During Mango’s annual physical exam, doctor found one of his back teeth was fractured. A fractured tooth will most likely became infected. So the tooth had to go.

According to the doctor, fractured tooth is not uncommon. Fractures are usually caused by chewing on hard objects like bones or hoofs. Doctor added it came as a surprise to many pet owners because it’s not a well known fact. I have given Mango countless bones and hoofs in the past. Poor mango is about to go through the pain and discomfort of the procedure I felt responsible for.

I dropped Mango off at the animal hospital first thing in the morning. Before the procedure, the hospital took some dental x-rays and found out his other side of the same tooth was fractured as well. I learned that Mango will be just fine eating without those teeth. Finally, some good news.

The procedure required Mango to be put under anesthesia. The hospital called around 2pm to inform me that Mango had woke up from anesthesia. They would keep him in the clinic for few more hours to make sure he’s fine before sending him home.

When I return to pick up Mango, he was alert but still a little off. I was told after Mango regain conscious, he was given some can food but he didn’t touch it. It’s pretty unusual for Mango to refuse food. Especially he was not feed since last night. That worries me a little.

Mango was more than eager to leave the hospital. He practically lead me to my car, didn’t waste a second sniffing other dogs. He was having trouble getting up the car seat. I pick him up to give him some much needed help. My poor little guy.

Home at last! Mango carefully climbed up the satires, still slipped and stumbled on one of the steps. He saw his half-chewed bully stick on the floor, slowly and surely, he approached the bully stick, attempted to resume chewing on it.

The sight of him showing interest at the bully stick was a huge relief for me. Thank goodness, he still got his appetite. I boiled some chicken breast and made some rice. Mango pick up the smell of chicken boiling in the pot, start whining and getting restless. Yes, our hungry little guy is back!

Shiba is known to be pretty difficult with hospital visits. We were fortunate Mango has been really good with doctors and nurses poking and checking on him. I hope after his teeth procedure, he remains his sweet self with the hospital folks. We’re going back to the hospital in couple weeks for follow up checkup. We’ll find out!

The herbal planter was the last thing I added to my container garden. As usual, the herbs did well with little care.

I tried a delightful summer soup recipe using mints that was overgrowing in the garden. I do love to cook with things I grow out of my garden.

This month’s fillet was bigger than usual. I left a few pieces aside as treats. I enjoy giving Mango treats because he is super gentle when taking the treats off my hand. I caught two videos of him working as hard as a shiba can for his favorite salmon pieces. In the first video, his final facial expression filled with anticipation of tasty treat was just precious. But since he was such an eager beaver, I tried to milk as many tricks out of him as possible…

First Video

Mango got impatient on part II video and started getting fresh with me. For some reason his rollover acts has always been a bit of hit and miss. 20% of the time he can’t flip to the other side no matter what. And when he lost his cool like in this situation, his body stiffed into a plank, which makes the rollover even more challenging. I was losing him fast, but I couldn’t just give in and let him had his way. So finally when he did two half-assed rollovers, I quickly handed over the salmon piece.

Second Video

I was not a swimmer. 3 months prior to the race, I took my first swimming lesson with Kainoa of Pauole Sport. During our first session, I couldn’t swim even 50 yards. Kainoa assured me with plenty of practices, I will be able to complete 800 yard at the race.

Early July, we started open water training. The open space, murky water, low visibility, underwater vegetations… Everything about open water swim terrified me. I even had nightmares before my 2nd open water practice. It was that scary. Overtime I did get used to it. Once I reached that point, I knew I was ready.

I had tons of fun training for the race. Unlike my previous races, this time I was able to switch up to different activities. Even though the training demanded more time and had much less rest days, it was a good excuse to be out everyday, enjoy the summer to the fullest.

For a triathlon newbie like myself, the pre-race preparation could be confusing. The knowledgable Danskin volunteers and staffs at the expo and at the race were truly helpful. Overall, the race was well organized. At race day, I was able to focus just on completing the race.

In August 14th, over 2 thousands women participated. We were getting ready at the transition area, everybody’s face lighted up with excitement, the energy was unbelievable.

Simply put, this is the most fun race I’ve ever participated. I had new personal records on swimming and biking; and one of my best times for running. The race result: My division place: 37/207; Overall place 233/2036.

I signed up for Warrior Dash when I learned there would be barricades and fire pits. As a bonus, the event website promised mud, lots of it. The promotional video did a good job getting me into the warrior spirit. I was ready!

