Pigeons in Saigon are having fun

Dog ‘refugee’ feels at home in my room

I’m happy that the dog “refugee” that we have in the house right now seems to be enjoying her stay in my room.

I think Ganda already feels at home.

Less than a week ago she was uprooted from her house in Manila suburb Marikina City due to the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana).

On her first day in my room, she stayed under the bed most of the time. She only came out to eat, drink and relieve herself.

Now, she wants me to rub her belly!

And she doesn’t seem to mind each time I hold her in my arms.  

Slowly but surely, she’s returning to her old self: a playful, energetic and trusting dog.

Dog displaced by typhoon seeks refuge in my room

Ganda is a Filipino term for beauty

I have a furry, four-legged guest who’s currently staying in my room.

She’s Ganda, the dog of my sister’s parents-in-law, whose house in a Manila suburb was messed up by typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana) over the weekend.

The floodwater has receded, but my sister said it could take at least a month to clean up and repaint the house.

That means her parents-in-law, along with their dog, couldn’t live there for at least a month.

People can stay in hotels, but their pets can’t. That’s why Ganda is staying in our house, in my room to be exact.

Memories

I first met Ganda in December last year, when my mother, sister, brother-in-law and his parents had dinner in the Marikina City house to celebrate the birth of Christ.

She was such a carefree dog then. She even played with me, and treated me like I was her long-lost master. And it was our first meeting.

She's camera-shy

Now, she just stays under the bed most of the time.

It seems I’m looking at a different dog.

She has definitely changed a lot since I first saw her nine months ago.

Perhaps the sight of the rising floodwater has terrified her. Or maybe it’s because she misses her masters. Or she’s probably trying to understand what’s happening around her.

Whatever the reasons are, I hope to see the energetic and playful Ganda again.

And I hope that she feels at home in my room.

Biggest spider I have ever seen

I put the 100-dollar-bill there to give you an idea of the spider's size

Nothing could be more miraculous than the miracle of life.

The spider on the photos is currently “overseeing” the hatching of an egg sac.

More than 20 baby spiders have come out of the egg.

I assume that there would be more, because as I write this post the “spider egg hatching” is still ongoing.

I can’t help but marvel at that spider. It’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

It’s so big, even my sister took photos of it.

The attention has made our dog jealous. She even barked at the spider, which was just making sure that the spiderlings were safe.

(Read about spider egg sacs here)

The tiny dots below are her babies

Dog in Cambodia asks for food from tourists

His cute and innocent face says it all: "please give me food"

The other day, one of my posts was about a mouse.

Yesterday, a cat was the star.

Today, I suppose it’s only right that I post something about man’s best friend.

But unlike the posts about the mouse and the cat, this entry does not have a video.

To make up for that, I’ve written a little bit more about the dog whose picture accompanies this text.

Hello

My mother, her friend, my sister’s mother-in-law and yours truly were having brunch at a makeshift restaurant at the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia when a dog suddenly approached me from nowhere.

He was asking for food. I should know. The look on his face said it all.

My brunch consisted of rice, pork and vegetables. Since I don’t like vegetables that much anyway, I gave him all of the vegetables on my plate.

As far as I can remember I didn’t give him any meat, because I needed extra energy for that day’s trip.

Fortunately for him my companions gave him some meat.

When the dog noticed that we had already finished our brunch, he left us and came to the other people who were eating at the restaurant.

Ah, dogs have such simple but fun lives. And they are very smart as well. They can sense who has a soft heart for dogs.

The makeshift restaurant where I met the dog can be found just a few meters away from this lake near Angkor Wat

Cat drinks water from busted pipe

Yesterday, one of my posts was about a mouse that was enjoying itself at the office.

Today, my post is about a cat that quenches its thirst at a busted water pipe.

This video was taken at the Salcedo Market in Makati City, Philippines: