I’m too lazy to type. How about some pictures?

Times are so bad now, the three of us literally kicked off the dinner with “eating grass”.

Even though I had the craving for frogleg porridge, the standard was so-so. I wished it was just that little tiny winy bit more spicy, it should add a little more life to the froglegs. The porridge in each pot seemed to have decreased. I remembered they used to serve more in a pot. Each pot of porridge we had was not even half-full. Or is time really THAT bad?

This is one dish I regretted ordering to the table. No, I don’t mean the fish taste bad. It’s actually Mango Red Grouper recommended by the staff there. Not spicy at all, but it’s kinda Thai-style with nothing but just sweetness. Thankfully, the fish was fried crispy. It cost a freaking $45, and I realized only when the bill came. My bad. Should have given that a miss.

The girl said this fish will keep us wanting more. After that bill, I doubt so. LOL! The entire bill for 3 of us came up to about $132/-

Just look at that fish-head. I should have claimed a free fish from them. She told me the fish is boneless. Heck, my plate was full of bones I had to spit out. Sighz… cheated my feelings.

The following night on Tuesday, I ended up having steamboat for supper. This little place at Chinatown cost about $15/head. In full honesty, the service is totally… %$*&^%&%&^%$^%$^%*&^*^%*&^. I will never ever go to this place again.

The food was not bad I think. The spicy soup was really really really spicy. None of us touched the spicy soup after one mouthful.

All in all, I walked away from the steamboat within 20 mins feeling more pissed before I started eating. Nothing to do with the service this time, nothing to do with the food as well. Just… well… something else. At least it’s a lesson learnt. Never go for such food when you are in a foul mood.

Or perhaps, it was one of those days that one can get so pissed with something that you find it hard even to stomach the best delicacies. Money was totally wasted and I felt bad for the other friend who couldn’t fill up her hungry stomach with the totally black charcoal face I had.

She’s totally understanding but still, I think I ought to make it up to her some day.

Before I moved to tw other places in the 1980s and 1990s subsequently, I was staying at Blk 135 Jalan Bukit Merah. Right, the chinese temple is still standing at the entrance to the carpark. I passed by that same street this afternoon, looking at that corner pawnshop. Btw, it’s been there for the past 30 odd years too.

Something got into me tonight and I certainly wasn’t going to let it go. I had both items readily available and I dug my spoon deep into it. The only difference was, the filling were scooped by a teaspoon. It’s a far cry from an entire slice being clamped between the bread.

Sinking my teeth into it, the bell of the ice cream uncle on his motorcycle at the carpark seemed to be ringing in my ears. Are you still with me? Haha! Yea. Those were the days. It’s probably one of the happiest time in every 24 hours. What’s even funnier is watching all the residents in surrounding blocks making that mad dash down the stairs. No, I cannot lose out. Otherwise, it will be a long long long queue.

If you’re a little late, you might miss the ice cream uncle completely. At this point, you should be hearing some folks screaming from the stairs or the pampering parents will be waving a piece of cloth from the kitchen windows of our one-room flat. Talk about getting desperate over ice cream.

Simplicity at its best.

He growls at whoever goes near his bone… EXCEPT ME. Why?

Well, I am the one who bought him his bone. He growls at me - he lose it. What a practical world. Hahahahaha!

Tired? Perhaps. I have received some emails here and there regarding some recent episodes. However, these are stuffs I rather not talk about anymore. When I say my lips are sealed, nothing can pry them open. What others are up to is really not much my problem. The only thing I can share is… time says alot about one’s integrity.

Sometimes, folks like us can be on the losing end. While others are blabbering away with whatever they feel like, some of us prefer to observe our little dillusional integrity and just zip up. But then again, that also means we don’t get to defend against what’s being said behind our backs. This reminded me of a common saying that I often share with friends.

When you’re seconds away from death on your death-bed, your entire life will flash before your very face. By then, it’s too late to correct whatever wrongs you have done in your entire life.

Interesting thought, isn’t it?

On a happier note, I am returning to fishing really soon. No, I am not changing my job. You will not be seeing me on a fishing trawler. Fishing had been a hobby since young and I drifted out of it several years back. I think I don’t need to go into details why I dropped it for a while.

