost all the time 'cos I felt as if I've tried all possible means of getting Missy and Ve Ching to get along but none of them seem to work! But over time, the dynamics between them seem to have changed somewhat, and in the last 6 months, the two of them appear to be heading towards an uneasy truce. Luckily, in all this time, neither of them have been seriously hurt. Sometimes, after a fight, I'll find small clumps of fur on the floor, but when I check them for injuries, all I'll find is a tiny little scratch. Guess their 'bark', or in this case, their posturing, is worse than their bite.

Despite these years of stress and frustration, I'm glad I've Missy in my life. She's the most affectionate of cats, often calling us as we pass by, asking to be sayang'd. More often than not, she will come over to us when we call her or wave to her. She's also terribly responsive to stroking and especially to t-touching, showing us with her rubbing and flopping over, just how much she appreciates us doing it. It's a joy watching her as she's one little cat who's really big on personality. She's also a cat who really loves her toys. At one time, she went through a phase of a few months, when she would start playing with her squeaky mouse right after we've gone to bed. We would then hear "squeak squeak squeak" of the toy mouse as it's being batted around in the living room. Soon after, there'll be a crash through the cat flap and the next thing we know, there's a Missy jumping around on our bed, attacking her mouse and making it squeak loudly as we try to fall asleep. In the last few years, Missy has also put on weight and although she's heavier, her bulky makes her nicer to carry. It's like hugging a soft teddy.

Missy in 2006, not quite so lean

My Apologies!!

2006-07-21T20:39:00.000+08:00

To all of you who have posted comments to my previous write-ups, my sincere apologies for not publishing your comments sooner! I hadn't realised that I had enabled comments moderation until someone alerted me to the fact that their comments were never published. That's when I went to Blogger Help to find out what's going on and found a whole lot of comments in my Moderate Comments page. Thanks very much kuro.shiro.neko for telling me about this problem. I'm so embarrassed! It's been 7 months since I started blogging and I've only just realised my mistake. :P

Ve Ching in a Bucket

2006-07-19T10:32:00.000+08:00

Last week, the aircon in my bedroom was dripping a little, so I put a bucket underneath it to collect the water. Sloppy housewife that I am, I'd left the bucket where it is since then, even though the dripping had long stopped. Last night, Ve Ching decided to investigate the bucket and ended up sitting in it. He only came out when Tigger came along and he thought it would be more fun to chase Tigger than to sit in an ol' bucket!

Help!

2006-07-19T09:58:00.000+08:00

When I was a little girl, my family would take a vacation in Malaysia almost every year. When I was about 8 or 9 (I think), we drove up to Genting Highlands and stayed in the hotel there. We slept with the windows open as the air was very cool and fresh in those days. The first morning I was there, I woke up to a horrifying, petrifying sight. There was an eeky, ugly, HUGE, praying mantis on my bed looking right at me! I screamed and my dad woke up and immediately came over to pick the mantis up and show it the door (or in this case, the window). Since then, I've always been creeped out by insects, especially the praying mantis.

So it is with a great deal of self control that I sit here writing this posting calmly as an eeky, ugly, HUGE praying mantis haunts my living room. Harmony is bravely stalking it, of course, but she hasn't had much luck catching it, as it's on the ceiling. I saw it there when I woke up this morning (it wasn't there last night) and it must have been there for a long time 'cos the cats are all kind of bored with it already. I hope it decides to leave soon.

Here's a picture of it, but I'm afraid it's not a very good one, as I'm too scared to go near it and my camera phone does not have a zoom lens!

Pet Please

2006-07-17T20:56:00.000+08:00

I know this item was listed in Sunday Time's Lifestyle section last weekend, but I've had these pictures for more than a week now and have been meaning to post them all of last week. Really.

This spongy door stopper is currently being used on my study door. While my bedroom door has a cat flap for the cats to enter and exit at will when the aircon is on and the door is shut, the same cannot be said of our study door. The aircon in the study is not often on, so when we do switch it on, we just wait for the cats to indicate when they want to come in or go out (they scratch or meow) and get up from our computers to open the door for them. But with global warming, the too-hot-to-bear days are becoming more frequent. So when we saw this little contraption at NTUC's Liberty Market in Junction 8, we decided to buy it to keep the study door slightly ajar when the aircon is on. It works pretty well in that the cats can push their way in with the Pet Please in place. But unfortunately, when they do so, the door tend to swing open wide, allowing the cold air to escape. So in the end, I would still have to get up to move the door back to its original position. But at least I can do so at my own timing instead of being pressured to do so immediately by the persistent meowing and scratching of little furry people who can't open their own doors!

