feeding

Ever wondered how we get fed? Or how we show our female owner that we are hungry and would like to be fed? Here's a step-by-step illustration.

First: One arm goes over the tank to check out if there's fresh water

If there's fresh water, it means that its feeding time!

Stretching to see if my female owner is near.

Side view: Gotta lift my hind legs to climb into the tank.
Law of physics (principle of moments?) dictates that I would tip over, into the tank

Phew. I'm in and good to start on my meal.

emo meals

My female owner is getting emotionally tired, attending farewell dinners. She had another one today with three of her aikido friends (2 of them, J and K, were not able to attend the one on Sunday). She was really happy to be able to meet up with them, especially since it had been about a month since she last trained with them, or spoke to them even.

Was a "relac" dinner, coz K made all the decisions (my female owner hates making decisions, even if it's as simple as where to eat for dinner) - where to eat, what time to meet, what to eat, even choice of desserts. In addition, the service was super good. The staff helped to serve almost every dish (e.g. prepare the Peiking duck, distribute the easier to handle crab pieces to the gals, refill their plates with more food when empty etc etc), cleared their plates quickly and were so polite. Certainly one of the best dining experiences she ever had in a Chinese restaurant.

More importantly, the company was good. Four aikidodas, bonded through common experiences, speaking the same language. K, the food connisseur, must have been freaked out, because the other three were clueless about how to savour some of the dishes (J jokingly asked for the "breast meat" when the waitress asked him which part of the crab he wanted).

Oh well, but all good things must come to an end. My female owner hates this part the most, where the meal ends and the laughter dies down, when it's time to say goodbye. She is left wondering, when would be the next time she would meet her friends? Is this really the final goodbye?

yoga vs aikido

Nothing much happened today. Didn't really see my female owner too. She was home in the morning, but I was having my yoga session (i.e. maintaining the same position, leaning onto Nanook for an extended period of time) and so, didn't quite see her.

As per usual practice, she went for aikido training in the night. But that's not before she got a vendor whom she was working closely with on a video production interested in taking up aikido classes.

Well, she always tell people that learning aikido was one of the best decisions she had ever made in her life. I guess people can see her sincerity when she ratters on about why she loves it so much...

For me, I will stick to yoga. Less movements, less contortions of the body.

round 2 of Ops Cards

My female owner bit off more than she could chew. Having used up a majority of her non-Christian (i.e. no scripture message) cards, she went to the bookshop to get some more to write to her non-Christian colleagues. When she decided to spend the night/morning writing cards to start writing to her colleagues, she realised that she had suffered a burnt-out from writing cards (her threshold very low, right?) to her aikido friends. Apparently, round 1 of Ops Cards was too intensive for her (she stayed up till 4am to complete the cards).

To ease her burnt-out, my female owner decided to cut down on the number of colleagues she would write to and to shorten her messages. But then, she realised that by cutting down, she would have extra cards now.

Oh, the struggles of a disorganised person.

new skin

Like my new skin? Feeling a little down these days, so decided to change my skin to blue. It's also in line with the renovation which I promised you a few months ago. Actually, nothing much has changed, except that the observant reader may notice that the clock is gone. I deleted it by mistake...

short walk

My female owner did not go to work this morning. Remembering that we had not gone for a walk for a long time, she removed the wooden plank barricade for us to climb over the Balcony. We must have surprised her, coz within 5 minutes, Dodo, Dona and Nanook had climbed into the Living Room already (I was too lazy to move. With all my siblings away, I had the whole Balcony to myself.)

Dona and Nanook hiding in a small corner - did I mention that Dona likes Nanook?

Dodo and his usual climbing antics..

one farewell down

My female owner's aikido friends organised a farewell dinner for her at a Chinese restaurant today. With three tables of friends tucked in a corner, it was like a mini wedding dinner. Given my female owner's shy nature (yes, she is shy, like us, although many people think that she is just aloof), I can just imagine how hard it was for her to host the dinner (i.e. hop from table to table to talk to her friends). She tried but failed miserably. But her aikido instructor came to her rescue and did the social butterfly thing on her behalf. So sweet!

Recall I mentioned before that my female owner's love language is first, acts of service, then quality time. Given the setting, my female owner felt so loved having her friends around her. At the end of the dinner, her aikido instructor presented the gift on the behalf of everyone (she felt so awkward being in the centre of the limelight). My female owner then took out the cards which she painstakenly wrote for each of her aikido friends. I must say that the efforts were worth it, to see the look of appreciation on their faces for the personalised messages.

Dodo was right on this after all. My wise brother.

first watch in ten years

My female owner went for a random lunch with the friends she travelled with to Shanghai. Needless to say, they had some Shanghainese food.

My female owner's eggplant friend also gave her a watch, much to her delight. It's the first watch she's got in more than 10 years! What's more, it's has an "ambiguous" clockface which my female owner likes. Hopefully my female owner would never be late, now that she has a watch.

One thing's for sure, she will look at the watch whenever she feels lonely and homesick and be comforted by the good times she had with her potato and eggplant friends and smile at such memories.

badminton

It has been a long time since our female owner let us out for a walk in the rest of her house. She used to let us out mostly on Saturdays coz that's when she's home and she can make sure that we are ok. However, she has been going out so much that we have been stuck in the Balcony for many weeks now.

Anyway, my female owner joined her JC friends for some badminton today. Again, she had been so busy with other stuff that this was the first time in many weeks that she joined her friends. My female owner fell in love with badminton slightly more than a year ago (I remember coz her parents gave her a badminton racquet 2 Christmases ago and we turtles were so worried that she would use the racquet to hit us. Don't ask us why we had such fear. Survival instincts maybe?) when she started playing with her colleagues. Then (as she always manages to sell sports to her friends), she spread the badminton bug to her JC who then, played badminton weekly for the past one year (talk about commitment!).

My owners used to play with them and ever since they broke up, my male owner vanished from this weekly activity while my female owner became less regular, to the point where she almost vanished ... until today.

Oh.. and whatever little form she ever possessed, was evidently gone in today's session. But it doesn't matter, coz her friends accepted her for who she is, and how badly she played. The important thing was that they managed to spend some time together, after so long.

祝你一路顺风

KTV

Today, my female owner went out with a group of colleagues which she hardly/ never goes out with to do something which she seldom does. She went out with a mixed group of colleagues, comprising of NS boys, a regular, a reservist and a civilian to sing karaoke. The reservist had earlier "arrowed" the civilian to arrange this, as a form of farewell for my female owner.

Being tone deaf and clueless at songs, my female owner did not sing a single song throughout the 4 hours. However, she immersed herself into the superb singing, fellowship and managed to get to know some of her distant colleagues better. She knows that she's so going to miss hearing Chinese songs!

