Valuable Lessons

Mmm...yawn....zzzzz

I learnt a few valuable lessons while watching Mr. Yadah Blah......
a)  Don't give your opinion when nobody's asking.
b)  Talk less and listen more.  Much, much more.
c)  Don't eat and talk at the same time.
d)  Don't bang the dinner table while talking.  Especially if it's made of glass.
e)  Never cut people's sentence half way.
f)   Don't tell everybody what you own (eg Canon EOS 550) unless they're asking.
g)  Don't tell everybody what you are going to own (eg Canon EOS 650).  Nobody wants to know.
h)  Don't show off your photos and say how good they are when the horizon is lopsided.
i)   Don't insist that the horizon is lopsided.
j)   Don't ask if you are not really interested in the answer.
k)  Don't repeat your stories/questions.
l)   Don't shriek "What happened to you??!!" when someone has put on a bit of weight.
m) Don't shout "What?!!  Is that really you?? When were this photos taken?" when someone has aged a bit.
n)  Stop telling everyone where you've been and where you're going next.
o)  Don't say "A was a hell hole until I went there.  Now it's Happy Land because of me, me, me." (Yawn)
p)  Don't say "I'm happy and I make people happy!" when you're actually making people miserable.
q)  Don't contradict another person, especially when that person is surer of the facts than you are.
r)  Don't insist on anything unless there's a fly in your coffee.  Incessant talkers won't notice the fly.
s)  Don't I-AM-SURE-you-will-like-this-because-I-DO.  Respect other people's preferences.
t)  Don't shriek or shout when your listener is just 3 feet away.  Loud voices make Wawa piss in fright.
u)  Don't tell Coco she's overweight.  She might just lose her appetite again.
v)  Don't ask me if my "house is a zoo" just because I have 2 dogs and 6 hamsters.
w)  Get to know new friends before dinner.  Not after, when they're about to leave (What?  You're a lawyer/singer/street sweeper/whatever?").
x)  You don't have to tell everybody EVERYTHING about yourself when you've only just met.
y)  If you really must say your piece, start a blog.
z)  This is not the end of my valuable lessons.  I should have used 1,2,3 instead of a,b,c.

You Are Beautiful

Mmmhmmm...I think she is beautiful too.

Bedtime, Coco!

Coco, yoohoo, time for bed!  What are you doing under my table?

Coco : I went to sleep while waiting for you.....zzzzzz

(See here for more of sleepy Coco)

Mr. Yadah Blah

Mr. Yadah Blah, my dreaded guest, finally arrived at my doorstep, luggage and all.  I swallowed my dislike and welcomed him into my home and even hosted a small dinner party of 6 for him.  I needed my friends to shield me from his yadah, yadah, blah, blah.  Wawa took an instant dislike to his loud voice which spewed meaningless and offensive words all night long.  Nobody could get a word in sideways.  It was a constant barrage of I-me-my and I'm-the-best.  However, I was happy that everybody liked my cooking, especially my stewed pork belly.  Even Mr. Yadah Blah had a good word for it.  Among the thousands of words that floated in my ears, I heard a friend's quiet comment which strangely stuck in my mind and touched my heart.  It was such a small and common comment.  He took a great liking to my pork belly and couldn't resist the fattest portions.  It was sinful and he felt guilty.  He very softly told me that it reminded him of his mom's cooking.  I remembered that he lost his mom to cancer many years ago and I suppose in all that time he must've missed her cooking.  Especially her stewed pork belly.  I'm glad I cooked that dish.

Cook These Please?

Please grill this octopus for me.....

I also want this banana fried.  The last time you made pisang goreng it was really delicious!  (Click here to see the real pisang goreng...)

Oh! So Hot!

A good way to keep cool on a hot day is.........

....to lie on your back and air your stomach. Especially a full stomach.

We Made It!

"Can we come over please......?"

I thought these puppies had died. Their mother had hidden them in the thick undergrowth in a vacant lot next to my workplace. When they made their first appearance yesterday I was delighted. Not only had they survived, they were plump and healthy and surprisingly clean! I hope they find new homes soon. Click here to see my first encounter with them.

Beautiful Morning Moon

Was opening the windows when I saw the moon in the very early morning sky. It was big and round and my photo doesn't do it justice....it's only a humble compact camera.

It's Scorching In Here!

