who asked

Dodo’s swollen left arm is slowly subsiding. He has been spending his days in a small tank since last Wednesday. My female owner didn’t want him to be walking around the Balcony and straining himself. Needless to say, Dodo has been feeling blue about his predicament. Being trapped 24/7 in a small space is no joke.

I decided to cheer him up, by letting him know that many of my female owner’s animal friends had expressed concern for him. For example,

There’s Miss Froggy who entered my female owner’s office early in the morning to ask about Dodo;
And Monkey Potato Friend who, though clearly will never be caught looking at a turtle, asked through MSN;
And Donkey, the person whom Dodo was named after (DOnkey, Dodo) and is afraid of us turtles. She also asked.

Although my male owner didn’t ask about him, Dodo managed a small smile when told that he sponsored her medical fees. He still cares after all.

love... blood... water

Today, I asked Dodo why our female owner was always so willing to go the extra mile to get us treated for our illnesses. I mean, our medical fee per visit is easily more than twice hers. For example, Dodo's visit cost her about $50. Not to mention that she had to take time off from work and carry him around in the rain when she just recovered from fever that morning. My female owner even received disapproving looks from this auntie on the bus who told her to release Dodo into the wild. Given that we are not related by blood, I thought that there was no need for her to go to such extent. I mean, there are children who abandon their ailing parents in hospitals or leave them to rot in homes.

Dodo's reply was this: Love is thicker than blood.

I couldn't help but tear... now I understand.

687g

My brother, Dodo, just came back from the vet. Again, he reported a traumatising experience. The doctor, a certain Dr Siah, examined him from head to tail and probed his swollen left arm for signs of wound or infection. Based on Dodo’s past medical history of pus in his arm, she decided to try to extract any pus (although she did tell my female owner that she didn’t think there was any). Using a syringe, she injected the needle into his left palm area. Bit by bit, she redraw the needle.

She was spot-on. No pus. Alas, Dodo started bleeding from the puncture wound. Being brave and probably resigned, he told us that he kept still despite the pain and feeling of blood oozing from his palm. Dr Siah stopped the bleeding by putting pressure on the area... leading to more pain.

The mystery of his swollen arm remains.

Anyway, Dr Siah advised my female owner to INJECT Dodo with anti-biotics for a few days and see what happens after that (i.e. return to the clinic in a few days’ time). My female owner had no choice but to agree. What to do, precious pet, so must go all out to make things right. Dr Siah then gave Dodo his first dose of anti-biotics on his bum.

Dodo felt so violated.

The good that came out of this is that Dodo knows his exact weight now – 687g.

new doc

Dodo and I have regular vets. Dodo’s vet is a sweet young lady called Ms Prakash. She’s apparently one of the nicest and most experienced veterinarians at Mount Pleasant Animal Hospital. My female owner also likes her, because she was gentle towards Dodo. Hence, everytime Dodo’s arm flares up, my female owner would make an appointment to bring Dodo to Ms Prakash.

My female owner tried to do the same this morning. She called the hospital but unfortunately, the general line was busy. Then she spied the contact details of another animal clinic (which had been previously recommended to her by her animal-lover friend).

Allpets & Aqualife Vets Pte Ltd
219 Jln Kayu #01-01 Singapore 799442
Tel : 6481-3700

Since the clinic’s speciality is in water animals and reptiles, my female owner decided to set an appointment on Friday for Dodo. Dodo peed upon hearing that he has to go to the doc’s again. My poor brother… He must be feeling jittery now..

ill

My female owner is distraught and close to tears. Dodo suffered a relapse and has a VERY swollen left arm again. My female owner is fretting over when she can bring him to the vet and the aftercare of course. The last time it happened, she had to inject him with antibiotics everyday for five days at fixed timing. Dodo was certainly not very happy about it. It also pained her to inflict pain on him. Owner and pet ended up traumatising each other with their cat-and-mouse game.

