Custard 101

2011.01.30 Guarding the Bedroom Door

Custard: Week 1

These 2 weeks have been terrible for both Custard and ourselves.

Though her diarrhea is gone, she still vomits constantly and then cries for attention afterwards.

When we're around during the day, she's relatively peaceful. But when we she loses sight of us, even for the slightest moment, she starts whining. This is especially bad at night, happening as frequent as every 2 - 3 hours. We can hardly catch a good, continual sleep since we will get up and check on her to see if she puked or poo poo-ed.

Poppy hardly took part in the caretaking in the past, but I think upon seeing that it's taking a toll on me, he offers to get up to check on Custard and have me stay in bed.

~~~

And so, after 3 days at work, I'm bushed and she's at it again. She persistently loitered outside the room, wanting to keep me in her sight, and I had to move her basket to my room door so that she can nap comfortably with me in sight instead of sitting on the cold, hard floor. Now, she's finally zonked out (in the basket outside the door) from the fatigue of meowing non-stop since I came home.

Get well soon, Custard.

Week 4

24.01.2011 Monday

Started the day off with breakfast at the Clementi Hawker Centre. Popped by the bank and NTUC, then off to JB briefly before stocking up a little at Sheng Siong in Woodlands. Dropped our groceries home and headed to Mommy's!

Fixed up the new LG LED TV Poppy bought for them while Mommy made din-din for us, so we tucked in before going over to IKEA in Tampines. Bought ourselves a new set of dining chairs (finally!), a dish drainer and some miscellaneous stuff.

Loaded everything onto the car and off to Sheng Siong at Elias Mall we went. There wasn't much at the store, so we only got a carton of beer for the guests coming to our house for gathering and Poppy succumbed to temptation and bought 2 boxes of Ferrero Rocher. Went home after sending Mommy home.

25.01.2011 Tuesday

Brought Custard for her first injection at the clinic. She whined a little during the injection (must've been painful because the needle was so huge). Stocked up some canned wet food from Polypets and sent her home after our breakfast. Fed her medicine and food, then we continued with our Ngoh Hiang making!

After tolling 2 - 3 hours, I hereby proudly declare that my Ngoh Hiang's are successful! Even Poppy has to accede defeat. Caught a catnap and in the evening, we were off to fetch MIL for new year shopping at IMM. Grabbed a couple of buns for the next day's breakfast (because Poppy'll be back to work), and spent the rest of the 2 hours or so foraging the hypermart, ended up with 300-buckaroos worth of stuff, and free delivery. And there, we got ourselves a replacement fan, because the other year-old fan is cranking up.

Got home near midnight, and rested up with Poppy coz he's starting work the next day.

Random dinner with Alex, Loh and YM at Dian Xiao Er (West Coast Plaza) on Wednesday; Met Loh and YM again on Thursday for some last-minute new year shopping. Had dinner and movie (Shaolin- very nice show!) before heading home past midnight. Nothing much for the rest of the week, apart from taking 2 hours off work to send Custard for her 2nd injection.

3 days left to CNY! It's gonna be another busy CNY, and I've updated our "schedule". It's packed to the brim, as usual, but one thing's different... And that is we'll be giving out the red packets this year. If only giving them out was as easy as giving out other Baos - just buy Char Siew Bao or Tao Sar Bao and distribute. But no, we had to queue at the bank to exchange for small notes, buy some cute Ang Baos, then stuff the money in the packets. I had the urge of tearing open all the packed Ang Baos as if they were given to me. But of course, that was just a silly thought.

So much more still needs to be done. Poppy has fixed up all the rest of the dining chairs and I've put up the new year decoration. Lemming to buy more clothes because there's so many events to attend, and I haven't painted my nails and I still need to do another round of hair treatment + face mask in preparation for all the sleep-deprived days ahead. Hah!

Can't wait for it to actually be here!

Week 3 Part II

23.01.11 Sunday

Today's reserved for Gong Gong. He "chope" us 2 weeks ago. We fetched him from Wilson's place, then met up with Wilson and Phoebe at Boon Lay Market for breakfast, then sent him to Bukit Panjang Khek Community Guild for their annual new year gathering. Afterwards, we sent him to Nanyang Loh Clan Association. The members were mostly old folks averaging 60 years old, at least. After everything, we drove Gong Gong to Chinatown. Passed by Lim Chee Guan, saw a snaking long queue, and decided to pop by their supplier Kim Joo Guan to try our luck. Unfortunately, Lady Luck wasn't on our side that day, so we dismissed the whole idea and went jalan-jalan followed by dinner with Gong Gong.

Caught a short nap back at home, after sending Gong Gong to Uncle's house. Then prepared and set off for Amara Hotel for Triston's wedding.