Anyway, at the end of the 4th hour, the regular suddenly grabbed the remote control and starting scrolling down the list of chosen songs and one song popped up on the television screen - 祝你一路顺风 - The group then dedicated this song to my female owner as a form of sending her off.

So sweet of them. My female owner was very touched. She wished that the song would never end...

kindness

My female owner came home today in a good mood. I know, coz she came over and called us and even fed us! (I can't remember how many days it has been since my last meal. Apparently I have gained weight again, so my female owner is restricting our food intake)

She met the kindest person in a long time today. This lady works at the university which she will be going to and among many things, offered to pick her and her mother up from the airport when they arrive at 0700hr, provide lodging for them while they look for a permanent place, bring them around the campus and loan them an extra SIM card so that people could contact them over there.

Bless her soul.

cards

My female owner is busy writing cards these days, to give to some of her friends before she leaves. She embarked on Ops Cards by first drawing up a list of names to write cards to. After this, she went shopping all over for suitable cards. Finally, the painful process of writing personalised messages to each friend. With 15-20 mins spent on each person and more than 50 cards to write (she stopped including names at number 56, coz that's the number of cards she has), I think she's in for a hard time!

Personally, if you ask me, I don't think writing cards are necessary. I mean, it's not as if she's going to be gone forever. Even if she's physically gone, she will still be hovering around online (you know that she's addicted to MSN!). So why bother writing cards to say goodbye? Dodo doesn't agree with me on this. He thinks that it's a nice gesture to write cards to show appreciation to people for all that they have done for you. Sometimes, I wonder if he's gay.

Anyway, back to my female owner. I think she's getting depressed writing the cards, coz firstly, it reminds her of the people and experiences she's leaving behind, secondly, she feels as if she is saying her last words to her friends before she fizzles out from the surface of the earth and thirdly, she wonders if her friends would throw away the card after one read (some are young boys ah).

That's why I say, don't write cards.

random photo

Me and Nanook (I'm resting on Dodo's shell)

lost relative

My female owner told us that her friend called her to tell her that she saw a brown tortoise walking along the road today. (For a split moment in the conversation, my female owner actually wondered if the brown tortoise was me!) Her friend did not know what to do but decided to carry the tortoise to the grass as the tortoise kept trying to walk towards the road.

Oh man. Who was the thoughtless person who left my distant relative to fend for himself in unfamiliar surroundings?

myriad

So depressing. I'm getting all the negative and depressive vibes from my female owner! She came home from the first aikido class of the year, looking down and unfulfilled. She didn't even come to look for us, that's how bad she's feeling. It didn't help that it has been raining since she reached home.

Turned out that a myriad of emotions flooded her during class today.

i) Her youngest colleague came for class.
- happy to have introduced this sport to more people

ii) The senior belt whom she depended a lot on previously to guide her through new techniques has stopped coming for class due to some misunderstandings. She missed having him around.
- feeling of loss and helplessness

iii) Her aikido class has planned a "all the best" party for her. Today, she caught glimpses of her kakis trying to tie up loose ends as they finalise payment for a gift (It was supposed to be a surprise, but they were not discrete about it. In fact, two of them were happily having a conversation about it when she was right behind them!)
- very touched by their efforts

iv) She has only 3 more lessons before she's gone.
- upset at the reality of how little time she has left

v) Her instructor taught the senior belts how to "slam" for the first time (meaning, to be flipped into the air like roti prata by someone and land unscathed on the mat). The instructor "slammed" his students at least twice. He called up my female owner last, as he knew that she had fear of slamming. Being sensitive to her weakness, he told her that he would slam her only once and after slamming her, praised her for a technique well-executed.
- sense of longing to be able to learn more and gratitude towards her instuctor for his sensitivity and faith in her

vi) Being the first class of 2008 and having not been training since Christmas, she was simply delighted to be back with her kakis, catching up and laughing even during training.

Emil Chau - Peng You (朋友)

My female owner heard this song on the radio today, while her youngest colleague was driving her home. It has always been one of her favourite songs (plus the singer!) and the words are even more meaningful now, given her situation.

Wish that she would stop brooding coz she has been having late nights just thinking about having to leave everyone.

replacement therapy

Knowing that she would be gone in a matter of months, my female owner decided a while ago to do something so that her friends would not miss her when she's gone (so thick-skinned actually!). She tried to organise many gatherings with different individuals so that they would feel comfortable hanging out and chilling together and would continue that practice without her.

Today, she almost hit a goldmine in another area. She managed to convince her youngest colleague to try out aikido. You see, my female owner had previously introduced 2 colleagues to aikido (the 2 colleagues in turn introduced 2 more colleagues to aikido). One of them is now attending the same dojo as her and they would go home together after class. Now that she would be gone, my female owner was wondering if she could do anything to make things better. Well, it seems my female owner has replaced herself. The youngest colleague looked keen to try out more classes and if she continues, the two colleagues can now go home together after class. Keeping her fingers crossed

Now, my female owner is trying to get a replacement owner for us. Her longsuffering mother looks unkeen to adopt us. But we are so big, no one would want us!

analogue

My female owner has been late for most of her appointments recently. At first, she thought she was just being slow in leaving the house or was another victim of the unpredictable transport system. Later, she realised that it's because she changed her handphone. Hmmm... far shot right?

Actually, not really. Her previous phone showed the time digitally. Hence, she was able to read time accurately. Now, not only is the clock on the phone analogue, it does not even have the hour markings (see picture for example)!

Now, time reading has become an art for her.

interrupted sleep

So tired.. my female owner just came home from her supper appointment. Her grand arrival home woke all of us up from our beauty sleep. With interrupted sleep, it's no wonder that we are tired out in the day-time!

Yawn...

Oh, did I mention that she had to parallel park again? It never rains but pours...

happy and sad

My female owner went out for a random shopping trip with her potato friend and bought a pair of sandals. Happy with her buy, she proudly showed them to us, expecting us to go ga-ga over them. But sandals and turtles don't connect you know.

Anyway, her potato friend has caught my female owner's trigger happy bug and brings her camera around to snap anything and everything. The potato friend even "zing" her camera recently, in order to act cute, act sweet, act virgin. Check out the blue hearts below!

Although my female owner was in high spirits today, the same could not be said for us turtles. In the afternoon, my female owner's mother asked my female owner if the SPCA would adopt us. At night, her father asked her to put an advertisement in the papers to see if anyone would adopt the four musketeers aka us! Sob, we are nobody's child...nobody wants us, we are nobody's child...

2nd parallel parking

My female owner drove again today, to a shopping centre where she would go to once in a while using public transport. This time, as a driver, she was confronted with a full carpark and had to wait her turn just to enter the carpark. Cruising all the way to basement 3, she finally found an empty lot... which required parallel parking. Determined to overcome her spatial-visual-psychomotor handicap(s) and to get over the previous day's booboo, my female owner attempted her second parallel parking in as many days.

