In my neighbourhood...

Dog snatch from gator's mouth
Sydney Morning Herald
May 30, 2006 - 1:01PM
A man took his dog for a run near his Florida home and ended up prying the pooch out of a 2.13-metre alligator.
Michael Rubin took Jasmine, a six-month-old golden retriever, and his other dog, a border collie named Frisbee, on a run at a construction site near his home.
Rubin thought the area was far from the alligators that prowl the nearby Everglades.
During the morning walk, Jasmine ran ahead of Rubin to the edge of a pond on the site. Rubin heard a yelp.
He ran to help his dog and saw her head in the mouth of the alligator. He jumped in the muddy water, which reached his neck, he said, and began beating the beast with his fist.
He said that when that didn't work, he grabbed on to his dog as the alligator started to take it underwater.
"I thought she was dead," Rubin said after the ordeal.
"But, at that point I wasn't going to let him have my dog."
Rubin yanked at his dog, finally prying her from the alligator's mouth. He then rushed her to The Coral Springs Animal Hospital, which confirmed Jasmine was treated for cuts and puncture wounds.
Jasmine was in a good condition, but quite sleepy, and was sent home with pain medication, Rubin said. Frisbee was not injured in the attack.
"She was very lucky," he said of Jasmine. "And I was very lucky."

Kentaro called 5 minutes ago to tell me to look this one up on the internet as he had heard it on the radio. I was pleased to see that SMH has cottoned on to this news even before the local newspapers. This is one of the fortunate tales, as most end in gator poo.

What flavour Pocky are you?

what flavor pocky are you?

Just had to do this quiz. Pocky was a sweet part of my life in Japan, and continues to sugar-coat my existence here in Florida as a best-seller at the Morikami.

Fugu, Iguanas and Herons, Oh My!

On Sunday we headed down to the intracoastal waters of Fort Lauderdale with our 2-seater kayak strapped to the top of Kentaro's Toyota. We always pray that the thin blue straps we use to secure it on top of 2 foam pads are going to hold. Other kayak owners seem to have much sturdier roof-rack contraptions, but we have been OK so far. It's funny to drive around with the kayak though as everyone on the road struggles to not be in front of or behind us.

Kentaro used to live right on the waterways but now that we're in suburban Coral Springs it's a bit of a hike to get there. Just getting the kayak off our balcony, down 2 flights of stairs and up onto the car is so much of an effort that we're tired by the time we get in the car.

But upon our arrival to Wilton Manors Waterways (Wilton Manors is the gay mecca in Fort Lauderdale, hence there are a multitude of trendy restaurants and nice houses), we perk up as it's a gorgeous place to spend a Sunday.

First we search for fishies and crabs (Kentaro goes around turning over rocks to find them) and yesterday we were able to combine efforts and catch a baby checkered pufferfish. So cute. Then we let him go and start our kayak trip.

We usually go on a 2 hour course with prime real estate and iguana viewing aplenty. I love just watching the huge lizards but Kentaro likes to poke them with his paddle to make them move. You'd expect such a ferocious looking creature to hiss and attack like a little raptor, but they just waddle away slowly looking for the next hibiscus bush to munch on.

Yesterday we also found a baby heron presumably waiting for its mother in a tree. It couldn't fly so was glued to the spot as we paddled directly underneath it.

We haven't spotted a manatee on our recent kayak excursions though there are supposed to be huge groups of them in the intracoastal waters. Though I am just as happy not seeing a huge dark shape looming underneath, as no matter how many times Kentaro assures me that alligators don't swim in saltwater, I figure that there's always a first. Every day here there is news of another alligator attack and I don't wanna join the statistics!

There's an alligator report on TV right now, being followed by a pre-hurricane season special report, announcing that for the next 12 days, shutters, flashlights, generators and batteries will be tax-free.

Where am I living?

It's raining bread!

Hallelujah say the little birdies and squirrels which scamper around on the ground and wait every morning for me to throw them a piece of bread and the seeds which didn't make the cut for Goma and Shio, spoiled little buggers that they are.

It is nice to be able to enjoy some wildlife that isn't vultures right on my doorstep. My favourites are the Blue Jays and Red-head Woodpeckers which brighten things up as the parrots in Australia do.

