Le white cat

Last night while I was making myself dinner, I heard something unusual so I went to check where had the sound come from. It was a familiar sound. Something hopped down the veranda. I looked up and saw a pair of white feet walked by the translucent plastic roof. I thought ah another wandering cat. Didn't give much thought about it and went back to eat my dinner.

This morning my sister Diana called me to say one of our cats had died last night because of kidney failure. He was a cat with triangle face, clown eyes and instead of meowing, he talked in a long broken sentence. Always looked like a piece of raggedly used white towel no matter how many times was cleaned and groomed him. Clumsiness and boldness made us yell at him constantly. His appearance attracted little affectionate patting from human. Comparing with the rest of cats at home, he was the odd one out.

But what a cat.
Escaped death twice. He was abandoned by his mother and left him in the dividing section of a busy road. Hunger and eye infection almost blinded him. Later on another deadly virus almost succeed in taking his other eight lives. He grew up in the flat with us. Long before any other cats discovered the new found territory, he hopped from veranda to veranda with grace. It was the cumbersome furniture and stuff around the house made him clumsy. Until one day, he could no longer resist something wild calling from his ancient linage. He jumped and left us. We used to joke he went back packing but the truth was we all feared he might not survive the tough world of wild cats, bully dogs and human jungle.

6 months later, he found my dad at the parking lot. He was brought back and lay comfortably on the sofa as if he had never left. But I've known something had changed. Some sort of experience, loss of innocent and street cunning were tucked away in his eyes. We moved all the cats to my parents' since the space in this flat was barely enough for human. Strangely, there are plenty of wild things and new territory to be conquered outside my parents' place. But he rarely ventured outside, instead he stayed in and peered out the window. Perhaps he felt he had done it all?


Like all true wild creatures, dieing is private and should be kept away. Diana told me he maneuvered himself with the last ounce of his strength, crawled out off the house in search of a spot. He was retrieved couple times. Mom cooed him and said "you have proved yourself, now stay home and let us take us take care of you." He agreed. He died on the sofa in his familiar box and surrounded by couple human beings that he could tolerate. I don't know how he felt about us human who had shared a communal life with him. But I do feel that he is some cat that I will remember for quite a while.

Going to the Parade~

My flatmate

Because some complex and simple reason, I have a flatmate now. She is my mother.
...

Day 3.
Another peaceful day. God bless.

Like most new flatmates, we are still in the mode of treating each other with excessive politeness.

Zen Food

I have introduced some of my Swedish friends the blissful joy of hot pot, which is like a Swiss cheese fondue but instead of cheese, we replace it with hot broth and various kinds of ingredients. Tofu is among many of them. One of my friend pointed at the tofu and said,

"this thing does not have a taste!"
"It is Zen food. " I immediately replied without hesitation.
"why is that?"
"'Cause your mind has to be very quiet and calm to taste it." I said.
The guests were slightly stunned by this piece of zen talk and fell into quietness for a moment.
"Don't believe everything Finn said, I'm sure she just made that up! " W bursted out and all of us laughed. Then the zen food topic ended with the laughter.

But there is some truth about calming one's mind when it comes to eating tofu; one has to be still to savor the subtle difference dancing on the taste buds. I think I must have connected the term with what Japanese director Ozu Yasujirō once said " ...the technique of moviemaking down to its essentials, what I really make is tofu." This would sound like a riddle if you haven't watched some of his films. I saw Tokyo Story when I was in university. Describing an old couple coming to Tokyo to visit their daughter and being treated coldly. Not long after their visit, the mother fell ill and died. That was it. I spent half of the time wondering what did he want to say and how come it was so slow. I managed stayed till the end.

How do you describe your life? What you do? What you have achieved? Or it actually only is the fragmental bits and pieces on the fleeting moments of our lives. Sat in the back of a dark classroom, I felt the immense sadness which had filled the room like the invisible air. It came so slow and gradual that the moment I realized it, I was deeply immersed. As if I had been sitting in the living room and heard their conversation. I nodded and replied: yeah, isn't it so? isn't it so.

Zen food.: tofu, cottage cheese, rice porridge, manna porridge...

To legging or not to legging---report from a rookie fashion police

Legging. The comeback relics of the 80s.
Every girl has a pair, and every girl wears a pair. You may see flamengos or German sausage walking down the streets with the same pair of legging and wonder how does legging get itself to be so popular? (or it just goes to show the majority of women are dumb down by the fashion magazine.) I don't pride myself to be any way smarter than my kind, I have a pair or two of leggings lying around in my drawer.

The right pair of leggings will create the exact illusion that would make you turn around and look at the vision and ask who is that girl? Oh, that's JUST my reflection. Therefore, choosing the right pair is absolutely crucial. First of all, I think women should dress their age. Women past 30-something should not be seen in mini skirts in the public anymore except some ex-Spice Girls. Nor should someone who is in her teens over dress herself in order to look matured.

White Leggings:
only little girls under 10 should wear it.
White legging only looks good on Olive, Popeye's girl friend. And the color white hints innocent, child-like character which doesn't go as well with women. (Unless Lotila style is what you are after) Don't look at the package of this exist-only-as-two-leg model (where the hell is her head anyway?) in white legging and be persuaded to believe that could be you. Sista, it ain't goin to be like dat.

Fishnet and big pattern leggings:
Women with brave tastes and going to places such as bars or pubs and wish to get some attention should definitely be seen in those. Otherwise don't. Very misleading kind of leggings. If insists on wearing it in the board day light, one can tone it down by wearing another pair of no pattern mono-color legging underneath it.

Stripy or bon bon color leggings:
Only appropriate when working in a circus or in a kid's birthday party.

Metallic leggings:
Christmas tree ornament or spaceman gone tight fitted.

And finally, remember that legging is not a pair of pants. It would be sensible to put something on longer than your behind.

Finn's Mandala

First time I went to Swedish 7-11, (alright, alright, as a proper Taiwanese, a trip to the local 7-11 is a must!) I saw these various kind of candies in boxes lining up as if in a beauty pageant. We have gummy bears at home and some sorts but nothing spectacular like these. One store even boasts about having more than 500 kinds. (I have checked out myself, quite impressive.) I have to marvel at the great improvement of civilization in Swedish 7-11. (Unfortunately, the love of licorice is not something that I can share with the locals.)

According to the great religious ritual both in Hinduism and Buddhism, the process of making a Mandala is a way to create a sacred place, therefore calming the mind. By carefully arranging the Mandala, one can understand better of him or herself or as Carl Jung put it, as " a representation of the unconscious self."

I don't really know what these Mandala said about my unconscious self. But I follow its grand tradition to the end; destroy it after completing it. As a result, most of them are in my stomach now.

What the Jewish girl has taught me 2 (Shashuka~)

squeeze a tomato in between layers of sliced eggplant



layer three colored diced peppers



add an egg on the top



Eat!!!