High tea @ Carousel

We had a leisurely meal with our close relatives - our 2 aunties, Uncle and our 2 cousins at Carousel at Royal Plaza on Scotts from 3.30pm to 5.30pm.

The round table we got was conducive for all of us to chat while we happily tried the various items.

These are some of my plates of food.


I tried to sample all the food that looked nice/yummy and then I would eat them again if they were really good. The savoury stuff are not bad but the dessert items are nothing fantastic. I didn't bother to try any of the cakes. I tried the ice cream when Sis told me that it doesn't have the fake chocolate taste. The scone was on my plate at my cousin's recommendation.

It was nice catching up with our relatives whom I last met during Chinese New Year and there were some new developments since the celebration. Of course after the meal, I don't think any of us need to eat anymore for the rest of the day. At least, I don't need to.

The high tea is $32+++ and at the moment there is a 15% discount for Citibank, UOB and OCBC credit card holders. So it's $32 per person.

Bob has charmed our hearts

Bob has entered our area a few months ago and he was also sterilised last month. He has grown to be a friendly cat - he would lick White Neck's face and neck and play with Bush.



Last night due to the cool weather after the rain, he even sat on mom's lap and then on mine. Mom and I are very tempted to bring him home but after the experience of fostering Pearl, we are not sure whether Angel could accept another cat in our house. It had been also rather stressful making the logistic arrangement to separate Angel from Pearl or watching the 2 of them to make sure they don't fight.

For now, we are going to enjoy the peace of having one cat, Angel only and perhaps when we are ready, we can try to see whether we could bring Bob home for a short while to see whether both Bob and Angel could click.

Bush the drinker

Bush will always drink water after eating his food and would sport that cute wet chin after sipping the water :)

Rambo the newcomer

Recently, a new cat has roamed into our area. He is quite skinny and has a tooth that looks like someone gave him a punch. So I called him Rambo. Poor him can't take dry cat food, so mom has been soaking them in hot water first and would serve them to him in the morning and evening. Most of the other cats fear him and would avoid him when Rambo goes to the park to wait for us to feed him.

One of the residents told mom that this cat should be quite old and may not live long, so he feels that there is no point for me to trap him and send him to the vet for sterilisation.

I will continue to observe Rambo's condition and decide the best course of action.

Baking butter cakes

I have started baking recently.

Last Fri, it was banana butter cake based on Mom's recipe. I was very happy that it turned out yummy. Even mom said it's nicer than her version.


On Sun, I baked another version of choc chip in half of the cake and banana slices in the other half. It turned out drier but still tasted not bad.


This afternoon, I baked a coffee version with chocolate chips since Dad likes that flavour. I was a bit disappointed tasting it just now. It has less kick as compared to the earlier ones. Sis, Mom and I think it may taste better with ice cream.


Oh well, maybe I should just stick to baking banana cake the next time.

Pearl in her new home

Pearl's adopter, Ben came to pick her up around 3pm today. Mom and I are glad that Ben seems to like her a lot. We will wait for Pearl to settle down in her new home and visit her next weekend.

Ben smsed me in the early evening that Pearl is fine and was exploring his place before napping under his bed.

Now the balcony seems empty with Pearl and her stuff. Angel was still moving cautiously around the house and probably wonder where Pearl is hiding.

We'll miss Pearl for a while.

Why can't they get along?

My mom just asked me this question about Angel and Pearl. I don't know too.

I took a photo of the 2 cats recently at night. Can you spot them?


Angel is at the top left hand corner, on the rack near a speaker and Pearl is at the bottom right hand corner resting on the floor. She was eyeballing him. If he were to get down from the rack, she would definitely get up and follow him.

Pearl and the rat

Revised date of departure for Pearl

Pearl will be with us another week. Her adopter called me earlier that his place's renovation is still not completed and asked whether we can keep Pearl for another week. Although we will miss Pearl, we have also mentally prepared ourselves for Pearl to leave us tomorrow. It will also be less stressful as when Pearl is let out of the balcony to roam the house, we have to be alert. Angel has been chased by Pearl a number of times when we let our guard down or when Pearl just unexpectedly made a dash for Angel.

Mom who is at home most of the time has been feeling stressed by these attacks and Angel is getting naughty by scratching the speakers and chewing on carpets, etc. Mom is really doing a good job in taking care of the 2 cats at home and also the community cats in the morning and evening. I'll try to give her more support by also doing my part in coming home more often for dinner and feeding the community cats with her in the evenings and also calling her before lunchtime on weekdays to ask her any interesting or frustrating happenings. After all, I'm the one who started this whole affair with the cats - I can't leave Mom alone to handle them.

Chinese New Year feasts

Remembering 2 dinners I had last weekend:

Dinner at Auntie's place - some of the dishes were from Soup Kitchen.


Dinner at Susan's place - she and her husband actually made the cold dish from scratch. I'm impressed. The roast chicken and potatoes were specially made for a Malay couple.


I was at a colleague's place for a gathering and he and his wife made some nice and interesting dishes - canape (biscuit with cheese and grape), sausages, red potatoes with smoked salmon and herrings. Too bad I didn't bring along my camera.

Angel still doesn't like Pearl

After more than a month under the same roof, Angel still can't accept Pearl. I was hoping the 2 of them can be friends and can play and sleep together.

These 2 shots of the 2 cats were taken separately. They look so peaceful and relaxed. But if they are awake and see each other, Angel would be hissing away and Pearl would give chase.