22.01.11 Saturday

Stayed home for most parts of the day. Woke up near noon, had our brunch at the Tim Sum shop downstairs, and visited the aquariums as well. Rather humdrum day, continued our spring cleaning and fetched Custard home in the evening. She's been prescribed 3 types of medicine, and her first injection will commence on Tuesday.

After feeding her, and putting her to bed, we headed off to Chinatown for the new year market. Got home past midnight and went straight to bed.

21.01.11 Friday

1st day of our leave and 3rd day of Custard's diarrhea + refusal to eat. Brought her to The Animal Clinic at Sunset as planned. It was the worst visit, ever. Don't be mistaken, the vet, Dr Liang, was great. She has loads of experience because she herself is the owner of 2 kitties.

During the consultation, we were told that Custard's likely to be 4 - 5 years old instead of 1 - 2 years old (but of course, it'd have been difficult for Mrs Wong to judge since Custard was brought home as a stray in the first place). So Dr Liang asked a few questions on Custard's progress since the last visit for her eye problem. That was ok. Then they proceeded to do a blood test for her, and we were told to go grab a coffee while we wait for the results (which will probably take 40 minutes or so).

Halfway through the meal, about 20 minutes later, the clinic called and told us the vet wants to speak to us. Not good. I sense something amiss, and quickly headed back. Custard's blood test showed that she is down with FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) and CRF (Chronic Renal Failure). Although the FIV is relatively harmless at the moment and is unlikely to pose any immediate harm, the CRF, however, was more dangerous. Custard had to be hospitalized immediately for 2 days and be put on medication and drip.

When she broke the news to me, I couldn't hold in the tears no matter how hard I tried.

I guess it was just too sudden, considering the fact that she's been with us for a year, there was a lot of negativity in my mind about whether I've done my duty as an owner to care for her.

Dr Liang gave us more insight about the conditions, symptoms and advise us the injection of subcutaneous fluids have to be done twice to thrice a week, and a review to be fortnightly.

And we soon came to realize, she had the symptoms the Dr described before she came to our household. That did relief my negative thoughts a little, then Poppy did the administrative stuff after Dr Liang explained to us the process post-hospitalization care and we bade Custard goodbye as she's being prepared for her 2-day stay.

Totally moodless, but I couldn't cancel my spa visit, so Poppy drove me over.

While I was doing the IPL and mask, Poppy was super sweet to read up on FIV on the web and shared the stuff with me when I came out. I'm really glad he was with me because I felt so down the whole day.

Stayed home for the rest of the afternoon. Poppy offered to clear his wardrobe, because he knows it'd make me happy. He cleared out everything from the wardrobe, but I ended up helping him fold most of the clothes and packing them back into the closet anyway. What a bum-bum. We sorted out and packed aside 3 paper bags' worth of unwanted/unused clothes. 1 bag to be discarded due to old age/discoloration etc, the other 2 to be sent to Godmum's place for Ah Boy to see if there's anything he fancies. Brought along my bag of clothes for them too.

Dropped the bags of clothes at Godma's then set off to Sembawang 白米粉 for din-din. Headed over to Chong Pang to buy our favorite Ochado and browsed at the new year market a bit before sending everyone home.

Week 3

Foresee that I probably won't be updating for the rest of this week, so here goes...

20.01.11 Thursday

Decided to pamper ourselves with Golden Pillow delivery for lunch. Ordered 1 X Curry Mutton Bun; 1 X Ginseng Salted Chicken; 1 X Fried Bee Hoon to share among three of us. Quite big portions but we still 杀到完. *Victory*

Otherwise it's another humdrum day at work with lots of drilling next door. Not like.

The Curry Mutton Bun + Fried Bee Hoon + Ginseng Salted Chicken (which comes with the entire claypot, which I have already *chope*)

19.01.11 Wednesday

Nua-ish day off. Did the laundry early in the morning, cleared some old letters + bills + rubbish from the bedroom and washed up Custard's corner (her pee-pan, bed, basket, towel and vicinity of her cage). Bushed. Went to nap after playing game.

Poppy's call woke me up and I couldn't sleep anymore so watched Coraline on DVD while snacking on Ruffles and Minced Lattice Pies from M&S (Marks & Spencer's). As I'm speaking, I suddenly crave M&S Honey Roast Wiltshire Ham Crisps. Aargh.

Poppy came home shortly after, fiddled with his fish tanks again before we headed off for din-din. Custard's not her usual self these couple of days. She just had a case of diarrhea + vomit again and refuses to eat. Apart from her usual kibbles, we tried to give her boiled chicken (which she usually loves). No-go. Even tried to hand feed her, but she just doesn't budge. Sigh. Booked her in for a vet visit on Friday morning, and bought her 2 cans of tuna on our way to dinner.

Stopped by my fave bakery to grab some pastries and cake to cheer ourselves up - Poppy got a large buttercream swiss roll, while I got the butterfly cake and a cream horn, then headed home to feed Custard. She did eventually take a few licks of the tuna, but that was it.

