Such a cool bookshelf is it not? Tho it would be a hassle to search for a particular title.
I'm the middle of selling some books to clear the clutter on my shelf. 6 hardcovers and 2 soft covers only gets me $20. Such a sad number considering that I spent more than $100 on them.
One book I can't bear to give away is this charming title, "The Elegance of The Hedgehog". Which has nothing to do with hedgehogs and makes a good read for one lazy afternoon. The story is simple but I have been tiptoeing through each page to savour the whimsical and at times, pompous prose. Read it.
I was spending time in the Bay area with my friend when my kind neighbour called to say that Hunter was busy scarfing down the catnip she had laid out for HER cats. Of course those were not her exact words. Needless to say, I was shaking my head in embarrassment over the phone. The kind lady even offered to escort Hunter home so he won't become coyote dinner. I gratefully declined knowing the cat had a finely tuned antenna on danger and that Kelly would be home soon.
5 days and nights later, I returned home but Hunter was nowhere to be found. On an excellent hunch, Kelly and I set off for kind neighbour's house. As expected, we spotted furball near the crime scene. Kelly was nearer to him than I but when I called his name, the cat shot right past his daddy and halted next to me. My heart fluttered with pride and joy at that moment. With our contentious relationship, I did not realise he might have miss me too. Alright kitty, you are more than forgiven.
Oh gosh, I feel so bad about the businesses badly affected by floods, the people living in those areas, people who are trapped on their way to and from work.
And since it's our own fault for clogging up the drains and the maker's fault for bringing down the torrential rains, we all need a little levity in this gloomy situation.
Rats, bugs, centipedes and even a broad-footed mole. Those are the reasons Hunter wants to go out and play. The same reasons that start the nightly ritual of a million "NO"s before I locked him in the bathroom for time out.
Tonight as I opened the door and was about to launch into a lecture when I spotted a spider on the rug. Hunter saw it too and disinterestedly gave it a few swats. Astonishing! Isn't hunting why he begs to be out every night? The spider shaken up, paused, then scurried in Hunter's direction. I think "Great, easy kill for you." Instead, the cat gingerly lifts its paws to let the spider pass. I roll my eyes and let him out. After which, he tried to sneak past me. Back to the loo he goes.
Kelly stalks the cat every evening. The stupid thing is so focused on its prey that it will plonk its ass right in the middle of the road, remaining there when cars approach. Thank the heavens for alert drivers. Even after the car came to a complete stop, the cat refused to budge. Only after realising that the vehicle would not vanish did it grudgingly walk to the side of the road. Having witness Hunter's harrowing escape with death, Kelly now tracks the cat and goes to bed worrying that it will be killed by a fast car.
At night, its mummy has to repeatedly call for it to come home. I so wish cats knew how to use cell phones. When the cat finally decides to grace me with its presence, it also proceeds to throw up whatever meal it caught. Thankfully its poor suffering mother has well-honed reflexes that catches the vomit in napkins before it hits the floor. Even if it happened 3 times in a row. Other times, I'm not so lucky and out comes the cleaning solution and mop.
All these just for him and does he learn? No. Every night, it tries to sneak past my watch towards the door. I give warnings, shake my finger, yell and finally haul it into the bathroom for time out. Amazingly that always works. Dawn comes and the whole process begins again.
Sure, the snoring amuses me and I melt when he rests his little head on me. But mostly, it's "FEED ME. GO AWAY. I WANT TO GO OUT. ME ME ME." You can't reason with a pet. You can't make it a better animal. It is what it is. And it makes me wonder if this joy of parenting thing is overhyped.
My overactive imagination then extrapolates this to a mother-baby relationship. Perhaps it is not an accurate portrayal. I'm sure there are more amazing moments and logic can be taught as the kid grows. Yet, a human lives longer and is in a way more vulnerable. Words and emotions are absorbed and experienced more acutely. I can't tell if it's worth it.
So tell me, are we all suckers? Or have I yet to experience the miraculous joys that parenting purports to provide?
I'm amazed at the ideas people come up with to get women to purchase rubbish products.
First Cami Secret, now the Hip-T! It purports to cover bum cleavage, hide spare tyres,
lengthen tops and creates layers without bulk.
I say, save the money! Why would anyone wear an ugly bandage around the hips? In the first place, you shouldn't be buying tops that are too short or jeans that are too low.
Next is the Camelflage. As you can infer, it says it can prevent cameltoe. Finally something useful? Again, you can easily prevent the painful situation by avoiding pants that are too tight and string thongs.
One Manhatten Marmalade, One Mint Julep, One Whiskey Sour, One sleepy guy at home and One purring cat.
Despite a desperate need to sleep off three strong whiskey cocktails, I felt the urge to get dirty. Rolling and steaming Ngoh Hiang, that is. I just couldn't stomach the possibility of my defrosted pork going bad. Even if it's 2am and I am inebriated.
How can it be the most irritating noise a guy makes when you are trying to sleep, But the cutest little sounds when it comes from your kid. Or pet cat in my case. Which I think of as my kid anyway.
