Failed mission

I have wanted to trap a stray cat around my area last night but failed. We haven't built a strong enough bond for it to trust us and go near us and my carrier. It will usually hiss at us and keep a short distance away when we give it some food. So my morning leave which was intended to send the cat to the vet for sterilisation was spent feeding the cats with mum, ironing some clothed and blogging. I manage to book a sterilisation slot on Nov 2 (Friday again). Hopefully we have time to get the cat to trust us.

Kitty litter

I have been trying to read up on the best cat litter I should be using for Angel. Currently, we are using clumping cat litter. I read that the dust and any bits cats breathe in or lick from the fur will form a clump in the system. So scary.

I have tried recycled paper pellets but he just chews on them and not keen to pee and poo on the pellets I tried to introduce a little to the litter tray of cat sand/clay.

I read on the net that some wheat or corn cob based litter is good but I think Angel may try to eat the pellets too. Now I'm thinking whether pine litter will be suitable.

Any advice?

Tiny actions versus Lifestyle changes

I have read this interesting article about tiny actions such as recycling doing little to help climate change as compared to lifestyle changes such as taking public transport and less overseas holidays.

Convincing people to start with tiny actions is a good way to increase the awareness that everyone can do their part for their environment. Some may continue to do tiny actions. Some may find out what more they can do by reading up, joining green NGOs and perhaps decide to adopt some lifestyle changes.

It's really up to ourselves what we choose to do for the environment after learning about the impact of Man's activities. No one can force us unless the government implements legislation, so it's really voluntary action on our part and how affected we are by all the news and information.

Angel on the computer table

I like his eyes and love to cuddle him and smell him. He smells of fresh laundry. Although we only bath him every few weeks, we try to clean his bottom with a damp cloth or wet wipes for pets after he poos. And he grooms himself too.

Fried rice & Soup

I haven't been showcasing my parents' fried rice and soup which they will cook every Monday. Yesterday dinner was really yummy, so I must blog about it :)

I like the carrot added to the cabbage soup. The orange colour and a slight sweet taste to the slightly savoury soup.

Sometimes, the fried rice can taste too salty or bland. Yesterday's fried rice is really good.

I was happily sipping the soup and spooning the rice into my mouth in record time, so that I could quickly join Dad in the park to feed the community cats.

Angel and Plastic Bag

Angel likes to explore the inside of plastic bags and just now he jumped onto the dining table and found this interesting bag containing some new bedding I got for the hamsters. He just squeezed into the bag, made himself comfortable and took a short nap.

Good food, company and kids

My friends, their kids and I met up for dinner at Sun with Moon Japanese Restaurant at Central near Clarke Quay yesterday evening. I think I was smiling/laughing most of the time at the unexpected things said and asked by the kids. The food was also satisfying. I had sukiyaki while the others had miso cod fish, teriyaki chicken, unagi don and salmon "claypot".

The photos of the desserts look enticing. My friends had matcha tiramisu, matcha ice cream and tofu cheese cake (which looks so pretty in the cage). I tried the sesame ice cream. Yummy!

After dinner, we took a walk along Clarke Quay and I was surprised to see the transformation and changes. I have been to Central a few times but not explored beyond. The restaurants look quite nice in the protruding glass cases of the shophouses. Sometimes I feel like a tourist in Singapore :)

I rarely interact with children. I do get to meet with young people in secondary schools and junior colleges when they help me out at Cat Welfare Society's booth to sell the merchandise. Some are interested to know more and we can talk about cats, stray cats and animal. Some are just interested in earning CIP hours and our relationship is more transactional - they help me, I help them.

Yesterday talking to my friend's 2 young children was refreshing. They asked questions, were interested in the food and our conversation and made some funny observations. I don't think I could carry a conversation with any adult when I was their age. Wow, my childhood seems like a long long time ago. I have fond memories of my parents bringing sis and I to East Coast Park for picnics with aunties and cousins. I always admire my parents and other parents who have tried their best to spend time with their children and teach good values. If not for them, I may not turn out this way :)

Food for Thought

For lunch today, my friends and I visited this cafe, Food for Thought .

We have been wanting to visit it for the past few months and finally managed to find time to meet up.

There was a lunch time crowd and I could understand why after all the eating and drinking. We had the fennel shitake mushroom soup. It's light without the cream and full of mushroom goodness.

Next was 2 platters of sandwiches. We tried all the sandwiches on the menu - grilled spring vegetables, slow roasted pull pork. braised pork, grilled sausage. basil pesto chicken. The butter buns baked by the chief, David were great and the salad that went with the sandwiches was refreshing.

We also had Lychee Freeze drink. I found lychee bits in it! Cool.

There is always room for dessert and we shared a Red Velvet Cake. Not too sweet with cream cheese icing - I love it! And it was freshly baked early this morning.

