Wednesday, October 31, 2007

how did she do it?

I wonder how my female owner did it.

She slept for less than 5 hours, after her late-night/early-morning online session, went to work in the morning, and ended the day at close to midnight, after reaching home from her aikido training. How did she find the energy to sustain herself through such long hours and physically demanding activities? Last I heard, she skipped dinner too. And oh yes, at 0033 now, she's still online!

There were a few times in the past when we turtles had to keep late nights. Rather, we had intermittent sleep. This was because my female owner was doing things in the Living Room till the wee hours of the morning. Whether it was reading something or watching television, she would, once in a while, walk into the Balcony to find us. Hence, we would be woken up by the fuss and would, as all pets do, try to entertain her as best as our tired bodies could. Dodo was the most attentive (as usual). Sometimes, he would not even sleep, but keep awake throughout the time she was in the Living Room, just to show my female owner his undying loyalty.

However, unlike my female owner who is able to keep going despite a lack of sleep, Dodo will conk out the next day and spent his entire day snoozing in a corner, bright sunlight or not.

So, how did my female owner do it?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

instant messaging

My female owner is addicted to instant messaging! She went online at 2130hr last night and logged off only at 0245hr this morning! You see, she was trying to install a webcam and spent some time ironing out the kinks. Like the other pary could hear her but couldnt see her, etc.

I suppose what my female owner chooses to do has nothing to do with us turtles..... as long as (yes, some of you must have guessed it already) she remembers to feed us. My female owner only tore herself away momentarily from the computer after midnight to wash our feeding tank and to feed us.

Her actions were totally functional. She didn't want us to starve to death. Dodo was pretty upset, as he was looking forward to spending some time with her. Even Nanook wished that she would hang around longer in the Balcony. Rather, my female owner ran off as soon as she fed us, to continue with her instant messaging.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

morbid thinking

my female owner has morbid thinking.

She once told her friend (who was unfortunate enough to be around when she expressed her morbid thinking) that when she dies, she would want all her turtle paraphernalia to be displayed at her funeral.

She would want her well-wishers to take home any item of their choice, as a way of thanking them for coming to her funeral, and to remember her by. If this is not morbid enough, she then expressed her concern that no one would come to her funeral and the turtle collection would be left intact.

As far as I know, the four of us are not part of the turtle collection to be given away. Oh, that means that we would be orphans. Maybe our male owner will re-adopt us?

smokers

My female owner was a little upset today. She came home and saw her father standing in the Balcony. Instantly, she knew what was going on. He was smoking, when he's not supposed to.

Out of respect for him, she pretended not to know what he was doing and walked into her room. Deep in her heart, she was upset that he was smoking in secret. She was also upset that he smoked in the Balcony, where the four of us are, thus subjecting us to second-hand smoke.

My female owner hates it when her loved ones smoke behind her back (i.e. they already promised not to smoke/ quit but still smokes when she's not around). Don't get her wrong. She has smoker friends. In fact, Dodo and Dona were given to her by her very good friend who smokes. Come to think of it, Nanook and I were bought by my male owner who smokes too.

How ironic.

One of my female owner's friends recently smoked in front of her. To everyone else, he is a non-smoker. But somehow, he revealed his smoking habit to her. While puffing away on his cigarette (with the smoke away from her face of course!), he said "don't ever believe a smoker who tells you that he has quitted smoking. He's lying."

After believing in my male owner for 6.5 years on this, my female owner has come to the same conclusion too.

Friday, October 26, 2007

trust goes a long way

My female owner's friend paid a compliment regarding her driving skills today.

You see, she would usually drive on Thursdays to her aikido class and would give the friend a lift home after that. So this poor guy has been a victim of her recent resolve to overcome her fear of driving. He has to sit in her car and put up with her lousy driving all the way from the east to his house in the north. Wahaha.

Then for two weeks, he was out of town and did not take her car. Coincidentally, my female owner's father was out of town and she drove the car all over Singapore for work purposes.

So, today he came back to class and took a lift from her again. Along the expressway, he suddenly commented that her driving has improved!