Finally on leave tomorrow!

Vet Visit (Poppy and I bringing Custard together, for the first time, usually I go alone dragging the hundred-tonne carrier with my bone-skinny arms and walking all the way to Sunset under the hot sun from home); Spa Visit; Ngoh Hiang-making; MORE packing; Manicure + Pedicure; Ang Bao-packing; Receiving my Forever 21 + Old Navy parcels; More Laundry; Receiving our new LED TV; and yet... MORE (UN)PACKING!

Plus going to Tristan's wedding on 23rd with the guys from TSPL.

Wow, I'm excited already.

Back to work for 4 days on 28th Jan. Then 6 days off from work from 2nd Feb, back to work again, and on leave again for the 3 weekends that follow. Talk about clearing leave!

Week 2

Realized that I've missed out on too many weeks of updates, so I'll just start from this weekend.

15.01.11 Saturday

Wanted to sleep in late coz we ended up home at nearly 3 in the morning.

But my neighbors decided it was such a good day to begin hammering the wall at 8am, followed by drilling and pounding some chili, I never really got a good rest. Dang.

For some bizarre reason, I decided to go put on some hair treatment and facial mask right away. I guess the special treat (Laneige Strawberry Yogurt Pack + Optima Ampoule for hair) did perk me up. Bugged Poppy to wake up and have breakfast (or is it lunch?) with me, and ordered my fave egg and toast set meal.

Got home after brief walk to NTUC's CNY tentage to check out some packet drinks and goodies. Then I started packing the storeroom - moving some unopened champagne glasses, jugs and plates to the cabinet; throwing out the vacuum cleaner (since Poppy has a new love so he probably won't use it anymore, while I prefer the good ol' broom) and shifting his aquatic rocks to the storage.

Wanted to take a nap to replenish some energy, but MIL arrived earlier than we expected so we finished up the last chores, put on the Despicable Me DVD for Custard to watch while we prepare to go fetch Popo for dinner. Yes, Custard's such a TV addict, on my off-days she'd sit in front of the telly and wait for me to switch on 包青天 in the afternoon. I suppose the guy with black face speaking in dramatic tone amuses her.

And so, dinner was at Lim Joo Hin coz we were craving for steaming porridge on the rainy day. Ordered half a dozen of dishes or so, finished up and sent MIL home before sending Popo home too. Got home, finished watching Despicable Me and went off to bed.

14.01.11 Friday

Was off to Colourful Aquarium, followed by IMM.

We got ourselves a couple of Lock & Lock freeze-able containers, fruit cutting mat and sushi mat for Poppy's upcoming Ngoh Hiang making session. The last time Poppy made them and stored them in the freezer, our ice cubes all turned into weird (and not to mention, awful) Ngoh Hiang flavor. Blek.

Anyhoos, we met Alex, Helmi and Nurah (not sure if I got her name right) for supper at Pandan City. And Helmi recommended the "3-layer tea" to us. It looked something like this...

Damn good stuff!

The Cheesy Chicken Chop I had was actually really cheesy. The stall was very generous with the mayonnaise-like cheese and the fries were yummy too. Went jalan-jalan after the meal, and to my surprise, there were quite a lot of stuff to look at.

And Poppy bought a replacement for the watch he lost at work. He loves it so much because it's water resistant and cheap, and wears it to work and his swims all the time. Alex bought an identical one after Poppy showed it to him the last time. LOL. And it was one of the watches my bro and I bought for my dad's birthday (about 15 years ago?!).

School-boy Casio watch

We almost bought a dolly stroller for Custard, but figured she would easily claw through the cheap material. Pity. Would probably buy her the skateboard the next time since Poppy promised to bring me there again. Heh!

WORK ON A SUNDAY ISH SO BORRRRRING (but I like it that way).

Gives me time to plan for our Cambodia trippy. Doing a 8-day tour from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh (and maybe Sihanoukville or Battambang). Time to strike off another UNESCO site on my to-visit list.

And I'm looking forward to my week-long leave from Friday onwards. Yay!

Pre, Pre, Pre-CNY Chores

The first lunar new year as the missus, and second year in our new home.

After doing the laundry and sweeping yesterday, took the air-con apart for cleaning and brought down the curtains for washing. Cleaned up the bedroom a bit, and I'm only left with clearing my bookshelf. Every year I'm stuck with the last-minute attempts to tidy up my wardrobe, so this year I decided to do it earlier.

Brace urselves for the horrendous sight of my wardrobe...

Before

After

It's tidier now (I think) since I did cleared out a stack of unworn/unwanted clothes which I've been hoarding for years. Self-console.

