Fat Mama being 3-legged: 2 weeks later

On Sat, Dad, sis and I visited Fat Mama. Her E collar was off and she seemed visibly happy to see us, especially Dad who used to feed her in the evenings. She is better at balancing on her 3 legs but is still wobbly at times. Lingcat said her appetite is still not good but at least her eyes look bright and her fur coat healthy too.

Painting nails

I have a few bottles of 3-free nail polish. Every now and then I will paint my nails, usually the toes as those on my fingernails won't last for a few days since I have to open the can food for the cats or do a bit of housework. Just now I was adventurous and did French tips on my toenails :)

Cookie mirror

Our friend, S likes Oreo the cat so much that he got this cookie mirror for us. I was offering Bob the "cookie" and he wanted to smack it :)

Homecooked food for the cats

On Sun, a new friend cooked some chicken thigh meat with barley and canned tuna for the community cats. Oreo, Fat Cat, Cali ate more than a few mouthful. I tried a teaspoon of it and it was quite yummy. Angel just stared at it and wanted to paw at it. Bob had a few mouthful. I shall read up on preparing simple nutritious food for cats, so that maybe I can whip up something for them occasionally in future.

From hamster group outings to friendship

Last evening I met the 2 girls for dinner at Ootoya at Orchard Central. The birthday presents were given to our dear friend before we headed to Paragon for tea and dessert (meringue and Caraibe cake) at Canelle. We discussed the itinerary for our Bangkok holiday in early Sep. We should be eating, shopping most of the time before foot reflexology in the evenings. I'm looking forward to traveling with the girls for the 1st time and I think it's one of the wonderful things in life that we have become good friends after I got to know them through the hamster group outings more than a decade ago :)

Colour therapy

Last Mon, the instructor during my last driving lesson suggested that I could wear something light blue, green and yellow (soothing colours) during my driving test. He said colour therapy could help to calm one's nerves and wearing red colour may make the tester see red. I wore light pink and white last Wed but it's more for comfort. Today to start the work week, I'm wearing a darker pink to brighten the mood :)

A taste of my driving

After passing my test on Wed, Dad let me try driving his weekend car that evening around the carpark. Last night we went a little further outside of the carpark around the estate. This afternoon, I drove Dad, Mom and Sis to Defu Lane for roti prata lunch.

Next stop was Pet Megamart to check the pet supplies but we didn't get anything. The ride to Sunset way was quite scary at times but luckily I managed to slow down in time or change lanes safely at the expressway. I treated them ice cream at Daily Scoop to calm their nerves :p

The ride back home was no less nerve racking but I got all of us safely home. It was a good experience. I still need to get used to this bigger Toyota Altis (compared to the driving school's Toyota Vios). I feel that I have more control with a manual car as compared to Dad's auto car. My parking is lousy and my reactions are a bit slow sometimes, but I guess it's a matter of practice.

I think Mom and Sis are a little bit scared now to sit in the car when I'm driving, but they are still supportive and think I will improve with practice. Dad has been patiently guiding me in driving his car safely. He also knows the way around Singapore pretty well, so he can let me know in advance where to go. Hopefully I will be a good and safe driver soon :)

Fat Mama: a week later

Lingcat and I brought Fat Mama to the vet yesterday. Her wound is healing well with the stitches. However her appetite is not very good but she looks alert. Back in the cage where she will be recuperating until she moves to a new home, it took her a while before she welcomed me to stroke her head, neck, body. It was quite sad to see her stumble sometimes as she moved from one corner of the cage or another. I'm glad that she is still quite friendly to me and has not given up.

Black Mama missing her sister, Fat Mama :(

Black Mama has been meowing and looking for Fat Mama. Both of them are very close and usually would hang around together and feed together. A resident wants to adopt both sister cats when she moves house in a month's time. I hope to see them reunited and happy in their new home.

Treats from friends

On Friday, a good friend gave me a treat at Cedele to celebrate me passing my driving test on Wed. I had mushroom spaghetti.

In the evening, I had dinner with my friends from secondary school days at Botan Japanese Restaurant at Far East Square. It was to celebrate the belated birthday of mine and another friend. Good food and good company to start the weekend :)

Peekaboo under the carpet

One of Angel'a favorite hiding places :)

Oreo and his namesake

The photos of Oreo the community cat are rather dark due to the lighting in the park but you can still see the cute way he will sit sometimes. Oreo the cookie is too sweet for me but it (without the cream) was a nice decadent substitute for maple syrup/honey to slightly sweeten the oatmeal I had this morning. I didn't notice the design on the Oreo cookie until I took a photo of it.

Fat mama with a missing leg :(

Fat Mama was missing for over a week. We didn't see her at the void deck, on top of cars, under them, etc. Initially we thought someone has brought her home as she has such an adorable face. Her black fur sister, Black Mama seemed lost without her as they usually ate together and enjoy each other's company. a feeder saw her on Wed morning with an injured dangling left hind leg. I tried to catch her that night but she ran very fast on 3 legs and went hiding from under one car to another each time I went on my knees and tried to reach out to her. On Thurs night Dad called me when he was with her in the carpark. She did struggle a little when I had to grab her scruff and gently put her into carrier.

