Sunday, March 22, 2009

Bob and Joy

Bob was hiding initially when Joy was in my room. However, after a while, he was less scared and Joy could stroke and carry him. He even rubbed himself against her towards the end of the visit but Joy said Bob is still very attached to me as he would rub against me too. It's nice to see another person with affection for Bob. Joy commented that Bob and I will be sad if she adopts Bob. True, we will be initially but if Joy and her family loves Bob and Bob and their cat can get along or accept each other, we will be happy again.

Joy and I discussed and think we can try to let the 2 cats meet at her place. That will probably take place in May after my Japan holiday and her working trip.

Joy, I can still smell your perfume on Bob's fur just now. Hopefully that will help him to remember you the next time you visit :)

Bob's afternoon out of my room

I took a few photos of Bob when I let him out after my lunch. He is now resting on the floor in the living room while Angel is in my parents' room with the door closed and other defenses such as the weird fence, bottles of water and orange peels I blogged about earlier.


A potential adopter, Joy will be visiting Bob later. This will be the second time she and her 2 sisters see him. About a few weeks ago, they came too and Bob was quite freaked out and went hiding under the sofa or the toilet or under my bed. It's quite surprising as Bob used to be friendly with people when he was a community cat in the park. I guess after a year interacting just with me and my family, he lost that. Joy told us that she likes the look of Bob and the feelings she has after seeing the ad on Cat Welfare Society's adoption bulletin board. As I guess with that feelings and me hoping to find Bob a better home with more freedom, Joy and I decided that she could visit him again.

Bob is still meowing when he doesn't like to be cooped up in my room. He is still interested in the barrier separating him and Angel. I'm still sharing my pillow with him and my head is usually warmed by his body. I still get some scratches and bites from him on my arms when he is frustrated. He is still the cute guy I see when I go to my room and when I wake up :) But the sad thing is both still can't get along and either one will be unhappy being cooped up.

The last of yam soba


I have been trying to finish the packet of yam soba, so that I can try other brands. Today I made a bowl from the last strands with some veggies I found in the fridge, sausages and egg. For the soup, I put in the dashi/fish stock satchet and also added in this Jap yuzu hot sauce I got from Isetan Scotts supermarket. I like the taste and the dish made a nice satisfying meal for my lunch.

Angel on Ikea plank

Dad is creative. He likes to DIY and recently, he put up a plank from Ikea and shower curtain to cover his new TV in their bedroom. I don't know the purpose of the plank though but it seems like a great place for Angel to relax :) Oh and I like the blue tones of the curtain- bright and chirpy.

How I eat my capsicum


I like green capsicum/pepper, not the red or the yellow. I find the green one less sweet. I like to eat it with plain bread or toast it on top of cheddar cheese, some toast wheatgerm and bread. Yummy!

10 down, 2 more to go

The last time I wrote about being assigned to be the secretary of some senior management meetings. I started in Dec 08 and I have completed 10 sessions. The 10th one was yesterday from 4.45pm till 8.20pm. The 1st agenda item already took more then one hour of discussion and we had about 6 items. Anyway, I will try to draft the minutes and send them out to the directors for their comments by this weekend (my own target) before clearing with CEO by mid-week. Then hopefully, I will do 2 more meetings, as scheduled and be able to lead a more "normal" life.

The experience wasn't that painful. I get to see the decision making process, the dynamics, etc. The content of the discussion will be boring without the personality, experience and passion brought in by the participants. I am not one of them, just someone there to make sure the projector and my laptop run well for the presentation slides, to get presenters to come in at the right time and to record the minutes of the meeting.

I can't wait for my duty to end by end Mar and then I can give myself a little break :)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Watching anime

I have not been crazy about watching anime. The only time that came close was quite some time ago when Central (TV12) was showing Inuyasha at 11.30pm. Mom, sis and I would try to catch it on those weekday evenings. But that anime was quite long and came in a few seasons, so after a while, we stopped chasing after it. The storyline revolves around the adventures of the half-demon, Inuyasha and a schoolgirl, Kagome and their friends in fighting demons. Both Inuyasha and Kagome were from different era and had special powers. I like the storyline which is interesting, funny and sad but it was hard trying to catch up with it. Maybe I will try to follow the later seasons when I have the time.

Recently, I was listening to the Jap song on Sweeteepye's blog and like the tune. I was curious and started to find out what the anime Nabari no Ou was all about. Last Thurs till this Mon, I was watching the anime. I love it, the storyline, the music, the characters (how they were drawn and the colours). I laughed at the earlier episodes and as the story gets darker and sad, I teared/cried at times.

The story is about Miharu, a schoolboy who had some secret art/power in him - he didn't know about it at first and people (who were ninjas/samurai in the Nabari world) were interested in his power. Some became his friends and others just wanted to use the power for their own gains or to create their ideal world. It shows how misguided some people can be by destroying lives around them just to get what they want. There is also goodness where strangers became Miharu's friends and were there to help him. Another important character is Yoite who had the power of Kira and was also called the Death God. The scenes of him and Miharu were very touching as the 2 of them were similar in some ways and they shared a special bond.

I also like how the anime portrays some baddies with some goodness in them and even the good guys had some secrets they were keeping. Things were not what they seemed to be. It was fascinating to see how the story developed. I feel it's kind of unpredictable. Initially, I was attracted to the ninja fighting scenes, then in the later part, it was how the feelings and emotions of the characters were played out.

Most of the guys in the anime (especially Thobari Sensei)look cute and I initially thought one of them (Raiko) was a girl with his pink colour hair. Thobari sensei (another good guy) looks very cool and he was very funny to have a phobia of taking any form of transport. I managed to catch a few familar Japanese words that I have learnt but my eyes were catching the English subtitles all the time. Nabari no ou is only 26 episodes (about 30 mins per episode). I'm not sure if this is the usual length of anime but Inuyasha was more than 100 episodes. It will be wonderful if I am able to understand the anime in Jap. That is, if I continue to persevere in my Jap lessons (still at basic level and not been studying hard for it).

I don't think I will get addicted to another anime soon. Anyway, I could only watch it late at night when I finish checking on the community cats and the 2 rascals at home. But I have been feeling good about being able to catch Nabari no ou. At least I don't feel that I have wasted my time and it's not often I get glued to the computer for hours other than for work. Hee.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Another calico cat sterilised

Another calico cat appeared in my area. She looks well fed and is friendly. I wasted no time a few days later (on Tues) to trap her and asked a friend to help me to send to the vet for sterilisation.


Yesterday, I passed her in the carrier to a Malay uncle who wants to keep her as a pet. His wife and roaming pet cat recently passed away. This new cat will also be another roaming pet cat. At the moment, the uncle is keeping her indoors or in the carrier to train her to know that his place is her new home. I wonder if she will know to go back to his place to sleep after he releases her. We'll see. Either way, my parents and I will be feeding her as we also fed the uncle's previous pet. He stays at the ground level and let his previous cat pee and poo outdoors. He just left it to us to feed his cat and probably sometimes shared part of his meal with his cat.

Cooking on Sundays

I have been cooking simple meals for myself last Sunday and today.

Last Sun, I had the yam soba soup with veggies and egg. Angel jumped onto the sink counter and looked at my dish curiously.


Today, I made a dry version of the yam soba with kailan and egg while trying to bake some organic brownie from a premix I bought from Jasons supermarket. Both were yummy!


For dinner, I used the rice that Sis couldn't finish with her bak kut teh to cook fish and veggie porridge.