We got word that Pingu fell off the balcony yesterday. He seemed OK, had done X-ray, stitches and stuffs. Uncle Is said he's resting and can't play for the time being. Ginger must be feeling lonely without his companion for a while. My Mama says we'll go visit him, bring him flowers and tuna...poor Pingu...
I don't like him much coz whenever I stay at their house, he tried to "mount" me. Doofus! He's had the snip snip! Mama usually send Brad and I to stay at Uncle Is and Auntie If's place if she's gone for long. To Dr T if she's gone for a couple of days.
I will update on Pingu's condition. Must have hurt, it's a 4-storey block!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Mama's Travels 2
My Mama went to Bali! I resented her going because this was one trip that she couldn't take me. Brad and I had to stay with Dr T.
Bali is a famous holiday island in Indonesia. Mama went with Dad in search of the famous Balinese cats. Lucky she didn't bring any home...thank God for Australia's strict quarantine laws...lest I'll have too many unwanted feline companions.
My Mama opines that Bali is an over rated holiday spot. It's too touristy, too may Aussies, she said. No stone has been been left unturned it seems. It's a place she'll not visit ever ever again.
Feline figurines - a must buy - and must bargain!
Balinese dancer - a must see - the show was too long though and you may lose interest after the 3rd scene.
Seafood lovers at Jimbaran waiting for the sunset!
Sunset at Jimbaran unfortunately didn't live up to its reputation.
The corn seller - now, his bbq corn was yummy...
Bali is a famous holiday island in Indonesia. Mama went with Dad in search of the famous Balinese cats. Lucky she didn't bring any home...thank God for Australia's strict quarantine laws...lest I'll have too many unwanted feline companions.
My Mama opines that Bali is an over rated holiday spot. It's too touristy, too may Aussies, she said. No stone has been been left unturned it seems. It's a place she'll not visit ever ever again.
Feline figurines - a must buy - and must bargain!
Balinese dancer - a must see - the show was too long though and you may lose interest after the 3rd scene.
Seafood lovers at Jimbaran waiting for the sunset!
Sunset at Jimbaran unfortunately didn't live up to its reputation.
The corn seller - now, his bbq corn was yummy...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Don't Tell Tom
I am consumed with jealousy. With someone I've never met before.
It's Tom Cruise, my Mama's first cat. He lives overseas with Dad but my Mama can't stop looking at his pictures, talking about him all the time and worst, calls herself MamaTom!
When my Mama visited him last month, they celebrated his birthday, or rather the day Mama found him, with a humongous chocolate cake! Humongous cake for a humongous cat!
HRH Tom Cruise - Mama's first love
Mama spotted this building in Melbourne, aptly named Don't Tell Tom...
Tom's birthday cake...I never got any!
It's Tom Cruise, my Mama's first cat. He lives overseas with Dad but my Mama can't stop looking at his pictures, talking about him all the time and worst, calls herself MamaTom!
When my Mama visited him last month, they celebrated his birthday, or rather the day Mama found him, with a humongous chocolate cake! Humongous cake for a humongous cat!
HRH Tom Cruise - Mama's first love
Mama spotted this building in Melbourne, aptly named Don't Tell Tom...
Tom's birthday cake...I never got any!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Sam the Koala
In the past I've always made fun of my Mama and Brad's fascination with the idiot box. I must admit, however, that one news items made my eyes and mind glued to the tube too yesterday. It was the vision of Sam the koala being saved by the nice firemen while they were busy saving humans and properties in Victoria. Poor Sam was badly injured and burnt, his paw pads were blackened by the hot grounds it had to travel on while its fur was singed.
Poor poor koala...it's really sad knowing that many animals are either injured or dead because of bushfires in Victoria (or anywhere in the world). The well-dressed lady newscaster said there could be millions of dead wildlife out there, still unaccounted for. I'm really really praying for the well being for all those animals out there. I'm sure there were cute felines like me who's lost their homes or even their lives. Special prayers for them too...
Statistics from Victoria:
Fatalities: 181 dead (as of Thursday, Feb 12) including 5 children
Properties destroyed: 1,831 homes, more than 1,000,000 hectares of land
Homeless people: 7,000 registered so far, could be higher
Hospitalised: 22 with serious burns, 10 in critical conditions
Still causing concern: 31 active fires across Victoria – could take weeks to contain
Five fires at Beechworth, Churchill, Murrindindi, the Kinglake complex and Bunyip – causing most
concern
Areas hit: Beechworth, Flowerdale, Kinglake, Kinglake West, LaTrove Valley (Callignee, Callignee South, Hazelwood,
Jeeralang), Marysville, Narbethong, St Andrews, Yackandandah
From history books: 1939 Black Friday: 71 dead
1983 Ash Wednesday: 75 dead, including 47 in Victoria.
Poor poor koala...it's really sad knowing that many animals are either injured or dead because of bushfires in Victoria (or anywhere in the world). The well-dressed lady newscaster said there could be millions of dead wildlife out there, still unaccounted for. I'm really really praying for the well being for all those animals out there. I'm sure there were cute felines like me who's lost their homes or even their lives. Special prayers for them too...
