Au Update and Carnival of Cats

Au is eating mouthfuls of chicken breast roll, roast chicken and air-dried salmon sashimi treats.  With the vitamin B and liver tablets on top of this, I'm hoping we're turning a corner.  Au is looking stick-thin but he does purr when I bring chicken to him - in bed and at 445AM.  Target is enjoying Au's illness as he likes pillow service too.

Thanks for all of your purrs and advice.  It's very comforting to have a cat community to lean on in times of crisis. I wouldn't be sane without all of you.

Now on to the fun staff: Carnival of the Cats #359

The Carnival of the Cats is a weekly roundup of cat-related posts around the world from bloggers who submit a post for inclusion.

For us Cat Bloggers the Carnival is a chance to discover blogs we might never have heard of, on subjects of all kinds! The Carnival Home Page, with an archive of past Carnivals, the Line-up for 2011, FAQ'S, and more, is HERE.

1. The Real Housecats of Orange County blog about an important issue: is it ethical to euthanise a pet when the animal has a complaint that is perfectly treatable? When it's time to say goodby discussed one case in particular.  I know what side I'm on!

2. The Natural Cat Care Blog ask The feline soul mate–do you have one too?

3. Jan's Funny Farm have put up a eulogy Remembering Crystal.Also please check out her others posts to find gift shops and sales that support pet and animal rescue charities.

4. Similarly check out Catsparella's 10 Cat Themed Valentine's Day Gift Ideas For Under $20

5. Gattina has posted a conversation between Arthur and Rosie, Profound Thoughts.  Very funny!  I always love these guys.

6. Happy fats cats from Devon Erik and Flynn have put up Flynn's Travels - see the world from the cat's perspective!

7. The Whiskeratti gang are musing about The things people believe and give some excellent cat soul safety advice.

8. Veterinarian Technician give out Safety Tips for Wildlife Photography  It's not strictly speaking cat stuff although with a stretch of the imagination you might use it photographing lynx, cougars etc.  Or stalking Target in the long grass...

9. Sharon Watermark announces it's National Tie Day and shows off a kitty in a photoshopped outfit. Our comment wouldn't work but we liked it.

10. Mind of Mog is showing off a Tummy Tuesday - always a favourite!

11.  Cat Synth offers tonnes of kitty news and blogs at Weekend Cat Blogging #295

12. And finally, Life From a Cat's Perspective features Finally Friday with Samantha & Clementine

That's it for the carnival. Hope you enjoyed it.  Next week's host is CatSynth who on the 6th of Feb will host Cat Carnival #360.  Check it out!

As Chinese New Year starts Thursday, we want to say only, Gong Xi Fa Cai!  May the Year of the Rabbit bring you health, luck, happiness, fun, prosperity and all things auspicious.

Au Update and Wise and Wonderful Masters

 Au is still not eating properly.  He won't touch his biscuits, not the special diet ones or the usual ones, and he's not touching his roast chicken.  In desperation I went out yesterday and bought him sliced chicken breast from the supermarket.  He ate half a slice.  It's not ideal but he needs something in his tummy.  I'm calling the vet later today.

As for the rest: we're gearing up for Chinese New Year, my favourite time of year usually.  I love this holiday because it's party time Chinese style which is always fun.  Plus, it's when the geomancers and feng shui masters publish their forecasts for the year ahead.

This year my favourite Wise and Wonderful Master (he calls himself this so it must be true) has given us the secret to gaining X-ray vision.

Another wise master has given us cutouts and directions for prayers that will guarantee good luck - plus a warning that photocopies of the cutouts won't be blessed right and won't work!


A third master has given us some tips for Western zodiac signs.  As these are obviously inferior, he's decorated those pages with scantily clad models. 


Our Chinese friends were horrified when they saw us consulting these books.  "Con artists!" Justin huffed.  "Crooks!" Lim puffed.

But when we told them the bit where we had "bad wealth luck this month, but this can be remedied by setting up the Three Lucky Coin Pouch, available P35, price RM88" they got super-interested. Blatant commercialism is always fun. 

We spent an hour checking out all our fortunes and had a great time with the catalogs of lucky items at the back.

As all the masters have given us lucky numbers to gamble on, but they all recommend different numbers, we're somewhat confused. However, as Justin said, we can check what wins next month and take it from there.  Yeah.