McCafe Cappuccino

2006-07-10T11:04:00.000+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the McCafe outside Isetan supermarket at Shaw Centre. I was just looking for a quick bite to eat and coffee to keep me awake. I ordered a cappuccino and was very surprised by how decorative it turned out to be. But a beautiful cuppa like this comes at a price though. The price is patience, quite a bit of it.

When the barista had finished making the cappuccino, he asked if I would like chocolate or cinnamon on top. I selected chocolate, expecting chocolate powder to be lightly dusted on the foam. Instead, he took out a squeeze bottle and used it to draw 2 consecutive circles of chocolate sauce on top of my coffee. I thought, now my cuppa looks like it can be used for target practice, except that it's short of a centre. Not very creative. But it didn't stop there. He next took a little stirrer and started drawing lines from the rim to the centre of the cup. He would wipe the stirrer after every one of the 7 lines that he drew. As I was feeling extremely sleepy and in desperate need of my caffiene, this seemed to take forever. When he finally finished drawing and my cappucino now looked like a flower, I wanted to snatch the cup from him, but alas, it was not to be. He now started to draw more lines, this time from the centre to the rim of the cup, once again wiping down the stirrer with a napkin between each.. and.. every.. slow, long, line.

By the time he had finished his masterpiece, I had become desperate to drink it. Thank goodness I was the only one in the queue at the time. If I was the last person in a long queue that day and he was still mucking about with my drink, I would probably have done him an injury.

Working with Canadians eh.

2006-07-09T14:31:00.000+08:00

Since producing some fairly decent satirical podcasts during the recent elections here, Tarsier Girl has been reading Mr Brown's blog. A few days ago he suggested that Singaporeans produce some patriotic podcasts after being inspired by the Molson beer "I am Canadian" commercial.

As a lot of my colleagues are Canadian, I felt a kinship with Joe's sentiments. But it's ironic that he says that he doesn't know "Jimmy, Sally or Suzy" as on my first trip to Canada, (in '94), the immigration officer, (the nicest I've ever come across), did ask me if I knew some people back in England!

Molson also produced a couple of other adverts. Although the jacket pulling looks weird to us non Canadians, a Canadian colleague told me that this is the second step in the pre-fight ritual during an (ice) hockey match, (the first step is dropping the gloves on to the ice), and so is instantly recognisable to them. Another colleague told me that when he was in the southern states a lady in all sincerity did ask if he lived in an igloo!

No additional Canadian culture info for this one, it's just funny and our favourite.

Ve Ching's Impersonation

2006-06-30T21:01:00.000+08:00

One of the great places to visit in Singapore is the Singapore Night Safari. On one of our visits there, I remember that at the leopard enclosure, one of them had climbed up a tree and was lying along a branch with all his/her legs hanging down on either side of it.

We haven’t taken Ve Ching to see his cousins at the Night Safari or the Zoo, but he’s still able to do a good impersonation of a leopard on a branch.

Hitler Cats

2006-06-27T20:47:00.000+08:00

While browsing the BBC World website tonight, Alex came across a link to a website called Hitler Cats, featuring cats who look like Hitler. If your cat looks like Hitler, that is, if it has a little 'moustache', you can also send it in to the webmaster. Have a look, some of them look really cute! My favourite is the one posted on 21 June 2006.

Last Beginner's Art Class

2006-06-24T22:05:00.000+08:00

Today was my 4th and final beginner's art class. The picture at the top is the final product plus slight additions by the instructor, while the picture below it is my finished picture without the instructor's help. Strangely, all my white highlights have turned out yellow in both photos. For this monochrome painting, we were limited to blue and white. I have no idea how the white became yellow but I'm sure it's got something to do with my phone's VGA camera.

Art Class # 3

2006-06-17T15:17:00.000+08:00

Today we had to paint a gigantic nose! It reminded me very much of the great Kahuna from the Sherman's Lagoon comics. At the base of the nose is a banana and an apple.