Bingo. She getting better at handling machines!

parallel parking

I think my surrogate owner (i.e. my female owner's mother) was very traumatised just now. Mother and daughter went out in the evening to attend a seminar and reached home rather late. Shortly after her bath, daughter received a call from her friend, asking her out for a drink and daughter left the house, bringing along the car keys.

Mother obviously did not want daughter to go out since it was already 2300hr++ but through her growing years, daughter was used to being called for supper at last minute's notice (the difference is that someone would usually pick her up). Oh well.. daughter won. So daughter left.

Anyway, my female owner came home in one piece (her driving has improved tremendously over the past few months. I heard that she even parallel-parked for the first time today, but not before holding up a long line of traffic and being high-beamed by the car behind her. To add to her embarrassment, she had to call her friend to run over to help her park and there were people at the nearby coffeeshop looking at "how a female driver parallel parks")

My female owner came home to find me sleeping (of course right? so late already). So she decided to take photo of me sleeping. The bright flash kind-of stirred me from my dream and she managed to capture me in the process of waking up..

Me sleeping soundly..

Reacting to the effect of the flashCheck it out - one of my eyes is open, the other is closed.

flute

And so... after 3 years 8 months, $13000+ , 2 flutes (one beginner and one semi-professional), 5 exams (1 distinction, 1 merit, 2 passes, 1 fail), subtle criticism from some people for spending too much time on it, hours of practice, immeasureable self-doubts, undying tolerance from us turtles and her neighbours, and many more unspoken investment.., my female owner finally obtained her grade 8 in flute.

In her words, she "finally completed her flute education" (ya, she realised that she is not cut out musically, so good riddance to her fantasies of doing a diploma and teaching flute in future).

For those who were with her through her flute journey, they can testify to her countless struggles and frustrations, especially when it comes to exam period. My female owner will intensify her practice time, by staying home as much as she can (this includes Friday nights and weekends).

Her journey with flute started innocently. She was feeling bored at work and wanted to develop herself musically. Her friend happened to be interested in the flute and both of them signed up for group classes. Her friend quitted after one lesson. My female owner stayed on. She never imagined at that point in time, that she would go all the way to grade 8. She just wanted to learn to play the flute.

spring-cleaning

My female owner is spring-cleaning her room. Ever since she moved into her present home more than 10 years ago, she has been stocking up her room with turtle paraphernalia, many of which, are courtesy of her friends and mother's friends. This is a picture of the cupboard above her bed. She was made to empty the cupboard and did so reluctantly...


Some close-ups of her turtle mess

it's really true

I can't sleep (that's unusual, coz I sleep like a koala). The thought of my female owner leaving us .. and me, is simply nerve-wrecking. We have already lost our male owner. Now, we are losing our other owner. No, it's not that I have attachment issues. It's just separation anxiety. We are still young, we need the nurture and care of our main care-giver. Okay, I know I sound hysterical and am sprouting all sorts of psychological terms. I can't help it. I'm..., yes, shellshocked.

Gosh, a sleepless night for me.

it's true

So it's really true. My female owner is really leaving us. We thought that there might be a chance that she would cancel her overseas plans. But today, when she came home with bags filled with things she packed from her office, we know that the inevitable is going to take place soon (it was hard not to see her carry in that huge garbage bag filled with soft-toys. I thought she was trying to play Santa Claus).

Turns out that she tendered her resignation today. So it's really point of no return for her ... and us.

My female owner's mother has been nominated to take care of us in her absence (surrogate female owner ya?). Although she always had a love-hate relationship with us (she probably loved to hate us, or hated to love us), she took it in her stride and tried to learn our names today. So sweet...

But...that doesn't mean that we would be ok! Can our female owner not go?? How can she leave us just like that?

name-tags

My female owner finally tore herself from MSN for a grand total of 1.5hrs to play with us (we were so excited, especially Dodo who kept running around. Yah, turtles can run too!) and to pack her room.

In the midst of her packing, she unearthed some stuff which my male owner gave her during their marathon courtship. Thought that I would show you this. The items came in a box filled with shredded paper and little hearts.


Yes, you didn't see wrongly. My male owner once made all of us turtles a name-tag each. Nice or not?

cabbage

I'm mega upset. My female owner is addicted to MSN and has been neglecting/ ignoring us/ giving us the cold shoulder. For example, she came home yesterday at 2pm and stayed online till 9pm.... she was chatting even through a steamboat dinner.

To make matters worse, when she finally fed us our first meal in several days, she gave us cabbage! Yucks! I hate greens.

Me rejecting the cabbage. I want my pellets

My siblings enjoying their greens.

some turning points

2007 flew by me and it’s the end of the year again. So many things have happened in our household that I need some time to jot down the various turning points.

For starters, this turtlepad has been an avenue for me to pen down my thoughts and to make human friends. This year saw many of my female owner’s friends coming to read about my (siblings included) life. I am happy to be able to share my turtle life with so many human friends, coz at the end of the day, I hope that people will take care of their pets (and not abandon them) and gain insight into how important animals are to the world.

Another significant change in us turtles’ lives is of course, that our owners are no longer together. As it happened in June, we literally spent half the year as a complete family, and the other half of 2007 as a single parent family. Of course we miss him at times, but not having him around makes us appreciate our female owner even more.

A spate of events which I hope would never happen again, is the bout of illnesses that Dodo and I went through this year. While we recovered well, we know that at the back of our female owner’s mind, she is constantly fearful and anxious that we may fall ill again.

As pets, we also saw how our female owner changed this year. This year must have been a tough one for her, with so many changes in her personal and work life (some of which are chronicled in this turtlepad). Whatever it is, we turtles will always be here for her.

couple fren

Today's my female owner's birthday! Happy 18th birthday!!

As with Christmas, this was the first time in so many years that she celebrated it "alone". This year, she had dinner with her long-time couple-friend. She literally saw them starting out as strangers before becoming acquaintances then friends (she knew the guy first, before the girl was posted to her class), progressed to form a clique with them, witnessed the ambivalent stage of he/she likes me, he/she likes me not before they became an item, went through years of courtship, and now, about to seal their romance in marriage.

They were always there, in their separate ways and their couple ways for my female owner. For this, we turtles are grateful, coz this would in turn, help my female owner take better care of us!

potato, green peppers and eggplant

Apparently my female owner had lotsa mini adventures during her holiday to Shanghai. Largely monolingual in English, she visited Shanghai with two of her closest colleagues-turned-confidantes.

Most memorable for her, was the days spent together, wrestling the cold winter, enduring sore feet (from trying to look glam wearing boots) and bargaining with shopowners (who quoted exorbitant prices for their goods).

An unforgettable experience would be the night when the three of them visited a club with a male acquaintance. It was her first time being in such a social context and the experience was one to learn from and never to be repeated. Wahaha. (Whatever that means, coz she didn't want to say too much too.)

Craving for Shanghai food, the three of them ended up at a local food joint on their last night and devoured local delicacies, of which, the one featured belowed was the most delicious.

My female owner's travelling mantra has always been: "Go as friends, come back as friends." In recognition of the delicious dish above, the tagline for this trip would be "Go as friends, come back as potato, green peppers and eggplant". Three ingredients for three great friends.

left behind

My female owner finally came home today. She went for a holiday without telling us turtles and we only found out a few days later when her mother fed us. Her mother is the in-house nanny whenever she goes overseas. See how moody we look, because she was not around for so many days.

Me, brooding under the Trolley

Nanook, pouting.

Dodo leaning onto Dona, looking bored

memories linger

My female owner came home very happy today. She had a whale of a time at her friends' house celebrating Christmas. It was a comfortable group size of six, with diversity in demographics, but similarities in experiences.

During the party, one of her non-Christian friends asked a seemingly innocent question "How do you all usually celebrate Christmas?"

At the very moment, I guess my female owner was stunned... coz for the past 6 years, she had always spent Christmas with my male owner. They got together 7 Christmases ago. She has long forgotten how to celebrate Christmas "alone".

This would be her first Christmas as a swinging bachelorette in a long while. Not that she has any issues with it, just that memories linger and she's a sentimentalist.

Oh well... but as I was saying, I know she had fun today... without getting tipsy.

Yah, it was the exact same group of friends who had to lug her home the other time. This time, they learnt their lesson and collectively sought to reduce her alcohol intake. Strategy worked! (But she still didnt feed us when she came home...)

proof

For those who dont believe me, here's proof that I've lost weight. Look at the bulge around my neck in the photo below (Jun 2007).
This is me, a few days ago, with less bulge around my neck (aka no double chin!)
This is me, taking dancing lesson from my female owner. (Actually she was just testing to see how heavy I am)

1am

I finally get it! I've been wondering why my female owner has been coming home so late these days. I finally figured out why - she's addicted to coming home late. As in, if she reaches home before 1am, she will feel that something is amiss or that she was shortchanged.

Hmmm... then the next logical question to ask (and answer) would be, what could be the reason behind her addiction and cognitions? (my female owner is in the business of psychoterrapin, opps, i mean, psychotherapy... so i picked up some jargon along the way.)

Blame it on 6.5 years of being attached to someone who insisted on sending her home by 10pm everytime they go out. I remembered it being a sore point between my owners. My female owner likes to hang out late, while my male owner has this neurotic thing about getting her home by 10pm, so that he can take a bus home later.

The good thing was that we turtles got a lot of attention in those days. I mean, if your owners come home so early, that could only mean that they have more time to play with you.

Haiz. Times have changed. Not only do we not see our male owner anymore, our female owner has kind-of vanished into thin air. She only appears after 1am. She's probably making up for lost youth.

siblings

My female owner did something she has never done in her life. She went shopping with her brother (with her mother included as a chaperon) yesterday. Although it was for a purely functional reason - he wanted to get my female owner a laptop - the coming together of the two siblings was a sight to behold, simply because they hardly spoke more than ten sentences to each other in a year.

Trust us, we know, because we are the silent listeners in the household. Walls have ears, so do turtles.

reading

My female owner spent some time with us in the Balcony today, reading a book. We like it very much coz her presence is very reassuring. It makes us feel loved and remembered.

in the green of health

Thank you all for asking about me. I am in the green of health already. I am back to my usual routine - hiding under the trolley, coming out to greet my female owner and talking to my siblings. I am no longer kept in isolation, with a warm light shining over me.

The air smells fresh, the sky is extra blue, the weather is cool, just as long as you are healthy. Cheers to health!

stock-taking

My female owner had her brown-gold aikido grading yesterday. It would her last grading for a long time, so of course, the process was important for her. After all, the outcome is almost a guaranteed promotion.

It turned out to be the best grading experience she ever had. For one very important factor - her partner was someone she often trained with in a different dojo. Her partner was very gentle towards her and assisted in all ways possible to make life easier for her. Her other friend helped to take photos of her during the grading and commented afterwards that my female owner kept smiling.

Time to take stock. My female owner has completed her flute exam. She has gone for her aikido grading. Performed in town and terminated her flute lessons.

Will she have more time for us now?

unceremoniously

And so, it ended unceremoniously, the way each lesson would normally end. With a "bye" from my female owner to her flute teacher and that’s it.

Today marks the end of her official flute lessons. After dedicating 45 months of Mondays to flute.... it was time to say goodbye. My female owner is a closet sentimentalist and romantic. She’s not very good at saying goodbyes and expressing her appreciation for people, so she did the next best thing. She went shopping for her flute teacher. Again, being not very creative, she ended up with SINS chocolates.

She didn’t even tell her flute teacher what it was for. Christmas? Farewell? Thank you? (No wonder the lesson ended unceremoniously!)

She spent her last flute lesson playing one of her grade 7 exam pieces and believe it or not, she felt nostalgic running her fingers over those notes. Those passages which used to give her so much problems, those phrases where she would try to sneak a breath (and end up being caught by her flute teacher) and those high notes which she could never hit right. How one year of not playing the piece has made her so rusty.

Changes take place. Life moves on. Memories live on.

different directions

We haven't seen our male owner for exactly six months. That fateful day, six months ago, my owners had a big quarrel and since then, they have moved on, in very different directions.

My male owner, I heard, has found a new partner. Men generally move on faster I think. My female owner's male friend who also broke up around the same time as her has also found a new partner.

My female owner, still a swinging bachelorette, as with her girl friend who coincidentally regained her singlehood status six months ago.

For us turtles, Dodo and myself fell ill again. In fact, Dona also injured his arm, but he kind of healed naturally. Nanook is still the healthiest of us all.

quiet moments

Finally got to see my female owner for more than 5 minutes today. We almost didnt manage to see her today. She had a full day of activites lined up... aikido in the morning, breakfast with her aikido friends, birthday shopping with her mother, badminton, music practice in the afternoon, so that she can perform in town at night, and chill-out with her friends at night.

Then.... she came home in the wee hours of the morning today... after playing bridge with some friends. So she decided to skip aikido + breakfast. Then her mother couldn't make it for shopping and didn't go badminton. So she spent the morning and some parts of the afternoon at home. Yeah!

She crawled into the Balcony and spent some quiet moments with us. We like it very much. Those quiet still moments...

searching

12 days to Christmas but where's my owner?

