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…

quiet

Life’s getting quiet for us. My female owner is either not home, or if she’s home, she gives us a cursory glance and walks away. She hardly appears in the living room anymore. I tried to do the Dodo thing and stretched as high as my little arms could lift me in order to reach her. But she just patted me on my cheek once … and walk away.

It’s really tough being turtles of separated owners.

pet therapy

We (the turtles) have not seen our male owner for the past two Sundays. Based on my reading of the stars… I think that my owners have broken up. The best give-away is my female owner (of course, since she takes care of us). She has been quite haphazard in taking care of us this past week. Our feeding times have been irregular, and if she feed us, it’s never enough. The feeding seems more like a cursory move, to make sure that at least we don’t die of hunger, while she nurses her broken heart.

Dodo, the most sensitive turtle among us, also senses that something is not right. He has been trying to find out more, by approaching my female owner in the rare occasion that she appears. Unfortunately, she rarely stays more than five minutes, so he has been unable to give her some pet therapy.

getting hot

Time passes slower when the weather gets hotter. Spend my days soaking in the wading pool alone. My other siblings prefer to sweat or hide it out in shady corners of the balcony. Looking forward to my birthday (and Nanook’s) in a few weeks’ time. We will be five years old then. Half a decade has breezed by and many more good years to come, I hope. Wonder if my owners will hold a birthday party for us.

a treat

Got a surprise treat from my female owner last night. You see, I was just soaking in the wading pool, enjoying the silence of the night… and a little moonlight (okay, I know it’s not real moonlight, just the lights coming in from the living room) when she came home from her usual Tuesday rendezvous.

Anyway, I saw her coming and I gave her the saddest look I could muster (you must understand that I was actually very happy to be alone in the pool, so this took quite a bit of effort). She returned me the sad look and…. gave me some food! Wah, a treat, considering that she just fed all of us the night before. My siblings looked on in envy and none of them climbed into the pool. Strange…

camera shy

My female owner bought her chio digital camera recently and had a whale of a time snapping photos of us in different poses and perspectives. At times, she would hold the camera really close to our faces, hoping for a good close-up. What she probably doesn’t understand is that we feel really threatened by the camera being so near (although it looks good in pink) and would naturally retract our heads into our shells. Then, she will scold us for being camera-shy and depriving her of that shot.

This is especially so for Dona. He will scramble away in haste whenever she appears with the camera. Maybe he’s conscious of his small size.

not here

It's night-time now but there's no sight of my male owner. It's Father's Day. Where is he?

Father's Day

Today is Father’s Day. As my female owner is like a mother to us, so is my male owner to us. He came over yesterday (Saturday) and gave us a good bath. Also scrubbed the balcony and fed us good good. Nanook, for some reason, was behaving anti-social and didn’t respond to the feeding. Instead, she went to a far corner of the balcony and faced the wall. Maybe she’s on a diet.

Haven't been coming on for a long while... because had so much fun the previous week (see previous poast), that I spent the whole week recovering. Terrapins are not known for their energetic nature you know.

Anyway, you might be wondering what I mean when I say that we "play". Each of us have our own version of play. Let me show you Dodo's version.

This is me, trying to climb out of the balcony, into the living room, for a walk.











This is me after a long day of play...

This is me. I look sad because I just made my female owner angry. It was feeding time. Having had my last meal 2 days ago, I was naturally excited and famished. I rushed into the feeding tank, together with Dona, my elder brother. In my excitement, I mis-cued and bit my brother’s arm real hard. In the mayhem that ensued (coz he struggled so hard), I held on even harder because I thought my female owner was feeding us live food (“wah, fresh food, so must hold on in case it escapes”).

