September 26, 2006

sep 06 - 03

[090906] from whale papa's HK (not Hello Kitty =P) trip, via e baby:

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attempt to bell e cat? *BIG FAT HOPE* but 10-Q anyway =P

[090906] vitagen bottle cap - e little things that make e cat happy =)

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nice & shiny - recall kids collecting them during e cat's primary school days. anyone tried finding one stamped with their birthday as e expiry date? e cat has a few =)

[090906] e cat has been pretty contented playing with its existing toys. they are shorter than e cat, easy to carry around when going grocery shopping at NTUC after training, & don't attract much attention in public. they have strings attached (literally), & which cat can resist playing with string? =P & e cat has been kept entertained learning all sorts of different ways to play with its toys (traditional, contemporary, long tassel, double), & is hoping to learn one more way of playing with them (long tassel double =P) without strangling itself by accident.

but today, for some strange reason, laoshi decided that everyone should start learning how to play with another (much longer) type of toy instead, together with e upper primary kids. this type of toy is taller than e cat, is e baby's favourite, & has one tooth (very simple dentition!) & unkempt thin red hair. when shaken, it sounds like it literally has a screw loose =P e cat's existing toys all have more manageable white hair.

new type of toy = new terminology & another round of overcoming e language (of instruction) barrier, as e cat is really lousy in e official mother tongue assigned to it by those people who came up with e CMIO system. today it was confused when it kept hearing e word 'ba3' (hua2 ba3, tiao2 ba3, gai4 ba3) - as e only 'ba3' it knows of is sao4 ba3 (broom for sweeping)....!!

[100906] more IMF flowers outside Suntec City:

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didn't get to photograph e sunflowers, which are somwhere to e left.

to ACM with supergarf to observe a showashiki (Japanese tea gathering) demonstration & view e ongoing exhibition of Japanese masks:

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one of e Japanese organisers who went around distributing explanatory materials to those in e audience handed supergarf a copy, before turning to e cat & asking it - in Japanese - if it wanted a copy, since they had printed only e English version....?! oh! you look like Japanese! sorry - much to e amusement of supergarf, who has passed JLPT2, & e cat, whose knowledge of e language is limited to just nihongo wa dekimasen (i cannot speak Japanese) =P

e 5 from e Chado Urasenke Tankokai Singapore Association, each armed with a black fan & red 'handkerchief':

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who started off with hanayose (flower procedure) by each selecting a flower & placing it in a vase/container:

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e big fat red hibiscus flower seemed really huge & 'un-delicate' & out of place to e cat....

full house, with many standing around or sitting on e floor:

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rowdy kids also made it e noisiest Japanese tea ceremony ever....

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let us all reach out & scratch our backs together =P

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interesting to watch a Japanese guy prepare & serve tea, after having heard so much about Japanese office ladies (OLs) & how female Japanese staff are expected to serve tea to their male colleagues ;)

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this lady was e host of e gathering, & prepared thick tea to be shared among all:

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3 of e rest took turns to prepare thin tea, with e order decided by drawing lots!

at e end of it all, each had to compose a verse related to e flower they had earlier picked for their arrangement, grind e inkstone & write it down using an inkbrush, & then recite it.

note e electrical wire running from e traditional-looking 'kettle':

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