We are all looking for her.

losing baby fats

I think I lost weight. I can retract my head into my shell a little bit more than usual. My female owner has been feeding us less these days. Maybe once every 3-4 days. Partly because of my illness, partly because she's in her depressive mood again.

Dodo and I try to cheer her up every morning, by waking up early to say hi to her. I think she likes it, coz she never fails to smile and come towards us to pet us on our heads. Hmm.. shall try to get Nanook and Dona to join us in this morning routine.

bombshell

My female owner dropped a mega big bombshell on us today. She told us that she would be leaving us to further her studies come early 2008.

All of a sudden, our perfect turtle world came crushing down on us. The weight was so great, our armour shells were not strong enough to protect us. Each of us is grieving at this sudden turn of events in our own ways. The mood in the Balcony is solemn and gloomy.

What would we do without our female owner? She's our greatest fan and no one takes care of us so dedicatedly as she does. Not even our male owner. We also do not want to go back to him. He looked after us for a while when we were little and left us at our female owner's house when we got too big for comfort.

Somebody help us.

drunk

My female owner came home drunk this morning. I heard a lot of commotion when she came home. It's a first in her life where she had to be brought home by her long-suffering friends who had their drinking activities interrupted by her lousy drinking capacity (followed by her strange acting-outs when she had too much to drink). She didn't even feel high. In fact, she felt choked, frustrated and restricted.

My siblings were actually waiting for her the whole day for food, but she disappeared from home early in the previous morning and never returned till this morning. A fruitless wait...

In the midst of her drunkedness, she couldn't help but recall one of the first few gatherings she and my male owner had with their mutual friends when he was still courting her. They went to East Coast Park to chill and she got a little high on beer (think her capacity for alcohol improved only a little over the years, but obviously has much room for growth). She started to see the horizon raising and falling. Then she needed to pee and he supported her to the toilet. Midway, she saw this very fat lady and started laughing, saying "she's so FAT!" Wahaha. She almost got everyone killed then.

Of course, that incident stuck with my owners and became a memory which they often revisited. Hmm... it also made my male owner impose a drinking ban on my female owner as he was afraid of what might happen to her when she drank in his absence. From henceforth, my female owner hardly drank alcohol, especially in public places. She didn't even go to pubs, clubs or watering holes. She kind-of cut herself off from the company of friends in this aspect, allowing herself to drink on selected occasions and even then, in small amounts.

Until this year... when my owners broke up. My female owner broke her abstinence and started to experience drinking in various quantities and varieties.

Hmm... that lack of drinking experience may explain for her lousy tolerance for alcohol. Right now, I know she feels traumatised by what happened last night. What embarrassing things did she do or say last night? She was trying desperately to be sober (just like her first experience at Iguana - more on that next time) but was fighting a losing battle and had to concede defeat when her friends carried her out of the restaurant by force.

aikido grading

My female owner is in one of her busy periods again. I think my recent bout of illness knocked her personal life upside down, so she's back with a vengance - to accomplish her other priorities in life.

Her aikido grading is round the corner and she's gearing herself up with extra practices. I know this, because my female owner's mother has to keep washing her gi (she only has two sets). Poor mother.

Today's practice was noteworthy. One, one of her aikido kakis asked her, after grabbing her upper arm, if she lost weight. Wah... I would be happy too, if people said I lost weight. Truth be told, my female owner hasn't been having regular meals these days. Sometimes, she would really forget to eat. Hmmm.... maybe she was trying to accompany me when I lost my appetite recently.

Second, a senior kaki commented to her that she has improved a lot, especially since the previous week. Now, the funny thing was, he did not even train with her today. So what were his comments based on (my female owner is very scientific. She needs evidence and examples in order to be convinced)? Anyway, he said that my female owner is ready for her grading. Yeah!

Third, her instructor said that some brown belts in the class still roll like prata.... and my female owner, paranoid by nature, asked her first dan senior if the instructor was refering to her. The first dan senior always says that my female owner roll like a bag of taohuijui (soya bean milk) or humjingpeng (a pancake). Wahaha. Then to satisfy their curiosity, they asked the instructor whether he was refering to her...

Haha.

grumpy

My female owner came home grumpy today. I know, coz she didn't even say hi to me when she reached home. I'm so cute and lovable, how can she not pop in to say hello, after not seeing me for one day?

my first morsel in 12 days

My two courses of anti-biotics are finally over. That’s like 10 days of injections. Some days I received more, because my female owner jabbed me wrongly (can you believe that?!) so she had to re-jab me again. I was very thankful when her mother returned from her holidays. You see, my female owner’s mother is a nurse and she’s really good at such things.

Anyway, to celebrate my release from those horrible injections, I decided to try to eat something today. So bright and early in the morning, I climbed into the feeding tank to await my female owner’s arrival. She came, as if on cue, at 7plus. Gave her my biggest smile and she dropped some pellets into the tank. I dutifully finished up the pellets (just a handful of them) and she, feeling relieved that I was eating again, dropped in some more for me.

end of flute exam

My female owner has been on leave for a week. Today, she woke up the earliest - about 7am. She woke up to find me walking around the Balcony. I'm trying to work up my appetite as I haven't been eating for 12 days. Anyway, today is a "special" day as she has to go for her flute exam.

-------------------
She just came home from her exam. Looks like she didn't perform well (again). I know my female owner suffers from severe performance anxiety (that's why she rejects all requests to perform SOLO at functions, because she doesn't want to spoil the event). She's just like us; she freezes when people focus their attention on her.

Anyway, we turtles secretly celebrated the end of her flute exam, coz that means that we no longer have to endure her endless practices. But wait! Oh... just remembered that she would still be practicing for her outdoor Christmas performance next week. But at least she will be playing Christmas songs. We turtles won't mind grooving to those tunes.


It's beginning to look (err sound) a lot like Christmas! Everywhere we go...

F. POULENC SONATA FOR FLUTE AND PIANO 1

My female owner's flute exam is coming. This is one of the pieces she will be playing. Of course don't expect the same standard from her!

back to turtle life

Thank you R and L, for your constant encouragement. As D puts it, we turtles have a great will to overcome adversities and to fight for our right to live. With you supporting me and my female owner, I'm sure we can make it.... though slowly and steadily, in good old turtle style.

Anyway, in an attempt to feel like a turtle again, I managed to climb over the new tank which my female owner placed me in yesterday. For those who do not understand what I mean... I escaped! From the small container and returned to communal living with my siblings! My siblings were of course, excited to see me. They welcomed me back with open arms and hi-shelled me.

I went back to my usual favourite spot to stone. Found my sister there, so I rested on her.

Went into the feeding tank for a soak, and my brother came in to join me. Think he's really worried about me.

sleep

My female owner’s parents came home one day earlier than she expected. She got the dates mixed up, probably due to her busyness. Anyway, she left the house in a hurry when she received the SMS from her father to fetch them from the airport.

