Mighty Koreans Sent Packing

I went to the Korea-Iraq semifinal match of the on-going AFC Asian Cup 2007 at the National Stadium of Bukit Jalil on Wednesday night. It was an eye opener for me, really. Why is that so? I've been to lots of football matches but this one stood out to be the most memorable one, mainly because of their supporters, and of course the standard of football shown by both teams.

I believe many of us may be asking ourselves, why our national team, time and again fail to deliver? After witnessing that match myself, I think it's easier to understand why the Koreans have grown to be one of Asia's football power-house and they even reached the semi finals of the 2002 World Cup which was held in Korea-Japan.

A sea of red Korean supporters

From my observation and in my opinion, their supporters play a major role. They come in numbers and they are very united in their support for their national heroes. Unlike Malaysian football, for the Koreans, a football match is a family outing. Men, women, boys and girls, kids, babies and some even brought their aged parents. All of them cheered and supported the Korean team whole heartedly. Parents holding their young ones, dancing, jumping and singing with the crowd. It's really pleasant to watch. For a moment it didn't seem to be a football match I was watching. Perhaps I was not used to it. It is certainly a very different football culture, one that we don't witness here in Malaysia. I believe as a football player, you will be much more fired up with that kind of support shown, which perhaps partly explained why the Koreans play better football.

Adorable

But then again, if we do the same to out national team, do you really think they will ever perform? We'll never know but of course they still need to buck up on their skills. LOL

Canine False Pregnancy

Not sure how many of you are actually aware of this, but I'm finding it quite interesting how false pregnancy actually occurs in dogs. So what exactly canine pregnancy means? I looked up the internet and below is what I got from this site.

Canine false pregnancy is a term used to describe female dogs showing signs of pregnancy, nursing, and lactation, and yet produce no puppies. The current research studies offer the notion that false pregnancies are the result of a major hormonal imbalance. In very mild cases, you may not notice any difference in the female’s mental or physical state. As false pregnancy progresses, many females can experience a dramatic variety of mood and sensory changes such as a swollen abdomen, mammary glands filled with milk. She will exhibit almost the exact physical symptoms, as well as behavioral symptoms, that she would go through a real pregnancy. In severe cases, she will probably have it again after each heat, the female may actually strain as if she is producing a litter.

Lets take a look at the physical and behavioral symptoms during canine false pregnancy:

Morning Sickness. The most common sign in canine false pregnancy is morning sickness. You will notice that your dog is getting sick in the morning experiencing bouts of nausea and vomiting, to varying degrees. Other morning sickness symptoms include exhaustion or feeling sleepy, food cravings, frequent urination, abdominal cramps, and/or tender or swollen mammary glands.

Appetite. Changes in appetite are also extreme. When a dog is pregnant she will go through periods of huge appetite increases as well as periods of what appear to be hunger strikes which can last for days. It is not unusual to see her rejecting her regular food in favor of those that are less appealing to her when she isn’t experiencing false pregnancy.

Stool Eating. Although this is a rare case, your dog may eat stool during a false pregnancy. The technical term for stool-eating is called Coprophagia and is normally considered to be caused by some hidden behavioral problem. However, in relation to a dog experiencing a false pregnancy, it can be her body telling her that she is not getting the proper amount of nutrients that she needs to feed her unborn puppies. Even though she is not truly pregnant, her body is telling her otherwise.

Weight. Probably the most interesting aspect of a false pregnancy is the physical changes that occur in the female dog’s body. They truly mimic a real pregnancy. For example, she will experience an unusual amount of weight-gain, even if her diet hasn’t changed. Her mammary glands will increase in size and she will start production of milk and colostrum. You may also notice that her pelvic and global area may pulsate as she swells and relaxes the area.

Exercise. Nearing the time she would “give birth”, she will show nervous signs including panting and breathlessness even though she hasn’t move much all day. Getting her to exercise or go for a brisk walk is almost impossible. When coaxed, she may attempt to cry and “fake” an abdominal cramp right at the door.

Nesting. The female behavior will start displaying that of a mother who is trying to “nest.” She will spend time building her nest and form attachments to inanimate objects like toys, shoes, remote controller, and throws. She will then carry her invisible puppies around the house and taking them to her bed. Her territorial and maternal instincts will show as she protects her invisible litter, which can be upsetting for owners especially family members aren’t close to her.

Paris is going through this at the moment. In fact this is her second 'false pregnancy'. During her first time, we didn't give it much thought as we thought she was going through some 'Monday blues' sort of days. After reading some articles online, it further strengthened our belief that Paris is actually experiencing canine false pregnancy.

She has mood swings and on numerous occasion, she refused to come out and play, hiding in her 'nest' and even growled at me trying to pull her out. You'll find her breasts are somewhat swollen and it produces milk if you gently squeeze on it. Now the whole house smells of milk, the same kind of smell you get when there's a new litter at home.

Home Sweet Home

Finally we have moved in to a place of our own, a place we call home. It wasn't easy considering the hassle we had to go through in getting the paperwork done, renovation, decision making, shopping for stuffs and finally shifting. I must admit I never like moving house. Since graduation, I have been moving like a nomad for 5 times, including this one. Phewww, glad that it's over now. Of course there are still bits and pieces to put in place, but we have officially moved in and the important stuffs are considered completed. Just perhaps some minor shopping left.

Below are some pics.

View from outside the house


Main entrance


Living hall


Dry kitchen


Wet kitchen


Dining table

Everything was properly planned, or so it seemed, as we really took the trouble to look for furnitures, electrical goods, lightings etc all around Klang Valley, for the best prices and that suit both our tastes. From Seri Kembangan, Puchong, Old Klang Rd, PJ, Subang Jaya, right up to Kota Damansara, and we even surveyed Klang. So for those who's looking for the best bargain, drop us a line, maybe we can help a bit :D

It was never easy as on and off we have different opinions, but we learned that compromising is the best policy. It's a whole new experience for both of us. And I strongly believe this kinda experience is going to take us further, no doubt about it.

Stay tuned for more pics from upstairs tonight.

##UPDATES##

Managed to get a couple of pics from upstairs...

Family hall


View from family hall towards the stairs


Wardrobe

Durian Eating Furkid

Paris likes human food. I believe all pooches do! But this incident that happened a week ago was unbelievable, yet amusing. It has been a while since Paris learned and dared to climb up the dining table to wallop whatever food she can find, of course when nobody's around. Since the first few incidents, we decided not to leave any unfinished food on the dining table. We leave on other tables with no chairs underneath.

Last week, we left a part of the durian that has already been opened on the dining table, with the remaining durian flesh still hidden inside. Thinking that Paris will not dare to touch the fruit since it has a hard outer husk that is covered with sharp, prickly thorns, we happily went out. Much to our astonishment, when we returned home, we found that durian in her cage, opened up, no more flesh, with 2 giant durian seeds partly chewed!!!