It's funny how when I tender the talk was (to my surprise) only less than 5 minutes and then on the last few days, they realise they could use me for a few more months and asked if I could stay for a couple of months. Being the soft-hearted me, I was kind of moved to accept it. But after a short argument with my mum, I decided I shouldn't. I gave them time to make changes but I can't wait forever before they find a new person in. So yep, I rejected the offer.

Well, at least I didn't leave on a bad note. In fact, I think my resignation showed them how hard our team has been working and how much responsibilities each one has.

Anyway, I really had a good 2 years 3 months with the company - made really nice colleagues and being bonded with the Grossips. The only motivation to work from the second year onwards was probably the grossip girls and the commission. Hahaha..

2) #jygoessolo

Someone gave me the idea of being some where else on your birthday and not telling any one about the plan. I guess I brought it to another level by going solo. It might sound sad that I'm spending my birthday alone, but I realised, birthday is just ONE special day out of 365 days. I would rather make myself happy every day than just focusing on that one day.

There has been so many articles online which tell you how nice it is to take a solo trip if you're facing some down time or feeling lost or just simply you need time alone. I must say I'm not sure if I did "find" myself through this trip, but I realised I can be very independent and I enjoyed making a couple of new friends along the way. The destination isn't new to me so I guess this factored the fact I felt safe going Taiwan alone.

It's a 21-day adventure so I shall slowly talk about it in the next few posts.

3) Cat slave

After being back for 1 week, Lynne (the bossy senior designer of pets and crazy cat slave) rescued the stray and their kittens (together with Charmaine, Jager & Snowy's mother, and Keying, Sam & Pecan's mother). Since she still had work, she couldn't take the minimum sleep every night (and this went on for a week) so I helped her foster the kittens, while Moomoocow (the mother cat) stays at her place.

The kittens are one active and playful litter! I didn't have much sleep either because they'll wake up at weird timings and start playing. At least this was different from having Weasley (who isn't litter trained and is alone) - the kittens will play with each other (thank god I don't have to play with them at 4am). All of them are really adorable and with distinct personalities at 2.5 months old!

Mika - the 大姐大 (big sister) of the lot and the most active and playful one! I always catch her sneak-attacking the siblings and initiating play. She loves disturbing the siblings! She has a distinct "M" on her forehead hence the name. Oh yes, she's a real vocal cat.

Ollie - the lazy one. Ollie can be playful but his activeness doesn't last long because he loves sleeping. He'll usually be the first to find a spot he loves and naps. I love his facial markings and his eyes!

Charlie - the reserved and quiet one. I guess she's the runt and hence always being bullied by the rest. The rest always beat her to any toys because she's just slow to react! Haha...She doesn't run around much and loves to stare into space.

Chip - the closet-active one. He was quiet and shy when the siblings were around, but when left alone, he's really noisy and playful! He looks gong gong (傻傻的) too! He's the least favorite among potential adopters but I like him after spending 1-2 weeks with him.

Unfortunately, we were unable to protect all of them and give all of them a good home. It all started when Charlie was the first to show symptoms like diarrhoea and vomiting on 25th June when the kittens were shifting over to my place. And the other 3 started having runny stools too. We thought it was just a minor case of worms in them, so Lynne got some dewormer from Dr Vanessa Lin on 27th (who's a really nice and kind-hearted vet. I heard she goes to shelters to help animals on her only rest day). And on 28th, Lynne came over to my place as we had open house to allow potential adopters come over to view them. Fed the kittens the dewormer and Charlie was the toughest to handle. Thankfully we had a potential adopter who had experience with cats and she helped us to feed the kittens - and suffering bites on her fingers.

Ollie was adopted on the 28th to Lynne's friend. And thankfully we got him adopted first because it was quite a nightmare for us for the next 1 week.

Charlie didn't improve so I brought him to Dr Vanessa again on 30th. Unfortunately, she was doing quite badly so we hospitalised him while Mika and Chip were given diarrhoea meds and told to separate them. But I couldn't separate them because they were making rackets and Chip will just jump over the fence to join Mika. (Not sure to be frustrated or soft-hearted and go aww for this sibling love).

The next day Dr Vanessa called us to say that Charlie showed signs of improvements and we were glad. But it was shortlived, on the 1st of July, Charlie's condition deteriorated suddenly and when we reached the clinic, she left us. Felt really bad that we didn't get her a home and it was sad to see her all scrawny lying motionless. I guess she tried her best to survive but her immunity was so low she couldn't fight it.

Dr Vanessa was worried that the virus/infection is so strong that it'll badly affect Mika and Chip. She gave antibiotics and prescription diet and I had to really separate them. So for that night, I did what I was told with Mika in the living room and Chip in my room. But Mika wasn't eating and it was really worrying. She didn't touch her food (both of them hated the prescription diet) be it dry or wet. At least Chip was eating and playing well. Lynne and I decided to bring Mika to Dr Denise Poh on 2nd July, which Mika was then hospitalised for the next 5 nights. She showed signs of improvement -  passed out a lot of worms in her stools and started having solid food (she was on drip for 3 days)

Yet, somehow, on 6th July, she stopped eating again. And on 7th July morning, another vet told us Mika was all swollen. We rushed down to the clinic and Mika looked really bloated. She couldn't sleep the whole night because her tummy was swelling. But she managed to rest in Lynne's arms. She wasn't vocal any more and we all know, it might be time. Dr Chua told us not to lose hope though. We wanted to discharge her but none of us could bring her back. I was afraid Chip might be infected hence we got Chip to a potential adopter's place that night, while we decided to discharge Mika and hospitalise her in a 24hour clinic. (At I could at least have a day to clean up the house for Mika)

Unfortunately, Mika fought for another couple of hours at that clinic before she passed away. We did our best and last shot to save Mika, and she has been a strong fighter. It's depressing to see her being hit by the infection - from the most playful kitten to being weak and leaving us. If we could turn back time, we'll definitely have all of them adopted on the first few days. This is to lower the risk of them infecting each other and increasing survival rates.

Oh man, I'm missing the kittens now. Especially Chip who spent few days with me in my room - waking me up at unearthly timings so I can see him eat and play with him at (what?) 4am?! I didn't have a good sleep that few days but he really brought joy to me and my sisters. I'm glad he's doing well at his new home and the last time I saw him just 2 days ago, he has grown quite a bit! Heavier, taller, longer, bigger face...I sound like a mother.

--------

I'm still hunting for jobs and trying to do things to pass time. Can't wait to start on the next chapter and of course, my next adventure.