Kitty had to be put down today, she was just too weak.

Possible cat names

I know I'm running the risk of forming a HUGE ASS relationship with this kitty, but here goes me listing down possible names for it.

In no order of preference:

1. Bicho - Thing. We have no idea of its gender. But when Carlos first mentioned it I was thinking that it can't be that smelly that he would want to curse it all the time - well, it sounded close enough to Bitch for me to think this could be the spanish version hehe

2. Squeeky - Kitten will probably outgrow this name, but it is quite apt right now given how it cries.

3. Burrito - It was pretty funny to see me trying to wrap the little critter up in attempt to stop it from squirming while I was feeding it. I'm thinking of the food wrap, he's thinking of its spanish translation of 'little donkey'. As expected, I have given up this name.

4. All other possible cartoon cat names e.g. garfield, top cat, felix, Azrael etc. Not my preference though.

5. Fresa - Spanish for strawberry. Sounds quite romantic, and if the vets are right, this could be a winner.

Hopefully in three days time with Carlos fully taking care of kitty, he will be non-allergic to it. And we will get to keep it! My trip couldn't come at a better time! : )

Pre-training for babyhood

To top off an already grueling week of eight hour, back to back groups, I found a new born kitten.

It was screaming its head off in an alley which I usually cut through to get to the subway. There were already a few girls scrutinizing the thing, trying to figure out if it were a puppy or kitten, but I've heard enough miao's to confirm it was a kitten. I wasn't sure if to stay or go, my stomach was rumbling hard and not knowing if the mother cat was coming back was an issue.

After an eternity of heart wrenching screams and watching it stumble around, I made desperate phone calls to Sarah and Carlos asking if there were numbers to Shanghai chapter of SPCA, pet hospitals/ stores, vets, you name it. Well, let's just say I wasn't expecting any Shanghai SPCA numbers, and true enough, there wasn't. Maybe because they eat cats too. hmph. Anyway, the vet informed me that I was to feed no cow milk and had to get specific infant milk for this cat. Hence, a mad race that went in circles ensued in the next hour before we found a 24-hour pet hospital. I have to admit I felt a little worried that the little one wasn't going to make it since we were having so much trouble finding a pet store.

Now after a sleepless night of trying to feed and feeding every two hours, I'm very proud to say I've gotten the hang of it. Helping it to poo and pee was less horrifying than my what my expression let out at the pet hospital. A gremlim looked better than me on hearing those news.

Presenting pre-training babyhood pictures.



There are no pictures of Carlos and the kitten as yet because he will be given opportunity to nurse it while I'm in Beijing the next few days. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he will squirm less at its poo and pee.

As much as I got the much deserved promotion, I learnt bigger lessons about myself in the past year.

On...

how much more I have to grow as a person...

how to start letting go of relationships that are not the same...

focusing on positive energy to be happy now. Complaints are just tiresome for self and for people around...

being happier focusing on the learning than the money...

What this means is next year it's time for a gap year for ecoteering. Learning more about eco-tourism and people there sounds like a pretty good deal with only a price of a ticket : )

Cigarrettes bringing down Goliath

Despite recent regulations that no lighters may be brought onboard, I still see huge bowls of lighters at every customs counter. Nevertheless, you see these big men still trying to smuggle in two tiny lighters in a bag. Sigh.

New meaning to black being classy

In another gloomy city of Weifang, second tier city in Shandong; you never see blue skies here the driver said. It's true, I observed on the road to Jinan airport, most were wearing dark colours. It brought me back to a moment when I was in Taiyuan, coal city where everyone was wearing indigo, black, grey - colours of charcoal and boring ink.

Call it strange but I actually linked these images to an article I read on Omiru about what clothes to splurge on and what not to. Bright, vibrant colours require more complicated dyes and thus are more expensive, the others are just faded. Noone can tell the dye quality of dark colours. Another way my mind works in explaining why two years ago I was wondering why we see people wearing colour in first tier cities.