005: Roby's & Spillo's couch politics

We got ourselves a 2seater couch that with an automatic extendable footrest (¬ ‿ ¬) last october. How did we survive all these years of marriage without one?! Well this is more Roby’s idea. I’m more of a stool person probably because of my Asian habits… maybe… Back at my parents’ place that’s where i spend my time in front of the coffee table snacking on fruits and watching Korean drama.

Anyway both Roby and Spillo spend more time on the couch than I do! No surprise of course. I’ll in charge of clearing up the kitchen and nearly all the chores.

A normal after dinner routine would be: Spillo would park himself on the left seat which Roby’s side before we finish eating. He wouldn’t budge when Roby takes a seat, so than he sits on my side. When I’m done eating I drop a treat on his bowl and he slowly gets up to eat that. Then we would take our respective places Spillo in the middle, normally head on Roby’s lap. lol

When I was away in Singapore Spillo would sleep on the 1st floor. The kitchen/ living room is on the 2nd floor and Roby’s studio/office on the ground floor. After work at night Roby would go to the couch in the living room. The moment Roby gets up from his chair. Spillo would race up to the couch before him to take the left seat. Spillo would look up at Roby when he steps in the kitchen “oh what are you waiting for”

#sliceoflife #verona #italy #couchpolitics #spillo #Roby #chores #leftseat #footrest #stoolperson #Asianhabits #snacking #Koreandrama #afterdinnerroutine

004: Dog training applied to humans

treats for not barking at people lol

We started dog training ever since we had Spillo last december. It’s a pretty intense session that we are still undergoing. This started me thinking if this could be applied to humans as well. Think about that annoying person in the workplace, how do you make them nicer or behaving in the way that you want.

Nobody likes to be told what to do, how they should do it or they should behave. Yet we (human beings in general) freely offer their “advice” to one another and in this case another species …dog your so-called best friend. I see this as man’s arrogance towards another being other than himself.

For example the issue of barking. Dogs barks. That’s the most natural doggy behaviour. He is expressing himself, when he is scared he barks. When he doesn’t like something he barks. When he is angry he barks. When he playful he barks. Unfortunately this behaviour is not acceptable on your daily walks.

Spillo used to bark at people, especially old folks with walking sticks, kids, negro women and joggers. You can’t get any more politically incorrect than that. I can’t tell you how times he nearly gave old folks a heart attack barking at them out of the blue. Or kids crying when he lunge at them. 

After months of positive reinforcement Spillo has come to associate people with biscuits. Every time we pass someone on the street, he turns to look at me as if to say “well… where’s my biscuit? …well come on… hurry up and give me my biscuit”

I don’t know how it could be applied to people. Food doesn’t work on all people (but it works on me). If you could apply the techniques to make people behave the way that you want to that would be nice. What I have learned from dog training is more than Spillo. I would love to elaborate on this in future post.

#dogtraining #humantraining #scared #barking #walks #oldpeople #joggers #kids #anotherspecies #advice

003: Cat with many masters

Since a few years ago I reconnected with an old friend D. She’s quite the sociable type, unlike me, it’s impossible to keep track of the people she knew. Then I remembered a theory I had of her. I called her a food magnet ie. she seem to be receiving food from various random people.

This was years ago. She would buy lunch consisting of rice with a few dishes. Often they would give her enough for dinner. Sometimes even some snacks on the side without extra charge. The best story was the free ice cream. Once she was given all flavours of ice cream to taste from an ice cream shop. Free of course. So much that she wanted to puke at the end of it but kept smiling despite of that. What envy! I mean who is not a fan of free food.

I’ve received free food too. In the 90’s the gallery openings (in singapore) had refreshments with a lot of wine to go around. That was a lot of fun. It was different because it was free to everyone. 

No fair! Why her and not me. Just the other day it happened again. We was at a coffee shop and she arrived before us. Free toast. No charge. It’s like magic.

Then I finally put this mystery to rest after 20 over years.

This situation is not new. We see it in another context. There was a fat stray cat Mozzarella outside the old apartment where we used to stay. He ate whatever food you gave it. He meows when necessary. But he was really antisocial with me and Roby. Around dinner time he would appear at the usual spot. At other times he is probably fed somewhere else by someone else. There’s the neighbour that brings food to him every evening. Sometimes it would be half eaten. Mozzarella is a fat cat. I’m certain he has other masters around the neighbourhood.

