Visit to SPCA with Mum

I was on leave yesterday and decided to bring Mum and 2 bags of old clothes and shoes to SPCA in the late morning. The bags were for SPCA's jumble sale held every Sat. Dad called me when I was getting ready to leave the house and he was driving his cab 5 minutes' away from our house and wanted to give us a lift.

We were greeted by the barking dogs when we entered the pound. For Mum, it was her first visit. We first peeped at the hamster cages and see what kind of hamsters were hiding under the sawdust. Then I went into the cattery while Mum chose to remain outside and watched me play with the cats. She said she didn't want to give the cats false hope that they are getting a new home.

This good looking chocolate coloured cat was quite shy and didn't really want me to stroke it.















This cat was the first one to greet me and settled itself on my feet while I squatted and said my hellos to the other friendly cats. After cleaning itself for a while, it focused its attention on me and then the lanyard attached to my camera :)

Mum liked the colour of this cat who was a bit aloof but comfortable with me touching it.

This cat was licking the face of another cat. So loving!

This manja cat kept rubbing its face on my feet and sandals. It was so adorable and whenever I looked at it, it would meow loudly at me and start its rubbing habit on my feet over and over again. It was quite a nice feeling to have my feet stroked by a cat.

This black cat surprised me twice by just hopping on my lap to have a slightly more elevated view of the cattery. I would tease Mum by asking her "Shall we bring this cat home?" Haha. Of course, I know it's not possible with me at work during the day and having activities in the evening. I'm dreaming of a day when I can work from home and be able to keep a cat companion with me.

Gathering @ Slushy's house on Sat

On Sat afternoon, we met up @ Slushy's house to cook late lunch/early dinner. I help Fairy Godmother to prepare her mushroom chicken soup. Hui Jen baked portobello mushrooms with shredded cheese. Slushy made potato salad with hard boiled eggs and fruit salad. I bought bananas and strawberries and added to Slushy's salad. I also brought along my choc cake muffins for them to try. Slushy quickly took a picture of the food before we started to feast.

As promised, Slushy gave an entertaining presentation of the photos and video taken in Seoul when she was there for a conference and holiday. I felt as if I was there with her too. She got us girls this cute souvenir (the dangling one) and the one on my thumb was a thimble from Joan when she went for a meeting in Seoul last year.

Shredded veggies in french dressing

Mum was inspired after trying the shredded carrot, radish and cucumber from the Japanese bento set I ordered @ a foodcourt some time back. She recently tried her hands to make her own version using some French dressing and I like it so much that I had ate them with mum's fried rice and my breakfast of bread with margarine spread and toasted wheatgerm this morning! Yummy.

Chocolate Cake in muffin cups

Yesterday afternoon I decided to bake a batch of choc cake after the good reviews from my family. However, this time, I used Phoon Huat's dark choc couverture drops instead of Cadbury's Dark choc. For the whipping of the egg white, mum and I used her electric mixer instead of our arm power. Although it was faster, the mixer didn't do a thorough job of beat all the egg whites well. We still had to do a bit of hand whisking. Instead of big aluminium containers, I used muffin cups. 13 cups were used and mum said that's a lucky number :P

Before 30 mins was up, we could smell some burnt "aroma". I took it out and the skewer test showed the cake to be cooked. After dinner, mum and I tried one of the cake muffins and I found the bottom burnt. The cake tasted less sweet than the last time and not as souffle like. Mum still preferred the last batch of the choc cake. Dad had it for breakfast and likes it. Sis agreed with Mum that this batch has less kick. I will try to perfect it the next time!

Leftover pizza

Yesterday afternoon I shared the remaining 3 pieces of pizza with my parents. I'm happy that they enjoyed the taste of pumpkin and zucchini slices in between the flat bread and think layer of cheese. I can bring them to Yogi Hub the next time.

The microwave packaging Yogi Hub used for the pizza is interesting. The box has a Singapore's Green Label and printed a website address: http://www.microwave-packaging.com. I checked out the website and read in the press release page that SAF has been using this paper box for soldiers' meals and food can be kept warm up to 4 hours. Now Yogi Hub is using it to hold take-aways too.

Dinner @ Yogi Hub

Last evening was another lovely dining experience with Joan. We went to Yogi Hub @ Madras Street. There is another outlet @ Boon Tat Street but Joan said Madras Street outlet is better and bigger.

We first had appetisers of corn chips and dip and garden toufu.

The dip was tangy with a nice spicy taste to it. The toufu had bits of beans and veg pieces in it and wrapped with beancurd skin and sprinkled with sunflower seeds. And we greedy girls had stomach space for the main course!