I knew I made a mistake when I heard her shouting at me. I let go immediately. Dona didn’t scold me or anything, but my female owner gave me a hard tap on my shell. Okay, I realised my mistake. Can I eat now?

selling dolls

A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about it. For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totalling $95,000. He asked her about the contents. "When we were to be married," she said, "my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll." The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness. "Honey," he said, "that explains the doll, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?" "Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from selling the dolls."

rampage

My female owner went on a mini rampage last night. She finally paid off all $24000 of her study loan and decided to reward her years of frugality with a brand-new digicam! The strange thing about it is that, while she was happy with her choice, her heart sank the moment AFTER she bought the camera. Too late for regrets. Female owner, you need to move on! Go figure how to use that chio pink camera…. then we can have many more happy snapping moments!

the saga continues

My male owner has been trying his best to coax Nana into the water and last night, he claimed that he did it! He even described the process to my female owner. Hold the worm in front of Nana, dangle it from left to right about six times, and Nana will go into the water.

My female owner then asked: “did you manage to get Nana out of the water?”

Male owner: “No, only into the water.”

Female owner: “what?! You left Nana in the water??”

Male owner: (‘.’);;;

still in the dark

My male owner still doesn't know how to feed Nana, after so many days. My female owner was a tad amused and a tad upset at the same time. Amused because he plays games like MapleStory. While he can gain control in such a high-level game, my male owner is unable to figure out such an elementary game.

Upset because... well... she's a woman so no real reason needed..

met my new friend?

Met my new friend? He’s called Nana, after my brother who died a few years back.

My female owner proved that she is the reigning turtle whisperer of Singapore. She managed to get Nana to jump into the water after a few seconds of adopting him.

My male owner took the whole night, and all he could do was to get Nana to look at the worm.

In fact, my female owner can get Nana to jump into the water, eat the worm, and jump back on the rock at will.

Somebody please help my male owner figure out this new pet… or else he will have no end from my female owner.

Now you know why we are living with our female owner…survival instinct.

my new friend!

adopt your own virtual pet!

the mysterious cat

My female owner does the darnest thing. Before I get rationed by her (of food) for saying this, I must remind her that my male owner said this of her. I, Nooki, am merely repeating what my male owner said. You see, she came home at 4am on Sunday. As she was unlocking her door, she saw a white cat sitting on the old armchair left outside her house (this armchair was left outside her house for people to wear their shoes). The cat was silent and still, quietly looking at her with his big round shiny eyes. The lateness of the night, together with the spooky demeanour of the cat, freaked her out and she scrambled into the house. She tried to redeem herself when she retold the story to my male owner and us, that she was just afraid that the cat will spring into the house, run straight to the balcony and pounce on us. Err… how would the cat know that there are terrapins in the house? Anyway, she didn’t manage to take any photos because her camera was spoilt (hint!) but she did find white fur on the armchair the next day, which basically proved that she was not seeing things. My female owner was fascinated by how the cat managed to find his way to the 9th storey to get to her flat. According to her, the cat looked very happy and contented with his find. She was left wondering how long the cat had been roosting outside her flat without anybody’s knowledge and whether the cat would return. To satisfy her curiosity, guess what my female owner did? She set her alarm at 4am on Monday morning to spy on the armchair. In the process of this, she actually woke up during the night (without the assistance of the alarm, mind you), struggled out of bed, searched for her glasses using her hands, and walked to the main door to check on the armchair. She repeated the process three times. Three times, she found the armchair empty. She got her answer. The cat didn’t return. Duh. My female owner does the darnest thing, doesn’t she?

Happy Mother's Day!

A tribute to all female turtle owners in the world for this Mother’s Day! It is certainly not an easy task, taking care of tortoises who hardly show overt appreciation for your care and dedication. You see, we don’t bark and wag our tails like the canines; neither do we hum a lovely song like the canaries. All we do is keep to ourselves and shy away from most human touch. In fact, we often look stoned and lifeless.

Looks like we (my female owner and myself) made a mistake about who ate the plastic bag. We unanimously thought that it was Nanook (sorry sister! Your past track record has not been very clean) but it turns out to be Dodo. We decided it was him coz he had not been his usual self since the incident. He was nursing a clogged tummy.

