Archive for » August, 2008 «

Posted on Saturday, August 09th, 2008 by pelf and filed in Turtle Talks, USA

So, somewhere in June, Dr. Roger Wood, the Director of Research at the Wetlands Institute took a few of us interns went to New York to attend an Annual Turtle and Tortoise Show hosted by the New York Turtle and Tortoise Society (NYTTS).

Our posters

The NYTTS Turtle Show was similar to the CTTC-Valley Turtle Show in a sense that both were turtle shows organized by turtle lovers, for turtle lovers :)

The Turtle Show was held at a school in Greenwich Village, lower Manhattan in New York City. Turtle keepers (is that even the correct term to use?) arrived in the morning and started putting up tables and chairs to display their turtles (or collection of turtles). There were also turtle lovers who did not display turtles, but turtle-products for sale.

Lots of souvenirs!

One of the differences between the CTTC-Valley Turtle Show and the NYTTS Turtle Show was that turtle keepers at the NYTTS Turtle Show were awarded coloured ribbons as a means of recognizing their efforts. So, halfway through the show, a few judges visited all the turtles and offer advice (if needed) and then judge the turtles based on a few criteria such as the duration the keeper has been taking care of the turtles, whether the turtle is a common or rare species, etc. A best-in-show trophy was also given to the best-in-show turtle..

The trophy winner!

And this year’s trophy winners were brother-and-sister Christopher and Lauren Cho, who brought a breeding pair of juvenile Japanese leaf turtles (Geoemyda japonica), a rare species.

But guess what happen when the announcer announced Christopher as the best-in-show winner? Lauren was expecting her name to be called too, but when she didn’t hear her name, she just ran towards her Mum and started crying. Very loudly. And we all thought that she was so adorable. But of course, the announcer quickly added, “Christopher and Lauren Cho..” and she wiped her tears, and walked up to receive the trophy. And in less than 15 seconds, she was smiling away for the cameras! :D

More pictures take during the NYTTS Annual Turtle and Tortoise Show here.

Posted on Tuesday, August 05th, 2008 by pelf and filed in Personal Stuff

I just got news that my co-Advisor, Prof. L, had just passed away. Prof. L was a man of knowledge and wisdom. He was a great professor. He was very generous with his ideas and suggestions, yet he never failed to get his students to “think”.

Stargazer Lilies

Rest in peace, Prof. L. You will forever be in our thoughts.

Posted on Monday, August 04th, 2008 by pelf and filed in Life as I see it

On August 8th, 2008, Beijing will kick off the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. We will all have our eyes fixed on the TV because that’s the closest we could go. Except for some those who represent their home countries in the games, the rest of us would just have to watch the games on our TV sets.

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Also on the August 8th, I will be leaving the Wetlands Institute, my “home” for the past 10 weeks. I arrived in Stone Harbor on May 25th with no expectations of what the place would be like, no friends to call my own, and no clue of what was going to happen in the next 10 weeks. And now, 10 weeks later, I am leaving the place I have started to love and the friends I have made.

Just packing my stuff two days ago got me all melancholic and teary.

But like everybody who has been telling me, all good things come to an end. I know, I am just not prepared to leave. Not just yet.

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On a more cheery note, Flickr is going to celebrate another 24 hours of Flickr on August 8th. To participate, just take a photo whenever and wherever you are on August 8th and share it in the Flickr 888 group.

Flickr 888

Please also note that only one photo will be accepted into the group per member from noon PST Friday, August 8th until Tuesday, September 2nd, noon PST, 2008.

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So, what do you think YOU would be doing on August 8th, 2008?

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