The pizza came in flat bread layered with brinjal, pumpkin and generous amount of cheese. The lasagne had thick pieces of pumpkin below the lasagne sheets. Although both mains tasted good, I preferred the pizza. We couldn't finish the last 2 pieces of the pizza, so we asked the waitress to pack them away for us. I brought the take-away home, so that mum can try it.

I realised my initiations to trying out food @ these places (Whatever Cafe @ Keong Saik Road, Original Sins @ Chip Bee Gardens, Aiwo @ Raffles City and now Yogi Hub) that serve healthy and/or vegetarian food have been introduced by Joan. Thanks, Joan! Without you, I wouldn't have know that such yummy food exists in the quaint parts of Singapore.

Goodbye, Frisky

Mum called me in the afternoon while I was in Orchard Road, running some errand for Sis. She told me that Frisky was dying. The shopkeeper was sayanging Frisky in a basket in the morning and told Mum that Frisky had been eating well before this but not losing weight. This morning, she was stumbling and Auntie quickly carried her and put her in the basket to rest. She had also lost her appetite.

After I visited Sherry's mum and her babies together with Fairy Godmother, I quickly took a bus and walked for a short distance home. At the void deck of my flat, I approached the shopkeeper Uncle and asked him how Frisky was doing. He told me they had put her to sleep and went into his shop to retrieve some paper to let me see. Frisky was sent to SPCA and I saw "dying cat" written on the form. At least Frisky is no longer suffering and according to Uncle, she has lived long enough for more than 10 years. Goodbye, Frisky.

Early dinner @ Bakerzin

After window shopping at other parts of Paragon, sis was getting hungry and we decided to go to Bakerzin as we hadn't been there for a long time. This was the first time we ate there together. Previously, we went with friends.

Sis ordered profiteroles and some ham flaky pizza. I had one profiteroles and 2 slices of the pizza as I had a heavy lunch earlier. We actually had dessert first followed by pizza. Both were yummy.

Shopping with Sis @ Toys'R Us

I met Sis @ Paragon after having lunch with a friend @ Bugis. I didn't know Sis had wanted to buy some more My Little Pony and the ones she was eye weren't the usual collectibles but these:

I wasn't very helpful in helping Sis decide which one to buy. In the end, she decided to get the big plush toy which cost $49.90 as compared to the threesome @ $24.

There are many cute toys like the hamster and its ball and a tube for the hamster to slide through. So cute but I'm tempted to buy as I already have 4 adorable real hamsters. It's kind of weird that they pair a cat with a hamster.

Cute Power Puff Girls collectibles and an overwhelming range of My Little Pony collectibles:

Dinner with parents @ home

Today is the first time this week I had dinner with my parents. Mum specially cooked curry chicken after I requested for it.

The stir-fried caixin with pieces of omelette was mum's newest creation. Nice combination.

Mum was quite disappointed with the curry chicken as she has not tried this brand of curry powder and the curry turned out rather thin. However, I like the level of spiciness and we liked it better when we ate with french loaf than rice.

An evening with Slushy's mum and babies

After work yesterday, I decide to visit Slushy's mum and her babies, Ainsley and Nimbus. I bought some Teochew dry fishball noodles and Otak to have dinner with Auntie. Ainsley was all smiles in Auntie's arms. When we were having our dinner, Ainsley entertained herself in this immobile walker.

I let Nimbus out of the cage and scooped out the soiled cat litter. He explored the rooms, the clean toilet, hid under the chairs, sofa.

I carried him like a baby twice and he smelled very nice. Slushy must have given him a shower before she left for a conference in Korea. An hour later, I had to put him back in the cage and he resisted a little. At least, Nimbus didn't whine pitifully like when I first arrived. I will visit Auntie and the babies again this Sun before Slushy returns on Mon night.

Pouch for my camera

My camera bag was peeling away, so I had to throw it away. I have been using some old pouch to hold my camera but it was a bit too big. I managed to find a suitable pouch from a cart store in Suntec City. It cost me about $16. I like the cat, mouse and fishy zips!

Red date tea

Mum and I were resting our feet and eating some mini crispy puffs in Marina Square. We were sitting facing this small shop (Market's Best) which sells fruit wines, mooncakes under the brand called Lavender and jars of citrus honey tea, ginger tea and red date tea. We saw the shop owner scooping some citrus honey into a small paper cup and pouring hot water into the cup. I jokingly told mum that he might be making some for us to try. A short while later, the guy walked out from the shop with 2 small cups on a tray, approached us and asked us to take the cups and try the tea before walking back to the shop. Mum and I were surprised. We wondered why he approached us instead of the other people sitting at the next bench. Maybe because we kept staring at the jars. Hee. We drank the citrus honey which was warm, sweet and tangy. We had one similar jar @ home as one of our relatives gave us after her trip to Korea.