Hopefully the swell subsides, or else it will be a gloomy week for all.

even day

My female owner is preoccupied with nothing these days. Because of her condition, she can't remember when she last fed us. Hence, this entry will be very short. It is to put down in "black-and-white" as all humans like to call it, that she didn't feed us today. So, please feed us every even day.

Food beckons tomorrow. Yeah!

ordinary day

A day like any other.

Woke up when daylight broke into the Balcony. Dodo, as usual, woke up first. His stir from rest, though gentle, awakened Dona. I stayed under the trolley waiting for Nanook to wake up. She's usually the slowest to wake up.

Being a weekend, my female owner was home. She played her flute. She has been taking mini steps towards polished pieces. Despite the slips, it was still a pleasure to hear her play. Listening to her affirms that we are still alive.

Since it was no longer possible to sleep, we decided to do some exercise and started walking around the Balcony. Had great fun playing with one another. We retired to our various corners when we became tired.

Afternoon siesta beckons.

Zzzzzzzzz

belle

My female owner... thinks she needs some space to find herself again. Feeling down, she decided to do a personality test to cheer herself up. What better test to do, but a test to see which Disney Princess she is?

At least she gets to pretend that she is a princess for once... unless us turtles, she treats us like princes and princesses ALL the time.

Which Disney Princess Are You?
	You are Belle. You are strong, deep, and you are not a slave to petty superficial things. You are independent and allow yourself to see inner beauty without sacrificing your values. You are almost too good of a person.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

it's the end

My male owner has ended his relationship with my female owner.

In a sms which he sent to my female owner today, he said that he did not want anything back from her (which, by the way, my female owner didn't reply coz she didn't know how to). That sounds like he doesn’t want Nanook and me back! They said divorce has a detrimental effect on children. I say that breaking up has a detrimental effect on pets as well.

Think Nanook is not going to take it too well, especially after her fall yesterday. Would have to ask Dodo for advice.

overturned

My sister, Nanook, must have missed my male owner a lot. She was trying to scale the ledge to get from the Balcony into the living room (possibly to search for him), when she OVERTURNED and fell on her back. She landed with a super loud “thud” which sent the rest of us scurrying into a corner.

As my female owner was not nearby, Nanook was left upside down for more than an hour. Poor Nannok was feeling so scared and helpless that she peed. Her agony was over when my female owner came out of her room to check on us.

She was equally shocked and quickly put Nanook on her belly again. Nanook was badly shakened and my female owner spent some time stroking her shell to comfort her. It was only then that the rest of us dared to emerge from the darkness. Was a bad move on our part, coz my female owner hit us on our shell a few times each – for leaving Nanook in the lurch.

meaning of your name

My female owner tried to find out the meanings of our names today. Nil returns for all of us. Guess she really didn’t name us after human beings. She gave up and decided to look up her name. For want of anonymity, I’m not going to reveal her name. I’m just going to talk about it! The origin of her name is Greek. Wow! Exotic. The meaning of her name is Misery. Right... How comforting. What’s more. Her name was used by Shakespeare in one of his tragic plays. She was the wife of a Venetian general who was wrongly made to believe that she was unfaithful. Needless to say, her character was murdered by the husband. Now I know why she sometimes wonder if her name is a curse.

test test

Had an entry for our 5th birthday but somehow it didn't show up here. Things are getting weird nowadays...

Test test. Hope the entry shows up somehow.

our 5th birthday!

See how we've grown, Nanook and myself. We just past our 5th birthday! Although there was no birthday party, my female owner sang us a birthday song. Our male owner wasn't around ....

I remembered so vividly what happened 5 years ago. It was a Sunday and my owners were walking around Thomson Plaza when suddenly, my male owner decided to get a pair of terrapins. Of course he chose the best of the lot and bought a tank to house us.... The most memorable part was that my owners brought us all over town in that tank and even brought us to the theatre. It was freezing cold, especially for cold-blooded puny animals like us. Nanook and I struggled to keep ourselves warm. Not sure how we pulled through!

