Miri Crocodile Farm

OK Kenny & I went here on Sunday thinking it would be fun.

http://www.crocodile.net.my/

It is advertised as a man made animal sanctuary. I would call it more of an animal hell. The crocodiles didn't upset me very much though there were way too many of them per pen & not all of them looked that healthy, but sad as it is they just lay there anyway & didn't seem to require much space nor did they look too intelligent.

There were monkeys in cages so small all they could do was pace back & forth, back & forth and you could see the insanity building in their eyes. They sold bunches of small bananas for 1rm each that you were supposed to feed to them in these cages but I didn't want to participate. The people that did squealed in dismay as the monkeys would try & grab their hand or tear the bananas away from them & then throw them at them. I was secretly, ok per Kenny not so secretly, wishing them the best of luck in whipping some ass!

There were bear cats about 8 to a cage that was 3/4 flooded with water and watching them pace the bars was horrible.

We did have fun when we found the deer like animals that had a nice large pen & seemed happy so we bought lots of bananas & fed them for some time. Funny to watch a deer eat a whole banana, funnier to watch a goose beg for one & run off with it.

We stayed until 11:30 for the crocodile feeding which I expected to be much like the one I had seen on a boat in Louisiana where they threw chicken parts into the water. This was not like that. They had whole chicken carcasses in big black trash cans. We stood on raised rafters over the crocodiles & watched a Malaysian man reach into the trash cans & then toss an entire dead chicken - head, feathers, feet & all - into the pit. Sometimes it would go directly into the crocodiles mouth. Sometimes it would land in the water. And other times, it would hit the concrete with such a loud disturbing THUD that I almost threw up. Kenny was laughing the entire time, not at the show but at me and my facial expression.

It was not quite the zoo experience we were looking for. I'm contacting PETA now....

Baby Update

We went to see Dr. Mattu this morning for my check up. What a wonderful thing to hear the word "normal" over & over. The baby is growing exactly as much as it should and he showed us that its stomach is in the belly which is good of course and that the bladder is fully developed as well. So cool. Kenny felt the baby kicking last night, or flipping or dancing or whatever it was doing. The look on his face was priceless. Dr. Mattu said there is much more of this to look forward to in the upcoming months as well as brain development. He also mentioned that if my parents want to be here for the birth (which they do they are coming yayayayayayayayay!!!) then he suggested they get here by February 8th as he thinks I will carry 35 to 36 weeks instead of 40. Sounds good to me! Only thing with this date is that this is the week of or the week before Chinese New Year. Chinese LOVE fireworks as we have learned from living in a Chinese neighborhood here in Malaysia. And I mean wake up thinking you are in Bagdad explosions. We are going to have to get doggy downers for Crash. Luckily with all this barking the baby should be very used to the sound by the time it is born so hopefully won't be affected by it. We will have to wait & see how this works out...yikes!

Krokop Market

Here are 2 things found in abundance at the Krokop Market where I do my produce & shrimp shopping. The first is a typical example of what the dogs look like here. They are usually skinny, lacking fur, tail between legs and having just given birth. This dog had a lucky day since I had a bag of puppy food with me. She was very shy but perked right up when I shook the bag of grub. The locals look at me like I am crazy for feeding them. Oh well. :) I met a lady on the beach today walking her dog & we discussed the horrible conditions for animals here. Hopefully we can gather enough people and do something about it. Spaying & neutering is the only thing that is going to help. Ex-pats here have money and raising it should not be a problem if we can find a vet to get on board. More news to come.

The second image is of a Malaysian fruit that I cannot remember the name of. I call them hairy balls. They are really good - cut it open & inside is large grape-ish fruit with pits. Too much work for me but fun to try.

24 Weeks...and growing!

Are you kidding me? These overalls were literally baggy what seems like yesterday. Now I am glad they have a 2nd set of buttons since they are the most comfortable thing I own. Here we are at 24 weeks - the baby is busy growing a pancreas and making me eat cookies.

Also - this photo was taken today in our front yard. Malaysia is beautiful.

A Day at the Beach

The dogs love their daily walks on the beach. I am not complaining either! We get a lot of looks - the pregnant lady & the 3 big dogs. I actually took the photo of Wolfie while I was driving, which is perfectly acceptable to do in Miri.

More Animals at Home...

The Furries are Home!

Here's Wolfie making a grand entrance...

They made it through 4 weeks of quarantine and are now home and enjoying their new house! We are sad to say that Little Negrito was chased up a tree and after being pried off decided that he would reside elsewhere..

Travel Bug!

The travel bug is biting - luckily I have guests coming to town soon so I have reason to visit this beautiful part of the world. Yippee! Ken's mom & aunt Linda are coming the first of December so we are going to meet them in Kuching which is south of Miri by a 2 hour flight. Check out where we are staying... http://www.damaibeachresort.com/ coolio! There is also an animal sanctuary near by where they raise orphaned orangatangs which I will have to check out.

Our friends Julia & Brian are coming in January so we are going to take a pre-baby trip to Bali - maybe the kid will be born enlightened? We are starting out by flying to Kuala Lumpur & staying the night at the Novotel Hotel which is 1 block away from the Petronas Towers http://z.about.com/d/architecture/1/7/K/k/petronas.jpg, a quick cab ride to China Town & within walking distance to fabulous shopping & dining. Then we fly the next day to Bali, staying here for 2 nights on the Sunar beach...http://www.santrian.com/. Then we take a car ride up the mountain for 2 nights in town of Ubud....http://tjampuhan.com/.

I can hardly wait!

Little Negrito

Well I guess one thing for sure doesn't change even if I am on the other side of the world - animals being attracted to me! Meet Little Negrito. He/she showed up on the front porch of our house 2 days ago & hasn't left. Can't help but think it's a smart cat! Cats here are really small but I would guess this one is about 10 weeks old. It has the typical Malaysian stumpy tail too, and a very big meow. All it is concerned with is affection & will love you to death. Too bad it costs so much to transport them to the states - I would have put him in my mother-in-laws suitcase come December. We decided to fatten it up in the next week & enjoy an outside kitty. Once our gang gets here on Sunday next week (1 more week yah!) we'll see if Negrito chooses to stay or go....more news to come.

Quick Note

Just a quick post to say that I felt the baby kicking this morning! Wow. :)

New to the Blog

I just realized I have 2 blogs - I think I like this template better. Sorry for the confusion! Maybe one day I will figure out how to get the first post to this blog....but I doubt it!

I am still reeling from a massage I just got at what seemed like a very nice establishment. I wondered if I was going to get "something special" at the end. Wow. Maybe I will be ready to talk about it tomorrow.

20 Weeks & counting!

I am so lucky to be having a completely normal pregnancy. Here I am at 20 weeks - 1/2 way there! Can't believe that I will get twice this big ...ack!