Dodo, you must understand, is my female owner’s favourite terrapin for many good reasons. One of the good reasons is that he is very tame to the human touch. He would not flinch if you touch his head or stroke his neck. In fact, he seeks out human interaction by rushing out to greet my owners whenever he knows they are near. This delights my female owner very much and hence, she speaks very proudly of him all the time (that's Dodo below).

Anyway, ever since the munch-on-plastic incident, Dodo kept to himself all the time in a corner of TurtleLand. He had a drugged look and was ultra-sensitive to touch. He also lost his appetite and remained curled up in his shell. My female owner noticed the change in his behaviour immediately and was quite concerned. She didn’t know what to do to make him feel better and decided not to agitate him at least.

Occasionally she would pop into TurtleLand to check on him and coax him to have some food. If he refuses, she would just let him be. Her patience and tenderness towards his predicament (she didn’t scold him or send him to the Sick Bay) must have been therapeutic for Dodo. Today, on Mother’s Day, he was able to have a decent meal, much to the relief of my female owner.

Moral of the story – while mother knows and loves best, keep those plastic bags away from us!

i wonder why

Been a long time since I posted a picture of myself. So I thought I better put one up, in case you forget how I look like.

This is a picture taken in April 06. On the left is me, and on the right is Nanook, my elder sister. The reason why the photo was taken is pretty obvious – my female owner is trying to capture our greediness in action. You see, that rectangular tank was our feeding tank (the old one – remember I told you that we got a new one recently?). We were hovering around the tank, trying to send the message that we were hungry and hence, waiting for some human intervention. We behave like humans at times right, hovering around something knowing that something good is going to happen (e.g. freebies)?

Anyway, the hidden point of taking the photo is that Dodo and Dona (my female owner’s terrapins – Nanook and myself belong to our male owner. Confused over ownership? Just remember that the “N”s belong to the male and the “D”s to the female but all four of us live together in the female’s house) were NOT hovering around the tank!

You get it now? My female owner wants to emphasise the “goodness” of her terrapins at the expense of us. Sigh… I wonder why.

eating plastic

Turtleland had a minor disaster in the wee hours of the morning. It started to rain heavily and a big gush of wind sent a clear plastic bag flying into our feeding tank.

My female owner woke up to this disaster scene where she found the plastic bag floating in the tank…. And small round holes in the bag. In an instant, she knew what happened – someone in our midst was so greedy, he/she stole a few bites of the bag! This is not good because it is potentially toxic.

My female owner had her suspect in mind but she did nothing about it. The consequence of eating plastic is in itself a punishment for the consumer. As for me, I’m not telling who it was.

exposure

my female owner decided to expose me to more humans (she said that it's unhealthy for my development to interact with only her and my male owner) and added a tag board on this blog for me!

So, please feel free to leave a message for me and I will reply in my own turtle time.

affair

My female owner came home late last night. We were all waiting anxiously for her as it was feeding day. She finally appeared at about 11pm. This was strange. She usually reached home by 9pm on a Monday.

I later found out that my female owner was late because she was having an affair. The truth was, she has music classes on Mondays and yesterday, she felt really fat and wobbly and decided that she needed more exercise to ooze out the excess oil. She gave music lessons a miss and went for a 4.5hr badminton spree. Hence, the affair.

The truth be told, for all her hard work, she still looks the same size…

best museum in Singapore - die die must go

Do you know that there are about 35 museums in Singapore and there is one for us terrapins/ turtles/ tortoises? It's called the Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum located at the Chinese Garden. Admission is $5 (that is about half month supply of food for all four of us). It is worth the distance and money, I promise you. The museum is opened by turtle lovers (there are many in Singapore, my female owner can attest to that) and houses more than 200 turtles and tortoises from over 60 different species. It has a petting corner which allows humans to get up close with some of these turtles and tortoises. Although the name of the museum conveniently left out "terrapins", I would say that we red-earred sliders make up a large proportion of the entire population there. Let me show you why...

Top: The beautiful landscaped turtle pond with hundreds of terrapins.

Below: My fellow mates waiting in anticipation for food.