Needless to say, her mother found out about my illness. As usual, she was upset that my female owner spent so much money on us turtles. My female owner didn’t dare tell her the real cost of the vet fees. Exasperated, her mother asked her to put me to sleep…

I think I'm falling into depression.

trying to get well

My female owner told me to get well fast. My spirit is willing but my flesh and my shell is weak. I still feel ill... and dont have appetite. She told me that many human friends are still asking about me. I feel so touched at their concern. Thank you all for asking about me. I'm also trying to get well...

I know my female owner has been trying her best, giving me my daily jabs (I still hate them!), switching on the warm lamp whenever she's home and spending time with me to encourage me to get well fast.

vitamin supplement

My female owner told the vet that I had not been eating. The vet was quite concerned about it and prescribed soluble vitamin powder for me. For me to consume it, my female owner would need to spike my water with the powder. The small bottle of vitamin supplement cost my female owner about $35. She was mortified at the cost, espcially since she does not believe in taking health supplements for herself. Natural is the best, she says.

Together with another course of anti-botics and consultation fees, the visit yesterday cost her about $80. I feel so bad... How come Nanook is so healthy? All she does is eat and sleep but she doesn't fall ill.

exhausted

My female owner brought me to the vet today. Let's just say that both of us were traumatised by the visit for different reasons. This bout of illness is taking a toil on us. I'm getting paranoid, each time I see my female owner, because I dont know what she's going to do to me next. I'm so scared of the injections. At the same time, my female owner is struggling to care for me. Although she doesn't blame me for my illness, I can tell that she's getting worn out, with all the running around and juggling with work, flute exam, housework and caring for my other siblings.

saved by an E

I found out the meaning of my name! Well, sort of...

Last week when I was ill, my female owner's clever friend suddenly asked her what's my name. So she said "Nooki". Then he looked both shocked and bemused and said "What?!" Then my female owner repeated herself, perplexed at his outburst. So he asked her "Do you know what that means?" And she said "Small corner". The clever friend, a walking dictionary, replied "That's a nook. But do you know what nooki(e) means?"

"Err, no"

"Nooki(e) in UK slang means to have a quick make-out"


The consolation that he offered was that my name is spelt as N-O-O-K-I and not N-O-O-K-I-E

poked

My female owner came home in a nasty mood. I know, because she poked my feet as a form of greeting. She must have had one of her horror days at work, since even her aikido class could not dispel her negative energy. Maybe she's in a bad mood partly because of me too...

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

I don't know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day;
I don't borrow from its sunshine,
For it's skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said;
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what lies ahead

(chorus)
Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand

Ev'ry step is getting brighter
As the golden stairs I climb;
Ev'ry burden's getting lighter,
Ev'ry cloud is silver-lined.
There the sun is always shining,
There no tear will dim the eye;
At the ending of the rainbow,
Where the mountains touch the sky.

(chorus)

guilt

And so, a morning ritual is established. I waited gingerly for my female owner to appear. I know that she is going to prick me again with anti-biotics. I spent my waking moments thinking of ways to escape the jab. Although she's bigger and stronger than me, I must not give up without a struggle. The last time I had a prolapse and was sent to the vet, I was forcefed. My food was doped with disgusting tasting medicine. I won that food battle by simply refusing to open my mouth. My two owners exhausted themselves trying to coax me to eat.


The outcome for this morning was slightly different and unexpected. Of course, my female owner won. This time, she was able to inject deeper into my muscles (i.e. the syringe went in further into my foot). What was unexpected was, in the midst of the struggle, she pricked herself with the needle and started bleeding too.


oh... now I feel so guilty.. What have I done to her now.

hungry

I'm hungry....

The veggie my female owner fed me yesterday was yucky. She gave me the same thing again today. She also boiled some carrots for me. YUCKS. Don't really have appetite for carrots, especially when they are of the same colour as my tub. I know I should be grateful to her for taking the efforts to boil carrots, especially when the only other thing she is willing to boil these days is hot water, to cook cup noodles for her meals. BUT.... I'm a sick turtle... I want my pelllets.

I know that my oldest brother, Nana, loved carrots. My female owner once fed Nana, Dodo and Dona microwaved carrots (now, that's an unwise move, to feed us microwaved food). Nana loved it so much, he eyed for Dodo's orange coloured ear after all the carrots were gone. Poor Dodo felt so traumatised then. First time he saw his gentle giant brother being so carnivorous.

sick...

I'm feeling sick... just got my jab. It was a tug-of-war between my female owner and I. She saw me trying to climb over the tank and decided to jab me then, in an attempt to sedate me. She achieved her aim. The struggle I put up to avoid the jab zapped away all my energy and now, I'm feeling so exhausted. Once she had her victory, my female owner threw in a leafy stalk as instructed by my vet. Yuck. Can I have my usual pellets please?

road to recovery

my first morning at home...

so painful...

My female owner switched on the warm lamp as instructed by my vet. The warm lamp is supposed to increase my metabolic rate. But it's really bright and invasive. My female owner intends to get a proper warm lamp for me (the one that is shining happily at me now is a improvised one). Hope she gets one in pink shade.

I know that I'm supposed to get my injection soon. I'm not looking forward to it. I know my female owner is not looking forward to giving it to me too. For one, she knows we dont like it. For another, she has to single-handedly hold me, pull out my leg and jab me. How's that for a pair of hands? Even at the hospital, they work in pairs to tend to me. Here, she works alone, untrained but full of love.

I haven't seen my siblings. I need to be quarantined from them until I'm okay. It's lonely being in this tank. I feel scared at times. One thing I dont miss though, is my female owner's flute. She put me in the same room as her while she practiced the flute. It was really diffcult to sleep with the bright lamp on, and the flute practice.

But, for the sake of everyone who loves me, I must get well fast!

so many people to thank

Hi everyone,

I'm back! My female owner just brought me back from the hospital today. It's the longest time I ever spent alone, in a tank all by myself. I'm still a little wobbly from all the injections and stitches. I heard that I would need to be given an anti-biotic injection every morning. Not really looking forward to that.

It's a nice feeling to be back at home. I cant be let out yet, but it feels good just being home, with my siblings and female owner around me.

I also want to thank all my female owner's friends who supported her through these two days (you know, if the owner is in good mental health, the pets will benefit too).

For D, who encouraged her through msn and helped her make the necessary phone calls when she was in a state of shock. For accompanying her to see me, at the expense of lunch. And yes, you were brave enough to see in her car when she was an emotional wreck. You were so patient!

For L, who would always pray for me and ask about me whenever I suffer a prolapse.

For Q, who constantly enquired about me.

For B & E, who took time to watch a movie with my female owner to cheer her up and for being in the room when she was very upset.