Kitty's Email

2006-06-16T11:16:00.000+08:00

When I was out this morning, I had put my computer on standby mode. But when I got back, I noticed that the computer was active. Seeing as there was no one else in the flat except for the 4 kitties, one of them must have trampled on my keyboard or moved the mouse to activate the computer. This is not a big deal as kitties are always stomping on my keyboard or lying on the mouse when I'm using the computer. But what's unusual is that he/she had somehow managed to open 5 new message boxes. The first 4 boxes had a letter 't' in the addressee (To:) section, while the last box, the one above, had a string of 't's, followed by 1 'p' and three and a half lines of 'o's. Silly kitties! Just can't leave them alone.

Anniversary Present

2006-06-13T14:00:00.000+08:00

Each year, for our wedding anniversary, we would get a gift that the both of us can share. This year, we decided to get a pair of wedding goats from Oxfam Unwrapped. Don't worry, you won't actually get a pair of goats delivered to your HDB flat. Instead, the goats are sent to families in 3rd world countries who need them more than you do. What you do get is a card (1st picture) that contains a photo of a pair of wedding goats (2nd picture) and at the back of the photo, is a little write-up on what it means to buy the goats (3rd picture). The card is in 3 sections and if you fold the 1st and 3rd sections backwards, it becomes a little stand which you can then use to display the adorable picture of the wedding goats on your desk. They also have other unusualy gifts such as a school desk and chair, a bee hive or a share in a mango plantation. I'm eyeing the donkey or camel next!

New Home-made Toy

2006-06-10T21:04:00.000+08:00

Tigger is a greedy little cat who really loves his treats. I thought it might be more interesting for him to actually work for his treats instead of having them handed to him, so I came up with this little 'toy'. All you need is the cover of a Slurpee drink. The next time you buy a Slurpee from 7-11, just save the cup cover. Put your cat's treats on the floor, cover it with the cup cover and voila!, you have a new cat toy! Note: it only works with greedy cats who would do anything to get their paws on the treats! He can see the treats because the cover is transparent and he can also smell the treats because there's a hole on top of the cover. Tigger usually takes about 5-10 minutes to get the cover off the treats.

Art Class #2

2006-06-10T15:22:00.000+08:00

At art class today, we learnt about paints (tone, intensity, hue & temperature) and how to mix them. I didn't think that mixing paints would be so hard, after all we had done it as kids, but it is.

Initially, the instructor told us to just go ahead and paint one of the fruits, mixing the colours whichever way we deemed fit. So I proceeded to paint the lemon (that's the one on the left, it looked like a mango to a number of us), happily mixing paints based on instinct. After we had completed the first fruit. He taught us the basics about paint and also how to mix the colours. We then proceeded to paint the second fruit, which in my case was an apple. But the second time around, I had to think so hard that it was difficult to get the colours I wanted. Also, my ability to see the subtleties of lighting has not improved and unless something is obviously dark or light, I'd miss it. :(

38 cent lesson in Karma

2006-06-09T18:17:00.000+08:00

On Monday night I bought 3litres of drinking water from the provision store in the hotel. It cost S$6.69, (and the Americans whine about US$3/gal for petrol). I was sure it was a lot cheaper than that at the expensive supermarket nearby so last night I thought I make a shopping trip there.

However on my walk home I pass a local supermarket and although it was about a 10 minute walk back to the hotel, I decided that carrying a laptop and 3litres of water from there was doable. As it turned out the same water as the hotel was only 6.6Yuan or only S$1.40!

When the cashier gave me my change from the 10 Yuan note I handed over, I just stuffed it into my pocket and off I went. However this morning when I went to put the change into my wallet, I found I’d been scammed again. What the cashier did, was instead of giving me one 1Yuan note and one 2 Yuan note as part of my change, she’d given me a 2 Jiao note. 1 Jiao is 0.1 Yuan.

Of course, at first I was really annoyed, but eventually it did dawn on me that I was more annoyed by being cheated of 38cents by a crappy little corner store struggling to survive than I was about being “cheated” of $5.30 by the hotel that is already, presumably, changing me an arm and a leg for my room.

However getting my wallet out at lunchtime reminded me of it, so as I had lunch I tried to remember what Ajhan Brahm said in his talk on injustice. In his talk he explains that there is no such thing as injustice in Buddhism. That this was just the fruition of karma created when I had cheated someone else, (also well explained in The Diamond Cutter : The Buddha on Strategies for Managing Your Business and Your Life by Geshe Michael Roach). Between them they explain karma is neither or good or bad, it is us that decides if it is "good" or "bad" based on our observation, (the Dalai Lama explains it clearly in his book The Buddha on Strategies for Managing Your Business and Your Life were he compares it to how light can behave as a particle or a wave, it depends how you observe it), or rather what we want the world to be, rather than what it is.

