Let me deposit some memories of Lulu here, lest i forget them gradually..
1. She was collected on a random night in 1997. We waited outside Bedok Police Station for quite a while, for the owner of Lulu's parents to give away the newborns. The owner brought down 1 male and 1 female. The male's hair wasn't as nice as the female's, and so the female was chosen. Or was it cos he had too black a nose? But anyway, she was collected from there, and on the way home, it was first decided that she'd be named 'Lucy'. But 'Lucy' sounded 'Lu死', so 'Lulu' was decided. I remembered on the drive back, she vomited a little cos of motion sickness.
2. I sneezed alot on that first night. And i didnt slp well, cos i was very excited then. I remembered she kept running about the house. And being a little scared, I kept running away from her and her constant sniffs.
3. The next morning, while listening to the Chinese lesson in school, I told myself, I am going to remember that day, cos I wanted to remember when Lulu came, so I can keep track of how old she was. And so i did. I was Primary 4 then, 10 years old. It was roughly between January and March 1997. So from then on, I'll just need to remember that she came when i was 10.
4. In the first few days, I noticed her eyes were abit teary. I guessed it was because she just got separated from her siblings and parents, and she missed home. (I wonder how are her siblings now?) She hid herself and it wasnt easy to find her. She was small enough to hide behind the sewing machine; under the kitchen cabinets and under the shoe rack.
5. I think it didnt take long for her to know that Lulu was her name. Neither did it take long for her to know the meanings of 'sayang', 'pom pom', '去吃!' , '不可以', '没有!', 'shake hands', '去后面!' , 'Kiah-kun-sua', '大姑', and many many many more.
6. And she's a pretty fast learner on the rules of toilet. In fact, there wasnt even much trainings on where to urine/pass motion. It was quite an inborn talent for her to know that the smell of the toilet was the right place for such matters. In the very early years, she would occasionally urine in the kitchen when nobody was home. But she was smart enough to hide and not greet people when they come back, cos she knew she'd be scolded and sometimes caned. Even though She KNEW she'd be caned and that it was a crime, she'd still want to try it again when nobody was home. After a while, when she grew more mature, this didnt happen anymore. It was automatically toilet and no-where-else.
7. She slept in the living room, under the sofa. But in the early years, she'd usually be found sleeping ON the sofa, ON the water-seat that used to be placed on one of the sofas. Probably she knew it was cooling. But as she got more mature, she remained below or wherever the floor cloth was placed.
8. When she was still young, when nobody was home, she'd secretly sleep on the master bed! But when sometimes caught red-handed, she was so embarrassed that she ran to hide. She might have been curious about how comfortable it was to sleep on Aunt's bed, tried it, realised that it really was good, and found every chance she could to climb up there, when nobody was around. Again, that didn't happen anymore when she grew more mature.
9. A wooden plank was used to be placed between the kitchen and living room, to confine her in the former. But soon she grew confident, and it wasn't effective anymore--she'd be jumping over it! The same plank was then placed between the living room and bedrooms, and it was more effective. But ultimately she still found confidence in jumping over too.
10. There used to be a chain in the kitchen many many years back. She didn't like to be chained up, of course, but everytime when someone called her to the chain, she'd obediently go over, position her head nicely for the loop to go over her neck, and wagged her tail. Then when the person left the kitchen, she'd start barking non-stop, until someone was back in the kitchen to keep her company. The obediently-going-over-to-get-chained-up part was always silly.
11. She's racist. For some reasons, she'd always growl and bark at the non-chinese neighbours when they pass by the stairs. Neither did she like small children--when they noisily passed by, she'd be agitated and growled and barked at them to silence them.
12. She didn't like cats. Whenever she saw one outside the door, she'd keep barking at it. But the cats were just as unfriendly--they gritted their teeth at her. But, she's always known to be one who had voice, BUT no guts. If you open the door, she'd NOT dare to step out to confront the cat.
13. She's shy with other dogs. Whenever a dog came, she'd bark at it at first to assert her territory. But soon, she'd start hiding away. The dog might be friendly and kept running towards her, but she'd never fail to keep a fine distance away and be very, very quiet.
14. She loved guys. And was always very affectionate towards male visitors.
15. Her daily meal was made up of cesar+rice+little biscuits mixed in a bowl. Anything less, she wouldn't eat. Even when there's just Cesar. And before she was served dinner, she'd be seen following Aunt around, to remind Aunt that she hadn't been fed. Or when someone's eating dinner, her eyes would be fixed on the food, with rapt attention and concentration, hoping that some bits and pieces of the meat will drop, so that she could have these bonuses. But once she'd been fed, she'd not be seen.
16. She's an insect exterminator. Ok, more active when she was still young. She'd 'play' with flies, cockroaches and other insects. Best if flying, cos it'd make her hyped up and jumpy. These were her toys--real and unpredictably fun.
17. She'd sometimes demonstrate what we called 一条龙. This happened when she was adequately agitated, and had that agitated energy to exhaust. She'd run from the very end of the kitchen, to the extreme end in the living room, and back and forth, until she was panting and tired. We'd continue to spur her on and make her agitated by stamping on the floor when she ran past.
18. In the early half of the years, she was curious about the outside world. Afterall, she never really had the experience of going for walks, cos it would attract ticks. So sometimes if the door was accidentally left ajar, she'd run out and get lost. So we'd have to find her among the stairs and corridors. Though 4 legs can run faster than 2, we'd more often than not find her somewhere in the block, and she'd be happily running back towards you. But not happy for long--since caning awaited. So towards the later half, she didnt really dare to step out of the house.
