The years are catching up with me

Only last year during my vacation, I jumped in on invitations to go cycling and fly kites by the river with my adopted brother. And a couple of years before that, again during a vacation, I built a tree house with him - it was an unfulfilled childhood dream of mine to make one and he was more than happy to go the extra miles to build a nice platform with a roof for three of us to relax and play cards.

Today, he asked me if I wanted to go cycling and I heard myself say, "No, not this time, I feel too old for that now."

The trip home has been okay so far. It is always nice to experience the familiar and pleasant things one misses, like the family, the food and the environment. The transition from 49 weeks overseas to 3 weeks back in the home country is like a minor culture shock. It takes several days to get one's head around the people, attitudes, obligations and ways of life. The way of life, for me, is the easiest to get used to. Taking public transport, putting up with the abundance of parasites around the house and having to put up with a little extra house chores are negligible issues. Harder to get used to are having to meet random people (who are close with my parents but not me) and pretend to be interested in them, being reminded to call everyone who I should show my gratefulness to 'out of a sense of duty', being introduced and displayed as the 'daughter from abroad', having to defend myself about why I am not interested in marriage yet and having to put up with sympathies of 'well wishers' who are worried about my single status and recommendations to allow my parents to 'start looking for suitors' without further delay. So these 3-4 weeks out of a 48-49 weeks in any given year are the most challenging, requiring a lot of mental endurance.

On to more interesting topics - the cats at home, to whom we have been supplying cat food from across the seas for several months now, are quite entertaining. They have fattened up from the scientifically balanced nutrition  present in commercial cat food pellets. They seem happier with the new change (see image below).

Kitty and Kini dozing off after a satisfying meal of cat food

Also, I was quite fascinated to watch my mom make tofu, soy milk and soy cutlets from 500g of raw soy seeds. The process involved blending pre-soaked soy seeds and straining the milk out. The residue mixed with spices went on to the making of the soy cutlet, which turned out delicious. The milk was then boiled (some was consumed as soy milk) and a curdling agent was added to this. The curdled mixture was poured on to a rectangular mould and the result in 45 minutes was a block of thick tofu. Such a simple and economical process for a great source of protein and fibre!

And that was Christmas of 2011.

The irritable bug

My body is definitely built for warmer climates. That's when it functions better. With the winter creeping up here, it's getting colder and people everywhere are going down with the flu.

I noticed a curious looking pair of socks that junior was wearing one day. The thought kept me up at work with fits of giggles.


NOT looking forward to the flight home with blocked sinuses. 

RIP Little Turtle

RIP little turtle. I regret my decision (with good intentions) to pull you off the seemingly unfriendly conditions of a pet shop and put you in a loving home with another turtle. I'm deeply sorry I couldn't understand your physical needs properly and it resulted in a slow and painful death for you.

The second half of this year has seen several guests coming to this house for long stay. Last week, came a domestic helper or in common terms, a "maid". The idea was to have someone who can watch the 4-year old so that the mother, after 4 years of being by his side, can start looking for career opportunities and have a guilt-free social life that doesn't affect other adults of the house. A good move, I think.

The first impressions of the new guest are that she is quite efficient in her work and with a pleasant personality. It'll take awhile for all of us to get used to each other's personalities (eccentricities included). She seemed awfully bored and sad the first few days. I once got her a newspaper in her native language and that helped to boost her mood a little. Then I noticed she likes to talk about her family and background with anyone who would listen. She is making progress, she's already done a lot of little things round the house to make it organised. I must admit I feel ashamed to have someone do some of my work like doing the laundry. But here's the thing, by the time I get around to doing it, she's already done it. Not cool. Got to admire these people who venture out of their homes, leaving behind their families (mostly losing them in the process of being overseas for extended periods of time) to earn and give them a better life. Some unlucky ones undergo unspeakable difficulties and injustice in the hands of cruel employers. Life is not always nice to everyone.

Also, as a result of having a plus one in the house, I have have been displaced and have come to share a room with my nephew. He seems to like having me around (I asked). Now my belongings are scattered all over the house and I find it terribly inconvenient to look for things, especially in the mornings before going to work.

Now I'm off to watch Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 4, which has some scenes shot in my very own neighbourhood!

Lives keep a changin'

A blog is like a footprint. Today, I clicked to find out what I did at the same time last year and I was only mildly surprised.

We celebrated the nephew's 4th birthday today! The young man is growing up really fast. This time the party was in his school with all his friends. It was a very low key affair with just the family and I must say I loved it more than last year! I took off a few hours from work to join the celebrations with a class full of 4-5 year olds. Got to say, they looked rather adorable (but my heartfelt sympathies go to the class teachers, they have a very trying job). There was one little boy, dark and with thick rimmed spectacles that I wanted to kidnap and bring home to keep near my turtles. He looks very cute and geeky. I KNOW I sound like a creepy lady plotting to kidnap small boys, but I'm pretty sure I'll drop him off at his parents' (even without asking for a ransom) after he throws his first tantrum. Okay, maybe I haven't really thought this through.