So, I finished my lunch happy in the knowledge that some “bad” or perhaps it’s better to say unpleasant karma had come to fruition in such a mild manner.

Eeewww!! It Stinks!

2006-06-08T17:41:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, I get awaken in the middle of the night by a horrendous pooey smell. The first few times this happened, I would get up and search the room thinking that maybe one of the cats has had an 'accident'. But I always fail to find anything. It then occurred to me that perhaps one of the cats or Alex had farted in their sleep (is that possible or does one have to be conscious?). But looking at them, I couldn't figure out who could have done it as it was impossible to tell from looking at their sweet sleeping faces.

But this afternoon, as I walked into the study, I was definitely hit by a nausea-inducing fart and the only living creature in the room, large enough to produce such a stink, was... TIGGER! I should have known that he was the most likely culprit! Cos he has the second most stinky poo in the household (after Missy) and he sleeps in our bedroom every single night, sometimes right in front of my nose!

Harmony in the Bathroom

2006-06-08T14:48:00.000+08:00

This is my view of Harmony when she is in the bathroom asking to be stroked. Harmony is a funny little cat in that she has very specific locations in the flat where she wants/demands to be stroked. Her favourite stroking place is in the master bathroom. The study table comes second and every other place in the flat is off limits for stroking. When we try to stroke her in any place other than the bathroom or study table, she will curve her body away from our hands and walk away.

When either of us is in the bathroom, especially in the morning and at night, Harmony will come running. This is because Harmony loves, not just getting strokes in the bathroom, but also drinking from the taps in the bathroom, particularly the one in the shower (pictured below). She will meow till we turn on the tap for her. She doesn't mind getting all wet in the process of lapping up her 'nectar'.

When she wants her strokes, she will first stare at you, willing you to stroke her. But if you ignore her, she'll start meowing at you. And if I continue to ignore her, she'll give up and either walk out of the bathroom or just lie down on the bathroom mat. But if Alex continues to ignore her (e.g. if he's shaving, brushing his teeth), she'll nip him around the ankles. As I've always said, the cats know who they can bully.

“It’s a beautiful day, The sun is shining…”

2006-06-08T13:19:00.000+08:00

So sings Queen.

Yesterday morning I came out of the hotel to see sunlight breaking through the clouds and shadows on the ground. After a morning in a windowless cube farm I came out for lunch to see patches of blue sky and a strong breeze blowing. After an afternoon in “the cubes”, I emerged to find a bright blue nearly cloudless sky.This is the resulting view from my room in the evening. A bit more round to the right I can see mountains in the distance. Unfortunately I couldn’t photograph them because the window doesn’t open and there were reflections of the room in the window.

A Relaxed, Confidant Cat at Last!

2006-06-07T09:41:00.000+08:00

Missy (above) usually doesn't lie on the ground with her chest and stomach so fully exposed. I guess this is a good sign, showing that she's become more confident and relaxed in this household, after 3 years! She has certainly come a long way from hiding under the sofa 24/7.

Sticking Out Tongue II

2006-06-05T16:59:00.000+08:00

You can't really see it cos I took this picture with my low resolution camera phone, but Harmony is actually fast asleep with her left eye slightly open and her tongue sticking out. Unlike Missy, Harmony hardly ever sticks her tongue out, regardless of whether she's awake or asleep. So it's amazing that I should be able to get two shots of kitties with their tongues sticking out in 1 day!

Odd Sights in Beijing

2006-06-05T12:58:00.000+08:00

My hotel is near the embassy district, (it's the green bit that can be seen from my hotel room), and I included a bit of it in my exercise walks over the weekend. While doing so I came across this road sign, I have no idea what it’s supposed to mean.
I also have no idea what taking the restaurant staff out and making them march around, stand on parade and sing (patriotic?) songs is supposed to do. But it’s quite a popular thing for restaurants to do.

An Ikea Cat Perch

2006-06-05T10:12:00.000+08:00

Harmony likes looking out the window. So for our study, we wanted to get her something she can lie on while having a window view at the same time. A few weeks ago, we went to Ikea and bought this desk top shelf. All it needed was a cushion and it was all set for Harmony to use. As we'd predicted, she loves it and has used it everyday since she discovered it.

