Of Mice, Dogs and Man

I really enjoy having Furby by my side at night. Not that I am into bestiality. I just enjoy having a baby sleep beside me. Last night, I brought home a puppy play pen, which I bought from my friend. Well, that would keep Furby from sleeping in the dark recesses of my room and urinating and pooping all over. Unfortunately, he would whine because he didn't like it there. But that's all part of my puppy training.

Puppy loves
And speaking of pets, I remember my first pet, Sprite. He was a Japanese spitz, whom I adored and went gaga over. But I was only 3 years old when I had him, so he was more like a brother than a baby to me. Unfortunately, when I was around 6 or 7, he went to heaven, leaving me in pieces. We just found him one morning on the roadside, his body pierced with an icepick on the side. We later learned that some drunk guys in our neighborhood didn't like my dog's attitude, so they shut him up--for good. It was a traumatic experience for me, but I never really gave up on the idea of owning pets.

A few year's after Sprite's demise, my dad brought me along to watch a movie with him in old Manila. You know those creepy cinemas where only a handful of people watch? We watched an action flick. After the movie, we passed by an establishment popular for the dogs they sell on the sidewalk. And so, after much bugging, he obliged to buy me not one, but two puppies, whom I named Coca (is it obvious that I have this strange inclination to name my dogs after soda brands?) and Sprite (as a tribute to my fallen pet). After about 2 weeks, Sprite fell ill and soon died. Coca lived on for about 13 or 14 human years to give us more puppies (most of whom were given to friends). And then we had another dog, whose name excapes me (because he's my brother's dog to begin with), who mothered more puppies (Coca was still with us at that time). One of  those puppies became my puppy as well, and I named him Murphy. Murphy was a medium-size dog; his father was a German Shepherd that a neighbor owned. When he was about 4 or 5 human years old, he became ill and died, even when the vet regularly came to us for housecalls.

And then we had another Japanese spitz puppy given by an uncle. During his first night at home, I was so excited about our new pet that I tossed him in the air like a baby, catching him with both arms. In my last toss, I accidentally failed to catch him, causing him to land on the pillow where he was sleeping--head first. I thought I killed him because he wasn't breathing anymore. What did I do? I gave him chest compressions and blew air into his mouth. Good thing he regained consciousness. A few months after, though, he died. He was accidentally ran over by our driver right in our own garage!

We had a lot more dogs, all of whom are gone or were given to friends (some were sold). Now, we are left with Stallone (a yellow labrador retriever, son of our chocolate brown labrador retriever Cocoa, who is now under my uncle's care), Whitie (who's not really that white, is in his twilight years--hey, we had him since I was 16, making him about 15 human years old), and of course my Furby.

The birds and the bees
Aside from dogs, I also have had pets of different kinds.

I remember in elementary school, I used to go to a creek in our school and collect these snails. I would take them home in a plastic cup and put them in a fishbowl as soon as I got home. I eventually had to let them go because my folks didn't like the smell, and they said it wasn't natural for the snails to be pets.

There was also this one Christmas where I asked Santa for a pair of bunnies, which Santa gleefully gave me. Of course, I eventually found out that Santa is my mom, who loves animals as well (you've got to hand it to her to allow us to have pets at home despite my dad's disapproval). I could still remember how wide-eyed I was that one December morning, very happy about my new playmates. Unfortunately, they died a year later. I kept them in a big box, and one time, I accidentally (read: purposely) threw in a piece of lit firecracker inside. A few days later, the bunnies died. Cause of death? I believed it was a heart attack.

And then I got these really cool love birds for my 7th birthday. I remember, my mom bought me four of them: one blue, two yellow and one green. Sadly, they disappeared little by little over a span of a year. We found out that a stray cat would sneak up at night and open their cage, snagging them from their silent perch and eating them alive.

In high school, we got this huge aquarium from our uncle who used to have an aruwana. Excited as I was to have another kind of pet, I bought fishes--different species from tetras and angel fishes, to gold fishes and fighter fishes. My mom adored these fishes, but somehow they died one by one because of overcrowding.

One day, on my way home from school, I chanced upon this duckling vendor on the sidewalk. Naturally, I bought one to take home as a pet. At home, thinking that ducks are aquatic birds, I placed the duck on the aquarium and left it there. Imagine my horror when two days after, the duck died. It was probably due to overexhaustion--from all the paddling. I also managed to buy a chick at about the same year. It died the night I brought it home because a cat ate it.