19. When going for haircuts, she'd be brought to the nearby pet shop. She'd be so scared of cars that all her 4 legs would be glued to the road, and her tail in between. And it's not really effective to drag her, so usually Aunt would have to carry her across. And this pet shop used to be where she was deposited during short holiday trips. She'd always be so sad there that she wouldnt eat much.
20. And when Aunt was back from holiday, Lulu would cry out "Aww Aww Aww" repeatedly. This very sad exclamation could only be heard when she missed seeing Aunt for a few days, and probably thought she was abandoned.
21. I like it when you talk to her, and she listened with her head tilted at an angle. It's really a funny sight, cos it appeared that she was 'confused'.
22. She'd ransack the bin when no one's looking. Usually at night when it's the time she felt hungry. Many improvisions had been made to make sure the bin was tall and out of reach. But she'd always find a way to get around it. And the result was--caning. But during the later parts, only scoldings. And whenever she's caned, her eyes would dim when she anticipated the impact on her. Very much like a small kid.
23. Her one-medicine-that-cured-all was the 'kiah-kun-sua' powder that is used to cure human's digestive-related problems like bloating etc. She'd be fed that when she was assessed to be 'abnormal'. And she'd be fine the next day! And because it was bitter, she'd hide away when she knew she'd be fed that. So the force-swallowing will come in.
24. She was vain! Her 'necklace' (dog tag) would be removed during bathing, and washed. Then when it was ready to put back on her, there was absolutely no need to call her. The mere shaking of the tag would make her happily running over to wear it.
Right, these are basically the little things i can think of now.. Will edit and add more when they come into mind..
人生是黑白的.
10:27 PM <3
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Lulu passed away. At a ripe old age of 12, it's been a pretty good life.
She's actually been in pain the last 2 weeks:
-On 1st March, she was first sent to Mount Pleasant for an emergency check-up late at night, after being found behaving abnormally--she was so weak that she couldnt stand/walk, tongue was white and pale, and was crying with tears on the floor. She was diagnosed with low blood count and was given antibiotics.
-In the check-up 3 days later, the condition was better and so it was believed to be just a one-off illness and that it could be nursed to recovery again.
-The next few days were rather normal, though it was obvious that she was really getting less physically active. She no longer barked and didn't always come out and greet returning family members. But she received more attention and care and concerns. At least her last days were well taken care of.
-Yesterday, she was so fine that I thought she'd fully recovered. She greeted me and i spent some time patting her. And she enjoyed. She seemed energetic and kept herself involved in everything--being around when someone's eating etc.
-In a total turn of events, she started bleeding non-stop this afternoon, though she wasn't as weak as on 1st March. After rushing to the vet, the doctor assured that it didnt look like a life-and-death condition, since she didn't appear sickly and was alert and had energy. The doctor even said she might be able to be discharged tmr, after the operation to remove her uterus.
-But we didn't wake her up anymore after the operation. The bleeding didn't stop. Her spleen was removed and it carried tumours. Her gall bladder, liver and some organs had black spots and tumours too. The cancer had spread to many areas. And her insides were like a red swimming pool. The internal bleeding seemed serious. The doctor had already sucked away lots of blood, and she was pale and anaemic. She would not have lived past tonight. And if we wake her up to say goodbye, she would have been in pain from the wound and cancer too.
-Euthanised and going to be cremated. She died with eyes open. The dead pair of eyes really looked different--dull and dry. At least it was painless. I wonder how she felt before the operation. Could she have undergone great fear thinking we're gonna abandon her there and that she would never wake up again, and kept wanting to look out for aunt one last time?
I hope she heard the last words before given the lethal jab. I hope her loyalty and selflessness had earned her enough merits to be reincarnated out of the animal realm. Be a human in the next life. Or better, attain the level all sentient beings hope to, and break free of the cycles in samsara.
It's too sudden, really. Things arent the same again. Her absence will be greatly felt.
Lulu, R.I.P.
Thank you for the 12 years of friendship.
人生是黑白的.
11:08 PM <3
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I'm travelling after the semester again!
#1: Miri Trip with OCIP peeps.
Date: 5th to 9th July 2009.
#2: Vietnam Trip with OG mates.
Date: 20th to 26th July 2009.
Plans for an year-end trip hasn't been finalised yet. But I'd really wanna go Japan/Taiwan again. =). Of course, that'll mean working hard in the 3-month break to earn my travel expenses.
And oh, I'll definitely need a cam too.
人生是黑白的.
1:13 AM <3
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Was really busy the past week, and so a delayed post.
We climbed the trees at bedok reservoir last saturday! I was glad Char chose bedok as the place to celebrate her bday, for obvious reasons. And having jogged past the treetrop challenges countless times, i've finally got the chance to do it.
The challenges seemed easy when u're below. Well, in fact, they aren't really tough after all! Perhaps except for this one (picture below) that did pose a little challenge to my acrophobia. Palms sweated and legs wobbled at this one. But the rest were really ok. The flying fox wasn't really high, but zipping across the waters at the reservoir felt different.
There's just so many different wonderful things that can be done with these colleagues! And they taught me Left4dead after that, which i have yet to get the real hang of, with the lousy cursed computers at the LAN shop to be blamed. Nonetheless, we all had fun.
人生是黑白的.
12:42 AM <3
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