I showed up at the dash with my plain workout outfit – lame! Many participants were in costumes. I should have at least colored my face.

There were 11 obstacles in over 3.5 miles of rugged terrains. Personally, the obstacles were the real challenges. I didn’t train for the obstacles, nor did I remember trying out most of them, ever! I was a little intimated whenever I saw an obstacle ahead. To my surprise, I was able to pulled my own weight up and over tall wooden barricade; teeter through narrow track about 5 feet above ground; survived smelly dark trenches; crawled under barbed wire and tangled cargo nets; stampeded over junk yard of car wreckage and tires without falling on my face; running through mud puddles in the woods…

The last part of the race were series of nets climbing, fire pits leaping, and finally crawling beneath barbed wire in mud pool to reach the finish line. Something I learned that day about mud, was that people got stocked in it, kind of like flies on flypaper.

After hosed down by high pressure water hose, I was a little less muddy but still nowhere near clean. It was time for a little celebration, warrior style! ktula feasted on a turkey leg the size of his face. I went for tasty tasty beers.

The result: I was top 30% of the overall Sunday participants (2066 of 7695) and top 11% (53 of 514) in my age group. Not that it matters. If I ever enter the dash again, I am going for the best costume awards and focus on my warrior poses!

Portrait

Photo

This is Chilly Pepper, a 5-year-old white Shiba, and a trained therapy dog. She was the first Shiba I know that made it to become a certified therapy dog. Shiba by nature are cautious of strangers and skittish to their surroundings. I have lots of respect to Chilly Pepper and her mom for overcoming Shiba’s shortcomings. This was a great accomplishment!

Meet Mochi! After getting to know Mango through his Flickr albums, Mochi’s mom decided to get herself a little Shiba from Leslie. And that’s how Mochi came about! It was no accident they looked alike. Mango and Mochi were probably related.

Overall it was a great day to be out enjoying the sun and spent quality time with loved ones.

Florence
I took enough Art History classes in my college days to become a huge fan of Florence. One of the highlights of this trip was the moment I lay my eyes on Florence Cathedral (Duomo). The cheer grande scale, intricate facade patterns, the amount of details going into making this monumental building. I was silence for lack of words, and truly humbled been present of something so great. A testimonial of the brilliance of the past.

We only had a day to explore and it was just not enough time.

Castellina in Chianti
Popular stops for motorcycle travelers. Later I found out the Tuscany region in general is popular among motorcyclists, cyclists, and well, just about anybody.

San Gimignano
Like all the towns we visited, we had to climb a hill to get to. San Gimignano was buzzing with tourists. The stone paved streets spreading out from the town center were packed with people. We did find peace and quiet near the wall, away from town center.

This is the home of the famous World Champion Ice Cream. I had some, and thought was just okay. Ktula found his beloved salami sold in a meat store. He inhaled the salty meat in minutes.

Sienna
I’m not sure how to articulate my impression of Sienna. Sienna’s past of prosperity turned hardship when plaque hit the city and kill 1/3 of population kept hanging on to me. The Siena we visited was ancient, but so alive with people, noises, boutique stores, and countless restaurants.

A noticeable portion of men in Siena seemed to have good fashion sense. Whether they were in suit or casual attire, they look good!

San Quirico d’Orcia
An interesting mix of tourism and residential area. According to our guide Ben, people live in San Quirico d’Orcia work and commute to nearby big cities. That explained a lots of well maintenanced, up-scale communities just outside the ancient wall of San Quirico d’Orcia. We got to enjoy the history of this ancient town, and also the convenience of modern grocery store serving the residents.

Pienza
What a charming little place – stunning view of neighboring fields, delightful wooden door surrounded by potted plants, balcony embraced by vines and flowers, beautifully decayed wall, friendly face peeking out of a window… How can you not love a place when every corner there were surprises await.

Bagno Vignoni
Not far from San Quirico d’Orcia was this small hot spring town. The thermal waters was used for healing and relaxation since the Roman period. The pool is now surrounded by snack bars, restaurants, hotels and gift shop.

Poppy Fields and more
As hard as we tried to capture Tuscany countryside with our camera, photos don’t come close to witnessing the beauty in person. In many cases, there was no one else but us and the breathtaking scenic. It’s a very personal moment with nature. Something of a luxury for city folks such as yours truly.

