Cats!

Pin It Pictures of Tangerine and Raisin, because they are just too cute. They sleep and bird watch. You know, things cats are good at.

What's going on here!?

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Walked in one day and found the cats sharing one blanket on the couch. They generally act like they don't care for each other. But while the humans are not looking, they are secretly friends. And maybe plotting for our demise...?

Raisin doesn't appear particularly thrilled with our discovery. Tangerine is too embarrassed to admit that she loves her totally uncool little sister.

Labor Day Grillin'

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Yes, these pictures are very belated, but Labor Day was so much fun! VB always wanted to have a big grill in the backyard. Since we're short on space and saving money, we'll have do with a $30 grill. But that doesn't mean we can't have lots of fun! And good food! On the beach!!! That's right, here are some incriminating evidence of us starting a fire where prohibited.

Pigeon Point Light House -- Pacific Coast's tallest light house, now in a state of disrepair.

More views of the Pacific Coast -- sort of rocky and not particularly beach-y.

Fire on the beach!

VB got some female compliment on the corn -- goes to show that a man with a grill is irresistible. That's tofu "ribs" on the right, in case you're curious. Just some firm tofu marinated overnight in barbeque sauce and maple syrup.

Eating a portabella mushroom burger with a spoon.

More tofu "ribs" and some peaches.

Mmm, grilled peach with rum sauce...

This is not related to Labor day or grilling, but here's Raisin photobombin' Tangerine's glamor photo shoot.

Introducing... Raisin

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This is the newest member of our family -- Raisin. We adopted her a few weeks ago from a local animal rescue organization. Out of all the kitties up for adoption, we were immediately drawn to her because she had a dainty shyness and big sad eyes. She is dark, tiny and sweet, a perfect match with her namesake. We thought she would be the perfect little sister to our five-year old calico tabby mix, Tangerine.

Little did we know, Raisin was on her best first date behavior. You know, elbows off the table, ordering salad with light dressing, and leaving half of it untouched. Raisin is actually wild and rambunctious at home. She'll bat at anything that dangles, swirls, and dances. She'll play, play, and play until she falls to the floor. She has the quietest meows to go with her big personality; she sounds like she has a terrible case of strep throat.

As far as being the perfect little sister to Tangerine? Well, I think this how Tangerine feels about her little sister....

"Mooooommmmm! Doez not want!!!"

Despite being much bigger than Raisin, Tangerine was initially very afraid of her. Now, Tangerine will make a fuss and growl if Raisin gets too close, but Raisin just ignores her and continues with her play. Raisin can definitely hold her own when Tangerine is having a hissy fit. When Tangerine is feeling more amicable, they have a great time chasing each other back and forth. Now, the relationship is one of begrudging tolerance.


Here, they are united by their common love of bird watching. Aren't they cute?

Goodbye to Taipei

Pin It I'm leaving Taipei and off to Turkey and Greece for the next two weeks. But before I go, a few odd pet pictures from Taipei.


VB and I call this cat "Agent Orange." It's the resident cat of a pet hospital in Taipei. It has a proper Chinese name, of course, but "Agent Orange" is an excellent name for a mean big fat orange cat. It looks pissed off because it was shaved and forced to wear a sailor outfit to keep warm. Let Agent Orange be an example to cats everywhere (ahem, Tangerine), stop barfing fur balls or suffer the humiliation of wearing stupid costumes.


That's right. It's a German Shepherd riding a scooter. I've seen a lot of people carry their dogs on scooters, but not like that. You'd think the driver would ride slowly, but that was not the case. In fact, we had to chase after the scooter to get this shot. If it wasn't stopped at the light, I never could have captured this picture to share with everyone.


Yes, that's a pig being walked in the park. Weird? Yes. Cute? Oh, yes.