Cats and Dogs.

Are you a cat person or a dog person? For pretty much my entire life, I was neither. I grew up not really being an animal person in general, mostly because I wasn't a fan of (a) getting contaminated by the germs on those things and (b) possibly being on the receiving end of any form of bodily harm. Animals did fascinate me to a certain extent, however, as I used to enjoy observing them and learning about them; just not enough to to make me want to touch them.

I had a pet fighting fish when I was seven, which had been given to me by a teacher in school. It wasn't long (probably only a matter of days) before I found it floating upside down in the jar it was kept in, though. Apparently you shouldn't seal the jar shut if the lid doesn't have any air holes, no matter how concerned you are that the water might spill out. I've never had a pet since.

I grew up not liking cats, which is probably down to my experiences with strays at outdoor/open air food joints. I didn't like their incessant mewing and begging for food, how they would suddenly just rub up against your leg, and that they were dirty and germ-infested. House cats were cleaner, of course, but I still refused to touch them or be touched by them. I also never quite saw the point of having pet cats in the first place, as they pretty much give you nothing in return for you taking care of them.

I always thought dogs were more practical - they keep you safe and can understand instructions. Having said that, Muslims in this country don't typically keep dogs as pets (we're not allowed to unless they're for protection), and Malays here generally have a pretty negative outlook on the things. There's also the matter of dogs potentially being able to bite your arm off and being pretty noisy regardless of their size, so as someone who would rather keep his limbs and eardrums intact, I wasn't a big fan of dogs either, though I could appreciate their practicality.

As time went on, I met more and more people who had cats or dogs as pets, and they loved them like they were their own flesh and blood. A friend of mine's cat died once and she was really upset about it; it was difficult for me to empathize given my not-very-fond feelings towards cats.

It wasn't until my trip to France a few months ago that I finally softened my stance towards cats. The house I had stayed in while in Toulouse had a cat that belonged to (or rather, was taken care of by) my friend's housemate. I was given a couch in the living room to stay in, which happened to be the same room the cat would usually hang out in if it wasn't outside. I tried avoiding it at first, but it kept coming towards me for whatever reason - I was told that it hadn't been getting enough love from the guys who lived in the house, so maybe it just wanted some attention and affection.

I eventually decided that resistance was futile, so I allowed it to come up to me, rub itself on me (getting fur everywhere in the process), and even climb onto my lap. I figured I might as well just try petting and scratching the cat while it was at it and, well, I found myself sort of liking it. The cat (which didn't have a name, by the way) and I got along just fine for the rest of my stay there, as you can tell by the above picture.

I wouldn't say I love cats now, but I am able to tolerate them. I was at my cousin's school the other day and there was a cat in the warden's administration office; I took the time to pet it on my own accord. If that does not signify progress, I don't know what does.

I very recently broke down my personal barriers against dogs as well. I flew to Singapore last Friday and, as my flight was quite early in the morning, I spent the night before at a friend's place in Nilai - the thing was that he had five dogs at home. One was a large Doberman kept outside in a cage, while the other four were a family of toy poodles.

I was greeted at the entrance by a whole load of barking, and I could see the poodles poking their little heads through the gaps in the gate, seemingly ready to pounce. My friend's mom opened the gate and they rushed out towards me. I panicked at first and tried to get away, but I eventually calmed down as I realized that they weren't going to bite me. Sure, their saliva got on me and probably my clothes as well, but I just had to wash it off later, which I didn't think was really a big deal. I later tried my hand at petting the dogs, and I found that, like I had experienced with the cat some months earlier, it really wasn't so bad.

I got back from Singapore on Sunday, just before lunchtime, and the same friend (as well as his girlfriend, whom I'd met once previously) picked me up from the airport and took me back to his house for lunch. His mom's cooking was excellent and the time I spent there before heading home to Ampang was enjoyable, but most significantly for the topic of this blog post, I just want to say that I quite liked being around those little dogs again. I enjoyed chilling with them (the one in the picture above is named Lucky) and seeing them do tricks. My friend later said I can I just come over and hang out whenever; I might just do that to see those dogs again (...and to see him, of course).

So do I love animals now? Well, I wouldn't go as far as to pet stray cats, but my perception towards them is now much improved. Animals are God's creatures too, after all, and deserve the same levels of love and respect afforded towards human beings.

Job Hunting.

I was browsing through my social media the other day when I found that one of my friends from Rembau, currently studying to become an army doctor, had posted a picture of himself on what appeared to be a naval warship. Considering that I've never been on one of those before, I thought that was pretty cool. I have slight memories of being on a ferry once when I was very young, though, which is pretty much my only experience of being out on the open seas.

The experience of spending some time at sea on a naval warship is something I may never get to do, unless I enlist in the navy for some reason at some point in the future, which is pretty unlikely considering the sorry state of my physique. However, having a friend who does have that experience is, for me, the next best thing as I could potentially ask him about it the next time I see him. Secondhand experience is, of course, nowhere near firsthand, but as someone who grew up being contented with reading storybooks and listening to tales from my elders, it's good enough.

The way I see it, we all walk different paths and therefore have different experiences. There's only so much you can realistically experience for yourself, so you really have no choice but to be happy with mere stories (sometimes of questionable validity) for the most part. You should, by all means, try to experience as much as you can, but don't get too disheartened if you miss out on some things. Everything happens for a reason, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can move on.

***

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday over lunch about our possible future careers. The guy is currently interning at a bank in KL and will be graduating right after that, whereas I have finally reached the point in my post-graduation honeymoon where I've started to properly think about getting a job. We're both the same age and are from the same degree program. Talking about possible future careers was, of course, quite appropriate for both of us considering where we currently stood in life. It was pretty interesting to think about just how many options are available to young people these days, at home and abroad, and also to consider the possible experiences waiting for us along the way.

The conclusion I reached at the end was that I had no clue what I was going to do with my life, but at the same time I shouldn't be too worried because I'm still very young and have plenty of time to figure things out. I believe I'm the first out of all my school friends to have graduated with a degree; most of the others still have about a year or more still to go. If that doesn't indicate that I've been moving a bit too fast, I don't know what does.

Having said that, I would ideally like to get a job soon, although it remains to be seen where. I'll probably just apply to as many companies as possible, perhaps even in various industries. In the current job market, it would be great to get even one offer. That would make the decision-making process much easier, at least. Me being me, however, I'd probably get upset if I didn't get at least a few. Being given the dilemma of having to choose between several job offers would be, as some might say, a nice headache to have.