Tuesday, April 29, 2008
just two dozen peeks
Not that I've shot much since Thailand. Tokyo is as photogenic as ever, especially with spring approaching summer, but I don't seem to carry my camera around with me as much as I should when walking the white one.
I don't like to try her patience too often after all and she pretty much has to sit while I shoot, else the blur makes it moot. So food and flowers is all I seem to get around to snapping. Sorry.
But bump me over anyway, would ya?
Monday, April 21, 2008
the $200 chocolate bar
So the star of this show, little miz white inu, tried to off herself this past weekend and it would've been death by chocolate had her stomach not been pumped. Yes, fine, it was a nice quality 85% cacao jumbo bar that I treat myself to now and again, but ni man en (200 smackeroos)? Ouch. That was some 'spensive chocobarf the vet had my mutt producing all over the examining room floor.
But such is the price for Tokyo doggie doctoring and we, the guilty ones, were more that willing to ensure the furry one's well being. After all, I never should've left the damn chocolate on the den coffee table and Aran certainly should not have left the den door open (we always, always close it since G can easily jump the counter that separates the den from the kitchen, a place not safe from maurading G, who can open cupboards and whatnot).
See for those of you who did not know it, and I actually met a dog owner today who did not, chocolate can be toxic for dogs. In particular, it's a chemical component called theobromine they just don't have the enzymes to process. Enough of the stuff can give them anything from a case of diarrhea to seizures or heart attack.
Of course we probably overreacted a touch but info on how to figure out what quantity is dangerous varies quite a bit on the web so at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday after a bad night's sleep (I have a hacking cough), we decided to just go with the vet's advice to come in for treatment, as a precaution.
But I think the worst part for poor little puppy-pie, after the foamy brown vomit the vet caused her to spew, was that she had to fast the whole day until dinner time. Well didn't she repeatedly try the "giving her paw" routine I recently taught her? I can attest that that our little eating machine suffered no ill effects whatsoever from that $200 candy.
But such is the price for Tokyo doggie doctoring and we, the guilty ones, were more that willing to ensure the furry one's well being. After all, I never should've left the damn chocolate on the den coffee table and Aran certainly should not have left the den door open (we always, always close it since G can easily jump the counter that separates the den from the kitchen, a place not safe from maurading G, who can open cupboards and whatnot).
See for those of you who did not know it, and I actually met a dog owner today who did not, chocolate can be toxic for dogs. In particular, it's a chemical component called theobromine they just don't have the enzymes to process. Enough of the stuff can give them anything from a case of diarrhea to seizures or heart attack.
Of course we probably overreacted a touch but info on how to figure out what quantity is dangerous varies quite a bit on the web so at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday after a bad night's sleep (I have a hacking cough), we decided to just go with the vet's advice to come in for treatment, as a precaution.
But I think the worst part for poor little puppy-pie, after the foamy brown vomit the vet caused her to spew, was that she had to fast the whole day until dinner time. Well didn't she repeatedly try the "giving her paw" routine I recently taught her? I can attest that that our little eating machine suffered no ill effects whatsoever from that $200 candy.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
the end of exotic
Since I became a certified woman of the world these past couple of years, I became a member of a very handy website called Trip Advisor. I tend, as my sister (with whom I'm going back to Thailand next month) will now attest, to be a bit detail-obsessed, which causes me to slightly over-research things. No harm there really, it's just time-consuming!
My point is that I value other travellers' candid views, like those on TA, because then you know what to really expect. If the place doesn't look like the photos featured on its corporate/tourist bureau website, then I'd say frankly you're the one to blame for not doing your homework! A Flickr search is also handy for seeing what things are really like at your destination. And as an added bonus you get to giggle at some of the silly vacation poses of strangers.
Another fun feature on TA is the travel map you can build that shows all the places you've been. I feel very very privileged that mine counts 120 destinations. Which is a bit padded with small towns around my home region but is probably somewhat realistic since TA doesn't feature smaller towns in many foreign countries so several are missing from my map from countries like Colombia and the Philippines.
Seeing this map of mine today and trying to think about what exactly I should post about Thailand, led me to realize I've pretty near reached what I jotted as a post title. Travelling is no longer scary for me, no matter where I've been (of course I haven't been anywhere really risky).
Anyway, another day perhaps I'll say something about Thailand!
My point is that I value other travellers' candid views, like those on TA, because then you know what to really expect. If the place doesn't look like the photos featured on its corporate/tourist bureau website, then I'd say frankly you're the one to blame for not doing your homework! A Flickr search is also handy for seeing what things are really like at your destination. And as an added bonus you get to giggle at some of the silly vacation poses of strangers.
Another fun feature on TA is the travel map you can build that shows all the places you've been. I feel very very privileged that mine counts 120 destinations. Which is a bit padded with small towns around my home region but is probably somewhat realistic since TA doesn't feature smaller towns in many foreign countries so several are missing from my map from countries like Colombia and the Philippines.
Seeing this map of mine today and trying to think about what exactly I should post about Thailand, led me to realize I've pretty near reached what I jotted as a post title. Travelling is no longer scary for me, no matter where I've been (of course I haven't been anywhere really risky).
Anyway, another day perhaps I'll say something about Thailand!
Monday, April 07, 2008
the thought, postponed
Having originally typed a different headline for this post, I've since decided I should wait until tomorrow afternoon (I'm back to part time as of today, yippeeee!) to post, since right now I'm practically zombified and because Aran just put down his headset at the PC across the room, signalling the end of his nightly on-line NBA watching.
We're going to watch a movie (The Darjeeling Limited), something we do a lot of since we got bit torrent and can download for free all the award winners and amazing independent films we could not hope to see for ages, if ever, here in Tokyo.
We're also hooked on a Showtime tv series called Brotherhood, about an Irish family in Rhode Island that has one brother in gov't, the other linked into the mob. I venture to say this show is better than the Sopranos was, so if you like that kinda thing, try and catch it. Don't waste any precious time on Californication though, we couldn't even make it through half an episode before we were clicking delete. Whoa, that ain't good. But I don't even know if you can get Showtime stuff back home (unless you use bt like us) so sorry for blathering on here.
What I really wanted to talk about was Thailand. We've been back for a month and it's still on my mind. Ja, mata ashita (until tomorrow then)!
We're going to watch a movie (The Darjeeling Limited), something we do a lot of since we got bit torrent and can download for free all the award winners and amazing independent films we could not hope to see for ages, if ever, here in Tokyo.
We're also hooked on a Showtime tv series called Brotherhood, about an Irish family in Rhode Island that has one brother in gov't, the other linked into the mob. I venture to say this show is better than the Sopranos was, so if you like that kinda thing, try and catch it. Don't waste any precious time on Californication though, we couldn't even make it through half an episode before we were clicking delete. Whoa, that ain't good. But I don't even know if you can get Showtime stuff back home (unless you use bt like us) so sorry for blathering on here.
What I really wanted to talk about was Thailand. We've been back for a month and it's still on my mind. Ja, mata ashita (until tomorrow then)!
