nirvana | Tiara in Transit

The stray cats of Miraflores.

I am heartbroken. I had just written this post about the stray cats of Miraflores today when I received an email from my good friend who has been taking care of my cats Queba & Lestat. He wrote that Queba, my 14-year-old persian past away in his sleep last night 😦

So I’d like to dedicate this next post about the happy cats of Miraflores to my beautiful Queba.

The stray cats of Miraflores.
I stood in Parque Kennedy and was delightfully amazed at the scene before me – healthy un-manged happy cats everywhere, in the park flower beds, up the trees, rubbing their noses and heads on their friendly human neighbours, on sidewalks, in the alley ways, lazing around on the grass where less than half a metre away a flock of birds were grazing – it was spectacular! After having come from India where I saw a lot of animal neglect and heartbreak, this was an extreme breath of welcomed fresh air.

Roy – ‘Its amazing, the council look after the stray cats around here (even medical issues?) oh yes, you see they’re all very healthy looking and very friendly, they don’t cause any problems with the birds because they’re being fed you see, and the people leave them alone, in fact, they enjoy having them around.’

It was true, everywhere you looked there were stray, unstray looking, collarless cats. And they did look healthy, some a little too healthy if you know what I mean (heavy). These kitty cats were very friendly to each other, to the people, and to the native wildlife. . . it was pussy nirvana!

Beware of the Sichuan hotpot

One of the first things I did in Chengdu was seek out the famous Sichuan hotpot at the recommended ChongQing QinMa Hotpot Restaurant.

This Sichuan meal is a broth of stock, oils, spring onion, Sichuan peppers with lots of chillies boiling in a hotpot usually resting centre of the dining table, while additional ingredients such as tender beef, shrimp dumplings, noodles and veggies are thrown into the boil during the course of the seating.

First bite – OMG. Delicious! Yum!

Second bite – Hot searing pain in my mouth.. But I like it.

Third bite – Everything taste like metal.

Fourth bite – My mouth has reached a numb nirvana.

I end the meal fully aware of a low burning heat that accompanies my gut out of the restaurant. The sensation intensifies during my walk through Chengdu town, and strangely creeps closer to the point of volcanic eruption with each passing hour.

My body was still hosting this inferno at 4am that morning, and my internal organs were so inflamed that I was wondering if I could still have children(?)

In hindsight, when the waitress asked me how I wanted my hotpot – Mild, Medium, or Hot – requesting ‘HOT HOT’ was way too ambitious.