October 19, 2005, 7:28pm

I saw a squirrel "speaking" in a small tree when I was heading back home after studying in the library then the outdoor picnic table.

Well, I don't understand the squirrel language but I was curious why it's there making that regular "squirreling," one after another. Sometimes it was three short sounds then many long ones.

I remember when I was in Greece, I discovered that the sea gulls are called gulls possibly because of the sound they make. And I think my theory may also hold for squirrels for their "squirreling." I suppose "gull" and "squirrel" are how human beings (at least the English-speaking people) try to mimic the animals' language.

So, I decided to sit down and watch the squirrel. After three or four minutes, I began to hear another squirrel replying it! OK, language is for communication afterall. When the squirrel I was watching made a "squirreling," the other one would respond with a "squirreling." I was there fascinated to listen to their exchanges.

Well, I simply had no clue where the other squirrel was. From the sound, it was like far away across the street. Cool, after a day of work looking for food, they probably had to "call a friend" to see how each other was doing.

I could see the squirrel was not comfortable when I was sitting there observing it. Somehow, it went to the bin and found a small slice of pizza! My goodness. Then it went back to the tree and enjoyed its supper when I was there hungry figuring out how this show of nature would end.

It's astonishing when I actually saw it finishing the pizza in about three minutes. The pizza was like the size of my palm and I was thinking, squirrels eat nuts, is it not? And their stomach is actually big enough for a pizza!

Soon after it was done with the pizza and some occasional "squirreling" with its friend, it disappeared in the bushes.

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I was done with the shark fillet. I panfried it with the Lee K-m Kee black bean sauce. It tastes a lot better than yesterday but it's very tough.

In case you're really curious and want to try, please cook it another way. I don't think I'd buy another shark fillet in my life.

Natalie, thanks a lot for your suggestion. I simply didn't want to think about how to cook the shark fillet with chicken soup and I was so hungry back home. We should try when you come visit me. :)