Sarracenia

Went to Subang Parade this afternoon to get a pot of Sarracenia plant. Whilst there, the proprietor informed me that the N. rafflesiana I got last week was not of the giant variety. Took a mental note to get a pot later in a near future.

Injured my left hand

Injured my left wrist and hand on Monday....foolishly tried to stand on the chair which has roller attached on to it whilst tried to put a box on to the top cabinet...
It toppled and I landed on a bad angle. Hand and wrist practically swell up like a boxing glove after nap. Went to see GP at SS18. Diagnose was not so good, suspected may have broken bones...prescribed 3 pils for me, 1 for muscle, 1 for swelling and 1 for pain. Darn it, hate medication, makes me feel dull and tired. But it helps to keep the pain due to lactic acid built up away. Pain's killing me, making me temperamental...Next day, see GP again, sent me to Subang Jaya Medical Center for x-ray. Waited 2 hours for my turn. Cost me MYR56. The place was practically packed. X-ray came out, thank goodness, no broken bones. Every things fine except for the swelling and blue black. Went back to GP, gave me a day MC...and wait for a week for hand to get back to normal...no more stupid moves.

Leo The Leopard Tortoise

This is Leo, my leopard tortoise (Geochelone pardalis). Leo originated from Ethiopia where it grazes on the dried, arid grasses of the savannas. I bought Leo waaay back in 1997. At that time, I remembered I wanna get a Sri Lankan star tortoise (Geochelone elegans) initially but changed my mind when I saw Leo. It was the first time I ever saw a leopard tortoise. The shop was in Penang, but was in a dubious state which I eventually learned, was operating illegally and clamped down by the authorities weeks later. The price MYR 700 was of course way way too expensive, but Ah Shen, my cousin brother, said it was unique and different from the star variety. His mom, Aunty Pek, was kind enough to loan me MYR 400 for the balance (whom I repaid back with my pay the following month). Leo, had a problem of insufficient calcium intake, probably due to too long in captive, thus affecting the proper growth of several of the scutes on her carapace. Leo was just about 4 inches long, now estimated about 15 inches. It is said that Leo is probably just into her juvenile stage of her life, and will most likely outlive me. I fed Leo with kailan (kale) on almost daily basis. At times, when the kale supply ran out, she would graze on the grasses on the garden, like a cow. Now, Leo is a "she". How do I know? Well, not for 100% sure but one way of identifying a tortoise sex is via the concaveness of the bottom carapace, females have a almost flat surface and vice versa for male. Throughout the years with us, Leo has had a fair share of accidents, always with cars parked on our porch. Luckily she turned out fine (but with scratches). She also has bits of paint on her during one of the painting the garden walls session.

Monkey Cups..start.

Went to Subang Parade again this morning and bought a Nepenthes rafflesiana, which is a low land pitcher plant. A mature rafflesiana pitcher is said to rival that of N. rajah, reportedly the largest pitcher ever recorded. However, due to the wide range of variations, not sure if the one I bought is one of the giant species. Also re-purchase a Dionaea muscipula or more popularly known as Venus Flytrap. The 1st one I bought gave up and died about a month after I got it...it practically turned black! The proprietor advice is to put it under 100% sunlight but with plenty of moisture. Honestly I am abit skeptical as a search on Wikipedia said that this is plant also require annual hibernation process! Hhhmmm... Anyway, I just decided to have another shot at it.

A Fat Gecko Blog...Intro.

Transmission begins...somewhere to write down all and all.