One Bloody Job

The fish feels firm. Too firm. Oh s**t. The innards are still in the fish! I know I should have requested it. But usually the fish monger would ask me if I wanted to, and all I needed to do was to nod my head and say "Yes, please". This time the lady didn't ask (I should have noticed it was the lady, not the guy), and I passively, stupidly, assumed it's done. Next time I have to be more 'market savvy'. But this time. Sigh, what must be done must be done. Right, get on with the job.

Firstly, a slit to cut open the fish. Next - can I just scrape those reddish, lumpy, squashy things off with my knife? Oh no, this sinewy thing is too tough. I have to use my hands. And it just keeps slipping off my hand. And... erm, are those the gills? Let me see... No, I don't recall seeing gills in cooked fish, so out with those too. Eeeks! There, done. Easier with the hands really. Oh why, oh why is the mouth open now?? Those membranous stuff under the lower lip (do you call them lips?), do I remove them too? Oh heck, why not? Now, to wash off those dark reddish left overs... What a bloody business. Literally. Maybe not as bloody as childbirth, but I didn't see much blood then anyway, or at least I had chosen not to. Terrible, terrible beginning to the day! Thank goodness the scales have been removed. Or maybe there wasn't any scale in the first place? I wouldn't have known. Now, all that is left is how to cook this mackerel. (In the end, I baked it with butter, lemon, salt, pepper and paprika - basically whatever I have at my hands that appear to go well with fish.)

So, next time, be more mean, more demanding, and really assertive, please.

Oh. Dear.

I thought I couldn't stand it any longer, so I decided to give it a little snip. Got carried a little too far away, and now I want those hair back!

Fireman Ethan Episode #2 - cut short

There our hero was, in his helmet, all ready to slide down the pole and climb into his fire engine, gearing up for some action early in the morning. (The 'pole' was one leg of the kitchen table, and it stumped me when I first found out that that was the pole - I had begun scolding him for playing with the table, of all things.)

Then he noticed the packet of mixed chewy gums on the table, placed conspicuously at one corner by Jianming the night before.

Fireman Ethan had to stop. He picked up the kiddy pack and started to explore it, further exploring the idea of devouring what's inside.

Hence our fireman became a child of the mundane world once more, with no greater ambition or more heroic acts than to be the ultimate conqueror of the colourful sweets in his hands.

Ethan the Fireman to the Rescue

This is narrated by Jianming, and seriously, I would rather he tell it here himself. Anyway, here goes (Conversation re-enacted by me likely are not exact, but does contain the essence of it. Oh yes, and you have to imagine that Ethan was using a deeper and no-nonsense voice, a tone he always adopts when he's a fireman.):

Jianming was having a really bad time trying to humour a humourless and crying Jethro. Ethan the fireman drove by in his fire engine. He stopped.
EtF: Do you need any help?
JtDF: Yes, I need help with the crying baby.
EtF: Ok.
He got out of his fire engine, looked at the situation with arms akimbo, assessing it.
EtF: Hmm, I think we need something.
He turned around and went to the window, under which stood the tractor, and brought it over. He flipped the tractor over to the side, then turned the wheel that was facing upwards, so that it spun and spun.
Jethro stopped crying and amused himself with the spinning wheel, as he had on other occasions when Ethan also turned the tractor on its side (Ethan liked to think that the side-lying tractor was some kind of engine).
Mission accomplished.

Key:
EtF - Ethan the Fireman
JtDF - Jianming the Distressed Father

Another month gone by...

靖恺应该不会在一岁之前走路，因为他现在才开始尝试自己站着，可以站三秒钟吧。靖恺倒是更调皮了。当他看到吸引他的东西时，他会嬉皮笑脸地朝我望一望，好像知道我会不同意他将要做的事，然后兴奋地转过头（去拉电线，摸电脑，爬抽屉等）。
7月靖恒开始放假。乘靖恺睡午觉的时间，我尝试教他写英文字母，念唐诗（为了让他说华语），真是考尽我的耐性！

the night I disturbed my sleeping brother:

the day we fought over the car (after posing for the camera):

the day we read on the bed:

what I must do everyday, more than once - rummage books:

the day I played hide-and-seek:

the day I stared - as my brother ate - beyond my reach:

say 'cheese'!

the night I was on my brother's bed:

the lure of the blue light:

I don't say 'cheese':

the day they made cookies (without me!):

"I am not showing you my asymmetrically-grown teeth!"

the day when it's all about trees (TreeFest 18-19 Jul 09 at Inverleith Park):

"I... shall... sur...mount... you!"

the days we looked good together:

Lorien's birthday party at Gorgie City Farm (they made the card without me! I would love to make a card too. It must be very delicious.):

my brother, His Royal Highness (I don't care, I am busy):

the evening of the tractor pedalling:

the day my brother sucked lollipop in front of me (so I did too, I think):

the evening my brother demonstrated teeth brushing to me (seems like it's going to be my turn soon):

the - no, MY - car gym:

on my brother's bed again:

the day my brother went to the National Museum of Scotland, where there were a Garden Detectives exhibition and some rocket stuff (without me again!):

the day my daddy's tummy became my drum:

the day my brother posed (and I didn't):


Don't think Jethro will start walking by one year old. He's barely trying to stand on his own now. Perhaps because I clapped my hands when I was encouraging him to stand on his own, he likes to clap his hands when he managed to stand for about 3 seconds. He's also got this cheeky smile which he flashed at you just before he was about to embark on something of a disapproving nature, like pulling the wires, touching the computer etc.
Ethan, into his second month of summer break, almost daily spent the couple of hours when Jethro was asleep slogging with me on ABCs writing and Chinese poems recitation (with no greater ambition than to get him to speak some Mandarin). I conclude that academic teaching is best left to the teachers. Such sessions with him always left me rather spent at the end, reminding how I have long ago learnt that teaching is not a job for me (my sis will undoubtedly attest to that).

Recorded below are some amusing things said by Ethan:

(suddenly, from the toilet where he was making big business)
"I was in your stomach with Jethro playing together."

(while chit chatting during tea time)
"I cannot see the round earth, I can only see the flat earth."
"Who taught you that?"
"Nobody did."
"Really? Not Daddy? Or your teachers?"
"No. 'Coz some of the things you don't need people to teach you, some of the things you need."

(in the morning - I am not sure what he was trying to say, but it was just after he had a bout of stomachaches a day or two ago)
"My stomach wants to sleep but the morning wake up me so my stomach is grumbling."

(referring to Jethro, after chiding him for not eating properly - "You must eat like me." I have even more question marks about this mysterious remark.)
"He's a question mark baby."

(from the nursery)
"You must try and learn and practise."

"Twinkle, twinkle, traffic lights,
Down by station shining lights.
Red means stop, green means go,
Amber means very slow.
Twinkle, twinkle, chocolate bar,
My dad has a rusty car."