Eating crabs is a messy affair. Bits of meat flying all over the place, sauce splattering. What if you wanted to wear a low cut top while cracking those chilli crab claws? Relax, CamiSecret to the rescue!
I am so proud of her. A rather odd statement since it's usually said the other way round. But this is the exact sentiment that's making my heart swell.
My mum is a traditional person. She never imagined in a million years that her only child would not be by her side or at least on the same island. And I never imagined in a million years that she would be alright alone. With no one, not even my dad, by her side on Mother's Day. I felt such pangs of sadness when I called home to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. Even more so when she told me she was making a simple dinner of soup and watching TV on a day when we should be celebrating together. Yet, she was so filled with joy at my call I could hear it miles across the oceans. It broke my heart and made me smile at the same time.
She worried about me when I was young but the tables have turned now. I often wonder what would happen if she did not have a job to occupy her time. She has little friends and didn't relish travelling by herself. But she is stronger than I expected. When she was told to stop work for 6 months, she strolled around the neighbourhood, cleaned the house from top to bottom and to my great surprise, found a part time job. It paid peanuts but it made her happy to be busy. Consequently it made me happy too.
I'm glad we have gotten to this point together. I miss you and Happy Mother's Day.
N invited me and J to visit and enjoy home cooked Mee Rebus. I was on the phone with N to arrange a lunch date the next day when she received a text from J who decided to take up her offer right there and then at 11pm!
Since J would pass by my house on the way to N's, I jokingly asked if she would picked me up. The result was this delicious supper!
Mee Rebus was followed by a depressing Kate Winslet movie, The Reader, at 2am. I do highly recommend it. After that, we chatted till 7 in the morning!
Did I mention that it was a Thursday night? J's boyfriend had accompanied her for supper . While we all didn't plan on staying up all night, there wasn't a single complaint from him even when he hasn't slept for more than 24hrs. He even went into work without sleep. Iron Man...
During supper, N's very smiley baby woke up for his feed. Maybe he wanted Mee Rebus too.
I hate vegetables with a passion. Growing up, you couldn't get me to eat anything green. Over the years, I've become more sensible. As long as they are cooked with meat or flavourful spices to mask the taste like sambal belacan, I'll eat it.
I decided to make lamb saag for dinner one day and the recipe called for 2 full bowls of spinach to be shredded into ribbons.
To save the extra step of plucking leaves off a bunch of spinach stems, I did the easy thing of buying pre-packaged spinach leaves. Though the box says 'washed and ready to eat', I don't trust industrial cleaners of doing a thorough job. For a very good reason. Look at the number of bugs I found while washing the vegetables!
Still have appetite for lamb saag?
All packaged vegetables states they are 'washed and ready to eat', which would be great if I wanted extra protein! My regular brand was sold out so I bought the store's in-house brand thinking it wouldn't matter. This was the worst cleanup job I've seen. Even with the soiled bunches of spinach from Asian supermarkets, I've never encountered bugs. I'm never buying the in-house brand again.
Strong winds last week snapped a huge branch off the oak tree growing behind our house. It landed on our roof which was impeccable timing since we were expecting fire inspectors to show up anytime.
Every year in May, the LA Fire Department sends out inspectors to check if your house is free of debris that can start fires. If you fail the first inspection, a letter of warning arrives to tell you to clean up before the second inspection. Fail again and you will have to pay a hefty penalty.
We urgently called our handyman to help remove the offending branch. It was so big that he had to saw it into smaller pieces before he could toss it off the roof.
All the pieces lining the street, see how big it is? We don't even have enough bins to throw them out. Since garbage collection takes place once a week, it will take us a few weeks to clear this green mess. That's not the end of it. The branch didn't split off cleanly and its remaining part looks like it might break anytime. If it doesn't, we will have to chop it off once we have empty bins. Poor tree is going to be botak for a long long time.
I was in the bathroom when the door suddenly swung open with a click. But no one was standing in the empty space of the frame. I walked out and was momentarily petrified to see the front door wide open too. No one except me and the cat which had been slumbering peacefully a second ago was now awake and confused. Nothing seemed amiss. I closed the door and sat down to still my beating heart.
It was a moment straight out of Stephen King's mind. The real reason though were the ferocious gales of wind which had been blowing through the house at 15mph or 24kmh. Thank God I was awake to shut the door and not leave it open to intruders.
For the second time, we found Hunter in the garden feasting on a dead rat. Naturally I went ballistic since he got very sick the last time he ate a whole rodent. Kelly grabbed the cat who was not happy at being intercepted. Then I made Kelly pick up the dead rat and toss it out so Hunter doesn't return to finish up. I suspect his hunt-kill-eat activities are what's been making him throw up nearly every night. Let's see what the vet says.
My next question is 'Why are there so many rats?' I'm sure those rodents can sense a rat killer living nearby plus we don't leave edibles lying around. So far, Kelly's been adamant about not setting traps around the house cos he deems it inhumane. Which would make Hunter the perfect solution if only it didn't cause him to get sick. What to do now?
There's so few Zara stores in LA that popular items fly off the shelves as soon as they arrive. I can never find the clothing I want and if I'm so lucky to find it, they never have my size. Oh well, I'll just take it as saving money.