And do you remember those high school experiments you had involving white mice? Well, I got so engrossed in them that I bought about four extra mice for me to take care of. The pet vendor put them in a brown paper bag with holes. Unfortunately, one of them managed to escape in the car. After hours of frantically searching for it, I eventually gave up. And so I was left with three. While transferring them to their cage, one of them escaped again and went inside a mouse hole in the house. The next day, as we rode the car and turned the air conditioner on ... fffrrrrrrr ... shreds of white fur came out of the air conditioner. One mouse down. After a few months, I saw a cute little mouse coming out of the mouse hole. It was a black mouse with blotches of white all over. Probably my little mouse escapee found true love in the whole. As for the other two that I still had? Well, they lived long enough in terms of mouse years to live in the beautiful cage I had for them.

Then in college, my classmate gave me a kitten. It was beautiful. It was pure white, with one eye blue and the other eye green. My dad was really furious that time because cat poop really stinks. Anyway, the anger was short-lived because about a week after, the kitten managed to escape from the house and died enroute to freedom as one of our dogs bit him in the neck.

I also bought a pair of hamsters in college, which I kept in a small aquarium (without the water, of course). Eventually, their love bloomed and gave us four baby hamsterets. Sadly, they disappeared one by one. I later realized that the mommy hamster ate her kids. Eventually, the mommy hamster attacked the daddy hamster, who later died. The mommy hamster was alone until her death a few months after. Talk about marital spats.

And then we had this experiment in college where we needed to find out something about the effect of a particular drug (I can't really recall if it's iodine) on the urine of a guinea pig. We had to shave off a small part of her fur and we had to measure the drug content in the urine. After the experiment, I took home the guinea pig and took care of it. I didn't have much trouble with it except that it made these funny sounds at night. Eventually, it, too, died.

I also bought a fortune lobster, which I displayed in our living room. It was there for a few months, molting about twice before it died. A kid we had over gave him too much to eat. It was too late when I found out about it and by then, the lobster was already dying.

Loving them
I love animals, and I like having them around me. One of my greatest dreams is to have a small petting zoo where everyone can interact with these marvelous creatures. If not, I can have a small farm where all these animals can freely roam around. But until such time that I can amass a fortune to buy all these critters, I have my Furby to tend to. For now, I'm contented with having Furby around, anticipating my walks in the park with him, reading a book under a tree while he lazes beside me. Or playing frisbee with him on the beach. Lucky Furby.

Chicken Mango Wrap at Starbucks

Last night, before claiming my latest Blessing in the Skies, I passed by Starbucks to grab a quick bite. It had been a long day, with a meeting at the office and doing all the proofreading all day--I was just so drained I had to eat something.

And so there I was at the counter of Starbucks, contemplating whether to get my favorite Sausage Roll or try another fare. Something inside me told me to get something else. And there, right at the bottom of the display shelf, the Chicken Mango Wrap. I requested for a cold one; I don't want my food warm or hot.

Back at my seat, I stared at the new purchase, thinking whether I'll regret my decision or not. It looks appetizing, but some foods just seem to tickle my mind, but not my taste buds. Anyway, after several minutes of contemplating (well, it seemed to me like minutes, although accurately, it was just about 30 seconds or so), I finally took it out of the packaging, ripped the plastic apart, and unwrapped the wax paper that was wrapped around the wrap. And then the first bite.

To tell you honestly, I loved the flavor. It's like chicken curry with a tinge of sweet-soury mango. The flavor lingers in your mouth for a while and keeps you satisfied for a long time. Nice. The wrap is not too hard nor too brittle that it breaks easily. And if you think that it will be a messy meal with all the curry, it's not. I absolutely loved it!

Oh, and if you ask me, it's better taken cold.

Blessing in the Skies

I guess I am in a bit of luck today.

Remember that P1,000 budget I have? Well, somehow, yesterday, I didn't spend a single centavo. I have a very generous friend who shouldered my parking fees and my badminton expenses. Add to that my Starbucks fit for the day. I did, however, use my debit card (now, when I said I didn't spend a single centavo, it technically doesn't include my debit card) to pay for my gas. Plus, another friend gave P100 contribution for my gas, which, of course, I put in my bill fold for future use (which is today).