Sunday is coming soon and Pearl will be leaving us too. Angel will probably feel relieved.

Healthy eating during Chinese New Year?

This was my lunch on the second day of Chinese New Year (8 Feb) but I don't think it's very healthy as the cereal is high in sugar.

Sis has also baked on some choc chip almond cookies yesterday afternoon, based on Aunt's recipe. They are nice and crispy and I indulge in a piece or 2 now and then :)

Pearl to her new home on 17 Feb

Pearl's adopter will be bringing her home on 17 Feb. We will definitely miss her as she has been quite a dear other than taunting and chasing after Angel.

She has a fierce side - she gives a painful little pain when she doesn't want to be touched (which is not often). She doesn't like her nails to be cut too.

She is also quite a sleuth - she could find her catnip fish toy (bought by her adopter) and also the rat toy (we gave her) even when we hide them to dry. She loves to dunk them in the water and recently she also put them in her food dish. Haha.


She likes to alternate sleeping on the chair and lying on the cool floor.
And she makes this cute little whenever she wakes up and does the shifting :)

Catching up

Chinese New Year is the time to catch up with relatives I haven't been seeing recently or only see once a year. Being down at the start of the holiday has also made me lose about 2 days of eating goodies, half day of packing my room. But then again, we do not have many relatives to visit and we have been visiting them in the evenings after Dad finishes with his cab job in the day, so in the day, I could munch a little on the goodies and also tidy up my room since no relatives visit us :)

We also don't stay out too late, as mom and I will need to feed the community cats. The past few nights, we have been feeding them later at around 9.30pm instead of 7.30/8pm and it takes us about an hour or so to feed about 14 cats at 4 locations near our home.

Tonight we'll be having dinner with our aunties and our cousins (on Mom's side). We are quite close to them - parents will meet them weekly for morning exercise and sometimes we would have makan sessions together when one of the 2 aunties give us a treat. Dad has asked me to look for a suitable hotel restaurant for a afternoon tea/buffet on 24 Feb or 2 Mar, so that he can give Aunties and families a treat too. It's good that we make effort to keep in touch with relatives who matters to us instead of sticking to visiting during Chinese New Year.

My hope for Salem

Kelvin has emailed me a few days ago that Salem has been lethargic, getting soft stool and he still hasn't lost his bloated belly. He's concerned that it may be Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) and has brought Salem to the vet to see if the medication can cure him of his symptoms before bringing him to further screening this Sat. We hope not as it's terminal and can spread to other cats. Kelvin has 2 other pet cats.

Sigh. I can only hope that it's nothing serious for Salem and he will get well soon.

Scary experience

On Mon's late night, I had diarrhoea and puked. I thought sleeping for long hours till noon yesterday, I would be well. However, I felt chilled and while resting at the sofa, my limbs went numbed and I quickly called mom that I felt weird. For a moment, I thought I was dying. Mom panicked and cried as I looked pale and my fingers curled up and were cold. I calmly told her to call for ambulance. But after she called, my numbness slowly subsided and I asked her to call again to cancel the ambulance service. She quickly called Dad (who was driving his cab) to come home and bring me to see a doctor.

At the clinic, the doctor recommended me going to A&E to go for blood test and drip. So with his letter, Dad dropped me and Mom at Mt Alvernia while we waited for my turn to see the doctor. The doctor asked me why my GP sent me down. He didn't think my condition was serious and said the numbness could be caused by me panicking and lack of oxygen in my system - this could be resolved by breathing deeply (which was what I did) I asked him whether my symptoms are due to food poisoning. He said probably. He prescribed me medicine for my diarrhoea, vomiting, satchets of salt and good bacteria. Mom told me that she was really scared this morning.

Last night, I puked again and still have diarrhoea but I feel better enough to sms my friends who had lunch with me on Mon as I suspected that could be when I got food poisoned. Today, I had 2 toast for breakfast and porridge with steamed pork and veggies for lunch. My aunt is giving us a dinner treat at Soup Restaurant later. I would probably join them if I'm in the mood.

Sis asked why I only sms her about my experience when we were leaving the hospital. Guess all of us were wondering what was wrong with me and we didn't want to worry her until we found out the reason.

The sensation of being immobile is really frightening and I had to calmly tell mom what to do (make phone calls, look for my IC in my wallet), after seeing mom crying in front of me and rubbing my fingers to warm them, even though I felt very scared myself. Luckily, it was nothing serious. But it makes me think that when I'm ill or die, many things become unimportant. I must learn to prioritise what's important and not regret when I can no longer do anything about it.

Angel the king?

Angel sure looks like the ruler in the photo.

Nowadays he likes to just lounge around on parent's bed. Naughty him even try to go under the quilt cover.

However, if Pearl is in sight or is entering the room, Angel will hiss at Pearl and go under the bed to hide. Haha.

Donut Factory

I didn't join the queue when Donut Factory first started at Raffles City. I did try one or 2 of their donuts when a nice colleague brought some for us in the office.

When Donut Factory opened a branch in Novena Square, Sis and I bought some home to share with Mom and Dad a month or more ago.

On Thurs, my friend and I did some quick grocery shopping at Cold Storage Novena Square before we hopped to Donut Factory. The donuts are not something one can eat regularly as they are quite sweet but it's nice to have them as an occasional treat.

After trying a few flavours, I think the Double Chocolate one is the best when eaten fresh.