For F, who spent the afternoon talking to her to calm her down. Your listening skills were therapeutic.

For D2, who readily agreed to drive her down today to see me and for visiting me.

For U, who actually kept your promise to accompany her to see me today (commitment issues, I heard), even though there were dogs around.

For J, who accompanied her to see me during lunch today, and accompanied her to bring me home after work.

For Y, who kindly offered to drive her down to the hospital to pick me up today even though it was out of the way.

Err... not sure if I missed out anyone else... but if I did, please dont hold it against me.. I'm but a recovering turtle. Although this was an ordeal for me... through the storm, I feel so blessed, that so many human friends care about me. For your sakes, I will get well!

I miss Nooki

Female owner:

I miss seeing you under the trolley
When I wake in the morning
I miss seeing your silhouette
When I return home at night
I miss seeing you
Perched in the middle of the feeding tank
Patiently waiting for your once-in-two-days meal
I miss seeing you scrambling towards me
When you want my attention

I wish you will not suffer from this again
I wish I know how to truly take care of you
I wish you would know that I never meant for you to be ill
That if I could,
I would take your pain upon myself to
Free you from all discomfort

I want to see you smile again
I want to hold you in my hands
Seeing you helpless is driving me crazy
Pray, tell me, what should I do?
I find it hard to eat
I cant bring myself to sleep
Even playing my silly flute without you around
Is not the same anymore

Nooki, you are a brave girl
You must hang on and get well fast

Nooki is still in hospital

Female owner:

Visited Nooki during lunch-time today. While less of her intestine is exposed, it is still huge and fiercely red. She was alert and awake, in her usual stoned manner. The hospital had placed her in a red tub and shone a warm light into it. While I stood there looking at her, she starting to move and even tried to scale the tub. So like her usual self.

Th vet called me at 1500hr and informed that she needed to carry out the operation. She cautioned that as a result of infection, Nooki may get blood poisoning. Although she didnt use the word "die", it's pretty obvious what she meant. She also said that Nooki has constipation.

At this point in time, I do not have any updates, as it seems that the vet is still operating on her.

I want to thank all of those who have expressed concern for Nooki and me. Although she is just a fat, yellow terrapin to many, she means a lot to me. Your support, concern and encouragement have helped lifted my spirits and brought me through this trying day. If Nooki knows just how many people are concerned and praying for her, she would certainly be moved to tears.

For those who wish to visit her, she's at Mount Pleasant Hospital. Visiting hours are 1300-1400hr and 1700-1900hr. Just say her name and mine.

Nooki needs surgery

Female owner:

The vet just called to say that they are unable to put the intestine back into Nooki. They would need to cut away certain parts of her intestine which have gone bad. She has lost a lot of blood and is currently being stablised using anti-biotics.

Surgery is the only option. If not, she will die. The surgery will be done tomorrow and her prognosis is guarded.

For a turtle of 5 years, she has gone through a lot of pain and discomfort. I leave her life in God's hands.

Nooki is in hospital

Female owner:

Nooki was just sent to the animal hospital for surgery. I came home to find that she had a mega-big prolapse. The internal organ (I'm not sure what it is) that came out was about 1/4 of her shell size. It was bloated and dark red. As I drove her to the vet, she started bleeding and her internal organ started to look like raw meat. It later started to turn purple. Even the vet looked shakened (this vet also treated Dodo in his previous episodes. I was very glad to see her, coz I know she's really caring and gentle).

The vet will try to push back her organ and stitch her back. She will be staying overnight in the hospital. I hope that she will be discharged tomorrow. I don't mind paying for her surgery, as long as she can be treated.

Please pray for her...

a message from my female owner

My female owner wants to use this platform to inform MY readers that she got the official letter already. Not very sure what it means, but my female owner says that most of MY readers will be able to understand this coded message. If don't know what she means, then just ignore...

I also don't know what she means.

family

Without my female owner's parents around, evenings can be very quiet and dark... That's because my female owner also will take the opportunity to meet up with her friends. Hence, we turtles are often abandoned at home... like today.

My female owner has no qualms about being left alone at home, or being by herself for long periods of time. In fact, she relishes in being alone. Hmmm... not my cup of tea. Even though terrapins are solitary creatures, I prefer to have my siblings around me, especially at night. It's a nice and warm feeling knowing that your family is nearby while you are sleeping. And when you wake up, your family will be the first thing you see.

Please don't ever separate us.

1/4 second

My female owner's parents are out of town again! So we turtles only have our female owner for company.

My female owner is at home today. She continued with her flute practice and spent a long while trying to redeem her darn 1/2 a second. After much efforts, she managed to redeem 1/4 of a second. Still entering the bar too early for some profound reasons.

family photo 2007

Recently, my female owner attempted to take a family photo of us today. She wanted to capture our front view, similar to the photo you see right below. Alas, we were not very cooperative that day. We couldnt keep still all at the same time and started moving at different times and these were some of the shots she got.

In the end, she gave up trying to get a good shot of us.

neurotic perfectionist

I think that playing a musical instrument makes one neurotic. The best living example is my female owner. She is still grappling with her exam pieces and has started to use the metronome to make sure that she keeps to time. For a good 10 minutes today, she kept replaying a particular passage in order to figure why she is darn ½ a second early for the new bar. You get it? She spent 10 minutes trying to find out why she is ½ a second early.

In addition, her teacher has told her on several occasions that she is a split-second too early in her entries. A split-second? How does one measure a split-second?

Really, you need to be a neurotic perfectionist in order to be able to play a piece well.

Newsong - Light Your World - Trust His Heart

Enjoy the beautiful lyrics.

random shots

Nanook: Don't be deceived. She is bigger than she looks.

Me: I'm sure you can recognise me by now.

Dona: He's camera-shy. Look at his black shiny eyes. So intense.

Dodo: Wonder why he looks so sad.

update on the finger

It's Monday and my female owner is on leave again! I wonder why she can afford to be on leave so often. She must have worked really hard in the earlier part of this year.

And despite her mishap, she's still playing her flute (the close-hole one of course). I think she should stop exerting herself because her wound opens up everytime she plays (ie she's still bleeding!). Such energy and intensity!

second fiddle

My female owner, in her absent-mindedness, cut herself very badly on her fourth finger. While it took ages for the bleeding to stop, it was the least of her concern. She was more bothered that she can't practice her flute anymore. Her $3000+ flute is open-hole, meaning that each hole needs to be covered properly, in order to produce a good tone. It would be diffcult to achieve that, given the plaster on her finger.

In desperation, my female owner took out her first flute (this one cost her $1000) and realised that she was able to produce nice tones because the flute is closed-hole (and we turtles thought we could have a respite from her practices!). Hence, she decided to use this flute for the time being (talk about being second fiddle... or flute)

Actaully, I think she sounds better with the cheaper flute. Why did she buy an expensive flute in order to sound worse?

growing sideways

The events of the recent months have taken a toil on my female owner and it's showing. In other words, she is beginning to be like me - getting rounder and fatter and her clothes (for me, it would be my shell) don't really fit anymore.

