Sister Cities 高雄 & 布里斯本

I didn't know before, but apparently Brisbane(布里斯本) and KaoHsiung(高雄) are sister cities! This stone display sits by the river in the beautiful river park in South Bank city. We discovered it when we went for a crazy 2 hours bike ride around the city.

KaoHsiung is the second biggest city in Taiwan. It started as a industrial district located in the south. In this city, it lives one of my best childhood best friends, Yiping, and her husband!

I have visited her there a couple times, so had Scott last December. They brought us to tour the city, traveled to the nearby islands, and had delicious local cuisines. We both enjoyed Yiping and her hubby's hospitality tremendously. (xox Yiping!)


Traveling to the nearby island city, QiJing 旗津, by scooter ferry!



This is the Taiwanese style 三貼(２人１狗)scooter riding in KaoHsuing city.

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"down" and "under" Aussy experiences

After a good friend of ours got racially harassed on Australia Day, I decided to list some unpleasantness we have experience here...

Chapter I: Public Transportation Service
I.1 Bus drivers do not need to know where bus tickets are sold.
I.2 Bus drivers do not need to learn their bus routes. When needed, use a map or ask passengers for direction, and stops may be missed.
I.3 Bus drivers may harass passengers.
I.4 Bus drivers may sell wrong tickets and refuse to correct mistakes.
I.5 Driver may refuse further pick-up when passengers standing decide to block the front half of the bus.
I.6 When passengers are lost, bus drivers may as well direct the passengers with further incorrect direction since they are already lost and they don't know you.

Chapter II: Government Immigration Service
II.1 Help line representative may give false directions.
II.2 Help line representatives may interpret regulations differently.
II.3 Help line representatives may leave out vital information/document needed.
II.4 Help line representatives hold no responsibility over what they say.
II.5 Reception assistants do not provide assistance besides refusing incorrect applications.

Chapter III: Rental Agent Service
III.1 Agents do not need to know what items are/are not included on the rental property.
III.2 Agents do not need to know if appliances are/are not in working condition.
III.3 Agents act as blocks instead of medians of communication between tenants and landlords.
III.4 Tenants ought to hold all responsibility over missed/delayed response to requests made during the period tenants have notified the office that they are away.

Chapter IV: Cell Phone Service
IV.1 Charges to unsubscribed services may be made to customers' bills repeatedly
IV.2 Customers ought to call and correct the incorrect billing on a charging customer service line
IV.3 Customer can not cancel services that are nonfunctional.
IV.4 Total bullshit and false advertisement is allowed under the table.

Chapter V: University Admission Service (Melbourne University)
V.1 No emails should be replied within 2 weeks.
V.2 No answer should be obtained within 2 follow-ups.
V.3 This school do not need to notify applicants on any missing documentations.
V.4 This school should only contact successful candidates and leave all the rest hanging.
V.5 This school holds no responsibility on delaying evaluation process due to school administration bureaucracy.
V.6 This school may delay application process indefinitely.
V.7 This school ought to charge 100.00 application fee while all the other schools are free of charge.

Chapter VI: Postal Service
VI.1 1 in 3 packages can be missed.
VI.2 Australia Post do not hold responsibility over missing registered mails/packages.

(Disclaimer: Personal experiences may vary. Readers discretion is advised on trusting information provided by any service industry.)

Two updates

(1) We got the permission from Misty's breeder to blog about Misty and her cattery, so I will start to post more about Misty soon.

(2) I think I infected Scott with my blog fever, so he wants to negotiate the possibility of joining me on building this blog. His enthusiasm currently is under evaluation.

de facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "in fact" or "in practice" but not spelled out by law.

Tomorrow morning is our interview with the Australian immigration to declare "de facto". We prepared stacks of documents. There are our (1) application forms, (2) shared lease contracts, (3) shared bank statements, (4) telephone, hydro, internet bills with both of our names on it, (5) synchronized travel itineraries (6) statements from the moms. (7) 60+ pictures taken in the last two years. I hope everything will go through smoothly ~

So far, I liked all the expressions that are Latin or Franch, like "fiancé", "reséme", and even "ad libitum". They sound so much more romantic and classy than "common-law", "CV", and "free-feeding". I still remember the first time I heard "common-law", I was so confused... law? what law? I hope you are not in trouble...

"Cloverfield" a concert of monster thrills

If you are looking for a reason to pay for a movie (instead watching it on your computer), this is it!! It is truly worth every penny and second you spend in front of a giant movie screen with a bucket of popcorn.

so, about this movie...the length was merely an hour and half. (short...) The picture was filmed in handy-cam style. (old trick...) The event was about monsters destroying New York city. (so did King Kong and Godzilla...) The plot is... absent! (what?!) That's right! No character development or anything beyonds "people try to run away from monsters".

As crazy as it sounds, this movie created a whole new level of "theater experience"! Let me try it with metaphor - if previous monster movies were music CD records, Cloverfield was a celebration of a live concert!

So you are easily scared? No worries, this movie is done with class and dignity. Nothing is meant to scare you with horror, startle you with sudden setups, or disgust you with unnecessary bloody meat on bones. Na'uh, relax! I am a big chicken-shit with horror movies, and I enjoyed the thrill from the start of the action until the very last second of this movie, literally!

After the movie was finished, I had to sit there to catch up with my breath first, and then walked out with a very complex expression on my face. It was the half overly-excited and half stupid laughing face I usually got after a big roller coaster ride.

I recommend this movie to everybody. However, for people who have weak semicircular canals, many have reported puking and dizziness just 20min into this movie. So, be prepared, take a motion-sickness pill and then watch it!

"killer"cuteness

Ok, this cat is hands-down the cutest creature I have ever seen.



For my personal entertainment and greed, I would LOVE to own 2 or 3 cats like these. They are adorable! And, they will probably stay looking like cute little babies for years.

However, for the welfare of the cat, I have to criticize whoever thought of producing cats like these is just pure irresponsible bastards!

These adorable little things are crossbred between Scottish Fold cat and Munchkin cat.

Munchkins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munchkin_(cat)) are cats with a mutation in the growth of their long bones, so their legs are shorter than other cats. Not dwarfism which is a genetic disease. Many dog breeds were developed in the same way, such as Basset hound. However, Basset hounds, as well as other short-legged breeds like Daschunds, often develop spinal disease due to the prolonged body length and heavy body weight on their short legs. These problems have been proven non-existent in Munchkin cats because of cat's flexible skeletal structure. Munchkins are perfectly healthy cats.

However, Scottish Fold gene is not so lucky! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Fold) A painful degenerative joint disease that fuses the tail, ankles and knees happens VERY often in Fold cats that are produced from careless breeding programs.

So here, they cross Munchkins with mutant genes to Scottish Folds carrying potential disease genes without proper medical research on chances of diseases that will develop in these cats... and, worst , they sell these kittens to people (usually without much knowledge on these breeds) as pets. I can only pray for God's mercy on these innocent beautiful kitties...

meal plan

[period of obsession] 2 hours
[research goal] create a weekly meal plan for Misty

I put together this meal plan ...

(bear with the picture, can't create "table" on Blogger like in Words...)

I will make Mix A and B once a month, and freeze into proper feeling size using ice cube tray. So, we just need to defrost 1 cube prior to each meal.

Chicken neck will be cut into 5cm sections and kept frozen, too.

Cottage cheese and liver treat are optional treats for training and such.

By varying Misty's diet in such a wide range, we hope Misty will stay as a more adventurous eater. I despise fussy eaters of all kind.... I hope Misty won't turn into one!

cat litter fight

This evening was the night we have long waited for, the Petwise store-wide 20% off sale night!! reference: http://www.petwise.com.au/

The sale was only on for 2 hours, 6-8pm. We got there by 6:30pm. The store was literally flooded with people. The line-ups for check-out starting at the front door snakes across almost the entire store.

The main target - Breeder's Choice Cat Litter! This cat litter is made out of recycled news-paper, biodegradable, strong odor absorption, and easy to clean up! It's usually 35$ at retails, but only $21 at this store. After 20% off, it's only around $18!!

Quickly, I located the stack of BC piling on the floor. Two ladies were there each took 2 bags. I passed a bag to Scott and grabbed one myself. They are heavy, 13kg each bag. Another lady came up and piled 3 bags on her shopping trolley in a blink of an eye. I thought that we might not have a ride to pick up heavy stuff like this any soon, so we should plan ahead (or now!). So I kicked another bag to the side and sat on it. Total 3 bags now. Scott now went off to find a shopping trolley.

By the time, Scott came back with a trolley. The pile of BC from half of my height had gone down to 1 single layer on the floor. A family came and trucked away at least 12 bags at once! We piled the 3 bags we got on our cart, and went off to shop for kitten food.

10min later, I thought again, at 20% discount, it is really a damn great deal. I shall return and grab another bag. I turned around the corner and notice there was only one bag left on the floor! I rushed towards it, but a fat lady cut in front of me! We got to it almost at the same time, and stared at each other for 2 seconds. She opened her mouth and was ready to say/shout/cry out loud for something, but I cut in front of her this time.... I said, "you can have it, I got 3 already"...... oh, I felt like such a Saint for doing that.... but, damn, I missed out!

