Did you see that?

Shadow Chaser Bujang spent an inordinate amount of time scrutinising his own silhouette and other 'invisible' thingees on the wall. He was too obsessed to mind me snapping pics of him and the pics are not clear as I thought it would destroy the moment if I switched on the main lights. Bujang looked up and down and right and centre and after some thought, he decided there was really nothing to it. He then decided to settle down to look out the window and then at me until Totoro decided to stir things up a bit. I bet Toro thought a distracted Bujang would be a an easy target. Hahaha!

Clash of the titans

After harassing Ms Akira, Toro decided to see if he could irritate Bujang. He jumped onto the wobbly cat scratcher and sniffed at Bujang who was minding his own business with the shadows. Bujang got pretty offended and taught Totoro a good lesson in respecting your elders. :)

Decisions

This morning as I was going to work, I was asked to make some decisions regarding Screaming Banshee. Someone in my block asked me for help to capture her (he told me that SB was female)so that he could help relocate her - at the end of PR where the army camp would be or to place where there are fishermen so she would not be hungry.

It seems that SB has been defecating in the carpark for some time. I asked him if he was sure it was SB and he said he had seen her doing it several times. I do not think he would lie about it as he seems a nice man and we have spoken to each other about the Wild Bunch. He also knows the old aunty who feeds the cats. He warned me that the NEA poeple are keeping watch over the area. I told him that as long as I clean up after the cats after I had fed them, then there was nothing they could do unless someone complained that the Wild Bunch are a nuisance, which they are not.

He says the NEA has been calling around for some time to catch SB and he did not want her to get caught. I also told him that if they catch her, there would be only ONE result. He also told me that he has been calling the TC so they would send someone to wash out the spot. AIYOH! He did not seem to realise cause and effect also. But possibly he has a good heart as he told me about her and did not try to help the NEA to catch her. He also said SB was fierce and tried to scratch him when he tried to catch her. I told him that that was because she did not recognise him and she was only protecting herself. He admitted that this was true. Thank goodness!

I told him that I had also seen defecation but I thought it more likely to be human and or dogs (looking at the size of the stools). But what can I say after he told me that he had witnessed SB doing it? It is true that I had never seen SB doing it on the grass unlike FatBoy, Little Calico and the Calico mom. I just thought possibly she was scared of going outside as she is not exactly the best looker among the Wild Bunch.

I told him I would get her to the vet and to neuter her as well as get her some help with the mites first. I did not say that I would help him get her but probably relocation would be the best thing in this case, especially to a place that is not so confined and SB would be able to take care of herself as she is a fiery cat, although small. I think she would be better at protecting herself than any of the Wild Bunch.

Of course there would be a vacuum once she leaves. I do not know what I would do about that.

One step at a time.

Aiyoh! Decisions!!

Finally some time out after the rains

I let the amigos out along the corridor for a short time today after a long time. They were slow to take up my offer. Toro even tried to hide from his jacket and once I had him in his jacket, he quickly scooted inside his tunnel so I could not get at him. So I decided to get Bujang to go out first. Bujang was ever-ready and he wore his jacket without complaint and stepped out, followed by Ms Akira in her purple one. Toro finally decided that it was all too much to bear to be the only one in the house, and allowed me to attach the leash so he could get out. :)

Outdoors

Maybe I should go home...

It's too scary...

Wait a minute...let's see what's out there...

The amigos showed some reluctance to go out along the corridor today as they have not been out for a whole month, eversince the haze. They each stayed close to home just in case there was someone out there who was scary. All noises seem strange and every movement suspect.

Who's that?

You said it Akira! Who dat ah?

Ms Akira did not realise that Toro was right behind her as she was far too interested in what was going on at the lift. To tell you the truth, there was nothing that I could see. But I guess they could hear the lifts going up and down except no one showed up at our floor.

Oooh..the smell of plants after a long absence....

Grandma had planted some new plants in a small pot but the amigos were not aware of it as they had been cooped up for ages. When they came out, after some time cowering near the door, they noticed the small pot and came up for a closer inspection.

They spent at most 20 minutes outside until Bujang decided enough is enough and came inside the house, followed by Ms Akira. I had to carry Toro inside as he wanted to snooze outside near the plants. I think not this time Totoro!

Mystery no more

Disaster area

Grandma asked me to buy her some more masking tape. She wanted the extra large ones. When I asked her why she showed me this. ;) Needless to sayshe has been pasting masking tape on the mat for 10 days. The culprit is none other than....

Culprit! Contrite? Just pretending only...

I know that Bujang takes a great amount of joy in tearing the mats. The other two show no such inclination. Grandma said that in addition to wailing and meowing when I was away, he tore at the mats any chance he got. I find it funny but not grandma. I guess it is rather hard for her as she is extremely neat and quite the perfectionist. Even her plants stand at attention! Bujang has been steadily destroying all our mats. Grandma kept the one my sister brought home for Hari Raya immediately after the 1st week. We have managed to keep that mat tear-free for quite some months now :)

All things will pass...

Toro asleep under the sun

The whole of yesterday was spent indoors as the day was hot out and I was still not up to doing anything else. Toro spent a great deal of time under the sun, rolling about taking short naps. Here he is showing me that he could do the sleep-in-the-sun-while-sitting trick. He is truly a very talented individual :)

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!