Hachiko – An Undying Loyalty

I was a bit reluctant about watching the movie, Hachiko – A Dog’s Story. First of all, I tend to avoid stories featuring animals as the main characters because they usually turn out really bad or really sad. Secondly, I had read the story of Hachiko, the faithful Akita Inu, a couple of years back before my first trip to Japan so I knew that this was not going to be a happy story. But.. I watched it anyway. And thoroughly enjoyed the show (though my eyes were hurting so much from all the crying).

It’s a really simple tale, based on a true story, about a dog’s loyalty to its owner. The trainer and director did a great job in capturing the essence of Hachi’s emotions and demonstrating the beautiful bond between dog and master (played by Richard Gere). The movie was deeply touching and I was bawling my eyes out continuously for the last half hour of the film. My husband, who suggested the film solely based on the poster (and not a man to cry at the movies) was also sobbing like a baby. Ha ha.

If you have pets or are into dogs, you and your kids (it’s a family-friendly film) could do worse than to catch Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (US title). It will make you wanna hug your pets tighter and appreciate them for the companionship they’ve given you. :)

Weatherman

The stray cat has been granted a temporary stay permit until his claws grow back (the vet cut them real short). We call him Gray and he can predict the weather. Well, sort of.

When he’s crouched in a dark corner, with a moody look on his face and refuses to budge even when you tempt him with delicious wet food, you can expect rain in about half an hour. I’m pretty sure a lot of cats out there have similar reactions to impending bad weather but none of my other spoiled cats do this so it’s a new experience for us. Does your pet do this?

Read: Oscar the cat predicts patient deaths (or caused their deaths? LOL)

How Long Does It Take To Fall In Love?

A stray cat that hurt his leg in a fight with another stray has been in my care for the past two weeks. He was more than a little hesitant about taking his antibiotics the first few days. After a few more days, I gained his trust and he has been a really good boy ever since. He likes it when someone sits near him and will meow loudly if he wants company. I just gave him his last dose of medicine. He’s doing really well. :)

My heart is heavy with the thought of letting him go soon. :(

Handwritten

When I was in primary school, we had 4 years of Writing Practice (basically handwriting exercises, I’m not too sure if they have it in the curriculum now). From year 2 (or was it 3?) onwards we had to learn how to write in beautiful cursive hand. Of course I didn’t see the point in learning all this — my favorite subject was Mathematics — so I tried to make my mum do my Writing homework for me all the time! I gave a number of arguments for my case. One of my fav excuses – Doctors do not need beautiful handwriting (I never actually thought of becoming a doctor, it was just an excuse I liked to use).

As I got older, I developed a finer appreciation for the art of penmanship but my own handwriting seem to be stuck on the “doctors do not need beautiful handwriting” stage.  :D

Are you proud of your own handwriting? Do you write in print or cursive? Do you find that more people have terrible handwriting these days?

Apparently I Need an Adult’s Sketchbook

I have a sketchbook with a couple of Marvel Superheroes on the cover. Let me explain. It was something I bought out of necessity (I’ve ran out of pages on the other one I had with me) and it was the cheapest one available (it was either that or Barbie and friends). I’m not particular about my sketchbooks, no Moleskine snobbery from me — as long as there’s a good number of pages, it’s all good (surprising for someone with a perverted love for paper, eh?). In fact a couple of my sketchbooks are just a bunch of used pieces of paper fastened together. Okay, back to the Marvel Superheroes sketchbook. I was using it just now at a cafe when the kid sitting beside me noticed. She turned to me a couple of times just to make sure and then she asked her mum or aunt who was with her, “Why is it that some grownups never grow up?” :O

I Made You a Cookie but I Eated It

This video of munchkin cat named Beibei standing on its hind legs has been a favorite of mine for some time now but I didn’t realize it was the same cat of the “I made you a cookie” fame, one of my favorite LOLcats ever.

Thanks Beibei (and owner Jimmy Leo) for the smiles! :)