I used to have a pond in Taiwan, very industrial looking as it was a ceramic tiled cement box with the size of 6′ x 6′ x 2′. We had a Brazilian turtle “Red Stripe”, who preyed on dog kibbles, half dead cockroaches, and gold fish. Well most of the time he just ate dog kibbles and did the 360 degree turning trick when I fed him. I also had to assist on getting his other food source: I remember trying to not-kill cockroaches with my slipper so that my favorite turtle can enjoy it. I also remember biking to this little aquarium in town, buying a bag full of gold fish, and then watch the turtle chasing the them. I regularly rearrange rocks that I stole from the river bank in the middle and at the corners of this pond so that the fish have places to hide. I don’t remember ever seeing Red Stripe getting any fish, but I do have to buy new fish periodically.Now 15 year later, I have a new pond! It comes in an irregular but man made plastic box that gets inserted into the ground in our front yard. It’s besides a few trees and it even comes with a small fountain (or a cheap pump that will move the water). Sadly since we’ve acquired the house, it’s been ignored and has become home for millions of mosquito babies. So I did my research, and thought to myself that I’d buy a few “mosquito fish” to eat those larvae. But I never come across to cleaning the pond. Finally this weekend, I went out to purchase mosquito fish only to find out they don’t exist in Kingston. I also found out that gold fish would do the same. It’s been two days, I haven’t observed any dead fish and I can still see moving larvae in the pond…….     And I was just thinking….. 15 years later, another engineered pond, another bag of gold fish, maybe with some half dead cockroaches and a turtle, I would be back to my childhood….    Back to reality. I’ve also included some pictures of my veggie garden. Things are doing really well, as you can see it’s very green =p. Dill and Cilantro look like they’re growing like weed, and what’s up with the four head of Nappa Cabbage?! They look nothing like what I buy in stores…. But they taste pretty good - more like bok choy than nappa, that’s for sure. Oh yeah, I also have zucchinis, cucumbers, and strawberries for this arbour. More pictures are on the Picasa page.

 Oh yeah, we also bought a canoe… so here it is…