So said people I know about some animal or other… but to me, somehow, I find them cute, appealing even!! And it’s not a “thing” to me; it’s a living creature, just like you and me. Just coz it’s a different species and doesn’t conform to our so-called definition of beauty (which is highly subjective and debatable, by the way) doesn’t relegate it to a “thing” status in my books.

I’m more drawn to animal babies than to human babies. Human babies look so… umm… boring. But animal babies are so full of life and from the moment of their birth, a lot of them have to fight to survive. I just found out that hippos normally give birth to one baby and if a mother hippo happens to give birth to 2 babies, she’ll only nurse one and abandon the other one to fend for itself (and this baby would most likely die without its mother’s care). Survival of the fittest, yes, but imagine in a human’s case, both babies would be equally well taken care of.

But that’s not to say I hate human babies. I just don’t fawn and squeal all over them like most females do. Human babies just don’t impress me as much as animal babies do.

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I’d like to visit Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo one day. I’ve recently watched a few of his Croc Diaries program on Animal Planet and I liked what I saw, and would like to see more of his conservation efforts in real life.

One of the main reasons why I dislike going to our local zoos and animal parks is that the animals are not always well taken care of and the condition of the place is sometimes deplorable. The last animal park I had been to was the Animal Safari at A’Famosa Resort in Malacca a few years ago. I hated it coz:

1. The trucks that took visitors around the large wild animal enclosure (where the lions and such animals were housed) were sooooo loud that even a normally placid animal would get stressed, what with a few trucks going round and round the enclosure numerous times every single day. And the trucks released huge amounts of exhaust and kicked up a lot of dust as well. Tell me how an animal, who’s used to the sereneness and tranquility of the wild, would not get stressed in these conditions.
2. There were pathetically few shelters/shade for the animals to shade from the sweltering sun in the large animal enclosure.
3. In one of the enclosed buildings called the Chicken Farm (no surprises what I was expecting to see here but wait!), here was what I saw:

• A pair of hornbills (or similar looking large birds) in a cage that was only big enough to fit the both of them, without any room to fly around. There was also a piece of paper brochure that the birds were pecking at, which some visitor had probably thrown in the cage, which could endanger the birds if they were to ingest it.
• A cage containing an aquarium of hedgehogs in the middle of the cage, with a litter of kittens surrounding the aquarium. There was no litter pan in the cage for the kittens to perform their toilet duties. But why were there kittens placed in the same cage as hedgehogs in the first place?????
• A few cages with rabbits, where the rabbits were sleeping/lying in their food trays because presumably it was too uncomfortable to lie on the floor of the cage since there was no towel or padding placed at the bottom of the cage and the spaces between the wiring was about 1 inch x 2 inches and probably cut into their flesh when they laid on it.
• What was most saddening was that the animals looked listless, desolate, and helpless. No properly cared for animal looked like this and IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE A CHICKEN FARM! What are non-fowl animals doing in the same facility????!!!

That experience was quite depressing and what was supposed to be a fun outing turned out to be a traumatizing one and I vowed never to step foot into any local animal park again.

That was a few years ago. I sincerely hope that the Animal Safari at A’Famosa Resort is much better now in terms of the animals’ living conditions. Maybe I should brave myself and go back there and have look…

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Petstores should know that people are generally ignorant or too dumb to read signs. So if they don’t want people to touch their animals and stress out their animals, they should just keep their animals enclosed and not leave their animals out in the open and put a sign saying “Please do not touch the animal as it will cause stress to the animal” and expect people to adhere to it coz they just WON’T!! Not when an interesting-looking animal is tantalizing them right in front of their eyes. Doesn’t matter that if they (people) are in the animal’s position, they wouldn’t like being poked and prodded like what they were doing to the animal.

I seriously and honestly think that sometimes, people have no concept of common sense at all!!

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Yes, I’ve been ranting a lot about people’s attitudes towards animals… but this is one subject that is close to my heart… and I shall continue ranting and WILL do my best to make people aware of animal rights & welfare. An uphill struggle? You bet. But someone’s gotta do it.