Below: Friends on dry land











Below: The terrapin which caught my owners' attention.

it's a new month

It’s a new month! Many things to look forward to. First, there’s Mother’s Day on the 13th of May. Since I left my hometown many years ago, my female owner is like my mother to me. She takes care of most of my needs and makes sure that I grow up well, despite my traumatic childhood (a little more another day). So, it’s a day worth celebrating with her. Hmmm, just don’t ask me to lay an egg! Second, my birthday (and Nanook’s) is approaching! Okay, maybe not as soon as you would expect – it’s in July – but it’s soon enough to warrant some mention. Hint hint! Third, we have a new wading and feeding tank. It’s so much better than the previous feeding tank which has been around longer than me. It’s bigger and lower in height. This makes it easier for us to climb in and out of the tank. Will get my female owner to snap a few photos for you to see, then you know what I mean. Fourth, my female owner is working from home these couple of days. Wah, it’s a godsend for her and for us as well. She’s usually too busy to pay us much attention, but now, she can afford the time to let us out for a walk in the rest of the house! A whole afternoon of free-and-easy exploration around the house for us. It’s like being cooped up in a small cell for a long time and finally being let loose. The smell of freedom beckons!

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.

a tribute to the fairer sex

A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?" "Because I'm a woman," she told him.

"I don't understand," he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will."

Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?"

"All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say.

The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.

Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?"

God said:

"When I made the woman she had to be special.

I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort.

I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.

I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.

I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.

I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.

And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed."

"You see my son," said God, "the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides."

well-being

You haven’t heard from me for a long time and that’s because I had been living in fear and on tenterhooks for the past 2 weeks. You see, my female owner was busy preparing for her flute exam and she spent all her spare time at home, practising her songs and other requirements. Her practise area is usually the living room, right next to the balcony. How is this connected to our (I speak for my siblings as well) psychological, mental, physical and emotional well-being? Lots, I must say. Firstly, she plays terribly. Or rather, she screeches, especially on the higher notes. And, being a high grader, she has tonnes of high notes to play. That affects our hearing as we endure the noise pollution. As a result, we get a headache and we can’t rest because of the headache. Secondly, sound produces vibrations and we are sensitive to vibrations. The sound or rather noise vibrations travel through the air and strike us through our shell (which happens to be made of the same material as human being’s fingernails). The end result is that our shells start to experience tremours (think earthquake) and our sense of safety is compromised. Imagine, our shell has always been our source of refuge and protection. To feel it shaking all the time is certainly testing the limits of our psychological well-being. Thirdly, being so miserable, we start to feel depressed and lose our appetite. Not only do we feel vulnerable, we are also low on energy… Nah, this third point is a bluff. We will still eat no matter what. Got you, didn’t I?

ranking system

Women like to complicate matters.

My female owner always put my male owner in a difficult spot by asking this question "You like which tortoise most?" By asking this, she is essentially forcing him rank the four of us in order of preference based on a certain criteria. And what is this criteria? It can be anything that he deems important in ranking us. Say there are four simple items in the criteria - sex of tortoise, size, colour and weight - my male owner still has to decide, are these items equally important? Or is colour more important than the rest? Or is there a ranking among the items too?! And what if she disagrees with his ranking criteria and thinks that he should rank the four of us according to what she thinks is important?

Anyway, my male owner's answer has always been consistent - "I like them the same, because they are ours". Wah.. so sweet and reassuring for us.

"But they are different, there must be some that you like more than others!"

"Each of them is cute in its own ways".

That usually leaves her speechless, unable to continue this one-sided debate. You know what is our answer for which owner we prefer?

"We like them both, because they are our owners."

one lesson learnt

my female owner came home very late last night, so i was kept in the Sick Bay for a really long time. My prolapse was out when she released me from the bucket. Once out, I was so relieved and happy that my prolapse retracted naturally. It's definitely stress-induced. And stress is confining me in one tiny area the whole day.

health scare

my female owner had a health scare this morning. She visited us as usual just before heading off for work. She found me in the feeding tank. This is unusual because I would always climb out of the tank within hours of feeding (you will find out why soon). Anyway, she brought me out (so thankful for that!) and walked away. When she returned, she found out that my prolapse returned. She almost went ballistic. Sheesh. I was trying to hide from her, coz I knew she would turn hysterical. Women. So hard to hide things from them.

