Dog survivor story

I love dogs and I love dog-survivor stories with a happy ending. This one thankfully ended well. :)

Dog overboard found four months later

AFP - Monday, April 6

SYDNEY (AFP) - - A pet dog that fell overboard in rough seas off Australia has been reunited with its owners after surviving alone on an island for four months, reports said.

Sophie Tucker, apparently named after a late US entertainer, fell overboard as Jan Griffith and her family sailed through choppy waters off the northeast Queensland coast in November.

The dog was believed to have drowned and Griffith said the family was devastated.

But out of sight of the family, Sophie Tucker was swimming doggedly and finally made it to St Bees Island, five nautical miles away, and began the sort of life popularised by the TV reality show "Survivor."

She was returned to her family last week when Griffith contacted rangers who had captured a dog that had been living off feral goats on the largely uninhabited island, in the faint hope it might be their long-lost pet.

When the Griffiths met the rangers' boat bringing the dog to the mainland they found that it was indeed Sophie Tucker on board.

"We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and they let her out and she just about flattened us," Griffith told the national AAP news agency.

"She wriggled around like a mad thing."

Griffith said that when the dog was first spotted on the island she had been in poor condition.

"And then all of a sudden she started to look good and it was when the rangers had found baby goat carcasses so she'd started eating baby goats," she said.

Sophie Tucker, a member of the Australian cattle dog breed, had been quick to readjust to the comforts of home, complete with airconditioning, Griffiths said.

"She surprised us all. She was a house dog and look what she's done, she's swum over five nautical miles, she's managed to live off the land all on her own," Griffiths said.

"We wish she could talk, we truly do."

Just a dream...?

When I was a kid, I used to have nightmares about war. I remember this distinct moment where I see the tank turn the corner into our street and my heart just starts racing, and I could feel the hope just draining away from me. There’s another where I’m older and I’m trying to escape but I don’t have a visa so I don’t know how I’m supposed to get out. In these nightmares, it’s always the Chinese invading us – although their tanks and uniform are strangely American. I guess that’s what I get for reading too much Anne Frank and being so obsessed with the Spratlys issue.

Of course, back then it was easy to write off my war fears to an overactive imagination and my need for some drama in my life. Apparently, it isn’t as easy now. Aside from my mom’s constant belief that we might eventually end up in the middle of a US-China confrontation, no thanks to Spratlys, now I’ve read a column in the Star* that oddly shares her sentiments. A conflict of any sort is the last anybody needs these days – with the economic downturn, the greenhouse effect and what not – and I wonder if people in the days before WW2 had the same thoughts. I mean, would anyone really know if we stand at the cusps of a world war? The thought itself is overwhelming and almost too impossible, especially when one has more pressing problems right in front of you like no food or loosing a job. It’s hard enough to get by everyday; people can’t afford to be Chicken Littles and live the rest of our lives with our eyes glued to the sky, worried that it might fall any day.

But, then again, if I were planning something, that’s exactly what I’d be waiting for: a decoy. America isn’t really in great shape now and Obama has problems left and right, internal and external to the country: the economic slump, problems in Afghanistan, Iraq, problems in his own cabinet. The country is essentially vulnerable now, fighting a battle in different fronts. And certainly, other countries have been using this slump as a way to assert themselves against not just against US, but some of it allies like the EU, who is suffering from the same recession that has hit US. Countries like Russia and Venezuela have both subtlety and publicly undermined the US within the last year, and though it’s not as frightening as the Taliban threat, the climate has already been primed. All that may be needed is a compelling reason (say Oil) to start the spark, so the idea is plausible.

Just how plausible? I hope we never find out.

*Star Article:
William Esposo, As I Wreck This Chair. “How what we don’t know will kill us”
The Philippine Star 2009-04-05

What's for breakfast? (My top 3 breakfast buffets)

Okay, so I'm not exactly a food connoisseur. But I have eaten at a number of breakfast buffets around Manila and it's safe to say that not all buffets are created the same. And more choices does not (from my experience, at least) necessarily equate to delicious meals.

First off, a few notes about my eating tastes. I easily get bored, especially when it comes to food and that's why I'm a big fan of buffets. I prefer eating small amounts of everything and tasting how the flavors mix in my palate. If I had to classify my taste I would say Mediterranean: I love light meals with tomatoes, bread, oils and some wine. So basically that's how I approached these buffets.

(3) Circles Events Cafe (Shangri-la Makati)
This was one of my first breakfast buffets, I think, and I'm not even sure if they still have a breakfast buffet. Anyway, I like Circles better than HEAT (at Edsa Shangri-la) where I found the food, more often than not, uninspiring. Circles, like most buffets in the metro, boasts ample food choices ranging from Chinese, Japanese, American and Filipino. Not as exhaustive as Spiral but everything tastes so good that you don't really mind the smaller selection. What I think really separates Circles from the other buffets I've eaten in is the lightness of their food. It's not as easily filling, which really works for me. I get to truly savor the food and just enjoy the dining experience instead of feeling like I've overstuffed myself.

(2) Spiral (Sofitel Plaza Manila)
A lot of people would rank this as their number 1 buffet but Spiral and I have had a bad history together. The sheer amount of food choices makes it inevitable for any sane person not to over-eat, and once or twice I've ended up tasting food I wish I have never ever eaten in my life. That's not to say that I don't like Spiral. Despite the overwhelming selection, the food remains great although a tad more fatty than at Circles, their staff is one of the friendliest buffets crews around, and the place is remarkable with its large, trademark stairs and the view of the pool and Manila Bay outside. I just think Spiral suffers from it's popularity sometimes. The taste of their food tends to be inconsistent during crowded days, ranging from oh-my-god-you-have-to-try-this to blah. And because of the number of people frequenting it, they easily run of food (i.e. bacon) so its best to come early.

(1) 7 corners (Crowne Plaza Ortigas)
Not as popular as Circles or Spiral, nor as big. The selection at 7 corners is in fact one of the smallest buffet selections I've seen for a hotel buffet. Unlike the other 2 restaurants, I've never actually tried their regular buffet. I still long for their breakfast buffet, however. It's what actually compelled me to write this.
Anyway, fewer choices but cooked better, I suppose. Their bacon was crisp and perfect, not soggy limping bits of fat sitting in a bowl of oil. The french toast was good, so were the pancakes and other pastries. I particularly liked the cheese topping for the french toast. (I have no idea what that was but, boy, did it taste good). The staff and the ambience may not have been the best but everything else seems to play second fiddle to the food. There was nothing exotic about the food, nothing out of this world or new, just old breakfast favorites served at their very best.