Busy! We had such a busy weekend. All the excitement started on Friday actually when I got all excited about attending Natsu Matsuri and taking Millie and Mollie out for Milo’s party. So here we shall start with the party.

Milo’s Party. Millie and Mollie were invited to attend Milo’s party on Saturday morning. There were a total of 29 four-legged friends!! I wonder if they’ve outnumbered us bipeds but maybe there was an equal number of each.

As usual Mollie jumped right in

Millie took a long while as usual but she did have a short swim

After that there was a doggy cake for the dogs and a scrumptious cake for bipeds (It was also Milo’s Daddy’s birthday). There were also loads of treats for the dogs and they went home with a goody bag each~! It’s real fun even though it started to rain for a bit later in the day. Millie and Mollie had so much fun they didn’t even want to leave even though they were tired! More photos here. (some of the photos are misty because the camera strangely became very hot and the heat formed a thin layer of mist when met with the cool exterior. But I put the photos up anyways because they are quite cute~)

NatsuMatsuri 夏祭り. E and I went to 夏祭り NatsuMatsuri in the afternoon at the Japanese School. It’s a traditional Summer Festival and it practically has everything in the Festival that we can imagine except the fireworks. We decided to go there at our own leisure since we were very fortunate to get the advance ticket from Garbo’s owner. I brought my own Yukata and E queued to see if she could rent one as well. We were really in time because she ended up getting a ticket (no. 55 I think) for a Yukata. There were limited numbers for rent so we were very pleased!! I got help from one of the very kind ladies helping with the dressing of the Yukatas and here we are dressed in traditional garb.

I wore the geta rented from the school because I left mine in the car (due to wet weather really). The ones they had for rent are very nice and were the fully wooden ones with two blocks of wood as a sole for the slipper. They seem difficult to walk in but in actual fact, I found them very comfortable. I might want to buy some like these if I EVER (-_-) go to Japan.

It was raining that day so the stalls were all indoors in the campus. We walked around and went to the food section first. We did bring our own snacks but ended up storing them in the locker. There were a lot of stalls with all kinds of food available! But in the end we just had some onigiri and konnyaku jelly. I think we were a little overwhelmed with the crowd. Oh and we also decided to have some beer. They were selling Asahi at a stall. But point to note, it’s not very fun drinking beer and wearing an obi. So we felt really ‘full’ after that even though it’s probably all the fizz from the beer. I think we should have found ourselves some sake instead.

Anyways we were also shopping around the stalls and found a lot of nice stuff we could buy. But we didn’t really spend until we saw the Meiji stall where we scored a bag of nice stuff each!

The pencil in the picture is actually my prize from one of the games we played. So after walking around we went to the game stalls and played some traditional games. We immediately went to the YoYo Tsuri queue to get ourselves some YoYos.

These yoyo balloons really bring back memories. I remember when I was a pre-schooler and Grandpa gave me these deflated balloons. They looked so small compared to ordinary balloons but Grandpa explained that water can be put into these little ones. It wasn’t until more than a decade later that I realized those little balloons were the yoyos commonly found in Natsu Matsuri! To play the game, all you have to do is to use a hook to hook up the balloons. However the catch is that the strings attached to the hook is made of paper so of course, it would break when it touches the water!~ Even so, some experts in the game can hook up more than one balloon~!

There were also a lot of other games such as Kingyo Sukui and Senbonbiki. But I tried my hand at Doki Doki Bowling because it sounded like loads of fun when the people are cheering you on~

Again, Bowling is a simple game. All you need to do is to roll the ball down a ramp and knock down all the pins. The ramp has a few pegs on it to obstruct the route of the ball. I played this game and hit all but one pin on the first try~ I think everyone gets 2 chances so I got another shot. But the last pin was the one on the right most corner and I couldn’t strategize a way for the ball to roll directly there. Even so I got a prize which is the pencil you see in the earlier picture! I guess they won’t let anyone go home empty handed!

We proceeded to the school hall later not knowing what was going on. But there were in fact performances and we were just in time! There was a traditional Taiko performance which was great since I missed the earlier one at the entrance. And there were also modern song and dance items plus an item put up by the Albirex Niigata players~! After the performance was the Bon-odori, which was the mass dance. It would have been out in the open if not for the rain but even so, the dance was rather fun!

The whole event was great and I really hope I can go again next year! More photos are here.

Mindy/Rex. We visited Mindy who is now Rex yesterday. As of now I’m trying to put up the video we took of her. (she’s too too fast to take photos!) She’s grown up so much but she’s still so little!! I know I sound like I don’t know what I’m talking about but I’m saying that she’s twice her length since we last saw her, and she still has the distinctive markings and so on. However, she’s still very small sized. I guess it would be nice if she stayed the same size Oh she has such big round eyes too! Absolutely adorable and I’m so glad she has found a good home with a big brother to play with. I’ll post the vid when it’s up ok.

