Rabbit Attack

It can be difficult to get good pictures of the rabbits, because they are so inquisitive. Funnily, they seem to sense that the camera is aimed at them, and stop whatever interesting thing they are doing. Blackie is giving me a suspicious look now:

 Arh! He made a charge at the camera. Rabbit attack!



Misanthropist musing

Now you know, I make no secret of my misanthropic tendencies. Though sometimes I can't help wondering if life could be easier and happier if I were less anti-social. What is it like to be able to shmooze effortlessly with others, you know, flitting from small group to small group without self-consciousness? Why do some people find it so easy to slap another on the back with hearty greetings?

Maybe I could pray that God would change me and help me be more sociable. Then a thought occurred to me. This isn't beyond God, but He is very likely to achieve it by training me i.e. putting me through situations requiring social skills. This means meeting lots of strangers, again and again!

NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo!!!!! Why can't He just zap me and change my DNA or something? But I don't think He will. He doesn't work like that. Never mind then, even Moses had to ask for a spokesman, and that didn't stop him from becoming a national leader, right.

A Digging Rabbit

Spot the rabbit...at least, spot the rump if you can.

Sometimes I am tempted to splash out on an Oxbow Hay cave or other interesting toys for the rabbits, but why bother? Simple cardboard rolls and boxes keep them entertained for hours.

Rabbit whispers

The rabbits are behaving in a suspicious manner, whispering conspiratorially behind a box. They think they can't be seen, but there is no hiding those ears! What are you up to again?

Plot discovered. Blackie stays behind sheepishly but Whitty runs off, kicking her heels.

Easy char siew in my Happy Call pan

Ok, my next attempt with the Happy Call is significantly better. I made a healthy version of char siew - with less honey and oil. The pork collar meat was seasoned overnight with oyster sauce+sesame oil+dark soy sauce+fish soy+pepper. Then I slow roasted the meat in Happy Call, taking about 20 minutes. It oozed a pretty amount of juice again (think this is a characteristic of Happy Call), but this time round, I thickened the meat juices with flour and turned it into a dip for the dish.

The HC pan's pressure cooking makes the meat lovely and tender. After that, I brushed on just a smudge of honey and put it on high heat grill for 1-2 mins to get the charred, smokey effect. Easy huh!

Yes your eyes didn't lie, this char siew is brown, not red. Why bother to artificially colour the meat? 

Psalm 4

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have relieved me in my distress;
Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

How long, O you sons of men,
Will you turn my glory to shame?
How long will you love worthlessness
And seek falsehood?

But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly;
The Lord will hear when I call to Him.
Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in the Lord.

Rabbits nosing around

Having seen me use the washroom in the yard, the rabbits know that there is an interesting place (to them) behind the door. Whenever it looks like I am going to open the door, they would bound up and stand beside me so that they could go into the washroom and nose around. Hey you bunnies, don't trip me up. 

Whitty on stand-by, waiting for me to open the door.

They have managed to kick the door open a few times and had a field day inside, getting their paws all wet and hiding in dark corners. 

Thoughts on taxes

This is going to make me sound like a scrooge.

I seem to be reading about new increases in public expenditure every day - more funding for social welfare, subsidies for more people in more areas of their lives. Funny that all the largesse never seem to satisfy the vociferous demands for more. It is well and good that we are such a compassionate society, but I am expecting my tax assessment in the mail any minute, and can't help wondering what the bill is going to be.

Before you stone me, I'm not one of the 1% super rich. Just a working girl paying off my mortgage.

Black Pepper Steak in Happy Call

V wryly observed that to cook steak well, one should probably be colour-blind :(

Cold Storage was selling such wonderfully cheap and attractive steaks, so I bought a pack home. As it was the first time I tried cooking steak, I pounded the meat with a mallet to make sure it remained tender. To my horror, in the pan, the meat kept oozing blood! It was so puzzling! I grilled and grilled the meat for a long time, knowing that it was getting tougher by the minute, but it oozed so much blood still! Finally by the time the blood stopped, the meat was sadly overcooked and chewy, despite the pounding :(

That is why V said, one should probably be colour blind to cook steak well. At least then he won't be so freaked out by the blood.

The consolation is, Happy Call pan is pretty easy to clean. I wiped it with kitchen towels and rinsed it. Nothing stuck.

Whitty gets Blackie's toy

Like I said before, Blackie is such a gentleman rabbit. The rabbits love their willow chew rings, and I passed Blackie one. He gnawed on it happily.

Then Whitty saw it and decided she wanted it. In one swift move she whipped it from Blackie's mouth.

What Whitty wants, Whitty gets. Poor Blackie. He didn't even try to get it back from his wilful bunbride.

Don't worry folks, there was a happy ending. I gave Blackie a hay cube instead.

New Toys at Home

My new toy - Happy Call pan.

The rabbits' new toy - Happy Call Pan's box

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!