Back in Beijing

2006-06-05T09:28:00.000+08:00

I’ve been in Beijing for a week now for work. The hotel and work are on the north east of Beijing just off the third ring round and near the embassy district.

Hotel
Office

Yes the sky is as grey as it looks in the pictures. It’s been like this all day, every day I’ve been here. I’m not sure what the cause is, because I’m not suffering from the effects of heavy pollution, runny nose or eyes, sore throat, but the visibility is appalling for some reason. I miss my Singapore summer’s days.

A room with a view please

If you think it looks depressing now, wait till the winter when most of the trees are bare, then the place is really grey.

The hotel room isn’t bad, though a bit small and like many hotels although there is a desk no one thought to provide a proper chair to you can comfortably at it. However it has a really nice shower.

The restaurant is nice and roomy and with a conservatory overlooking a garden along the longest wall, it is nice and bright. It also has a wide selection of pastries for breakfast, though not all are tasty.

To try and work off the breakfast pastries I’ve been walking back from work. If I take the long route it’s about a brisk twenty five walk and it gives me the chance to listen to about half of one of Ajahn Brahm’s talks, (which can be down loaded from the Buddhist Society of Western Australia) on my iPod nano. On my way back to the hotel I pass the following sculptures and vaguely familiar looking fast food outlet

Who does this remind you of?

Along the sides of the road news papers hung up to be read, which is the traditional way in which people got the news.

Sticking Out Tongue

2006-06-05T09:21:00.000+08:00

The first cat that I saw with her tongue sticking out was my mother-in-law's favourite cat (she had more than 8 at the time), Amelia, or Melia for short. In many ways, Missy (pictured above) reminds me of Melia, who has since passed away. When I first met Melia, I thought she was the prettiest little thing. She was small, round and gray, just like Missy is now, although I know a lot of people will dispute the part about Missy being small... Anyway, Melia wasn't a very friendly cat except to my mother-in-law who she adored. She would reject all my attempts to befriend her and continued to be standoffish towards me. Nevertheless, I still liked her a lot 'cos she had a lot of character.

There is one particular incident that I will always remember when I think of Melia. It took place during my first visit to my in-laws' house in the UK. Only then, they were not yet my in-laws as I got engaged only on that trip. I was trying to make a good impression, which is what made this incident particularly memorable.

At the time, my in-laws' house did not have central heating. And as we were visiting in winter, that meant that I was freezing my butt off most of the time. Luckily, what they did have was a small little portable heater that I carried around the house with me when I went from room to room. One night at dinner, I had this heater next to my legs. I could feel the hot air blowing against my legs and was very happy to be warm. As the meal progressed, the hot air came on intermittently. One minute it was hot and the next, it was cold. I paid no mind to it at first, but when it kept happening, I looked down and saw little Melia sitting on top of the heater. Unfortunately, the on-off button for the heater was also at the top of the heater and she was merrily pushing it on and off. Now, remember that this was the first time that I was meeting my potential mother-in-law and I was trying to make a good impression. How would it look if I push her favourite cat off its cosy perch? All the other cats are not allowed in the dining room except for Melia, so I know she definitely has favoured cat status. That is why, for the rest of the night, I kept my mouth shut and just tolerated the hot, cold, hot, cold temperature changes taking place around my legs, all due to the whims of a little gray cat.

Cat Alarm

2006-06-04T14:51:00.000+08:00

This morning, I was awaken at 6.05am by my cat alarm, alerting me to the fact that the food bowls were empty! I usually fill the kitties' food bowls at 9 in the morning and night. But last night, as I was going out for a late dinner with friends, I filled their bowls at 7pm and forgot to top it up when I got home later.

So this morning, Ve Ching took it upon himself, as the kitties' self-appointed leader, to stand on my arm as I lay asleep on my side, bend over and scream into my ear! He has done this before and will usually give up after 4 or 5 cries if I pretend to remain asleep. But this morning, he just wouldn't give it up. He yelled and yelled directly into my left ear until I finally got up and filled his bowls. I then went back to sleep and when I got up later, he was happily napping on the blue cushion in my bedroom.

