A Mind of My Own

Spring cleaning is useless when it comes once a year. I am trying to understand why it’s a huge amount of stuff to be gotten rid of only when it comes to the new year. If daily cleaning has been done, why must there be a huge amount of stuff to be thrown then?

It is then always a frustration when the stuff you have thrown during spring cleaning, that you realise that you should have kept them. The law of stuff thrown and to be used weeks later somehow is cruel. The year of the ox had been a rather hardworking year with mad rushes to the temples and whatever Godly places to pray that the stocks and whatever is going up except for inflation. Perhaps, we have been shown ways but it doesn’t come in the package that we have imagined.

We are just being shown that not all the prayers will be answered in the way we want since it is beyond our control except our feelings towards it. I spent quite some time to make a base for a bag only for it to be thrown away just when I was at the end of finishing it. Utterly lost my temper right there and then since it’s my hard work. How can someone just dump it away? Only the person who has done everything and only to discover the work being treated as trash will one understand the anger and frustrations.

Dwelling on this, I ask myself if it’s worth wasting angry moments. I believe that it could have been my suppression for holding on to my temper for a long time. Not that I want to be angry but it was really a few days of hard work and those cardboards aren’t easy to find, especially that size that I like. I have often thrown away stuff only to be sorted out by the person who ask me whether I truly want to throw. For crying out loud, I am throwing away stuff that I am requested to, why am I being asked that question?

This year, Chinese New Year falls on Valentine’s Day. It’s my first time, I think. Since I have no recollections of previous years falling on which day. The tigers are coming and the oxen will have to give way. May this tiger year be the year whereby things that are to be thrown, will be thrown away at the right time.

I decided on Monday that I would visit the Botanical Gardens on Tuesday. Based on the fact that I suddenly ran out of things to do with the laptop and online. I was restless, thus, this impromptu decision. Visiting on a weekday is sweet bliss since 80% of the population in Singapore is at work. It was also near my old workplace; so no problem knowing where the entrance is.

This post shall be photo intensive, so, just wait for the photos to load.

The landmark band stand.

Taken at Evolution Garden.

Teens feeding the elegant black swan. I wonder where they got the bread.

Medicinal plants.

National Orchid Garden entrance. S$5 per adult. I didn’t go in.

Quilt Exhibition at Botany Centre.

Kimono Flowers quilt, the flowers are in 3D.

Girl riding a bicycle on top of a hedge.

For more photos, check out my album here.

Pandas are cuddly creatures and no matter what size. Amazing animals.

Bento lunch by luckysundae

Uploaded by GarfieldTheLazyCat

Uploaded by A Pandographer

Uploaded by A Pandographer (Cassie)

I hope that the conservation programme will succeed since their natural habitats are even rare nowadays. Aren’t pandas cute?

Hope your Monday goes well!

I’m late, I know. Must do something about this. Another rainy Monday. I wonder why. Below are those adorable puppies!

Anything that’s tiny, often are cute.

This puppy looks like he is begging to be taken to a lovely home!

Pawing for attention.

Listening to something.

Aren’t they cute? How’s you Monday so far?

Oh. My. Goodness. SPCA certainly has wasted its efforts in trying to promote responsibility for animals. By buying $35 worth of products for small animals, you get a free hamster. Does this mean that Pets’ Station is housing too much hamsters such that they have resorted to giving away hamsters?

Being a pet owner means providing for the pets during their lifetime. They aren’t toys that can simply be given away after you got tired of them.

via Cats and Stuff

Update: The free gift has been changed to a water bottle. I feel so much better now.

I’ve always wanted to own a pet. However, parents being parents, absolutely refused to get me one by stating that pets die and it’ll be heartbreaking. I thought it’s to teach children about death and the acceptance of death? Maybe my parents feel differently but animals like cats and dogs have been known for being therapeutic just by being there.

I had the fortune of having a guinea pig after my friend mentioned that they are easier and more responsive to hugs and pets than hamsters. I loved him. His instant responses to someone passing by and wheeking out of food was definitely endearing.

In the past, my parents prefer rearing goldfishes, just feed and change water regularly. I was bored to tears. Goldfishes don’t do tricks and they aren’t the easiest to train either. I prefer pets that are trainable. Like guinea pigs and dogs. Hamsters have the worse attention span since they scurry away before you can even pet them.

Perhaps there is something about furry stuff that makes me all warm and fuzzy. I like cats but they don’t do tricks because they have too much of a lord’s air than wanting to please anyone. Dogs love to please while guinea pigs tend to do the tricks because of the expected treats.

The only thing that I dislike about owning any pets is that the prices for the pet food and other pet related stuff are at exhorbitant prices. There is no way you can even use cheap stuff because they are rather sensitive once domesticated.

Whatever the dog’s size is, as long as it is cute and stays where it is, it is a chick magnet. Even kids love to pet dogs. That’s why some guys have dogs. I was with this chick magnet from morning till afternoon. One cute girl even asked to take a photo of the dog except that she had to take multiple shots because the dog was truly turning the head way too much to be still for one shot.