Anyway, being the well-heeled turtle nurse, she went to fill up this round bucket with water. I always call this round bucket the "Sick Bay" because she keeps us in it whenever we are ill. It's high, so it prevents us from climbing over and mixing with the rest of our siblings. But it's also cramped, we dont even have leg room to stretch. So we feel even more sick being kept in there.

By the time she came back with the water, my prolapse was gone! Really, honest to God, I managed to retract it back in and I was so relieved. Heh, no Sick Bay for me! Alas, my female owner had other plans - she put me in the bucket, as a "just in case" measure. My heart sank all the way to my prolapse.

The only thing that cheered me up was that my elder brothers, Dodo and Dona, left their morning basking spots immediately to check if I was ok. They hovered around the bucket, trying to look in to see if they could do anything for me. I felt so touched. For all the hours I spent talking with Nanook, my sister, she didn't leave her favourite corner to show me some sisterly care. She wore her usual "did-anyone-call-my-name" look on her face. In times like this, I start to understand why my female owner is so exasperated with her.

why i enjoy being a turtle

Ten reasons why it's good to be a turtle.

1) We are expected to be slow, so people have little expectations of us. Hence, life is less stressful for us.

2) We are hardy. Think stone-age. We are likely to survive any drastic climatic changes in the environment.

3) We do not need to do silly tricks to entertain our owners, unlike our canine or feline counterparts.

4) We don't have to care for our young. Just lay the eggs and leave the hatchlings to fend for themselves.

5) We help our owners to save money. We don't need an elaborate living environment, are simple eaters and don't need grooming.

6) We are quiet. Hence, we don't annoy ourselves or others.

7) We are always home.

8) We have minimal pet obligations to fulfill. It is perfectly legitimate for us to bask in the sun the whole day and to hide in dark corners at other times. No sweat.

9) We have good temperaments. No matter how you try to scare us, we won't bite. Hence, we make good companions for men who are traumatised by their overbearing partners.

10) Finally, we are the colour of nature. We blend in with all things natural and brings healing to the injured soul.

"to lose weight"

ever heard of how pets will resemble their owners? for example, if the owner is gentle and kind, the pet is likely to be so. if the owner has curly hair, the pet (if possible) will also have curly fur. i think i take after my female in one area - the uncontrolled eating... and natural consequences that follow (being fat/ lazy). even though I’m saying this, I’m not admitting to being a greedy turtle. Read my beak (I don’t have lips). What I am saying is, if anyone (including my female owner) wants to accuse me of being fat/ lazy/ greedy, he or she needs to realise that I’m merely taking after my female owner. So it’s not my fault. I’m just predisposed to looking fat/ lazy/ greedy, because of my family background. Yah, I know, some of you might be saying “but you were the one who tried to charm your way to your male owner’s heart at the pet shop” (read the blog “my cute and happy wriggle”). That’s precisely my point, I wasn’t trying to seduce a female human being! Let me fish out one simple example before I go to bed. Ever since I entered this household (about 4.5 years ago), my female owner has been consistent in one aspect – she is always saying that she want to lose weight. So far, no results. Recently, she went to the USA for a 2-week holiday. Before she left, she started eating all sorts of local delights, because, in her words “I don’t know if I’m going to come back alive, so this may be my last chance eating local food”. Over there, she lived on instant noodles, canned tuna, biscuits and instant soup. As a result, she came back (yes, she came back alive, so all that gorging was uncalled for) lighter by 2 kg. Ah, her lose-weight-plan has finally kicked into action and bore fruit. With this newfound weight (she had never been so light for a long while), she went on an eating spree! You know what’s her reason? “I missed local food and it’s time to catch up!” There you have it, she always has a valid reason to indulge in food. I believe that the smaller number on the weighing scale contributed to her current spree. I think her mantra for the next 4.5 years will remain the same – to lose weight.

the unexpected feast

Remember my last entry when I talked about my owner and her parents going away for holidays and leaving us turtles at home to fend for ourselves (okay, the last part is my own perception)? My brother, Dodo, chided me when I whined about my insecurities about being left at home alone, with no one to feed us. Usually good-natured and even-tempered, he told me to be more trusting of my owners. After all, they brought us up when we were still tiny and never once did any of us starve. With such good track record, I shouldn't fear that we would be left uncared for.