No wonder Wawa runs away each time I try to get him into his enclosure. 10 hours cooped up in a small space waiting, waiting, waiting for me to come home. Then the scorching afternoon sun creeps in and turns the place into an oven....:(

Flowering Trees

The recent hot and dry spell and the sudden rainfall that ended it has forced the trees to flower. And I mean trees, not shrubs or bushes or smaller plants.

These golden showers are rather lasting. They have been around for a couple of weeks. I drive past them twice a day and I always tell myself - get a picture before they fade!

The color of these flowers just gladdens my heart. They come in beautiful pink and purple.

I don't even know their names.

This huge blossom hung very low so I didn't have to climb the tree to get this photo!

Beautiful Day

Not exactly cloudless but still lovely blue. The weather today is beautiful. Breezy and colors sharp and vivid.

And buffaloes grazing in my backyard. Well, almost. We don't have backyards. Only parking lots. I've always thought buffaloes mooed like cows but they don't. They make squealing sounds which gets Coco really, really excited. Annoyingly excited. It's a good thing she couldn't see nor hear them this afternoon.

Is Blogging Wu Liao?

Coco : Come play with me, don't play with the computer!!!!!
Wawa : Don't disturb Mommy! She's blogging about us!

Today is Vesak Day, a buddhist holiday. For Malaysia, it is a public holiday. We are extemely happy when there's a holiday, regardless of what it's for. I can get up a little later, take my time cleaning up, blog in between etc etc. I was just thinking about why people blog. This morning I thought it such a wu liao act. Wu liao is what people say to those who do unproductive and meaningless things. Like planking for instance. Or body piercing or messing up public walls with graffiti. People I know have more or less implied that me having pets is wu liao. They will usually say "you mao kao choh" or are-you-nuts when I don't want to travel with them or when I want to stay home intead of join them for a meal. A colleague of mine recently commented - "I just don't understand why you want to have all these animals in your house! If you're lonely, just watch tv! I hate animals, I hated it when my mother had dogs!". This is Malaysia and it's common for people to talk like that. It's ok, she was just feeling for me. But she will never know the joy of having pets. It's a kind of daily joy that you can give up a lot of things for, including an 8 day trip somewhere. After 8 days you come home and slowly the euphoria dies down and then you want to blow another few thousand dollars for another 8 day trip. The more you travel, the less you like your own home/town/country. Some people get a high by bragging about their travels and I know of one person who cannot wait to call as soon as he comes home and not only does he tell you where he has been, he also wants you to know where he's going next (very unfortunately, his next is Sabah) and "you-mao-kao-choh why you never travel like I do!". He bores me to tears and I dread getting his calls. Many times I just don't answer them! Then he'll go -- "Whatlah you! Why you never anwer the phone! Call you so many times, aiyo!". Ah yes, is blogging wu liao? I guess most times it is but I think it's a good way to remember my pets when they're gone (if I don't go first). Photography is my fun hobby but when I started having dogs, I don't have time to go out and take photos anymore so I just take pictures of the dogs. Blogging is a good way to show people my photos and share some of my thoughts. Perhaps it will be an encouragement to others because some of the blogs I follow encourage me. They are positive and amusing and I get to know how other people and their animal companions live. I commented to a friend that I really like so-and-so because she knows how to make her life interesting. And my friend immediately responded "So do you!". I was surprised but very, very pleased. She really made my day. I think blogging helps you to make your own life interesting. You have to, otherwise no one will read your blog! Perhaps blogging is not so wu liao after all..........

Do Less, Accomplish More

I am trying my best to do less. A simple example - don't wipe the dog dish dry.

Just hang it. It will dry on its own and I save some work cleaning and wringing the dish cloth.

Can We Play With The Feather Duster?

It's a holiday today - time to dust the house!

It smells of chicken? Those are chicken feathers.

I Love You!

I love you, Coco! You are the sunshine of my life!
Coco : Raindrops keep falling on my head.....

Another Intruder!

If Wawa had not alerted me I could have been stung. If it didn't kill me it would've caused me a lot of suffering! If it had stung my dogs (err, animal companions, I mean)..... :(

No Sharing

What? Share one with Coco? What is hers is mine. What is mine is mine.

You Ought To Be Starved

Boiled chicken again? I am up to my ears with boiled chicken. No.

Ok, if you feed me and piece by piece please. I will not stand up to eat and I will not get my paws dirty either. No chicken, I only want the carrots.

