To the rescue

It has been years since I rear dog. Months ago, two stray dogs came to my home and became our house dog. The male dog is named CharSio (although sometimes my dad would call it GehQiang, meaning toothpick) and the female one is named Mary (but I insist calling it Maria for some unexplainable reasons =S). CharSio is naughty, energetic and playful while Maria is more gentle and shy. The dogs have become a part of my family. (although I don’t really take them in as much as my little sisters because stray dogs are very independent and like to switch area sometimes, so they may leave the home anytime)

Last Saturday evening, I took two plates of food to feed them. CharSio was waiting at the front door as usual but Maria did not. I gave one plate of the food to CharSio as I called out Maria’s name all over the compound but she was nowhere to be seen. I thought she might have gone to the food centre nearby for some stray food so I kept the food till the bedtime and decided to feed CharSio with Maria’s share.

The next day my whole family went to Puchong to install and paint our new house. Before we leave the house, Maria was still away. Since the dog was a stray dog, it would be normal that it went out for snack like it always did.

Tuesday, we packed for home. On the way, we had BakKutTeh as lunch at Klang and stopped at Bukit Melawati for awhile before heading home. On the way, mom said that Maria might have left the home to other places. Made sense. When we reach home, CharSio welcomed us with his tail wigging, accompanied by XiaoTou. (a newcomer dog with a very small body size) Still, Maria was absent.

As I walked to the gate, I heard dog barking from a distance. I was so sure that it was Maria. Zhuang, Mom and I quickly walked to the sound. We found Maria in the final, locked in the bedroom of an empty house which is a few units from my house. She rushed out from the house, greeted by CharSio with happy barks which I can tell from the way he jumped around Maria’s skinny body. I noticed she had several wounds all over her body.

Who in the hack in this world would have done that to a kind dog? Heartless, cruel and totally inhumane. She must have been locked in the house since last Saturday, four days without food and water. I was curious of why the dog did not give any responds when I was looking for her that Saturday.

We fed her with a loaf of bread brought from Tesco and of course, CharSio shared the reward. The evening was a peaceful and happy one.

The Big Dipper

I was looking at the sky. Venus was so bright even it was just after sunset. And the most obvious star group that I could watch was the Big Dipper. Slowly I walked to the basketball court and enjoyed this peaceful moment. It was so nice and reminded me of the night I slept under the bright full moon in Langkawi during Wilderness Adventure and the other night I blanketed myself with billions of stars and cotton candy clouds during Outward Bound, Lumut.

=the big dipper=from google image=

Many people know that I like outdoor activities, out there playing in the natural environment, doing extreme activities and testing my strength and power. Yup, I lead people across the sea in kayaks even I never do it before and not knowing how to swim, walked through thick jungle with compass and map for the first time ever, I made them shelters that can withstand heavy rain, gathered firewood at the midnight with a parang and a headlight, pulled a one tonne whaler boat to the shore, cooked and watched the night with two other girls while the guys were snoring inside their camp. I always take things as a challenge--the more I do, the more I learn and the stronger I'm gonna be. I become stronger--physically, socially and most importantly, psychology.

They may not know that the best moment from these activities is when I feel connected to the nature. The breeze, sounds made by the plants and animals when I close my eyes. The beaches, islands, mountains I may never get to discover that I had conquered one by one. Breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. It doesn't matter if I need to become a leader in a group of strangers even when I'm the minority one or do more work than other group members during camp out. It is because very seldom you get the chance to go for these outdoors for free. I enjoyed every second I have with the environment. I'm always awake during camping in the wild because I scare if I might miss out any beautiful moment that I can seldom find in the civilized world.

Suddenly, I miss those campouts so badly. I dream of going back in time and wish I never wake up. I'm so glad that I found the CD I got from my trainer in Wilderness Adventure. Me leading the team... =) That day was Miss Lin Hui's birthday and I met her at the base camp. I was so happy but she refused to give me a hug. (T_T)

Group photo - Capella (name after a star in the galaxy)

It was full moon on the last day.

A memo I made for Outward Bound. =D