And all over the area are beautiful white herons. I was recently sitting in Kentaro's parked car for 10 minutes and allowed to enjoy a one-man show of a heron on a dragonfly eating rampage. I have never seen anything like it. This sleek little birdie went to town on the dragonflies with such precision and gusto that I was whooping and cheering him on as dragonfly after dragonfly got gobbled up without even knowing what was happening.

On the topic of Florida birds - Did you know that wild flamingos are pink because they eat carotene-containing shrimp and that in captivity those shrimp are often substituted with carotene-rich veggies like carrots, beets and red peppers? If they didn't eat them they'd turn white! Wayyyy! But most zoos these days apparently opt for some additives in the bird pellets. Hmm I wonder if I could turn my cockatiels pink...

Such are the interests of my life.

How American Are You?

You Are 41% American

America: You don't love it or want to leave it.But you wouldn't mind giving it an extreme make over.On the 4th of July, you'll fly a freak flag instead...And give Uncle Sam a sucker punch!

How American Are You?

Lucky I don't have to take the Citizenship Test - I'd probably fail! Today marks a quarter of a year in Florida, woohoo!

Headline Blues

Just watching the news here makes Kentaro and I depressed. Every day. I'm not talking about news of the war in Iraq, natural disasters in Bangladesh or people starving in Africa. It's the local news that chills us to the bone because it's literally in our backyard.

I have had the thought a few times of posting on this blog the daily headlines to give others an idea of the kind of stuff that happens here, but then I'd be bringing y'all down too.

Fort Lauderdale and Miami (and the surrounding suburbs) have a combined population equivalent to Greater Sydney, but in a typical week or even month back home there wouldn't be a fraction of the heinous crimes that occur here in one day. Murder, rape, hit-and-run, drive-by shooting, fraud is the typical morning news report of the previous night's events. And the scenes of these crimes are all around us, not making for a fuzzy feeling as I'm eating my breakfast bagel. Oi.

But then you look at the people here and the crimes don't seem as surprising. I used to watch Jerry Springer and wonder if those people were actors, and if not where in the world they could walk around as accepted members of society. Eureka!

In speedy end-of-ad disclaimer voice: Of course these generalised views do not apply to all the people I have encountered here and there are certainly exceptions for example all the lovely people I work with and all friends and family in the States and yes I also realise that South Florida is probably not an accurate representation of the United States as a whole in terms of the moral quality of its citizens and no I am not depressed so don't worry, simply alarmed, befuddled and confounded.

Aloha

Tonight we went out to a Hawaiian-themed restaurant called Mai Kai in Fort Lauderdale and did the whole pina pina, mahi mahi, rabu rabu thing. What the world needs now is more Hawaiian-themed restaurants.

Ooh la la

On Tuesday I started the day in my usual day-off-from-work routine. Big bowl of 4 cereals mixed together, coffee, genmai-cha and UPN news. I pondered the state of my lemon Ford as I watched Springer, Montel and Maury. I set out in the afternoon with the aim of taking my car to a few dealerships to enquire about trade-in deals. Honda or Toyota, baby, Honda or Toyota, that's Kentaro's mantra. It's not like I WANTED a Ford in the first place. Just seemed to check out better than the other options we had back in buying time. I drove for half an hour south, past about 50 dealerships and car yards. I made a left on Broward Blvd and drove straight into downtown Fort Lauderdale. I parked on Las Olas Blvd and walked into a bridal shop. I disclosed my budget to the staff and was directed straight to the sales rack. The wedding dress of my dreams was brought before my eyes and I wept with delight to hear the drastically discounted sale price. Well, I didn't really cry but I sure am glad that the dress shopping is already over because it's not fun to do solo!!

It's a Christos design from last season, and is 80% off because it was worn once in a fashion show.

Woohoo!

Fiance, check, dress, check...

Where I work

I work at Morikami Japanese Gardens & Museum in the gift shop. I have 30 minutes for my lunch break which is enough to time to scoff a PBJ and power walk through the gardens, which are meticulously maintained and full of Zen-factor. It's a great way to get a breath of fresh air and relax before diving back into the chaos which is the gift shop. People just CANNOT GET ENOUGH of the store's goods. There is a fantastic selection of Japanese fountains, bags, bowls, dolls, chopsticks, lanterns, scrolls, jewellery, candles, candy, toys, books, cards, kimonos and more, and the wealthy suburban matrons who frequent the store seem well-versed in how to feng-shui a house. I have never come across a shop in Australia with a wider variety of Japanese merchandise. I have also never earned such a low wage in my entire life, with every penny I DO earn going towards my lemon car, which oh by the way broke down again last week. Sigh.

