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Elephant trek

Elephant treks in Kanchanaburi are usually priced at more or less 20USD for 10-15 minutes. A simple ride, no jungle involved, costs less. A Khao San tour agency offered this surprise inclusion in their package - elephant trekking which was free, so why not? Gently our planet's largest land mammals see-sawed globe trotters on their back as they maneuvered rocks and growth. The water mark on the elephant's body gives one an idea of the depth of the part of the river it waded through. If the beast suddenly sat and rolled on the water, all this would turn into a swimming party. While snapping from behind I noticed another elephant ambling alongside us, without 'passengers.' Curious, I asked the mahout what's the name of our chang (elephant). He smiled, "Siripon." "And this little darling here?" "Baby, baby of Siripon."   The trek took us through cassava, tomato and eggplant fields. We passed by a tree where Siripon's baby tarried at th

Elephant trek

Elephant treks in Kanchanaburi are usually priced at more or less 20USD for 10-15 minutes. A simple ride, no jungle involved, costs less. A Khao San tour agency offered this surprise inclusion in their package - elephant trekking which was free, so why not? Gently our planet's largest land mammals see-sawed globe trotters on their back as they maneuvered rocks and growth. The water mark on the elephant's body gives one an idea of the depth of the part of the river it waded through. If the beast suddenly sat and rolled on the water, all this would turn into a swimming party. While snapping from behind I noticed another elephant ambling alongside us, without 'passengers.' Curious, I asked the mahout what's the name of our chang (elephant). He smiled, "Siripon." "And this little darling here?" "Baby, baby of Siripon."   The trek took us through cassava, tomato and eggplant fields. We passed by a tree where Siripon's baby tarried at th

A dehydrated swimmer

There's a new-to-me vocabulary: osmolality , which means measures of dehydration that trainers and coaches regularly check among their athletes along with gravity. Ever heard of a dehydrated swimmer? A blind optometrist just whisked through. Samuel Taylor Coleridge too. "Water, water everywhere... and not a drop to drink." Swimming is a sport reported to be more likely to put athletes in danger of dehydration. Yes, the awareness exists: swimmers are in the midst of water or where else could they be. But I had that somewhat ironic how. Then the sense: swimmers can't grab a sip while performing thus they are more at risk for dehydration than other athletes. Indeed! Christine Gerbstadt, a registered dietician and anesthesiologist explains that "if an athlete's event is an hour long or less, they shouldn't drink water during the competition. If it's more than an hour, the amount of water they should drink depends on the temperature, humidity and how much

What do Olympians eat?

As media keep us updated with the London Olympics we see how athletes show power and stamina. Those medals. The hype, the awe. Do you wonder what makes all that possible? More specifically what fuels their extraordinary feats. Let's narrow down to the dining table. If you are wondering what exactly do Olympians eat, you are not alone. Athletes currently starring in the 2012 Olympics are said to be eating a lot.  Emphasis on "a lot" sent a memory back of my mother musing about what a boxer in her hometown eats: loads of eggs, milk and meats. Loads. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says that the average, moderately active man needs 2,000 to 2,800 a day. Look at the contrast against calories consumed everyday by athletes: it's between 8,000 and 10,000 calories per day. The business of feeding athletes for elite sports includes appropriate times for meals, a balance of percentages between carbohydrates and proteins, and how much fluid they take. Diet advice has cha

Branching out

In this post: Booking Through Thursday and Thursday Thirteen Amy asks: Name a book you love in a genre you normally don’t care for. What made you decide to read it? Did it make you want to try more in that genre? Harry Potter , and I ended up reading all seven books in the series. Broomsticks and cauldrons, wands and potions, what in the name of Merlin's beard are they?.... I recall my own snigger at these things; look up my book shelf where the books are lovingly piled, and think of telling the sister-in-law how she influenced me to read HP. Because I'm sure she has no idea what she's done. She was holding a wineglass in one hand and HP2 in the other over a meal during one family get-together. The cover I saw was of Harry dangling from the flying car above the Yorkshire Moors. I wouldn't have been curious if she was a ninth grader, but she's a medical doctor. Okay, she's a globe trotter too so maybe it was a book she did not finish from some trans-atlantic f

E-books v. printed books

Georgia Borders store. (Wikipedia) In a reading world where the trend has gone as electronic as Kindle or Kindle Fire, we hear talks of booksellers worrying about sales of traditional books or worse, going out of business. The lot are wary of ebooks but not Michael Popek, author of Forgotten Bookmarks who is also a used bookseller in Oneonta, N.Y. Popek cited one good point why he is not afraid of the new reading medium: "e-books can't replicate some experiences that readers of the printed word are after - the collector of modern first editions; the new mother passing her childhood favorites down to the next generation; the reader of forgotten and esoteric texts unavailable digitally --all are seeking out an experience greater than the words on the page."  He goes on to comment on each kind of book - E-books are fantastic at keeping us reading; traditional books are great at reminding us why we started in the first place. We're fortunate to live in a world where we

How does sleep come?

"Grandma, I don't know how to sleep." - CJ, last night Thus says the kiddo. And that statement intrigued me. Grandma had to pull him out of class the day before and take him to a doctor due to a stomach ache. Whatever medication the doctor gave him, he slept the rest of the day and that might well be the reason why that night he didn't know how to sleep anymore.  So when I checked my Shelf Awareness newsletter and found "How Does Sleep Come?" I thought I would enter the link that invites possible readers and buyers of the book to win a free ARC (Advance Reading Copy). I like what I saw although the fill-in-the-gaps form looks like the ARC is only for US residents.   Nevertheless it sounds opportune to my little guy's sleeping predicament and I am happy to share with you some info of this lovely, new bedtime classic. It is a picture book debut of Jeanne Blackmore, a granddaughter of Roger Duvoisin whose tradition of creating beautiful books for child