The end of a 3-day weekend

We had a nice dinner just now. This morning, I suggested brown rice porridge to go with some dishes. Mom prepared the ingredients while Dad did the cooking under Mom's guidance. Sis and I just helped to eat :)

Yogurt cake again

I spent the afternoon baking another yogurt cake after I last tried baking one 2 weeks ago. This time, I tried another similar recipe I cut out from the newspapers. I made some variations by adding big dark chocolate buttons to half of the cake and the other half has lemon zest from 2 lemons. The cake turns out not too sweet (the way I like it) but will need feedback from my family to see if they like it too.

Before baking


After baking


A slice of the cake with lots of lemon zest. I think I added too much. I like it but it may be overwhelming for others.


I used the big dark chocolate buttons that Sis got for me from Brighton, UK and the ingredients are organic. I have cut the pieces around the buttons. Hope sis will like the cake and help me to eat :)

Art therapy

Sometimes there are things I can't write down but at least I can express it through drawing. It does help somewhat - at the moment, I still feel a bit heavy hearted. This occasional worry for the community cats and the hope that we can always keep them safe.

"Shadow hiding in the bush" by Coboypb

Fabric covered hangers

I like to visit this blog every now and then as lovely crafts, homes DIY projects and interesting food are usually featured. The photos always look bright and chirpy.

Just now, this project on fabric covered hanger caught my eye. The hanger definitely looks more appealing with the makeover but sis and I wonder if it's worth the effort to sew this. I guess if one has the time, scraps of cloth lying around, it's worth a try to make the wardrobe look more inviting :)

If I have a sewing machine, the time and the interest, I can do embroidery of a cat doing a stretch and the hook (or whatever you call that) of the hanger is the cat's tail :)

"Rough sketch of fabric cover for hanger" by Coboypb

Happy @ home with mom

I was asking Mom if she can sense my happiness whenever I'm @ home. Mom said she's happy that I'm @ home. Haha. An indirect answer. I enjoy taking a day of leave, like today, and just being there for mom, help out with the household chores, feed the community cats together with mom, have simple lunch together, mind the cats, play a little with them, chat with mom or do some surfing like now. I feel happy and fortunate that I have a wonderful relationship with mom who is more like a friend to me :) Of course, there are times we don't see eye to eye and aren't happy with each other but those moments don't last for long.

Return of the camera

I managed to survive without the camera when Sis brought the camera with her to Europe. It's hers too, but I use it most of the time. hee. Before she left for her holiday, I was seriously thinking of buying a Panasonic Lumix. But now that her Canon ixus is back, I think I will just continue to use it since it's only for my blog :)

That night when Sis was home, I didn't just take photos of my souvenirs. I took photos of the ham & cheese beer bread and almond lemon yogurt cake. I'm happy that my family and my friends in the office like them :)

Sis is back!

Sis came back from her UK/Rome/Paris trip on Mon evening and these are what she got for me. She really knows what I like :)

The Harrods' orange thins, Lavender Pocket Garden and Big dark choc buttons are for me. Of course I'll share the food with sis and parents. She got the other chocolate bars and cookies for mom and herself in mind.

The natural green tea soap and the Murano glass pendant are my souvenir from Europe too :)

What matters is that Sis came back safe and sound and she enjoyed herself.

Spending time @ home

I haven't been staying home for a whole day to bake, do some tidying up of my room, etc. Today is the day. Dad and Mom have just gone out to Chinatown for lunch and do some toiletry shopping @ Chinatown Complex. Dad has asked me to join them but I have decided I should bake a beer bread and if there's time, almond yogurt cake. It's also good to have time to myself sometimes at home - not that I will do any deep thinking but it's nice to have the house to myself with Angel and Bob and do things I like.

Tidying up my room and ironing clothes are not my favorite activities but I feel good seeing nice crisp office clothes ready to be worn the next few weeks and my room (which just needs a bit of cleaning since Mom does help me) has less Bob fur lying around, cat litter and dust. Luckily Mom and I are quite clean freaks so my room actually smells clean and Bob smells of the clean laundry or my hair/skin care products.

I like to think that Angel and Bob like someone at home too. Mom always claims that Angel looks sad whenever we are going out. Bob will be crying in my room when we are home. I shall see if there is opportunity to let Bob out for a few hours if Angel settles down in parents' or sis' room. If not, I just pop in and out of my room to check on him and play with him or hug him. He has been meowing quite loudly at night if no one is with him in my room. Sometimes I need to do some work or do some surfing at the PC before sleeping, and shushing him does help to quiet him down at times. There are some things that I can do in my room and keep Bob company. For example, for my Jap homework, I will put all my Jap notes in a bag and bring into my room. Bob doesn't like me to be focused on other things beside him sometimes if he is still very alert and not sleepy. So I will try to play with him a little. Recently, when I bring my office laptop home, I will watch some anime in my room late at night while Bob rests/sleeps on my pillow. He's totally not interested in the moving scenes on laptop screen.

During the recent working trip to Thailand, I put Bob up at my friend's place. She was also taking care somebody's 6 pet cats and she has a pet cat. Bob seems to remember my friend's place, having stayed there almost a week in May and he wasn't afraid. When I arrived to pick him up a week later when I returned from Thailand, he actually went hiding into a carrier with 2 other cats in the kitchen but when he realised it was me, he came out of hiding. When Dad came a while later, he hid behind my friend's legs instead of mine. Mom and I think that perhaps Bob can get along well with other cats who are comfortable with other cats. For the case of Angel, he is so used to us that he sees other cats and humans as threats.

Mom and I have been thinking whether to try putting Bob up for adoption again. He will definitely be happier with someone who can let him move around the house freely and if the person has other friendly cats, I'm sure Bob can get along with them too. I can only offer him my hugs and kisses, my company when I'm home and at night and I don't think it's enough. Perhaps later while baking, I can think about this and decide whether to put up an adoption ad again on Cat Welfare Society online adoption bulletin I did so a few times last year but from the few responses, nothing materialised in the end. I can always try again and see this time, someone can give him a good home.

For the past several months this year, Boss has also asked me to help to prepare some meeting materials for weekly morning meetings on Mon. It requires me to get updates from the other divisions the week before and consolidate them before emailing to all the members of the meetings. Usually, I will check office emails on weekends and email the final version of the document to the members and their secretaries. The amount of work is not heavy but it kind of dampens the weekend mood knowing that I have to do office work. Anyway, I'm just glad that I have time to spend quality time with family, cats, myself and also catch up with friends.

Okie, it's time for baking therapy! :)

Blogging using Google Chrome

I can't blog at all on IE and Firefox. Flock allows me to blog text but I can't upload any images. At a friend's suggestion, I downloaded Google Chrome. Yay! I can blog and upload this "painting" I did using the Artrage free software :)

"Lost grass" by Coboypb