Haissshh… I’m quite tired of going for interviews for now. Not that I’ve been to many (me being so picky and all with my applications)… but each interview session just about saps the energy from me coz it takes quite a bit of effort to impress people who may be my potential bosses.

After all is said and done, a lot of times we cannot determine if a place or person is right for us until we’ve actually tried it out. No matter how much interviewing/evaluation is done prior to getting into the situation, we can only get the actual picture when we’ve actually tried out the place or person with both feet in.

Sometimes the outcome is not as good as what you’d expected (as what I’d recently learnt) but other times, it could be the opposite. At the end of the day, it’s all a learning process. Never try, never know, rite??

Why am I talking about this??? Haish, I dunno! I think I’m just a bit disoriented from an interview I had today. I don’t think I was in my “interview mindframe” so I’m rather dazed, haha… also coz I’m having to evaluate some rather important questions about myself, that may or may not result in a positive outcome… sigh…

BUT some things will return to “normal” (if I can call it that) starting tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

I wanna watch!!!!! I wanna watch!!!

Aaaaaaahhhhh… I lurrrrvvve the sun!!!

Oooo oooooo… gotta turn over and get my underbelly tanned too!

I read this article in Sunday’s NST, with some sort of deja vu, coz I could identify exactly with what she said about her feelings towards animals as well as towards people’s attitudes to animals.

And we both share the same dream! Although she’s definitely accomplished more with the publishing of her book (no, writing a book on animals isn’t one of my dreams since I can’t write to save my life!).

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I’m currently reading this book by Sy Montgomery, “The Good Good Pig, the Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood“, which is a pet memoir about the author’s pig named, well, Christopher Hogwood )

In the course of the book, the author also talks about her history with animals and also her interesting relationship with animals. And I find that I identify with a lot of the things that she talks about coz I have a similar attitude towards animals as well.

It is not that I disliked people; some of them are interesting and kind. But even the nice ones were no more compelling or important to me than other creatures… to me humans are but one species among billions of other equally vivid and thrilling lives… Humans seemed to me a rather bullying species, and I was on the side of the underdog.

That just about describes how I feel about people.

I know that I’m different from other “normal” people in the way that I ‘see’ animals. I don’t see them as nuisances with diseases (in the case of stray animals), I don’t see them as objects that we can choose to discard or kill at our pleasure. Basically, I think the difference between me and ‘normal’ people is that I actually take the time to THINK about animals (but whether or not I have any control over what happens to the animal is another different story altogether). Many a time, when people choose do something, they don’t even realize that what they do can have an impact on animals and it can ultimately, the result could affect our very own selves.

For example, development is fine and dandy if there is proper planning. But indiscriminate development causes so many adverse effects, one of which is encroaching upon land where wild animals live and obtain their source of food. So the land is cleared and where does that leave the animals? Well, without a home, obviously, as well as their source of food. People get new homes, but the animals get forced out of theirs. And when they can’t find food coz, well, their food source is no longer there, what do these animals do? They are forced to go forage for food in people’s homes, the very homes that their (the animals’) homes were cleared for so that these people’s homes could be built. And then when this happens, people cry bloody murder coz they don’t want wild monkeys going thru their garbage, and God forbid, somehow find a way to get into their homes! See, cause and effect and in the end, nobody wins.

That’s from the aspect of land/property development. Let’s talk about pet ownership. As you can see, pet shops have virtually sprung up overnight at every corner you can think of. Everywhere I go these days, I see at least one petstore. A few years ago, if I wanted to find a petstore, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack!