This is pretty normal with cats. Even some house cats do that. My friend D is just like that. Random people offering her food. Each not knowing the existence of the other. But why? That happens before the food is offered. She’s charming and talks to them about things. There is an exchange… conversation. In return and in appreciation of this act of humanness they give her food. Simple!

Simple for her, not simple for me. Let’s try harder for free grub ٩(๑`^´๑)۶

 #sliceoflife #verona #italy #singapore #freefood #cats #catwithmanymasters #friend #straycats #humanness #antisocialcat #nocharge

002: Politeness

We were talking about how women are judged about being emotional and bitchy when we state our point strongly. That was a discussion on the whatsapp group yesterday. Then our resident beng (please google “ah beng singapore meaning” for its definition lol).

Stating your point strongly in the Singaporean context is considered a bit rude. We are a peace loving lot. Even if your point makes sense. Better not to stand out too much. Be a wallflower, live peacefully with your neighbour. Even if it means having grumble about it with your partner, wife or husband at home, your twitter friends or whatsapp group friends.

Put this in the perspective from where i am living at the moment. In Italy people speak their mind normally. So often in fact they don’t need to raise their voice. Plus it’s a 2 way thing. They often ask your opinion on certain issues. Could something trivial, anything. They normally speak in depth about things in general. And expect you to do the same. They would encourage and probe your opinion. They don’t like people who hold back their opinion. Politeness is equated with suspicion. It put distance between people.

Coming back to me being in a situation like that. My Singaporean politeness holds me back in the interaction with people. I already have an introverted personality. So you can see where this is leading. Habits are hard to break. I have not Italised that much after 10 years. My input in any conversation seem a superficial. It’s hard for me to vocalise my thoughts in Italian. I’m still working on this. I get by with a lot of smiling. LOL Spillo my dog is helping break the ice though.

Spillo taking a break from suntanning

#politeness #sliceoflife #verona #italy #singapore #rude #conversation #distancebetweenpeople #introverted #2017002

001: My desk doesn't feel like it's mine

With much difficulty I start my writing experiment. All the obstacles include housework, lack of willpower & lack of time. After my annual Singapore trip, I feel a little bit more refreshed & decided dig my heels into it. To make this happen, i’ve ignored the piles of dishes in the kitchen sink, clean dishes in the dishwasher, and put aside around an hour daily to write.

I spent the 1st 2 days cleaning my table. My personal space has been dying of neglect ever since we moved to our new house. At the moment I can actually see my table top (¬ ‿ ¬)

… and yes it doesn’t feel like it’s my own.

Probably I will be posting this on my blog. I will write freely. My thoughts are abrupt, short and jumpy; my (mildly) dyslexic brain talking. Each post will probably be brief. I’m dying to insert emojis everywhere, I try control myself but fail. (¬ ‿ ¬)

It’s also a timing thing. My anime viewing and ‘life’ on twitter is getting boring. Eventually everything becomes boring and you need to move on. Boredom does lead to good things. I have re-connected to real life friends which is also a good thing. This also leads me thinking about how I should approach this life.

#desk #cleaning #blogpost #sliceoflife #willpower #obstacles #2017001

Dragon curtain for Miro and Marta

Dragon curtain for Miro and Marta

Commission from my friends. They wanted the dragon batic to cover a make shift wardrobe. It was too small. Adding plain cloth just wouldn't work here so we needed something extra loud so the gold borders were perfect. They had all the materials which was bought in Bali.

Until the next time. ciao …i can be contacted at juunta@gmail.com for enquiries.

Monk's bag

Monk's bag

My friend Lina commissioned a copy of her favourite bag, a Monk's bag.

The fabric is dark charcoal grey hemp, with light wool lining. The original was more of a sling bag, with a very simple design. A design originating from a temple for the monks it was made to be reproduce easily with very little waste of fabric. Standard width of panels were used with lining, so the desired length cut out. the original has only 4 lined panels. I find this quite interesting.

Hemp which is much thicker than the original, had "problematic" seams because it becomes really thick when sewn together and can make the bag look really bulky. I've solved this by using the lining as much as possible.

Modifications include the length of the bag handles which is shorten to a tote length. The original (in the foto) had already been shorten (roughly tacked). The size of the bag lengthen. A zip has been on the top.

The zip was practical but i couldn't keep the simplicity of the design. It became closer to a standard/mass produced model …oh well…

I tried making this as brief as possible but still coughed out so much text. ^^;;

Until the next time <3

Monk's bag- charcoal grey hemp

original bag. handle tacked. It's really from a temple i kid you not…

pretty top view :3