Knows how to beg, roll over, come, heel and will do tricks for treats.

Family of cow where a long queue formed just to take photos with them.

Cow lovers hugging each other for dear life.

Rainbow with leprechaun and a definitely repulsive looking maid.

Definitely a male was posing for the making of this statue.

All photos taken at Sentosa Flowers 2009. A pity that the flowers didn’t look enough to fill up the place. It was also a pity that they looked wilted for most of them. In addition, more dogs are now seen in Sentosa. For those scared of dogs, avoid the beach during the peak periods such as on weekends. Unfortunately, that’s when most people are free to visit Sentosa.

When I was a child, my parents never told me bedtime stories. It’s not an Asian culture, it seems. Although some parents here are now starting a trend. I got this pair of free movie tickets courtesy of InCinemas and a heads up from Feeling Lucky Today?.

Bedtime Stories is about  Skeeter Bronson who had worked hard in upgraded Sunny Visa Hotel for years hoping that he would be in charge of it one day just like Mr Nottingham had promised his father when he bought over the old Sunny Vista.

However, when he was passed over for the position of a manager, he was devastated. Soon after, he was in charge of taking the night shift of looking after his niece and nephew. When certain things happened in real life, he started to think of ways to make use of the stories that the children said to help himself. However, in life, things don’t always go as planned.

There are some things in movies that I often notice and for this movie, I noticed Bugsy more. That said, I wanted to know if Bugsy was mostly animated or real. Some scenes were real as they could be trained (PDF), guinea pigs are more trainable than hamsters.

If you think guinea pigs have huge eyes, think again. Guinea pigs can’t have huge eyes. Not as huge as Bugsy’s anyway. While the food fed to Bugsy were funny to see in the movie, in real life, the guinea pigs will die eating such food, so do read up on how to take care of your guinea pigs. Children may pester parents for rearing guinea pigs.

Guinea pigs are not toys. They have shorter life spans than dogs too. They may be cute but they are still timid creatures when it’s their first time with humans. I reared one before.

I must be crazy but who can say no to a movie that is half the price you will be paying for in Singapore? Economy is going down and my pocket is shrinking. Watching a movie in Singapore is getting more expensive with each month. As if I am watching them at the cinemas everyday.

Since DD will be free only this week, I felt that a trip to JB would be nice and perhaps we could catch a movie or two. We managed to watch Twilight and Bolt. I saw one scene in Twilight that was obvious cut off and the flow wasn’t there anymore. A pity since I wanted to know why the swoon-worthy Edward Cullen was flying off from Isabella Swan. Oh dear, am I giving away too much?

As for Bolt, it was really a show for kids since it tells of how a dog truly believes in his owner so much that he even believes in his powers. I like the part when he discovered that he was hungry. I think I am giving away too much.

After watching two movies, I realised that Edward Cullen in Twilight doesn’t make my heart pulpate unlike my teenage years. Oh crap! I am getting old!

After watching Twilight, there was some time left to have some late lunch. 4pm for a lunch is really late. Thinking that Sushi King at City Square was having a discount for showing the Cathay ticket stubs, we decided to have our meal there. Unfortunately, the promotion was over. To ensure our eyes weren’t deceiving us when we saw the poster at the box office, we checked and found the poster gone. *&@$*@YHE@*U

Should have gone to the slightly more expensive Japanese restaurant just next to Sushi King since it looked like the food would be fresh. Sushi King doesn’t have exactly quality fresh food. For dinner after watching Bolt, we decided to have cheesecake at Secret Recipe. Yogurt Cheese was sweet and sour at the same time.

Lemon Cheese was lemony sour while New York Cheese tasted of Oreo chocolate since the base was made from chocolate. I was rather disappointed that the staff wasn’t that fluent in English. Meaning, I should go learn Bahasa Melayu soon. Except, where the heck do I even try to find someone I can converse with regularly?

Eventually, our trip to Johore Bahru ended. However, with the same amount of money spent there and in Singapore, we got to eat more and watch more movies.

I saw a bird gliding into the A & E of Alexandra Hospital and literally hit the glass window hard. I was going outside when I saw the bird flying and attempting to fly straight and a loud ‘thunk’ was heard the next second. I was wondering if the bird giddy but it angled to its left and tried to fly towards another glass window except, this time, it had learned its lesson.

After a few seconds, it managed to fly under the window where it wasn’t covered towards its destination wherever that was. Now, what on earth was I doing on a Sunday morning at the A & E? My mother. She started having rashes last night and it got worse by this morning.

Worried, my dad promptly decided that the hospital was the best option since the polyclinic doctors and private doctors are never opened on Sundays. The wait was short for the consultation. However, the blood test would have to take longer.

That meant my mother would have to stay at the hospital under observation until the results are released. A week of aching joints is a serious case since Dengue is known to cause that symptom. I hope it isn’t Dengue since it’s going to be troublesome in future.

That’s why I hate mosquitoes.