My brother couldn't be more right - not only were we well-taken care of by our temporary turtle-sitters (they cleaned the balcony regularly), we were definitely well-fed. A container of turtle pellets (see photo) usually lasts us for more than one month (under the strict ration of my female owner). However, this time, we finished one whole container within a span of 13 days! It’s like being able to indulge in buffet everyday, rather than subjected to limited ala-carte fare.

Yum.

promises

Recently, my female owner announced that she would be going overseas for about 2 weeks. That means that she won't be able to feed us for, let me count... 7 times. Oh well, her parents will turtlesit us then. No issue. She's always going off somewhere anyway. Later, my female owner updated her news release. Her parents are going for a 5-day holiday during that 2-week period! My siblings and I started to panick. FIVE days of being left at home alone?? No food and water?? Please don't test us. I know we will pass the test, given our good genetic make-up but can we not subject ourselves to unnecessary torture... please?? I promise to be good. I promise not to eat too much and I promise never to step on Dodo or Dona in order to climb over the tank. Is somebody hearing my pleas?

turtleneck

It has been a long time since I came here. Blame it on the weather. Singapore has suddenly turned really hot and humid. In a water-scarce environment like my balcony, it’s really hard to find the time to think and mediate. All you really wanna do is to snooze your life away. Animals like to hibernate when it’s winter. I prefer to be inactive when it’s hot. Peace is being able to be at rest… when your surroundings become heated up. Anyway, many things have changed since the last time anyone heard from me. One of the most significant thing is this. Yes, that’s right, a photo of me. My beloved female owner’s digital camera suddenly gave up on life and refused to snap any more photos for her. Either that or the camera has developed an allergic reaction to terrapins. Whatever it is, my female owner was trying to snap a photo of me when the camera blanked out on her. (I must add that I look grouchy because of the weather. Can you imagine wearing a thick turtleneck 24/7 in sunny Singapore??). The camera was never revived. So this photo which you see before you is really precious. It’s the last photo ever taken on her camera! She's quite upset because the camera was a gift from my male owner...

The turtles' picnic

Found this story interesting... Maybe I should go meditate on it until my next feeding.. adious

A family of turtles once decided to go on a picnic. Turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place for their picnic.

During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last! For about six months they cleaned up the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements.

Then, to their dismay, they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow-moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He finally agreed to go on one condition - that no one would eat until he returned.

Fair enough, the rest of the family decided, and the little turtle left. Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years rolled by, then six. Then, in the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich.

At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree and shouted, "See! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt!"

Like the little turtle in the story, some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we don't do anything ourselves. We're worried that other people are going to let us down, so we live in fear and suspicion. We often think the worst of others, not realising that it's our very lack of faith that leads to the result we dreaded. The family of turtles would have waited for the little turtle to return. In fact, they did; seven years they waited. Eventually the oldest turtle was forced to stopped waiting because of the little turtle's mistrust. In the same way, we often bring out the worst in other people because we expected nothing better from them.

So choose to see the good in people. Don't waste time judging others while not doing anything to improve yourself. If we were like the little turtle in the story, we would all suffer.

Maslow's Law

I think my female owner is really busy these days. It was our feeding day yesterday. She realised it, so she came into the balcony to get our feeding tank, gave it a good scrub and filled it up with fresh water. As the night was still young (maybe 9pm), she decided not to feed us yet. So we waited…. And waited…. And waited…. And without warning, the lights went out close to midnight and it struck us only then that she forgot all about us!

