We went to IKEA with my sister Juji and boyfriend Jay. They wanted to buy some furniture and as Jay’s car is small, we offered to go along and load up the back of our ute with anything they might buy (and of course, Jac and I love going to IKEA anyway).
As soon as we got to IKEA Jac and I had to (yes, had to) stop for an IKEA $1 hot dog. These hot dogs are one of the greatest value snacks ever. You really do get a big hot dog for a dollar, and those springy, spicy wieners are delicious! As we munched on our hot dogs, we looked through the current IKEA catalogue and Juji pointed out the bookshelves she was hoping to buy.
We’d planned to shop first, then eat lunch in the IKEA restaurant, but it didn’t end up working out that way, so I didn’t get to have my beloved Swedish meatballs (regular readers will know all about my love for IKEA’s Swedish meatballs). But back at Juji and Jay’s place after we unloaded the ute, we ordered takeaway nasi lemak from a Chinese restaurant called Hoi Bo. Not Swedish meatballs, but a delicious lunch!
The nasi lemak included coconut rice, a whole hard-boiled egg, peanuts, curry chicken, chilli sambal and achar (pickled vegetables). I love egg, so I was very pleased to see the whole hard-boiled egg – a lot of restaurants serve only half an egg with their nasi lemak. The rice had a pretty good “lemak” flavour too. This nasi lemak was yummy and I’d totally eat it again.
I couldn’t wait to get home and show the cats what we’d bought. Yes, you read right! I’d bought four round bathroom mats for the cats, each mat a different bright colour. Our cats love mats. Well, they love to sit on anything you put on the floor. It could be a towel, a sheet of newspaper, a piece of cardboard, any piece of cloth or paper of any size, if it’s there, they’ll sit on it. Billy Lee especially loves to sit on the green Woolworth’s shopping bags – if one happens to be on the floor, she’ll just plop herself on top of it. I had a feeling they’d love the new mats.
So when we got home, I laid the mats on the floor in the living room and went about my normal activities, switching on my computer, making a cup of tea, etc. When I looked back at the cats, they were sitting on the mats!
Billy took a shine to the orange mat and sat on it for a long time.
Pixel kept darting around the house like she usually does, but kept coming back to sit on the red mat for some reason.
And even after Billy Lee finally got up from the orange mat, Pixel kept coming back to the red one. She’d sit on it looking like she was thinking hard about something.
I’m so glad I bought the mats. They’re actually supposed to be bathroom mats, and accordingly, they have a rubber backing, which means they don’t slip and slide on the tiles. We change the position of the mats regularly and the cats love to walk, stand, sit and lie on them. Simple pleasures!
Update
A month later and Pixel still loves that red mat!
I'm TFP, a food blogger from Perth, Western Australia.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Those mats are great! Cats love sitting on stuff.
God those $1 hotdogs look so good. Have you tried the green Swedish princess cake yet? Those look nice :D
Tamz,
I haven’t tried the princess cake yet, but my sister Juji absolutely loves it.
Ikea is a sneaky, sneaky whore. I went there last week to buy a desk, but found it couldn’t fit in my car, and before I knew it I was standing at the checkouts with drinking glasses, power boards, and salad bowls… but no desk.
Thankfully I had the good sense to go put everything back on the shelves…
Damn that hot dog looks fine.
I have to get some shelving from Ikea, must remember to get a hawt dawg.
Hmm, cats on mats. What is it about things to sit on though. We had a cat (sadly he’s gone now) who used to love sitting on paper. This included a newspaper that you might be trying to read. He combined his fondness for love and paper into one annoying move. (His name was Panther by the way, which got abbreviated to Pixie, and then to Pixel. Computer geeks… :-) )
It’s nice to know my kitty isn’t the only one who has a fondness for sitting on paper, especially a newspaper that’s being read…
My old cat also knew exactly the section of paper you happened to be reading, and would sit directly on that part. You’d be left trying to amuse yourself with a Harvey Norman ad or something.
Craig, Sally, Conor,
Yep – our cats will also try to step on and then sit on your newspaper as you read it. When Jac reads a book in bed, Pixel will climb up on her and headbutt the book, and try to step on the pages.