The other advantage of investing in several Wise and Wonderful Masters is that you can pick one who gives you the best fortune.

I hope your Year of the Rabbit is Happy, Lucky, Healthy, Fun, Prosperous and Auspicious.  That should cover it, no?

Au Has Liver Disease

We got the blood test results back, and the vet says they indicate mild to moderate liver disease.  However, she says not to panic, as A) the liver regenerates, and B) Au is a tough kitty.

Au has to eat I/D biscuits for a few weeks, and she also recommended lots of roast chicken.  I'm not kidding.  She says that if I roast a chicken in the oven, and give him only the breast meat, his favourite, then that's low fat and ideal for kitties with a poor liver.

So I'm roasting a chicken as we speak.  However, the results don't explain why Au has lost his appetite.  We're giving him Vitamin B tablets every morning to spike his appetite, and we're hoping he'll pick up from here.

Will keep you posted....

PPS Anyone who knows about blood tests, Au's are posted here.

PS: Forgot! 
We'll be hosting The Carnival of the Cats on Sunday, and hope you all take part.  The Carnival is a weekly roundup of cat-related blog posts.  Anyone can join!

Just submit your cat blog post to the handy BlogCarnival Submission Form or email to carnivalofthecats (at) gmail.com.

We will get a copy so we can add you to the week’s Carnival. The Carnival Home page, with an archive of past carnivals, the Line-up for 2011, FAQ'S, and more, is HERE.

Heyer Romance and Au's Health

Au is not well so we're off to the vet in a few hours for a complete physical including blood tests.  Please purr for us.

Better news is that I've earned the cat biscuits for this month.  If you're in Malaysia, check out the February magazines for my latest features: in Malaysia Women's Weekly I found my runaway husband on Facebook - and discovered he had a second family!,  in Cleo the quiz Where To Shop For Your Ideal Man, and in Her World Have A Laugh!  It's Good For You.



As I'm up to my ears in work, I'm rereading old favourites, particularly Georgette Heyer whose books are being reissued at present.  Heyer (1902 - 1974) wrote murder stories set in her own time, and Regency romances. She was a genius at both.

The first I ever read was Cotillion, an ancient hardback that I found sitting in between Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte in a second hand book shop some years ago.

I'm not too fond of regency romances written today but Heyer's work is exquisite. It's light, funny, and researched down to the bone so you won't find ladies pretending to be maids or anything silly like that.

The first detective of hers I read was Envious Casca where Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard tries to solve a mysterious stabbing that takes place during a Christmas party held in a country home.

Really, if you want something well written that you can sink into, check out Heyer. Here are links to her pages in Amazon US and Amazon UK.

And don't forget to check out my book Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter. 

Wordless Wednesday: Guard Dog Class; How To Bite An "Intruder"

Part of the Wordless Wednesday meme!

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

COT: Feed Me!

There's chicken on the counter and Au is making sure that his male survunt keeps up to the mark with the carving by shouting MEOW! at 3 second intervals.

Aus' MEOW is like a fog horn and as you can see from the pic, he never takes his eyes off the prize.

When he does finally get his plate of chicken, he has to share it with the fur brain.  But Au doesn't mind because he knows that another bowl is just a MEOW away.

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.


For more cats, check out Gattina's Cats on Tuesday. 
 

COT: Cat Carnival Coming Up! And Boris Is Better

On Saturday Boris figured out how to squish his lampshade up over his fat shoulders JUST far enough so that he could lick the ointment from the sore spot by his tail.

He wouldn't sit with me, or leave it alone, so in desperation I tacked a single sheet of newspaper onto his lampshade.  You'd think it weighed 10 tonnes by the look Boris gave me.

We left it on for 45 minutes until the cream soaked in, and then took it off again.  At night I gave Boris a choice: sitting with me for 45 minutes and getting chin rubs or the newspaper again.  He choose the petting.

Thank heavens Boris' bottom healed to the point where he doesn't need his lampshade anymore on Sunday.  The lampshade is off and he's very relieved  - as are we!  Now hopefully all his fur will grow back and we can look for a home for him.  I'd love to keep him but Target hates him.

Any ideas for good homes?  Boris needs a garden, and a nice home with a family who want to feed him very often and play a lot.

And now: coming to you next week: The Carnival of Cats!

We'll be hosting The Carnival of the Cats on Sunday, and hope you all take part.  The Carnival is a weekly roundup of cat-related blog posts.  Anyone can join! 

