The simplicity of life

When we lived back in Sabah, we always know that we can't take everything for granted. The weather, the beaches, the greenery, the sea, the islands, the food, the mountains.But we , sometimes, missed the convenience of living in the big city as well ; the shopping , the activities ( specially for kids ) the food selection, the wine and dine life .

We always tried to have outdoor activities for family, like going to beaches, islands, mountains, tamu market, and we glad we did it.

Life here is on the contrary. We literally could do anything here, and buy anything here if as long as we could afford it. It is the cliche Big City life, when you got the $$ you can live like a king ( well sort of ) :)

The activities for the family is... literally endless... do you want to go ice skating or even ski-ing? Shanghai has it. Or something more simple like flying kite ? Go to Wild safari ( should I say semi- wild)? Want to ride on the Maglev train with the max speed of 400km per hour? Go to see the view of the city from one of the tallest building in the world ( not sure if it is the 2nd or 3rd tallest building)? Have a cuppa of coffee from the super luxurious Garden Hyatt hotel over seeing the famous Shanghai skyline? Or go shopping for any well known famous brands in the world?  Or how about to eat in the best restaurant in town ( hundreds of it)Or do you want to have your organic veggies to be deliver to the door? How about to have the homemade yogurt to be deliver to your doorstep?Do you want to learn to do pottery or oil painting?Or do you want to visit the Madame Tussaud wax museum?

And then... there are activities for the children.... which ... is the same.... endless..... Lego land, Mini city, Art center, Barbie cafe, Kid's spa? ( what???? which kid need a spa? I need SPA and not kids!!!! )

So this kind of life is the total opposite of what we use to had back in Malaysia. So simple, so natural, so free.
Do I looked down at Sabah or KK? Because now we live in a " more modern" " more choice" city?
Well... I am not . It make me think that it is great to experience the simpleness of life. It makes us appreciate more of the simple things.

The same way like , when we just arrived in KK. We can rent more spacious house . Compared to where we lived before in a apartment ( back in Singapore, Shanghai and Guangzhou). So once someone asked me,  so in KK you feel like rich people then , can stay in a landed house? Well not at all. We always manage to keep down to earth and keep  one feet on the ground no matter what. If we think we are " rich" because we lived in the landed property , and had a car  for personal use, well when we moved back here and we live back in the apartment, I or we could have a " down power" syndrome. ( is it such a word? eheh not sure, but anyway.. you know what I mean).

A dear friend of mine , once said to me : "to be an " expat" ( I don't like to label my self this ) you are so nice and down to earth. You consider to live well but you still want to mix and be friend with me from other religion". Of course this made me mad! First : I am just happened to be  not local and I don't live that well , there are plenty of people who live much much "well" than me and I do not boxed my self to be friend with certain people from certain religion. So what if I am an expat? I must be snobbish and just mix with certain " level" of people? I am not that narrow minded person. So you can imagine how the conversation went with my dear friend ! Not a very good nice conversation for her since I was keep yap and yapping :P, but being close and dear friend , we can talk about everything, and she is the " lantak" type. :P


Another confidant friend of us, told us, that it is blessing in disguise to be moved back to Shanghai. She said , it is a great " break" or " long holiday" to be able to work and live in Sabah. It was the time to breath, relax, and take thing easy ( not working wise for my dh , as it is the most challenging staffs he ever got so far) and to enjoy the nature. And now , she said, it is the time to move back to the real world where we must be in high gear to be able to  survive in this land. And in the food department I can't complaint! Finally I am able to dine in a Thailand , Indonesian , Japanese, Korean , Greek, Italian ( duh ! of course),German etc etc....And since my aunt is still here with us, so it gives us the freedom to go on our wine and dine date twice a week and leave the kids at home! ( hah!  ^_^)

And here is the our first family photo in the city Over seeing a tiny part of the biggest park here, with a glimpse of our apartment compound on the back .

Be a responsible Pet owner...or Don't have pet at all!!!

How wrong was I when I thought that the people of Mainland China are the rudest of all towards animals. As we know they eat dogs, cats, or any other animals too. They said what ever has 4 legs except tables the Chinese people will eat it as part of daily joke. So when we moved here 3 years back, I was so happy to see that this city loves dogs and cats. There are dogs and cat every where in almost every house. But the joy ended there. From all the household that has pets, I wonder how many of them can be claimed as the RESPONSIBLE owner.

In this short stay in Sabah, Me, and my family has witnessed many cased of animal abused or cruelty. Raised your hand if you ever or often saw a dead dog body when you drive outside of town. In front of my house I saw one small puppy died because a car run over it. The other time one old dog has lost his eye and the owner didn't treat it until it becomes worst and lost it's life.

