The Sentinel

Angelina's note: We haven't featured Michael for quite a while, eh? There he was guarding the entrance to the kitchen....be warned. HAPPY WEEKEND. purrr....meow!

Tabbies on Tuesday: Tete-a-Tete

Mike: Hey Brad!
Brad: Hie Mike!

Mike: This is going to be your tenth month with us, as family. How do you feel?
Brad: I can't believe this, man. I mean, moving countries and then became freed slave....wow!

Mike: Yeah...you were living a lie Down Under. How could you become her slave all those times?
Brad: I was a slave of love...she was all I had. But now I have a family....

Mike: You're better off here now, eh? No more slavery.
Brad: True. I love having you as my big brother. Someone to cuddle when I'm cold.

Mike: Yeah...but this is a tropical country. When would you feel cold?
Brad: When we sleep in Mama's room.

Mike: Oh, the air-conditioning? I bet that's nothing compared to the winters you had.
Brad: True. We used to have two heaters on sometimes.

Mike: Look at us. Talking about the weather now.
Brad: Like an old married couple....har har har *evil laughs*

Mike: I wonder what Mama and Dad would be talking about? Us?
Brad: I reckon, yes. Or work? how boring. Hey...do you know that their anniversary is coming up soon?

Mike: What should we get them?
Brad: Nothing.

Mike: Nothing?
Brad: Yeah...coz we are the greatest gifts that any pawrents can have...and they should count their blessings that we adopted them.

Mike: You're so wise, my man....
Brad: You too, bro.

Mike: Shhh....look who's just walked in. HRH Princess Angelina.
Brad: Let's pretend to sleep.

Mike: Okay, close your eyes now.
Brad: Yeap...we'll talk some more later.

Wordless Wednesday: Flea Farmers for Sale

Dragon Fruits - The Experiment

Driving along the trunk roads in the East Coast of the Malay Peninsular is a pleasurable experience. Besides the view of the coastal line, there are also heaps of stuff to buy by the roadside. The variety is just mind boggling....from young coconut juice to sugarcane juice to palm toddy to dragon fruits to mangoes to watermelons to lemang (glutinous rice cooked in bamboo) to bananas to jackfruits to breadfruit fritters....I could go on and on and on....

So just stop and buy what you really fancy. Also, don't forget to bargain because that's the Malaysian way of buying stuffs. For example, when we stopped to buy dragon fruits from a 12-year old lass, Mama unashamedly bargained. Well, we did buy a lot so the young lady still made some profit. Then Dad has to ask, "Why did you buy so much?" Mama's answer: "Coz I like the fruit. Anyway, I'll think of something. Experiment in the kitchen."

We brought back heaps of these beauties from the East Coast. Gave some to Mak Long, some to Dad's relatives, still have heaps at home....

And thus, we experimented. Of course, since rediscovering her baking mojo, Mama decided to make dragon fruit cupcakes. "See if we can get a nice red colour like the famous red velvet cake, eh," she said.

Here's the recipe. It's basically a tweaked blended orange cake recipe.

Dragon fruit cake

1 dragon fruit (red skin + red flesh)

1 cup cooking oil

1 cup soft brown sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup full cream milk

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Cut dragon fruit, discard skin and chop coarsely. Blend with oil, sugar, eggs and milk until fine. Pour into bowl. Mix in sieved flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt bit by bit. Pour into muffin cases. Bake at 190oC for 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffin-sized cakes.

Prior to putting in the oven. We were excited over the pink-coloured concoction...natural colouring of the fruit.

Piping hot....fresh from the oven. Unsure of cake colour though....

Cooled and then put in a container. Cracks on top but can be covered with cream cheese icing, Mama said.

A closer look...can you see those black dots? Those are the dragon fruit seeds...looks like poppy seeds too.

Ready for eating.....

....tara! Where has the nice pink colour gone? Somehow, the colour disappeared. However, the cake tastes good, with nice texture...and moist. Maybe we'll put in some food colouring next time.

Nicole's 2-cent: Oh, we baked the cakes because it's a special occasion today. It's Michael and Nikki's birthday!!!!! They were born on 29 August 2004. That makes them...hmmmm...seven years old. My babies.... Rejoice with us.
For more information about the dragon fruits, click here. It's very cheap at the East Coast, at just RM5 - RM8 per kg for the red skin + red flesh variety, as opposed to about RM8 - RM14 per kg in Kuala Lumpur. purrrr *giggles*

Monday Blues With Michael

Angelina's note: All of us had been subjected to Mama's documentation project. She has pawprinted us all, photographed every inch of our bodies and then videotaped our anatomies. What is she doing? I'm not really sure. This video of Michael is an example of her handiwork. purrr....meow!