Pixel will sit on your paper but then when she notices you’ve moved on to the TV mag or a catalogue, she’ll switch over sit on whatever you’ve moved on to. She’s evil!!!! :P
Craig,
Heheh, seeing as we’ve both owned cats named Pixel, who’re you calling a geek?! LOL
Well anyone who calls, or nicknames their cat Pixel! :-) Yes I guess that’s you AND me! :-)
I have to confess, two things went very firmly through my mind when I saw the cat pics. Firstly of course was a schoolteacher type voice chanting ” The cat sat on the mat ” ! secondly : damn, its a shame you can’t teach them to play Twister :P
Ok, first of all – did you notice you have a lot of “J” names in your family? :P
Cats are strange – they like to sit on things! If there’s a piece of paper on the tiles, you can bet that Puddy will go and sit on it. When I’d sit at my computer to study with a text book open next to me on the desk, Puddy would come and flop on it. So strange. Maybe you can use the different coloured mats as mood mats? Is Pixel an angry cat? lol
This Pixel cat of your is SO adorable. But I reckon she has good taste. I too have several of those colourful bathroom mats in my home (some in storage till needed, of course). :)
I love love love IKEA food. Like many sensible Singaporeans, I go there to eat! Just this past week, I happened to be running some errands in the vicinity of IKEA and popped by for a quick snack of hot dog smothered in tomato sauce, and curry puff just coz my stomach was growling. If I weren’t in such a hurry I’d totally have gone upstairs to the restaurant to eat curry chicken served with rice and achar. What I love about IKEA here is that they serve daily specials on weekdays, some of which are local dishes. And these change monthly if my memory serves me right. I think I once had nasi goreng there, which was decent, with a juicy piece of fried chicken, fishcake and some veggies. They even serve breakfast! I’m so lucky to stay about a 15 minute drive from IKEA. :D
just have to say, ikea is jus down the slope from my hse in sg :D *triumphant grin*! Hahahaha. That aside, thoh im no fan of cats, them both look SO CUTE! Hw nice of u to buy them the mats, tfp!
That’s a pretty big dog for $1. “The nasi lemak” looks marvelous — and I’d love the peanuts in that! :-) It’s just as well they include a whole egg, considering eggs are inexpensive. I love the mats, TFP. Anything “polka dot” is always a nice accent, and those are lovely. The cats are adorable like usual. There are no IKEA stores in my area, never been to one. Would like to though.
p.s.: How funny that Pixel loves the red mat. Guess she knows it contrasts so beautifully with her black coat. She seems like quite the little ham. ;-p
Oh Pixel, that mat is making your eyes pop, baby! Accentuates your lovely nametag too. Tres chic.
I wonder if it’s because they don’t like the cold tiles? Do they do the same on carpeted flooring?
I had the round blue mat from Ikea for my bathroom mat for a long time. My cat used to like sit on it too!
Love those mats. And I continue to be astounded / impressed (can’t decide which) by Billy Lee’s potbelly. If she was a human, she’d pat her belly, laugh and say, “This is my prosperity, all bought and paid for!” :)
Fiona,
Yep. I could put a business card on the floor, and Pixel would find it and sit on it. :P
erin,
XD LOLOL at your description of IKEA. Yep, whenever we go there we end up walking out with extra stuff. Well done – we don’t usually manage to resist the temptations. :P
Darren,
Yes! You must!
Greenlady,
Hahaha, wasn’t it “The fat cat sat on the mat?” Well, Billy Lee is definitely fat, Pixel has her moments of looking podgy but she’s still very athletic. Billy Lee has always been a um, big-boned gal. :P Hahaha, we did think the dots were like Twister. Can you imagine trying to teach a cat to play Twister? “No, I don’t feel like putting my left paw on blue. I think I’ll just sit right here on red.”
