And It Never Feels Out Of Place

"There is something hypnotic in a tiger [...] She has that quality. She treads so softly that there is no sound, and you won't know she's there at all. But if she doesn't like something, she'll stop and hold your gaze. There's a kind of psychological ballet: who will outstare who? In such cases, you should probably not suddenly turn tail because the scent of fear passes quickly. You must back off slowly, slowly- especially if the tiger has a kill, or if she's a mother with cubs: she makes a step, you make a step- you must not run away. And only when you leave the territory she think is hers, only then can you run."
- The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival, John Vaillant.

The Year of the Tiger and then Rabbit. To make an understatement, that would not be the weirdest transition ever. From a somewhat ferocious and dominant tiger to a docile, fluffy bunny. Is it only me or do you see something wrong with this picture?

Maybe the year 2010 was full of surprises- like a tiger silently stalking, springing out at it's prey. An unpredictable mammal- like a cat. Only more volatile, proportional to it's size.

But I beg to differ. Rabbits can be very unpredictable. Since I have not dealt with tigers before, I shall use cats as an example and multiply the effects by say.... 872901471802328915840135781? Fair enough right?

So, cats are very affectionate. As much as they pretend not to acknowledge your existence, they thrive on your affections. If you ignore them enough, they come to you, hoping to get a belly rub. Cat's love to play. There's just something in their tiny brains that makes them a little inquisitive and go completely berserk. But there's a telltale sign when cats are going to turn mad as a Hatter. They start pawing you and/or things, the whites of their eyes show, they literally jump 3 feet in the air when you scare them and they skid when turning into corners.

If you say rabbits are harmless creatures, you have no idea. Once upon a time, my cousin had 2 rabbits. To cut a long story short, one died. The only surviving one [I don't remember it's name but let's just call it Ricky shall we?] escaped from it's cage but decided to stick around. Now, this is in the village where there's no gates or fences and the land is quite big. As soon as Ricky got his paws on the soft earth, he turned completely insane. Eating every single thing in sight, digging up roots and basically wrecking havoc around the farm. He managed to build up quite an attitude and became the badass of the farm. He started out by chasing the chickens and the ducks and one fine day, decided to stalk human beings. I kid you not when I say he chased my aunt around the farm and managed to bite her ankle. At first we thought it was an isolated incident but no, it went on biting other people. I started to wonder if it developed a taste for human meat.

It wasn't long before my aunt from Sibu [stating the particular area she comes from should give you an indication of her palate] decided to trap the bunny. I don't wish to discuss how she did it, but she did. And guess what? The menace of a bunny became dinner. Oh yeah. Rabbit stew, rabbit meat cooked in bamboo and skewered rabbit meat was on the menu that night. Were we sad Ricky died to fill our bellies? I didn't care. All I knew was that Ricky is no longer a threat and his death gave us life. Well, not really. I mean, if we didn't eat rabbit meat, we'd probably just go mainstream and eat chicken so we won't exactly die.

I can conclude that rabbits are no different than tigers and if rabbits are the size of tigers, they'd probably be just as badass or even more badass than tigers. Don't let that fluffy white exterior fool you. That's what they want you to think.

So in the spirit of Chinese New Year, have a great one! And if you're born in the Year of the Rabbit, do not fret. Remember, you're the ultimate weapon of looking innocent yet well, not.

Signing out,
cheongsam-WANT!