1. CRW_3867, 2. CRW_3893, 3. CRW_3844, 4. CRW_3965

Thank you.

Three years ago, we were busying ourselves with the wedding…

We’re still at it three years later and we intend to keep it this way regardless of the season…

Anyways we didn’t have time to really celebrate on the day itself. AS has to work very late now or rather he just gets back late cos camp is about 2 hours away. And it also happened that the day was thursday, and I have classes that evening. (yes… with the urusai nihongo class until my atama is itai) And then friday was a busy day too since I had to be in school, and the out for lunch. And after that it was all about friends leaving the country and bringing my mum’s cat home. It was so bad I didn’t even have time to go for a much anticipated dinner with my friends

Saturday was a no-go either. Parents are coming over to stay for a bit, since their place is under renovation, so we had to clear this extra room we have. and then we also moved some shelves over (from the same friend who left the country for good) and were busy until about 2130 when we finally sat down to eat.

So all was left was Sunday. I woke up late so AS brought the dogs to the park. And then I went for pilates. And after that I finished my shukudai and watched two movies I’ve already watched more than a year ago during my trip to my ’second home’ in France. – Babel for eye-candy obviously but the story is good ok. and Notes on a Scandal – In the evening we had to send my ILs to a wedding dinner and that’s when AS sprung a surprise.

Me: Eh so where are we eating?
AS: Dun tell u. Secret.
Me: ??!huh?!

Well it didn’t take me long to realize the ’secret’ was the Singapore Flyer. But no we didn’t go on the flyer. I don’t think I will until the construction work around’s all done. BUT we had a sumptious Japanese Dinner at Hibiki. Two new Japanese dishes for me to try. They had Kurobuta 黒豚 and charcoal noodles. So we had a Kurobuta kaminabe set and some cold charcoal noodles. Plus a beef teppanyaki set – which had onigiri with plum slices inside! I don’t really fancy pork except for the Chinese Sweet and Sour Ribs (?). But Kurobuta changed my mind. It’s terribly smooth and din’t have the pork-y smell at all. YUM. And the Charcoal noodles? I swear I can taste Charcoal. But AS said he didn’t. I can even smell it. Anyways they aren’t bad either as long as you don’t imagine eating pieces of charcoal but beautiful, sweet, gray noodles. YUM again! (I imagine the Food Detective going OIIISHIIIIII!)

Too bad I didn’t bring my camera. Because after the spread of delicious food, we made our way to the Kenko Fish Spa. These little fishes will nibble at the dead skin on your feet and lower leg. All you need to do is to dip your legs into the water and they will come. It was SO very ticklish that AS regretted not bringing a camera. But after that I felt that my calves especially were particularly smooth, I can feel them GLOWING. Anyways, I’ve got the ticklish genes from my dad and to prove it I tried very hard not to laugh during a massage later. It was only ten minutes but it was like 10 hours to me. Even the masseuse realized I felt ticklish for some reason.

We walked around after that before we picked up his parents after the wedding dinner. In a way I thought it’s a tad sad we only get to do this because we had an errand to run (i.e. sending his parents to the dinner and back) but then, i guess it’s not to bad a deal isn’t it? Everyone needs a little pampering once in awhile~

mollie turns two today!

Happy Birthday to you~~~
Happy Birthday to you~~~
Happy Birthday to MOLLIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuu

Here’s a pic of mollie having cream on her face when we celebrated their birthdays with Biggie 2 weeks ago.

Today she just had can of Brushtail which she shared with Millie. And then I plan to make her some meatballs tomorrow. Or muffins. Depending on how the supermarket is.

Mollie has grown up so much in the last year. We are also learning so much about her, with her. She loves to swim, and loves to herd. She’s a sweet little pooch who just loves to be with people. Oh! and she has what I call ‘A Little Head Habit’. She does this in the mornings at the bedside, sometimes in the afternoons at the couch, when she’s swimming, and well,… in the car here.

Millie and Mollie are now quite inseperable, and they really respect Mang. Even with little Mindy around, Mollie is such a doll. What more can I ask for?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLIE! We LOVE you~~!! xox

It’s Millie’s 3rd Birthday today.

Can you believe she was only three months when she first came home with us?

She’s all grown up now and has some of her own little ‘tudes.

AS bought her a Lamb Pie to share with Mollie yesterday. He won’t be home today so we thought we’d treat them yesterday evening. (Of course that doesn’t mean I won’t treat her today LOL)

Here it is being heated up in the mini oven

And here it is in the bowl waiting for the birthday song.

Here’s a video of us cutting the pie for them.