When our friend asked how we like our food, I told her I like everything :) I will definitely bring my family and friends to the cafe in the future.

Angel and Dad's speaker

Dad's speaker has become Angel's obsession this morning. He hopped up the boxes near the window to get to the top of the speaker. We need to leave the boxes there to prevent Angel from going to the back of the TV and Dad's hi-fi set where there are many wires. But it means Angel can use that to jump high up.


Dad was not pleased with Angel's jumping ability and worried that he would destroy some of his stuff. Mum, Sis and I tried to put up boards and move the speaker, spray bitter stuff (that prevent pets from chewing/biting) and orange peel, so that we can see Angel clearly when he is up on the speaker. We can't be blocking away everything to prevent Angel from jumping up. Dad feels that it will be like a prison for us, so my idea is to let Angel explore as long as he doesn't injure himself and destroy any of Dad's precious stuff. Dad was only unhappy with Angel for a short while and regained his jovial self soon after.

Angel looked so comfortable sleeping on top of the speaker :)

Cats and Volunteers

I spent last Sun volunteering for Cat Welfare Society at a cat show at the Singapore Expo. The booth next to ours was raising funds for some cause through the sale of these cute dog balloons. Quite a strange and funny sight at a cat show. I was quite tickled to see a few people holding on to the balloons and they looked like they were walking a dog :) I wonder why there were no cat balloons.

I was happy to see some familar faces and friends visiting CWS' booth and also have new and regular volunteers helping me.

We managed to raise some funds that will help CWS to continue our work in helping the community cats :)

Donuts

I have seen the long queue for donuts at the basement of Raffles City and would look in amazement that people love donut so much to want to spend their time waiting for their turn. With the craze for donuts, there has been also some outlets sprouting and selling various flavours of donuts. I bought this cheese donut a week ago. At $1.40, I don't think it's that fantastic but it was quite fun to eat it with cream and shredded cheese instead of the traditional sugar coated ones. There was no long queue too at that outlet located in the heartland.

My colleague was also very nice to offer me some donuts that his daughter queued for and bought at the Donut Factory at Suntec City. After heating them up in the microwave, the donut was warm and fluffy. Quite yummy but I don't think I will go out of my way to get the donuts.

Angel and Green

Green carpet

Green wall


But what I really want to say is Angel is such a charmer. I like to stare into his amber eyes. Mum said his eyes look scary. hee.

Angel and his toys

Dad will also crush papers into balls and throw them to Angel who will chase them sometimes. In the container, you can also see some straws from Mum.

dinner at home

I haven't been taking photos of my dinner at home for quite some time. Yesterday I took one as it was one of the rare times I can sit down together with my parents to eat together as I was home before 7pm.

The food was yummy - shitake mushroom, golden mushroom with fish slices and fish cake. broccoli with prawns. I don't really like the veggie as a soup dish but it's ok - I just eat and drink it.

Visit to Chek Jawa

On Thurs, my colleagues and I visited Pulau Ubin, Chek Jawa after a sumptious buffet lunch at Straits Kitchen, Hyatt Hotel.

The fine weather and nice scenery were very therapeutic for me.


A stray dog was resting at the jetty of Pulau Ubin. We took a short ride in a mini van to get to Chek Jawa.


I visited Chek Jawa before with FR and friends a few years ago on 2 cycling trips. Then the tide was lower and we could see creatures in the sand bed.

The present Chek Jawa has board walk erected over it and that day the tide was high and we could only see mudskippers.


What we could have seen if it was low tide and we can view them through this glass panel at the board walk:



But I could still admire the nice fluffy clouds, the half-submerged mangrove trees, their exposed roots, etc.


We also went up the Observatory to get a bird's eye view of the area.

There was also an Information kiosk nearby.

This dog looked headless but actually this is how he really looks like :)

Near the kiosk are the quaint-looking toilet

and visitor centre - tudor style.

There is a tank in the centre that houses injured and recuperating sea creatures. At the back of the centre, my friends said they could see some big fishes swimming along the bridge.

It was really nice to take a small break off work to enjoy nature :)

Ice cream cone

I like the Revers-O flavour from Island Creamery. On Sun, I had my dessert craving satisfied when sis bought me and mum ice cream from the branch outside Cold Storage supermarket at Centrepoint. Not too sweet chocolate ice cream with cookie bits. Yummy!

Botak Jones @ a coffeeshop in Clementi

Last Sat evening was the 3rd time I ate Botak Jones' food. My friends and I shared
cajun chicken,


fish and chip (I forgot to take a photo of that),
sliced beef sandwich (I like this best - lots of onions, thinly sliced tender beef and foccacia bread)

and giant Italian sausage.


I guess what made the meal taste great was the company of friends who enjoy eating :)