Cheap Makeover

What the dogs did.

What I did. Sigh, won't be long before they eat my little blue dragonfly.....

Next Best Thing

You are at the computer again. You won't give me titbits and you won't give me (new) toys so I will.......zzzzzz

More Drawings

More drawings of Wawa........

Drawings On The Wall

I seem to be spending my days mending my dogs' destructive mistakes. I guess it's time to be cruel to be kind. Cruel to them, kind to me. It isn't too bad that they tore off the wallpaper. Writing on the wall is getting to be rather enjoyable. I can now do what Mom never allowed me to do as a child. My mother wasn't a nagging person at all. To get her message across to us loud and clear and without needless repetitions she will just brandish her rotan (cane). Most of my siblings swore that they will never bring up their children "like mother did" so they resorted to gentle, verbal admonishment. I remember an occasion when my little nephew, maybe about 3 then, ruined the wall with his sister's crayons. His father spent many minutes explaining gently why he shouldn't have done that. The little boy listened quietly and I was impressed. Gentle admonishment seemed to have an effect on him. As soon as the lecture ended he took another crayon and drew some more on the wall.

Frustrating Friday

My worst fears materialised yesterday. My dining chair chewed.

My couch chewed. It made me cry. I didn't feel like touching my dogs.

Coco's Frustration

Last night Wawa grabbed Coco's new chewy doughnut. There are usually 2 things Coco will do to get back her new toy. One, she will squeak an old toy loudly so that Wawa will drop the new toy and go for her squeaky toy. She can then rush off with the new toy. But Wawa is getting smarter these days and refuses to fall into her trap. If that happens, Coco throws a tantrum and pulls the rug off Wawa. The latter is usually unfazed. Poor Coco will then go lie in a corner with her head on her paws. She sometimes gets another new toy by looking miserable.

While I Was Blogging

Some humans stick their tongues out when they've made a mistake. What bad deed did you do this time, Coco?

You did this while I am around??? So what if I was blogging!! After being together for more than a year, I have discovered that schnauzer Coco is a sly dog. She does things behind my back and then pretends it's Wawa who did it. Mongrel Wawa is open and innocent, will play with the results of Coco's bad deeds and usually gets scolded first. And while Wawa is being scolded, Coco will lie quietly as far away as possible with her head on her paws looking very pitiful so that she will get a pat on her head instead of a scolding. She eats the choicest portions and leaves the crumbs for Wawa. Last night she gobbled up butter cookies and my red bean pastry but when I gave her cheap biscuits she took it with her mouth and let it plonk to the ground. And then she looked at me as if to say - how about giving it to Wawa? As usual, Wawa vacuumed the leftovers. Ah yes, how did I know it was Coco who pulled the toilet paper and not Wawa? A piece of tissue was sticking out of the culprit's mouth.

Draw ME!

You drew a picture of me on the wall? Yeh!

COCO! DON'T LICK THAT WALL!!!!!
(Why is MY picture not on the wall?? I will lick Wawa off!!)
Schnauzers are jealous and possessive creatures.

Wall Makeover 2

I decided to go for option 2 - buy some colored markers and turn this into a graffiti wall. It's cheaper, no mess and a fabulous way of remembering everyone who visits.

I welcome comments (for my wall) from all readers of this blog. Every positive and constructive comment will be copied onto this wall in my most beautiful handwriting haha!

Wall Makeover 1

I have procrastinated long enough. It's time to tidy up the mess the dogs made.

First, cut off the wall paper in a curvy line.

There are two things I can do. One, paint the bare wall with a nice shade of violet. Two, buy some colored marker pens and just let everybody write whatever they want on the wall. Which shall it be, Coco?

Who Farted?

Okay, which one of you? That's not a nice way to get me away from the computer! (Yeh! It worked, you're finally paying attention to us!)

The Handphone In The Piggy

The good news : I got this phone as a gift about a month ago.
The bad news : While watching the royal wedding a pair of scissors fell on it.
The worst news : The screen cracked.

Coco, are you watching the wedding or my piggy phone holder? (Of course I am watching the piggy. It's more interesting than the wedding.)

More Puppies

Mr. Big Bully was so busy growling at Mr. Wolf that he forgot to eat. So the girls had a good meal.
I heard puppies crying beyond the fence. It was impossible to get into that snake-infested growth so I left. When I was about to get inside my car it started to rain.....poor puppies!