We had a blast on Day One at the Cutie Pet Fair today!
(Unfortunately, we did not have a photographer today, and I was so busy, I did not get to take many of the photos that I had wanted to….so, my apologies to many people whom I shall thank in words and not photos).
Setting up the booth.
We’re all set now. Lilian, Amelia, Denzel (the littlest one) and me, with Pravinn and Bala at the back, doing all the hard labour. Thanks so much, guys! Terry was somewhere, after setting up the tables for us.
Meeting someone…
Explaining what we do.
These are friends of Jamie Khoo from Kechara House. Little did I know what a pleasant surprise was in store of us later on….(read on, read on!).
Yen Ling, hubby and Jack (her Jack Russell) was our first visitor. It was so thoughtful of Yen Ling to come support us, and she wore our tshirt too. Sorry I did not get a photo taken with Yen Ling. But she helped us take the next few artistic photos…
Merchandise courtesy of Samantha Lum – handpainted plates and framed photos.
Loveusnoteatus car decals, my books – Indy Jones and Pawprints, and our donation box (which incidentally was empty!).
Our tshirts – that’s the biggest size we have!
Mandy dropped in with her mum, dad, and brother to support us, and they were wearing our tshirts! So kind of them…
Dante and Socks arrived first.
Then, the football pups came.
Two more from the football team.
A huge visitor came to visit our pups.
Later in the afternoon, Socks was making so much noise we decided to put her on the table as mascot, and she behaved!
Pravinn and Bala pacifying Socks.
Our girl decided she would be more comfortable sitting on our merchandise instead!
We did not get any of our puppies adopted through we were “this close” on three occasions. Instead, Pravinn and Bala decided to jointly adopt Dante, Socks’ sister. So little Dante went home with them.
This gentleman wanted SO much to adopt John Terry, one of the football pups, but he lives in Shah Alam and there is a very strict rule about keeping too many dogs.
Now, here are the photo-less stories (no less inspiring)…please read on…
So, the two ladies from Kechara House found out we were setting up a booth, and they talked to us and then went off. Later, Beng Kooi and Su Ming from Tsem Ladrang came a-visiting. It seems the earlier two ladies had informed H.H. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche and Rinpoche sent Beng Kooi and Su Ming over, bearing gifts and his message for us.
I was so incredibly touched when Beng Kooi and Su Ming came with packets of orange juice from Rinpoche. How VERY kind and considerate of His Holiness to know that we would be so thirsty (and believe me, I was SO thirsty, having to explain CNRM countless times by then). Rinpoche also sent his best wishes along with his personal donation, a few books and some CDs, and another donation from Kechara House. We are very honoured again by this extremely kind gesture by Rinpoche and Kechara House. We wish to record our heartfelt thanks for His Holiness’ support.
I am still overwhelmed by the orange juice! It was such a very kind and considerate gesture.
Here’s another story which left me tickled and very touched. This little girl came to our booth and went straight to look at the Indy Jones book. She was much shorter than me, so she did not look up at me. So, I said, “you can take one, it’s free”. She then looked up at me, and I saw her eyes brighten, and her mouth drop, and she was completely speechless. All she did was point at my name and then point at me, and she was completely wide-eyed and so happy (a bit like a child meeting her favourite cartoon character for the first time…well, something like that).
Then she uttered, “It’s you….you’re this person! I know you!”, and pointed at my name again. Her mum smiled and told me she has read Pawprints and Indy Jones many times, and is a great fan. We then laughed.
Later, my little “fan” came back and asked me to autograph the books she had taken, and then, through her mum, had her photo taken with me. She was so incredibly cute!
And here’s another unforgettable incident. Remember the staff from the shelter whom I had an unpleasant issue with over the Chow Chow? Well, she and her friends came over to say hello, and we are friends again. I bought her our tshirt, we hugged, made up, and all’s well that ends well. I’m glad. Life’s too short to be petty over petty issues. And I’m glad the Chow’s been adopted to a good home now.
I met many people who had read our blog and heard about our work too. It was really nice to know our work is reaching out to many people.
CNRM has a future….and so will the stray animals.
What a blast!
Tomorrow will be another day!
I’m looking forward so much to it.
P.S. A number of people (whom I have not met before) have text me saying they would like to come meet me tomorrow at the booth. Please do come, but I will only be at the booth after 1pm because I have a public talk tomorrow morning in Subang Jaya.
Comments
One response to “Cutie Pet Fair – Day One (what a blast!)”
=) U r welcome! Too bad I got to rush off back to work and Jack can't be too long out – it sort of stress him up. The heat and crowd.
Jack Russell has this tendency to play and play and play and later, back home it knock them out completely! Is quite scary.