My birthday was a few weeks back, but I didn’t get to celebrate it with my friends as I was away during the long weekend break. 

BUT…BUT..

Today, my awesome friends planned a little birthday ”party” for me. It was so sweet! Thank you so much! The cake was so yummy! And I actually enjoyed eating the plastic-like thing…

So yeah, thank you again! You guys did a really good job hiding it from me. I was totally unaware that there was a little party being planned for me (until Syafiqah asked for me). Too occupied with my schoolwork I guess - yes, yes, as usual, I was swamped with homework and working like a maniac…

Let me say it again…T-h-a-n-k Y-o-u! Special thanks to Syeyi and Syafiqah for buying the cake, Anita for being the cool photographer and Amanda for the great work of shoving cake all over my face and Sean’s - she’s so adorable…XD!

Mr.Smajda Me
“Happy Birthday, CC!”
First thing he said to me when I walked into the Physics class (before lunch).
“Oh! Thank you!”
I had no idea what was going on, but I said thank you anyways. =_=”…
“Is it your birthday today?”
“Yeah!”
Kidding at this point, obviously.
“Is it really?”
“No, just kidding…”
“When’s your birthday then?”
“Err, 27th of October?”
“But that’s way back!”
As it turned out, he saw a cake being delivered to school in the morning and they told him about the surprise party.

Let’s start with the very fat daddy hammie, Nugget.

Nugget C.

^ Nugget sleeping and drinking at the same time. =_=”…

> He loves eating! Especially cheese. That explains why he is so fat. I know it’s my fault for feeding him so much, but it’s just too cute when he stands up on his back paws and starts chasing my hand for the piece of cheese or for the tiny fruit cube. But his health is more important, so I have decided to feed him cheese only once a week. And I am going to include more fresh vegies like spinach into his diet.

> He loves sleeping! Love for eating almost always goes hand-in-hand with love for sleeping. Unlike Cotton and the little ones, this mini panda bear (yes, he is so fat, I sometimes mistaken him as a panda bear!), doesn’t like coming out of his cage and runs about. Most of the time, he prefers sleeping on the running wheel. I say most of the time because when you have food outside, he will get up and ever so slowly climb up the ladder, feed the food off your hand, munch, lick his front paws clean, and climb back in to continue his job as the Sleeping Beauty.

> Talking about sleeping, Nugget has a weird habit. He doesn’t close his eyes sometimes when he sleeps. Even if he tries to close his eyes, one of them will open up eventually. I checked the Internet to make sure it’s normal, but on one of the forums that I encountered, hamsters are supposed to close their eyes and not open unless they are ill. I was horrified! But close observations over the past few months, I think Nugget is perfectly normal. I guess it’s just him?

> He “freezes” sometimes like the Statue of Liberty and oh God, it’s so damn cute. You can poke him, drag him gently by the front paws, push him, wave into his eyes, carry him and he won’t move a bit. Cotton and even the babies do the same sometimes, so I was curious and checked the Internet. Apparently, they have really sensitive hearing and they are trying to figure out what they are hearing and where is it coming from.

> When the babies were just born, I was so worried that Nugget would eat them. Most of the websites and forums that I went to say it’s a good idea to take the dad out of the cage because he will DEFINITELY eat his own babies. But from what I saw, Nugget was behaving really well. He was a caring, loving dad. He was picking up tissue bits and covering the babies. He was also cleaning them. I decided to leave him with his family and everything went well.

Cotton C.

^ Cotton after giving birth. Out playing and exploring.

> She is the total opposite of Nugget. She is extremely active. She is always running around, climbing this, climbing that, exploring. And she loves having me around. It’s a lot of fun, but a lot of work at the same time especially during school days. I will let them out in the evening, after school, and let them run around. I will build fences around the area they usually play around, but the difficult thing is that Cotton almost always finds the way out. And so I have to be there with them all the time. This cuts down on my TV time in the evening.

