I'm Back!!!

Wow, it's been almost 2 years since my last post! Papa has been too busy to help me with my blog since my little human sister was born in August, 2010. She's growing up so quickly and she's already bigger than me!!!

There are still cherry blossoms blooming in Tokyo as you can see from the photo. The sakura were beautiful this year as usual. Today during our walk near the river, I was eating some of the cherry blossoms. Not that tasty but I'll eat anything!


Anyhow, Papa will hopefully have more time for me to help with my blog going forward. Will write again soon!!!

Shopping Spree

It's been busy around here lately so I haven't had time to write for quite some time. Mama and papa have been preparing for the arrival of my little sister and I've been doing some modeling gigs...
Mama and papa celebrated their wedding anniversary in April. They went to a restaurant in Hiroo and had a great meal.

I've realized that papa makes a great bed!

And so does mama's leg!

Actually, anywhere is a good bed for me...

As always, I love watching TV with mama and papa. I especially like game shows!







We were watching TV the other day and saw this really funny cat. I hate cats but this one was funny. It stands on 2 feet like a human!






Papa bought me a whole box of goodies a few weeks ago. I love the treats and the toys but mama says I am getting fat so I can't eat so many treats now... :-(

Papa was finally able to track down one of his favorite foods in the world. He's been searching Japan forever trying to find it...and now he has almost a kg of it. What is it you ask? Canadian back bacon of course!!! Now he's looking for kaiser buns to make the perfect sandwich...







A few of papa's gourmet creations lately...

Cold Chinese noodles

Katsu-don (fried pork with egg on a bed of rice)

...twice (had it again today)...

Lasagna...

Gyu-don (beef bowl)

Gyoza (fried Chinese dumplings)...

All of the dishes looked yummy but I don't know since dawgs can't eat that stuff :-(

Anyhow, as the blog title says, "Shopping Spree", what is that you ask??? Well, mama and papa have been buying stuff left and right in the name of the baby. How much stuff you ask? Well, put it this way, in the last 3 weeks, we have run out of space in the house...

If you're having a baby, of course you need a new rice cooker...

...and a new dresser with a wall hanger for the baby's stuff...

...and a DSLR camera (Nikon D5000) with a video camera (Canon HF M31)...

...and today the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner arrived...

Phew...what a shopping list!!! Oh yeah, I almost forgot, what would a baby do without an Apple iPad???

In case you didn't notice, there wasn't much in the shopping spree for Jack Russell Terriers...what a drag :-(

Mama and papa had a baby check up today. Still looks like I will have a little sister! She kind of looks like a little alien baby in the ultrasound images. In Japan, it seems we get an ultrasound at every check up. We're at 29 weeks and 2 days now and we've already had about 8 or 9 of them!

We have a new Prime Minister in Japan. Hatoyama was...ummmm...let's just say "ineffective"...papa uses other words to describe Hatoyama and the Secretary General Ozawa but I can't repeat those words here :-)
We're hoping this new guy, Kan, can get it done but we aren't holding out much hope because politics in Japan is hopeless. It's an old boy's club of self-perpetuating stupidity and they are all stuck in the old ways of back room deal making with little care for the people of the country because they are so out of touch with the general population. But anyhow, that's just the rambling of a non-partisan Jack Russell Terrier...

Sayonara to Sakura...

We spent a lot of time over the past few weeks walking along Meguro River during the Sakura blossom season.....we and thousand of others...but it was a great time! It's even funnier at night when we can see a bunch of happy, drunk people hanging around under the cherry trees while they eat and get even more drunk. I love taking walks and chasing the cherry blossoms as they fall off the branches. Mama and papa don't think they are so tasty but I love eating them.

We had a great view of some Sakura trees from our house...

...but it's always sad towards the end of cherry blossom season when they fall into the river to be carried away until next year. I'd love to be philosophical now but I'd rather leave it at that and let the readers decide how you feel...

As always, a few of papa's creations for dinner lately. Omelet rice (chicken and tomato rice covered in an egg omelet)...

...and a pasta dish of fresh spinach and tomato linguine...

Papa was watching a cooking show the other day hoping to learn a new dish made with asparagus. This is what the TV show cook made. Looked a little over-cooked to papa...he was definitely not impressed. How could anyone televise a TV cooking show that burns asparagus??? It was awful!!! And they were serious about this recipe. It was supposed to be marinaded asparagus but papa called it marinaded carbon. The "chef" should be fired.


