Bathing a hamster

Dwarf hamsters don't like water. Friendly spits and hisses and bites when we try to bathe her, though we still do. Here we use a damp towel to rub the Squeaks with a little pet shampoo. Ninja is featured in this entry because she is the most docile, and erm...prettiest of course.

Now nice and clean, and swathed in tissue.



Milestone

I passed the Basic Driving theory test. Watch out world, another female driver is hitting the road!

Bunnies at 9am

It's 9am and the rabbits are curiously quiet. I peeped into the yard and to my amusement, the rabbits have put themselves to bed - Whitty is sleeping behind the litter box, and Blackie is on the platform, which is where he sleeps the day away. How cute! So even though the cage door is still open and they are allowed to roam in the yard, they have decided to go to bed like good children, since 9am is really late for a bunny to be up and about.

For those who do not know, rabbits are crepsular i.e. they are active at dawn and dusk. This suits our lifestyle nicely - they get to come out to play before and after our working hours. When the sun is shining brightly, they naturally want to go and hide in their home, like now.

Goodbye Old Riedell

I stopped feeling sentimental about changing skates. It was rather difficult to part with my first pair, because it was my first pair. Then I was rather sad to throw away my second pair, because it served me for so long through competitions and tests.

The rest of the skates just came and went in a blur, and I lost count of how many pairs I wore out. Anyway since I'm too old to do the demanding moves now, the new skates
aren't of the strongest support.

Been doing the crazy thing of walking around at home with my new skates on, to break them in. They hurt so much!

Who Dunnit: Part 2

Security breach. Torn bag of hay. Who dunnit?!

Blackie?

Actually, it was Whitty who had been playing on top of their cage, and rummaging through the bags of hay. She finally nibbled holes into one bag of hay. Blackie passed by and was too tempted by the fragrance to behave himself.

Now the naughty girl is looking for ways to get into the yellow box, which holds all their treats

WHHHIIIITTTTYYYyyyy!

In those days...

I had a teacher who yelled at me ‘you numbskull’ because I misplaced her worksheets. Another teacher, with peculiar imagination, made us ‘hold our tongues’, literally, whenever we got too noisy. It was a slippery and wet experience. And we are none the worse for all such punishments, no lasting trauma left its mark upon me.

Now I am not condoning the behavior of the teachers mentioned in the newspapers lately. Parents complained that some teachers shouted ‘shut up’ or called students names, and wanted these teachers to maintain discipline in the classroom in more polite ways. I suppose, we can agree that a teacher should never resort to abusive ways to control the class.

What I want to caution against though, is an over-protective culture in which our children are sheltered from every knock and shock in life. A parent was upset that her child burst into tears after being yelled at. What if I suggest that after this experience, she might develop more resilience to unpleasantness in life? 

At any rate, I’m sure that people don’t grow up stronger being swaddled in cotton wool, hand-held and spoon-fed in their developmental years. 

Incidentally, I thought there is an obvious way to keep the children from being scolded in class. If respect for the teacher is ingrained in them, and there is little defiance in the classroom, I don't see why they should be in trouble for anything. Is it really so hard to get there? 

Who dunnit: Part 1

Chaos. Shredded paper all over the floor. Gaping hole in box. Who dun it?

Blackie?

Fortunately for the suspect, Witness V testified that it was Whitty who spent the whole evening ripping, ripping and ripping, then she ran off, leaving behind the terrible mess. Blackie just happened to wander into the box and thought it was nice to rest there.

WHIIIIIIIITTTTTYYY!!!

Naughty Girl

This is a very naughty rabbit. Both Blackie and Whitty are, but Whitty is more. She instigates Blackie to gnaw at the security barriers. She attacks the bags of hay. And recently, she has taken to a new naughty habit - nip the owner.

Now, websites say rabbits nip if they are afraid, or angry, or to get you out of the way. BUT!!!! This rabbit is different! She would run up to me just to play with me, nosing around me, then suddenly nip me! I don't know why, it must be her idea of sport.