> She is not a big eater. She is a slim, sexy mom. Hahah! She used to eat very little cheese, but during her pregnancy, she took more in, and now after giving birth, she is eating more, which is a good thing because she needs the calcium especially now that she is breastfeeding four pups. She prefers tiny apple cubes and yogurt balls over cheese.

> She drinks a lot of water especially when she was pregnant.

> More about the pregnancy: I actually didn’t realize Cotton was pregnant till like two days before she gave birth. Her belly was kinda huge slowed her down and she wasn’t as active. I had to help her up the ladder and out of the cage. She was also eating a lot more and she was picking up tissue bits and building her own nest. On the 20th October, at night, I had a weird feeling. So I went downstairs to check out on her and that was when I saw red blobs underneath Cotton. I told everyone in the house and ran upstairs to spread the good news to my friends. I checked the Internet on how to take care of baby hamsters and I learned that the best thing to do was to leave them alone for the next two weeks. I followed the advice and after exactly 14 days, I let them out.  

The Little Ones

^ Five days after they were born. Still a bit pink, dark fur were growing. Eyes were still closed.

^ The babies at 11 days old. Three of them were feeding off Cotton mommy. One of them was sucking his/her paw just like how you used to suck your thumb.

^ First time out of their cage. They were 15 days old.

^ What you doing little one?

^ Three of them fell asleep during playtime outside their cage. Too cute at 16 days old.

^ The other one was hiding in the box.

^ They changed their sleeping position.

> From red, hairless blobs to chubby, fluffy little balls! All of them are doing really well! The mom has done an excellent job bringing them up. They were out of their cage for the first time on November 3rd. They are so adorable and cute!

> They look exactly like their dad. They have dark fur and all of them have this black stripe down their back.

> At 20 days old, they are very active. They walk around a lot and they love being out of the cage.  

> They can eat solid foods now, but they are still breastfeeding. I have also introduced cheese into their diet. They love it! They love feeding cheese off my fingertips. It’s all too cute.

> They are learning to drink water from the dripper.

> They still squeak.

> They bite. But it doesn’t hurt.

> They have really cute, tiny ears.

> They fall asleep very easily and it’s hard to wake them up. You can touch them or drag them and they will still be sleeping soundly.

> I haven’t named them yet as I haven’t determined their gender. But I am planning to give them Japanase middle names.

Their New House

More members, bigger house! It’s so much cheaper here in my hometown.

^ New cage on the left. Old cage on the right. We are planning to connect the two together.

^ One Big Happy Family!

And that’s the end of this post. Have a great weekend everyone!

This time I wonder what it feels like
To find the one in this life
The one we all dream of
But dreams just aren’t enough
So I’ll be waiting for the real thing.
I’ll know it by the feeling.
The moment when we’re meeting
Will play out like a scene straight off the silver screen
So I’ll be holdin’ my breath
Right up to the end
Until that moment when
I find the one that I’ll spend forever with

‘Cause nobody wants to be the last one there.
‘Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There’s gotta be somebody for me like that.

‘Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they’re not alone.
Somebody else that feels the same somewhere.
There’s gotta be somebody for me out there.

Tonight out on the street out in the moonlight
And damn it this feels too right
It’s just like Déjà Vu
Me standin’ here with you
So I’ll be holdin’ my breath
Could this be the end?
Is it that moment when
I find the one that I spend forever with?

‘Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
‘Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There’s gotta be somebody for me like that.

‘Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they’re not alone.
Is there somebody else that feels the same somewhere?
There’s gotta be somebody for me out there.

You can’t give up!
When you’re lookin’ for a diamond in the rough
Because you never know when it shows up
Make sure you’re holdin’ on
‘Cause it could be the one, the one you’re waiting on

‘Cause nobody wants to be the last one there.
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Someone to love with my life in their hands.
There has gotta be somebody for me
Ohhhhhh.

Nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they’re not alone.
Is there somebody else that feels the same somewhere?
There’s gotta be somebody for me out there.

Nobody wants to be the last one there
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares.
Is there somebody else that feels the same somewhere?
There has gotta be somebody for me out there.   