So much for waiting.

You must be wondering why I’m so uptight about being fed. I learnt from somewhere that a certain Abraham Maslow’s Law states that the most basic needs are physiological and that includes the needs for oxygen, water, protein, salt, sugar, calcium, and other minerals and vitamins.

Ah… now you understand right?

a touch from God

It was a horrible start to my Saturday. I woke up to see the cleaning lady in our balcony. The cleaning lady makes her appearance in my female owner’s house once every few weeks. Every time she comes, all of us terrapins break out in cold sweat. This is because she would put us into a tank to keep us in (in case she tramples on us while she cleans). This tank is opaque and cramped, making us very miserable, stressed and claustrophobic. Today was worse, because I suffered a relapse – I had a prolapse again. This time, I felt uncomfortable because I could feel something sticking out of my tail but could not get rid of it no matter how hard I kicked. Coincidentally, Dona also suffered a prolapse. It must be the cleaning lady! My female owner’s mother saw our condition and tried to poke the prolapse back into our tail. Her nursing skills worked the last time for Dona and I thought I would be ok too. I certainly did not wish to go back to the vet again to be cut up and stitched back and doped with horrible tasting medicine. Alas, I was too tensed when she picked me up and I continued to have a prolapse (Dona was ok after the poke). By this time, my female owner had roused from her sleep and inspected us. Although she didn’t say anything, I could almost hear her heart drop and her thought bubble coming on “Prolapse again?!” I bet she must have felt demoralised. After spending so much on me, I still suffered a relapse few months down the road. Anyway, she took me out and left me in the feeding tank, separated from the rest. I believe she prayed for me, because by afternoon time, my prolapse had gone in. I was as good as gold! Close shave!

the best moments are now

Ask me what the best moment in my life was, I would tell you that there were two. The first “best” moment was when my male owner chose me to be his pet. The feeling of being specially chosen by someone and subsequently, belonging to someone who loves and cares for your every need is overwhelmingly heart-warming. My male owner has never, in my short 4.5 years on planet Earth, failed to make me feel special and loved. The same goes for my female owner. Although she may complain about me and not feed me for days, I know that it is due to a personality flaw, more than personal attack on me. Alright, I know I sound as if I am launching a personal attack on her, but you know what I mean right? The second “best” moment is now. Waking up everyday, knowing that each day brings with it surprises and new experiences. I know it sounds weird, coming from a terrapin which does nothing much every day, save to “eat, sleep and shit” (that’s what my female owner would say). My female owner tends to reminisce about the early days when we were so small and cute. Now we are even cuter (it’s true!), but not so small, and so, she would gripe about our swollen size (“so fat and heavy”). I tend to disagree with her, life is about growing and living right? So we should appreciate our physical size, big or small, because growing bigger and older is a sign of health and wealth. Indeed, the best moments are now!

a picture paints a thousand words

This is just a recent photo of me. My female owner probably wanted to show everyone how fat I am.

This is our new haunt - the shoe rack. We used to be able to go underneath the shoe rack as it was perched on four bricks. However, Nanook (on the right) got so big that she toppled the shoe rack (it had four racks) a few times. For our own safety, the shoe rack is no longer perched on bricks but placed squarely on the floor. However, we still find it an interesting place to be, as it is slanting.

Nanook and me, spending a lazy afternoon together under the trolley. My female owner managed to alleviate the trolley so that Nanook can go underneath it. My brothers usually leave us alone when we have our girl-talk.

Me resting under this four-wheel cycle which is more than 20 years old (Nanook is in the background)! My female owner used to ride it when she was a little girl. Because of her reliance on this four-wheel cycle, she took a long time to ride a proper bicycle.

Queueing up to be fed

Contrary to popular belief, my female owner fed us yesterday despite the earthquake that happened between my two owners. In fact she was extra thoughtful - she fed Nanook first. Nanook, as you would know by now, is the largest terrapin among the four of us. For some unknown reason, she ballooned proportionately, while I just fattened around the head, with my shell still constricted. Hence, Nanook, for her size, can still retract her head totally into her shell while I have to make a hasty retreat by moving backwards whenever I feel threatened.

