More about cats

Our white fluffy friend dropped by for another visit



Super 'teh' one this cat... as I was fiddling for my keys to unlock the door, it was rapturously rubbing its head and body against my leg... exuding all sorts of fancy purrs.

It made me think of Sebastian from my Nottingham days where I used to live as a student. He was the next door neighbour's cat. I can't remember why we started calling it Sebastian. At least I called it Sebastian. My housemates usually refer to it as THE CAT or THAT CAT.

Sebastian was a big black cat with white socks... and for some strange reason, developed a liking for hanging out on our front door mat. For that he received a lot of verbal abuse when an unfortunate housemate almost trips over him each time they walk out the front door. I was usually kinder and greeted him with a very manja "meow... well hello there Sebastian!"

His other favourite resting place was on the bonnet of my housemate's car - he would usually hop on it right after she came home when the car engine was still warm... I'm certain it must be very comfortable, especially in winter. My housemate seemed to be very exasperated by this habit and we would usually hear her complains of how the stupid cat was sitting on her car AGAIN!

Of all my housemates, I think poor Sebastian fell out of sorts the worst with Audz. One fine day, he somehow managed to sneak into our house. It must have been cold outside and the poor cat was just trying to find a nice warm corner to curl up in. And that place happened to be... Audrey's bed! We had arrived home from dinner or shopping or something like that, and Audz went into her room to put her stuff down and then suddenly we heard a scream... and then a black streak raced past us straight for the door. Both parties must have scared the wits out of each other. Audz was NOT pleased and never quite forgave the "stupid cat" to this day.

Cats... not my favourite animal, but they can be interesting sometimes.

Super easy pasta bake

The easiest pasta bake recipe in the world.

Ingredients you need:




1 can mushroom soup

1 can plain tuna

1 cup mixed frozen veg

4-5 cups shell/penne pasta

1 cup grated cheese


Mix the soup and tuna together (drain the tuna first) and set aside

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions

Once pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and mix with frozen vegetables and the tuna soup mixture

Spoon into baking dish, sprinkle cheese on top and bake in oven at 180ºC for about 20 minutes


Voila!

My very own salad creation

Slept in a little today, being Saturday. We had a late breakfast, so for lunch I decided to make something light and refreshing.

I tossed together my own salad creation of cos lettuce, fuji apple, mandarin orange and bacon, with a lovely honey and red wine vinegar dressing.



Try it out... click here for the recipe

My Model ROCKS!

My model is finally completed!!!

WoohooOoo!!!

88MB in size (super massive!!!)

Client said it was cool and f**king AWESOME!
(just quoting their exact words)

Me. Happy.

*contented sigh*

What you do on the left, you do on the right...

It is 3pm on a chilly Sunday afternoon... and I am folding laundry and listening in amusement to the live teacher-student dialogue happening in front of me.



Today's topic: Simultaneous Equation

And more pearls of wisdom from Cikgu Yau...

"Maths is very easy to score full marks wan! Easier than most other subjects like English or Literature... because its either you know how to do it, or you don't know how... you can either get it right or wrong... there's no in between answers. So if you don't know, then find out how... and once you know, you will get the right answer!"


And hubby was very courageous to forbid the use of the calculator. In Australia, they let students use calculators even at Year 10 (equivalent to Form 3 in Malaysia). There was a bit of a struggle, but Cikgu Yau put his foot down...

"I don't believe students at your level need to use calculator... all the problems given are in nice round numbers... they will never give you funny numbers wan. So you should practice not using the calculator... you will train yourself to understand the concept more"


Then I heard something very similar to the familiar tune dad used to repeat to us when he was helping me and my brothers with our math back when we were in school...

"What you do on the left, you do on the right... what you do upstairs, you do downstairs"


Here is Cikgu Yau's version of the refrain...

"This is an equation... you must keep it in balance, so whenever you add or remove something on one side, you must keep the balance to make sure both sides are the same"

White Fluffy Friend

Today when we arrived home after O2 Youth, a white creature suddenly appeared at our front porch.



A pure white cat (Sam Da' Man's ideal pet?) -- So fluffy! So friendly! I greeted it warmly with lots of pets and strokes.



After it had enough cuddles, it turned away bounded away into the night, without so much of a good-bye or thank you.

