Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th. My female owner gave notice to this date with just a passing thought. My female owner is not superstitious by nature. She treated this day as any other – just another working day separating her from the impending weekend. In case you are not aware of which Friday the 13th I’m talking about, it’s the most recent one in April. Alas, this day was not to be the same. For one, I suffered another prolapse in the morning. She was irritated. So was I. Anyway, she engaged the SOP – confided me to the Sick Bay. I was angry. I struggled but how can I overpower a 50+kg human right? So I did the next best thing – I threw a tantrum but my female owner was heartless enough to ignore me and went to work. I never saw her till the next day (Saturday) in the afternoon. What happened was that at 2315 on Friday the 13th, she was called to attend to a case whereby 2 of her colleagues were missing at sea (yeah, just as the well-known unlucky day was almost over). The call of duty kept her working all through the night, till 1500hr on Saturday. That means that she was awake for more than 30 hours! Anyway, her colleagues were found dead in the vessel. This sudden loss of life for 2 healthy men was shocking for her. The fragility of life. The many people she has taken for granted, thinking that they will live for many decades to come. The impact of a life on many others. The meaning of life. The purpose of living, only to die anytime, anywhere. If the same were to happen to her – to lose a husband after a few years of marriage – would it be better to have not married at all? To become a widow of an infant child, would it be better not to experience the joy of motherhood? This day became more poignant for her as her favourite terrapin, my eldest brother, Nana, died on Friday the 13th too. He plunged to his death and she never saw his body. His death was a rude shock for her. I was only a young and small terrapin then, but Dodo used to tell me stories about him and maybe one day, I will tell you too. Her conclusion to these events? Better to live than never live before. Appreciate life, seize the moment, don’t procrastinate in building relationships.

to all those with dreams

Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began. Honestly: No one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as: "Oh, WAY too difficult!!" "They will NEVER make it to the top." or: "Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!" The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one. Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher. The crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!" More tiny frogs got tired and gave up.... But ONE continued higher and higher and higher. This one wouldn't give up! At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top! THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it? A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal? It turned out... that the winner was DEAF!!!! The wisdom of this story is: Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in your heart! Always think of the power words have. Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions! Therefore: ALWAYS be POSITIVE! And above all: Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams! Always think: God and I can do this!

what is life?

My female owner is a busy woman. She believes that life is about living in the present, putting the past behind her and not fretting about the future. Out of the three, she finds the last one - not fretting about the future - hardest to follow. However, her point is that one should not worry too much about the future, until he is unable to live happily in the present; one should not be held captive to past mistakes or failures to the point that one is not able to enjoy the present, because he is living a life full of restrictions and fears. As a result of her philosophy in life, she is busy. Busy living life the way it should be - full of happy moments, laughter, friends, pleasurable activities, family and ... pets. yeah, that includes us! I take after my female owner in this respect. Life is enjoying each day as it comes, having peace and stability in my home, being loved and cared for by my owners and knowing that I'm always surrounded by my family. What is life for you?

where is she?

My female owner has been missing in action for a few days now. She comes and goes with the wind, hardly spending more than 5 mins with us on days when she turns up. I wonder what happened to her.

This is a photo of me, taking a momentary pause in my meal to think about her. Yah, even though we are solitary and shy, we have grown accustomed to humans in more ways than one. So we still need the occasional human contact to feel happy and loved.

Hope to see her basking in the balcony together with us again!

we are not so slow after all!

Two turtles crossing the road hit each other head on and were both knocked unconscious. The policeman who was summoned to investigate the accident tried to find a witness, but only found a snail nearby.

"Did you see the accident?" the officer asked. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Yes I saw it" replied the snail, "but it all happened so fast !"

a special day

Today is a special day. Read on...

SMS conversation between my female owner (F) and my male owner (M) today.
Time: 1318. Topic: Arrangement to meet later in the day.

(F, 1318):If you can really reach at 3pm then you come my house ah.. Or else MRT... how?

(M, 1334, note that this is the ONLY time-lag in the entire conversation): MRT bah can walk walk abit (F, 1338): Okie okie. I wanted to show you Nanook's egg... She laid one egg... (M, 1339): I come over your place. Get a small box, i bring sand (F, 1341): Cheh.. Got egg then you so excited. Happy April's Fools Days! (M, 1345): Lolz u got me good good... Got me all excited our first turtle egg... The turtle of interest? My beloved sister, Nanook! Isn't she cute?? She still doesn't know that she was used by my female owner to play a prank on my male owner.