Suzhou 'Beauty"

Suzhou is a province in China renowned for beautiful women. My Chinese
friend speculates that it is due to the pure water and air there that
women have such glowing fairness. You would be hard-pressed to find
ugly women. But here comes one shockingly liberal lady who chooses to
share her beautiful skin with the whole world in her own unique way..

Dental Work

Went for dental work today. This Dr Albert Chou was really nice. He kept asking me if I was okay about 50 times. I politely grimaced a 'yes' although what I wanted to say was 'get the hell off me and my teeth'.  Dental work is not the most relaxing experience, to say the least. First I absorbed some radiowaves during dental X-ray, where I got to don the "latest fashion in Paris", a heavy vest. Scaling was like deep-sea exploration cum excavation, followed by some noisy and splashy polishing which left some "souvenirs" on the lab glasses they kindly provided. 

Next was filling. I had a cavity on the top right, so they first gave me numbing gel, before they injected me with LA. Dr Albert was really good though; I expected to feel some needling pain but surprise...nothing! What they did later was so weird. It was this rubber sheet that was used to isolate my tooth. I thought I was going to suffocate at some points as I endeavored to breathe through my nostrils and not choke on my own saliva. And the thing they used to prop open my mouth got my jaws SOOO tired. It all took a harrowing 2 hours.

The only saving grace was the TV screen fixed to the ceiling showing Shrek. He got me through the hefty 2 hours. Now I feel somewhat attached to the green ogre for getting through the moments when I felt like there was no tomorrow. haha.

Having a dental appointment is one thing. Post-appointment is another. The numbness in my mouth made me feel like an idiot! First I smiled like a half-paralysed fool, then when I drank water and tried to swallow a pill, water dribbled out of my mouth involuntarily. Not to mention the lack of sensation. I ate my favourite shepherd's pie in bitter disappointment, unable to savour the full flavour of the minced beef and potato.

A few hours later was a different story, especially when I looked in the mirror to see my newly polished whitened teeth and a normal-looking toothy smile. Thank you Dr Albert!

Of Hedgies and Worms

Yesterday I was cleaning out the tank of my hedgehogs, Super and Sonic when I noticed something moving in their food bowl. I took a closer look. Amidst all the leftover kitten pellets was a maggot! YUCKS!! It was truly disgusting.

I thought, Okay leave it alone...maybe Sonic may like to have a snack for tea. So I ignored its wriggly presence and started cleaning out the sawdust, poop and wee.

Now you're thinking, what's sawdust doing in the tank? Well, it came in a sack as wood pellets. When it gets wet, it disintegrates into sawdust. The function is to soak up all the smell and urine and stuff, and make the tank a wee (no pun intended) bit more rustic and warmer for my hoggies.

As I scooped bits painstakingly with a spoon, I noticed another critter making its way along the tank, so well, that goes into the food bowl as well. Then another, and another. By now, this was getting disturbing. I came to realize that the maggots were not two lonesome creatures trapped in the bowl for company, but I probably was looking at a whole platoon of them, thanks to the mother fly circling me intermittently. 

It took me a long time to make sure every single worm was out of the tank before I filled it with kitten litter made of recycled paper. It's a grayish colour and comes in strands. Nothing romantic about it, just utilitarian. 

Now the question is: why do hedgehogs favour meal worms but leave maggots alone? Do they taste different? Or is it a matter of the latter being served freeze-dried? Well I may never know. Someone please enlighten me.

Dye dog, dye!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at these pictures. Here we have some dog owners in China who love their pooches so much that they spend the money and time to groom their dog's fur into such precious little puffs, then lovingly select colours to dye them in. But at the end of the day, the dogs look like clowns from the circles, so interesting but surreal, likes some freaks from Monsters Inc. the movie.

I don't believe the dogs will enjoy the treatment much though. Imagine smelling of chemicals all over for a few days then looking into the mirror and getting a shock...oh I forgot, dogs are colourblind. Thankfully for them. 

Still, imagine the kind of attention they get on the streets. People pointing and making a fuss and getting silly over them. I might freak out if I were a dog.

Newborn Panda

I've never seen a newborn panda before, so I had no idea they came in such XXXXS sizes. It's only the size of its mama's eye patch. 200g! Can you imagine that one day it'll grow so huge. 

Seven-year-old panda Lin Hui guards her newborn at Chiang Mai Zoo, north of Bangkok, May 29. Lin Hui, a female panda on loan from China has given birth to a 200-gram ( 7-ounce ) baby panda in Thailand after being artificially inseminated with her partner's sperm for a second time

Car on Water

More news from my favourite city, Venice....

Bernd Weise, of the Amphicar Club Berlin, pilots his 1961 Amphicar down the Grand Canal,
past the Rialto bridge at rear, in Venice, May 28, 2009. The German-built amphibious car,
which uses a Triumph Herald engine, is capable of over 110 kph ( 70mph ) by road and 8 knots on water. Its driver needs a regular driving licence and a boat licence.

 I would love to be in this car. Just imagine the shock on the faces of the people around when I decide to plonk my car into the water. Maybe some kind soul might jump in to try to rescue me. And then the surprise will turn to relief when they realize I'm not trying to kill myself.

Chocolatey Wedding Invite

This couple in India are truly creative. I wonder how the choc inside tastes? Will it melt in the mail? We dunno, but we sure hope the guests don't throw it away thinking it's some cheap freebie.