Harmony

2006-06-04T12:35:00.000+08:00

One October night in 2002, I received a phone call from Alex telling me that while on his walk with Loy Loy, a little black and white kitten had appeared out of nowhere in the open air car park and had tailed them back to our void deck. I went downstairs to see if I could find the kitten's mother, while Alex brought Loy Loy back upstairs so as not to frighten the kitten's mother away. He came back down and we waited for a few hours at the void deck to see if the kitten's mother would turn up. In that time, the little kitten tried to play with us, but we avoided contact as we knew that its mother may not recognise it once its body was covered with our scent.

Finding us to be less than suitable playmates, the kitten then went up to all and sundry who passed through the void deck. As usual, some people screeched and were visibly frightened by this tiny kitten, others warned their children not to touch the 'dirty' creature and a few just ignored it while it tried to engage them in play. Watching her, we were thankful that no one had done any actual harm to her (maybe it's because we were staring). But we knew then, that we had to take her home with us before somebody rejects her advances by kicking her away.

As we did with the previous lot of strays (a litter of 5 kittens) that we had found, we immediately set out to look for a home for her. We took photos of her and plastered them at the vets, supermarkets, pet stores and also on Cat Welfare Society's website. We also named her Harmony, because her face reminded us of the yin-yang symbol. But weeks past, and there was not a single enquiry from anyone. I knew it would not be easy to find a home for a black and white kitten (black kittens and tortoiseshell ones are just as difficult), but given how cute she looked in the photo, I didn't think I would have any trouble in Harmony's case. I guess 'cuteness' is in the eye of the beholder.

Anyway, after 9 weeks, we finally got a bite! A man called looking for a kitten for his son. He said he would call again after he had consulted his wife. But when I told Alex about the call, his face was filled with dismay. He had assumed that we were keeping her after all this time. Luckily, the potential adopter did not call again, and we got to keep her as our own.

My First Art Class

2006-06-03T14:03:00.000+08:00

Attended my first art class this morning. It's in oil painting. My friend, Iris, was there with me, which made it even more fun. The teacher, Chankerk, was a pretty laid back guy who gave very specific instructions, something that was much needed and appreciated. The above is my first 'masterpiece'.

Funny Sight

2006-06-02T18:23:00.000+08:00

Outside Tangs Plaza today, I saw a guy with a huge tummy, not just huge but very round too. Just imagine what a pregnant man would look like and you'd have captured what I saw. Strangely enough, he was wearing a tank top that said "Body Fitness". Either he doesn't know how to read or he has a tremendous amount of confidence in himself. I would have loved to have got a shot of him for this blog, but I don't think he would have obliged.

Expensive Cat Toy

2006-06-02T10:15:00.000+08:00

This is one lucky kitten, to have an owner/parent/guardian that allows it to play on a laptop. I don't think I would be that indulgent with my lot. Also, I don't own a laptop! :) Thanks Dawn for sending this to me.

Pesky Cats

2006-06-01T18:02:00.000+08:00

Some days, I wish that kitties could be trained to help around the house, or at least to clean up after themselves. Unfortunately, not only are they not a help, some of them are perfect hindrances! How do they hinder? Let me count the ways:

Ve Ching lying on the clothes I'm about to iron and shedding his fur all over them.

Tigger sleeping on the filing container just as I am about to put away some paperwork.

Harmony dirtying our towels after pulling them off the rack. A trick taught to her by Ve Ching.

Vet Visit: Ve Ching & Missy

2006-05-30T11:45:00.000+08:00

Ve Ching, waiting to go home.

Missy, after tormenting the vet.

A vet once told me that animals have two basic response when they arrive at the clinic. They are either very frightened and become very still, allowing the vet to do whatever, or they become aggressive and try to fight the vet at every turn. Sad to say, my two boys are the very frightened ones that will let the vet do anything to them, while my two girls are the fight-like-hell ones. (Read about Harmony's Vaccination Day). Well, at least you can't accuse them of adhering to stereotypes.

Bringing Ve Ching and Missy to the vet is a 2-man operation, that's why we made the appointment for last Saturday. They both have to be picked up and put into their carriers at the exact same time. Otherwise the other will get spooked and run under the bed to hide. In fact, the carriers have to be opened and placed by the front door the night before. Because once the carriers are taken out, everyone (kitties that is) usually runs to hide. It's only after a few hours that they deem it safe to come out of hiding.

