Introducing Oscar & Pygmy (plus Crash & Eddie)

I’m so happy that after feeding my discus, Oscar, Hikari bloodworms (which I bought for my mini puffer, Pygmy), its colouration improved till I can actually see the gold showing on it’s body! It’s been in my tank for ages. Didn’t manage to grow much cuz the tank isn’t exactly the biggest around.

I have no idea what the shop assistants fed the puffer before I bought it but I can still remember the first time I fed it the bloodworms. I used a dropper, one worm shot out of the tip, the puffer saw it, gulped it down and… it was as if it got shocked by a bolt of electricity, literally. Then it went ZIPZIPZIP across the tank like a mad fish. Snails are supposed to be its favourite food but I could never get it to eat one. Will try again though.

Oscar on the other hand, does eat fish pellets. However ever since it accidentally ate one of the floating bloodworms, that became its No.1 delicacy. It isn’t as picky as the puffer when it comes to food though. Probably why it grew so much in a few weeks.

They are so crazy about bloodworms now, they’ll swim up to the water surface whenever I leave the cup of frozen worms to thaw by the tank. And seriously, I just use a pair of tweezers, grip a few, dip the tip into the water and they’ll just swim up to eat from the tweezers! It’s so much fun whenever I feed them in the morning.

Then several people will go… “A puffer with a discus? Aren’t puffers solitary?!” Well yes, it killed 2 of my neon tetras and ate their guts. Guess the discus is too big for it to handle. Haha. And in case you are wondering why are there no pictures of my puffer, it zips around too fast for me to take a decent one. But from an online search, here’s what Pygmy roughly looks like…

And here’s Oscar…

By the way, I also have 2 otos (think of them as mini suckers/algae-eaters) that go by the name of Crash and Eddie. But they’re always hiding under the driftwood. Anyhoo, they look like this close-up…

Self-explanatory…

A Summary Of The Week

Monday: Met up wth Val in the afternoon for lunch. It’s been a while since we had the chance to catch up. Tutored Ric in the evening.

Tuesday: Came down with a sore throat. Decided not to turn up for work and went to the polyclinic. Doctor said I may be coming down with the flu. Tutored Ric in the evening.

Wednesday: Still had the sore throat. Went down to Thompson for the interview. I got the job! Had lunch and went to Serangoon North with G after that.  The skin on my ankles were torn badly by then and I was starting to have a cold. Adri’s piglets were finally out, 3 healthy, 1 stillborn. Told G it was a good start after the horrible last pregnancy.

Thursday: Full blown cold. Told my Assistant Manager that I had enough with DL. She called to ask if it was because my colleagues tried to chase me away. I was told that I still had to turn up on Friday and Saturday. Darn it. Had a lunch appointment with my primary school Chinese teacher, along with Mom and Ric. Feet hurt. Went to meet the gf and checked out the IT Fair at Suntec after she was done with work. Had dinner at Bugis.

Friday: Supposed to work but decided to call in sick. I was after all still down with flu. Told the AM that I can’t make it on Saturday either. Paid a visit to Vivo POSB to trace my cheque. Feet hurt really badly. Decided to stay home for the rest of the day. My new cousin, Baby X was born at around 5 plus in the evening.

Saturday: I got my new laptop! Finally!!! It’s a Sony Vaio SZ! Joy oh joy!

I took out the gauze and this was what my wounds look like…

Sunday: Slept in. It’s grandma’s turn to be sick today. I think she’s down with the flu too! Her call to my home created a mild flurry as Mom rushed to see if she was ok. I didn’t want to go cuz I was still nursing a soon-to-be-cured cold. So amid the Sunday morning chaos, I stayed home to fix my old laptop for Dad. Ric went down to City Hall, so basically I was all alone until Dad came home. So when Mom finally returned (Ric too) we all trooped down to Tampines Courts for dinner and also to… what else? Check out the furniture la.

I Nearly Died Today

Yes and I don’t know why the fuck I was so careless. The realisation that I could’ve gotten into some serious shit really scared the crap outta me.

This was what happened…

I was on my way to work onboard the Harbourfront Bus. As usual, I alighted at the Ranger station and decided (for some unknown reason) to cross before the bus. It was a two-way road mind and I was only paying attention to the oncoming traffic rather than to the traffic on MY side of the road. I stepped forward. At that very moment, a lorry zoomed past RIGHT BEFORE MY FUCKING FACE. If I was any slower in darting backwards, I would’ve been in a really bad accident.

Everything happened in a split second, the driver of the oncoming bus on the other side honked at me. His wild gesticulations probably meant, “Watch where you’re going you crazy kid!” My bus driver honked at me and everyone else stared at me as if I was some zoo exhibit.

The fact that I could’ve died only hit me after I crossed over to the bus-stop. My heart was pounding so hard. The scene kept replaying in my mind and I saw the lorry rush before me over and over again. The after effects of adrenaline? Perhaps. But I sure got the shock of my life today.