Anyway, 5 years flew by and here we are. Healthy and strong.

Cheers to many more good years!

smell

My female owner came to sit in the Balcony today for a while. Nanook eagerly came forward to greet her. She took the opportunity to smell my female owner's toe.

She walked away feeling disappointed. "Not as delicious-smelling as male owner's", she said.

Trekkin' Turtle

Ever heard of the shop Build-a-Bear Workshop? It's a soft-toy shop where you get to choose your favourite toy, stuff it with cotton, dress it in clothes, name it, put a voice in it etc etc. Basically you can personalise the soft-toy to your liking.

My female owner had toyed (pun intended) with the idea of getting the Husky version ($38.90) but it was too expensive, given that her priority is us (she can get 5 months' worth of food with that).


But now, there's a Trekkin' Turtle version arriving on July 20. It comes with a removable backpack shell. Ah... I wonder how it feels to be able to come out of my shell. Must be a really enlightening affair.

Rumour has it that it costs $34.90. Maybe I can convince my siblings to consume less food... then my female owner would be willing to invest in this comfort toy..

appreciation

Why I appreciate my female owner:

i) She knows where to find us, eyes closed
ii) She clears up after us
iii) She will feed us, no matter how late she reaches home (if it’s feeding day)
iv) She makes sure that mosquitoes don’t breed in our Balcony
v) She rubs nose with us (how many turtles come in such close contact with humans)
vi) She scrubs our back
viii) She refuses to release us into the wild, no matter what her mother says
viiii) She looks for us the moment she reaches home – much to the jealousy of her mother!
x) She spares no expenses when we are ill – visits to the vet, taking leave from work, giving us medicine/ injections when needed

What more can we ask for?

Finally heard from my male owner yesterday. He sent an email to my female owner, asking her to take care of us no matter what. So sweet of him… My sister, Nanook, misses him real bad as he would always shower her with extra food when he was around. Now she has to make do with normal-sized helpings.

The Rose

Some say love it is a river
That drowns the tender reed
Some say love it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed

Some say love it is a hunger
An endless aching need
I say love it is a flower
And you it's only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed
That with the sun's love
In the spring
Becomes the rose

guests

My female owner loves to entertain guests, and she expects us to extend our hospitality to her guests. One such time was when her neighbour bought two baby terrapins and my female owner brought the babies home for a while.

Her main reason, I believe, was to show us how much we’ve grown and to keep us in touch with the terrapin world.

Here are some photos she took of the babies. So cute right? (Nope, that’s not my maternal instinct acting up. I’m still a juvenile).

Here’s a photo of one of them with me. See the differences in size and colour? I used to be like that…

Finally, a photo of them being fed... with me keeping watch outside the tank.. =)

ten things about us

1) We are more afraid of the door slamming than of loud thunder.
2) We have our own personalities.
3) We may be docile by nature, but we bite at times.
4) We have our favourite hideouts which we faithfully go to everyday.
5) We get traumatised by our female owner’s flute blowing.
6) We appreciate manicures and pedicures – bring them on!
7) We can survive for more a week without food.
8) We get along better with some turtles than others.
9) We prefer to climb over obstacles than to walk around them.
10) We enjoy sun-bathing.

man and woman

Spent my day wondering about human relationships... this is what I found out:

Getting married is very much like going to a restaurant with friends. You order what you want then, when you see what the other person has, you wish you had ordered that.

Man: Is there any way for long life?
Dr: Get married.
Man: Will it help?
Dr: No, but the thought of long life will never come.

Why do couples hold hands during their wedding? It's a formality just like two boxers shaking hands before the fight begins!

Wife: Darling today is our anniversary, what should we do?
Husband: Let us stand in silence for 2 minutes.

It's funny when people discuss Love Marriage vs Arranged.
It's like asking someone, if suicide is better or being murdered.