Just submit your cat blog post to the handy BlogCarnival Submission Form or email to carnivalofthecats (at) gmail.com.

We will get a copy so we can add you to the week’s Carnival. The Carnival Home page, with an archive of past carnivals, the Line-up for 2011, FAQ'S, and more, is HERE.

The Carnival post will be up at 18:00 on Sunday, 23 January 2011 USA Central time and at 08:00 Monday, 24 January 2011 Malaysia time. See you then!

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.   10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

Target Speaks: Cat In The Bag

Steve sent me a present.

 

 It's a bag for cats!

Let's see if it's my size

It's purrfect!

 

It's mine. I'm keeping it.

Living In Malaysia: Celebrating Thaipusam

It was Thaipusam two days ago. Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrating the time when Lord Murugan killed the demon Soorapadman that was harassing mankind.

While all the Hindus in Malaysia celebrate this holiday, the Tamil people in particular consider it their feast.

The celebration is a mix of pilgrimage and holiday. People walk for miles from one temple to another to thank the gods for various blessings, and to ask for particular favours.

It's also a time to make sacrifices. The men shave their heads, and a long walk while saying prayers is standard practice.

Others make special sacrifices. They become vegan some 6 weeks before the festival, abstain from sex, and cleanse themselves of evil thoughts.

On the day, they carry heavy milk jars on their heads.  Others fix objects with hooks through the flesh. It's also common to see people pierce their cheeks with nails. These rituals are called "burdens" or "kahvedhi".

It the devotees are pure, they don't feel the pain. My mate Sara did this when he was young, and he says he felt nothing, and he also has no scars.

Batu Caves, the temple I blogged about some time ago, is one of the biggest centres, attracting some 1.5 million people. If you want to see more pics, check out the article I wrote for The Star.

My friend Kumar who did his worship two days before the holiday proper, says he was really happy to see Christians and Buddhists turning out to support this Hindu holiday. Some handed out sugarcane juice, a popular energy drink, and others oranges - either for thirst quenching or because Chinese New Year is coming up.

I'm too squeamish to go see the rituals for myself so these burden pics are from Wikipedia.

Repost Friday: Narasimha: Cat God Incarnation

This was first put up on Sunday, January 14, 2007.

Narasimha: Cat God Incarnation

On a trip to Batu Caves outside Kuala Lumpur this week, I saw a statue of Narasimha, a cat headed god. Here he is, complete with claws and fuzzy face.

A bit of online reading revealed Narasimha was the fourth incarnation the Hindu god Lord Vishnu.

During this lifetime, Vishnu/Narasimha confronted Hiranyakashipu, king of the Asuras, a super-human race of beings who lived in the underworld, emerging every now and again to plague mankind and fight with the gods.

Being a sneaky character, Hiranyakashipu acquired magical protection from death.

Hiranyakashipu could not die from natural causes and weapons; expire on land, in space, in fire, or in water; pass over during the day or at night; kick the bucket inside or outside his home, and couldn’t be dispatched by humans, gods, or animals.

Vishnu/Narasimha got round all of these strictures by turning himself into a half god half animal that was neither one nor the other, catching his enemy on the threshold of his home at twilight, putting him on his lap, and clawing him with his talons!

Scoop loved the story when I told him – or perhaps it was just the petting he was enjoying. Au just yawned. He’s been out supervising our neighbour’s builder’s all morning and is falling asleep on his paws.

Check out more about Vishnu/ Narasimha and Hiranyakashipu with the help of these links: Wikipedia's Hiranyakashipu, and Encyclopedia Mythica: Hindu mythology

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

Review Thursday: Going Nowhere On A Train (ebook)

Going Nowhere On A Train
By Chris Perry
Ebook Inkslinger June 2010
Full length novel of 101,500 words
Contemporary Romance
Price: £1.49 (converts to about RM7.50, EUR1.80, US$2.30)

Have you ever sat on a train (or bus or plane or whatever), spotted someone you liked the look of but been too shy to say hello?  In Going Nowhere On A Train, Jude and Kate are in exactly that position.

Jude, who is on his way to a nigh to of clubbing with his friend Mark, takes one look at Kate and falls in love.

Kate is a stunningly gorgeous student who is on her way to see Jon, her football playing boyfriend who takes her to wild parties.