My interests in blogging, reading and playing music have dwindled. While interesting thoughts and lines for a post do cross my mind during the day, it is rarely put down in words. Listening to music, investing time on the family and spending time with my closest friends (both online and offline) have taken a more pivotal role these days. I'm living inside my head a little less than I used to.

I'll be headed home in a few weeks. This time, I am somewhat looking forward to the trip. I want to spend time with my parents and make an effort to be nice to them (our time on Earth is limited), I'm excited to attend a special occasion of a special friend (and I avoid using the "W" word here so that she won't freak out!) and I'll be doing some travelling and sight seeing in my home country. Add that to good food and nostalgia - I'm ready to face the challenges of returning to the homeland!

Introducing my latest talent crush, Jarrod Radnich. He is BEYOND amazing!

The Expanding Family

Today, I had the most delicious lunch I have had in recent times. After eating what seemed like a little mountain on my plate (with zero guilt) and cancelling a trip out to the mall, I settled down to enjoy some TV and blog. It was my silver lining for the day (even better than the joys of adoption...more on that later).

In life you give and get. Here's the thing with families - the giving and the getting all happens in up-sized proportions.

The past few days have been spent filling in partly for the Lady of the House. The time I usually spend on my hobbies and catching up with friends have been sacrificed to contribute to the daily operations of the House. I think we are doing pretty okay (even without the dummy's guide), seeing that the house is not falling apart yet. We have crazy moments, happy moments, homicidal moments and even funny moments but that's all part and parcel of living with the family, right? While it has come to my attention that my beloved sis is quite the talented multi-tasker who thinks and does a million things, I can now begin to understand her binge spending on clothes/shoes and her joy of going out with her girls. Got to admit, Motherhood is a very stressful job - with little compensation, little appreciation, little or no assistance and if not careful, even long term health issues. No thanks, I still prefer my current job.

[Re-enacted and slightly exaggerated scene]

Grandma: JD, here, I made cheese toast for you.
JD: (makes a face) I DON'T WANT CHEESE TOAST. I WANT FRENCH TOAST.
Grandma: We don't have French toast. I'll make French toast for you on another day. Would you like to eat something else? Some oats, cereal, a sausage or a bun??
JD: (tries to fake crying) NOOOOOOOOOOOO. I WANT FRENCH TOAST.
Grandma: Will you sit and have a bun?
JD: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Grandma: Then what else would you like to have?

(He eventually settles for a bun. *Aunt Shu quietly slips into her room and bangs her head on the wall*)


[A hypothetical dialogue that goes through Shu's mind as she witnesses the previous scene]

Aunt Shu: JD, here, I made cheese toast for you.
JD: (makes a face) I DON'T WANT CHEESE TOAST. I WANT FRENCH TOAST.
Aunt Shu: We don't have French toast, you have to eat cheese toast today. I'll make French toast for you on another day.
JD: (tries to fake crying) NOOOOOOOOOOOO. I WANT FRENCH TOAST.
Aunt Shu: No, you can't have French toast today.
JD: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Aunt Shu: Okay then. Go sit on the couch and starve. Let me know when you feel like eating your cheese toast.

(According to Shu's text book of Bringing up Little Humans, he should settle for the cheese toast eventually)


We've been talking about this for awhile. Getting Toto a friend. I decided today is the day for the mission. After a round of grocery shopping, I dropped by the pets store. It went just like any other adoption process; the parents-to-be were shown all the kids on display, and they had to make the difficult choice of picking one (over many other hopefuls) to welcome into their loving and caring home. There was a tank with several turtles, big and small. The big ones seemed unhappy and stressed with overcrowding. Sadly, we can't have a big one and we can't have more than one; even Toto's friend was brought in with no prior approval from the Head of the house! The shopkeeper was helpful with information and I picked a small one that I thought was Toto's size. He was very rough with handling the poor thing, and he twirled the fellow around in a polythene bag as he tied a knot. Ouch. The adoption cost 15 bucks, and the friendly shopkeeper threw in three stones for free. I hate to think the little guy's life was worth only 15 bucks, instead, I like to think that I bought him (or her) his freedom from the evil pet store! After getting some green vegetable pellets for Toto, who is fussy with his greens, we drove home, with the new guy sitting on the front passenger seat!

Three brothers - all wearing green

Everyone was happy to welcome the new addition, I think. Toto and the new guy have not killed each other yet. They'll bond over time. The personalities are quite different. Toto is shy, lazy and prefers to stay in the water. The new guy is full of vigor, changing between the water and land (the stone), swimming fast, climbing on and drowning Toto and probably eating most of Toto's share of food. Hopefully, Toto will watch and learn some new skills from his 'brother' and also learn to stand up and fight for his share of things in the bowl.

We need a name for the new guy (who BTW, will be a surprise for my sister when she returns). I was thinking 'Manny' after a character I like in Modern Family. But I think I'll let JD do the honours of naming his new brother. After all, my parents gave my sister the honours of giving me my middle name.