Spoilt!

Rabbits at meal times:
Ignore plain Oxbow pellets. Look at you expectantly for their favourite food.

Husband at meal times:
Ignore salad. Look into oven to see if something better is cooking.

Rabbit ambush

These two have grown used to our ways, knowing that when we come near them, there is usually their favourite food. So when we stand near the petbarrier, they come right up and prepare to ambush us. We have to be careful not to stumble over them.

Whitty looks at Blackie inquiringly. "Aren't you going to take action?"

But Blackie doesn't know what he should do next to get treats. Whitty takes matters into her own paws, and takes on the classic cute-bunny-begging pose. Clever girl! Poor Blackie continues to wait :P

Dragon Father

So much ink and tears had been spilt over the Asian phenomenon - Tiger mum, with the power to produce high-achieving children, who could have deep emotional scars from all the demands over the years.

Yet no one has said anything Tiger mum's male counterpart - the Dragon Father, as I shall term him.

The saddest observation is, one is never in doubt of the Dragon Father's love. He slogs hard to make life better for his family, he reserves the best food for the children. Not one to show much affection, he pushes his children towards excellence without ever expressing approbation, in case the child becomes complacent. Hence to him, the test paper has always lost 10 marks, and never gained 90 marks. The Dragon Father's love doesn't make it any easier to fall short of his expectations. Perhaps it makes it even more painful to know he is disappointed.

One day a guest speaker in church remarked that stern, taciturn Chinese fathers distort our image of our Heavenly Father's love. How else do we imagine what a father’s love is like, if we have no other model but our own? Hence we imagine God to be harsh and impossible to please, imposing a great paternal frown over our lives. We may have received forgiveness for our sins, but we cringe when we go before Him, feeling vaguely inadequate all the time.

So friends, if you are a Chinese father, please go and hug your children and tell them you accept them. Let them know you still love them even when they fail to get into the school of your wishes. Let them go to bed even if they have not finished revising for their tests. Don't exact such a high cost on your children's obedience.

Rabbits at Breakfast

The happy rabbits are having their favourite meal - carrots and snow pea pods.

Blackie found a strand of stray hay on the floor. Silly rabbit. The cage is always full of hay but no, he prefers what he can find outside, even if it has been lying around for some time. 

Ninja is on PetsBlogs

My cute little Ninja is featured on PetsBlogs' Wordless Wednesday!

Angry folks

Have we become a nation of angry folks?

The newspapers seem to frequently carry reports of somebody apologising publicly, or people demanding apologies. It is like any inadvertent comment by a political leader, any unthinking joke by public figures, or even photos of mischievous fun can trigger off a storm of fury and baying for blood. Within a few hours after the alleged offence, we will have news that somebody has apologised, or clarified a statement, or promised to be more sensitive in the future.

Dear friends, in this age of constant media attention and amplification, we all have to grow thicker skins. I don't think we have become more offensive or insensitive as individuals, but digital ways of recording and instant publication mean that it is effortless to pick up and broadcast anything vaguely unpleasant, which, in the past, would have faded immediately and become non-existent. STOMP leads the way in becoming an online book of wrongs. It has become so easy to scream to the world that you are offended and fan fires of resentment with kindred spirits.

Frankly, I am offended by all this offendedness and offendability. Please don't let political correctness become a form of oppressive extremism. Can we just live and let live? We live in such a diverse society, teeming with different attitudes and opinions, many faiths and lifestyle preferences, personal concerns and priorities. Somebody is bound to say or do something you don't like. Isn't it tiring to constantly make sure that no one infringes on the least of your rights?

Rabbits' Breakfast at Tiffany's

It takes a seriously crazy rabbit lover to do this, really - checking bunny pellets aka...poop.

The rabbits are moulting, and I don't like spotting hair in their poop - it could be a sign of slowing gut, apparently. After doing some basic research, I decided to replace one of their pellet meals with fresh vegetables. But the rabbits are so dreadfully spoilt! Not for them, common market vegetables like pak choy or kale. They turned their heads away in disgust. No, no, no...rabbits want gourmet salad from Cold Storage. You are so naughty!

Nom nom nom...the rabbits are enjoying their salad of baby leaves here. I know, thoroughly spoiling them right? I console myself that vegetables has to be cheaper than meat, if I had a dog.

Rabbits get a group hug

If you keep your rabbit in a cage all the time, you'll never get to understand how clever they can be, and what a pity it is!

The rabbits at home get to come out in the morning and evening. When playtime is over, we never had to grab and carry them back to their cage. Instead, all I have to do is tap the cage door repeatedly, and they would race each other back to the cage. The secret is, then they would get their favourite food - salad, or wheatgrass, dried fruit or some treats. Once you have established the routine and they know what you want of them, it isn't difficult at all to get them to cooperate.

Rabbits have naturally clean habits. They are pretty good about going to the toilet only in the cage. Even when they are playing outside, they would return to use their litterbox before coming out to continue their fun. Better than some children huh?

Blackie and Whitty in a group hug - their bodies are soft and relaxed, and Blackie would be grinding his teeth gently, which is a sign of happiness in rabbits. They get a group hug before being hustled back to cage after playtime.

The herbal way out of sore throat

I still prefer not to have to take anti-biotics unless strictly necessary. It seems such a drastic treatment for simple ailments, so when V got flu and sorethroat, I put him on herbal remedies - Yin Qiao Pian+Vitamin C+Luo Han Guo and the soup below: Pang Da Hai (Boat Sterculia Seed)

It comes dried and stiff, but a little soaking makes it puff up. Then you can remove the skin and seed easily. Prepare about 5 seeds per person.

Actually if we drink about 20 bowls of cheng teng, we would get enough of this herb to cure our sorethroat, but since we don't want all the calories and sugar, the easier thing to do is to prepare a concentrated soup like this.

Some dried red dates and rock sugar are used to flavour the soup.

Here you go, a tasty way to treat sore throat. It makes the inflamation go down, and removes phlegm.

Ninja Sleeping

My favourite hamster is plump and well-fed again, though sad to say, she still isn't eating normally. Groan! I have to crush her pellets for her, and put some of the seeds and grains through the food processor, plus mince vegetables if I feel particularly hardworking that day.

I'm not sure why she is suddenly unable to bite anymore. Her teeth have been trimmed, but it doesn't seem to help much :( This means review at the vet's. Luckily she still seems pretty happy. See how peacefully she is sleeping here, with her cheek pouches stuffed full of food.