Hiccups

No, I'm not having hiccups. It's the blogging activity.
You see, our container of stuffs from Sydney has finally arrived. There are 54 boxes of various sizes delivered to our door. So far, we have managed to open and cleared only 8 of them. So, there are 46 of them still unopened. Mama said she wants us all to help her unpack before August comes. I don't know what's so special about August but whatever Mama says, we'll have to abide or else.....
So, forgive us if our blogging activity is lagging, especially the blogwalking and commenting. We'll try to do as much as possible if and when possible. We'll throw a party once all the unpacking is done.

Brad wants a piece of the action too. Hmm...I think that box is wayyy too big for him.

Michael thinks we should open the box from the top.

Nikki was checking if the box can bear her weight. What do you all think?

Nikki checked out MY chair. This was from one of the opened boxes.

Position Matters

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, Kitties and Humans, Girls and Boys,

This is Professor Dr Angelina giving you another lecture before you go to sleep. Did I just say "sleep"? Yes, I did. Because that's what this lecture is all about. Sleep, more specifically sleeping positions, and how it reveals your personality.

A good friend of mine, Professor Chris Idzikowski, (we became friends through Uncle Google, of course) has come with an analysis linking the personality of humans with the sleeping position s/he's got. His analysis encompasses six common sleeping positions, connected to a particular personality type.

The six positions investigated by Idzikowski are:

1. The Foetus: Those individuals are apparently tough on the outside but have a "big heart". They may be shy (and thus appear arrogant) at the first meeting, but soon they get relaxed. This is the most frequent sleeping position, found in 41% of the 1,000 subjects involved in the investigation who took part in the survey. Twice more women than men adopt this position.

2. Log: found in 15% of the cases, it's characterized by lying on your side with both arms down by your side. These are easy going, social people who usually trust strangers, a fact that makes them gullible.

3. Yearner: 13%, people who sleep on their side with both arms out in front were found to posses an open nature, but can also have a suspicious, cynical character. They require time to take decisions, but once taken, they won't change their mind.

4. Soldier: in 8% of the cases - lying on your back with both arms pinned to your sides. These are generally quiet and reserved people, who avoid loud discussions, but set high standards for themselves and others around them.

5. Freefall: 7% of the cases - sleeping on your stomach with your hands around the pillow, and your head turned to one side. Sociable and brash people, can be bad tempered, rejecting criticism, or avoid extreme situations.

6. Starfish: 5% of the subjects - sleeping on your back with both arms up around the pillow. These are trustworthy and good listeners; they dislike being the centre of attention.

Other subjects (5 %) said they had variable sleeping positions.

Idzikowski also investigated the effect of the sleeping positions on the general health. The freefall position was found beneficial for digestion, while the starfish and soldier positions made subjects more prone to snoring and a bad night's sleep.

What Idzikowski's talking about. (pix from Uncle Google)

A nicer illustration dubbed Zodiac Wheel. (pix from Uncle Google)

Now, let's see how my family members fare.

1. Angelina - innocence personified.

2. Michael - sexy male pose.

3. Brad - shy male????

4. Tom - King of the household.

5. Nicole - passive consort.

6. Nikki - cuteness glorified.

Angelina's note: You can't apply results from human research on felines, neither personality nor behaviour.  Felines are unique. purrr....meow!

Monday Blues: Father & Son

Tom Cruise and Michael Schumacher - no, they aren't identical although both are tabbies. Tom is my brother and that makes Mike my nephew. Hmmm....can't really see Mike's blue eyes here. They just love Mama's ironing board. 

Boy Power!!!!

Where's the Mama gone?
Where's the baby gone?
Where's the Mama gone?
Far far away.....

I'm sad. Mama's gone away. Leaving Angelina and I at the mercy of Pingu and Ginger. Uncle Is and family will babysit us.

But don't fret. The blog's not gonna be neglected. I'm handing it over to Tom and Michael. The other boys in our family.

Tom, Nicole, Michael and Nikki must be thrilled that Mama's with them now. Considering that I have more days in a year with Mama, I'm not jealous of them. Maybe Mama needs to be away from me too. har har har *evil laughs*

This is Tom! In case youze forgot how he looks like.

Michael - Tom's son. Isn't he handsome? But not as charming as me....

Over to you boys! Make me proud. har har har *evil laughs*

Mama's Other Family

Introducing...Mama's other family. Lucky they live overseas so I don't have to deal with too many felines under one roof. Phew!
I was browsing through Mama's digital album and saw millions of their pictures. From what I can see, they seem to like to sleep...zzzz....I know that my Mama prefers to be called MamaTom as Tom is her first love. But, it doesn't matter. I know I'm the favourite. Though I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that both Brad and I have some kind of resemblance to Tom. Hmmm....meow!


Tom Cruise - king of zzzzz....

Nicole Kidman - Tom's faithful partner

Michael Schumacher - Tom & Nicole's son

Nikka Lauda aka The Koala - Tom & Nicole's daughter