Fast forward to today. I've spent my P100 on Lipton Red Tea (which, I swear, makes my day complete the way Starbucks does) and other stuff (*wink, wink*). But alas, another person will be giving me money unsuspectedly. It couldn't have come at a better time than today. Of course, it will be in the form of a check, hopefully enough to sustain me until the next payday. But until I could encash it, I guess I would have to use the P1,000 I have in the bank.

Really, Someone up there is looking after me. These people, my friends, are really, as Ate Vi would say, "Blessings in the skies!"

On a tight budget

Guess what! I only have P1,000 left in my account! Cool, isn't it? Problem is, how will I survive for the next three weeks on this very tight budget? Consider the following:

• Gas costs
• Parking costs
• I need to play badminton weekly to attain my fitness goal, which costs about P150
• I have to eat lunch, which costs an estimated P150 a day

Plus the following payables:

• My monthly payment for the laptop
• My phone bill (roaming is definitely to blame here)
• My gym membership
• Furby's initial payment

Not to mention all the other stuff I buy (it's a lifestyle thing).

All would have been good, had I not paid that much for my phone calls. But it's all behind me now. The goal is either to budget the P1,000 in three weeks or to get an extra source of funds. How to do the first? Well, that would mean no Starbucks, taking the public transport, no going out on weekends, refraining from badminton on Mondays, and probably bring lunch to the office for the next three weeks. And definitely, no dating! Unfortunately, this won't happen (trust me, I know).

So how do I go about the second option? Well, I could offer my s*x*al services for a fee (not that I have been doing this; any takers on this?), sell some old stuff at home (my stuff, of course), sing at a lounge, or get a loan. Or ... I could ask my folks for some cash! Nah, they won't give in.

Well, let's just wait and see what will happen in the next three weeks. By hook or by crook, I can and I will survive on a very tight budget. You'll never know what will happen. After all, "There's always a silver lining at the end of the tunnel [sic]."

Welcome, hard times!

What is it with the world? Are we reaching a point where Earth needs to purge itself yet once again of an overly populated creature? Earthquakes, tsunamis, storms -- name it, and surely there will be at least a hundred people dead. Add to that the difficulties of the times -- ballooning gas prices, soaring prices of basic commodities, etc. These are bound to get someone dead one way or another.

Truly, this is an age of survival of the fittest. But by fittest, it does not necessarily mean being physically fit. You can be fit in mind. The key to make it through these hard times is self sufficiency. It's like going back to basics, back to the early 1900s when life in the Philippines was so simple, yet everyone enjoyed it to the fullest. So what if they didn't have ipods or laptops or mobile phones? People loved each other's company more back then, kids had fun with street games, old folks danced to the music of a combo.

So in this day and age where technology dominates, how can we be self sufficient? Well, for one, we could ride a bike to work and back home. No need to depend on gas for fuel. It's all leg power. The downside is that it is way too tiring, and riding a bike through EDSA is definitely a death warrant for most people. On the upside, it tones your body, gives you a good cardiovascular workout, saves the planet from vehicular environmental pollutants, and of course, doesn't cost you as much as getting gas nightly or weekly. You simply need to invest on a good bike and probably some maintenance work every now and then.

Another thing you can do is to routinely plant vegetables in your backyard. This is self-sufficiency to the extreme. Weekly, plant something, like tomatoes, cabbage, pechay, or what have you, and come harvest time, you have plenty to eat. And since you plant on a weekly basis, you harvest on a weekly basis as well. You could leave out the rice and go vegan. Or get a chicken to lay you eggs so you can be an ovo-vegetarian. Buy a small rubber or plastic swimming pool where you can take care of tilapia fingerlings if you are a fish aficionado. The goal here is to avoid buying stuff from the market.

Saving up on electricity bills? Push your kids to savor the joy of being outdoors and playing taguan pung, patintero, agawan base, Chinese garter, tumbang preso and what have you. It will help them develop their social skills and give them the exercise they really need. It won't cost anything to play these games, unlike if your kids are cramped up in the house playing PS3, X-Box, Wii, or other similar game consoles (of course, playing them would entail electricity costs) with the aircon running 24/7, or watching DVDs of Tom and Jerry, Barney, or other kiddie shows. Invest on good old books instead of making them surf the Net all the time.