The two don’t speak, and go off to their various destinations.  However, a disastrous night of partying with far too much booze shows Kate that Jon may not be as nice as she thinks, and pushes Jude into writing a drunken email to a local radio DJ asking him to “get that girl from the train” to contact him.

Kate and Jude do meet but I won’t spoil the rest of the story for you.

What I will say that this story is very English.  The language and the clubbing party scene transport me straight back in the UK. 

It is also well-written story, good fun, and it really gives great insight into how the average English man in his 20s thinks.  Definitely worth an afternoon’s read.

Download the first chapter for free or buy the whole book in Kindle, PDF, and other formats from Inkslinger here.

Wordless Wednesday: Miko And Mei Mei AKA The Gremlins

Part of the Wordless Wednesday meme!

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

COT Update On Boris

Boris is eating like a pig but he's depressed at having to wear a lampshade.

We're keeping him indoors at night, in Scoop's old bedroom, and we let him roam around during the day.  Boris spends most of his time on the sofa. 

The vet recommended we keep Boris inside, but he is so used to being outside, that I let him sit in the sun in the morning.  He just sits in his favourite spot by the gate and soaks up rays.  I think it's doing him good. 

Boris is in no mood to go roving.  In fact, he wants me to carry him up and down the stairs.  This does not please Target who is jealous. 

Thanks for your purrs.  We need them!  I'll be a bit slow visiting this week as I'm playing nurse.  But we'll get round to you!  I'll update you tomorrow.

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

For more cats, check out Gattina's Cats on Tuesday. 
 

Boris Is Not Well

We're worried about Boris.  He has a hairless patch on his backside that hte vet say is contact dermititus - he thinks Boris is allergic to something he's sitting on. 

Then on Saturday night Boris seemed to be a bit sore near his tail too.  We took him to the vet yesterday and discovered he had a huge abscess just by his tail. 

Now Boris has a fat arse so it's not surprising we missed it.  However, what is surprising is that he showed absolutely no symptoms.

Boris has been playing with us, eating like a pig, and generally behaving as always.  This pic was on Saturday night, you can see he's actually rolling about on the sore spot!

The vet thinks that when the abscess formed, it damaged some nerves which is why he didn't feel it at first.  Luckily we got him to the vet pronto, so we've stopped a minor problem from becoming a major one.

It wasn't easy.  Because Boris wouldn't let us look, he needed a shot of tranquiliser.  Then when we realised how big the hole was, and that it needed stitching, so he had to be put under.  Boris is so fat that he had to be topped up once with anesthetic during the operation. 

Boris is now in the spare room, and wearing a lampshade.  The wound by his tail should heal in about a week but we still don't know what's causing the bare patch on his behind. 

The vet is hoping it will clear up with the antibiotics he's taking.  If not, I'll take a picture and will ask you for opinions.  In the meantime, please purr for Boris.  He needs it.

PS Tomorrow I'll post a pic of Boris with his lampshade.

Living In Malaysia: Want Blue?

"All the computers at work are loaded with viruses because everyone is downloading porn," one friend moaned a few months ago.  It sparked immediate interest - with only a handful asking for tips on where to find the good stuff. 

I grew up in Amsterdam so I'm used to seeing a few girly mags and films about.  But you know, I've never seen so much porn in my life as I have in Malaysia.

Porn is illegal here (even pictures of female underwear, bikinis, navels etc are routinely censored!) but porn filled PCs are common.  In fact, it's practically impossible not to see the stuff because of the peddlers who sidle up to you in restaurants, pubs and on the street asking, "Want blue?"  and showing you lurid DVD covers. 


Seeing my mate started the subject, I took the opportunity to ask the gang what sort is popular here.  To cut a long story short, the answer is, "Everything - except for male-on-male stuff!"

Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Dutch, American, British, Swedish, German... hetero, lesbian, group, ......straight, freaky.... it's all grist to the mill.  However, nobody seems to read books or text; it's pictures and films that are popular.

I asked questions, Why do you watch it?  Do you see yourself as the man in it?  If so, do you prefer if the man star is your own race so you can identify?  Do you watch it with your date/wife/girlfriend?

The boys looked at me, and shook their heads.  "We don't think about it, we just watch it when we're alone at home. Because we're men!"

It got me wondering though about differences between East and West.  I didn't notice any porn last time I was in the UK or Spain even though decency laws there are much more lenient and the people generally more open about sex.  So I'm curious to know, is porn common where you live?