*Happy Easter*

The easter bunny came for Kentaro this year for the first time, and had apparently hopped through Australia on its way to Florida because it brought a giant chocolate koala for him as well as the usual American fare. (thanks Mom)

Goma and Shio were thrilled to have a bunch of colourful new things to rip to shreds.

It was a good day had by all, with the morning chocolate pig-out followed by a trip to the beach and a buffet dinner.

Hamming it up at Costco

The great American institution of bulk-buying is epitomised by Costco, the wholesale warehouse company that now has 471 locations branching out from the US to Canda, the UK and Asia, including one 5 minutes down the road from us.

'Costco became the first company ever to grow from zero to $3 billion in sales in less than six years.' -taken from Wikipedia's Costco definition.

Kentaro and I both joined up at our local Costco thinking that we'd save a lot by buying in bulk, but have since realised that you can't walk out of the place spending less than $100 because 5kg of sliced ham, 2kg of salad, a barrel of cereal and a gallon of vitamins isn't actually that cheap. And not only can we not fit a pre-packaged 3 loaves of bread in our refrigerator, by the time we've gotten past 1 loaf the other 2 are already stale! Best stick to Walmart I guess.

(Photo taken last year at the Costco in Saipan.)

Our apartment

Here is our humble abode. The first pic is taken from the main entrance, the second with my trusty Ford in the foreground. I wonder which part of this reliable machine will need Focus this week? So far it's been the tyres, the a/c and the transmission... The third picture is the view from our front door. It's a nice little complex with a pool, tennis court, racketball court and gym. The odd thing is that this is what the majority of south Florida looks like, with stand-alone homes few and far between. But the variety you don't get from houses is made up for by all the types of people you see. It's funny to think that no matter how different we are from our neighbours, our living space is near identical.

And then there were 3...

Licenses that is. With the addition of my new Florida Driver's License which I obtained yesterday, I now have THREE licenses valid until at least 2008 in THREE different countries. I guess it's then also suitable that I look like THREE different people...

So to celebrate my super-validity and to mark 2 months since I became a born-again American, we went out for sushi!

Michelle's Wedding

I was honoured to be a bridesmaid in Michelle's wedding held at Pearl Beach this February. No less an honour could have kept me away from my Kentaro for that long! He was waiting for me in Florida while I frolicked with the girls at the Hen's Night and wedding. It was a stunning beach service but I'll let the pics do the talking!

Just the two of us!

It's amazing to ponder how my life has changed so quickly. Six months ago I was leaving Japan, enrolled in a Masters degree at Macquarie University with plans to live with my brother and study and work in Sydney. Had things gone according to that plan, I would now be one month into my degree in International Communication. My friends and family would be sick of hearing about my 3 years in Japan and I might possibly be concocting plans to go back there some day...

Meeting Kentaro has put a rosy light on everything I see in front of me, and given me so many options about where I can live and what I can do in the future. It is such a wonderful feeling to have found my partner in life, and to go to sleep deeply content every night. We make a great team. Woohoo!!!

Long-lost Laurie

One of the best parts about living in the States again is being able to see my long-lost relatives. First and most convenient on the list was mom's half-sister Laurie, who works as a cruise ship singer on the Carnival Legend which departs weekly from Fort Lauderdale.

We met for the first time in March (and calculated that it had been 13 years since we'd last met!) and the second time on April 2nd, her birthday! Kentaro and I were honoured to have her be our first house guest even if it was just for a couple of hours! She was also just in time to meet Goma and Shio, who arrived on March 31st. Painting courtesy of Kentaro's procrastinations.

R.I.P. Mushymochi, welcome to Salt and Sesame!

If I had a dollar for every time I started a blog and then abandoned it, I'd be able to buy about 4 Krispie Kreme donuts...

Mushymochi's young life was tragically cut short in October 2005 when I met my samurai lover Kentaro and wanted to express my new life with a new blog!

April 2006 finds me in Coral Springs, Florida, playing fiancee to Kentaro, sales wench to Morikami Museum (http://www.morikami.org/), and mother to Goma (sesame) and Shio (salt), our 2 new baby cockatiels. I dedicate this new blog to them!