That was encouragement indeed for my female owner. My poor owner has been the butt of many jokes revolving around her poor Mandarin and driving ability. Although she doesn't mind being teased (as long as her friends are happy), the positive comments regarding her driving over the past few months had certainly boosted her self-confidence and helped her realised that she had been shackled by her own fears all these years. Some of her friends were not even afraid to sit in her car despite her inexperience and those actions spoke so loud - hey! I trust you enough to put my life in your hands. Learn to trust yourself too.

afternoon activities

ever wondered what we turtles do in the day when our human friends are hard at work?

Me: Practise Yoga

Dodo: Take a nap. Dona: Just stone

Nanook: Relaxation

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

the long and short of it

My female owner gets a lot of questions regarding her love for turtles. You see, besides rearing turtles for more than half her life, she has hundreds of turtle paraphernalia in the form of soft toys, magnets, t-shirts, money-boxes, containers, ornaments, tissue paper, key-chains, office accessories, slippers etc etc.

Anyway, one common question asked would be “so, do you keep turtles?” and her proud answer would be “yes, I have four”

Q: “Wah, so many, how long have you had them?”

A: “about 5-7 years”

Q: “how do you tell them apart?”

Depending on her mood, my female owner may either give an abbreviated version or an expounded version of how to tell us apart.

Short version: “different sizes and colours”

Long version: “Oh, they are different in sizes and colours. Not only that, they have different personalities too. Dodo, this palm-sized dark green one, is very curious. He likes to come out to greet people and lavishes in human touch. He would even walk into your hand if you stretch out yours. He enjoys even being stroked at his neck. Dona, the skinny and smallest, is anxious by nature. While he may have very bright and dark eyes and look very alert, he does not like to be touched. He only likes to look around. Be careful, he might even bite you if he is threatened. He is the only one who can flip himself over if overturned.

Nanook is the biggest of all. To lift her, you need to use both hands. She usually moves when she sees you coming with food. Other than that, she will be sleeping or resting in the corner. Nooki, the bloated turtle, cannot retract her head or limbs into her shell. In fact, if you tap her on her head, she will look like she is going to explode, because her eyes will puff up and turn red. Nooki hardly moves, whether or not there is food around. Sometimes, you have to drag her out for meals. She is that nonchalant. Nooki has the nicest nails.

You may be interested to know that Dona likes Nanook and will trail her wherever she goes. Similarly, Dodo likes Dona and will follow behind him. Hence, sometimes you will see Nanook leading the way, followed by Dona and then Dodo. Nooki, the most indifferent turtle of all, would be still, under the trolley. I used to think she was autistic as she did not interact much with her siblings....”

Monday, October 22, 2007

one

159 posts later, this blog is One today!

I can't believe how one year flew by me this way. Although I'm usually talking about food or the lack of it, many of my female owner's friends have told her that they enjoyed reading what I have written. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Makes me feel really loved.

I have some ideas to renovate this blog but you know how the weather has been - cool and sleepy. It's hard to get my metabolic rate up these days. And not to mention that turtles are known to be slower. Hang around for the changes ok?

pricky

My female owner is pricky today. She snapped at her long-suffering mother before coming over to the Balcony to seek solace in us. I guess we have a calming effect on her because of our slow and steady movements. I mean, how emo can one get, watching turtles crawl around a small area?

By the way, Dodo, my dearest brother, is the best emo-meter around. He senses my female owner's moods very quickly and accurately and knows exactly what to do to suit her emo-level. Certainly the most empathetic turtle around.

I wonder what's bothering her. She's so sullen, she didn't even say anything about me putting on weight lately. Dona says it's the effects of aging. I say it's burnt-out. She played too much last week and is nursing pre-Monday blues again. Nanook doesn't care, as long as she gets her meals. Dodo doesn't need to know the reason. He just wants to be there for her.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

tired out

My female owner was so tired out by the week's activities that she fell asleep on the sofa just outside the Balcony on Friday night. She spent the whole night on that short sofe and woke up on Saturday AFTERNOON to the sound of Dodo trying to scale the wall but falling back to the ground. Dodo was apparently making so much noise that my female owner thought that someone was in the kitchen!

The past week had been another one of those weeks where we turtles did not hear her playing the flute. She came home late every night and surprise surprise, was home the earliest yesterday, Saturday night at 9pm+. Even then, she went out again at 10pm.

We miss her.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

is it?