Pffft... cats.

Puppy Love

We had a special guest in the office on Wednesday.

Meet Tamu!

(Boss' pet poochie)

Boss had to pick Tamu up from doggie day care (K9 to 5) so he decided to let her hang around in the office for a while before heading home.

Tamu is a sweet thing and wants to be everybody's friend.

Look at those puppy dog eyes... doesn't it just melt your heart?

Looking into Tamu's expressive eyes reminded me so much of my own beloved poochies... Snow Ball and JoJo.... who have sadly passed on. I still feel a little sad when I think of them every now and then.

No matter if I had been away for 5 days or 5 minutes, the moment I stepped out to see Snow Ball and JoJo, they would be wriggling all over with excitement, wagging their tails like mad, showering doggie snuffles and kisses all over me (*smile*)

Having the unconditional love of a dog is one of the sweetest things in life.

Each dog is unique in its own special way, as Snow Ball and JoJo each are. They can never be simply replaced by any other dog.

Even now, I would find it hard to love another dog as much as I loved my two beloved poochies. I told hubby that if we were ever to get a dog, most likely I will leave it to my kids when they are older to own their own dog.

"Dog's lives are too short... their only fault really."
- Agnes Sligh Turnbull

Busy? Yeah right...

When it rains, it pours!

My entries are usually churned in inconsistent batches. So since I have some time, I might as well get a few thoughts out there.

(Way better than SOME people in Singapura and in Newie... *shameless hint* who need to open the window into their lives a little bit more often)

I was just thinking of the many things I had to do. And was almost tempted to use a forbidden word: "Busy". But realised how inadequate I am to use it.

Not referring to anyone specific here or to any recent incident (really, I am not!) but do you ever encounter people who just love to throw this word around too casually:

"BUSY"

I do not like that word.

I may resort to using it occasionally. But if I do, I always try to make sure I really mean it.

Yah, you very busy lar... so everyone else not busy izzit? Only you busy har? So the rest of us are just bumming around, that's why we have so much free time for ministry, events, catch ups, cell group etc.

Not trying to be condescending. But this one thing that really annoys me. I was particularly annoyed when I was chatting with this youth, and I casually asked why he was not joining or helping out in something, and he was so quick to reply "I'm very busy lar".

Busy??? You don't even know the meaning of the word. I know so many more people who are way more 'busier' than you and I. They work, serve in ministry, hold leadership roles, have family to look after, juggling multiple responsibilities... yet I still see them around... never MIA... still have time for a quick catch up with friends, still able to join in and help out.

These people are way better than me. I humbly look up to them because I know I myself am at the bottom of the rung and still have lot more growing to do myself.

That's only an example.

But I think you know what I mean. The person just doing his usual 9 to 5 job. Yeah, maybe he's got some studies to cope with... and yeah maybe he's got some 'stuff' to take care of...

Some of these people I've met before in various places I've lived in still live with their parents or with some family. They don't even have to worry about housework, or laundry, or food.

Puh-leeez... GROW UP! Don't be so pathetic, can?

P.S. I myself am not perfect. I'm not trying to be condescending. Merely pointing to examples of the people I look up to, those who truly have the right to say they are busy, yet do not. So who am I to resort to make lame excuses. I'm still on my journey.

Blue Wednesday

Yesterday was a bad day for me.

As I look back, it was not the whole day that was bad... but just that toward the end, something bad happened which put me very out of sorts.

I was on sick leave yesterday because I had bronchitis. So I stayed at home, to rest and to cough in peace. The few days before that I was already coughing quite badly at work, but I tried to suppress it a bit because I wanted to be polite so it doesn't sound so kwa-chang and offend my colleagues. If I really cannot take it, I will run off to the toilet to cough it out.

Hubby exasperatedly told me "be polite for what??? you wanna cough, just cough lar... show your boss how sick you really are, baru he tau"

I've been coughing so much until I've developed a sharp pain in my right lung muscle each time I draw in my breath to cough. Super sian man. Wanna cough, but cough also so painful. *grumble grumble*

So there I was... suffering like that all day (some more my boss wanna be so sarcastic, makes my blood boil man! cis!!!)

Then the crowning glory of the day happened at around 6pm.

