Peter’s Blog V2

Xiao P is a black moor goldfish, named after the black pig P-Chan from Ranma 1/2.  Like Ponyo, his name was determined before we even picked the fish.  We had known that we wanted a black one, and Xiao P was the first and only adorable black cartoon character that we could think of.

By original plans, Xiao P was going to be the second fish in the tank, along with the other pre-named fish Ponyo.  However, bothered by the sight of two dead bodies in the store tank of black moors on that day, we looked around to avoid bringing home a potentially sickened Xiao P.  Without that incident, we wouldn’t have discovered Nemo.

I’d hate to hurt our dear pet’s feelings, but Xiao P is the pathetic kid in the family.  Living up to his namesake, he’s as clumsy as a pig – though lacking the intelligence.  With what we presume to be poor eyesight, he struggles to catch food even when directly placed in his face.  His mouth suctions rapidly like a little vacuum cleaner, scanning every square millimeter on the surface as well as on the gravel floor in hope to get some by chance.  On any given day, he puts in three times as much feeding effort as Ponyo and consumes half as much.  Then he gets grumpy and pushes the other fish around.  Uh, that’s right, that piggy character in Ranma 1/2 is pretty short tempered as well.

Mr. Wiggles, the golden dojo loach, is the odd ball of the family.  Not only is he not a goldfish, he’s also got the only name not from a cartoon character.  Mr. Wiggles, well, wiggles about and got the name.  Whether he’s really a Mr. is a different story.

Mr. Wiggles has been getting a disporportional amount of attention, both due to his unique body type and the special care required.  Most people probably don’t know what a loach is, since even the Firefox spell checker doesn’t recognize this word.  Loaches are a freshwater scale-less fish.  Dojo loaches look like eels, or perhaps more like worms with critter whiskers.  Dojo loaches are also known as weather loaches, as they get excited before a change in weather.  The care isn’t exactly intense, but since Mr. Wiggles only feeds from the bottom of the tank, far below where three starving goldfish lurk about, we take particular note to deliver food to him.

Mr. Wiggles is the shy one.  Or was.  During the first two days, he hid out in the mountain cave so much, that I almost considered replacing that mountain with something with no hidden area.  Over time, he did warm up to show us his playful side.  He’s like a crocodile in that he idles for most of the day but could be lightning fast when he’s on the move.    When he occasionally freaks out, he shoots back and forth in the tank like a missile.  I don’t wanna think about the damage that could do once he grows up!

This is Ponyo, a oranda goldfish.  Her name came from the strange yet ridiculously cute sea creature from Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.  We had decided on the name before even going to the pet store to look for a fish.  The idea was it’d be hilarious to name a goldfish after Ponyo, who the naive if not retarded and helplessly uneducated boy in the Miyazaki film thought was a goldfish.  To honor that namesake, we picked a chubby fish with some crazy crown on her head.

Ponyo is really MY fish.  Not because I thought of the name or picked her out at the store, but because she has an awesome appetite and eating ability.  Whereas each of her tank mates has a limit to how much food can be consumed at a time, Ponyo has no trouble swallowing anything she comes across.  She feeds on the water surface, she feeds in mid-tank as the food sinks, and she picks up food from the bottom gravel.  She’s extremely efficient at being the first to reach food and exploring the tank to find food that everyone else misses.  A not unsound concern is her dying from over feeding or another fish dying from starvation.

This is Nemo, a striped ryukin goldfish.  It’s probably safe to assume that everyone knows who Nemo is and can agree that our Nemo’s colors and pattern sort of resemble that of a clown fish.  His presence was almost like an accidental pregnancy as we did not plan to bring home another orange-and-white goldfish nor one of the ryukin breed.  However, his unique pattern drew Hong’s attention and we abandoned the plan to get whatever else we were gonna get, and brought Nemo home as our second fish.

Nemo doesn’t eat like Ponyo, but being more seasoned than half of the tank’s population, he knows when and where to get his food quite well.  Being Hong’s fish, he’s the most elegant that aims for food with high precision and takes time between bites.  Also lady-like, he has the picky habit of not eating from the floor.  Nemo is the smallest goldfish in the tank, making him most prone to harassment from the others.  Maybe that’s why he always has that grumpy face?

We got fish.

As animal lovers who always enjoy zoos and aquariums, owning pets is a constant conversation between us.  However, the cost of responsible care for a dog or a cat is beyond prohibitive for two busy professionals in an apartment.  Besides, our home is full of stuff that can be knocked over, and at least one of us is deadly allergic to anything hairy.

Fish turned out to be an ideal solution with low up-front investment, low attention requirement (though not low maintenance), always confined, and no potential harm unless we got piranhas.   For years, I had the perspective of a fish tank being a lame bucket of water with some swimming creatures inside.  However, after reading the New York Times article last month, I suddenly started to view it as a miniature version of an aquarium (the kind with an admission cost).  Aside from us never gonna have that kind of money to spend, I would love to have super fancy setups as described in the article.  However close to those we could eventually get was still unknown, but I was willing to – and had to – start somewhere.

My idea of a home aquarium was to contain a variety of tropical marine fish, but Hong preferred goldfish.  And then I agreed with her – the tropical fish affordable in smaller tanks, in her words, were all too “2D” or even “1D”, being too flat and lack observable personality.  On the flip side, a fancy goldfish would be “3D” with a round body and a flary tail, and the independence from a schooling nature makes one more unique as a pet.

After some research, we decided to get a tank of goldfish.  We got a lame-o 20-gallon kit, which I quickly came to regret as we didn’t use the included heater, and soon replaced the stock filter with something much more powerful and sophisticated.  We let it run empty for a week:

Then, we got the AquaClear 50 filter, more decorations, and two goldfish:

That was almost going to be our final tank setup… but a week later we couldn’t resist but got one more goldfish and a loach:

And here it is… Hong & Zai’s home aquarium #1!

Early last year, I came across a so-called “research” article claiming that people who play car racing video games tend to get attached, become car enthusiasts, and end up purchasing more expensive sports cars.  At that time, my interest in cars was close to zero.  I hadn’t driven in years, and had no particular desire to drive or own a car.

Then I bought Burnout Paradise for PS3.  It was on sale.

I beat that game.  Then I bought and beat Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition.  Then I bought Blur, and have 2-3 more racing titles that I hope to get my hands on.  I watched all four Fast and the Furious movies, a franchise that I used to think was stupid.  I re-watched Initial D.  I started being able to name more and more vehicles on the road, and I get more excited seeing “unusual” cars around.  I developed a particular desire for the Lamborghini designs, and I learned to tell apart exotic cars that I can’t afford now from those that I can never afford.

Naturally, I needed to go to some car shows.  In April, I went with David and Adam to the New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center.  It was a manufacturer’s showcase of mostly boring road cars, but the few concept cars, exotic sports cars, and Rolls Royce / Bentley were pretty great:

Then in July, I went with Phil to the other kind of car show, where people brought their proud rides pimped out with all sorts of legal and illegal upgrades.  Some were lame, some were ugly, and some were simply weird.  But there were some serious art works that just blew us away.  Why anyone would spend more money painting a car than the car’s base price was beyond us, but it was awesome to see.