Toro's sunny tree

Toro looking at us and hallucinating.

One thing for sure, Toro did not need to use a chair to get up the cat tree anymore. Instead he had figured out that he could use the green couch and jump onto the scratcher (a little wobbly) and up to the cat tree. The unsteadiness of the scratcher used to bother him a bit but I guess he has learnt to bear with such inconveniences.

The Wild Bunch

I was glad to see that FB and Little Calico as well as Screaming Banshee and Calico Mom were all safe and sound when I fed them yesterday - the first day that I had fed them since I came back. Indeed they were not starving from lack of food as I had envisaged when I was away. They did not look starved at all so someone must have taken care of them for the 10 days that I was not here. This came as a relief as I know even if I could not make it on the other days to feed the kitties, some mysterious person would have.

The old aunty is still MIA as the shopkeeper had told me yesterday. I hope she is doing well at work. She did say she would feed the kitties in the afternoon before she goes to work so I guess she had kept her promise.

Fatboy ate quite alot of food - all 450 grammes of it. He was fit to bursting but I thought I should not stop him. he ate a full can of chicken and sardines and some pilchard. I know he likes sardines :)

Little calico looked none the worse for wear. She did not wait for me at the lift in the morning anymore, which is good. I am afraid someone might make fun of her as she waits. I think the 2 weeks that i was not there taught her a new behaviour. Little Calico likes canned food especially tuna but she loves Nutro kibble. I think it has to do with the shape of the kibble. I bought her some Science Diet but the kibble is small and a little round. The Nutro kibble is flat and oval- bigger so its easier to eat I guess. When I hear the crunch of the kibble, it sounds quite substantial.

Screaming Banshee streaked across from the carpark to the void deck when she saw me. It was pretty dangerous and I told her so. Of course she ignored my advice and asked loudly for the food. She eats very slowly and by the time I had finished feeding the calico Mom and sat with FatBoy at his void deck, she would still not have finished her food. One thing good though. She eats every little morsel and if she was still at it, I would give her more food as she is a skinny little thing. maybe if she was fatter, she would look nicer and people would like her more.

The Calico Mom came quickly when she heard my keys. She ate some mackeral and left. She is a small eater but at least she is fat. I think another feeder feeds her too but I have yet to meet this mysterious person.

All in all, yesterday was a good day for me and I would like to think for the kitties also. They are all safe and sound and eating well.

 

Female Armed!

I woke up this morning at 2.30 am and could not get to sleep anymore so I thought I would get up and blog before anyone thinks I am MIA in Texas :) as you Do Not Mess With Texas. :) So many of its souvenir T-shirts say this but the people in San Antonio are all very friendly, even the people working in its service industry. So that makes shopping and eating extremely pleasant.

What wasn't so pleasant was my experience in Chicago airport. Airport security was very tight and we had to remove out shoes and stuff as we go through airport security. Our liquids and gels must be in ziploc bags and no item must be more than 90ml. That was okay as I agree that security should be tight in airports.

Of couse I was such an idiot and had worn jeans with metal pieces hanging from the buttons. In no time at all I was asked loudly to stand aside and an officer with a baton showed me where I should go- behind some perplex stands to await inspection. "Female Armed", she barked loudly, twice. Armed with a 2 rings on my button?? Anyway, another officer told me to sit down and said "This is a horse-shoe inspection" and proceeded very efficently to frisk me and wave her magic wand all over my pants and back and sides. My friends were all very amused but no one else showed any interest as they were busy taking off their shoes, jackets, hand phones, hats, boots and switching on their lap tops for the officers. Wahhh!

So on my journey back, I made sure that I had no metal thingees on me and the only thing in my zip loc was my moisturiser, my cleanser and toothbrush and paste. Then it was a breeze!

The 15-hour ride from Chicago to HongKong was excruciatingly difficult for me as I had only been on short rides when I go away- 6 hours at most from Singapore to Nepal. Several times during the trip I wanted to stand up and yell for the pilot to let me out! Arghhh! So I sometimes switch on my phone to see the pics of the amigos. :) That cheered me up quite abit.

When we finally hit Changi Airport after an hour transit in HongKong and a 3.5 hour flight, I was so grateful I could cry. I now understand why some people say thay feel like kissing the ground of their homes after a long flight. No. I didn't kiss the ground as I wanted to hurry to get out of imigration, to get my bags and go home.

It was a great plus that the amigos recognised me and greeted me nicely. I had to play with everyone before I went to bed. :) The next morning I had to get up and go to work. The good thing was Bujang did not meow loudly but stayed quietly by me for his usual morning treat before I went out the door. :)

Caught in the act

Lets go you!

I had set up the water fountain for the kitties as soon as I got home, even before I settled anything else. I thought they might like to have their water fountain back so they could get some nice clean aerated water for a change after their water bowls. It was then that I caught Toro-the-Decorator in the act of re-arranging the water fountain!

Easy does it...

As I watched him pull the mat slowly and noisily over to his favourite position, I noticed that he had used his long, sharp claws to hook the edge of the mat and both his forelegs to steady himself as he pulled the mat over the bump. His concentrated dedication to his job was overwhelming and I thought I should just snap the pics and not disturb a hardworking cat with switching on the lights. There was ome water spilt on the mat but it was a small price to pay. I can always wipe away the water but at least my cat got a great deal of joy from dragging the fountain :))

SUCCESS!

Welcome Home Party

Hmm..smells suspicious

I wonder what these are?

All clear...