PS: my mate tells me that since our chat, his company fired a dozen or so people, including senior managers, for downloading porn, and the PCs are now virus-free and usable.  He's delighted.

Repost Friday: Roast Overload

This was first put up on Monday, January 08, 2007 and features our old cat Scoop who passed away 3 years ago.

Roast Overload

Scoop is crashed out in the spare bed room (known in the family as Scoop's room) with his paws straight up in the air. It's official: he is a fat kitty.

Old fuzzy had a whale of a time when he came in late Saturday night eating a thin slice of roast pork, and by conning us into thinking he hadn't had proper lunch, he dived into seconds yesterday as well.

There is a tiny smidgeon left to garnish his dinner but from this point on we're officially back to proper meals. And if I know Scoop, the return to normal means he'll soon be asking when Chinese New Year is kicking in....

PS here is Scoop in bed. Just look at that fat tummy!

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

Review Thursday: Growing Up in Terengganu

Growing Up in Terengganu
By Awang Goneng
Monsoon books Sept 2007
Paperback 336pp + 44 photos

ISBN: 978-981-05-8692-8
Price: S$23.50 RM 39.90

This created a lot of excitement when it came out because it was one of the first local blooks (blog turned book) in Malaysia.  The first edition of 3000 copies sold well and it is very nicely produced.

Awang Goneng (Malay for "naughty boy") is the pen name for Wan Hulaimi, a Malaysian journalist living in the UK. His intro is sparkling, funny and engaging, and I thought I'd love this book.  However, I just couldn't get into it.

Wan Hulaimi writes about going to the mosque, about the call to prayer, about the fasting month, how his mum cooked various local dishes, about his local dialect, about various people he met, and other local scenes.

If you're interested in researching life in Terengganu 30 years ago then I can see it would be very useful.  The writer is a pro, so the writing is fine.  However, I was disappointed that the great personality that comes through so clearly in the intro isn't visible in the stories. 


It's not my cup of tea but please see for yourself if you like it by reading the first few chapters for free here.  Wan Hulaimi also blogs at http://kecek-kecek.blogspot.com.

Wordless Wednesday: Cat Fights Paw-Parazzi!

Part of the Wordless Wednesday meme!

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

COT: Olympic Napping

It's monsoon time in Malaysia which makes it too wet for cats to go out and play, so Target has been eating an early breakfast and then going back to bed for a lie-in.

Our snoozeling kitten spreads himself all over the bed, and lies there purring loudly.  He also lies tummy up just in case anyone comes by; our Target knows we can't resist popping in and tickling him.

He gets up around 10AM and then comes into the office for a cuddle and an 8 hour nap on the desk.  I think Target is practicing for the Cat-Olympics marathon napping event.  And at the rate he's going, he's going to have no trouble snagging gold. 

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

For more cats, check out Gattina's Cats on Tuesday. 

Au And His Boxes

A box is a cat's castle

Living In Malaysia: Speaking In Tongues

There are half a dozen common languages spoken in Malaysia, including Malay, Cantonese, Iban, Hokkien, Tamil, and Mandarin. 

English is a popular common language too, and I think the most common second language.  Thing is, there are various versions of English, some of which are pretty hard to understand if you're not from here. 

Like the other day I told Ah Soo, our mechanic that I wasn't happy with the flower on my tyre. He recommended I replace it, and then told me his wife said she had seen me give him the hand the day before but he'd missed it.

Translated this means I was worried about the treads on my tyre, and Ah Soo was apologising that he hadn't noticed me wave at him the day before.

We may sound funny but we're communicating, and that's all that matters, right?

Repost Friday: Fuzz Off

This post was first put up on 5th January 2007 and features our old cat Scoop who passed away 3 years ago.

Fuzz Off

You know those thick woven cotton doormats made that are sold for next to nothing in supermarkets and hardware shops? Scoop thinks they are the ideal snoozing mat.

I bought one to put in front of the bathroom door, but after tripping over old fuzzy three times a day, I moved it to the outside bench where Scoop likes to snooze in the afternoons. It was such a hit that I've placed a second one in the empty drawer in the utility cupboard Scoop likes to retire too every now and again.


If you've got an old kitty whose bones need a bit of extra comfort, go nuts and buy a few of these mats. You'll get a Meow! of approval!