Katie,
Yes, funny how that’s happened! And even my best friend’s nickname begins with J! :D Hahahah, no, Pixel is not angry, she’s a happy, naughty, greedy little cat.
dea,
Whenever I hear about Singapore IKEA I drool and feel envious. I’d love to have curry puffs and nasi goreng (omg and “with a juicy piece of fried chicken, fishcake and some veggies” :-O) and curry chicken at IKEA. I’d find even more reason to go there for sure! But then the difficulty would be in choosing what to have. At least now my choices are easy – snack is hot dog, lunch is meatballs. :P
huiyi,
Lucky you! I am totally jealous! :P We like to treat our cats (some would say spoil them!). They have a pretty good life, I reckon.
Cindy,
Yes it is amazing value for $1. When I first heard IKEA did $1 hot dogs I was skeptical; I thought they’d be horrible little things, like a kiddie-sized hot dog. But nope, I was wrong and totally impressed. The nasi lemak was great – I have to now find an excuse to be at Juji and Jay’s again around lunch time so we can try more of the food from that restaurant (or I could just say to them “Can I come over for lunch? :P) Yeah, I love brightly coloured things, so the mats are a pleasure for me too. I laughed at your description of Pixel as “quite the little ham” because my first thought was – she’d prefer to eat ham than to be called one. :P
Conor,
Heheheheh. Yeah, I love seeing her on our various red furniture items (we have quite a few red things – red couches, red bar stools, red study chairs). Yes – she’s had a couple of nametags now, and I always choose her a red one because it looks the best on her.
Zaw,
In summer on hot days they lay all over the tiles, presumably because they’re cool. But then they love sitting on rugs and mats even on the hottest days too. They just love sitting on stuff, especially if it’s clean and new. All we need to do is put down a new or freshly washed mat or rug, and the cats think it’s just the best thing ever!
Kali,
Heheheh, yep. It’s definitely a cat thing to want to sit on everything.
jaded,
Yeah – when you come visit you will have to touch Billy Lee’s belly for yourself. She has a very low hanging belly, always has. And she’s generally just a big cat, which makes it seem ever bigger. Yes, she’d say “This is my prosperity, all bought and paid for… by those two suckers!!!!”
oooh. i’ve got the same mats in my room .. all red.
food looks amazing :D
Catching up on blog reading, and this really cracked me up. Your cats are characters.
Also, the header with siew mai on it greeted me this morning. What wouldn’t I do for some of that right now (breakfast time) instead of cereal!
Mmmmmmmm siew mai…
furo,
Hehehe so many people have said they have those exact mats! :) Although I am eating my breakfast now and enjoying it (Maggi mee with an egg broken into it), looking at the pics again, I’d love some nasi lemak or a $1 hot dog right now.
Charlene,
So when are you coming over for laksa? You can see the cats in ‘person’ then too! :D Agreed – siew mai would be awesome right now. I’d eat a whole heap of them (and since I would be in fantasyland) I would then go back to bed. Hahahah.
your floor is really clean ^_^
Heheheh. Jac will be pleased you said so! But I wouldn’t show pictures of our house looking like a pig-sty would I? My study on the other hand, is a mess – I won’t be sharing photos of that room with you ;P
Omg laksa!!!!!! I need to get my act together.
And yes your floor is really clean. Mine’s like that about a minute after a vac and mop. And stays that way for about…. 2 days max?
I’m commenting on your posts backwards! I have had the worst time shaking this illness! Better today. My husband thinks maybe I had Swineflu. Guess we’ll never know! I had the ss crab last night. I had some for you and we enjoyed it very much! Fried up whole with a vinegary soy and sliced green onions. I was starving! So happy to see the kitties! I love them and their different personalities! Billie seems to sit back and see what Pixel is going to do next.
Charlene,
If it were up to me, the floor would look much more grotty. Luckily, Jac lives here too – she is a domestically superior creature to yours truly (and astoundingly patient with yours truly!) :P
kathy,
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been unwell, but it’s good you’re on the mend. That soft shell crab does sound nice – I read your comment out to Jac and she said “Yum!” Yes – Billy Lee does tend to sit/lie around and watch Pixel. Quite often it’s because we notice Billy Lee “watching something” that we catch Pixel up to something naughty. “What’s Billy Lee looking at? ….ARGH Pixel, get off the kitchen bench!” Even when it’s dinner time, Billy Lee likes to stand back and watch Pixel eat for a couple of minutes before she herself starts eating.