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Pisa
I didn’t like Pisa. Largely have to do with the fact we came close to become the victims of 2 pick pocket attempts. First incident happened to me. We were getting off a crowded bus at train station. I sensed a girl stood very close behind me. Subconsciously I looked down and saw a hand reaching into my handbag. My handbag was unzipped at the time. I couldn’t tell if it was unzipped to start with. Nothing seemed to be missing in my bag. Then minutes later, a woman with a child tried on ktula’s backpack. She was following us so closely, she stepped on ktula’s sandals at one of the traffic stops. When ktula sensed something fishy was going on, he turned his backback to the front and noticed the zipper was already half open. Once again we got lucky. Nothing seemed to be missing from his bag. But this experience left a bad taste throughout the time we spent in Pisa.

I’m sure Pisa is charming in its own way. But walking amongst Duomo, between crowded visitors and souvenir vendors, I couldn’t help but miss the quiet towns we so often stop by during our cycling route.

I knew I wanted to one day visit Tuscany but I didn’t know it was going to be on a bike. And I would sweat so much and came home with a injured knee, and yet loving it and wanting more. On the flight departing from Pisa, I looked down and find even the last glimpse of the land, it was pretty beyond words.

During the tour, lunch and dinner consisted of pasta, bread, and Chianti. Pasta in tomato sauce, in squid ink, in saffron, with local porcini mushroom, with wild boar, with rabbit… We tried them all. The pasta usually cooked just right – not too soft, just enough to give each bite great textures. Over time I nailed down my favorite pasta dish. After a long day cycling hills, roasting under sun, nothing beat a plate of fresh pasta in tomato sauce.

Some outstanding meat and seafood during this trip – calamari, salami, tripe stew… I fell in love with seafood salad. Whether it’s soaked in olive oil or in light vinaigrette, they were always tender and delicious.

At Chianti county, certainly Chianti were always on the dinning table. Chianti from different region have distinct flavors. I am not knowledgable enough to review the different kind of Chianti we had. I did like them.

At Castello de Brolio, ours guides Pier and Emanuele prepared a feast of local cheese, meats, tomatoes, assorted olives & pickled vegis, bread, fresh fruits, juices, and cookies. We picnic under a shaded spot between two vineyards. I still recall the bird chirping and warm breezes at the picnic. We stayed for as long as we can. What a peaceful and tranquil moment that was.

Then there was the croissants at Hotel Colombaio in Castellina. Every morning, the kitchen staff at the hotel baked these jam-filled croissants. As we walk by the kitchen, we smelled the wonderful fresh pastry in the air. Minutes later, biting into these warm, buttery and crisp on the skin goodness. Man, I miss these croissants!

The daily distance we traveled averaged around 35 miles. It’s not a lot since ktula and I were doing 40 miles weekend rides anyway. What we weren’t prepared for was the Tuscany hills. Friends who did the Tuscany ride before warned us about it. But we were in denial. I was thinking “nah we’ll be fine. Our routes will be flat.” How wrong and naive was I. It was constant ups and downs throughout the tour.

When there’s up, there’s also down. Imaging cycling full speed on winding path, one side shaded by thick bushy trees, the other side outlook stunning Tuscany landscape expanded to the horizon. Also imaging you were going so fast, the wind blow hard on face, so much so you can’t hear yourself yodeling. We rode so hard on the uphills, made the downhills that much better. There was nothing come close to this exhilarating experience.

There were 11 of us in the tour. ktula and I were among the youngest, but certainly not the fastest. Bill, a 62-year-old retired history teacher almost always lead the group, leaving rest of us in his dust. Chris from UK haven’t been on a bike for years since this tour. He was struggling the frist day. Overtime he discovered the cyclist in him, and became one of the faster riders. That’s some extraordinary transformation.

At San Gimignano, Chris had a flat tire and I had a bicycle injury. Richard destroyed 3 chains between the 5 riding days. Bill made friends with locals through his photography. While we were frowning about the gravel roads, David cheerfully zipping pass us… As we learned more about our travel companion, we grew closer and form a special bond.

We cycled a total of 284 kilometers (153 miles) within 5 days. Both ktula and I brought GPS devices but both of our datas were incomplete. ktula combined datas from both devices to come up with these daily routes information.

Day 1: Florence to Castellina in Chianti (31.14M)

Day 2 (Part I): Castellina in Chianti to San Gimignano (18.98M)

Day 2 (Part II): San Gimignano to Castellina in Chianti (24M)

Day 3: Castellina in Chianti to Siena (32.51M)

Day 5: Siena to San Quirico d’Orcia (40.45M)

Day 6: San Quirico circuit (34.23M)