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

Review Thursday: The Lies That Build A Marriage

The Lies that Build a Marriage
Stories of the unsung, unsaid and uncelebrated in Singapore

By Suchen Christine Lim

Pub Date: Sept 2007

Paperback (B format) 216pp
ISBN: 978-981-05-8713-0

Price: S$22.50 RM35.90 US$15.95

This is a collection of short stories that I highly recommend to everyone in and out of Asia. 

Although the title makes it seem as if the stories are solely from Singapore, Suchen Christine Lim was born in Malaysia and brought up next door in Singapore. 

The tales are fictional, but when I started reading this book, I was convinced that Suchen Christine Lim knows the same people I do, as her stories are very typical of what goes on in the Chinese community here. 

There's the prostitute who is leeched on by her family, her customers, her friends and yet despised by them all; the woman who worries what people will say about her gay son; the little daughter who's beaten to a pulp by a mum who doesn't want her, but who keeps her because it helps her reputation as a good woman.....   These are stories you hear everyday here but the author makes them seem new somehow.

Really, this book is a good read.  Check it out. You can get the first chapter free here and you can buy the book from Amazon.

Wordless Wednesday: Cat Gift From Kea Gifts Malaysia

Isn't it sweet?  A present from Kea gift baskets, an online gift shop in Malaysia.

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

COT: Snorgling Target

Target has his own spot on the sofa, a favourite corner where none of us dare to sit. 

To make sure we all know it's his, and so that we don't tresspass, he streeeetches out as far as he can. 

I try to be polite but when I can't stand it any longer, I tickle his tummy and give him kisses. 

It wasn't till I met the cat bloggers that I realised there is a word for this, "snorgle".  It's purrfect! 

Love romance?  Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

For more cats, check out Gattina's Cats on Tuesday. 

Heeelp!!!! I'm Being Attacked!!!!

Target, the fearsome kitten cat, attacks Au, the senior cat with the green laser eyes.  Who will win???

Love romance? Check out Blackmail Bride, a tale of passion and mystery set in Scotland. Price RM7.56/US$2.32.  Instant delivery, no post charges.  10% goes to Friends Furry Farm, a no kill animal shelter.

Living In Malaysia: Christmas and New Year in Malaysia

Katnip Lounge asked us to blog a bit about Christmas and New Year in Malaysia, so here goes!

I'm not religious so I can only comment on public events.  The shopping malls start Christmas decorations in mid to end November.  Mind you, I heard the first Christmas carols played in September this year but that was probably because the people in charge of the music liked the tunes but couldn't understand the words!

Although we're on the equator, the malls usually put up trees, reindeer and santas.   The pic was taken outside Sunway Pyramid shopping centre.

This year I saw lots of toy displays with a few santas sprinkled over the top.  I suspect this is to entice non-Christians into buying toys for their kids.

In Malaysia about half the population is Muslim and the rest are Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Skih, Hindu, animist and other religions, so we're a pretty mixed bunch.

A few years ago (2002?  2003?) some fanatical people complained they were offended by public Christmas decorations.   However, when senior politicos pointed out that Christmas is vital for retailers, and that many Malaysians are Christian, these complaints vanished from public view.

This year there wasn't a peep about it here but the disease of intolerance is alive and well in Indonesia where a similar bunch of people tried the same thing in Jakarta.

My friends who are a very mixed bunch all bitch and moan about these fanatics because it damages community relations.  We've no idea where this type of sentiment comes from, but we suspect influence from Africa, the Middle East and the Indian continent where extremism is rife.

A report in the newspaper this week said the police arrested over 100 people they suspect of spreading extremist/jihad sentiments.  Hopefully they'll get kicked out out the country, and leave us to live together in peace.

Unlike Christmas, everyone celebrates New Year, or Gregorian New Year as it should be called.  There are street parties, mall parties, fireworks, and a public count down.  The streets are blocked with traffic and people spend hours getting to and from events.

We stay at home and watch the fireworks from upstairs.  As we can see two malls and a big stadium, we have primo seats!  We'll have a glass of champagne, and the cats will have ham, but for us the best New Year is Chinese New Year.  I'll write about that in a month or so when the Year of the Rabbit starts.

For more pics of local Christmas decorations, visit Shannon's blog page.

Happy New Year!  May 2011 bring you health, happiness, success and lots of treats!

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