> During lunch, I walked around the school with best bud, Syeyi as usual. But today, we didn’t have shoes on, only socks. It was so much fun. We did 30 laps. Wanted to do more, but had to move on to activities.

> Later in the evening, I went on the treadmill and did 3km. Not very satisfied because it’s the shortest distance I’ve done this week. Hope to do more km tomorrow!

WALKING THE WAY TO HEALTH s2!

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PS: Remember this post about my dad buying two new cars? Make it three people! He bought another car! A Mercedes SLK on my birthday. No, not for me. I am too young to be driving. When all the three cars are here, I will take photos and post them up.

PPS: I came home and saw a green envelope on the table - my birthday card from my eldest brother and his girlfriend! Yay, made my day. Thanks, Sushi King & YJ for the really cool drawings and wishes!

PPPS: I finished reading Cry Silent Tears. I am giving it 2 out of 5 stars. It’s an okay book.

I just want to hug you all for making my birthday a special one! Thank you all for the kind wishes and presents - they are really appreciated! Thank you so much! I am honestly touched! :’)

I bought sushi yesterday when I went shopping for my schoolbags. Put them nicely on a plate as part of my lunch.

I also made myself pleasantly yummy salad with lots of crunch and colors! What I put in the salad?: Lots of raw cabbage (sliced by hand), a carrot (sliced), half a tomato (sliced), a plum (diced), starfruit (diced) and yummy fruit salad dressing.

I ate 3/4 of the salad. 1/4 for dinner. Hahahah, too full.

So what did you all have for lunch today? Hope you had lots of vegetables and fruit, too!

The above is my current schoolbag…which I will call it Silvy from now on. Silvy has become my favourite bag to carry to school because first, my eldest brother bought it for me - or more correctly, I asked him to buy it for me. Secondly, it’s huge with many pockets and compartments. Thirdly, it has this special place for your laptop! And lastly, its metallic silver colour is not going off the fashion radar anytime soon (I think!) and it attracts maximum attention - kidding please.

But lately, so many people have been telling - some even begging - me to change my bag. Sean thinks it’s too big. Henry thinks I am always carrying a “super huge grandma bag”. Munyee’s dad thinks that it’s covered in dog’s blood. Dog’s blood because the silver color is coming off and it’s turning pinkish red. My mom thinks I shouldn’t have used it as a schoolbag since the beginning because I carry books enough to weigh at least a ton and the shoulder straps will one day break off. If you look closely enough, you can see they have indeed started to fray.

So, today, I bought myself two new bags from Roxy. I was planning to buy only one, but they are both so pretty and so green!

Spot Mr. Spongybob! And that’s the book I am reading now. It’s so sad…

Mr. Doggy is looking at the bag.

PS: Thanks dad & mom. I am feeling guilty for spending so much when the economy is so bad. I know I always say I am guilty after I have done shopping…and then you will see me shop again. Don’t blame me, blame the school workloads. Nahh, kidding! I am the one to blame. Obviously.

Kak Lik, our maid for six years, left for Indonesia yesterday morning. She cried when we said our goodbyes. I didn’t cry, surprisingly. I cried the night before though for like half an hour. I absolutely hate goodbyes.

I gave her a necklace, a keychain from Japan, and photos of the family, the other maids and the pets. I also wrote her a letter. I really didn’t want her to leave, but she said it’s time for her to build her own family. All the best with that, Kak Lik.

Goodbyes are not forever.
Goodbyes are not the end.
They simply mean I’ll miss you
Until we meet again!
-Author Unknown-

I don’t know if we’ll ever meet again, even though I really hope we will…one day. But I will always remember the tiny (she is 41kg and a head shorter than me!), funny Kak Lik. I will always remember how when my eldest brother asked her where mom was, she replied in ENGLISH, “Mommy cooking in the kitchen!” - that made our jaws drop.

Ohh man…I really miss her! Sigh. But I really am glad that she has come into my life, left footprints on my heart - I am never the same again!

Lastly, thanks, Kak Lik! Terima kasih!
Best wishes for the future, yea! =)

I want to be your favourite hello & hardest goodbye.