East and West

Overheard at KFC during breakfast hours.

A middle-aged 'auntie' remarked to her companion, "KFC is tastier than San Shu Gong." That seems such random comparison!

For the uninitiated, San Shu Gong is a bakery based in Malacca, selling traditional Chinese confectionary like 'Wife biscuits' and 'Chick biscuits'. As she spoke on, we realised that she was comparing KFC's Southern US biscuit with San Shu Gong's 'beh teh soh'. Now that she mentioned it, these two balls do look remarkably similar!

Beh teh soh

Biscuit as the Americans call it:

Some things are universal in appeal - fat, whether in the form of lard or butter, taste so good baked with flour and sugar. Yum yum. This is my new favourite breakfast, by the way.

Ninja wants a hug

I know, my friends think it's crazy of me to wake up extra early every morning to play with all the little animals before I leave for work. But they all want their fair share of attention - pats, treats, time out of the cage. It's hard to let them down.

Here, Ninja is asking to be cuddled. If you offer her your hand, she will happily climb into it and sit there quietly, with a sunflower seed, of course.

Friendy is sitting on the running wheel, grooming again. Poor Friendly :( She has really bad skin which the vet can't do anything about. We've fed her vitamin C, cod-liver oil, flaxseed and wheatgerm. Now we are dusting her with medicated powder. The sad problem with hamsters is, there aren't many small animal experts around and folks aren't usually interested in giving them veterinary attention.

Breadtalk - Mystery of the Disappearing Portions

It was a farewell breakfast of sorts, as our good friend, formerly known as nihon no tomo, embarks on new adventures in the land of flamenco.

However, my subject here is of a much less romantic nature. What has happened to Breadtalk's kaya toast? We all know that in these days of inflation, one either faces rising prices or shrinking portions. Still, occasionally, the change is drastic enough to merit remark. Is it my imagination, or the toast looks even smaller...than the eggs! If flour and water are so expensive, let us eat crusts. Breadtalk can just leave the brown edges of the bread on so that we can have a slightly more substantial meal.

Yummy house

Our rabbits enjoy eating up their furniture. I have come to accept that, as long as they don't start eyeing my furniture. Here, Whitty is checking out the washing machine, clearly curious about the dark tunnel behind the netting. With a shudder, I remember how Blackie did manage to break through and nibble at the tubes.

Luckily Whitty prefers wood. Thank goodness for Busy Bunny toys :)

 

Office fit and fab tricks

Cubicle life has the dreadful tendency to make one gain weight. There are only so many times one can walk to the pantry or washroom in a day. Sadly, I noticed deteriorating stamina over the years. Apparently experts say that even if one exercises regularly, cubicle dwellers still have greater likelihood of heart attacks, because of general reduced activity.

Er hem...and so I have devised ways to sneak exercises into the office. This is taking multi-tasking to new heights.

• When reading, do dips using the arms of your chair
• When typing, raise your heels as in tip-toeing, lower them, and raise your toes instead. It's a rocking motion.
• While waiting for the lift, lean your whole body to the back (as far as you can), while keeping your feet planted firmly on the ground. This actually requires a lot of body strength.

I know, it looks slightly silly if anyone sees it, but I think being healthy is important. Hahaha, the truth is, I'm just not the type to sit still anyway. Another day I shall share on the exercises to do when watching TV.

A Cautionary Tale

I feel so tired

I came home and see this dreadful mess and feel just...so...very...tired. Who dunnit?

It could be Whitty, or Blackie, or most likely, both. Now they are hiding quietly in their corner as if they have never jumped on top of their cage, and ripped all the newspapers. YOU ARE SO NAUGHTY!

Now friends, you know how much I dote on all the small and smaller animals at home, but moments like this make me wonder if I regret having so many pets. This is a cautionary tale, especially as Christmas draws near. Never buy a cute, furry animal on impulse, because it is a (their) lifetime of feeding them and cleaning up after them. You have been warned.