So that means something right? That there is demand for pets and normally, I would take this as a positive sign coz that means people are becoming more aware of the benefits of having pets but I’m not. Why? Coz a lot of people buy a pet just the sake of having a pet. They think having a pet is cool (especially a pedigreed one or an exotic one) or they feel it’s a status symbol or they’re just giving in to their children who’ve been pestering them for a pet. But a lot of people don’t understand the amount of work and commitment involved in keeping a pet. I liken it to having a child (albeit one who doesn’t scream and throw tantrums like a child) but requires almost as much effort and time. So, they get a pet and after a while, they ‘suddenly discover’ that having Rover or Fluffy or Blackie isn’t as much fun as they’d thought it would be. The daily walks and regular attention, not to mention training, that the pet requires is too much for them to handle. So poor Rover or Fluffy or Blackie will find that their human, who’d lavished so much attention on him/her at the beginning suddenly doesn’t want to spend any time with him/her anymore. The story usually ends with the owner surrendering the animal to the animal shelter (if they are even kind enough to do that) or the owner might just decide to release the animal on the streets for it to fend for itself.

And don’t get me started on petstores selling exotic pets! If people can’t even learn or commit to taking care of a common domestic animal like a cat or a dog, how can we even expect them to be able to take care of an exotic pet, which requires a lot more care and specific conditions for the animal to thrive? This is one of the main reasons why I detest pet stores that sell animals (especially exotic ones). I know selling pets is a good business and all, but I feel that a lot of them are just bringing the animals and selling them for profit without finding out whether potential owners are even capable of taking care of the animal.

To me, a lot of this is just common sense. However, a lot of people I know will not understand when I tell them how I feel about animals or when I start talking about animal issues. A lot of them have the “It’s just an animal. No big deal.” attitude. It’s really frustrating when people (especially friends) don’t understand the issue, and more importantly, WHY it’s an issue. I don’t really blame them coz our society is not one that places importance on animals, which I think is such a shame coz animals are such delightful and intelligent creatures and we can learn so much from them, if only we take the time to observe them. I’ve been brought up with animals all my life so I believe that’s where my foundation was built. It is NOT just a phase, as some would like to call it. This is one of the things that make me who I am.

But at the end of the day, sometimes I feel so isolated and alone coz I know very very few people who feel the same way I do about animals that I could talk to. Sometimes there’re so many things on the subject that I just wanna talk to someone about, someone who understands, but there’s no one to talk to.

So, it’s very heartening to come across like-minded people once in a blue moon, people who have the same affinity towards animals as I do. And also people who are doing something for the betterment of animals. I’m trying as well, the small ways that I can. I wish I could come across/meet people like these more often.

Ah well, at least I know I’m not alone… nor am I just a weirdo who seems to care so much about animals rather than her fellow species.

Oh, and I quite enjoyed the ending scene in Open Season, where the animals memberontak-ed against the hunters. Kinda wished that would happen in real life. But then again, knowing humans, they’d get angry and burn down the forest with the animals in it just coz the animals DARED to stop them (the hunters) from hunting them (the animals).

Sleeping Furball #1

Sleeping Furball #2

Note: The 3rd furball is noticeably absent coz she’s made herself cozy in the parents’ room.

Nessa Mugshot

Misty Mugshot

Hehe… yup, I shamelessly posed my kats for their mugshots. Eh, u know it’s quite difficult to get a kat to stay still long enuf for u to take a close-up pic of his/her face????? :-p

I’ve said this once (or more) and I’m saying it again…

I absolutely detest it when ppl who have a problem with me, they dun come to me and tell me the problem that they have with me straight to my face. Instead, they go and bitch about it to someone else. Someone else who won’t be able to do anything to rectify the problem. And the only one who can rectify the problem (if any rectification needs to be done) is, oh wat d’ya know, it’s ME… coz well, the problem that they have is with ME rite??? Why waste your time bitching about it to someone who can’t do anything about it when you can go straight to the source and resolve it once and for all???

THAT never fails to puzzle me…

I guess the human nature to bitch about someone else is stronger than wanting to resolve any conflict.

Hhmmm…

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Maybe I’ve got an idealized view of RIGHT and WRONG.

But I’ve always expected ppl to admit to their mistakes and apologize for them… and if I were the one who did something wrong, I’d be more than happy to apologize. To me, it’s that simple.

