My adorable babies :)

I love them all.

Last work trip in 2014

I brought a Christmas edition Sonny Angel, a gift from Happy Blythes, with me on a short work trip to Kuala Lumpur on 23-25 Nov. I had some fun taking a few photos of him in the hotel room on the first evening :)

My models

I was trying the Manual function of the camera in my new Sony Xperia Z3, as the auto mode does not seem to give me nice shots. I read that the 20MP camera does not perform as well as other brands, so I'm quite happy when the photos of Bob, Cinnamon and Angel didn't turn out too badly. The photos capture the details quite well. However, there is a few second lag from the time I press the button, so I have missed the cute moments when ABC moved faster than the camera.

Goodbye, iPhone

My iPhone 4 is my first smartphone after my Motorola and Nokia handphones. It has been easy to use, and at a work trip late last year, it was a bit wonky and this year was slow and hung at times. I was undecided on which smartphones to get, even after reading numerous reviews and playing with them at the shops. Motorola Moto X? LG G3? Samsung? Nokia Lumia 930? iPhone again? In the end, I got Sony Xperia Z3, which is quite cool :)

My cute baby

Bob never fails to make me smile and give him a hug when he looks so cute or charms me with his adorable ways :)

Goodbye, Kiki

I saw you for the last time lying still at the carpark lot, not your usual spot at the void deck. One of your beautiful eyes was out of the socket. Was it abuse or car accident? I cried a little as I placed you in a box and passed to the cleaners. Rest in peace, Kiki. You will be missed by us.

Stamping, baking and sewing

On Saturday, I had fun decorating a gift wrapper with rubber stamps hand carved some time back. I baked some chocolate muffins for my family and S in the warm Sunday afternoon. That night I was inspired to sew a felt clothing for the gift for S :)

A week ago

Fatcat could still go to the park to rest and wait for us in the evening, even though he couldn't eat much.

Goodbye, Fat Cat

I rushed out of my bed and the house yesterday morning, after receiving a call from S that he found his body lying at a carpark lot. Hopefully Fatcat didn't suffer much. We last saw him at the void deck (near the carpark lot) in a cardboard box on Wednesday night. He has lost a lot of weight and was already not eating for 2 days and just drinking water. I had wanted to bring him to the vet on Friday or weekend to put him to sleep. I held Fatcat's cold and slightly stuff skinny body, our oldest community cat and said my goodbye.

National Day weekend

I was feeling a bit down over the weekend, partly due to the realization that my job of 14 years may not be something I want to do for the rest of my life and I do not know what else I can do. I'll have to work hard in exploring my options. The cats are a good distraction - this friendly chap whom mom and I met outside our "territory" just relaxed near a lift lobby of a HDB block when I said hello to him. I somewhat cheered up when I made myself some spinach cheese oat pancakes for dinner yesterday. Nevermind that mom found it tasteless when she tried one and tasted some non-cheesy parts. Haha. I like them :)

Angel is back

to his old self, sleeping in his cute poses, having a good appetite and chasing Cinnamon :)

Angel losing and regaining his appetite

These were taken last Thursday, when Angel had not eaten for 2 days and had vomited bile a few times. He looked fine but slept more. After x-Ray, blood test and ultrasound, he was hospitalised from 4 days on a drip to get him hydrated and to eat and reduce the inflammation of his pancreas and intestines. We are thankful to Rebecca of Lingcat Service who helped to put Angel into the carrier quickly, as it would be quite impossible for us to bring him to Namly Animal Clinic. I could easily carry Bob and scruff Cinnamon by the neck, but not for Angel. He has started eating small portions of food when he came home since Wednesday. However, sis and I don't have much success in giving him his medicine. Luckily, he has responded well to the treatment during his hospitalization.

Attempt to bake bread again

My past attempts in bread baking weren't very successful. The recipe for soft fluffy buns I tried on Sunday didn't produce soft beans, perhaps partly because I used a bit of peanut flour mixed with wholemeal flour instead of 100% plain flour. The buns were on the dense side but I think they taste quite nice with the shredded cheese on top. It was hot and sunny after a cloudy, rainy morning. I took a photo of the sky while feeding the cats that morning.

One dish meals

Mom made yummy pasta instead of her fried rice on Friday. On Saturday, I helped her to make porridge for dinner. Home cooked meals are my favorite.

Azuki beans and dorayaki

I attempted to make dorayaki (Doraemon's favorite snack) again few weeks ago. This time, the azuki bean paste was a bit too sweet and not soft enough. I froze half of the paste which was used in red bean pancakes. I think I'll be buying azuki beans to make more dorayaki, paste and pancakes in future :)

Chilling out in a kopitiam in Phuket

This work trip has been quite enjoyable partly due to the warm Thai hospitality and friendly colleagues. On Wednesday afternoon, we took a break at a Kopitiam in Phuket Old Town. I had iced butterfly pea milk tea and bought baked peanuts and roasted soya bean powder as souvenirs :)

In Phuket for work

I have been in Phuket since Sunday late afternoon and it feels like I have even here for a long time. I'm glad that the meetings were quite fruitful and with friendly colleagues from countries in the region. I had a bit of time yesterday to bring Grump out of my luggage to view the hotel room :) This morning, I went for a quick jog (15 mins for 1 km) at the treadmill in the hotel gym, as well as a 60-min aromatherapy massage in the evening.

Old friends and food

I spent part of the afternoon today preparing and baking quiche for the gathering with 2 good old friends and a little girl (primary 3 is still little, right?) and a baby. HJ made bulgur wheat salad which is yummy and healthy. The sweet girls sang me a belated birthday song, presented me with a gift and we shared dessert :)

Kite making and flying

The last time I made a kite must be during an art lesson in primary school. I can't remember when I flew a kite. Yesterday at a company retreat, after discussing about work issues in a relaxed manner in the morning, our team bonding activity in the afternoon was kite making with colleagues from other departments. It was surprisingly enjoyable even when we flew our creations under the hot sun :)

Afternoon date with sis

Sis and I booked each other on 27 April afternoon to hang out together at a cafe. Initially we wanted to check out Habitat Coffee at Upper Thomson Road, but it was crowded and there was a waitlist which will take an hour long. We explore down down the stretch of shops and decided to try Wafflelicous and share some food. After that, we hopped over to Salted Caramel and Sis had a cup of that flavour while I got the Roasted Pistachio. I'm glad we are not sick of each other after living under the same roof and can enjoy such dates :)

Banana bread

I ate the remaining 2 pieces of banana bread that I baked 2 weeks ago and kept in the freezer. They still tasted yummy :)

Feeling 36 years and a day old

Yesterday I felt fine. Growing old is something that I have accepted as part of life. I am glad to have my family, dear friends, cats (home and community ones) and S. Today has shown me that my body is not as strong as before. I had a dull headache while rushing out some presentation slides. It didn't go away when I had lunch with 2 friends. I had to go home and miss a meeting involving my bosses and other colleagues after I puked out my lunch and still felt unwell. Is my body trying to tell me something? I feel alright now after sleeping for 2 hours. Looks like the next time I have the occasional dull headache at work, I should seriously consider pop a painkiller, or take a break.

Work trip in Brunei

Last week, I went to Brunei with my colleagues for meetings. The first night was quite relaxed that I could take a photo of my companion in the bathroom. I kept myself hydrated and ate enough and was glad no creeping headache even though on average I had 4 hours of sleep. On the last night, we admired the sunset before dinner. It wasn't a stressful trip - friendly Bruneians, nice colleagues and yummy food, but as usual I miss home, my family, Bob, cats and S.