The Good Shepherd...

Papa has almost perfected his recipe for Shepherd's Pie! The ingredients for the meat are just about right and he has almost figured out how to make the world's best mashed potatoes. This is the finished product and it is amazing...







...at least that's what he says. Jack Russell Terriers in this house are not permitted to eat Shepherd's Pie. It has something to do with fat dawgs not being cute or something like that...

I don't think he realizes just how active I am! I was the brains behind the dish. I spent endless energy supervising papa to make sure he didn't make a mistake...

And once the hard work of supervising was done, it took a lot of energy to find a place like this and then settle in...

Not to mention how active I am after dinner...
Of course, all of the above activity takes up about 3 minutes of my day. The other 23 hours and 57 minutes of the day I run around the house, bark at birds, attack the TV and vacuum and drive mama and papa crazy. I'd post pictures but papa says I can't sit still long enough to take a decent photo. He has to wait until I take my 1 minute nap to snap a picture. Most pictures papa takes of me look like this:

Fine Cuisine

We had a pretty nice weekend with fairly warm weather. Papa locked me out today because I love to bark at the Dyson vacuum...






Tonight, papa made some fine cuisine for dinner...ok, well, maybe not quite so fine...but delicious all the same. He made some North American soul food! Buffalo wings and cheddar cheese filled potato skins!













Papa finally broke down and bought a Xbox 360 this week. He doesn't sleep much anymore...between playing Xbox and reading The Lost Symbol, papa barely has time for me :-(

Thanksgiving in Japan

Mama's parents came over for dinner yesterday for turkey! It sure looked delicious, although I wouldn't know because no one offered any to me :-(
They had turkey, stuffing, roasted potatoes and a variety of veggies. Maybe next time I can score some turkey...
Tonight, mama and papa had turkey risotto for dinner. Yummy!!!

Today, papa went to play golf since it was a national holiday in Japan. He went to play at Rainbow Hills in Chiba. The back 9 was pretty good and papa shot a 47. Too bad the front 9 was a 56...papa was not happy...he thinks he needs a 64 degree wedge to improve his approach shots...I think he needs lessons, more concentration and a better teacher...
But at least he had the time tonight to fix up his golf balls and put a Roots paw print on them!!!

Back by Popular Demand

Yes, I am still around even though I haven't written for 4 months. Papa neglected to help me write my blogs. Too busy playing golf...

2 days ago was mama's birthday so today, papa took her to Sushi Mizutani to celebrate. The restaurant only seats 10 people and the "omakase menu" is set daily by the chef. Sushi Mizutani has 3 Michelin stars, the highest rating possible, but papa thinks it deserves 5 stars. The sushi was superb, among the best in the world. It is now papa's favorite restaurant. The owner/chef was friendly and knowledgeable, and there are no words to describe how delicious the food is. So many subtle flavours mixed to perfection. Soy sauce was not necessary because the chef flavours the sushi for you using his own mixture of soy sauce, mirin and sake. The rice he uses is a little harder than in other sushi restaurants which is perfect because it prevents the rice from getting mushy and mixing too much with the fish. The harder rice allows you to fully taste the fish without being diluted by the rice. The price is about what you would expect from a top rated sushi restaurant but it is well worth it. For anyone who loves sushi, then Sushi Mizutani is a must.

Papa still loves his iMac (when mama lets him use it...). In fact, he loves it so much that he installed it on his Dell laptop...don't ask how...

He recently bought a Time Capsule to backup the iMac as well as a Magic Mouse. He loves them both. He calls me apple-head but I think he is the real Apple-head.




I was close to getting a sibling. Papa wanted to get another JRT...but then he realized that 2 Jack Russell Terriers are 10 times the trouble :-)

He saw these 2 and was so tempted...

We Jacks may be a handful, but we are very protective...

...and cute!!!

Papa has been on a gourmet roll lately! He still thinks he missed his calling as a world famous chef. Some of the recent dishes...

Beef Nachos

Korean Karubi Udon

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Fettucine Carbonara with Steak Diane and White Asparagus

Spinach & 3 Cheese Tortellini

Sweet & Sour Pork

For papa's birthday, mama took us to Karuizawa to play golf and enjoy being out of the city. I made a new friend...he doesn't say much though...









As always, I've been really busy lately. Life is so hectic sometimes...

But with the weather getting colder, make sure you all keep warm...

A few weeks ago, mama and papa went to see a rugby match in Tokyo featuring the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australia Wallabies (not a very cool name in my opinion...apologies to all my Aussie friends). Papa wore all black to the match and was happy when NZ won. He is now a big rugby fan (even though he still has no clue what the rules are). He also thinks football players are a little wimpy now. He saw the rugby payers hitting each other the same as they do in football but without the pads. Those rugby dudes are tough...and the All Blacks are the toughest. Papa was finally able to see the Haka which was awesome!!!

Papa taught me a new game called "hide and seek". I think I've become really good at the game!

Last weekend, mama and papa went to Club Q again where their friend Q-chan made a Thanksgiving turkey. Looks yummy!!!

Mama and papa received a gift of pears last month from friends who live in Utsunomiya and are related to papa's late Auntie Pat. The pears are bigger than my head!!! Papa calls me pear-head now.

Mama made me some chicken a few days ago. Papa still says I'm a spoiled little puppy but he's wrong...I'm not a puppy anymore...I'm a dawg!!! A dawg waiting for leftovers and scraps...

Mama's and Papa's Caddy

Mama and papa took Friday off work and we all went to Tochigi for a few days. We got to Tochigi in time for lunch at an Italian restaurant called Canon (香音). Mama and papa shared spaghetti (Ragu) and pizza (Margherita).

Friday night, we stayed in a log cabin at Kinugawa Kogen Country Club. It was a pretty nice place. Dinner was Suki-Yaki. The room reminded papa of a log cabin in Canada.
Today we went golfing and I was the caddy! Well, I was trying to be a caddy for mama and papa. Apparently, the caddy is not supposed to bark during the downswing, nor is a caddy supposed to try to escape from the golf cart while it is in motion. Papa was pretty upset when I gave him some advice during his swing. I am not allowed to go golfing anymore :-(

The course was really nice though. It was near the top of a mountain about 1,200 meters high. The weather was perfect for golfing today. It was partly cloudy, about 25 degrees with a nice breeze.













After I was banned for life from golfing, we went to lunch and then for a walk at a nearby park. This was papa trying to take my picture:

I finally posed for papa...

On the way home this afternoon, we stopped and took a few pictures...

When papa was packing on Thursday night, I thought I would help. Papa didn't think stealing his socks was a good way to help him...

Papa also hates when I shed my hair for summer...especially when I shed on his shorts...

I'm still trying to get used to the new TV...I love watching TV!!!

But I hate when papa mistakes my head for a melon and wraps it...

And finally, my new present! Mama bought me a nice, cool blanket to sleep on during the hot summer!!! (because I chewed and destroyed my old blanket)