I was very relieved that Bujang did not ignore me when I came home at 1230 am yesterday. When I came into the house, I opened the bedroom door and there he was, all ready to come out. Toro was a trifle apprehensive and ran away but Bujang came out, and started to smell me from head to toe., quietly and steadily. Grandma told me that he did not meow loudly the whole of that day. He was quiet and paced alittle but no meowing that drove her nuts. :)

He came and sat by me and inspected all the stuff in my bag and then he rested and relaxed some distance away. I was very glad that he did not ignore me at all but rather welcomed me home quite steadily as was his wont in all things.

Let me at 'cha

Yup, I can get ya but you can't get me.

As i was clearing my stuff (so that I don't have to do it the next day) Toro decided that he wanted to playcat amd mouse. So he got into his tunnel and pawed at me from inside. :) We spent some time playing until he got distracted by his favourite water fountain that I had set up immediately when I got home. the amigos had all then congregated to the water like thirsty camels. they had all been drinking out of their water bowls when I was in Texas as it was too complicated for grandma to set up and clean.

An new rug from Mexico...well..well..

Lets see what it feels like...

Ok. I like it.

Ms Akira was the first one to inspect and approve of the very colourful Mexican rug I had got for grandma. grandma was very pleased with the rainbow colours and so was Ms Akira. I am glad she approved as I sufferd from a mild case of hives when I was at Market Street to get it.It was a very itchy purchase and I have to get it cleaned before we can use it.

The Theatre At Little Village San Antonio

Don't Mess with Texas...and the toilet paper y'all

This is one of my favourite places in San Antonio. It is a the open air theatre. It is in the Little Village, a historic site in the city. Now this site is specially set aside for craftsmen and some art galleries. A kind shop owner helped me with al the change that I had and exhanged them for dollars. Thank goodness for that. I was going around the place laden with change that I have no use for (since I can't make out the quarters from the nickels and dimes). it's a pity that they were no shows put up then when I was there.

The funny thng of course was the juxtaposition of the very pretty historic site and the security of the bolted toilet rolls. :) I would like to think this was how the pioneers did it in the old days of the Alamo :)

Riverwalk San Antonio

Family out in the morning sun

These are some parts of the famed Riverwalk at San Antonio, population 2 million and the 7th largest city in America. The taxi driver told us all of these facts in the short 15 minute drive from Johnson Airport to the Mariott Rivercentre Hotel. It costs us US$22.00. The Riverwalk is like our Boat Quay, only prettier and it is central to the life of the city tourist centre. The whole river is bordered by restaurants and cafes with outdoor and indoor seating. What I like about it is that it is always cool and there are ducks in the river. I am always there either in the late morning or early evening. In the early morning you can hear the Mariachi band and the evening there is some very cool jazz that wafts across the river.

The water (it seems to me) is very clean although one resident told me that the the river is dirty and smells. I guess residents always have something to say about their own city ;) You can take a riverboat ride all along the river and the tour guide would entertain you with trivia about the city. One thing though, I have seen only 3 cats to date and some ducks and only 1 dog with his owner at the Riverwalk. I wonder where all the animals are?

San Antonio news

Ok. I hope this is a bigger picture of the Riverwalk. You can actually sit in a boat for US$8.00 and go all along the river, much like you can sit in a river rice barge and sail the backwaters in Kerala. This is a picture that I had taken from the net but I will upload some pics from my trusty nokia when I get back. San Antono is a historical town and very colourful too. But most of the people at the conference was surprised that we came all the way from Singapore just to hear some of their speakers. I had some difficulty listening to the Texan accent the first day but now I am better at it.

Every time I called home to check on everyone, grandma would tell me that poor Bujang has not stopped meowing. I just called her and she said "Your cat Bujang has just stopped yelling but will continue soon enough. The other two are just sleeping. " I think I owe Bujang big time when I get back this Sunday - 22 hours in a plane! It's enough to drive anyone crazy.

Hello from San Antonio

This is a the Riverwalk at San Antonio Texas. It's a pretty place wth a meandering stream bordered by the usual outdoor cafes and eating places. We've been to breakfast and saw some mallards in the river, one tuxedo and one ginger cat. I was not fast enough to take pics of the cats but will try to get pics of the mallards some time. They have nice jazz in a place called Howling at the Moon. :) The conference began today about Differentiated Learning, which went quite ok. The people in San Antonio are a mixture of Mexicans and white. We went to the Alamo and a very distinguised guide told us the story of the last days of the Alamo where Santa Anna tried to take control of the Alamo.

I called grandma several times and she told me that the amigos are doing well, especially Toro and Akira but Bujang has been yelling all these days. Poor kitty.

On a quieter note

We had a quiet time tonight, the amigos and I. They watched me pack my stuff and sat on my clothes. Bujang sat quietly, apart from the mayhem and watched me put all my things in order. I know I will miss my cats terribly and I hope that they would be well in my absence. :)

UA flies at 650 and so I have to be in the airport at about 5. I am tired just thinking about it.

Cheerios all for 10 days :)

FattBoy and the circus

Hmmm..what else is in here?

I came home late today after doing errands and the cats were waiting for someone to feed them. I seriously think the old auntie has gone MIA. The day before yesterday I found some wet cat food near the rubbish bin and cleaned it up. I then wrote a note in chinese to the old feeder but the letter was still there, stuck on to her post box.

I fed all 4 very hungry cats. Even Screaming Banshee waited for seconds. She is getting more familiar with me and so I guess when I come back from the conference, I would have to go about getting her sterilized. I found that the Little Calico prefers dry food.

On a better note, I spoke to 2 primary school boys about the cats. I explained to them what I was doing and they told me that they were afraid people might bully SB. They then told me that they sometimes feed the cats where they live. On closer questioning, they told me that they always clean up after their feeding. I praised them and then told them to go home as it was late and they came from school.