Thanks to this pig-dog friend, the suggestion of going for some offshore adventure proved too much to resist. We had actually thought of hitting St John Islands for a 3D2N stay (call it a fishing marathon) but conditions there don’t look favourable. There are too much coral reefs and we’ll most probably end up having to severe our lines again and again.

We have an additional option of using small little chilli bags (those plastic bags you get from buying chicken rice) and filling them up with sand to use as sinkers. But here’s the catch. Plastic bags take a long time to disintegrate and it will eventually become a pollutant for the corals there. Bad idea, really!

Having been away from fishing for so long, my hands are really itching now. That’s when the thoughts of chartering a boat out to sea kicked in and most likely, we’ll stick with this arrangement.

The weather is slightly wet this year. In previous years around this period, it’s all hot and humid. Even so, it’s relatively calm out at sea based on my working experiences out there. This year, I can’t even be sure if the weather will be on our side. I really can’t tell.

In addition, I will need to import some spare parts for my reels too. I have neglected them pretty much over the years, tucked in a corner collecting dust. What shocked me even more, was to see my Quantum reel’s (the gold reel) main cage rusting. Just a slight rust but still… NO WAY! I want my reels spanking clean and neat! Oh well, sending them for servicing soon. The usual cleanup, greasing and oiling is a must.

Meanwhile, I will be dreaming about the trip. Not going to hit the waters until I get all my stuffs fixed. Bought a new boat rod recently and was sweetly given a discount. Maybe I’m just too charming for the salesgirl to resist. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Her parting words? Come back soon… I promise you more discounts! LOL!

Not forgetting, a new work assignment is taking up a little time. It’s been delayed for a long while and I am glad it finally get its foot moving on. Still some backlogs to clear (sorry Fel & Thaddeus) but I will be back soon. That’s also to say, I’m not going fishing until the backlogs are cleared and the tasks are back on their normal routines.

ETA? One to two weeks max!

I’m secretly planning to buy a 6-man tent for overnight fishing. No joke! Tell me what you think of this. There’s another one with a rather cool open-air section. Kinda like a porch.

Next up, I have consolidated all my emails into one single Gmail account. If you would like to keep my email in your contact list, drop me a note via my contact form and I will reply you in the earliest time possible.

The problem here is, all the personality tests say the same traits about me regardless of how they structure their questions. It’s starting to get a little boring at times but at least there’s some consistency I admit. Not a bad thing afterall.

AT WORK

Independent Thinkers are analytical and witty persons. They are normally self-confident and do not let themselves get worked up by conflicts and criticism. They are very much aware of their own strengths and have no doubts about their abilities. People of this personality type are often very successful in their career as they have both competence and purposefulness. Independent Thinkers are excellent strategists; logic, systematics and theoretical considerations are their world. They are eager for knowledge and always endeavour to expand and perfect their knowledge in any area which is interesting for them. Abstract thinking comes naturally to them; scientists and computer specialists are often of this type.

Independent Thinkers are specialists in their area. The development of their ideas and visions is important to them; they love being as flexible as possible and, ideally, of being able to work alone because they often find it a strain having to make their complex trains of thought understandable to other people. Independent Thinkers cannot stand routine. Once they consider an idea to be good it is difficult to make them give it up; they pursue the implementation of that idea obstinately and persistently, also in the face of external opposition.

IN LOVE

Independent Thinkers are not the type who easily comes out of his shell. Speaking about their emotional life is also not one of their strong points. Anyway, social relationships are not particularly important to them; they are happy with just a few, close friends who find it easy to share their intellectual world. They find it difficult to establish new ties. In love, they need a lot of space and independence but this does not mean that their partner is not important to them. Independent Thinkers often make a cool and reserved impression on others; but this impression is deceptive: they can hardly bear it if people close to them should reject them. They prefer a harmonious, balanced relationship with a partner who shares their interests and with whom they can realise their visions.

####

Hahaha… why don’t you go for a spin too?

WHAT REALLY IS A PUPPY MILL?

A puppy mill is a production plant to produce pets for the purpose of profiteering. In puppy mills, the “raw materials” (the mummy and daddy) are usually kept in undesirable conditions such as non-ventilated enclosures, overcrowded facilities and more. Their sole responsibility in the puppy mill is to continue breeding so there is an endless supply of pets available to be sold on the market.