But I’ve come to realize that a lot of ppl are not very giving with their apologies. They either dun want to apologize or they feel that they didn’t do anything wrong.

THAT just irks me to bits.

I expect the same from everyone… no double standards, no exceptions. And I expect no less from myself. Do unto others and all that, y’know. Doesn’t matter if you’re a stranger, family, friend, or colleague. If I’m wrong, I will apologize and we’ll get on with life. And I expect vice versa from others.

Sadly though, a lot of ppl dun see it this way. We’ve got the egos and the “faces”, as wat the Chinese call it, to deal with.

I MUST to learn to be less idealistic about human behavior. After all, we’ll most likely be the source of destruction of the human race.

Geez, when will ppl ever be satisfied with what they have???

I guess never, from the looks of this.

Oh wow… I dun even know how to start describing wat I felt when I witnessed this incident earlier this afternoon.

Was stuck in a traffic jam along Jln Dang Wangi when I noticed these 2 men, at the side of the road on my left, having a heated argument. Apparently, this Merc had hit into this Camry from the back. The damage wasn’t bad, probably just some scratches, there wasn’t even any noticeable dent. But these 2 men were damn angry.

So the driver of the Merc (Driver M – casually dressed) got back into his car and I thought the “discussion” was over. But the driver of the Camry (Driver C – decently dressed in office attire including tie) seemed to get even more upset and started yelling “Bodoh” at Driver M. Then he opened his car door and got out his umbrella and started rushing at the Merc threateningly. He looked like he was going to smash the Merc’s windscreen with it. He didn’t but he gave the Merc a hard kick near the front headlight. The damage from his kick was worse than wat the Merc did to the Camry.

Naturally, Driver M got pissed, got out of his car, they started arguing again with Driver C brandishing his umbrelly like a weapon and then Driver M tackled Driver C in a throathold (or neckhold, or watever hold it is where someone has his arm over another person’s neck from behind). Then another driver, this lady in a car beside mine, who was obviously witnessing the scene as well (we were all caught in a traffic jam, we couldn’t NOT notice wat was happening in front of our eyes)… she started yelling and get out of her car with a baton-like stick and charged towards the men to break them apart (so brave… and rather foolish, I thought. The men could’ve turned on her, seeing that they were in such a rage.) After which another passerby also stepped in to break the fight. Driver M let go of Driver C but both were still very upset. Driver M slammed his fist on Driver C’s car before going back to his car. By this time, the traffic was moving so I left the scene with Driver C getting out his handphone.

Wat was so scary abt this scene, to me, was how upset the 2 men were over such a SMALL thing! I mean, it wasn’t like Driver C’s car got smashed to bits. I’m assuming that Driver M must’ve said something to provoke Driver C into such rage but seriously, if ppl can get so upset over such a SMALL, TRIVIAL thing like a scratch/dent on a car, can u imagine wat would happen if something really big had happened? Like, wat if Driver M had hit into Driver C’s car and caused real damage to the rear end of the car???? Are they gonna bash each other up with umbrellas and sticks, or take out guns and start shooting at each other?????

Seriously, a car can always be fixed, let alone some surface damage like a dent or a scratch on the body of the car. But imagine if Driver M had a gun and he’d shot Driver C out of self-defence (Driver C was wielding the umbrella like a weapon and looked like he was gonna smash Driver M’s windscreen with it)… even if the damage to the car was worse that wat it was, is it really worth it for u to potentially lose ur life over it?????

I have no idea wat ppl have come to these days. I was internally shaken after witnessing that incident and I think if I ever hit another car (God forbid!), I think I’ll admit I’m in the wrong (unless it’s 100% obvious that it wasn’t my fault), pay the damages and move on. It’s not worth it to deal with ppl who can’t control their rage and who are a danger to society as a whole.

Oh wait… I dun even know wat type of crappy society I’m living in nowadays. Now I’m so paranoid that I feel like every single person out on the street is a timebomb waiting to explode.

o_O