cutesy

Some of my female owner's favourite photos of Sayang...my female owner cant help wondering why some animals can look so cutesy without even trying...

him sitting quietly in the garden

him wandering amongst the bushes..

right after the door slammed and scared him out of his wits dunno what happened here... apparently my female owner just dragged him from under the bed
Sayang on weed?

capture

Most of you would have know that my female owner sort-of adopted a kitten-cat and named it Sayang. His future remains uncertain, given that the owner of the house absolutely detests animals, but rather than dwelling on unhappy things, let's take a look at some photos, and you might understand why Sayang managed to capture my female owner's heart.

On the first day when they met... and he stayed on the ledge the whole arvo, causing my female owner to panic and thus, feed him

taken with Sayang on her lap, one of her favourite photos feeding time apparently Sayang refused to use his bed when he first got it... and they used all ways and means to entice him to try it

after three days, he caved in see how comfortable he is now?
self-entertainment with his toy mouse (see his paws)
look! he can stand too!

us

Before she left last week, she managed to get a turtle family photo. See how slim I look. Camera angles can be deceiving!

From bottom left in clockwise fashion: Dona, Nanook, Nooki, Dodo

This is how I really look. Ouh, so bloated right?

squeeze

My female owner has lost the "shutter-happy" vibes. Hence, she doesn't really take many photos nowadays. Still, I managed to squeeze out a few shots to share with you.

My female owner finds this packaging (of a wet tissue) dodgy and dated. Apparently, it is a photo of a real beauty queen, advertising for the restaurant's famed black pepper crab.

Arranged in rainbow colour by my female owner, she couldn't help but be mesmerised by the reflection of the bears in the windscreen.
My female owner found this artefact in one of the shops along Arab Street.

Ah, homemade pineapple tarts. Joint labour of love by my female owner's parents and her who split up the work to bake more than 300 tarts.

Praying hands of a three-month old baby. Prayer warrior in the making?

everyday

My female owner likes this photo very much. It was a random photo taken from one of the bus-stops near her house, as part of her mission to take some everyday angles or objects that most people would not take notice of, before she left for Brisbane. (Speaking of bus-stops, her Potahto and Functional Frens used to get annoyed with her, coz my female owner seemed to have direct buses which would bring her anywhere worth going in Singapore. Unlike their homes, which are much more ulu). Well, she got her retribution. Her current location in Brisbane is near the school and that's about it. Everywhere else is inaccessible...

There are many reasons why she likes this photo. Firstly, for the near symmetry of the blocks of flats and the tree. Secondly, the contrast of the colours of the building and the tree (and man-made vs nature). Thirdly, the shape of the tree. Finally, for the simple fact that it has been her home for more than ten years.

This angle, incidentally, is what I see, whenever my female owner brings me to the vet by bus… I would look back, in the direction of home, wishing and praying that she would turn around and bring me home immediately. It never happens. I always end up at the vet’s. *sulk*

This is the perspective we see, while waiting for the bus to arrive. Far behind is that church that she grew up in.

mug shots

Before my female owner left, she took close-up photos of us (without using the zoom function!). Hence, the camera was about 10cm from our faces and that scared the daylight out of some of us turtles. Anyway, here's our mug-shots (me, Dona, Nanook and Dodo). Although Dona looked really calm, he struggled the most. Nanook was quite sulky too. Dodo was the most cooperative, but he looks the saddest.

walk

My female owner has been back for a week! 7 precious days. Today, she finally had a little bit of time in the day... and decided to let us out for a walk in her whole house. It was a nice feeling, being able to explore a bigger area at our own pace and timing (Remember, the last time we did this excursion was more than 5 months ago).

I decided to play a little game of hide-and-seek with my female owner and walked all the way to her parents' room and hid under the cupboard. Alas, she found me without much difficulty. My female owner is always complaining about how Dodo and Dona know how to make their own way back to the Balcony on their own, while she always has to search for Nanook and myself. Oh well...

Dodo trying to climb out of the Balcony. That's me in the background.

Dodo finally making his way into the rest of the house. All of us, gathering near the edge of the Living RoomClose-up of Dona

bored

What do you do when you are bored? For me, today, I've decided to show you some photos of my siblings and I.

This is me on top of Nanook. That's Dona behind us. Yah, I know, I have overflowing cheeks.

Dodo, protesting at his photo being taken.

Me, under my favourite spot ("the Trolley") See how the wheels are elevated? That's because Nanook and I grew too big to crawl underneath. So my dear female owner's mother found those plastic legs to elevate the Trolley.

This is "the Shoe Rack". A favourite chillout spot for my siblings (that's why I'm not here. I prefer to be by myself under "the Trolley")

trauma

This is not for the faint-hearted..

On the day my female owner abandoned us for her studies (note the bitterness in my choice of words, we are still sore about it), she asked her mother to trim our nails. Some of our nails have been growing really long and they impede the ease of our movements, by their mere existence. Her mother had trimmed Dona's nails before, so she's our in-house manicurist/ pedicurist.

I think it must be an emotional day coz my female owner's mother "miscued" many times, and the Balcony ended up looking like a murder scene..

Dodo, after the ordeal. See his nails? And his dull expression? That's how a traumatised turtle looks like.

This is me, not looking any better......because I was left with bleeding toe-nails.This was Nanook's nails, before being trimmed. Note the length and the way the nails are growing.

This is the aftermath of the trim. Notice the blood spots - the incision was too deep. Whatever that my female owner's mother managed to trim off. My female owner kept screaming, as she held us in her hands. I'm not sure what scared us more, being manhandled by her mother and her, or hearing her scream.

The murder scene. I can tell you that none of us were happy after that. We were already feeling lousy that our female owner was going away. We had to deal with physical AND emotional pain. Us resting. That's Nanook on top of Dodo. My brothers are brooding, backside facing the world. I'm not in the picture.

rainbows

My female owner loves rainbows. They always remind her of the hope that she can find in God. It's really a rarity to be able to spot rainbows in Singapore, and even when you do, you may not be able to see the full spectrum of colours or a reasonable arch (when you spot one, it's pretty much like a half-eaten slice of cake). I hardly see any around the Balcony anyway.

Here are some rainbows which my female owner managed to capture on her trusty camera. Remember that the rainbows look much more magnificant than what you see in the photos!

Sighted along the Brisbane River while on a boat cruise

Also seen in the sky high up above the Brisbane River (a different one)

First rainbow seen in Brisbane, outside my female owner's host's house

This was taken in June 2005, at the 12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road, Melbourne. Look at the colours!

A distant shot, trying to capture as much of the rainbow as possible. Apparantly my female owner saw two rainbows together (like a "M")

That was how s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d the rainbow was

My female owner saw this in the morning, right outside her Bed&Breakfast room at the Grampians.

The other end of the same rainbow