Anyway, being the biggest means that she is usually fed the last. Why feed one terrapin and leave the other three looking in hungrily from outside the feeding tank when you can feed three together and leave the "fat one" outside to wait her turn? Besides the "fat one" eats the most and doesn't seem to know when to stop eating. Hence, for reasons such as these, Nanook is usually fed the last.

This has caused a dent in Nanook's self-esteem. She often wonders why she is usually the last. In fact, she can get quite moody over this and acts out by sulking in a corner, ignoring my owners' call to food.

So yesterday was a pleasant surprise for her, as she was fed first, together with Dodo. Dodo, for the records, usually gets fed first, because he runs the fastest and reaches the tank first. First come first served usually applies at my household. Ah, that's another reason why Nanook doesn't get fed first! She is always sulking in the corner. Oh, but the sad thing was, I became the last terrapin to be fed!

world peace

My owners are at it again. It's like an annual affair. At the beginning of the year, they would have a major disagreement about their relationship and each one seems worse than the previous one. How does it affect us? Many ways.

i) My female owner will visit us more, just to space out. Then when some mean or unhappy thoughts will come into her mind and she will act out, by poking us in any or every retractable body part. That includes the 4 limbs, tail and head. I get it worse, because my fat head makes it IMPOSSIBLE for me to retreat into my shell for shelter. And that gives her 1 more reason to be upset - that Nooki is too fat!

ii) My female owner, as she is, is already quite temperamental with her feeding. Although we are supposed to get fed every other day, sometimes she would (for an endless variety of reasons) choose not to feed us. So we go without food or water for 3 days. We may be resilient but hey, who would ever reject food right?

iii) My male owner will stop coming over and that means that our living conditions will deteriorate. He is the long-suffering soul who would scrub our tank to make it clean and clear from algae before feeding us.

iv) Less play time for us. Sometimes they would sit together in the balcony and talk about us while playing with us. With one person gone, at least half the fun is gone. Actually more than half, coz my female owner would oscillate between playing and poking us while he would just play with us.

May there be world peace.

an act of humanity

It’s a new year and it’s time for some reflection. Today’s reflection topic is: ever wondered how life would be if I didn’t hoodwink my male owner into choosing me for a pet? My owners are very dedicated to us (save for the occasional slip-ups in feeding days) and are not the kind of Singaporean Chinese who believe that terrapins should be released into the wild as an act of humanity.

What humanity are these people talking about? You rear us in small tanks with 1-inch deep water and feed us 3 times a day (no, not my owners, but the typical terrapin owner) and just as we are getting comfortable with being waited hand on foot, you pack us into your car and drive to the nearest reservoir to carry out your act of humanity?? By then, we would probably be quite round and heavy, making swimming to keep afloat a near impossible task, much less swimming around to look for food! (by the way, this usually happens after a few months, when we are bigger and "not so cute" and the owners are tired of looking after us.

My blood boils at the thought of such human logic! A pet is for life you know. How can you buy a pet and release it after a few months and call it humane? I don't see human parents doing that to their children! Oh, baby has grown up and learnt to walk. We should find an auspicious date to release him into the jungle for it’s an act of humanity to do so.

Alright, enough reflection for the night. I need to cool off and book my favourite nook for the night! Nanook, make way!

does life stop at 25?

I think my female owner is depressed. She just celebrated her birthday in Dec and claims that life stops at 25. No prizes for guessing how old she is now! At 25, she is at the prime of her youth. She is still young, financially independent and has the freedom to do whatever her heart chooses to do. Then why does she declare that life stops at 25? Human women! For terrapins which are bred in captivity, our life-span is about there – 25 to 30 years old. I’m only 4 years old. I wonder how life will be when I’m 25. Will life literally stop for me when I’m 25? That’s so scary! For now, I shall enjoy my life in the balcony, taking each day as it comes.