I cooked dinner as usual, a pasta bake dish which was being grilled in the oven, ready to take out and serve once hubby came home.

Hubby arrived home at his usual time. The whole house was smelling nice and lovely of the pasta, melted cheese and veggies baking in the oven (plus I had mopped the floors that afternoon).

Just in time, the pasta and cheese were grilled to perfection. So I put on my oven mitts, opened the oven door and lifted out the baking tray. Ooohhh... so nice! so yummy!

As I was transfering the dish to the counter, I think at that moment I was hit with a slight lung spasm and coughing urge (I think that's what it was lar, I can't quite remember precisely because it all happened so fast).

At that spasm moment, the dish slipped out of my hands and crashed to the floor... pasta, cheese, veggies, shards of glass and everything, into a glorious mess all over the kitchen floor.

(And remember that I had just mopped the floors earlier that day too)

How to react? You tell me how?

I just stood there for a good minute. In the middle of the mess just staring in disbelief at everything.

Hubby came running in to see what the commotion was. And hubby being hubby, he just had to tack on a typical I told you so remark.

I lost it and just screamed at him that if he wasn't going to help, then to just shut up, go away and leave me alone.

So what now?

There was only one thing to do.

Clean. it. up.

So I scooped up the gooey pasta, cheese and veggies... picked up the shards of glass... wiped off the sauce and goo... got the vacuum cleaner to suck up the small bits of glass... got the bucket and mop to mop the floors all over again...

Then I made a second batch of the pasta bake with the usused pasta and put in the oven for dinner.

Because really. What else was a girl to do? Except to try and be a woman, pick herself up, and clean up her own mess.

AFTER NOTE: Upon some reflection of the above-mentioned incidence, it dawned on me that I was being a tad overdramatic about the whole thing. I resolve next time to try and be a bit more down to earth and not make a scene about matters that are in reality quite trivial when viewed in the greater scheme of things. That's a formal way of simply resolving NOT to make sucha big deal next time. There are going to be plenty more messes in the future with the onset of kids. And when accidents happen, I must learn to have the grace to say "it's okay honey, I know it was an accident and I'm sure you'll be more careful next time... let's clean up the mess together!". I know that is a high a lofty goal to aim for, but I MUST try. For the sake of my own sanity at least. If all else fails, I will simply just say to myself "Its not the end of the world!"

AFTER AFTER NOTE: This is really not me. I must be just not getting enough oxygen to my brain. In my normal healthy state I would have handled this better.

AFTER AFTER AFTER NOTE: Then again, the challenge is still to have the strength to STAY CALM even when I'm not in my best, normal, healthy state. To retain perspective on both the good days as well as the bad days. To stay calm in the midst of the storm (even on days when my right lung muscle hurts). Looks like I have long way to go... step by step lar, k?

Sarcastic boss

I. have. bronchitis.

(cower in corner as I whisper, "mummy please don't marah!")

And relax, it is NOT fatal. I was initially so panicky when the doctor told me the diagnosis. I worriedly asked if it was serious. She blinked at me in confusion and just told me in a matter of fact tone to take the antibiotics she prescribed to clear up the infection.

Later I lamented to 1C and Cherrie (both pharmacists) of my plight. "Will my lungs be forever weakened and sensitive?" and both of them were just like "pffft! don't be silly lar!"

Anyway, they all insisted I took the next day off as well. But I said I couldn't, my boss will give my that tak percaya kinda look (you see how us employees tremble in fear at our boss). Plus I already took 3 days off a few weeks ago for a bad case of cough and flu. But later that night, hubby just told to take another day so I can just quickly recover.

So the next morning I called in and spoke to my boss. What can he say, if I'm really sick he can't force me to come in anyway. But he can make me feel guilty about it by adding a sting at the end with a biting remark like "so I suppose the doctor prescribed for you to stay at home and watch shitty TV all day!"... super sarcastic man! I didn't know how to respond initially... in the end I just mumbled some simple reply that I'll need to get some sleep and rest.

Anyway... enough about my lame boss. Don't want to talk about him anymore. Makes me so annoyed just to think of him.

Guess what? The doctor also prescribed one of those puffer things (similar to the ones used by asthmatics) to open up my lung airways so I can cough up the phlegm easier.