I wonder if Christmas is coming soon...

Rob Thomas - Little Wonders

Let it go

My female owner's friend sent her this link, instructing her to pay attention to the lyrics.

The first few words immediately struck a cord in her heart "Let it go, Let it roll right off your shoulder. Don't you know, The hardest part is over..."

Beautiful song, serving as a reminder for her to "let it go .... in the end .... We will only just remember how it feels"

So really, let it go, whatever that is holding you back from enjoying life, coz "Our lives are made, In these small hours, These little wonders ... Time fades away, But these small hours These little wonders still remain"

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

guixian

My female owner was highly amused this afternoon. She logged on to her MSN for a mere 2hrs and she had several reactions from her friends. The reason? She changed her username from "turtleangel" to "guixian". As it was a simple name change, she never expected to have so many outbursts from her friends.

GUIXIAN??
Why are you called guixian?
Is guixian your Chinese name?
So traditional, not your type

For the uninitiated, guixian just means turtle fairy..

Monday, October 15, 2007

changes

Dodo sat on top of me today for a few hours and we had a shell-to-shell talk. Our topic of discussion? My female owner.

You see, our female owner has been attached all our lives and now that she's single (i.e. unattached), we noticed some changes in her.

i) She has put on weight - must be because her nights of partying and suppering
ii) She has stopped finding refuge in the Balcony - she hardly feels dampened
iii) She has stopped poking us out of agitation (yeah!)
iv) She's home more often during the weekends
v) She watches less television in the Living Room - she no longer has to keep anyone company in front of the tube.

It's great to see her less moody and more carefree. Her friends are happy for her and so are we. A happy owner breeds happy pets.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

AGAB

My female owner is in her “ALL GUYS ARE BAD” mode again. At times like this, my brothers, Dodo and Dona will cower in a dark corner for safety reasons.

Here’s how her AGAB thinking started. Once upon a time, when my female owner was a teenager, she had a good gal friend whom she engaged in nightly teleconversations with. Of all the things they could talk about, the two of them spent many hours telling each other how “all guys are bad!”, pointing out the evidence each of them gathered during the course of the day.

The two gals eventually grew up and reached adulthood…. And her friend, who enforced her belief that “all guys are bad”, got married a year ago!

Oh well. I think my female owner needs some psycho-terrapin (pun intended) to challenge her AGAB core belief.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

sisterly love

This is my sister, Nanook. I love her very much.



Thursday, October 11, 2007

so fast

My female owner found me in my corner soon after I told you I was snuggled up there. She promptly brought me to the Balcony and to my surprise, Dodo was anxiously waiting for me. He said that he had already lost Nana and could not bear to lose another one of us.

I felt a tinge of guilt for causing Dodo to worry at my disappearance. I will be more considerate in future - return to the Balcony when it's time.

missing

My female owner hasn't been feeding us. She brought down the barricade between the Balcony and the Living Room. My siblings had a field night climbing over the ledge to enter the Living Room.

I finally did. Reluctantly. Dodo told me to, coz I'm getting fatter (even my brother notices!) and he thinks I need to lose weight. Err... as if taking a few steps will help but he said that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Firstly, where does he get his wisdom from? Secondly, I hope he's not serious about me taking "a thousand miles" journey!

So anyway, I took my first steps into the Living Room and started exploring the nooks and corners. Some of the dark corners look very inviting. I found a cosy corner after a while and rested my tired body there.

At press time, I'm still snuggled up in the corner. I can hear my female owner looking for me.. but nature calls... and I need to sleep..

zzzz....

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

housewives

The latest batch of overseas scholars to join my female owner's company have two things in common. First, they are all males. Maybe it's a selection criteria? Anyway, the second and more interesting thing is, all their mothers are housewives!

Hmmm... there's probably something about being a stay-at-home mother that contributed to these boys' intellectual success. Of course, the other explanation (and it sounds absurd) is that having a housewife mother is a selection criteria.

A very good reason indeed for females who do not want to work, to offer to their husbands.

I wonder if the outcome will be the same for the combination of working mothers and househusbands. Maybe more females will get overseas scholarships.

Monday, October 08, 2007

replies

Few weeks back:

Someone asked my female owner: "Do you regret breaking up with him?"