The vet did an xray on her on Friday morning and told me her hip bone was fractured and her lower leg had already no feeling due to damaged nerve, so Fat Mama's leg had to be amputated. The vet said her injury could be due to a car accident. We visited Fat Ma yesterday afternoon. She looked alert. While I'm glad to see her wide-eyed and alert, we are sad to see her in this state. The vet assistant said that she had been fed painkiller but not eaten much and suggested that I could handfeed her some food. Although Fat mama seemed a bit grouchy, she allowed us to stroke us. She must be hungry as she tried to lick and eat the wet food from my fingers and palm. It was quite messy with bits of food dropping onto the towel, the Elizabeth collar but at least she was eating. My heart ached when she sometimes wobbled to balance herself to sit up with her remaining hind leg. She can be discharged on Mon and Lingcat will help me to look after her for the next few weeks while I find her a good home. She can't be released back to her old home with her sister. The feeder has offered to adopt her if we can't find any adopters. Now I just want to see her get well and back on her feet.

Fujian cuisine

Yesterday's lunch was at Beng Thin Hoon Kee Restaurant at Toa Payoh Lorong 4 (near Toa Payoh Library) with my colleagues. We had duck honeydew salad, fish maw soup, ngoh hiang rolls, salted roast chicken, steamed fish, hokkien mee, pork belly with mantou and guilinggao dessert. I like all the dishes :)

Feel good meals

When I lunch out on my own, I like to sit down and enjoy my meal away from the crowd. Cedele @ United Square is one of the places I frequent. I either go for the sandwich & soup set @ $10, or, salad & soup set @ $9.50/80. Yesterday, I tried the Moroccan spiced chicken salad which cost a dollar more.

VeganBurg (located behind the bus stop opposite Eunos MRT station along Jalan Eunos) is convenient after my driving lesson in the morning and before I travel to office. Just now I had the orange marmalade burger again and made it a set with seaweed fries and apple & currant juice. The set cost $12.85. I like the burger more than the fries and juice. There was a black cat with left tipped ear outside the restaurant. I couldn't resist stroking his head and neck before I left :)

Green capsicum

Don't give me any other colours. I just like green capsicum as I find the taste of the other colours strange and sweet whether eaten raw or cooked. If there is a green capsicum sitting in the fridge, I like to stuff thin slices of it into my bread :)

Collection of cat stuff

I have a collection of cat figurines, pictures, etc that my friends gave me or I got them myself. Earlier today, a friend gave me a batik painting of 2 cats with the frame he made. I used one of my ribbons to hang it on the curtain railing in my room. Nice :) It reminds me of the batik cloth I got from Hua Hin some years ago during a worktrip. When I took it out to admire, Bob was checking it out too :)

Crazy about coriander

My breakfast today was a walnut bun stuffed with coriander :)

Lunching in

I like to lunch out and spent an hour or so away from the office. But when I have backlog of work like yesterday, I will buy from the office canteen. Yesterday, I used the container that parents got for me to take away the food from the economical rice stall. The stall assistant was quite amused by the cute container. Lunch was quite yummy and I managed to clear some work.

Warm up before swimming

Yesterday evening, my friend and I took a 15min bus journey from our workplace and another 10min walk to the swimming pool. We saw this lovely sight along the way.

ともだち friends

It's nice to catch up with the girls over lunch last Saturday. We have known one another from our volunteer work and have kept in touch even after we left the committee 3-4 years ago. Facebook, blogs, twitter and emails are also useful ways to know what are going on in their lives.

I'm also glad to have found the good friends from my secondary school, university and work. We are busy with work and other commitments, but we try to meet or occasionally SMS to check on one another. Sharing similar interests and/or values has helped us to bond and over the years, we still cherish the friendship.

野良猫のふくしのボランティアの仕事のとき、友達ができました。 先週の土曜日にこの友達と昼ご飯を食べました。会ってうれしい。

学校と仕事で、いいともだちもできました。忙しいですが、ときどき会ったり,SMSをしたりします。このともだがあってうれしいです。

New ginger cat

He has been bullying Fat Cat and Tombok. He growls at them and chases them away. But he's friendly to us and the kids who aren't afraid to stroke him. 2 residents even saw him resting near Cheers convenience store, enjoying the air con. I suspect he may be an abandoned home cat. I was glad to see him lying at one corner of my block's void deck. We quickly fed him before getting him into the carrier. Hopefully when he's back on Sat, he will no longer be a bully.

Responsible Pet Ownership Art Competition 2011

Check out the details on AVA website if you are interested.

Cooking lunch for myself & Sis

Last Sun, we had soba with egg toufu

Today we had cous cous with fish slices, zucchini and feta cheese.

 

Museum visits

The fun outing with the girls was more than dim sum lunch last Sat. We visited the Peranakan Museum and spent 2 hours there.

I don't remember liking my school excursions to museums much, but ever since I started working, museums with their interesting, colourful and interactive exhibits, are cool places to hang out.

Besides these photos, I have these activity sheets with the embossed images as souvenirs :)