Around the last week of February and first week of March, we met a very special individual.
As usual, I came to work really early that day. When I thought I was the first person to arrive, I found that Maine (
It was a kitten! And a really cute one at that! I believe our teammate (the guy who brought the cat to work; let's call him T) did say he was going to bring his cat one of those days, but I didn't count on him actually doing so.
He put down the kitten on my table and the little ball of fur sat there, almost scared, but definitely curious. She was so fluffy and smelled so good!
By this point, T was already sat at his desk a few meters away. I was playing with the kitten when I asked, "What's her name?"
He answered, but his voice sounded so far away I couldn't quite understand.
I asked again, and T answered. But I still couldn't understand! I thought I heard him say Mango, so I settled with calling the kitten actually Mango.
After playing with Mango for a while, I ended up cuddling her and walking towards Maine's area. The three of us played while sat on the floor -- Mango was being such a really good girl. She was a little hesitant at first, but she ended up warming up to us really quick.
Soon after, the rest of the 
And then, we had a very important meeting that day.
The meeting required quite a lot of staff from our team to join -- and that included me. Because almost everyone of the
It was as if she understood that the meeting was a really important one. She initially sat on T's lap, being a really cute and patient little girl, but when our attention poured on to her, she became really naughty.
She would ignore us and mind her own business and wouldn't heed any of our cutesy calls. She acted really snobbish -- as if she knew she had us wrapped around her furry little paws. At one point during the meeting, she went missing. It turned out she was hiding behind the boxes that had been stored at the back of our conference room.
The meeting took the whole day, and T said he couldn't afford to let Mango stay the whole time at work. After lunch, he brought Mango home. The
And then, to our surprise, Mango returns a week later. This time, complete with all her necessities -- cat food and fur brush. If during the previous week, the girls hogged Mango to ourselves, this time, the guys in our team did.
It was fine, really, until we realized that Mango was a lot friendlier with the guys than she was with us. We felt so betrayed! Naturally we couldn't allow that. Because my desk had a lot more space compared to the other girls', I got to spend more time with Mango this time.
That time, I was working on a Raspberry Pi project. Hence, I had lots of colorful jumper wires lying around. It turned out that Mango liked them, and she enjoyed me playing with her using the wires. We bonded that time, and I'm proud to say that we became friends that day. (The
Before the whole country was put on lockdown, we got to spend many moments with Mango. Too many, in fact, that my phone's gallery was filled with her pictures and videos.
At one point, I asked the girls, "Is the kitten's name Mango?"
To say that they were shocked -- almost humorously -- was an understatement. They laughed at me and said, "Her name's Mingu, not Mango!"
I laughed so hard at myself, I got stitches. Some Filipinos had this really amusing tendency to use long As when speaking English, that I mistook T to be among them. Some Filipinos would pronounce mango with very long a (as in a in staple), that I misheard Mingu's name.
I felt kind of bad that I kept calling Mingu the wrong name, but that wouldn't change the fact that Mingu, the office cat, is such a jewel. I can't wait to see her again!
Watch below to see some of Mang -- I mean, Mingu's moments with me. She has loads with the other girls, but let me share with you what part of my gallery contains. :)
debilog | charlocked | erangvee