Saturday's appointment ran true to form. Ve Ching was nervous and meowed all the way from our flat down to the car. In the car, we faced his carrier to Missy's and covered them both with a towel and he finally quieten down. Missy only started meowing halfway through the car ride cos she wanted a view and didn't appreciate having her carrier covered with the towel.

At the vet's waiting room, Ve Ching crouched as low as he could in a corner of his carrier, while Missy stuck her head out and had a good look around when I opened the top of the carrier. She even tried to come out for a wander when I put her carrier down on the floor for a few seconds.

In the consultation room, Ve Ching let himself be weighed, looked over, pilled and injected in under 3 minutes. Missy, on the other hand, protested at being weighed, growled so loudly that the vet couldn't hear her properly through his stethoscope, pushed the deworming pill out of her mouth with her tongue (the vet gave up after 3-4 tries), but was finally injected and popped back into her carrier.

I'm glad to report that both had no reactions to their vaccinations and are back to their usual routine of sleeping, eating and playing.

Gecko Hunting II

2006-05-26T07:35:00.000+08:00

Wouldn't you know it? Right after I post about their last gecko hunting expedition, what did kitties do? Frighten mummy half to death with more of their lizard catching exploits!

The Hunters

Harmony

Tigger

Missy

The Hunted

Gecko

At around 10+ last night, we noticed Harmony sitting on the balcony ledge, staring intently at the ceiling. We knew then that there must be a lizard/cockroach/fly/any other insect there. Alex took a look and announced that it was a fat, juicy lizard. As it was pretty high up, he deemed it safe where it was and left it alone.

Not long after, while we were watching CSI (recorded), the gecko appeared in the living room and decided to run a mini marathon. Its little lap around the room only served to attract the attention of more kitties. By this time, Tigger and Missy had both joined in the hunt. Everyone got even more excited, when the lizard started to descend the wall. When it was about a quarter way down, Harmony welcomed its approach by scrabbling up the wall. We could hear her little claws clicking as she carried out her version of rock climbing. That at least scared the gecko enough for it to run up the wall again, out of harm's way. We turned our attention back to Grissom and his pals for this hunting business is usually a long drawn affair that could last the whole night.

When the commercials came on, we suddenly noticed that all the kitties had disappeared from the room. With a sense of foreboding, we went in search of the cats. In the study, they were everywhere. Harmony was running furiously up and down one side of the room, in pursuit of the lizard, while Tigger and Missy were watching her closely, all heightened and ready to pounce, should any action come their way. In the middle of the room, there was a lizard's tail that was still wriggling about, trying desperately but hopelessly to distract the kitties from its ex-owner. Alex went off to get a dust pan and brush, to save the gecko with. By the time he got back, the lizard had hidden under the CPU. Alex lifted the box and the lizard made a mad dash... towards me. I ran screaming from the room, followed by the gecko, kitties and Alex with his dust pan and brush. Luckily for me and the gecko, Alex managed to sweep it onto the dust pan pretty quickly and deposit outside the flat. Hopefully, it would have better sense than to come into a multi-cat household the next time.

Gecko Hunting

2006-05-25T11:04:00.000+08:00

Everytime a gecko enters our flat, I pray that the kitties will not spot it (killing for sport can't possibly generate good karma for them right?), but they inevitable do. What happens next is a little meowing and then a long patient wait for the gecko to somehow fall down to the ground. Although I've never seen a gecko actually do a freefall (what else are their sticky pads for?), they must somehow do so, because I often wake up in the morning to find bits of lizard around the place, be it a bit of tail or a squashed body.

On this occasion, Ve Ching and Harmony had been hunting the gecko for awhile. But they must have taken their eyes of it for a moment 'cos the lizard seemed to have made good its escape, as shown in the picture above. Seconds later, Ve Ching spotted the gecko making its getaway and immediately jumped onto the Osim chair and used it as a springboard to launch himself at the lizard. Unfortunately he crashed onto the wall, bounced off the floor and careened towards the balconey. Alex rushed to pick him up to see if he was alright, and saw something white sticking out of his mouth. He shook Ve Ching and lo and behold, the gecko dropped out. With his hands full of squirming, wriggling cat, Alex yelled at me to save the lizard before Ve Ching gets loose. "You've got to be kidding!?! I'm not about to touch an eeky creepy crawly lizard," was the first thought that came to mind. Luckily for me, by the time I reached the balcony, the gecko had already made good its escape by dashing out the front door. That is one lucky lizard!