The Amateur Writer

It's the first day of class here at Otago University! It was really sunny today and what an amazing weather to kick start our semester! Expect an influx of Dunedin-related posts coming your way...I'm already feeling nostalgic! I was surprise that it was Market Day today. Alia and I are thinking of opening a stall ourselves so that we could sell our stuff. Maybe the next Market Day. :)

O-Week stands for Orientation Week here at Otago University. This usually means crazy parties for the new and returning students. Often you will see a huge influx of parents in town as they helped their children settle down. By night, it will be crazy initiations and parties for them party heads. I've survived through two O-weeks and what they usually consist of are grocery shopping, catch-ups, errands, course approval and sleep. Seeing that this year will be my last O-week, I tried joining in with the Uni festivities.

I love to travel and see new places. But the thing I can't stand most is flying. And airports. I just hate going to airports because it will always mean saying goodbye to someone you love. It's interesting how by just saying goodbye, it triggers many thoughts..thoughts that make you realize many things. Especially things that are most important.

Ok. I was really surprised when my friend told me that the Otago University Magazine wrote an article on me. My first reaction was, "OMG Critic (Otago's Student Magazine) wrote an article on me?!"

And she was like, "No. Otago University Magazine!"

And I was like, "Whaa..what magazine is that?"

Well apparently it's the posher kind la. The one that no one reads...except old alumni of the Otago Uni. :P

So yeah...amazing day today. I found out that my name is in print so that's awesomesauce. The article is about how I received this award from the University last year which I did but I didn't bother to tell people la. I mean, chill bro. D: But nowwww...this is something to brag about la. I'M IN PRINT!

Here's the article. I've got the PDF version of the magazine which if you're interested to see the article in full colour...go here. Go to page 45. If it's a hassle, here's the copied version from the magazine:

Once there is a family of six that consists of a Master, a Madam and their 4 children: Lady 1, Lady 2, Lady 3 and Young Master. They are a private family. They value their privacy and rarely accept outsiders into their circle for they love each other very much. However when Lady 1 turned 12, she received a kitten as a present. Unbeknownst to her, the kitten would soon grow up as a cat dragon.

Now what is this family of six going to do with this kitten? The Master has a fear of cats, Madam was dreading the future responsibility that would soon fall on her and the children were over the moon. And thus, the great life of Cat Dragon began...

What exactly is this Cat Dragon?

The Cat Dragon is one of a kind. In fact it can be said there is only one in this world. The cat dragon is extremely smart and full of badassery. Don't be fooled by his (yes, it's a HE.) cute and innocent looks for this cat dragon will take you down with its razor sharp claws (all hidden under those fluffy paws). He likes to play rough and will only be nice if he wants something or he's hungry. The Cat Dragon became cat dragon because of his confused upbringing. Living with six humans (who never owned a cat before) certainly damages a cat's natural instincts. The Cat Dragon is confused whether he is a cat or human. (Thus explains why Cat Dragon sometimes display human characteristics. This will be discussed later.) This confusion soon leads to Cat Dragon evil plan to overthrow Master and become the leader of this family...

Due to his evilness, Cat Dragon unleashes his inner dragon when things just doesn't go his way...or maybe because he has to take a bath. Also Cat Dragon looks like a dragon when his green eyes turned into slits.




Cat Dragon's official name is Ginger Dorantes. Why Dorantes you ask? Lady 1 went through a telenovela phase so that's why.

Other names of Cat Dragon:

a) Gingi
b) Gengar
c) GD
d) G-dragon (The ladies of the house are big fans of the rapper. This nickname seems appropriate for the Cat Dragon).
e) Shishio
f) Baby
g) Boss
h) Bibi

Author's Note: From here on forth, the author will address Cat Dragon with the variety of his notorious names.


Throughout the time living with Ginger, the members of the family have expressed their personal thoughts on him. These thoughts are summarized through the observer's speech and actions.

Lady 1: GINGI IS DIABOLICAL!

Lady 2: Fat.

Lady 3: Comeyyyy~ (Cutie) Badass (In this situation, pronounced as /ba-dass/).

Young Master: Like a BOSS!

Madam: Pemalas./ Menghabiskan periuk nasi aku je. (Lazy ass./ You're a waste of money.)

Master: Get him away from meeee!/ Somebody take care of Ginger!!

























Ginger is a very special cat. I'm willing to bet all of my money on his talents. Ginger's speciality lies in his unique personality and the human skills he picked up from the family. Seeing that GD had never lived with any of his kind, he is kinda weird. Sometimes he shows certain human-like skills. For instance in the picture below, GD sits on his butt.

