Toby - My Baby Miniature Schnauzer

11th April 2006, I went home looking forward to see our "Forbidden Dog". You must be wondering why forbidden ..... 'cos it was brought home under the HIGH OBJECTION of our eldest sister.

He was only 3 months old, so small and cute. I think he was in deep depression when he first arrived in our home. He simply 'sticked' to his bed all day long (yes, he has his own miniature single bed). We thought "WOW, he was a good boy!" but who knows .......

Our nightmare begins on the third day upon his arrival. He started biting everything that came across him .... from toilet papers, our kitchen slippers to the furniture. My mum was going CRAZY...!!! That's not the worst. The headache was : Toilet train. We have to make him learned that he can only poo and pee in the toilet. There was lotsa screaming and yelling during the training. We finally realised that he will sniff and turn round & round in search of the most ideal location to do his business. ^ ^ ;;

We sort of successful toilet train him after so many months. However, he still pee and poo anywhere in the kitchen when he is not in good mood (my dog has a very serious attitude problem). There is one thing that till now we are still trying very hard to make him STOP BARKING!!! Isn't it normal for a dog to bark? Well, it is but not when barking was aimed at anyone who passes our front door. Aarrggghhhh........!!!!! Anybody out there with an excellent tip???

Alright, I think my dog should be feeling very shy now with so many bad habits!!! Now, some interesting moments to share!!

The funniest part was naming him. We had names like Ah Boy, Mo Mo, Blackie, and many many more until my sister has to search the web for pets name. The whole thing was like naming a baby, in fact we really are having a baby but the only different is he's a dog. My younger brother finally decide on Toby after going through the list of names we selected.

Next was little actions that makes him adorable. He will greeted every single one of us with his ever tip top sharp bark when we returned home from work. The excitement was shown on his body, from wagging his tail to requesting you to carry and sayang him. After all these request has been done, he will stopped his bark with satisfaction. Isn't he sweet??

And the only time you see him quiet and obedient hiding under my brother's bed or kitchen chair was when there's a thunder storm. He totally freaked out. My mum always commented that our dog is a fierce dog without guts!!!

Anyway, in a month time - January 11, our baby will be turning ONE!!! Happy Birthday!!!

好きやねん、大阪

"さってみんなさん、ここは大阪です！
おもしろい場所がイッパイイありますよ！美味しい物もイッパイイありますよ！"

- 関ジャニ∞ <好きやねん、大阪>

"Hi everyone, this is Osaka!

We have lotsa interesting places! We have lotsa delicious food too!"

- Song by Kanjani8

What can I say other than totally agreed with this song. Listening to this song brought back sweet memories of my days in Osaka. I had been sent to Osaka for training in 2003. Since then, I have crowned Osaka as my favourite city in Japan.

Let me introduce some of the interesting places according to my personal ranking :

1) Osaka Castle
Be it day or nite, the Castle stands tall, magnificent and spectacular in the center of Osaka. It's an awesome sight that one should never missed. It never fails to take my breathe away whenever I took the Keihan Line back to Kadoma.

2) Shinsaibashi
It's kinda like the biggest shopping district of Osaka. You can find most of the branded boutiques like Gucci, Tiffany, Hermes and many many more. There are more economy shops too such as The 100Yen shop, their local cosmetic shop and of course the Catch shop. Let me show you my proud achievement from there. V(^O^)V

3) Umeda

I like it because of the Ferris Wheel that stood on top of a shopping mall known as Hep Five. A ride in it can quite amazing since that's how I managed to find Loft and UniGlo. =P

4) Nipponbashi

This is Osaka Electrical and Electronics street. It's simply an IT paradise. For all IT freaks, this is the place for you. Frankly speaking, I am only interested in the capsule machine situated outside some of the figuring shop. *Oops*

Around Nipponbashi, you can also find the Hitachi Tower. That is where the Hanshin Tigers Baseball Teams Merchandise shop. You can also find Festive Gate, it's a amusement park within a shopping mall. The problem with Festive Gate is ...... it look really deserted with only the rides are operating.

5) Universal Studios, Japan

If it is your first visit to Osaka, this is a theme park that you must go. How should I put it, just like you must go Tokyo Disneyland or DisneySea when you visit Tokyo.

Ok ok ok .... That's all for the interesting places. Coming up next ..... the delicious food of Osaka. Again, my personal favourite.

1) 桂花亭拉面

I don't have to say much .... with just looking at the photo it is powerful enough to make you drool.

2) Takoyaki


All the takoyaki in Osaka tastes superb. Dun worry, you won't be making the wrong choice as long as you see a queue.





3) Okonomiyaki
This is another specialties of Osaka. Okonomiyaki are being modified into Monjayaki too.

4) Mister Donut
Hey hey hey .... never never miss this cutie donuts. It makes you crave for more especially anything with Angel cream and custard.

Well well, to be really frank with you .... all these food I recommended come from the Well-known Matsushita Town - Kadoma.

Spend a day in Kadoma and you will experience what I had.

雪が大好きです！

It's like a dream comes true .....!!

I never thot that I can actually see snow falling from the sky durng my trip to Hokkaido. The weather forecast predicted that they expected snow in Sapporo, our tour guide says no guarantee and it all depends on our luck! I was praying hard.

While everyone was taking a break after lunch, one of our tour co-travellers came running in shouting for her son : "Gerald.... come quick, it's snowing!" I turned, grabbed my camera and ran out. There were "Woo...", "Wow...", "Omigosh...", laughing and giggling of excitement. The Japanese must be thinking ... "this group of Singaporeans are like ALIENS".





It lasted for 2 short minutes. Disappointed, we left the restaurant for our next destination. The famous white chocolate factory in Hokkaido - Ishiya Chocolate Factory, well-known for their white chocolate biscuit - 白い恋人(Shiroi Koibito) which means White Beloved Ones a.k.a. 白色恋人. The whole place was like fairytale...!!

Then .... the snow came pouring down without any signal. ヤッタ、 雪が降った！！The entire garden was covered with snow and simply snow. \\ ( ^ O ^ ) //

It all started like tat. The next thing I realised was ... the snow's not going to stop. It continue to fall throughout the day and into the late nite. I had my first experience of white christmas in Hokkaido. 北海道、最高！