It's very cute.


This is what it looks like with the cap removed.


I never used one of these before, so at the pharmacy as the pharmacist was showing me how to use it, I was asking all sorts of questions to make sure I know how to suck in the powder into my lungs properly.

Going off now to take a "puff"!

Inspirational Teacher

On Sunday afternoon, hubby had his first tuition session with his young math student (a youth in our church who needed extra coaching in math).

Today's topic was on Factorisation.

I sat in the living room to do some ironing while hubby and the kid sat at the dining table... and I just eavesdropped every now and then to listen to hubby explaining the concepts and tricks on how to do factorisation.

I must admit that hubby is a ver very very patient teacher. There were some moments where it would have been just easier to strangle the kid.

The disappointing thing about the kid is that it's not that he just doesn't know how to apply the formula, but he's quite lazy to use his brain.

At every step, he will turn to hubby and say "I don't know how to do this!" or "So what next?". Hubby had to really exercise self control to retain the same steady voice and just push him to the next step.

Reminds me of a stubborn donkey, where the person just needs to keep pushing the donkey... step, by step, by step, by step...

Hubby even had to go back to basic to showing the kid how to tell is a number can be factorised by another... painfully going through his multiplication tables step by step. Ouch! Painful right?

And sadly, the kid likes to say things like "I'm just too stupid!". We chided him for saying that. Hubby said very strongly, "You are NOT stupid. If you were stupid, you wouldn't be in Year 10, you would still be in Year 9, or even Primary School. The fact that you made it to Year 10 means that you passed your Year 9 exams and proved that you were ready to move up to the next grade. You will never be made to learn something that is impossible for you. This is something you ARE capable of!"

Wah! So inspirational hor?

After the tuition, hubby's nerves were a little grated. But he bore it well. Hopefully we can get a few more kids to form a small group. Otherwise the tension of the one-to-one sessions might be just too much to bear.

I hope you decide to stay

*contented sigh*

Our Sunday was packed to the brim.

It was another special event Sunday, being Freshies Welcome. This is a landmark event for our church every semester. It's an opportunity to throw our 'fishing net' to reach out to new students on campus.

It was a great service... there was a drama, choir performance, dance performance... building up to our pastor's message about 'Relationships'. After the message, his punchline was "In life its not about what you know, but who you know... So do you know the great who of heaven and earth?"... I think it must have been quite impactful to quite a number of people...

I happened to sit next to a girl who didn't seem to know anyone. She was sobbing during the prayer time after the message. So I approached her to offer her a tissue and prayed for her. I hope that whatever that impacted her in the message stays with her. From what I gather during the conversation I had with her afterwards, she is sort of a backslider who used to attend church back in Subang, but ever since she came to Perth earlier this year, she hasn't really made an effort to find a church. I said to her, "I really hope you decide to stay and hope to see you around" and left her with a couple of student leaders to continue chatting with her.

It was a good reminder that it is for these people that we do all this for.

What I do for a living

It's now 4.19pm on bea-oooooooo-tiful (TGI) Friday. And I'm at my little office corner slaving away on a project which I thought was supposed to end this time 3 months ago.

One of the most tiring things about my work is to find different ways to phrase the same general point.

See if you can spot the difference (or similarities) between the following two points:

1. Resellers are the preferred mode of purchasing Vanilla Green Tea* in the Green Tea* Industry

2. 56% of respondents ranked resellers as their most preferred mode of buying Vanilla Green Tea*

*Due to confidentiality reasons, I had to replace this term with the first object I laid my eyes on

Seems easy enough eh? But when you have to go through over 50 pages of this, and 5 rounds of reviews with the client - the fun starts to dwindle just a wee little.

And the top three reasons why I do this?

#3. Because we need to present a different angle to the data (keep squeezing out different stories from the same data = so the clients get the most bang for their buck)

#2. Because we need to provide a bit of variety to the whole report (even though the only thing they'll ever read is the executive summary, and chuck out the rest of the report)

And the number one reason (plus one of my boss' favourite phrases)

#1. Because we need to tell 'em, keep tellin' 'em, and tell 'em again (and again!!! - knock it into their brains, bebeh!)

Well, this is again one of the few tiny peeks into the mysterious world of what I do for a living.