For some people dog is a dog , they treat them as "alarm", they take home a dog and expect it to wash it self, find their own food, heal it self and expect it not to have any " disposal" out from their body. Some think dog is cute but after a few month, they get bore with it and forget all over about the dog.

Let me tell you something, Dog is an animal, and like most of animal, it will produce certain smells, and yes it will poop, the bigger the breed the bigger is the poop, and it will need to be bath, and need to be feed, it will need to be treated if it got sick and yes it will need to be trained and will need to be walk twice a day. And NO! they are not just cute. And YES they will live generally for years. So if your children beg for dog, please buy TOYS if you think you can't handle another responsibility,

If you still want a pet , cat is much more easier to handle. It is much more independent. But if you just need something to bark at stranger in your house please invest on ALARM system instead.

Here, the most popular breeds I think is Rottweiler . This is a great and intelligent dogs, but like most intelligent dogs, they will need MORE stimulation, and MORE exercise . If your dog is caged 24/7 it will be very aggressive and once it has the chance to go out, the first thing they will do is attacking people . There are several cases of children died because of dog's attacked. And this is sad, of course they blame the dog, but there are no bad pet, but THEY ARE BAD OWNER! So before you decide to adopt or buy dogs , check the breeds, if it is suitable for your life style, will you have the time to bath and feed it? Don't just buy the dog because your 4 years old beg you to have a puppy.

And please, please spaying or neutering your pet! This will make a BIG different, less stray dogs/cats mean less dogs/cats will be hit by cars. And to have pet mean you will have extra expenses to buy their food, vaccinate them ( to prevent spreading of unwanted disease.

Here is one useful article

Pet Care: Responsible Pet Ownership ( taken from www.spcakk.org)

• Spaying or neutering your pet means that your pet's potential offspring won't contribute to the population of unwanted pets and prevent littering. A sterilized pet is much calmer and is no longer driven to roam in search of a mate. Spaying and neutering also reduces the risk of certain health problems, offering you more years with your beloved pet.

It won't cause much, but it will make a BIG different !!

• It is cruel to leave your dog on a chain or in a cage 24/7. When you keep your dog continually chained and isolated, it often becomes anxious and aggressive. Studies show that chained dogs are much more likely to bite than unchained dogs. If you have visitors that aren't compatible with dogs, keep your dog in your securely fenced backyard or, if chained or caged for no more than three hours and make sure there is sufficient food, clean water and shade. Dogs need daily exercise and should have freedom to play in a fenced area or to be walked on a leash when taken outdoors.
This is very true, imagine if you are being caged for 24/7 , will you be crazy?? So don't do to your dog! Give it sometimes to run free ( with leash if needed) .


• Clean water and adequate food provide important nutrients for a healthy life. It sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to forget to check your pet's water, clean her bowl and feed her twice a day.
  
  Ticks and fleas are not only uncomfortable for your pets but can cause illnesses in pets. You must provide immediate relief for your pets. There are several specially formulated dog/cat flea and tick control shampoo and sprays available in pet stores, supermarkets and at veterinary clinics. If your pet is ill, take him to the vet right away.
Food and water are just the basic need. And Ticks and Fleas are common but doesn't mean you should do nothing for it. Check with your Veterinarian for a oral medicine to prevent heart worm disease , you just need to give it once every a few months to prevent ticks.


• Children's attitudes towards animals can predict future behavior. Cruelty to animals is considered a symptom that predicts the development of a psychopath. People who hurt animals may eventually direct violence towards humans. They don't realize that it's wrong and they can't feel the distress that they are causing. Teaching kindness and respect for animals is the first step in teaching children empathy, something they can carry to adulthood.
I am totally agree. Respect animals , respect our Earth it is an attitude. If you have dogs/cats involve your children to take care of them. My children love to bath them and to feed them. It will also give them bonding time. And our dogs are very protective to our children. They won't allow other animals or dogs go near our girls or make them cries. I think this is one of the most amazing thing!


• Pets can be a wonderful addition to any family. However, with ownership comes responsibility. Courtesy and respect are part of being a good neighbor. Put yourself in your neighbor's place to see how your pet's habits affect them. Even the friendliest neighbor may become angry when your dog or cat wanders onto their lawn and soils their yards. You must see to it that your dog does not injure innocent people. Another is making sure your pet doesn't disturb the peace by barking or howling at inappropriate times. It is important to realize that a dog which barks is attempting to communicate something, be it discomfort, loneliness, warning or deterrence.

I know that this is a very long shot. But one house at the time, and give a good example in your neighborhood, I hope the animal abuse will be reduce.

"Speaking for those who can't speak for themselves"
more info at SPCAKK