It is difficult to understand GOD. He makes such beautiful things as women and then he turns them into Wives.

If u r married please ignore this msg, for everyone else: Happy Independence Day.

Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about something you say.
After marriage, he'll fall asleep before you finish.

There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage.

Girlfriends r like chocolates, taste good anytime. Lovers r like PIZZAS, Hot n spicy, eaten frequently.
Husbands r like Dal RICE, eaten when there's no choice.

Man receives telegram: Wife dead-should be buried or cremated?
Man: Don't take any chances. Burn the body and bury the ash.

Prospective husband: Do you have a book called 'Man, The Master of Women'?
Salesgirl: The fiction department is on the other side, sir.

There was this guy who told his woman that he loved her so much that he would go through hell for her. They got married and now he is going thru hell.

Fact of life: One woman brings you into this world crying & the other ensures you continue to do so for the rest of your life!

Q: Why doesn't law permit a man to marry a second woman?
A: Because as per law you cannot be punished twice for the same offence!


I'm so glad I'm a turtle.

charitable deed

My female owner lives for the weekends only. She absolutely hates what she’s doing at work and her life. Every Monday, the countdown to the weekend starts. Every Friday, the countdown to the end of temporal bliss starts. Every Sunday, the blues start to sink in and the whole cycle kicks in again. So depressing. It’s really tough being a human eh. And when she can’t see beyond the next day, she takes leave. That’s what she did today – hump day of the week (since it’s the middle of a workweek). Not really sure what she did (coz she left home for a while) but when she came back, she was on fire! She took us one by one, first Dodo, then me, later Dona and lastly Nanook, and gave us a good long shell scrub. Believe me when I say that we have accumulated layers of dirt, dust and grime through the months of living in the Balcony (can’t remember when our last scrub was). My male owner normally undertakes this task but he hasn’t been around. My female owner probably got sick and tired of seeing us look like dusty desert tortoises and decided to do something charitable today. I can’t say that I enjoyed the process of being scrubbed and turtle-handled (she used a toothbrush so that she could reach in between the grooves of our shells) but the after effect is really good. After all, which turtle doesn’t like to feel clean and …. look green again?

big toe

My elder sister (also my only) asked me a really curious question yesterday. This was how the conversation went.

Nanook: Nooki baby, did you notice that male owner hasn’t been coming lately?

Me: Yes elder sister, that’s what I’ve been telling all of you!

Nanook: Really? I must have been too hungry to hear you properly. I thought you mean that male owner is ill.

Me: No no. What I said was, male owner and female owner got some problem, so maybe male owner will never come again.

Nanook: Huh? Never come again???

Me: Yes, never.

Nanook (with tears in her eyes): I miss smelling his big toe!

Me: *.*;;;

mine is longer

Did you know that the earliest known turtles existed about 215 million years ago? That makes us one of the oldest reptile groups, more ancient than lizards (some of them live in the balcony with us) and snakes (never saw one before).

215 million years is a long time, especially when you compare that to humans, who originated in Africa only about 200, 000 years ago. So, my lineage goes further and longer than my owners. Wahahaha.

Sorry, cheap thrill. Just trying to entertain myself and encourage my siblings that this famine won't last! We will survive.

somebody help

I think my female owner thought that Dodo died. Coz she hasn’t been feeding us for days and Dodo resigned to a corner to hibernate (i.e. conserve energy). So when my female owner came home, the rest of us greeted her with good cheer. Dodo remained in the corner. My female owner wasn’t sure if Dodo was alive, so she squatted near Dodo and called his name many times. Dodo was very slow to respond (that’s quite unusual, given his eager beaver nature) and for those moments, my female owner was unsure of his status…. Anyway, as soon as my female owner was sure that Dodo was just in deep sleep, she fed us… a cursory meal as usual. Did I also mention that the balcony is getting very dirty? Somebody help us…