Later, when we were ready to check out, the God of instant karma showed up! John, Cecile's boyfriend, decided that he didn't want his bag of BC anymore, and let me have it!! Moreover, at the till, the price turned to be merely $14.90 each bag!! even cheaper than I thought! 賺到啦~~~~!!!! (happy jump jump jump!!!)

PS. Thanks for a ride from Cecile and John! There is no way we could have carried all the cat litter back home on buses! xox~

BARF diets

[period of obsession] ~ 8 hours
[research goal] best possible diet for Misty
[research area] 6 English online cat forums, 4 Taiwanese cat forums, 2 HKness cat forums, and multiple vet websites.

After all have been read, compared, reviewed, and summarized, I decided to go with this new idea: the Bones And Raw Food Diet (BARF diet: www.barfworld.com/)

Lots of info of these diet can be found by Google "BARF" or "raw diet".

So, the idea is to offer homemade raw food to your pet. I am totally into it. I once made fish food mix (beef heart, veggie, gelatin etc) for my discus fish, grain mix for my hamsters, lizard food mix (2 meats, 4 veggies, egg, and vitamin) for our water dragon, etc. I don't usually trust/like pre-processed food, not even canned chili which Scott loves.

So, I formulated these two wet food mix:

Mix A ---------------------
1) 250g raw lamb mince
2) 100g boiled white fish (alternate with boiled salmon) pick fat fish oil part for Omage 3 fatty acid
3) 20g raw finely diced broccoli,
4) 20g roasted and mushed pumpkin (alternate with yam)
5) small apple chunks
6) 20g plain yogurt
7) mix in some vitamin powder

Mix B ---------------------
1) boiled boneless skinless chicken grounded
2) raw beef mince
3) cooked mushed egg yolk. ……….. small portion
4) Diced raw carrots,
5) mushed banana
6) rolled oats (covered in water and microwaved 1 minute, to make porridge)
7) mix in some vitamin powder

Also, in order to make up nutrients that's still missing, we will put out a dry food mix. Good dry food is boosted with taurine and other essential amino acids for cat that is scarce in other diet.

Dry food mix:
Advance Kitten food and Optimum Kitten food is what Misty grows up with. I am still researching details of other dry food...

Moreover, we will give her raw chicken neck for calcium and teeth cleaning.
reference: http://www.ozpets.com.au/articles/397/FeedingrawbonestoCats.html

pet shop survey

We have bought a lot of stuff for Misty already in Taiwan -- 2 Cat trees, 1 carrier, toys, grooming tools, water fountain, collars, tags, harness, leash, food bowls, etc etc..

All these stuff are probably floating somewhere passing Malaysia right now. Since we didn't need to use them right away, we bought the shipping postage that's the cheapest and slowest available. (水陸運) It cost only about AUD$35 for our 17kg package. The deal was pretty good, but it's going to take about 2 months to get here. Hopefully, we can receive it before end of February.

Still there are more needed, like cat litter, dry food, monthly flea/worm medicine etc.

So, I conducted a survey on all Australian online pet shops and pet shops near Brisbane city, to check stock availability and compare their prices.

[period of obsession] about 6 hours
[comparison points] (1)Breeder's Choice Cat Litter 35lb bag (2)Advance Kitten Food (3)Advocate for cat up to 4kg 6pack.

The result is satisfactory. I located the cheapest of them all:

For item(3), it's only 48$ at www.pricelesspets.com.au (regular ~$70)
For item(1) and item(2), no one can beat this 20% off store-wide sale held by Petwise! http://www.petwise.com.au/

I also compared the Petwise price for the top 6 premium cat food:
ROYAL CANIN BABY CAT 2KG $26.82 , 13.41 $/kg
HILLS FELINE KITTEN 1.8kg $23.10 , 12.8333 $/kg
PROPLAN CAT KITTEN 1.81KG $21.95 , 12.194 $/kg
EUKANUBA KITTEN 2.95KG $35.95 , 12.186 $/kg
ADVANCE KITTEN PLUS CHICKEN 1.5KG $17.95 , 11.9666 $/kg
IAMS KITTEN 3.6KG $36.50 , 10.138 $/kg

Since we will make Homemade raw food mix for Misty which will be very nutritious already, we think it's ok to use the less expensive dry food. So, we will use a mix of 2 premium food and 2 supermarket food: Advance + Eukanuba + Optium($7/kg) + SuperCoat($6/kg)