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My heart is broken. Until it heals, this blog will be under construction too.

Camping Pigs

News about piggies: 

Einstein scared the bejeezus out of Cindy a couple of weeks ago. He jumped from her grasp, fell on his face, broke his teeth and went on as usual. His THIRD time doing this crazy stunt.

I think he loves the attention he gets from being injured because without his teeth, we have to pick him up, hand feed him tiny pieces of soft green veggies. And of course, he gets to eat all of HIS food, with no Darwin around to steal share.

 

Cindy felt so bad she cried. She really does treat them just like her own grandpiggies. I think piggies are very lucky to have such a GREAT grandmammaw who spoils them rotten!

 

Bill & Cindy planned a camping a while back ago and wanted to bring them pigs along. Problem was, with Jumpy performing such a stunt, anyone would be afraid to bring him along. 

They resorted to buying them a leash, or attempted to buy each of them one. Well, surprise, surprise...Fatty could not fit into his leash!

" I'M NOT COMING OUT UNTIL YOU STOP CALLING ME FATTY!!!!!"

From what I gathered, Einstein's leash was a wee bit too big for the skinny pig, so Cindy had to tighten it real well. While Darwin just had to be content with no leash.

She said, " I ain't worry about Darwin. I can outrun that one! It's Einstein I am worried about." 

Einstein wearing his leash

I really like Einstein's leash. He looks like a military pet, like those cool military K-9s, serving his country to take care of all the WEED! 

WHEEK, WHEEK...Yes, We WEED THEM OUT, one NOM at a time!

Military pig in ACTION...WEEDING is hard work.

Not to forget, piggies always have their best guard around:

Harley snoozing while on guard post

Cindy told me that whenever piggies chatter their teeth, which is often, Harley would ask to be picked up so she can check on them. That particular sound they make can come off sounding scary to those not used to them but usually it happens when they are kinda fighting for FOOD, haha (Remember Darwin steals Einstein's food all the time!). 

Harley must worry about them getting into a fight or something. Isn't she sweet?

Harley: " Let me check on those cuties."

"Woof! Woof! They are FINE, maw! Bring me a BBQ sausage!"

Their RV

 

Nice BED!

Spoilt pig!

Knackered after camping!

Thank you, Cindy and Bill for taking piggies out for this adventure. It's their FIRST! 

Sankissjuice

Disclaimer: As usual, I am too lazy to mark every single photo. All photos are courtesy of Cindy@GA. Please be considerate and ask for permission before use. Thank you.

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Monstrosity and Happy Thanksgiving, Canada

I want to thank Mollie and Alfie & Molly, the Wally for these awesome spookified photos of my babies. It is such a great idea!!! I am using blogger app to post this so I cannot link to Mollie and Molly but you know who they are, right?

Just want to share some good news. I finally have my entire thesis written up and submitted to the boss! One more month of academic rigmaroles, then I will be done with THIS degree. Only to be followed by 5 more years of school to get a Permanent Head Damage...muahaha. So much for being done, right?

Oh wait! Today is not Monday? Oh No! my head is prematurely dementing...Sheesh...long holiday weekend and too much Thanksgiving food mess up my internal and external clock, haha.

Have a wonderful week!

Black and White Sunday

Flashback Friday (1)

I was thinking of my piggies today. I know they are happy and well in Georgia but I can't help but to wish they were here with me.

So, this Flashback Friday is about them, my first pair of silly guinea pigs. I want to thank FiveSibes for organising this event. Their badge is on my sidebar, if you are interested to join the fun.

Einstein and his new bag of hay

Darwin roaming outside our residence in the summer

I saw that Hutch A Good Life is offering a make over service! So I sent them the above photos and received these in return:

My Einstein looks like a Golden Ester Bunny with that hat on :)

And the greedy Mr. Fatty is now a geeky-looking scientist, hehe. SO cute!

I miss my piggies!!! Thank you Hutch A Good Life!

Anyone interested in getting a make-over can head over there or send their mommy an email: roominyourheartcampaign(AT)yahoo(DOT)co(DOT)uk 

with your photo(s) attached and you'll receive your new looks almost instantly.  

Thank you, Nibbles, Buddy, Basil & Nutty. 

Sankissjuice 

Happy Tacos Day!!!!

This is the first time my critters and I are joining blogville's Tacos Day. We are super excited! Since my babies are not with me, I have Jazzi's kind permission to feed them VIRTUAL tacos. Haha! 

Even the Alpha Rich Boy has to sit and wait before his feast.

My picky eater is watching her weight but she never says NO to shrimps!

Needless to say, Fatty never turns down FOOD! Hehe

Einstein is only picking out the greenies. He is a picky eater too.

My roommate is Mexican and we are planning to have real tacos, made from scratch this weekend. We'll post photos of our process, be it successful or not. 

Thank you, Jazzi for organising this FUN event and letting us join in the fun.