After some discussion, we decided to approach the shop and asked the guy to let us try the red date tea and it tasted like cheng teng. The guy showed us some information card which states that the red date tea is calming, helps in blood circulation, etc. We liked the taste and Mum bought it immediately @ $10.60.

Very Special Arts

Today I went out for lunch with parents @ Raffles City food court. While Dad headed for the library @ Esplanade, Mum and I shopped around Raffles City. At level one of the mall, there was Very Special Arts Annual Art Exhibition 2005. We were impressed by the beautiful paintings as they were done by people with disabilities like autism and Down's Syndrome. The last day of the exhibition is 30 Aug, so you can still catch it. Crafts like bookmarks, christmas card made by these special people are also on sale. I bought this magnet from a hearing impaired lady, Mimi. Isn't it cute? I asked her to write "Home sweet home" for me.

She has other cute magnet designs like a teddy bear in a t-shirt or holding a heart. I have scanned the postcard that has information about the crafts she can make and her contact details (click on image for a clear enlarged version). If any of you are interested, you can pop down by 30 Aug to check out her crafts or contact her by email or sms to find out more.

Another cat doodle

Baby me

I'm now going through the photo files in my computer hard disk to select those worthy to be sent for developing. I came across a scanned photo of me when I was a baby/toddler and remember Slushy asking me to post one in my blog. I looked very adorable, right? :)

Chocolate Cake

After resting from the expedition to the supermarket, I prepared the ingredients according to this "Seriously Rich Chocolate Cake" recipe from a book. I couldn't find any best quality dark chocolate at Fairprice, so I bought the Cadbury dark chocolate instead. This is a flourless cake and I had to melt the dark choc with butter, stir in grounded almond and 6 egg yolks. Mum and I took turns to whisk the egg whites because it was really tiring to whisk until soft peaks were forms and after adding sugar, we were looking out for stiff peaks. I then folded the egg white stuff into choc mixture.

The middle of the cake sunk as I opened the oven door a few times to check if the cakes were ready. I'm happy when mum, dad and I had our first bite of the cake and we think it tasted nice. Sis just ate a big chunk of it and agreed that it tasted like some chocolate souffle. I was asking Sis if I should bring some to office and let my friends try. She immediately said no as the cake is not enough for her appetite. Haha.

A morning @ the supermarket

This morning, I accompanied my parents to a shopping mall in the neighbour, 15-20 mins' walk from our place. It rained halfway. I walked behind them and took a photo of them. Hee. I had made a shopping list of the things I need to buy - healthy snacks to bring to the office and ingredients when I'm in the mood to baking. These are some of the stuff I bought.

I added 2 big packets of potato chips in case I have a craving for them on weekends. It's a good thing I was carrying my Deuter backpack because we really bought many things and we had our hands full with our heavy backpacks when we went home.

This is a pot of weeds outside my house. Mum said she heard that these could be eaten and taste like kangkong. Any of you can enlighten us?

It's meow or never

That's the name of an animal sanctuary. Slushy found the link of a video produced by this sanctuary (http://www.itsmeowornever.org/homeless.html) and forwarded it to me. I have just watched it and kept replaying it to listening to the song "I'm with you" by Avril Lavigne. I think the song is very apt as a voice for homeless animals. I have found the lyrics and sang along with the music video. I feel kind of sad when singing it with emotions and trying to imagine how the homeless animals must feel. Alone. Abandoned. Unloved. Anyway, enjoy the video and the song and here's the lyrics if you want to sing along too:

I'm Standing on a bridge

I'm waiting in the dark

I thought that you'd be here by now

There's nothing but the rain

No footsteps on the ground

I'm listening but theres no sound

Isn't anyone trying to find me?

Won't somebody come take me home

It's a damn cold night

Trying to figure out this life

Wont you take me by the hand

take me somewhere new

I dont know who you are

but I... I'm with you

I'm looking for a place

searching for a face

is anybody here i know

cause nothing's going right

and everything's a mess

and no one likes to be alone

Isn't anyone trying to find me?