He also sleeps like a human. He loves the aircond and you will find him sleeping on Lady 3's bed with his head on the pillow and have the rest of his body covered with the comforter. He whines if somebody turned off the AC. :)

By some of his description, Gingi is very cunning. He doesn't follow what people say nor he will "layan" you like any other cats would. He is definitely not your average house cat. He will only "manja" to you if he wants something. He's hungry and you will see rubbing against your legs, basically wrapping himself around you or lick you or gives the softest and cutest meow. Also he acts most human in the middle of the night where if you talk to him, he'll respond. It's weird...but even the Madam admits that she talks to GD when it's just the two of them at home.

As he gets older, I noticed that Ginger is getting more fluent with human language. You can ask whether he wants to drink or eat and he'll respond to you. He knows what you're about to do and will follow you if you're about to give him what you want. He knows if you're angry or sad. If you're angry, he'll get angrier than you. If you're sad, he'll get sadder than you. What about if you're happy? Well, he gets annoyed. He doesn't like it if you laugh too loud. You're just disturbing his beauty sleep. Haha

That's Ginger for you.

Now what happens if GD is content? He will flat out ignore you. Seems harsh but that's what it is. He is the epitome of a playa, he plays with you to get what he wants and after all of that, he stomps all over your broken heart. And leaves a couple of scratches while he's at it. Haha.

Many people told us that we have the worst-behaved cat (Trust us, GD is banned from a couple of pet shops and vets due to his tantrums. Thus putting him for board can be difficult) ever. But they don't understand the significance of Ginger. You can never find a more unique cat than this. Yes he might not be eligible to enter cat competitions (due to his personality) but he showed the family to be true to yourself. So what if you're spoiled or cunning or evil, the big question is whether you're happy. And I can proudly say that Ginger is the happiest cat that ever lived. :D


















































A list of GD's Diva Antics:

a) He likes the cold. Thus he wants you to turn on the AC when he's in the room so that he could sleep comfortably.
b) He will only drink upstairs, outside the children's bathroom. On the other hand, he will only eat downstairs, next to the kitchen.
c) He won't drink yesterday's water or even today's water. He will only drink the water when he sees you you fill the bowl with fresh water.
d) He doesn't like to bathe. He will unleash the cat dragon within so the only way you get to clean him is to send him to the groomer. The groomer will have to sedate him unconscious in order to shower him though.
e) Don't.ever.bring.another.cat.into.the.house.
f) He only likes girls in shorts. He has a thing for legs.
g) No other cat can be in Lady 3's arms other than him. He hates it when he has to re-mark his territory. Besides, it will only get Madam angry. Now, do you know how cats mark their territory?
h) He only eats PREMIUM cat food. No Friskies for this cat. He will get some serious diarrhoea if he eats non-premium cat food. Talk about high maintenance.




















One of our family's favourite memory of Ginger is a bad one. It was basically all you don't want to happen during a storm. Imagine this, we were driving long distance to Terrenganu (7-9 hour drive), to go back for Eid celebrations but we had to bring Ginger along. Usually we would put him up for boarding if we're leaving for a trip but being Ginger, he got himself banned from all the pet shops in Shah Alam at the time. And it was EID! So we had to bring him along. That's just part one of the story.

Part two is about how Madam is trying to cut cost on GD's food. His premium cat food was getting really really expensive so we thought Gingi could start getting used to Friskies or Whiskers for once. To be honest, it was really bad timing lah to introduce him to his new food. Remember he gets diarrhoea from normal cat food.

Okay, so we're back in the story. We're going back for Eid and we had to bring GD along on this trip. It was at least a 7 hour drive and on board was a cat who's suffering from diarrhoea. At first it was going pretty well. It just turned 8pm and we were having a great time. We were singing along to John Legend's Green Light and we were laughing. All of that. Amazing time.

Then it started to rain.

Scratch that, it wasn't even rain. It was a freaking storm.

Cue M. Nasir's Suatu Hari di Hari Raya. The perfect song for what could have been our worst experiences ever as a family. The trip has started to take a toll on GD (don't blame the guy) and he needed to go so bad.

Which he did. Right in the car.

What's worse than normal poo?

The slimy kind.

SO yeah, that happened and mind you, the whole car went crazy. We opened all the windows but that's problematic because there was a storm raging outside and everything in the car got wet. Master stopped at a petrol station and Madam rushed to buy GD...diapers.

To us that was the most logical thing to do at the time. :/

While Madam did that, my siblings and I carried Ginger to the toilet; to clean him up. Believe me when I said that GD alone turned the toilet inside out. The place is small and he was running away from the water thus knocking things over. The whole place was wet. Madam came in with the diapers and we started to put it on  him. But we forgot one thing.

Where the hell will GD's tail go through?

Due to situation, Madam started cutting a hole at the bottom of the diaper while the rest of tried cleaning up Ginger. Because of the storm raging outside, at a point a blackout happened and we were trying to settle of this mess in the dark.

And the end, we ended with a fairly pissed Ginger, 5 soaking wet people and the Master making puking noises because he couldn't stand the smell in the car.

I think I did mention at one point of the night that despite what happened, we will laugh about it someday.

We did. :)