And, as always, I've been busy...

I generally break new toys in under 2 minutes so papa found toys made by Orka that I can't break and keep me occupied for hours when papa stuffs food inside...
Papa thinks it is one of the best investment he's ever made. The first time he put beef jerky inside and then wrapped the toy in cloth from his old pants, it took me an hour to get the food out. Papa and mama were so grateful for the hour of peace and quiet.

Mama and papa went to a maternity fair on Saturday. They are 95% decided on the stroller they will buy. They both love the Peg Perego Si. Aprica also makes some pretty good stuff. The biggest disappointment was Maclaren. So many people have Maclaren strollers but mama and papa found them to be inferior. Safety is the most important element of buying a stroller, but in Japan, items must also be compact, easy to use and convenient (i.e. can open and close it with 1 hand). The Maclaren strollers have a strange way of folding up and do not stand by themselves when folded. Anyhow, we only have another million decisions to make for the baby so we're getting there.

Halfway there...

As you can see by the counter to the right, we are halfway there! My little brother/sister is just under 20 weeks away! I can't wait to meet him/her. We don't know the gender yet but the doctor seemed to hint at the last check up that I may have a younger brother...mama now thinks it's a boy...papa is just hoping that he/she is not as much trouble as me... :-)

A few weeks ago, mama and papa went to Suitengu Shrine to pray for a safe birth...

Since dogs have large litters which are birthed relatively easily and are healthy and happy, this is the symbol of Suitengu Shrine...

A few weeks ago, mama and papa went to a friend's place for dinner and papa made a bunch of brownies.

Papa has been busy cooking lately. Shepherd's pie...

Homemade mac and cheese based on this recipe...

...and a very typical Japanese dinner...so healthy!!!

Today and tomorrow are probably the best days for viewing the cherry blossoms in Tokyo.

All kinds of folks came out to see the cherry blossoms. Not sure what planet this dude is from...

Mama and papa went shopping for strollers today while I got a bath and grooming. They loved the Peg Perego Si stroller. It is durable, portable and not too heavy. Aprica has some good models too. We may wait until after the baby is born before we buy the stroller. Papa has spent more time studying about strollers and cribs than he did when he bought our house and car. They also went to visit Airbuggy in Daikanyama but the staff there are morons. They were more concerned about unpacking boxes than they were about helping customers. Disappointing. Good products but idiots for staff. They didn't offer to help customers or ask if we needed assistance. Papa liked one of the products but had to lift down from the shelf by himself while the staff stood there watching him. Then the staff walked off to continue unpacking a box while mama and papa struggled to figure out how to fold and unfold the stroller. Nice customer service. They'll be out of business within a year (hopefully).

Roots' Day

OK, so, yesterday was apparently Roots' day...sounds great, eh? Well...it isn't. It seems that Roots' day consists of a shampoo and brushing...not fun :-(
Not sure if I like my new hairdo...I look like the Michelin man...




After I have a bath, I get this inexplicable burst of energy as I try to dry myself...

Gold

We may not own the podium, but the top step is ours! Canada rocks!!! 14 Olympic gold medals! And the last one was the sweetest! Papa wakes up at 5:00am for 2 things - to play golf and to watch the Canadian men's hockey team kick America's butt for Olympic gold! The US team played a good game but...ummmm...yeah, thanks for coming out...too bad, but the best view is from the top of the podium. Papa was very happy that I joined him to watch the game. I also wake up at 5:00am for 2 things - Olympic hockey gold and to go pee-pee...this time was hockey, and what a great game it was! The US team gave us a minor scare with 24.4 seconds remaining when they tied the game to send it to overtime, but papa was pretty confident that we would prevail. Even the Japanese TV announcers were behind us:

Mama got these chocolates for papa for Valentine's day. They were so delicious that papa couldn't stop eating them!

Papa has been taking me on really long walks lately. We walk 5 to 7 km every day. A few days ago, we went to Ebisu Garden Place and met a 4 month old Jack Russell Terrier.

After all the walking, I like to relax...

...and relax some more...











Mama suggested risotto for dinner last night so papa made it. He used a recipe by Jamie Oliver as the base and added a few twists of his own. Mama said she thinks it's good enough to be in a restaurant! Papa already knew that :-)

The recipe he used as a base can be found here.