Won't somebody come take me home

It's a damn cold night

Trying to figure out this life

Won't you take me by the hand

take me somewhere new

I dont know who you are

but I... I'm with you

oh why is everything so confusing

maybe I'm just out of my mind

yea yea yea

It's a damn cold night

Trying to figure out this life

Won't you take me by the hand

take me somewhere new

I don't know who you are

but I... I'm with you

Take me by the hand

take me somewhere new

I dont know who you are

but I... I'm with you

I'm with you

Take me by the hand

take me somewhere new

I dont know who you are

but I... I'm with you

I'm with you

I'm with you...

Valiant

Lucky me caught a free movie with sis earlier. I was a bit sceptical as I have not heard of this movie. Sis said there are trailers of this movie on Central. Anyway, I enjoyed the movie and I think it's better than Madagascar. It's about believing yourself, courage, friendship, team spirit and loving and protecting your country. Some of the pigeons looked kind of weird with a human like face but after a while, they looked kind of cute. Sis found it too fast paced. The movie was slightly less than 1.5 hours long. I won't rate it as a must-see movie but if you want to see pigeons in action and doing some funny antics, why not go for it? :)

Weekend dinners

I have been staying home this weekend to catch up with reading and also partly due to on and off dull headache. Sis jokingly said it's due to stress about my new work. Haha. Anyway, my solutions were to sleep more, nap in the afternoon and eat small frequent meals. I stubbornly refused to take any panadol.

Yesterday, mum and dad cooked dinner and we 3 had beansprouts with toufu, chicken meat with celery and carrots and omelette with crabstick. Every bite was yummy and I felt very happy to be eating with my parents.

For dinner this evening, I decided to cook and stir fry some udon, beef slices (marinated with minced garlic, ginger, light soya sauce and sambal chilli), shitake mushroom, caixin together. I haven't cooked for quite some time and I'm very happy with the smell and taste of my dish :)

The road ahead

Zap was sleeping soundly this morning and I couldn't resist taking a picture of her. She looks so chubby and cuddly here.

I had this chocolate centred soft bun for breakfast this morning. Mum bought it from a bakery in Ang Mo Kio yesterday. I hope I can bake something like that one day :)

I took this last night before sleeping around 11.30pm. The sky was cloudy and I wanted to capture the sky and the brightly lit HDB flats but my camera does a better job in taking daytime instead of night shots.

A visit to Slushy's house

I visited Slushy and her family at her place for a few hours in the afternoon yesterday. I wanted to give her a belated birthday present. I have wanted to give her but I was sick that day and couldn't join her and her family and Fairy Godmother @ the zoo.

I took some photos of Nimbus and that was before I started following him around, trying to get him to settle down and let me comb his hair. I was happy that Nimbus let me to carry him for a short while to remove the loose hair. I also carried Ainsley when Slushy needed to prepare some milk and food for her. Ainsley has grown bigger but I find it easier to carry her now than when she was a tiny baby.

Mummy's soft toy

Mum has this cute hamster soft toy at the side of her bed.

Doesn't it look more adorable without hiding in the black sack? :)

Dinner @ Cappadocia Cafe

Yesterday, I spent a lovely evening with my good friend, Joan. We had dinner @ Cappadocia Cafe @ Robertson Walk. This was our 2nd time there. We ordered appetizer first as we were hungry and couldn't make up our mind on our main course. The hummus dip (made of chickpea) and pita bread were yummy.

Both of us wanted to try the salmon instead of other meats and we didn't regret our choice as the salmon was fresh and the salad was refreshing. The potato tasted good in just its natural flavour. The cold turkish apple tea was also great with a tinge of cinnamon flavour.

And we couldn't resist from ordering dessert and we had some warm crepes with chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Joan said the crepe was a bit disappointing as the crepe was frozen instead of freshly made.

I enjoy catching up with Joan. We talked about the things we are learning and I'm happy that she is enjoying her flute lessons. We discussed about our future plans, aspirations. It's always nice to have a friend whom we can sound out our ideas and Joan has always been encouraging and has a positive outlook about our lives :)

Feeling great again!

For the past week, I was either having a sore throat, feeling feverish or had an unsettled stomach. Today, I feel great. I have the energy to explain to someone some work I have been doing for about 2 years, so that he can take over when I am posted to do another job on 15 Aug 2005.

Feeling sick really gets me feeling down and I will start thinking about issues like serious illness and death. If small little illnesses like fever and flu make me feel miserable, won’t I feel even more terrible if something more serious hits me? Should such unfortunate event happen, it requires one to have a strong will to survive the ordeal, test or suffering. I’m not sure if I have the strength in me to encourage myself to live my day to the fullest instead of feeling sorry for myself. I guess my solutions are to improve my immunity, have more hours of sleep and believe in the power of mind over body and also not forgetting the support of my family and friends.