Cheers, mates!

Wordless Wednesday

QingMing Festival (清明节)/ Tomb Sweeping Day

WARNING: Materials and Graphics are NOT suitable for those on A DIET . Not suitable if you are afraid of TOMBS! Also, this is quite a lengthy post. Read on at your OWN RISK!

I wrote on the Mid Autumn Festival yesterday (read it here if you miss it) and I celebrated it tonight with my friends. It was a very lovely evening...except for the fact that I got  intoxicated with CAFFEINE from the tea, haha! Hence, this late-night post. 

I learnt from a fellow blogger that Koreans also celebrate this special occasion and they call it Chuseok. Typically, they go back to their hometowns to pay respect to their ancestors by visiting and cleaning up their tombs and offering traditional Korean foods (find out more here). 

Chuseok ceremonial table. Photo taken from http://blog.ningin.com/2012/09/28/5-things-you-should-know-about-chuseok/

I found that highly interesting because we actually have another special occasion where we do just THAT and it is called the Qing Ming Festival which is on the 15th day from the spring equinox. Since this is Halloween month, I think it is relevant to share my Tomb Sweeping Day culture with my blog mates, hehe.

It is a big thing in my family, particularly on my mother's side of the family. I missed it last year because I was not at home (see photo).

Qing Ming 2011. Who was missing? Hehe

In 2010, right before I left for Vancouver, I was with my family to celebrate this special day.  At that time, none of my cousins have had babies. So, technically Rich Boy was the first (four-legged) great grandson of my grandparents. So, I took him along :)

Rich Boy was very HAPPY that morning. Wondering why he was on leash? Read on.

Even though not all my relatives are crazy animal lovers like I am, all of them were very accepting of Rich's presence and everyone just loved having him around because he was so silly.

I said to my grandparents' tomb,  

" Grandpapa and grandmama, here is your FIRST great-grandson. Sorry, he has FOUR legs!"  

Muahahaha.

We always made a big deal out of this day because to show FILIAL PIETY is extremely important in our culture (Confucius' teaching). 

Everyone was in charge of doing something. My uncles would usually come a few days earlier to do all the hardwork such clearing the land from weeds and bush, refilling the graveyard with more soil, if necessary.

A nicely cleaned up tomb ready for some 'decoration'

On the actual day, most people in charge of cooking had to prepare all the food as early as 5am. We always have A LOT of food. 

It is a ritual for the dead but a banquet for the living :) so we bring our favourite foods, haha. Just kidding. We also bring our grandparents' favourite food.

Roast chicken and pork

Fried noodles and vermicelli

"Bak Chang" (Glutinous rice wrapped with all kinds of yummy inside)

Cookies with bean paste inside

Roast pork chopped into small pieces. Rich Boy's favourite!!!!

Yeah, now you know why Rich Boy had to be chained to the table, hehe. 

More... 

Fried noodles (close up)

Steamed fish (Yes, we like to eat our fish WHOLE)

Steamed buns with yummy filling inside

Stewed pork with eggs and tofu

Chinese 'sausages' and the roast pork being chopped up

Congee with a special type of pickled egg

Curry with a blend of Malay and Chinese flavours

Roast chicken

 

We offer food to our ancestors but we do not pray to them like they are God. Well, at least I don't! 

Our ceremonial 'table'

I think it is just a way to remember our ancestors and to bring everyone back together to their roots. 

I don't know what the little flags are for, haha. Oh yes, to keep the paper money from flying everywhere!

Chinese of all religions do participate in this ritual, without any conflicts. 

See the handbag and shoes? They are made from paper, intended to be burnt for the ancestral spirits :(

The final LOOK. Very appetising!

We usually take photos of the entire family before the big FEAST! 

He was READY to EAT!

I love a big family

But before that, we had to burn all the paper money/spirit money. I personally do not like this part of the ritual because it is such a waste of resources (paper, incense wood and real money!!!) and all that smoke is really bad for the environment. But I had gotten people very upset whenever I said this out loud...sigh.

We had to fold all these paper money before the big day. It's like origami

A huge pile of paper money. They feel they are sending money to their parents. Silly! But sweet...

Some paws were getting ANXIOUS...

OK, OK...and finally, we will set up CAMP right in front of the tomb and PIG OUT!

Our 'camping' site. Mr. Sun is out! Need some shades.

Pineapple symbolises inflowing of Prosperity. The eldest son always does the honour!

I told you we make a big deal out of it, hehe. So much FUN!

It usually takes a while to recover from this...

cos it takes A LOT of ENERGY to digest all that Food. Hehe. 

Most importantly,

I think Rich Boy had the MOST FUN out of this day

Thank you for reading! I love cultural exchanges.

Sankissjuice

PS: Now (yawning) , I am going to catch some sleep before reading all of your Monday posts. 

Disclaimer: All photos (except the first one) are courtesy of my cousin, KK.  She is my BFF!