Friday, January 28, 2011

Seal-Dog

My dog, the one in my display pic, just gave me an-almost-heart-attack this evening.

When I arrived home, as usual, I see Tom Tom and Timothy eagerly waiting for the gate to open their path to adventure in the wonderland that is my neighbourhood. They never quite understood that my mom thinks it's not safe to wander about with proper human company (you have to keep alert for potential snatchthefts! vans!) or by them-tiny-selves (they don't know how to watch out for traffic!) in Selangor.

So I parked the car outside and opened the gate a TINY bit, well not that tiny since my big tummy could fit through the gap. Of course, even as I entered, the little monsters tried to exit through the gap, which I blocked with my big legs, until I got through it.

As I auto-closed the gate, still blocking the two monsters' path, suddenly Tom Tom did some lightning sliding maneuver past my legs to the gate's gap.

Here comes the heart-stopping part. The heavy-weight metal-super-strong gate could not close - it stopped short, blocked by Tom Tom's nose, and Tom Tom yelped like a seal! YES a SEAL! (Upon further research, I think he sounds like the seal pup. Click here and listen to harbor seal pup. It's so strange, it's alarming.)

I was super shocked, and pressed the gate buttons a few times, hoping there'd be no bloody cut in his nose, till the gates finally reopened.

And OFF that IDIOT Tom Tom went. It seemed like his injury wasn't that bad eh. And a neighbour who was just getting into his car asked what happened. Yeah, his awful seal-like-yelp attracted neighbours and he just ran away from the scene just like that.

Upon catching him, he totally resisted me, as usual; who likes their adventures to be interrupted? And my neighbour told me I had to pat him and reassure him I'm not going to punish him to get him to be less resistant. I knew better that his priorities are 1st to adventure, 2nd to food and only 3rd to master.

And so I had to carry this monstrosity all the way back home. I think he must be like 25 kg or something. After some checking of his gum that appeared just slightly reddish, I declare him healthy enough to skip the vet.

Moral of the story:
1. Dogs' noses/jaw/mouth are very strong.
2. I must hold the dogs upon entry, before starting the auto-close.
3. My dogs are risk-takers, except Timothy, who's clearly risk-averse.
4. Courage the cowardly dog should continue to be kept in the wet kitchen in the evening. Handling three dogs upon entry would be too much.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Rekod Nilam

Books I've already read recently:

Rick Jordan: Percy Jackson and the Olympians series:
1. The Lightning Thief

2. The Sea of Monsters

3. The Titan's Curse

4. The Battle of the Labyrinth

5. The Last Olympian [downloaded free ebook!]

6. C. S. Lewis: Till We Have Faces [downloaded free ebook! It's not available in stores anyway.]

7. Mitch Albom: Tuesdays with Morrie

Books I might read in the near future
1. C. S. Lewis: The Four Loves
2. Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird
3. Mitch Albom: Have a Little Faith


**
Reflections on books read:

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series are enjoyable to read. It's something like Harry Potter, with more sarcasm, and a lot shorter. I still think Harry Potter was more fun, simply because the stories were longer, and there was better plot build up in the Harry Potter series. Or maybe I'm biased because I read HP before watching it, rather than vice versa for Percy Jackson. Or maybe because I'm getting older and the magic/nostalgic thing isn't there with the Olympians. It's a highly recommended light-read book.

Till We Have Faces is pretty interesting but dark story, that seemed to be pagan, but isn't quite.
It is from the tale of Psyche and Cupid, that focuses on Psyche's older sister, Orual. In this book, the characters are often grey. I want to read it again, this time without withdrawing from the story at the key parts. It's a very highly recommended book, as a book that is pretty easy to read, yet heavy, passionate, and dark.

Tuesdays with Morrie is the popular book about Tuesday meetings between a student and a dying teacher. It's a good read full of the old man's ideas, which you can ponder for its truth. Morrie really focuses on being human, human affection, and empathy. It's a good book for living while imagining the dying moments ahead of time, and thinking about how you'd live, given all that.


Edited on 25 Jan 2011

Friday, January 21, 2011

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Malaysia Budget Quiz

As I took a better look at the Singapore Budget Quiz (for which MOF collaborated with my NUS Economics Society)...

I thought that it will be awesome if there's a Malaysia Budget Quiz, to raise awareness about how our budget is worked out among the youth / Malaysians in general.

Hmm. It just needs a group of people to make it work.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Letting the puzzle fit by removing a strange piece

I'm kinda happy I left that group which I stuck around for too long.
There wasn't really a place for a stranger like me.

Seeing their recent pics, the group looks sooo right, now.

Hard- vs hardly-work

"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty... I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well."
- Theodore Roosevelt

At the same time, it's also desirable to just marry rich man's son, or even better, don't bother marrying a rich man's son, just lead a simple life that requires little money (if you know how to stop comparing financial wealth with everyone you meet). And laze and sloth.

But the first is more noble.
Anything worth doing is often not easy, and is often more fruitful and satisfying.

In any case, aren't we not to envy? But I think Theodore more likely meant 'admired'.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Mee Hoon Koay

Ok. Since I'm going to live in a self-catered hall in Australia, I've got to learn how to cook my favourite foods.

The first that came to mind was mee hoon koay. ANd before I forget how to cook it. I'll record it here.
So. To cook for for lunch + dinner / for two people :

Part One: Prepare flour
1. Beat up 1 egg
2. Add this beat up egg to 6 spoons of wheat flour.
3. Mix mix mix. Add a bit of water, mix mix mix. Too sticky? Add a bit of flour. Mix mix mix until it's right (Lazy to describe what is right, but it looks like how it looks like when the mi hun ke aunty tears it apart on top of the pot)
4. Now keep it in the fridge temporarily.

Part Two: Prepare the rest
1. Stir fry some garlic (chopped to small pieces preferred) with oil.
2. Add one and a half bowls of water (if cooking for one)
3. Add in the meat(chicken?) / yong tao fu stuff.
Recommended to add in: anchovies (yum - can add in after frying also), some concentrated chicken stock, cooking wine, fish balls, dumplings, fish, whatever lah

Part Three: Adding in the flour (The most time consuming one :( )
1. Now take out the flour from the fridge.
2. Flatten and tear the flour to pieces like the usual mi hoon ke.

Part Four: Finishing steps
1. Add in vegetables (balanced meal! don't be carnivorous!)
2. Taste the soup. Add more chicken stock / soy sauce if it isn't tasty enough.

Done.


Summary of Ingredients
1. Wheat flour
2. Egg
3. Chopped garlic
4. Anchovies
5. Yong tao fu stuff, chicken
6. Vegetable
7. Cooking oil




Okay. I still haven't tried cooking dinner. That's next.