In just a matter of couple days, to be exact Saturday … my best buddy + counselor + old classmate will be back …. From US and she will be staying with me for more or less a month or so.

Hahahaha the first thought would probably be (a deep breath) … H1N1 or commonly known as Swine! (oink oink oink). Well, she knows and understood all the potential consequences e.g. being quarantined in the hospital for a week or so. For me …. ~ I don’t care (I think), especially since this trip was planned almost a year ago … I am terribly excited as you can see. What more, it’s the 10th year since we’ve graduated from high school … how many 10 years do we have? And how many old friends do we have these days?

We’ve got plenty of activities lined up, things to eat, things to see, people to meet + a weight management regime too … that’s what all gals talk about all the time – don’t we??? Teehee.

I am doing a countdown now … tick tock tick tock.

All hail to the rain - All hail to the rain - All hail to the rain

It was a really nice waking up to the sound of the rain today. The earth … I mean Penang was literally like an oven with the haze making the situation worst. Since last week, the weather was at its extreme … with little or no rain and no wind!!!

I tried to take a nap last Sunday afternoon with my doggies downstairs and on the floor, right below the fan … The tiled floor didn’t manage to cool me down and I was still sweating away in my nap …

Well thinking that maybe in the jungle won’t be so bad, so I thought I called up my buddy and we go for a short hike … its almost the same and I was having this mirage in my mind that I am enjoying a cold yummy MacD’s Sundae Cone….

Conclusion …. GLOBAL WARMINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

“You are nuisance and are no longer needed, you will be exiled to a land where living condition is worst than harsh.”  

Isn’t it cruel to do that, some may say that’s inhumane and some feels betrayed … others may say that “well, that’s life”.

Replace the subject instead of a human, to an animal – a dog in this case. Do you still feel the same? ~ an unacceptably inhumane. 

I don’t even want to think about why and reasons of the “drastic-actions” taken by the locals of Pulau Ketam (according to the report) of exiling a pack of 300 dogs to a mangrove swamp. Maybe I simply do not understand the Darwin’s theory – natural selection / survival of the fittest. 

What I do know is that, mangrove swamp is only suitable for fireflies, otters, crabs, fish and some birds (maybe some insects too). I don’t think its suitable for dogs. With no available fresh water, food and proper place to rest ~ nothing lives let alone dogs!. 

Knowing this … what are you going to do?

If you have not close the browser yet and do have the intention to help, read on…

Please do not underestimate the power of 1, you can make a difference:

• Donate! ~ you can do a collective donation instead of per person
• Spread the news! 
• Educate the people around you 
• Possible adoption

I just pop by the Penang SPCA last weekend (Saturday morning), I am not a regular but I do hope to go there more often.

A couple of volunteers were there at that time playing with the dogs, you can imagine how crazy they were … running around, enjoying every moment of their freedom. Not all are lucky, some were sick … weeping in loneliness and probably in pain, all thanks to their previous owners ~ abandoning them, their family.

As I was taking pictures of the dogs, most of them are wagging their tails like as if there was a typhoon, some even try to reach out to me with their paw stretch out from the cage as much as possible. All of them are probably saying the same thing … take me home, love me. Doesn’t that just sinks your heart …

Well as a photographer, what can I do? Create awareness of course …

Visit the Penang SPCA today

It’s Friday. 

Solo jazz piano playing off my laptop. 

Cloudy / rainy evening. 

An almost calm moment … with only leaves blown softly by the wind

I am sitting here on a lazy ikea chair by the window to take a breather moment away from my assignment. I lost count the number of items that i need to complete this weekend and started to drift away from my laptop into the greens. 

My two dogs, Bailey and Whiskey is away in dream land beside me …

I started to travel back in time. I remembered Gin Gin.

I could still remember her temperament. She is an extremely hot tempered dog and would snap at me sometimes if I disturb her too much (sibling rivalry). She would also not leave any strangers ‘unbark’ at home and even in the car or at the beach. At times she is also very possessive, over her toys, her food, her territory, her family … 

Despite the aggressive and snappy nature, she would not harm anything - not a hamster or a tortoise or even rabbits. I could remember how she help me find my missing hamster, trace down a lost tortoise and herd the rabbits back to its cage. I guess similar to human, you can’t really judge a human or in this case, an animal by its look.  In her (or anyone for that matter) snappiest nature, I guess there will always be a kind soul at its core. 

So what is happening here … reflection I guess.

Where does the value of money ends? Or when is it enough?

Economics may have an answer for this … perhaps when it no longer provides utility value to that specific person. Utility value varies from person to person, in short it is a perception of how we measure a specific thing. In the case of when the desire / wants no longer has a price, what do you / can you exchange it with? More $$$?

We have health tourism, eco tourism etc … In health tourism the tag line is probably, loose weight while you are holidaying or get your heart fix in the pearl of orient. I wonder if there is such a thing as come to Penang and have your pictures taken or commemorate your honeymoon in style – all in the name of destination photography. Not only it promotes Penang graphically but also an avenue for holidaymakers to get some good shots of themselves with Penang as the backdrop.

Not bad for an idea that came up at 7.30 on a Thursday morning ehh!