To reward myself, I've decided to spree Forever21 and Old Navy/GAP with the girls this week. We bought more than US$500 US$600 worth of merchandise, so happy! I'm sure I'll be able to figure out where to chuck the new clothes again at a later date. Hah!

Anyway, both Poppy and I took leave on the third week of the month to finish up the pre-new year chores, and help him with his annual Ngoh Hiang making. There've been lots of requests for his Ngoh Hiang it seems, so Poppy's doubling the quantity as compared to last year (and he's more than happy that his snack is so popular).

Oh, Poppy's back from work.

Off for din-din!

There goes my hope of a second property and, not forgetting, my Capitaland stocks. Aaaarghhhh!

For the fourth time in two years, they have implemented "cooling measures".

The new measures

by Esther Ng

- Holding period for imposition of Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) increased from three to four years.

- SSD rates raised to 16 per cent, 12 per cent, 8 per cent and 4 per cent for homes bought today and thereafter and which are sold in the first, second, third and fourth year, respectively.

- Loan-To-Value (LTV) limit lowered to 50% on housing loans for property purchasers who are not individuals.

- LTV limit lowered from 70 per cent to 60 per cent for individual property purchasers with one or more outstanding housing loans.

Taken from:

http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110114-0000238/New-cooling-measures-but-,,,

Brisbane Flood

Just where did all that water come from?!

This is so saddening.

Animals suffering in Brisbane flood crisis

It is not just people who have been affected by floods swamping Queensland - animals too are suffering terribly.

Domestic pets, wild animals and commercial livestock have all been caught up in the disaster.

Michael Beatty, the RSPCA's Queensland spokesman, says he has heard many devastating tales from residents forced to evacuate their homes.

"In some places where people have had to leave their pets behind it's been absolutely heartbreaking for them, as I'm sure you can understand," he said.

Mr Beatty says the flooding has left the organisation in a tough position.

"Anything to do with animals, everyone calls the RSPCA. Unfortunately, the situation in Brisbane now, in regards to us physically being able to take in animals, is non-existent because we simply can't," he said.

"We don't have an operational shelter in Brisbane. The animals that left the Brisbane shelter have gone into foster care and we just really thank the foster carers and the volunteers who came in this morning to help.

"But at the moment, we basically can't take in any other animals."

Mr Beatty says for the time being, the RSPCA has enough foster care homes.

"But certainly in the days, possibly even weeks ahead, we are going to need more foster carers, there's no doubt about that," he said.

Mr Beatty says there are concerns for all animals, including domestic pets, farm animals and those in the wild.

"In Rockhampton even now we don't know exactly how bad the situation is going to be in regard to livestock," he said.

"We have started to drop food to areas where we know livestock has been isolated.

"In most cases people did their best to try to move the animals to higher ground, but in some cases the higher ground that they moved them to simply wasn't high enough.

"In all possibility there'll be a large number of animals, livestock in particular, that will have died during the floods, no doubt about that.

"As far as the native animal toll, well, I don't think anyone's going to know probably for weeks."

Taken from

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/12/3111620.htm?site=news

Birthday Trip '11

And so, there's something to look forward to in 2011 already!

My annual birthday trip =)

Past trips include: 2007 - Trip back to Gramps' with family; 2008 - Brought Mommy & Bro to Bangkok with Poppy; 2009 - Guangzhou, Macau & Zhuhai trip with Poppy, Vincent & Qingli (and, that was where he proposed. hee.)

This year, Poppy has finally decided that we shall go to Cambodia. Like FINALLY.

Had wanted to go there last year, but wedding preparations held back most of the trips, including my birthday trip.

Since my trip to Yogyakarta in 2008 with Hoochie, I've been lemming to go for a nice photography trip with Poppy. Indochina's my personal favorite, apart from India (which Poppy has yet to come to terms with). Although we've been to Vietnam, Thailand and the Riau Island (countless times, I must add) over the past few years, I've never actually brought my cam equipment because... I was more keen in shopping. Oops, hah.

Simply surfing over the internet and looking at pictures of the countless boutique hotels in Phnom Penh makes me want to fly there right this instance! Here's a few for your viewing pleasure...

The Japanese Suite from The Villa Paradiso

Pretty cabanas by the pool from Blue Lime

Can't wait to take this opportunity to explore and play with the cammie I got for him during X'mas. The cammie's still naked now (with no bag or carrying case), so I'm still pondering over which camera bag I should buy for the baby. Something comfy for carrying throughout the day and yet trusty (best if waterproof).

So far, I've got two in mind, both from Crumpler

(I personally prefer Lowepro but I think Poppy would like something that doesn't look as dull)

5 Million Dollar Home

6 Million Dollar Home

Hilarious names they have for their line of products, don't you think?

Am I impatient or what?

I can't wait for April to be here seriously!