Statistics from Victoria:
Fatalities: 181 dead (as of Thursday, Feb 12) including 5 children
Properties destroyed: 1,831 homes, more than 1,000,000 hectares of land
Homeless people: 7,000 registered so far, could be higher
Hospitalised: 22 with serious burns, 10 in critical conditions
Still causing concern: 31 active fires across Victoria – could take weeks to contain
Five fires at Beechworth, Churchill, Murrindindi, the Kinglake complex and Bunyip – causing most
concern
Areas hit: Beechworth, Flowerdale, Kinglake, Kinglake West, LaTrove Valley (Callignee, Callignee South, Hazelwood,
Jeeralang), Marysville, Narbethong, St Andrews, Yackandandah
From history books: 1939 Black Friday: 71 dead
1983 Ash Wednesday: 75 dead, including 47 in Victoria.
Australian Fruits 101
It is mid-summer now. My Mama says this is the best time of the year, for her, as this is the time when her favourite fruits will be in season. She loves fresh figs and plums. Let me tell you a bit about the plums as somehow it’s connected to me.
Mama says her favourite is the Angelina plums. I have the picture here. I did a bit of research about this fruit that bears my name.
About Angelina: Angelina Burdett plums are round to oval, medium-sized clingstone plums with bluish-black skin. They have sweet, juicy yellowish-green flesh. The tree is self-fertile to the point that it will even need some thinning as the fruit is growing. It is ready for harvesting late summer, early autumn. Can be used for cooking or eating out of hand. The plum was bred around 1850 (some think 1843) by a Mr Dowling of Woolston, Southampton, England. Named after a philanthropist, the Baroness Angelina Burdett-Coutts (1814–1906), granddaughter of the banker Thomas Coutts.
Scientific notes: A plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera (peaches, cherries, bird cherries, etc) in the shoots having a terminal bud and the side buds solitary (not clustered), the flowers being grouped 1-5 together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one side, and a smooth stone. Also called Prunus domestica (Scientific Name) Prune (French) Pflaumen (German) Prugna (Italian) Ciruela (Spanish) Ume (Japanese).
General information: Plums are the second most popular fruit in the world (apples are the most popular.) You can classify plums in many ways. One is based on what you do with them -- either eating them raw or cooking with them. Another divides them into three families: European, Damson, Japanese. Yet another is to look at those that are freestone -- the flesh separates easily from the pit -- from those that aren't (clingstone).
Not all plums are plum-coloured -- that is to say, purple. They also come in green, yellowish green, yellow and red. Consequently, it can be hard to tell if a plum is ripe based on colour, unless you are familiar with the variety. The best way to tell if it is ripe is just to squeeze it slightly to see if it is soft. Meanwhile, avoid all the bruised fruit that everyone else has squeezed. Plums will, like many fruits, continue to ripen after picking.
If the plums are firm, you can set them out at home at room temperature for a day or two for them to soften. Placing them in a paper bag will speed up the process. Though they will soften, they won't sweeten any more after they are picked. Once they are ripe, they are good for about 3 days in the refrigerator. All plums freeze and preserve well.
Nutrition: Good source of potassium, Vitamin A and fibre. An average plum has anywhere from 30 to 60 calories. The pit of the plum has cyanogens in it, which are bound molecules of sugar and cyanide. When this bond is broken, the cyanide becomes free and able to act. The cyanogens don't leak at all into the flesh of the fruit, for some reason, but should it ever occur to you to try fermenting plum pits, or to break them up and roast them as snack food, it might not be such a great idea.
Mama's favourite snack - Angelina plums....don't they look yummy?
Mama says her favourite is the Angelina plums. I have the picture here. I did a bit of research about this fruit that bears my name.
About Angelina: Angelina Burdett plums are round to oval, medium-sized clingstone plums with bluish-black skin. They have sweet, juicy yellowish-green flesh. The tree is self-fertile to the point that it will even need some thinning as the fruit is growing. It is ready for harvesting late summer, early autumn. Can be used for cooking or eating out of hand. The plum was bred around 1850 (some think 1843) by a Mr Dowling of Woolston, Southampton, England. Named after a philanthropist, the Baroness Angelina Burdett-Coutts (1814–1906), granddaughter of the banker Thomas Coutts.
Scientific notes: A plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera (peaches, cherries, bird cherries, etc) in the shoots having a terminal bud and the side buds solitary (not clustered), the flowers being grouped 1-5 together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one side, and a smooth stone. Also called Prunus domestica (Scientific Name) Prune (French) Pflaumen (German) Prugna (Italian) Ciruela (Spanish) Ume (Japanese).
General information: Plums are the second most popular fruit in the world (apples are the most popular.) You can classify plums in many ways. One is based on what you do with them -- either eating them raw or cooking with them. Another divides them into three families: European, Damson, Japanese. Yet another is to look at those that are freestone -- the flesh separates easily from the pit -- from those that aren't (clingstone).
Not all plums are plum-coloured -- that is to say, purple. They also come in green, yellowish green, yellow and red. Consequently, it can be hard to tell if a plum is ripe based on colour, unless you are familiar with the variety. The best way to tell if it is ripe is just to squeeze it slightly to see if it is soft. Meanwhile, avoid all the bruised fruit that everyone else has squeezed. Plums will, like many fruits, continue to ripen after picking.
If the plums are firm, you can set them out at home at room temperature for a day or two for them to soften. Placing them in a paper bag will speed up the process. Though they will soften, they won't sweeten any more after they are picked. Once they are ripe, they are good for about 3 days in the refrigerator. All plums freeze and preserve well.
Nutrition: Good source of potassium, Vitamin A and fibre. An average plum has anywhere from 30 to 60 calories. The pit of the plum has cyanogens in it, which are bound molecules of sugar and cyanide. When this bond is broken, the cyanide becomes free and able to act. The cyanogens don't leak at all into the flesh of the fruit, for some reason, but should it ever occur to you to try fermenting plum pits, or to break them up and roast them as snack food, it might not be such a great idea.
Mama's favourite snack - Angelina plums....don't they look yummy?
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