There was a time when things were "happy-go-lucky" for her and she would play badminton up to three times aweek. Alas, her badminton kakis started to leave her one by one for greener pastures. She also broke up with my male owner who had, a few months before, specially bought a badminton racquet suitable for her playing style. She chose not to keep the racquet for it reminded her of fantasies gone wrong (that they would grow old together playing badminton and developing themselves into a formidable couple). So, she stopped playing badminton altogether, save for the occasional game once or twice a month.

Her gym kakis also vanished into thin air, leaving her with little motivation to hit the gym. To add to that depressing turn of events, she started to get stressed over work and her flute exam, causing her to seek refuge in her favourite de-stressor..... FOOD! All kinds of food - ice-cream, chocolates, fried food, titbits. You name any fattening food, she probably like it. She also started partying, and that meant huge dinners and alcohol...

All roads lead to Rome and the accumulation of all these events over the past few months have led to one major consquence - she put on weight and became flabbier! Wahahaha. Now the owner looks like the pet. Join the club! =p

turmoil

Today, my female owner received some news which may change her life (and ours) forever. Not one to be decisive, I reckon that she will be in turmoil for the next few weeks. Better keep out of her way!

narcissism

Allow me to be narcissitic and show you some photos of myself today.

boundaries

My female owner came home looking drained and unfulfilled.

It turns out that her client in crisis wanted to harm himself and she had to step in to take the necessary precautions. That meant that she ended up talking to several parties (the drained part)… and missing her aikido class in the process (this is the unfulfilled part). Certainly not what she expected, for a week which has only 4 working days!

One thing she always found difficult doing was setting boundaries with her clients. She can’t bear to say no to people. Hence, she struggled to say no to her client when he wanted to see her at that very moment. But then, my female owner always had problems setting boundaries anyway. Even for physical ones, she did not set a proper boundary for us turtles and this eventually led to Nana’s death. So what more psychological boundaries?

therapy

Counselling can be emotionally draining. My female owner kinda reached a breaking point today when she saw a client who has several issues. Because of the complexity of the problems, she felt inadequate and unequipped to deal with his situation. She ended the session feeling lousy about her competency as a counsellor and wondering if she had done her client more harm than good.

During lunch, she went through a defusing session (why do humans use such big words?) with a counsellor friend. Basically, it was a time when she could talk to someone about the session and resolve her emotional issues. She spent the time arguing for her personal and professional beliefs, exploring where she could have done better for future cases (?! she still want to take up such cases?!) and also receiving guidance from a more experienced counsellor.

Guess she ended up feeling better about the whole thing and armed with new ideas on how to handle such cases. Bet the client would never, in his wildest dreams, know the kind of impact he had on her.

Pet therapy is so much easier! We just surround our human friends with unconditional attention and affection and they will feel better! Try it!

survival instinct

Soon after my owners broke up a few months ago, my female owner went to cut, dye and perm her hair, all for the sake of the traditional "break-up-so-must-get-a-new-hairstyle" therapy. We turtles got a shock when we saw her that day. You can't blame us, because we have seen her with straight hair all our lives.

Over the weekend, she did another one of her BUSMGANH stunt, minus the BU part. So now her hair is curlier than before (she got bolder). All well's except that she spent $500 on hair vouchers, just because she liked the hair stylist (not in that romantic way, coz he's gay). If that's not enough, today, she coughed out $400 for one of her pursuits (don't ask me what, coz she has so many crazy commitments, that I lost track).

As usual, Nanook panicked when she heard that my female owner became $900 poorer over two days. She asked if my female owner would have enough to buy our food. Dodo wasted no time in pointing out to her that my female owner has recently bought THREE bottles of food for us. That should fill our stomachs for 3 months.

Peace ensues in the Balcony.

borderline

My female owner was feeling bored, so she surfed Psychology Today and did a "Do I need therapy?" test. She was serious about finding out if she needed therapy and hence, she did the test carefully.

Here are the results:

What do your responses tell us?
Although your scores were generally very good, you had symptoms in at least one category. This suggests that you should probably consult with a mental health professional for further testing or treatment, especially if you are distressed about the symptoms you are experiencing. There is most certainly a treatment out there that will help improve the symptoms you are experiencing.

The following are the areas of concern detected by the screening:
i) You have experienced symptoms of a major depressive episode, but not enough to qualify as a full-blown episode, or as major depressive disorder.
ii) You appear to suffer from some symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder.


While (i) did not surprise her, (ii) certainly did. According to the same website,

Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior. This instability often disrupts family and work life, long-term planning, and the individual's sense of identity...


The wikipedia states that some common features are:

P - Paranoid ideas
R - Relationship instability
A - Angry outbursts, affective instability, abandonment fears
I - Impulsive behavior, identity disturbance
S - Suicidal behavior
E - Emptiness


Hmmm..........

Perhaps my male owner was right after all. Towards the end of their relationship, he told my female owner that he thought that she had some mental illness.

fluffy

overheard from the pulpit today:

I'm not fat, i'm just fluffy.

Dodo's love language

I had a minor dispute with Dodo today, regarding his love language. He insisted that his love languages are quality time and physical touch, and not just quality time (as I stated previously). When I pointed out that he would retract into his shell when touched, he reminded me that he likes being stroked under his chin. It's just that the person must know his "love spot" and he will extend his neck for the person to stroke.

Next time, you are welcome to try.

Love Language

Ever heard of the Five Love Languages?

My female owner was introduced to it many years ago but it was only recently that she managed to get hold of a copy of the book. The author, Dr Gray Chapman, argues that different personalities express/receive love (whether it is romantic, platonic or familial) in different ways. The five love languages are:

Quality Time
Words of Affirmation
Gifts
Acts of Service
Physical Touch

At the end of the book (The Five Love Languages for Singles), she completed a self-assessment tool to find out her primary love language. This is the results, ranked in order.

1 - Acts of Service
2 - Quality Time
3 - Receiving Gifts
4 - Words of Affirmation
5 - Physical Touch

Hmmm…..

I looked around my siblings and tried to decide what their primary love language is:

Dodo – Quality Time: Coz he’s always running out to meet my female owner
Dona – Words of Affirmation: Coz he doesn’t like to be touched so love has to be expressed verbally
Nanook – Gifts: Need I say more? She’s always waiting for food
Me – Acts of Service: Just keep the Balcony clean!

Hmmm….. Looks like we have something in common with our female owner, we don’t fancy physical touch very much… And my poor female owner! She has to adapt to our different personalities!