There’s a video of them crunching the really crispy and flaky top of the pie but i can’t seem to put it up on youtube. I’ll try again later but well…

Here’s Millie today and she’s three!

 Happy Birthday our darling Millie!

Mang is 8 today! She came to our home when she was about 3 so that means she’s been with us a good 5 years now. (I have a homecoming anniversary for her too; it’s incidentally the same as Millie’s) And actually, we don’t know the exact day when she was born so we just had a date generated when she went to the vet. We stuck to that since it’s so close to mine. Anyways, we noticed two things about here in the last two days so read on.

On wednesday evening, I was watching Mang sauntering across the hall at home. And then I noticed something. Mang has thick fur (even in this weather) and her fur isn’t as short as most local cats. So if you imagine a British Shorthair, or any of the Shorthair breeds for that matter, her coat would be quite similar. Anyways, she likes to sit upright with her hind legs straight out, just like how people would sit on the ground. That means she would be resting on her ‘thighs’ if you get what i mean. You can’t actually see it because of her tum but she does sit like that. And yes so when she was sauntering around I realized, from behind, the fur on her hind legs kinda have a ‘parting’. O_o

And then yesterday we realize that whenever she sits upright, she really REALLY rests on her bum. Because her feet are not flat on the ground. They were kinda sideways in a very relaxed manner, just like how you would rest your feet when you have no weight on them – i.e. like when you’re lying down or just lazing around. The best thing is she was leaning against the wall when we saw that the second time. You’ll have to see for yourself… I’ll try taking pictures someday.

But in the meantime…

Happy Birthday my dearest MangMang… We love you!

3rd. So it’s Millie’s third demo, and it was quite fun as usual. She likes doing demos it seems. Maybe because she gets a lot of treats… -_-” It’s great to see friends making a trip down too! So thanks Susan and K for coming! I hope they enjoyed the entire roadshow because I certainly did! Without much further ado, here are some pictures.

Millie waiting for the demo to start.

All ready!

Preparing for Poppy’s event.

Funny Lookin’ Millie heheh...

There aren’t a lot of pictures this time because Mollie was tugging at AS when he took the pictures. Too bad… Hopefully we’ll get to see more from our other friends. And also the official photographers took some pictures too and I have to scan them before they are up.

Here are two short clips we took of some of the exercises. The first is the meet & greet exercise which we were supposed to show the correct way of meeting, greeting and petting another friend with dog/s. The second is the weaving exercise which we were demonstrating how we need to keep our dogs calm when another is walking past, and guess what, Poppy is weaving without a lead!

Of course we took some time to take random shots… haha. This one is me and my Ms at Orchard Road with the Christmas decor already up, on a weekend too!

And of course on the second day we had our group photo taken~
(We all look funny here but the dogs look perfect in this one. It’s either this or the other one where we look great and the dogs were looking all over the place.)

From Left: Denise and Manja; Adrianne and Millie, Mollie; Amanda and Jessie; Rob and Poppy.
And my goodie bags! (the one on the right is from last year’s roadshow)

I know it’s tuesday. But I have to postpone this week’s Candy Tuesday because I’m a tad late putting this up online. (Blame it on the missing 24hrs yesterday please)

We attended Priya and Prem’s engagement on Sunday and it was the first Indian wedding/engagement I have ever attended in my life. Priya’s a classmate of mine 10 years ago (eeps) and we somehow found out we had the same birthday. I guess we have been good friends ever since, and just got along very well.

Anyways her invitation said ‘a small affair’ and I thought it was just about like 50 persons at most? But apparently I was wrong. This is about like one-sixth of the total number of guests. I probably should have asked earlier – oops.

I’m sure there were a lot of customaries, and I was a little lost as to what was happening. So I’m just going to try and give a little spiel here. So… at the beginning they had like a little procession, where the family members walked in and settle down on the prepared carpets and altar.

A slightly better view of the very elaborate altar here.

They were actually very far in front and a few of us, really curious (as in REALLY), moved up to the front and stood behind the wall to see. The Priest does some blessings and then the couple pay their respects to their parents and elders. After that, they exchanged rings.

Well of course you can’t really see them exchanging rings because the photographer and videographer were in the way.

Anyways brunch followed after and it was also opportune for us to catch up …

As everyone can see, my eyes are too small. O_o

We also took a picture with the couple~

Everyone’s looking everywhere else because there were three cameras.

And here you go, the 070181 girls.

from left: Priya, Ramya, moi – from youngest to oldest.

The event was not too long and by noon I was on my way back. Even so, the joy in my heart for this dear friend of mine lasted for days. It’s always good to see your friends celebrating a joyous occasion, I must say.

Our fondest congratulations for this wonderful couple.

And I can’t wait for the wedding next year!