My female owner's reply was: "It's too early to tell."

_________________
Fast forward to today:

My female owner's reply is: "All's well that ends well."

all black

Moodiness sets in for my female owner every Sunday night at this time. It's that fine line between weekend and the start of a new week.

Being a typical working adult, she gets pre-monday blues on Sundays and Monday blues on Mondays. By Monday night, she will usually be ok, simply because it's the end of Monday for her. To "celebrate" Monday blues, she will usually wear all black on Monday. If Monday was a bad day for her, she would wear all black on Tuesday. If the whole week had been lousy, she would wear all black on Friday even.

For us who watch her leave for work everyday, this is how we sense her mood. Sometimes, if her mood is extra low, she would ignore us totally.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

silence

This week has been peculiar.

We haven't heard my female owner play her flute the whole week! Not even today, when it's Saturday. She has been busy running around doing her stuff. While it can be a earful listening to her stumble over her notes over and over again, the silence is deafening. We actually experience withdrawal symptoms, now that she is MIA.

It's like Dodo will stretch out his neck to look for her, only to see nothing. Nanook will wait in the feeding tank for food, only to be disappointed. Dona will hide in the shadows in expectation of her booming voice, only to be anxious for nothing. And me? It feels strange that no one is scolding me for being too fat.

Absence makes our hearts grow fonder.

Friday, October 05, 2007

death by jumping

My eldest brother, Nana, died about 4 years ago, after he climbed over the kitchen balcony ledge and fell 9 storeys down. Jumping off buildings is a common suicide method in Singapore because of the many high-rise buildings. My brother’s actions seemed suicidal, but he certainly wasn’t. He was full of life and curiosity, so much so that he wanted to explore my female owner’s house. In this case, curiosity really killed the turtle.

Because Nana actually overcame all the barriers that my female owner set up to keep us in the Balcony, she didn't know he escaped until the next day. His escapade had brought him to the back of the house where there was no barricade to keep him from falling over.

My female owner cried for days after his death. She could never bring herself to look at his photos (he’s the most photogenic of us all). Perhaps one day, she will bring out his photos to show us. You will then see how handsome he was.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

quarter-life crisis ... thank you

My female owner once said that we turtles can live over 20 years in captivity. That means that I am 1/4 way there. That also means that I'm entitled to my quarter-life crisis!

I've left behind the stage where I was growing, from a baby terrapin to my current size. I have kind-of stagnanted physically - I'm not growing bigger, just fatter around my neck (see what I mean here)
I spent the last year of my life penning down my thoughts at this space. I wonder what the next year brings for my siblings and I. I hope that all of us live to a ripe-old age and grow old happily together. I wish for joy and peace to all those who have made a difference in our lives - for those who had petted us, for those who had fed us, prayed for us, played with us, washed us. Even for those who helped my female owner through her life struggles, or simply left your footprints in her life, thank you for loving her. You made a difference in her life, and by doing so, you made a difference in ours!

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Psalm 23 for students

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not flunk
He keepeth me lying down when I should be studying
He leadeth me beside the water cooler for a study break
He restores my faith in study guides
He leads me to better study habits
For my grades' sake
Yes, though I walk through the valley of borderline grades
I will not have a nervous breakdown
For thou art with me
My prayers and my friends, they comfort me
Thou givest me the answer in moments of blankness
Thou anointest my head with understanding
My test paper runneth over with questions I recognise
Surely passing grades and flying colours shall follow me
All the days of my examinations
And I shall not have to dwell in this stupid school forever

Monday, October 01, 2007

Who Am I Casting Crowns

Dedicated to all children of God on Children's Day. God loves you, yesterday, today and forever. May this song bless you as much as it has blessed me.

Verse:
Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Pre-Chorus:
Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapour in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Verse 2:
Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

Facebook

In a bid to remain current, my female owner decided to check out the latest online fad - Facebook. Through it, she managed to reconnect with an ex-colleague and even chat with her on MSN.

The tools that humans come up with to keep themselves connected with the world. No wonder they say that we are mountain turtles...

Anyway, please go find my female owner on Facebook if you can. Keep her occupied then she won't bother us too much.

Heh.

My siblings and I

My siblings and I
From top left: Dodo, Dona, me (Nooki) and Nanook