Living with Angel and Bob

Things are still the same for Angel and Bob but at least Angel doesn't seem to freak out, knowing that Bob is in my bedroom. Bob is as usual hunting high and low for Angel. If Angel is in the balcony, Bob will be scratching the sliding door, thinking that he can crawl his way through.

Angel seems to be more manja, loving nowadays. This morning, he surprised me when he rested his front paws and body on my tummy as I sat on the sofa. So sweet of him. I enjoyed the few minute stroking his face, head and body before he decided "Time's up" and just walked away like nothing happened. It was so "Angel" :)

I managed to take some photos of Bob which is not an easy task as he doesn't keep still and will try to move towards the camera. Bob is getting heavier. I have been feeding him Natural Balance Chicken dry food and Solid Gold kibbles like Angel's diet.


I have been thinking whether to try to put another ad of Bob on CWS' online adoption bulletin as I'm not sure in the long run keeping him in my room will affect him psychologically. He will bite me when I want to leave my bedroom without him and also when it's daylight and I'm awake and still want to continue sleeping. I have managed to tolerate his bites and stop him by holding him by the scuff of his neck and usually he will stop or I will distract him or relieve the restlessness in him by making this snake toy play hide and seek with him.

Cooking and shopping therapy

Recently, I have been interested in using the stove instead of the oven.

I cooked this bowl of instant noodles with lots of veggies and mushrooms, using the satchet of Japanese fish stock my friend gave me. I don't think it's super yummy but I felt comforted to eat something I cooked myself.

After eating at this E-Sarn Thai Restaurant at Sixth Avenue a few times, I keep thinking of their warm lemongrass drink. The other day, I accompanied Mom to the veggie stall and also got some lemongrass stalks and pandang leaves.

I have managed to brew 2 pots of lemongrass pandang drink added with a little ground ginger (I think fresh ginger slice will be better) and rock sugar.

It's refreshing but I lack some secret ingredient, sp it doesn't taste as great as E-Sarn's one.

I like Japanese food and recently have been checking out the Japanese section for their sauces and stuff. Mom and I enjoy reading Urban's supplement to see what Jap food this writer will recommend. The other day, she featured this sesame nutty salad cream and I managed to find one without the nuts at Cold Storage Great World.
I tried it thinly spread on a slice of bread. It's really salty as it has salted egg york and tastes like Bromil/Mamite. Mom has used it on some apple chunks and veggies to make her version of Rojak.

I also bought some Japanese nuts (cheesy ones, sesame and brown sugar walnuts) a few weeks ago from Isetan Scotts supermarket and ate them with blueberries as a snack on Fri afternoon.

Yesterday, after our Japanese class, Flying Raisin and I headed for the Isetan Scotts supermarket to browse. I bought the cream sauce that FR has tried on her soba. The Urban writer has also recommended this miso paste with green chilli but it was sold out at the supermarket, so I bought the sesame miso paste that sounds good. There was also a demo/sampling counter of some Japanese soba but I was more interested in checking out some fish stock satchets stacked at the racks there. I got a small pack of 6 satchets (the less salty version) when I saw that the satchets looked like the ones my friend gave me.


Today, I used the fish stock to cook my udon soup with mushrooms, coriander, spring onions and pumpkin (that Mom steamed earlier and was quite soft).
The nice aroma of the fish stock (really not overly salty) and the veggies and the sweetness of the pumpkin made me drink up all the soup.

Sis also tried the sesame miso paste for her dry instant noodle and fried egg - she finds the taste on the sweet side but still nice.

I still miss baking but I find that it takes a long time in times of preparation and baking and the past few times, the stuff I baked just don't turn out right. I hope to find time again to bake cookies and cakes. I have some recipe that involves ground ginger and I still have chocolates waiting for me to use them for my baking :)

Missing Bush

Bush has been missing since Thurs evening. Mom last saw him in the drain - he was so scared of the gardener who was in the park, overpruning the bushes that he refused to jump out of the drain when Mom lifted the heavy concrete cover. Mom had no choice but to put some dry cat food in the drain for Bush to eat. When we didn't see him on Thurs evening, we were worried as there was a heavy downpour. Could Bush be swept away by the water in the drain?

We have been hoping to see him rolling and stretching at our feet when we reached the middle part of the park but there has been no sign of him. It can't be the TC getting pest controller to nab the cats as there has been no complaint about the cats in the park and only Bush is missing. I have also called SPCA to report about Bush, in case anyone brings him to SPCA.

We hope for a miracle like the case of Bob who appeared in the park again after missing for a few days.

The remaining hamsters

With their sister, Pebble gone, the 2 brothers, Poofy and Peanut are still going strong. They should be at least 3 years old. Other than looking leaner with less fur, the 2 guys still look great :)

Friendship

Sometimes I wonder if friendship is about meeting regularly or frequently or it can also be an email , sms or meeting up once in a while to catch up. I have some friends whom I meet almost daily or weekly because we work in the same organisation, try to swim weekly, attend Japanese language class, work together to help other cat caregiver in TNRM programme. These friends have been helpful, encouraging whenever I need cheering up. They have also inspired me to try to learn or try new things.

On Thurs, I have also met an old friend whom I have not seen for a year or more. I had lunch at Old Airport Road Food Centre near her place as I was on afternoon leave after that. We chatted for 2 hours there and at her place but we tried to fill each other on what has been going on in our lives and at the end of it, I am glad I make the effort to meet up with her. It may be quite some time before we meet again but during that short time, we encouraged each other to continue our passion, volunteer work and search for that something in our lives.

Growing pet grass and catnip

I have some catnip seeds from Flying Raisin and managed to coax a few seedlings to grow from the milk carton. However, the milk carton has no water drainage system and will disintegrate with time, so I transferred the seedlings this afternoon into a bigger pot
and a small cute cat pot.

My parents bought the 2 cute pots from Daiso and I like their cat looks :) The 2nd pot (the one with a tail) has pet grass seeds in them. I can't wait to serve Angel and Bob pet grass in that little pot.

If the catnip seedlings manage to survive, I can dry the plant for Angel and Bob to enjoy and feel happy and also to make catnip tea for myself.

Baby pumpkin

Mom bought some mini pumpkins about the size of my fist and steamed them. She kept some for me to eat the following day and I baked the slices with some cheddar cheese for dinner. I like its subtle sweet taste and the cheese is a nice touch.

Sleepyhead Angel

Angel seems to be sleeping more of late but he is very alert and will open his eyes to see what's going on at the slightest sound.

Cooking udon

2 Thurs ago, I had some work assignment that ended early and could go home earlier to enjoy my afternoon leave. Mom and I decided to cook udon using some Japanese seasoning my friend gave me. It smells like anchovies. We added egg and vegetables to the soup and udon, hoping that the seasoning and the simple ingredients would make a nice dish.

It was quite yummy and it made me feel all nice and warm and happy :)

Growing pet grass

I earlier bought a pot which had already had seeds planted in it and I just had to water it everyday and wait for the grass to sprout. It was really easy. When Angel finished chomping or rather chewed off the nice green grass, I threw the pot (made of thick hard paper) without thinking. I could have reused it and the unusual soil to hold new seeds.

Anyway, I bought a packet of pet grass seeds from Sundreams, the pet shop @ Far East Shopping Centre. I can't remember the exact price but both the seeds and the pot cost around the same. I figure that it's more worthwhile to get the seeds and plant them myself instead of buying another pot.

It was also easy for seeds I planted in the milk carton to grow.

Angel enjoyed eating them. Angel has the funniest expression sometimes :)