I still need to think about other self-sufficient methods of coping with these times in my future entries. It won't be easy at first, but doing them will definitely be fun and beneficial for you. Maybe, after some time, you'll get the hang of it.

Fantastic Furby

Here is my new baby, Furby. His name comes from the fact that he is a furball.

My New Baby

I have a new baby. His name is Furby, short for Furball. He is an amber-colored toy poodle. Unfortunately, I can't take him out just yet. They say he's still too young to be exposed to the elements of the environment. At the moment, he is sleeping beside my bed close to the bed I bought him yesterday. Today, I bought a poop pan to help me clean up after him. I also bought paper towels and antibacterial spray for the area he pooped in. Did I mention he was sleeping in my room, so he poops everywhere in my room. It's nice to have a pet sleep beside you. For so long, I wanted to have a pet sleep beside me, but for some reason, the pets we have are soooo big, until Furby here. I will be posting pics of Furby in the future. Wish me luck on my new baby!

Hope to be a vampire

I confess, I am a paranormal addict. I do believe in the existence of engkantos, duwendes, UFOs and aliens, the afterlife, creatures of the dark, angels. But aside from witches and warlocks, I have been so fascinated most especially by vampires.

I don't know what it is about vampires. Ever since I was young, I dreamed of becoming one, fascinated by their immortality, their grace, their superhuman abilities, their inexplicable charm ... I have always wanted to watch vampire movies and TV shows. Even the comedy vampire movies (Leslie Nielsen's take on Dracula was so hilarious)!

Over the years, I've come to believe that my fascination for vampires waned and probably disappeared altogether -- until Twilight. It was one of the books that really captivated me, just like Harry Potter and Angels and Demons did. But reading Twilight was a record for me. Considering all things I did over the weekend, I still managed to finish the book by Monday morning (I bought it Friday night).

Yes, it is a love story, which typically bores me to death. But the nice thing about this is that it shows how a soul-less being can actually have a soul, know how to love, have real human emotions. It debunks myths associated with vampires and displays how one such creature can be as human and as humane as possible--the vampire that I have always wanted to become.

I am currently reading the second book in the series, New Moon. I hope to finish it by Friday, considering that it is a work week, and finally read Eclipse. I can't wait for the fourth book to be released. I can't wait to see the movie to see how it deviates from the book--or not.

Next project? A trip to the dentist to get permanent vampire fangs.

Good morning, Blog!

For the past few days, I wasn't able to blog because of my fascination with my new phone. I take it with me everywhere I go, and it is the last thing I hold at night (don't think otherwise, you pervs). It's so cool being able to sign in to Yahoo! Messenger and MSN Messenger anywhere I want to. And to be able to chat with ease using a mobile phone? Way too cool! Unfortunately, I cannot copy the messages from my old phone to my new one. And to think I have over 2,000 saved messages in my old phone. Until now, I am still trying to discover how to transfer all my messages to my ultra cool phone.

Last night, while downing my iced tea at Starbucks, there was this group of yuppies going gaga over this Web site. I overheard what site they were talking about: Peteranswers.com. I checked it out using my mobile phone. Apparently, it is an online tarot site. Fascinating were the reactions of the people there. Some said that when he asked where his sister was, "Peter" answered not just United States, but the exact state where she is. And then comes their friend, the sceptic. This friend had lots of theories, from it being a trick played on the gang by the one who introduced it, to being too occult that the souls of those who asked "Peter" being sold for eternity. How mundane can people get? You could actually try logging on to the site and check for its accuracy.

Also last night, after spending two hours in the gym trying to lose weight, I went home to a banquet. It was my grandmother's birthday yesterday and, boy, did they have a feast! Imagine, they left me with tuna belly, stir-fry noodles (yes, hijo, it is pancit canton), crispy pork knuckles (yes, fool, it's crispy pata), large shrimps, and pork in peanut butter sauce (otherwise known as kare-kare). I just wonder if at the time I was having all of these, my body was still in workout mode, burning everything I was eating. Believe it or not, until now, I can still taste the peanut butter sauce!

On a different note, I can't wait til Sunday! My friend from the US will be arriving after a short hiatus. Everyone in the gang misses the fool, verbalizing their missing feeling to me every day. Fool, I don't know what you fed us but the gang misses you badly. See you Sunday!