In most of these puppy mills, they are operated by individuals or small groups who are not trained and certified in breeding. Would you trust someone who is not gynae-trained to do your checkups and delivery of your baby in hospital? Same logic. A lot of medical science and knowledge goes on behind breeding, especially when it comes to inheritance of illnesses and temperament control. I am certainly not trained in this field, but speaking to professional breeders is enough to put me off the idea of even breeding them. That also explains why I often discourage friends from breeding their pets… anything from dogs to hamsters etc. (I can be quite anal about it.)

For a typical puppy mill, these animals are not living creatures. They are mere commodities just like soya beans and porkbellies we find on the market. Even in a commercial poultry farm supplying as a food source to us, there’s always the humane clause of “ensuring a swift death”. For these animals in mills, it’s a long and painful journey… often stricken with skin diseases, malnutrition, aggressiveness and more. The only time they will ever see freedom, is the day they’re sent to the gallows because they can no longer produce offspring to be sold.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR BUYERS LIKE YOU?

Haven’t we heard of incidents where puppies die from inheritance of viruses? Now, I am not saying all of the cases are inherited from breeding, or more specifically the stud or dam. Only a portion of such deaths are attributed to that. However, the ridiculous holding area of these pups usually provide the opportune windows for viruses to attack the puppies when their immune systems are still not at their best. Ever wonder what happens when all your new pets from pet shop come without vaccination? It’s hard to imagine of these puppies are already into their 6 to 8 months and still, no vaccinations have been done.

Have you ever come across this rising trend that cameras are no longer allowed in some of our pet shops selling or servicing live stocks? Ever since videos and pictures were made available to the mass public, pet shops are increasingly concerned about being caught in the act. Likewise, cameras are not allowed in pet farms. Simply, nobody want to be positioned in the limelight for such atrocities.

With the lack of evidences, customers like YOU can be easily intimidated with legal threats.

Actually, I do not know how exchanging links will actually help raise awareness. It makes it look like a mere blog-meme to me. But still, the cause is worth spreading. It certainly doesn’t help when the relevant authorities are doing little to stamp out these activities. Worse of all, there are little chances of you getting back the hundreds and thousands you spent even when such illegal breeders are selling to you, full knowing the pets are not going to live long. (Think of it like another deceit or fraud.)

IMHO, this issue does not only relate only to pet farms or puppy mills. I would love to include those who are doing backyard breeding or home breeding, which pretty much means the same thing but on a smaller scale. Just take a brief look through the classifieds available in the internet, you find plenty of individuals with a regular supply of newborn pets for sale. Many of which are bred from home. If you’re thinking of getting a pet from such sources, I would advise that you insist on viewing the breeding certification of the breeder.

YES! - it is illegal to be breeding or selling pets without a license. The licensing is pretty cheap, so there’s absolutely no reason not to be registered.

If you feel this is a good cause to share with your friends and help spread the word, drop by Wil’s blog. He created the items below for your usage.

<a href=”http://www.xanga.com/dead_cockroach/691798365/the-puppy-mill-link-exchange-project” mce_href=”http://www.xanga.com/dead_cockroach/691798365/the-puppy-mill-link-exchange-project”> <img src=”http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/peewee78/P200ANI.gif” mce_src=”http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/peewee78/P200ANI.gif” alt=”The Puppymill Link Exchange Project” border=”0″ /> </a>

<a href=”http://www.xanga.com/dead_cockroach/691798365/the-puppy-mill-link-exchange-project” mce_href=”http://www.xanga.com/dead_cockroach/691798365/the-puppy-mill-link-exchange-project”> <img src=”http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/peewee78/p80X15.gif” mce_src=”http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/peewee78/p80X15.gif” alt=”The Puppymill Link Exchange Project” border=”0″ /> </a>

The Puppy Mill Link Exchange Project

<a href=”http://www.xanga.com/dead_cockroach/691798365/the-puppy-mill-link-exchange-project” mce_href=”http://www.xanga.com/dead_cockroach/691798365/the-puppy-mill-link-exchange-project”>The Puppymill Link Exchange Project</a>

I will leave you with a video of a puppy mill raid conducted in North Carolina, US.